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Winning college admission game
By Mark Weaser |
September 28, 2011, Wednesday
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I have to admit that I became a crazy parent who obsessed too much over my teenager's journey into the hyper competitive world of US university admissions. Over the last several years, I bought way too many books on how to ace the SAT test or write that winning college essay. Most were never opened. I spent way too many hours scouring college admissions websites looking for those few golden nuggets of advice that just might help get my daughter that fat acceptance envelope. To my daughter's credit, most of the advice was acknowledged but not always taken. She often correctly reminded me that while she appreciated my help, that this was "her" process.
I guess a psychologist would tell me that I was trying to excise the ghosts of my own painful afternoon in the spring of 1980 when as a middle class over-achieving California teenager, I opened the mailbox only to see my dream shattered by that thin rejection envelope from my top choice college.
So another college admissions cycle has passed and thousands of parents ask the same question. "Why did my straight A, top of the class, well-rounded son/daughter get a string of rejection letters from top college choices?"
Well first of all, the numbers for the Class of 2015 are more sobering than ever. Most of the top US universities experienced record high numbers of applications and record low rates of acceptances. Harvard and Stanford, two of the world's most famous universities, received approximately 35,000 applications this year and accepted 6.2 percent and 7.1 percent of its applicants respectively.
Granted, only a small fraction of high school students around the world aspire to enter the top tier of universities in the US. But with over 20,000 high schools in the US and thousands of international school students, top universities have their choice of valedictorians and high performing students to choose from. The process today is more competitive than ever and the ill prepared parent or student will face an uphill battle. Top schools are able to fill their respective entering classes several times over with little difference in the academic quality of those students who received offers and those who didn't.
Having just gone through this process as a parent, there are a few good pieces of advice, weaned from other more experienced in these matters than myself that are worth considering if your child wants to maximize his chances of getting accepted into a top school in his/her academic range.
1) Success in life is never defined by the pedigree of your university education.
2) Manage your and yourchild's expectations.
3) Help your child find his/her academic and extracurricular passions.
4) Start standardized testing early.
5) Help your son/daughter stay organized in the college admissions process.
6) Resist the temptation to write or edit your son/daughter's application and essays.
7) Give your kids active summers to develop their passions.
University admissions are keen to understand what makes a student tick intellectually and many look for clues to this by analyzing what a student has done during their high school summers with the resources available.
Winning the college admissions game is about finding a school that is the right fit for your teenager, academically and personally, where they will be happy and motivated. There are many schools that can fit this profile for your son/daughter. With proper research, preparation and expectations management, this story can have a happy ending.
Mark Weaser is a Shanghai-based businessman and father to Natasha Weaser (YCIS Shanghai '11 and Stanford University '15)
I guess a psychologist would tell me that I was trying to excise the ghosts of my own painful afternoon in the spring of 1980 when as a middle class over-achieving California teenager, I opened the mailbox only to see my dream shattered by that thin rejection envelope from my top choice college.
So another college admissions cycle has passed and thousands of parents ask the same question. "Why did my straight A, top of the class, well-rounded son/daughter get a string of rejection letters from top college choices?"
Well first of all, the numbers for the Class of 2015 are more sobering than ever. Most of the top US universities experienced record high numbers of applications and record low rates of acceptances. Harvard and Stanford, two of the world's most famous universities, received approximately 35,000 applications this year and accepted 6.2 percent and 7.1 percent of its applicants respectively.
Granted, only a small fraction of high school students around the world aspire to enter the top tier of universities in the US. But with over 20,000 high schools in the US and thousands of international school students, top universities have their choice of valedictorians and high performing students to choose from. The process today is more competitive than ever and the ill prepared parent or student will face an uphill battle. Top schools are able to fill their respective entering classes several times over with little difference in the academic quality of those students who received offers and those who didn't.
Having just gone through this process as a parent, there are a few good pieces of advice, weaned from other more experienced in these matters than myself that are worth considering if your child wants to maximize his chances of getting accepted into a top school in his/her academic range.
1) Success in life is never defined by the pedigree of your university education.
2) Manage your and yourchild's expectations.
3) Help your child find his/her academic and extracurricular passions.
4) Start standardized testing early.
5) Help your son/daughter stay organized in the college admissions process.
6) Resist the temptation to write or edit your son/daughter's application and essays.
7) Give your kids active summers to develop their passions.
University admissions are keen to understand what makes a student tick intellectually and many look for clues to this by analyzing what a student has done during their high school summers with the resources available.
Winning the college admissions game is about finding a school that is the right fit for your teenager, academically and personally, where they will be happy and motivated. There are many schools that can fit this profile for your son/daughter. With proper research, preparation and expectations management, this story can have a happy ending.
Mark Weaser is a Shanghai-based businessman and father to Natasha Weaser (YCIS Shanghai '11 and Stanford University '15)
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