We are going to make this post very succinct to emphasize this article: High Schoolers Need to Do Less So That They Can Do Better, by Tim Donahue. It's very timely at the start of a new academic year.

"We have pushed high school students into maximizing every part of their days and nights. Those who take the bait are remarkably compliant, diluting themselves between their internships and Canva presentations. We condition students to do a so-so job and then move on to the next thing. We need to let them slow down. Critical cognition, by definition, takes time.
The underbelly of grade inflation is that now the ambitious student must clear more time in their schedule for the stuff that really makes a difference. Harvard’s dean of undergraduate education, Amanda Claybaugh, said: “Students feel the need to distinguish themselves outside the classroom because they are essentially indistinguishable inside the classroom. Extracurriculars, which should be stress-relieving, become stress-producing."

Before you read on, you MUST read this article! Thanks to the NYT, we have an article that clearly addresses all the issues when applicants are considering the most rejective schools in the USA.

​Moving on now....

When we start working with students, it always seems like there is so much ahead to do to cross the finish line. However, April of senior year inevitably comes so quickly with lots of admission decision considerations.

Reflecting upon decisions this year, they were largely what we expected with only a few surprises.  UC schools are receiving more applications and becoming even harder, especially for California residents. We found they are starting to lean more on institutional priorities, as evidenced by the selective majors at UCSD. Further, computer science remains in very high demand and those programs are only increasing in selectivity. Students/families are going to have to adjust their expectations of what schools are going to be realistic for them knowing that all colleges and universities have strengths and can provide an amazing experience.

In our work, we are trying to balance motivating students to pursue their goals, but also keep their feet grounded in understanding selection is based on much more than grades/courses. We also widened our learning curve by visiting several campuses in the previous few months as an in-person visit offers tangible lessons. Our campus visits in three different states encourages us to dive into the nuances of the academic and cultural fit of the colleges for our students. Our visits--

• Florida: University of Miami, University of Tampa, Eckerd College, Everglades Univ, Florida Gulf Coast University, Lynn University;
• California: Other visits the Claremont colleges and Redlands University
• Arizona: the four campuses of Arizona State University, and the Grand Canyon University in Phoenix. 

​For your reading, we recommend this article: Does an Ivy League Degree Matter.

Today, Nov. 30th, is always a monumental date in college admission--all the November apps are done and submitted! All the early Nov. 1 apps are done, University of Washington's Nov. 15th deadline is behind us, and the UC and CalState app deadline of Nov. 30th passes by.

We want to congratulate all our amazing seniors for getting to this point and submitting so many apps! It's not been easy for anyone, and we are noticing the effects that the COVID shutdowns and online schooling had on so many of our students. Our students have pushed themselves and shown great resilience to get so far. 

Additionally, many ICC students have already received wonderful offers of admission. Remember all offers of admission are offers and should be welcomed. Being welcomed to a college or university is worthy of appreciation and gratitude.

​A few interesting updates about admissions since our last post:

• More states are starting to adopt Direct Admission programs as outlines in this article by Inside Higher Ed. with the goal of encouraging students who would not even set up an application, let alone apply. Further, it's largely for institutions that are either open access or with high admit rates, but it's important to stay aware of possible changes which could mimic Texas where all schools participate, some with higher thresholds.
• Did you know that through November, 1st 836,679 "distinct first-year applicants" had applied to 834 colleges via the Common Application? That is A LOT of students--imagine all the essay writing!!
• Colleges and universities are becoming more creative at attracting students for enrollment, especially with the looming demographic cliff. There is already evidence of growing competition amongst states and even countries for the declining number of students. 
• We are often asked about how universities make selection. It's tough for universities, especially as grade inflation  (requires subscription) continues. 

To write strong essays, here's a helpful checklist for students to follow:
​

• My topic is manageable
• Sentences are varied (complex, compound, simple)
• I do not have “around me” in my essay (e.g.: the world around me; the people around me)
• My sentences have different beginnings
• I have run the Google spelling and grammar check
• I don’t use: will be able to / am able to / was able to / allowed me to
  I was able to learn  VS  I learned
  Reading allowed me to learn VS I learned from reading. In the former sentence, "reading" has the power whereas in the latter, "I" has the power.
  **Make YOU the subject of the sentence!** 
• I avoid using the word "thing," and always use a better, stronger word
• I write in the active voice, not the passive voice
• I don't use pronouns that include the reader (you), as those read like you're making assumptions about others
• Spelling, punctuation, and capitalization is all correct; check those proper nouns!
• I embrace the comma!

            Quick rules for commas
            Extended rules for commas (esp. when using the word "but")

• My essay is not just 1 big paragraph; and my Personal Statement has at least 3 paragraphs (intro, body, conclusion). 
• I’ve shown off my strong and varied vocabulary instead of the typical overused blah words.
• I slowly, carefully, and thoroughly proofread my essay before submitting for review​
• I enjoyed reading my essay (hint: if you don't enjoy it, it's likely that others won't either).

The recent SCOTUS decision regarding affirmative action in college admission didn't necessarily come as a surprise to us. We have been asking Admisssions staff for the past many months about their thoughts and unequivocally, all are committed to building a diverse and welcoming campus environment that enriches learning for all students. Diverse perspectives, backgrounds, and viewpoints in conversations, interactions, and work make students stronger and more prepared for success. 

Prior to this decision, Washington State passed Initiative 200 in 1998 and was one of nine states that had already banned the consideration of race in university admission. The others were: Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Oklahoma, New Hampshire, Michigan, and Nebraska.

However, as Chief Justice John Roberts wrote in his ruling, “nothing prohibits universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected the applicant’s life, so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability that the particular applicant can contribute to the university.”

In reading between the lines coupled with our experience in working with universities that already did not consider race in admission decisions, we expect to see more opportunities for students to write about their experiences and extrapolating meaning from those experiences in addition to academic achievements, activities, and all the other parts of the application. Holistic review is very valuable, and now more so than ever. We will continue to encourage students to be mindful and reflect upon experiences that shaped them and how they can incorporate those perspectives into their applications.

ICC had a very busy spring!

• We attended a session from Wentworth Institute of Technology, a hidden gem in the heart of Boston!
• We also attended a counselor breakfast with many schools from the ARROW group.
• ICC went on a week long tour of colleges in the Boston area with proper visits and tours of Tufts, Northeastern, Brandeis, Boston U., Harvard, Babson, Suffolk, Boston College, MIT, Emerson, Bentley. We visited several other campuses including Emmanuel College, Mass College of Art & Design, Simmons, Wentworth Inst. of Tech., Wellesley, and Olin College of Engineering. While in Boston, we also attended the NACAC Fair and got even more great info! It was a very full and fruitful week!
• The 3 day Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) conference was also a great highlight and conveniently hosted here in Seattle! This was a great opportunity to meet other accomplished  professionals and esteemed colleagues from across the world. The IECA workshops, speaker series and hosted college presentations enhanced our professional learning and reinforced our ethical standards in guiding families and students. Notable were sessions (e.g how Generative AI may impact admissions) that help us stay current and motivate us to remain professionally active and mentally agile.
• The Seattle Area College Counselor (SACC) group continues to be a strong and beneficial resource for us. We did a presentation on working with immigrant families, visited Univ. of Puget Sound, Seattle Univ., and DigiPen as a Counselor group.

Our biggest takeaways are that we are again reminded how there are amazing colleges and universities for all students with plenty of opportunities, rich learning, and so much more, and how students narrowly focus on very few, highly-rejective schools.

Oh, March...what a bittersweet month you are...  So many emotions with admission decisions across the board, but as we write this in late May, we find that all of our students are now excited about where they are going and the initial sting of some decisions has waned. 

April was especially busy for us with professional development which we will share with you in a future post because we're really excited this month to do something a bit different on our blog and post an article from one of the parents with whom we have worked. We absolutely loved the writeup they sent and thankfully got permission to share it with you.  We hope you also enjoy it!
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Coast to Coast College Campus Tours: A Parent’s Perspective
~Nehal D.

Graduating high school and making decisions about college are tough times in a young person’s life. It is a time of mixed emotions both for the college bound young adult and the parent. Feelings of excitement, anxiety, fear of the unknown, and the anticipation of what the future can hold are some of the most predominant ones. Recently, I had the opportunity to partake in the “which college to go to” decision with my 17-year-old son. What a privilege this was, as most teenagers want nothing to do with their adult’s opinion. This is a parent’s perspective on the schools my son ultimately narrowed down his choices to and those we visited.

We have lived across the United States from the east coast to the mid-west to the west coast, so he decided to apply across the board. He received many acceptances, many wait lists, and a few rejections. The acceptances were emotional highs, and the wait lists and rejections were definite emotional lows, but as with many things in life, a little bit of time helped heal those momentary blows. And then to look at it realistically, he had many acceptances and options!

At the end he narrowed his options down to three business schools that fit his unique persona, based on major, finances and best cultural fit for him. He is a business major, with a concentration in marketing. These were his choices in the school of business: Northeastern University, Santa Clara University, and Indiana University. (Like I said across the US) We visited all three schools, and this was my perspective on how each presented themselves on the day of admitted student tours.

Northeastern University located in Boston, MA (sprawling a few city blocks) did an outstanding job welcoming us and helping us recognize the culture and fit of the school. They served both breakfast and lunch and had a solid welcome ceremony. It was informative about the history of the school and the admitted students’ statistics. They had many informative sessions we attended:

• The Global Scholars program.
• D’Amore-McKim School of Business session, with a panel of 2 students, a professor from the business school and a co-op coordinator.
• Panel of professors from four different disciplines: supply chain; English; human resources, etc.).
• The very last session at the end of day was a free forum to speak with faculty, co-op coordinator and students.

I thought this format gave us a real feel of the students, the faculty, the types of co-ops available and how competitive they are. We met a student (junior) at the last session, who was pursuing exactly what my son wanted to do. It was very beneficial to speak with students to discuss the pros and cons about the program. Also, it helped us learn and recognize what the culture is like there and if you could see yourself there. What I did not like, is the Global Scholars session, I did not think it was worthwhile as it did not provide additional information than what was shared in the brochure. Also, I felt this program would be very disruptive to the student’s college experience, by being in four different locations in the first two years. Overall, I think they did a well-rounded job giving us the opportunity to feel what the University is like from an academic and cultural point.

The second school we visited was Santa Clara University located in Silicon Valley. This is a very beautiful, picturesque campus. They served breakfast and lunch and had a fanfare type of welcome ceremony with a few freebies to give away. They had the band and cheerleaders out to welcome the admitted students and families. They spoke about their Jesuit values and history behind the school.

• The first session for us was the housing session, we had the opportunity to see what I believe was one of their nicer housing options. It was well maintained and clean. Also, each of their housing buildings have a resident professor who helps with anything students need, from advice to sometimes a home cooked meal.
• The next session was the SCU Leavey School of Business overview, led by the Dean of their business school. It was a generic session with stats and numbers. It did not impress or persuade me as to why I should send my son here. It boasted about its’ great alumni network, and their location in Silicon Valley.
• The next session was a Marketing concentration session. There was the Marketing professor and 3 to 4 students representing. It was a standard overview on the concept of Marketing. All questions asked to the professor were directed back to the marketing students to answer. The students did answer them well, but I am not sure if that was the intent of the session. However, I felt I could have been at any local college and received the same experience.

Overall, I believe the opportunities to network and make some connections are available here, however, I am unsure about the academics he would receive.

The third and last school on the list was Indiana University, Bloomington, IN. They had a breakfast and a solid welcome ceremony, about their history, academics, and IU Sports. Indiana University is one of the prettiest campuses for sure. I am told the Fall colors are stunning. This tour was broken up into three different sessions.

• The first session was the actual walking campus tour. This was long but was a very valuable tour given by a current student. This tour took us throughout the campus, we learned some history and mainly about the school from a student’s perspective. Which included academics, housing, meal plans, Greek Life, sporting events and clubs, visiting the different buildings -gym, library, bookstore, meal option locations and on campus bus locations.
• The second session was a large panel consisting of two students, a representative of new student experience, an advisory committee member, a faculty member. This was a pertinent session filled with information from many perspectives and then questions from the audience.
• The third session was all about the Kelley School of Business with two representatives. This was the most organized and solid program from the three schools. It had a lot of great information, accompanied by a brochure book about the Kelley School of Business- explains everything about the program, concentration and major/minor options and any questions.

Although IU is a very large school and out in Bloomington, an hour away from Indianapolis, I thought it presented itself as a solid University and with a sound business program. The one key thing worth mentioning about IU, is every representative student who spoke all mentioned the advisors are readily available to guide your career when registering for classes and throughout the entire four years.

To sum it all up, I believe all three schools were good options. It helped to go visit on their admitted student days, as it provided a different perspective than what I learned from reading about them online. Some schools did a better job representing themselves than others, however, I don’t believe that is the only thing to look at here. I think the visits help take away some pressure to go to a name brand school, while also helps figure out if the fit is correct for your student. At the end, the decision must be based on what you value the most and where you believe your student will succeed.

A MUST READ! If you like to read rankings and rely on them in any way, it's important to hear the perspective of institutions who have a very bittersweet relationship with them. This article is very important to read to gain another viewpoint you don't often hear.

The 6 Colleges had a counselor webinar in late February where many issues were addressed including the future of continuing their testing policies, upcoming changes to FAFSA, chat GPT, the anticipated Supreme Court ruling regarding race in college admission, how the work of Admissions is tied to the respective school's goals and mission, and much more. One of the key takeaways was "more is not better" citing the example of  AP + IB courses taken simultaneously by students trying to shape a strong profile. Highly selective colleges understand the pressures this puts on students and they want to see applicants who can choose classes carefully based on their needs, abilities, and maturity.

This webinar also address the huge surge in STEM nationally no matter the size of the school. These institutions mentioned how they appreciate students wanting to participate in all classes and not just in their major.-related classes. Interdisciplinary studies and social studies are also growing, and humanities isn't going away, but is waning. All of these institutions are feeling the difficulties of hiring CS faculty, a national challenge. They did also mention how it is "exciting" to read apps where students want to study classics or other unusual areas.

They did mention that the application should showcase what motivates students, what excites them, and how students engage in their interests, and this can also be showcased in letters of recommendation.

Overall, admissions is being very thoughtful about many upcoming significant changes while remaining focused on their institutional missions and goals.

Shifting gears, as we feel prices rising just about everywhere due to inflation, we are expecting higher ed to increase tuition. An article recently published about Stanford raising tuition 7% is here. In previous years, Stanford has raised tuition 4% so this is a significant increase and other institutions are expected to follow suit. However, Stanford has also adjusted their financial aid threshold. Here is another interesting article on UC enrollment numbers in the context of surging demand.  

A new calendar year brings new beginnings, large or small. Perhaps this is an opportune time for you to watch this video, one of the most highly viewed TED Talks, to re-think education and its future, and perhaps who you are and who your student is within this realm.

For our growth, ICC did some college visits to Cal State San Marcos, UC San Diego, University of San Diego, UNLV, College of Southern Nevada, and the Claremont Colleges. We also attended webinars for UPenn, Claremont Colleges, Yale, Rice, Tufts, and Johns Hopkins. 

The Common App published trends through January 1 noting "rapid growth in applicant and application totals over the past 3 seasons...with underrepresented minorities and first-generation applicants increasing faster....  The majority of applicants continue to hail from the wealthiest zip codes. The number of applicants residing outside the USA increased at nearly triple the rate of applicants in the USA since 2019-20."