By Quetzal Mama • August 24, 2013

How to Narrow

Your College Shortlist

With nine weeks left before the November 1 Early Admission deadline, this is an exciting time at Quetzal Mama Headquarters! Students are emailing me with questions about registering for SAT or ACT exams, requesting their letters of recommendations, drafting Personal Statements, and devising their Reader Panel.

It is also a time of anxiety, stress, and panic. High school seniors and second-year Community College students are in the final stretch of their college applications.

Savvy Latino students have their college applications mapped out in advance. They know how to narrow their “short list,” which school to apply “early” and how to obtain fee waivers so they can finance application fees to multiple campuses. Other students are not as knowledgeable and, unfortunately, do not optimize their chances of admission. Therefore, let’s focus on a few strategies to navigate the college application process. First, consider these commonly asked questions:

“How do I know which colleges to apply?”

and

“How many colleges should I apply?

When I meet with students for our initial coaching session, my first question is: which schools will you be applying to? Inevitably, the majority of students will say their top three school choices are Stanford, Berkeley, and UCLA. My follow-up question: How does your academic profile compare to the profile of admitted freshman applicants at these campuses? This is when I get the quizzical eyebrow, followed by, “¿que?”

Now comes the tricky part. Holding their transcripts, I will then review and assess the rigor of their curriculum, SAT or ACT scores, GPA, class rank, AP or IB exam scores, and resume. This is the most challenging part of my role as a coach. On one hand I do not wish to discourage students from applying to their dream schools. On the other hand, it would be irresponsible for me to downplay the significance of whether their profile is consistent with the profile of admitted students to the campus. Rather than offering my opinion, I instead point them to factual data. Together we view the admissions page of the colleges they are considering and examine the statistics of entering freshman. Nearly all selective colleges will post their annual freshman applicant profile data on their admissions webpage. From this data we can see the average SAT or ACT scores, GPA, and class rank. After viewing this data, the student can arrive at his or her own conclusion. Some students will become elated, while others will become extremely disappointed.

After the shock of sobering statistics has settled, we then get down to determining a practical “short list” of colleges to apply. I explain that an absolute method to predetermine chances of admission does not exist. For this reason, I introduce a concept I call Reasonable Chance of Admission (or “RCA”). I have found this concept to be the simplest and most effective, common sense tool to determine a student’s reasonable chance of admission. Some college consultants refer to this concept as a “Match” school—a school that closely matches the profile of the student to the profile of the entering freshman class. Only after determining the RCA, can we begin strategizing which schools to apply.

First, we select several schools consistent with the student’s RCA. Next, we add a few schools that are slightly beyond their RCA – sometimes referred to as a “Reach” school. Finally, we add a few schools that are below the student’s RCA – schools where the student’s profile is superior to the campus profile (often referred to as a “Safety” school).

To put this into context, let’s take a look at UC Berkeley. The most recent data shows the average Cal admit held a weighted GPA of 4.36, average SAT score of 2041, and average ACT score of 30.¹ Compare this to a student we will call “Juan.” Juan holds a weighted GPA of 3.66, and his SAT score is 1760. Although I would never discourage Juan from applying to his dream school (Cal), I would highly recommend that Juan consider a combination of reach, match, and safety schools. After reviewing Juan’s RCA against a few other campuses, he might consider UC Riverside and UC Santa Cruz as “Match” schools, while UC Merced may be his “Safety” school.

Then comes my follow-up question: “Do these campuses offer your major?” This is the funny part. Nearly all of these students will say they don’t know! These students are not the first, nor will they be the last to be enamored by the name and reputation of a campus without regard for whether the campus offers their major. So, I immediately assign them homework to review the directory of academic departments for each of the schools they are considering to ensure they offer their program of study. Campuses typically list “impacted” majors as well as majors only offered to upper classmen. For example, UCLA does not accept freshman applicants into their Architecture program.

Lastly, we discuss how many schools to apply. To maximize financial aid options, I encourage students to apply to as many campuses they can afford. This is often difficult – even with fee waivers for qualifying students. I’m not joking when I recommend that students initiate a fund-raising campaign to fund their college application fees! With fees currently at $55 for a CSU campus; $70 for a UC campus; and a range between $75 to $90 for private schools like Stanford, the prospect of applying to several colleges may be financially unrealistic.

To summarize, a practical strategy to consider when applying to colleges includes: (1) Reviewing the Reasonable Chance of Admission (RCA), and including a mix of “Match,” “Reach,” and “Safety” schools; (2) Narrowing the list of universities that offer the desired major; and (3) Diversifying to include UC, CSU, and private schools to maximize financial aid options.

Before you create your own short list, consider that every student is unique. Statistics capture raw data and do not necessarily reflect students with exceptional circumstances. Furthermore, geography also plays a role in an overall strategy . . . but that is another topic for a future article. Good luck! ―Quetzal Mama

¹Admissions data obtained 11/12/12 at http://admissions.berkeley.edu/studentprofile and represents California freshman applicants.