Q&A with Former Yale, USC, and Rice Admissions Officers

Webinar Transcription

2023-02-08 – Q&A with Former Yale, USC, and Rice Admissions Officers

Anesha: Hello, everyone, and welcome to tonight’s webinar. My name is Anesha Grant. I’m a Senior Advisor at CollegeAdvisor, and I will be your moderator today. Today’s webinar is an entirely Q& A section. We have questions and answers from former Yale, USC, and Rice School admissions officers. Before we get started, just to orient everyone, our presenters will go ahead, introduce themselves, and then we will open up the floor to respond to your questions in a live Q and a.

You can start submitting questions in the tab under the queue on the left hand side of the Q and a tab. But before we get started, let’s go ahead and meet our presenters. Brandon, can you kick us off and just give us a brief introduction of yourself and your professional background?

Brandon: Absolutely. So good morning, good afternoon and good evening to everyone.

My name is Brandon Mack. Pronouns he him his I am a former admission officer from Rice University, which is my alma mater. I was with the admission office for 13 years, working my way from an admission counselor all the way up to associate director of admission and have had every single experience you can think of in terms of reading applications and chairing admission committees for all the undergraduate schools.

Happy to be here to answer any questions you have.

Anesha: Stacey, can you follow up?

Stacey: Sure. Hi, everyone. Stacey Tuttle. I’m currently the Director of Student Affairs and Registrar at the Yale School of Public Health. I’m also a former admissions officer for the Yale School of Public Health, which is also my alma mater, Yale University.

I’ve had, uh, experience reading hundreds and hundreds of applications, working, counseling a number of students from the beginning of the application process to actually graduation. From their public health degrees. Um, and of course, I do have the insight as a former Ivy League student, um, at Yale. So I’m happy to give an Ivy League lens.

Uh, and I’m really excited to be here with you all tonight, or I guess this afternoon or morning or whatever you are.

Anesha: Thanks, Stacey. Angela, wrap us up.

Angela: Hi. It’s a wonderful time to have a dialogue with Brandon and Stacey, and hopefully we can answer a lot of great questions and share some information and shed some light on some of those burning questions you have.

My name is Angela. I am a former admissions officer. I’ve worked at a few different universities, but most recently, um, at the University of Southern California here in Los Angeles, where I currently live. Um, I served as associate director of admissions at the Marshall School of Business, um, and managed the world, a bachelor of business program.

program for the undergraduate school. Um, so hopefully, you know, if there’s anybody interested in pursuing a, uh, a degree or a career in business, I’m happy to answer those questions tonight as well.

Anesha: Thanks y’all. So we learned a little bit about our presenters that we would love to learn a little bit about our attendees.

So we’re gonna drop a couple of polls in the chat. Please let us know what grade you are in. Um, and hopefully that can help guide you guide some of the questions that will ask 12th graders. Don’t feel ashamed if you were in here. We know the application deadline has passed, but there might be some lingering questions that you all might have about the process and what is left to do.

Um, so Angela, what was your alma mater? Because, uh, both Stacey and Brandon worked at their alma mater. So I’m just wondering, where do you go to college?

Angela: I did not go to USC during my time working there and learning more about all the resources and programs. I really wished I could have gone there. I went to UC Berkeley and I loved my time there as well.

Um, and, uh, you know, it’s interesting now working with students 1 on 1 to be able to speak from the lens of. Uh, having attended a very large public university to, um, a more intimate environment and class sizes and things like that, um, that I saw at USC.

Anesha: Thank you. So we’ll go ahead and close our poll and just say So everyone knows.

So the majority of folks phoning in today are in 11th grade. So about 54 percent of our audience are currently juniors, followed up by 36 percent that are in the 10th grade. And then we have a similar number of 9th graders, 12th graders and other, I’m assuming there might be some parents or interested parties in space, but.

Um, I think we can hear most of our conversation towards folks who are in the 10th and 11th grade. We’ll do one more quick poll just to see for the folks who are moving forward in this application process. Where are you in the application process? Are you just getting started? Are you researching, working on essays?

I have to shout out one of my juniors who finished her personal statement today. Um, so she is Very far ahead of the game. Um, but again, no shade to juniors. If you’re not there, if you’re just getting started, that is totally fine. The whole value of CollegeAdvisors so that you can get that support wherever you are in your process.

So, let’s see, we’re already getting some questions, but let’s finish up our poll real quickly. And we’ll go ahead and close it, just so we have some context. Okay,

got it. Got it. All right. We’ll go ahead and we update it. All right. So the majority of folks are research schools and make sense. Give it some of the space. That we’re in, and especially some of the institutions that you all are representing. I think we’ll have a pretty robust conversation from the different angles and definitely peaceful.

Free to insert your personal experience as students and admissions officers into into the context when possible, but about 64 percent of our attendees are researching schools. 17 percent have not started again. Totally fine. Not a problem. 2 percent are almost done on the remaining about 16 percent are working on essays or getting materials together.

So, um, in a pretty good space, but let’s open it up to our first question, which I think is an interesting one in a good one. What is an admissions officer?

Stacey: I can kick this off if that’s okay with the group. An admissions officer has a number of functions at any given institution. Um, a primary function is reviewing applications for various programs, um, at the institution in question.

They also often host visitors, um, have fairs, go to events to educate. Students about the programs that they have to offer in the application process at their institution So you might interact with an admissions officer Even at your school, they might be traveling and visiting in that way Or you might interact with them by visiting the college or institution itself when you go there you might have An informational interview, which we can talk about if that ever comes up during our questions or just during a tour or visit, you might interact with an admissions officer during their day jobs.

They are reading applications. They might be chairing an admissions committee, which typically isn’t involved in the final decisions around those applications. Um, and then ultimately they are your guide. If you are admitted to a program to the point of matriculation, so if you have been admitted, you might have questions about next steps and whether or not that college is the right next step for you, given all of the offers you have and the admissions officer can help you at that stage as well.

So given our backgrounds, we do have insight into every step in the application process at our institutions and, and likely those apply to other institutions as well. Um, Brandon, Do you have anything to add? I’m just going to kick it to you next.

Brandon: So that was an excellent description of the of an admission officer.

The only thing that I would add to the amazing description that Stacy provided is that you may hear other terms used for admission officers, and they’re all interchangeable. So sometimes you’ll hear us referred to as territory managers. The reason why is because we are literally assigned to a particular part of the country or part of the world, and we really become the kind of experts of that particular area for our office.

So we get to know the schools in that area. We get to know the education and the curriculum in that background. And so that helps us to be able to. Um, really contextualize your particular situation when we’re evaluating you. And also, when we’re discussing the uniqueness of your experiences and the merits of your application in the admission committee, and then oftentimes, we’re going to be your primary point of contact because of the fact that we know your background and we know your area.

So you just might hear that other term of territory manager, but it’s still the same as an admission officer. How about for you, Angela?

Angela: Yeah, I, I, Completely agree. I think at some schools, you know, we hear titles like admissions counselor. Um, so, you know, there’s a number of of titles. And I think, you know, the, the representatives that you may meet when they’re visiting your school, or if you’re visiting the unit.

University. Um, you know, they’re all a resource for you. A wealth of information about the school can often connect you with others who have information if you’re seeking more specific knowledge about something. So I would say, you know, definitely utilize them as a resource.

Anesha: Thanks. Thank y’all. That those were amazing context, and I feel like I’ve never heard the proper answer to that question.

So I appreciate the student for asking, you know, one of the things you know, but you don’t know what the full definition is before we move forward with the questions. I do want to ask folks to work to keep your questions broad. We will not address. questions that delve too deeply into a specific personal student situation.

So please don’t tell us where your SAT scores are and what you want to major in, um, as we will not be giving you a private, uh, counseling session in today’s conversation. Um, but okay, moving forward, there’s one question that did come up that I thought Was interesting was thinking about how to build relationships with admissions officers.

So I’m going to ask it a couple of ways and I think it might be helpful for all three of you to add some nuance to it and we’ll go in reverse order. We’ll start with Angela, but does it help to reach out to an admissions officer prior to applying? And then how do you build a relationship with admissions officer at a school that you’re interested in applying to?

Angela: Yeah, I’m, I’m interested, um, to Stacy’s thoughts on this as well. Um, I’ll say from, from my time in my perspective. Um, personally, you know, students who perspective students who are reaching out to ask questions. Um, um, you know, that was certainly welcomed. Um, but building a relationship per se was not necessarily going to be something we jotted down as like, you know, put a little post it on your application.

For example, I think that utilizing admissions officers for extra information that, you know, you maybe you can’t find. Um, On online or through your own research, that’s perfectly fine. I would probably encourage and recommend students to spend that time cultivating relationships with either your counselor at school or teachers or individuals in your life.

I think that could be a really great use of your time and energy. Um, and, you know, I, I think, um, yeah, personally, I, you know, in our, in our office, in our admissions office at USC, sometimes we’d have some students who would, um, I think that, you know, they were trying to make a concerted effort to perhaps.

Um, maybe become memorable. Um, so would very, very regular, regularly reach out to us or visit our office. And, you know, that, um, that, uh, extra mile effort. Um, You know, it wasn’t necessarily going to give an advantage to their application or to their admissions evaluation. Um, so if it’s sincere, if you’re reaching out because you have questions, of course, that’s, that’s fine.

That’s welcomed. Um, I, I don’t want you to, um, think of this as an extra thing that you have to do now, um, and to spend a lot of time and energy on it.

Brandon: Definitely agree with Angela in that it needs to be meaningful content or meaningful contact. And what I mean by that is that you’re reaching out to the admission officer because you have questions about the admission process or wanting to know more about the institution, and it should be information that you shouldn’t readily get off the website.

Because if you can. That’s not gonna be meaningful. What’s gonna be more meaningful is if you have questions about how to navigate, maybe some of the questions related to the application process. If you’re wanting to get their impression of the institution and maybe get some direction in terms of things you should be thinking about or looking into more deeply, that’s gonna be meaningful contact.

But just, you know, Reaching out to the admission officer just for the sake of doing it is not going to come across as authentic. What is going to come across authentic is going to be you wanting to know more about the institution. You wanting to know more about their perspective. If they are an alum, or if they have a connection to the university, that’s going to be more meaningful.

And that can actually be helpful because we can remember that. And we’ll remember that in that you are genuinely showing what you’re doing. Interest in the institution rather than it just being once again, just another thing to do to kind of check off a box.

Stacey: Yeah, I would, I would echo all of these sentiments.

I do think that there is a Level of resourcefulness that every student should have when it comes to information about perspective colleges So if you’re sending an email to an admissions officer Asking a question that you can easily find on the website. That is not going to be read as Well, as an email, maybe asking to take a college tour or go to a class or be connected with an alumni about a particular program, because the difference between those two questions is the first, you seem to be just reaching out for the sake of reaching out the second.

You are actually genuinely interested in. The program, the college, the getting to know the campus, and that is the purpose of your outreach, right? Not for the sake like Brandon was saying, checking off a box. Um, I also think Angela made a really good point that this is a really tight time frame for all of you, and you have a lot of other things going on, and I would encourage you to spend time Doing things that are meaningful for you and getting to know the college is in question, because that is where you may spend the next four years or however long your program might be of your life.

And you want to make sure that matches. a good fit. It’s not just about you fitting with college. It’s also about college fitting with you. And I think that’s a better way to spend your time and a better way to ask the question is, how do you get to know the school and not just the admissions officer?

Anesha: Love those answers. Um, I’m going to ask folks to To please not chat me. Please do not DM me questions. Please put your questions in the Q and a tab. So distracting. I’m going to answer 1 question aloud. That was in the chat. Will there be a handout? No, there will not be a handout as the questions are kind of coming live to us.

So, if you’re interested in what the folks are saying, I would encourage you to try to take some notes. Um, there is a handout in the handouts tab, but it is just a kind of overview of our presentation today. So, um, again, please try to take notes as we go through, there are some questions that come up for you.

Uh, one question and I, I’m going to ask Brandon to answer this because I feel like we all three of you don’t need to weigh in. I feel like there’s one thought. Um, but is there a right age or grade level to start contacting admissions officers? Where, where would you recommend? All right. What grade level would you recommend?

Folks are reaching out.

Brandon: Definitely would say you should reach out when you’re a senior. The reason being is because you want it to be applicable to the application process. So a lot of things can change over the course of time. So 9th grade. A little way too early 10th grade. Also very early 11th grade.

You can feel free to reach out, but I wouldn’t necessarily say is the best time because you’re getting ready for the application process and things could change over the course of that year before you become a senior. When you’re a senior is the perfect time to reach out to admission offices, uh, officers because of the fact that you’ll be going through the application process and they’ll be able to assist you.

Anesha: Thank you for that, Brandon. Uh, this question, I think I’ll ask the all three of y’all just because I feel like it might differ based on institution. How many admissions officers are reviewing an application? Angela, do you want to get it started?

Angela: Oh, yes, this, this really varies. Um, at USC, for example, um, uh, and, and, um, just as a reminder, since I was there, I was reading.

I was in the admissions office at the business school. I only read applications for the business program. Other institutions do it differently. I know, um, at USC, there is a kind of general admissions office, um, which does kind of an initial read some applications, um, depending on, um, population. So it could be students applying to, you know, transfer programs or specific honors programs, or, um, uh.

Specialty programs. Some of those would then get bundled to us for a second read. Um, there were also specific committees within Marshall within the business school, like the program that I managed, which was an international program where we partnered with a few other universities. So that was committee based where each application was read by a minimum of three officers.

So the answer is that it all depends and it can really vary. And sometimes. You know, as an applicant, you, you may not ever get that answer of how many people are going to read your application, because even within a school, it can really vary.

Stacey: Yeah, sorry. I can jump off of that. I, I don’t think that there’s going to be 1 answer this question period.

End of sentence. It really is the. Um, the uniqueness of the application process at every school that there is usually a committee of some kind that is usually composed of a series of staff and faculty related to the program and they have different roles in the review process, but ultimately, the decision is never falling with 1 person.

Right? So, and that’s the purpose of the committee. You don’t want that decision to be following with 1 person at the end of the day on our end. You it was a committee. Formative staff and faculty with different layers of review, like Angela was describing where you kind of have a first pass with the staff member, and then it goes on to a primary faculty in the Department of interest.

And then it goes back to staff or another review. And so there is a different. Um, format as well for the series of review from that committee on. So it does vary from institution to institution. And Brandon, I’m not sure if you would have anything to change or add

Brandon: two things. One, this is to everyone who’s here.

Get used to the phrase. It depends. You’re going to hear that a lot when it comes from admission officers because It is going to be unique to every institution. So that is a great question to ask admission officers directly. How do you do committee? How do you do evaluation? The other thing that I would add is that some schools do a process called committee based evaluation, where it is to admission officers who read the application at the same time.

So, That can also be another unique, um, aspect or a unique way that schools evaluate applications.

Anesha: And I know there’s some schools that at my alma mater, they will every, you read it, then you present it and everyone in the room gets a vote. Um, so there are a lot of different, a lot of different strategies that have worked for different institutions.

Um, I love that you added that brand and ask the specific institution how they read, um, because it will change. Um, one question that I thought was interesting and I feel like someone’s. playing inside baseball. Is it true that admissions officers only compare students application strictly to other students in their school?

So I know that there is some contextualizing within a high school, so I’m not sure who feels comfortable kind of taking a first jump at that one.

Stacey: I think this is again very dependent on the institution in question and their review processes. Um, personally, in my experience, I never compared students. To other students within their institutions.

I always looked at the individual application as a whole. It’s usually I think Brandon and Angela may echo this, but it’s usually a holistic application review process based on the individual at any given time and by holistic. We mean, we look at all pieces of the application. as a narrative of the whole person.

And so we’re not saying, Oh, this person also went to X high school and I’m going to compare apples to apples. There’s no apples to apples. You’re all apples and oranges and pineapples and pears and mangoes. And we can’t compare those things. We have to look at the apple for what it is. Um, and yeah, that’s it.

Apple makes sense on our tree. It’s a weird metaphor, but it works. Um, and so I, I personally have not had that experience, but Brandon or Angela, do you disagree? Agree?

Brandon: Definitely. In my experience, we have not. Compared students within a school because once again, as you mentioned, it’s going to be a lot of things that make each other different.

The other thing that I want to make very clear is we don’t limit how many students can come from a particular school because I think that that’s also part of the question. That is the fear is that, oh, we’re only going to give one spot to one person from this school and that doesn’t happen. It’s about who are the best students among the overall applicant pool because you’re all bringing something different and unique.

To that institution.

Angela: Yeah, I think my answer might be the only one a little bit differing here. Um, for the most part, especially at USC. Um, I will say that we had the territory managers within the general admissions committee who were, you know, the experts of a certain region and we’re very familiar with the high schools.

We’re very familiar with you know, the level of resources provided and kind of the competitiveness and rigor. Um, so that certainly helps to contextualize and, um, provide a better understanding of a student’s environment. Um, but yeah, completely like, you know, what Stacy and Brandon are saying, you’re still viewed as an individual.

Um, but I think admissions offices still also want to apply, you know, uh, a level of, um, Um, equity in terms of trying to understand the environment that, you know, you are trying your best in, um, so one example I will give is, um, I was an external reader, an application reader for UC Berkeley, and we were encouraged to read our, our, um, our applications by, by groups, um, Of high schools within districts and within regions.

Um, and we were not making kind of final decisions until we had finished reading an entire kind of grouping of applications. And that was mainly so that, you know, we would whoever Okay. Like, for example, the first application I might read of the day, um, might be at a disadvantage or an advantage compared to the last application I read of the day, because the last one I’ve now read, you know, 50 applications that day, and now I have, you know, a lot of things I’m comparing it to or, or however that might, um, influence my, you know, decision making process.

Um, so, you know, I think admissions officers are coming in to reading your application with a trying to understand you as an individual, and then also with trying to apply You know, more factors of, you know, we’re not trying to compare you to somebody else who might be attending and saying, Oh, you only have two honors courses versus this other application who has 10 honors courses when, you know, maybe your school only offers.

Um, or, or, you know, so we do try to understand and provide that, um, level of understanding.

Anesha: Absolutely. Yeah, I want to, and I’m not an admissions officer, but I want to harp on that last point that Angela made regarding, um, the way that you’re evaluated within the context of your high school is based on those AP, like availability of what you have access to.

So you’re not penalized for not taking college classes if your high school doesn’t offer. a pathway to college classes. You’re not penalized for not taking a P classes of a P classes or not offered at your high school. So within your high school context, that is how you’re being evaluated of what is being what is awful, what is offered at your high school and what you have taken advantage of.

Are you pursuing the most rigorous pathway available to you within your high school is the only, I think, piece that I’ll add, um, to how you evaluated within the specifics of your high school. Um, Um, 1 other question, or the next question is, um, what are 3 essential qualities? And I’m rephrasing this. What are 3 essential qualities that admissions officers seek in a prospective students?

Application, excluding grades and test scores. So what are the other the next set of things after after academics that y’all are looking for in the in the application?

Brandon, how we start with you? Sure.

Brandon: So. First and foremost, do you want to go to the school? I know that that is very honest. Do you really honestly want to go to that school? And we can see that in a variety of different ways. We literally often ask you in the supplement, why do you want to go to Rice? Why do you want to go to USC?

Why do you want to go to any of these colleges and universities? And we really want to see that you’ve looked into why you specifically want to go to that school. Because we know that We’re selfish. Let’s be honest. We want to feel the love. We want to feel that you really want to go to our schools and that you’re going to really connect to what is offered at the school.

So that’s definitely one thing that we look for. Another thing that we look for is, you know, what kind of impact could you potentially have? On our campus, and that can come from the ways in which other people are writing about you. So those letters of recommendation. Also, what are you doing both inside and outside the classroom?

Because we want to bring people together and create communities where everyone is learning from each other, and you’re all going to bring something unique and wonderful to the table. So we want to see, well, what is that unique and wonderful thing that you’re going to bring to the table? And then the third other thing that I think that we’re also looking for is what are you curious?

Were you curious about? Professors want to work with people who are going to excite them, who are going to bring in that new idea. And so we want to see, well, what are you passionate about? Are you going to be that person who finds the next greatest cure to any number of diseases? Are you going to be that person who comes up with that legal strategy that makes sure that we all get liberation at some point?

Are you going to bring that passion and that fire for what you want to study into the classroom? And once again, that can come from a variety of different things, even outside of your grades, by just talking about what it is that really excites you. So those are a few of the things that we look for.

Angela: Yeah, I’ll echo that too. And, and maybe one more thing I might add, although I guess this question asks for three, but it’s just that, um, I think, you know, we’re certainly looking for a lot of things, and I think you added that little loophole there because academics is always going to be the number one thing that we prioritize.

It’s the most important thing. We want to make sure you have the potential to succeed. But I think it’s kind of sussing out your character via your, you know, your written voice, it can be really difficult. And I think that’s, um, and that’s where starting early on your essays, working with somebody who knows you well and can really help you convey your story, I think is so helpful, especially if you’re not comfortable with that.

Um, yeah, I, I just would say that I, um, I, You know, and another admissions officers, I know, to really, we really do place a lot of weight on trying to get a sense of your identity and who you are. And will you be a good fit with our community and our campus and that’s those are things that I know can be really difficult to convey in 650 words, or often even fewer on your supplements.

But I do think that that’s. Like, really, really important. Even if you have the most stellar academics, if we don’t get a sense of a strong character, of a strong, a strong, a strong, a strong sense that you really care about things in your life, whatever that might be. Um, you know, I, I think that schools are, are not really going to, Um, feel the personal connection with you.

So definitely put a lot of heart into, you know, time and energy into, into your essays.

Stacey: I, I can’t probably phrase this better than my colleagues have already, but I will reemphasize the, that an authentic voice. Is what we’re looking for. I know that might seem like, Oh, okay. You know, I got to get the good SAT score.

I got to get the good grades. I got to make sure I have all my extracurriculars. They say they want my, my voice, but what does that mean? We really truly mean we want to see who you are and we can tell right away when we’re reading an essay that’s not authentic, we can tell right away when we’re reading an essay that’s canned or we can tell right away that your heart is not in it, that you did not research the school and.

I mean, I’m sure I see it in Brandon and Angela’s head nodding. Yes. I mean, it very much is the case. The best thing you can do for yourself is to really self reflect and in turn and look internally and ask yourself what’s important to you in this application process. And that will come across on your application and that will make you competitive and get put you over the edge of another applicant.

Because when we can read that it’s the authentic you in an essay, That means so much, um, just as much as those transcript grades or those SIT scores. Um, the other piece that we like to see is genuine recommendations. Those recommendations. You want to really cultivate those relationships because not outside of you telling us about yourself.

The next best thing is other people being excited about you and the things that you can contribute. So I would just add those two things. In addition to what was already shared.

Anesha: Thanks. Um, someone has a question in relation to my last comment of how do admissions officers know the rigor of each high school.

I will share that high school submit a profile, which is typically a summary of what classes are offered. What are typical outcomes for students? Your high school more likely than not has a profile. I can’t say if that’s true for international schools. I’m going to assume that it is, but I know for in the U.

S. Most high schools, the majority of high schools have a profile that they would submit with a summary of what’s offered at your school, that your guidance counselor or a counselor is going to send in, in tandem, in, in partnership with your transcript. So I’m not, you don’t have to answer that. Tell me if I’m wrong.

I think I’m right. Okay. Um, do admissions officers, um, do admissions officers try to admit students with a variety of majors and interests? Like, is it, is it an advantage if you are applying for a less popular major compared to a more popular major at any given school?

Angela: I’ll, I’ll say one thing. If you are not actually wanting to study that major, but you’re thinking that writing it down is going to get you into this school and have a, maybe a plan to after your freshman year, after GEs, try to change your major and get into the actual bio major that you wanted. Yeah, I would not recommend that.

I would recommend again, going back to the previous question. Um, uh, there, the authenticity, um, if that’s lacking, you know, that can be sensed. Um, also, if, if you really care about a, um, about a certain field and you want to apply for that major, you know, don’t, don’t worry too much about, oh, this is such a popular major at this school.

Angela: I’m going to be up against all of this competition. What about this major that it seems like nobody else wants? Maybe, maybe I can squeeze myself into the university, but if I applied to this, um, I, I just really would not recommend, you know, you’re not being true to yourself. And, um, uh, if you have extracurricular activities that really align to another major, but.

It’s not the one you’re applying to, um, and you know, the, the passion for whatever field that you’ve indicated that’s not true to yourself, you know, um, yeah, I, I think that that, um, admissions officers kind of hone an eye for that. You might catch on to it. Um, so, you know, I apologize if that’s not what you intended when you were asking that question.

Um, so, yeah, that’s just what I would say. I do see some students who think maybe this is a strategy. I can try.

Brandon: Don’t do it.

Anesha: Well, I, I don’t know if this is true, but I think the only caveat that I might throw in is when you’re applying to UCs with impacted majors. Like, I don’t, I don’t know how you would, you might want to switch up the strategy if you know you’re applying to a major that will have limited spots.

Um, and I know it’s a very UC specific thing. So I don’t, I don’t know if you can speak to that, Angela, but I know, I know impacted majors are complicated within the UC system.

Angela: Yeah. But I will say though, um, because it is impacted, It doesn’t change the fact that those spots, there’s not going to be more spots available once you’re there.

It’s very difficult to transfer or change your major into a major that is impact, basically impossible. Um, so yeah, maybe there’s a, a, a, a similar major that has some overlapping courses that will get you to kind of the career goals that you have. If you really, really, if this is like your dream school and it’s an impacted major and you have Some fears about that.

Um, but for the most part, I would say, you know, we’ll take a close look at the curriculum and what’s covered what types of careers come out of this major versus that major. You know, maybe the one popular major that you have your eyes on. There could be another major out there for you. That could lead you to that same end goal to

Brandon: it’s always best to be true to your interests because even if it is an impacted major, you have to think about it in that year.

All the other aspects of your application are going to connect to what it is that you’re really interested in. So let’s say you’re someone who does a lot of robotics. You’re someone who writes a very impassioned essay about your love of computer science. And then we see that you’re wanting to apply for French.

The question is going to be how true is that interest if we don’t see anything that connects to that? So that’s something to also keep in mind is that yeah. Every single aspect of your application is going to give us an insight into who you are. And we want to know that you’re going to be once again, true to those particular interests.

And if it comes out of left field, that’s going to ask a question of, well, then how authentic are you? are the things that we’re seeing here. So keep that in mind.

Stacey: So if I could throw an example, um, for example, I could have a really stellar application, great transcript, great grades, great scores, wonderful extracurriculars.

But they applied to a major that does not align with the narrative that I’m getting everywhere else in the application. You actually made your application weaker by choosing a major that doesn’t align with your story. And that, um, is something I would, I would also advise against doing.

Anesha: I love that. Yeah. Choosing a major that aligns with your, your story. I think I often try to tell students that if you’re reading it all together, there’s not like there’s going to pick and choose kind of strategy to it. They’re going to see you as a whole. Um, and I think that holistic review is often something that, um, is complicated for students and families to understand.

Um, for my next question is for colleges that are test optional, Which factors should a student use to determine whether or not to provide test scores? And I’ll also throw in an additional question. Do you guys care about AP scores and whether or not they are submitted? So while we’re in the conversation of test scores, strategy for submitting test scores and the value or weight of AP tests.

Let’s go Stacey or unless Brandon, you want to start?

Stacey: up to you.

Brandon: Sure. I’m happy to start. What I would definitely say is use the middle 50 percent that the school reports in terms of the S. A. T. And the A. C. T. has a good guide as to if you want to submit those scores. If you’re within that middle 50 percent or above, then I would say definitely submit the testing.

If you are not, then More than likely, you probably I would probably recommend not to submit the testing when it comes to a P scores. Um, you’re going to once again, it’s going to be that classic phrase of it depends because some schools will give credits for threes and above some highly selective institutions only give credits for fours and above.

So, if you’re going to get credit. That’s a separate conversation than it is from the admission conversation. So I want that to also be clear. But for the purposes of admission, I care more about the class than I do about the tests. To be honest, I care that you are challenging yourself, that you do very, very well in that class.

The test is usually going to be for credit, so that doesn’t necessarily come into the decision unless you want to demonstrate that you would get credit by making that four or five. So that would be the thing that I would say when it comes to APs.

Stacey: Um, I can add a little bit to this. So in terms of test optional, if you choose not to submit a test for test optional institution, just keep in mind that all other components of your application are weighted more, right?

Because you don’t have the test to balance out say, um, transcript rates. So, for example, when I’m looking at an application and I have the transcript in front of me, if I see that maybe your math score wasn’t really great in this one class, I might look to your SAT to see how you performed quantitatively and get a better picture for your quantitative ability.

Because your quantitative ability might not be best demonstrated by that one class. But if you don’t submit the SAT, I don’t have that bigger picture for just as an example. So just keep in mind that if you do decide to omit the test when submitting your application, that all other components. will be that much more important, if you will.

Um, and then in terms of the APs, I, I would agree with Brandon. I, I don’t think that the AP scores themselves on the tests are really weighted as much, at least in my experience, as the grades and the classes themselves. I would encourage you to pick AP classes that we keep saying this over and over, align with your voice, align with your narrative, align with your story, right?

So if you’re, you’re trying to decide, am I going to take these AP tests, or am I going to take these AP classes? Pick a B classes and tests that actually speak to your interest, and you will probably do better on those as well. Um, so that those are the two things I would add

Anesha: Angela anything.

Angela: Yeah. So, um, speaking from a business major perspective, math courses, math performance, I should say, um, was.

was very, um, emphasized in our review. So kind of the only, I think, caveat I can think of too, because I do agree with everything Brandon and Stacey is saying here, um, is let’s say you had, um, some, some type of extenuating circumstance over the year, um, and you, and, and it affected your performance in your calculus class.

And you know that as business, as a business major, your business admissions officers are going to be really looking at that grade. Um, So if you underperformed in the class because something was happening throughout the year, you want to, you know, explain a little bit about your circumstances, but towards the end of the year, maybe that circumstance resolved.

You studied really, really hard and you did pretty well. very well on your AP exam, that might be something you can shed some light on in your application yourself. In the additional information section, you can provide some more information and say, Hey, you know, I love math. You know, I love calculus. Um, the, please don’t, you know, judge me for my performance in this class because, you know, XYZ happened this year.

Um, but you know, the, the, the potential is there, the, the caliber is there. And I think that shows from, you know, Whatever exam scores or, you know, that you want to share. But for the most part for and you know, this might not affect most of, you know, students. But if there is that kind of circumstance, and I’ll say that that doesn’t just apply to AP exam scores, but, um, we’re, we’re human.

I mean, you see us here. We’re three human. Your application is going to be read by a human being with the heart. So if there is anything just on that note that, you know, impacted your ability to perform academically, and that’s something that you want to You know, make sure that the reader and the evaluator understands, you know, there is going to be an opportunity on your application to to include that.

So, um, so I, I would, I would not, um, you know, withhold that information. If you feel like that did impact you.

Anesha: And want to build on to that of like. To what Brandon, I think said earlier around letters of recommendation. If you didn’t do well in a math class, then you can have that math teacher write a letter of recommendation to demonstrate how you’ve improved or grown and how they’ve seen that change happen for you.

I think that would also benefit you. And I would also say this is a strategy that I use for some of my students. Who choose not to submit a safety score. They sometimes submit a supplemental letter of recommendation to talk about the rigor to change the improvement that they’ve shown there that I’ve seen, depending on the school, um, help them as well.

So I think more folks who can speak to how you are challenging yourself, how you’re pushing yourself and how you’ve worked to be prepared for college can help to offset, you know, not submitting scores or not using those types of. That as a, as a marker, I’m going to do a quick PSA for those in the room who aren’t already working with us.

You all have obviously have a lot of questions. Is it the overwhelming process for you for your family? So, we do have a team of over 300 admissions officers and admissions experts, like all the folks in this room who are ready to help you and your family navigate this process through one on one advising sessions.

You can take the next step in your journey by signing up. For free 45 to 60 minute strategy session with an admission specialist on our team by using the QR code that is on the screen during the meeting, they’ll help review your extracurriculars, your application strategy, discuss your college list and outline some tools that you’ll need in order to stand out in the admissions world.

We will leave that QR code up on the screen again for any folks are not working with us who might want to. Pursue that opportunity with CollegeAdvisor, and I’m going to ask the next question, which is a little bit of a pivot. But I think an interesting 1 of 1 student asked is having ADHD put you at a disadvantage in the college process.

And if you all could talk about how neurodivergent or how students can or should advocate for themselves as they have learning differences or neurodivergent. In the application process. Um, so Brandon again at the start and we’ll work our way over.

Brandon: Sure. It does not put you at a disadvantage at all. We want people with different abilities.

Different backgrounds, different everything different about you is valued in this process. The best way to advocate for yourself is to be open and honest. So the additional information section is a great place to put any information about yourself that you want us to take into consideration. Also, those letters of recommendation will also help to provide additional context about yourself.

Um, if you want to talk about it in your essay, that’s another way for you to bring that authentic voice to yourself and the different experiences that you’re going to bring to the table. But we take, as you probably have heard throughout this evening, context matters. And so the fact that you have ADHD, dyscalculia, ADHD.

Any number of different, um, abilities will be factored into how we evaluate you. And we take that into consideration, but it doesn’t put you at a disadvantage in the process. So definitely take advantage of those opportunities to provide as much context about yourself so that we can get the point across.

Fullest sense of who you are and what you would bring to the institution. And also it helps us to best advocate for you in both the admission process, but also to make sure that we have the resources to support you when you come to our colleges and universities, because we want you to thrive when you come to college.

Stacey: Yeah, I can, I would echo all of this. I think I, I keep using the word story, story, story, that that’s part of your story. That’s part of who you are. Um, yeah. And I, I would encourage you to share as much of that as you’re comfortable sharing in the application process in a way that helps you enhance your story or reinforce your story so that we understand really who you are.

while we’re reading your application. And I also want to echo the advocacy piece. We want to be able to advocate for you as members of the institution that you would ultimately be a part of. And we want to ensure, again, that you have the resources once you are on campus to succeed and to thrive, like Brandon was saying.

And I know this process can be really overwhelming in college. It can also be very scary. So we want to make sure that we’re So I would definitely encourage all students of all abilities to look into student support resources when you’re researching all of your colleges and going for your visits.

That’s a very important question to ask. What support resources are there at the institution that you’re looking at? Are they offering wellness resources? Are they offering a student accessibility services resource? Um, things of that nature, it’s an important question and you deserve to know the answer to that whenever you’re researching or going to visit your schools.

So please keep that in mind moving forward as well.

Angela: Yeah, I think through this process, you know, as you’re doing your inner reflection work about understanding, you know, your own goals and, um, and your passions as well. I think another thing to think about as you’re thinking about the next, you know, where you’ll be spending these four years is, um, also having a really strong understanding of your own best kind of learning methods and environments.

You know, maybe you have, you know, been lucky enough to be studying at a high school that has been a wonderful environment for you. So, you know, you Um, the types of resources that you need, the types of relationships that you need to really help you achieve success. Um, so that can be, that should be a factor that you consider when you’re thinking about what schools to apply to.

And finding out, you know, okay, I think I work better in smaller class sizes. I think I work better in classes where there’s a lot more dialogue. Maybe I get a little lost when it’s just, you know, you know, test after test after test or I work better with projects, you know, understand your own learning styles and learning methods.

And you know, this is really, you know, a decision making process for you and your family. You get to choose where you go because you get to choose where you’re applying. Um uh, so I think that that’s definitely a factor to consider when you’re putting together your college list.

Anesha: I’m gonna go somewhat rapid fire, but I’m gonna say one person answer the next couple of questions.

Brandon, I know you are. A little bit more informed to answer this question. So how does it work? If you’re getting recruited for a sport in junior year, are you still are you still supposed to apply during senior year? So what’s the recruitment process like for athletes?

Brandon: So, yes, so for athletes, you’re definitely going to want to rely on the coach to help you with the admission process, because they’re definitely going to be your main point of contact in terms of.

Telling you how to apply. If you’re being recruited as a junior, you still need to go through the admission process as a senior. So you’ll still submit the application in any type of supporting documents, but your coach is gonna be your primary point of contact when it comes to an admission process for a recruited athlete.

Anesha: Thank you. Uh, Stacy, I’m gonna toss. Are there any advantages or disadvantages to applying early decision or early action?

Stacey: That’s a great question. So, um, for those who aren’t aware, early action versus early decision, early decision is binding, meaning if you apply and you get into the institution, you do have to attend, you have to commit to that institution.

Early action, meanwhile, is non binding. You get the decision early, but you can continue to vet your regular decision application decisions and make that decision by May 1st, which is the standard deadline for committing to an institution, right? Um, so that is the difference between the two. Early, there is, in some cases, a slightly higher chance of admission when you apply early action or early decision just because you’re basically showing.

Hey, I’m really committed to you as an institution so much so that I’m willing to get all my application pieces in early and or if I get admitted, I am coming, right? I am, I’m telling you I’m coming. So there is a slight advantage there, or I guess a slight increase in the chance of being admitted at that stage.

Um, otherwise, you know, regular decision is totally fine. Um, but just know that those are the key differences and, and yeah. You don’t have to commit if it is early action. Yale, I want to flag is single choice early action, which means you can only apply to Yale when you do the early action process. Um, it doesn’t mean you have to commit, but you can only apply early to Yale.

And so you might encounter a few schools like that as well.

Anesha: Thank you. Angela is going to ask you a question about the interview. So how impactful are interviews? Especially those being conducted by alumni and how are they factored into the admissions process?

Angela: Um, this may vary from university to university as well.

Again, another, it depends. Um, in my experience, interviews honestly did not weigh very much on an applicant, an applicant’s admission decision overall. Um, it was In some cases, an opportunity for a student to meet with either an alumni or, um, sometimes even, um, either a staff member or a recent graduate, um, to learn more about their experience with the school, um, uh, to have a chance to have a one on one conversation with somebody.

Um, and, uh, sometimes, you know, those notes were shared and kind of added to your file. Notes from the interview were shared and added to your file. Um, but, um, you know, I, I will say, in my experience, I have not really heard of. Many situations where an interview flipped a decision from a no to a yes. Um, if, if, you know, there wasn’t a lot of evidence from the application itself that the student was going to be a good candidate, the interview was not going to be significant enough to, Change our minds, um, about, you know, your transcript or, or something.

Um, so that being said, if you are invited to an interview, you know, definitely do your research and go into it with, you know, um, not too much stress as an opportunity to meet with an individual and have a good conversation with them. And, you know, um, uh, It’s not going to make or break your application decision,

Anesha: and it ended with research.

I’ll circle back to Brandon with the question. When should you start to research colleges? And how should you research them? Do you have any context on on strategies for researching schools?

Brandon: Sure, so I definitely say that it’s great to start researching colleges as early as possible, just to start thinking about the things that you want during that time when you get to college.

So the Internet, of course, is a wonderful resource. Um, start thinking about the environments that you want to be in. Some of us know that we don’t want to be in some place that’s too cold. Some of us don’t want to be in places too hot. Some of us want to be in a place where, um, there’s a lot of activity and it’s going to be in an urban environment.

Some may want a smaller college town. So start thinking about some of those environmental aspects and then start thinking about also, well, what is it that you’re interested in studying or could be potentially interested in studying? And does that particular institution offer that and also offer you maybe some flexibility to be able to switch in the event that you want to switch?

So those are just some kind of preliminary questions to start thinking about your search, but it’s always good to kind of start early. But just know. It’s going to refine over time, and that’s also perfectly fine for it to refine over time.

Anesha: Uh, Stacy, I’m going to ask you a question regarding pre college programs.

So, one student specifically said, would telling you that I did a pre college program at another college affect my chances to get into this college? But, so you can answer that in a yes or no, but also just what, impact do pre college classes have or attending college classes during the school year have, or how is that factored into the admissions conversation?

Stacey: That’s a great question. So, um, I’m, if I’m understanding the first question, part of the question correctly, taking pre college classes from the institution that you’re talking about, right? The institution that you’re applying for. I think it’s, Sorry. Yeah, I think

Anesha: if I took if I’m applying to Yale, but I took pre college at Rice, is Yale going to be mad at me for the answers?

No. Okay. Thank

Stacey: you. I wasn’t sure if I understood. Thank you for clarifying. The answer is absolutely not. Um, I think taking any pre college classes actually shows, um, demonstrated, first of all, interest in college period. Um, and also can demonstrate your ability to handle college classes at a very young early stage in your educational career.

So both of those things are advantages to me when I’m reviewing your application. Um, and I would encourage students to consider taking pre college classes if that opportunity presents itself anywhere at local institutions because it does give you insight into Like I said, the college experience, potentially at a college that you are interested in attending, right?

Uh, and you could get some really stellar letters of recommendation from that experience. So Brandon’s giving me the thumbs up. Love those LORs over there. Um, but yeah, those, that would be, I think, an advantage in the application process. And I would encourage it if you have the opportunity. I

Anesha: think this, I might be, I might be, um, setting up.

I think it’s a hard question to answer, but I think one where it’s. Trying to explore, um, so I think the student was talking about the holistic process, so thinking about holistic admissions practices, how are, she said, intrinsic, but I’m going to say identity factors kind of weighted into it, and I know this is a little bit complicated right now with some of the pending court cases, but how do race and gender, or how are they thought about in the context of the admissions process?

Angela: Yeah, this is another. It depends from not just institution to institution, but even department to department. Um, this will very much depend. Oftentimes it’s not a decision from the admissions officer or the admissions office. It can be, um. Goals that are set by leadership. So it’s not necessarily something that an admissions officer as an individual or a team can even have control over that.

I think that there are some schools that will consider those factors in their overall decision making. It might not be again, affecting you as an individual and say, oh, this person is. You know, um, of this race, or they are this gender, and they’re applying to this major that already has so many of this gender, you know, they’re not necessarily going to apply that kind of lens to your application individually.

Um, this will probably be something more, um, institutional and, you know, so I guess I’m saying this because I don’t think this is something that you should necessarily worry too much about. I don’t want you to. I wouldn’t want students, because I’m guessing from, you know, maybe the mindset that this question is coming from, I wouldn’t want you to take yourself out of the running if you think, hey, I’m probably not going to get into this program because there’s a lot of people who look like me that were already in that program.

You know, I wouldn’t want you to make decisions based off of, off of that. Um, I, I think that at the end of the day, what’s most important to you is going to be, um, is this program a good fit for me? Is this institution, is this program, is this major something I’m really excited about? Is this a place I want to be?

And then kind of let the cards fall where, where they, where they may, um, and, um, I, I guess that’s, that’s the most I can kind of say about that. I know that from the institutions I worked at, you know, that was not necessarily a layer that was. involved at, you know, at the, at the level of, you know, making admissions decisions or reading evaluations or reading applications and making evaluations that might have been something that was done later, but also, um, it might not have been a factor at all.

So I will say it kind of depends. I know that someone’s other institutions could could have different approaches to that as well.

Anesha: No, thank you for tackling that. Like I said, I feel like it was a tough question and I felt bad for throwing it to you, but we are nearing the end of our time. And so I would love it if each of you could just wrap up with what are some things that students should not be afraid of in this process?

If there’s one thing that you feel like students should kind of go in fearlessly about. And I’ve been starting with Brandon. So, Brandon, we’ll go with you and wrap up with Angela.

Brandon: Don’t be afraid of applying. The only way you’re ever going to know if any college or university is an option for you is you got to apply.

So don’t worry about the numbers or anything of that nature when applying this process. It really is. Do you want an opportunity to go there? Put forth the best application, hit submit and then breathe. Okay,

Stacey: so I guess I’ll jump in. Um, I don’t be afraid of being you. I mean, it’s so easy to get caught up and try to be what you think the college is going to want you to be when you apply. And the answer is, we just want to see you. That’s, that’s all at the end of the day. And the closer you are to your internal, your true self, your, your real voice, the more successful you will be in this process.

Angela: Um, I think I’ll say if you are somebody who kind of leans towards bias, being a little bit more shy. Don’t be afraid to put yourself out there. It’s not really the time to be humble. You know, we want to know everything about you. We want to know about all of your achievements, everything that you’re proud of.

Um, we want to know all about that. Obviously, you know, apply some judgment and, um, uh, I don’t want you to go off the other extreme and come off as very arrogant, but I also don’t think that, you know, admissions officers are trying to look for, For things to, you know, mark off. I think we’re all looking for the great things of each the great parts of each application and each student.

Um, I would also say, you know, I think from my time with working with some students to some students feel like, hey, I have experienced some hardship in my life. Um, I don’t really want to talk about it in my application because I don’t want to, you know, I don’t want somebody to take pity on me and, you know, maybe influence their decision because, you know, or I guess what I’m trying to say is that I didn’t want to incorporate some aspect of their life story.

because they, they felt like it wasn’t part of their academic story. Um, this kind of ties back into what Stacey was saying earlier about your, your full story and all of your life experiences contributing to who you are today. And that’s all something that, you know, we want to know more about. So, you know, be as honest, be as genuine and be as in sharing with us.

Um, obviously, whatever you feel most comfortable sharing, but we do want to understand kind of all the things that you have been through to become who you are today. Um, so don’t be afraid, I guess, to, to share.

Anesha: Share who you are in an authentic, humble, braggy way. Will be the end of it. So, uh, thank you all.

That is the end of our webinar. Thank you all for joining us. Thank you, Brandon, Stacey, and Angela for your amazing, uh, questions and responses, um, during today. We hope that you enjoyed this opportunity to hear from our knowledgeable admissions officers. We also hope that you will join us in the future.

Uh, this month we have, um, so a few more sessions on February 9th. We’ll talk about crafting your college list for those folks who are wondering about, um, Uh, research will also have a master class on the college interview on February 12th. We’ll talk about why college admissions health is integral on February 21st and we’ll close out the month.

I’m maximizing summer break and building your resume on the 27th. So we have a lot more happening this month. So we hope you will join us, but that is it for now. Take everybody have a good evening a morning day, depending on your time zone. All right. Take care. Y’all.

Angela: Hi, everyone.

Brandon: Take care. Everyone.