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Admissions Blog

{image id=1371001 size=large align=center byline=true caption="The pro-Palestine encampment entered its third day on Friday morning, as College administrators returned to the scene record the ID numbers of protesters."}

{image id=1371001 size=large align=center byline=true caption="Pro-Palestine activists remained camped out in Harvard Yard into Thursday morning. Harvard has yet to ask the protesters to disperse or say whether they will face disciplinary action."}

Live Updates: Harvard Yard Rally

{image id=1370912 size=large align=center byline=true caption="Students gathered in Harvard Yard Wednesday afternoon to protest the in support of Palestine."}

I remember the day and morning before my standardized test. I was almost in tears because of the Math section I feared so much. But perhaps others also taking the test had less to be worried about: such is the persuasive case presented in the new book “Sneak Attack” by Peter Wayner.

Technology is always a cat-and-mouse game between those with malice in mind, who use technological knowledge to aide their wrongdoing, and those who wish to maintain equity and use these advancements for good. Unbeknownst to many of us college students, College Board test takers have used technology to jump leagues ahead on our most important college preparation test by cheating.

“Sneak Attack” enters the world of these high school geeks. Taking a conversation with a Brooklyn Science grad, as well as many other technical sources, Wayner exposes the simple fact that “anyone could cheat on the SAT” by highlighting tactics that any savvy high schooler may employ:

There are two very well-known facts about highly-selective admissions among Asian American applicants:

1. Asian American applicants and admittances, on average, score higher on the SAT than students from any other race.

2. While the percentage of students belonging to most other racial minorities in highly selective colleges have gone up over the years, the percentage of Asian-American students has not.

Taken together, these facts have spurred worry among many potential Asian American applicants and their families that selective college admission is biased against students of Asian descent—that an already very competitive pool is made even more competitive because of their race alone. This fear has been fueled by findings from the Department of Education’s investigation into allegations that Harvard and Princeton discriminated against Asian American applicants in 2012, as well as the recent national debate over affirmative action.

However, according to Jason Lewis, an admissions expert working for InGenius Prep with several years of admissions experience at Columbia and Washington University, all applications in his experience are reviewed on an individual basis.

TO BAN OR NOT TO BAN? The decision is out! This week, Supreme Court justices voted, 6-2, in favor of keeping the Michigan law that prevents public colleges from factoring race into the admissions process. What does this mean for the future of affirmative action policies? Let the debate begin.

CIAO, COMMON APP: The idea of going to school abroad can seem daunting to some students. For international students applying to U.S. colleges, the U.S. college application process can also seem very foreign. Huffington Post writers offered their advice to international students applying to U.S. schools by suggesting that students plan ahead to make sure they meet all their deadlines and to make sure they know about all the different tests that U.S. schools accept (SAT, ACT, subject tests, etc.).

WELCOME, CLASS OF 2018: In this year’s admissions process, Harvard University accepted a record number of African American students for the Class of 2018 at 11.9 percent of all the accepted applicants. But wait, that’s not all! 14.3 percent of Williams College’s Class of 2018 are of African American descent as well.

COMPETING IN THE IVY LEAGUE: Are all Ivies made equal? Maybe not. Between the application rounds for the Class of 2017 and the Class of 2018, the University of Pennsylvania saw a 14.4 percent increase in applications whereas Dartmouth saw a 14.2 percent decrease. Harvard received 2.1 percent less applications. Will this trend continue into future years? Only time will tell.

AMBIGUOUS ADMISSION RATES: Harvard accepted 5.9 percent of its applicants to the Class of 2018. But what does that really mean? Nick Anderson from the Washington Post argues that admission rates can be misleading because of how different schools define an acceptance offer and an application to the school. Anderson says, “Various colleges define applications in various ways. Some are quite strict about only counting apps that have all required elements in a file–essays, test scores, transcripts, letters of recommendation, etc. Others essentially count anyone who starts the process and pays a fee.” So what does Harvard’s 5.9 percent refer to?

UPDATED: April 28, 2014 at 3:55 p.m.

Here’s something you don’t usually hear in discussions about the increasingly competitive landscape of college and graduate school admissions: rejection letters don’t only sadden students. They have the same strong emotional impact on admissions committee members as well.

Angel B. Perez, former Director of Admission and Financial Aid at Pitzer College in Claremont, wrote in his emotional op-ed for the Los Angeles Times that what “families don't see is the amount of emotion that admissions officers across the country pour into making these decisions. These students don't know that behind closed doors, we argue about these difficult decisions. Each of us fights for the kids in admissions committee meetings, and we're truly sad when we turn away applicants…”

Jean Webb—the former Director of Admissions at Yale Law School and current admissions counselor for InGenius Prep—felt similarly to Angel Perez when discussing her emotional reactions to making decisions on law school applications.