And so it begins

Well, hello juniors. We first welcomed you to Life After Visi here:

http://lifeaftervisi.blogspot.com/2010/11/happy-new-year.html

but that was in honor of our Junior Parent Night and we are just now getting around to meeting you in person! Junior college counseling groups began last week and, while second semester lacks the same wide awake back to school energy that September does, we hope you are excited to begin the college process. Okay, maybe "excited" is the wrong word. How about...curious?eager?ready? Maybe we should settle for "a college counseling class is better than a root canal."

In all seriousness, our goal is not to add pressure or to add one more thing to add to your "to do" list. Our aim is to teach you everything you need to know about the process and how to find your dream school. That way, when you come back to see us next September, you just have to fill out some forms and write a few essays (do I hear snickering from the senior lodge?). I think that second semester junior year is truly the best part of the college process. There are no looming deadlines and no decisions that have to be made right this second. Think of it as an extended shopping excursion. I know that you have logged hours searching the internet for the perfect dress or pair of shoes. Now is the time to shop for the perfect college! We can't wait to help you.

Published by: TSM

Mail Call

A stack of college newsletters awaited Team Fennessey after break. They are mostly updates about Early Action and Early Decision review and one important update regarding mid-year grades. Here are some highlights:

• Georgetown University received 6600 Early Action applicantions, and offered admission to 17% of the candidates. Average class rank of these admitted superstars? Top 3%. Mean SAT Critical Reading and Math 680-780 on each section. They do not consider the Writing portion of the SAT.
• Rice University received over 1,000 applications for their Early Decision program, and offered admission to only 298 students. They anticipate over 13,000 applications after the Regular Decision deadline.
• Boston College received 6200 Early Action applications (a 7% increase from last year) and admitted 43% of them. Last year, about 20% of the students who were deferred Early Action were admitted in the Regular Decision review process.
• UNC Chapel Hill received over 14,000 applicants for their first deadline. Important: If you are a UNC Chapel Hill applicant who is admitted during the first deadline or has applied for the second deadline, you are required to self report your midyear grades online. Most colleges ask us to report your grades, so this is different than what is expected from most colleges.
• Ah, Stanford. They received a record-breaking number of Restrictive Early Action applications (5929), an increase of 6% from the previous year. They admitted a whopping 754 of these applicants. Do the math - that's a 13% admit rate. Ouch! Adding insult to injury, only 9% of the students who weren't offered admission were deferred to the Regular Decision process. Everyone else was denied admission.

Good luck finishing up your applications and studying for exams!

Published by TSM