Hope Springs Eternal
March is the time of peeks of spring and the month that colleges start to deliver their regular decisions. It always seems to both fly by and drag on in a way time only does when you are eagerly awaiting something. Hopefully, every student and family will have some good news coming in the next few weeks. I would imagine everyone will also have some heartbreak. If each student has a balanced list of colleges, they should expect to have a little of both emotions. This year has indeed been like no other at the highly selective colleges, and this state of limbo might drag on for many. Many students applied to more colleges than ever before. It was a combination of having more colleges be test optional for the first time this year and that most students did not get to see colleges because of the pandemic. This uncertainty is not just on the part of the students. Colleges are feeling it too and expect that they will be utilizing their waitlists like never before. They are as unsure of who wants them as you are. Rick Clarke, Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Georgia Tech, describes it best in his blog post Predicting Yield in 2021: Everyone Shorts It ( Yield is the percentage of students a college admits who enroll there.)
So a few things to keep in mind, First, if you know you are not going to attend a college you have been accepted to, let them know right away. That college might be someone else’s dream, and notifying them will allow them to offer admissions to someone else possibly. Next, most colleges will want you to inform them of your decision to attend by May 1st or May 3rd for the Ivies this year. You will also have to put down a deposit. Please give yourself at least a few days to do this to avoid any problems. This is critical; you can only deposit at one college. So how do you choose where to attend, especially this year when you might not even be able to leave home?
Go back to your priorities in what you want for a college. Make a list of which schools fulfill which preferences.
Compare Cost of Attendance. Be careful to note if any financial aid is offered for just year one or all four years. Also, ask each college how much they typically raise tuition by each year. If you are having trouble understanding your financial aid offer, ask lots of questions or reach out for help. This is VERY IMPORTANT.
Go back to visit each of your top choices either in person or virtually. Most colleges will have special programming for accepted students both in person and online. Check out College Scoops for planning or to see what it would be like if you actually visited in person.
Reach out to current students and recent alumni to ask them questions about the colleges. A good free resource for that is The College T.
Google what are students like at X University? Read what they have to say on Unigo, Niche, and Induck but remember always to take what one individual student says with a grain of salt.
Try and enjoy this process. It is very exciting to get to choose where you are going to college. Please be patient if you are waitlisted somewhere you really want to attend again. We expect waitlists will move A LOT this year. That said, get excited about where you are accepted and deposit to one of those choices. A Waitlist is only a maybe. If you are waitlisted, check out this good blog post from The Dunbar team on what to do.
Best of luck to all of this year’s seniors!