Response to Elena: there are few early birds

Posted by Dee 

Glad you sent in your question, Elena! (on the AdmitSpit post titled, “Just got a comment…“)

“What’s the point of sending SAT/ACT scores to colleges before senior year? I was trying to guess-timate the costs of applying to college, and I was guessing it’d be about $100 per college with all the tests and whatnot needed to be sent in addition to the actual app. I’ve heard that large colleges like the UCs don’t bother looking at students’ scores because they receive so many, and I’m guessing many privates hold the same policy? Do you know if colleges keep these files on record, or do you have to re-send the scores when you apply there?”

You are partially correct.

The University of California campuses (and probably also most other large public institutions) DO NOT keep your scores on record if you send them before you

Response to Kathleen: Common App and stickers?

Posted by Dee

Kathleen left a very sweet comment on our latest AdmitSpit post titled, “Just got a comment…” saying:

“… I recently visited a college, and they gave me a sample of the 2006-2007 common application. On this application was a sticker saying “application fee waived”. The problem is, the application is for the 2006-2007 season, and I won’t be applying until this fall. Should I remove the sticker from the common application papers? Also, does the common application require fees to send online?”

I think Kathleen that the whole point was indeed to give you a “sample” of the Common App so you could get the gist of the types of questions they give in essays and short answers, etc. I don’t think that they necessarily actually wanted you to use that 2006-2007 form to apply for the 2007-2008 year. So no, you shouldn’t remove the sticker from the common application papers because you shouldn’t actually use those papers at all (and if you’re thinking of reattaching the sticker to the correct version of the Common App papers, I say that’s just a bad idea!)

The Common App does require fees — but those are simply the fees that the

Just got a comment…

Posted by Dee 

So, we just enabled a comment from Theron on the AdmitSpit post titled “Response to Theron: A-levels, SATs, and decisions, oh my!“

And, first I wanted to say, glad to be of help!

And second, I wanted to say that I’m sorry we haven’t posted for some time now — I must admit I’m sort of stuck for content ideas. Please send comments our way with any issues you have in general about the college admissions process so we can write again!

Thank you, thank you!!

Marilee… she rolls along

Posted by Dee

Did you hear about MIT’s ex-admissions dean?

Yeah, the one who’s been preaching about not stressing out students and how people should just relax over college admissions and how doing what you love is more important than shooting for an incredible resume, etc. for the past few years?

Well, if you haven’t heard, she just resigned. Why? She lied on her resume… and not something small either! Here are the links to the articles about it… cream-of-the-crop college admissions gossip indeed!

Here’s the Associated Press article about it, and here are the statements released by MIT and Marilee Jones.

All I can say is… total irony.

Appealing UC admissions decisions

Posted by Dee

Denied admission to a UC you really wanted to attend? You may be able to appeal the decision. Know that each UC campus deals with appeals for admissions decisions separately and they each differ in their policies. Below is a breakdown for each campus based on the information I could find about their appeals process; I regret if some of the information in terms of deadlines is now obselete!

UC Berkeley: No information about the appeals process on their website that I could find.

UC Los Angeles: Basically UCLA says that you can appeal if you “bring to light new academic and personal information… that was not present in the application” and that high senior year grades are not a basis for appealing. You’d need to send a letter requesting your application to be reconsidered; this should be postmarked April 16, 2007. The letter needs to explain reasons for appealing the decision, including “new and compelling” information that doesn’t repeat what’s already in your app. Also, you can include up to two letters of recommendation with your

Response to Theron: A-levels, SATs, and decisions, oh my!

Posted by Dee

Prepare for a long comment folks! From Theron in England:

“Hi, I’m posting because I have two worries concerning college applications, one of which concerns SAT scores.

1) In the Sat I received a score of 2220, with 800 in Writing and 800 in Critical Reading but 620 in Maths. I am planning to apply to the top colleges in America, and am therefore wondering if I should retake the SAT in the hope of receiving a higher Maths score, as I realise it’s below average for a top university. However, I don’t think it’s worth the effort to retake the entire exam for the sake of a few extra points, as this is a good reflection of my current ability in Maths (I was getting 580 in practice tests). I attend school in England, meaning I have A levels to study for and I don’t think I can devote more time for Maths, which I’m not taking at A Level. Any guidance as to whether I should retake the SAT 1 is much appreciated.

2) My second problem is the fact that the SAT 2 (subject tests) don’t really fit my abilities. I am doing Geography, Economics, Medieval History and English for A level, so I have decided to definitely do Literature as one of my subject tests, but the other three subjects aren’t offered as SAT subjects. I have to decide whether it’s worth me spending a large proportion of my time studying for the French Subject Test or Biology Subject Test when I have to revise for my A Levels between now and May as well. Although I am relatively good at French and Bio, I have looked at the preparation books for these tests and I will have to make a serious commitment to receive a high mark in the SAT tests.

Any feedback is much appreciated, and sorry my post is so long thx.”

Well, Theron, before being able to offer any guidance, I had to first decode half of your comment. Haha. No really though, what are these “A levels” of which you speak?

Apparently, A-Levels, short for Advanced Level, are optional exams taken by students in the UK in various subjects. The tests are graded A through E, with a U for a failed grade. Apparently, as compared with similar US exams, like APs, A-Levels provide more depth into each topic, but they’ve been criticized for exactly this reason in that most A-Level students will only take three, maybe four, subjects in their last year which doesn’t provide much breadth of study, especially when many students choose related topics (and compare that with the usual six to eight classes most US high school seniors take in varying subjects). But, A-Levels also come in tons of different flavors — unlike our 20 SAT Subject Tests and 37 AP courses available — totaling nearly, if not more than, 100! (Thank you, Wikipedia!)

So, now to your problem #1.

I think it’s clear you know that you should not retake the SAT exam. A 2220 is a very decent score, and believe me, I’m thoroughly impressed with your two 800 scores! Yes, your math score is low, but with your insight that you doubt it will improve plus saying you don’t really have time to make it improve drastically, I say, what’s the use in a retake? Read the post titled, “Response to Britt on SAT retakes” for the details on our thinking on that note.

So, problem #1 is solved satisfactorily I think. The overall 2220 score is totally fine, and after all, it’s not like you’re applying to be a math major! … Right?

Now onto problem #2.

Well, Theron, you’re right about this one that they definitely don’t offer three out of your four A-levels in SAT Subject Test form. So, definitely do the Literature SAT Subject test, and then from there I guess you have two options: 1.) revise your A-Levels to fit with the SAT Subject Tests — like doing French or Biology to replace

An exclusive Q&A with Zinch.com’s Mick Hagen

Posted by Doreen

A new site, Zinch.com, founded by Princeton student Mick Hagen, is live and, might I say, pretty cool! Here’s an exclusive Q&A with Mick. If you have questions for him, leave a comment. He’s a really nice guy (see photo) and I’m sure he’s up for answering any queries you may have!

Doreen: So, Mick, Zinch.com was launched just this week. How does it feel?

Mick: Doreen, my oh my. It feels so good. No. I take that back. It feels great! After months and months of brainstorming, research, broken pencils, programming, headaches, late nights, sack lunches, and prayers… we’re finally live. Now we just gotta preach the good news of Zinch, and let the students know about it.

Doreen: So, what is Zinch? Tell us about what it does for students, and how it works on the admission officer’s side as well.

Mick: Zinch.com is a tool to level the playing field in college admissions by giving every high school student in America the opportunity to showcase themselves, communicating those talents and accomplishments that make them unique. This information is then sent to the specified college or university the student wishes

They’re out to make college admissions a zinch

Posted by Dee 

Not sure if you’ve heard, but there’s a new college admissions site on the World Wide Web that we here at AdmitSpit think any soon-to-be college applicants may want to check out.

It’s called Zinch, and we’ll post a Q&A with Zinch’s President Mick Hagen (who by the way is taking a year off from Princeton University to test the Internet business waters!) in the next few days.

So look forward to that before the weekend, and in the meantime, check them out – the video that’s on their homepage when you click on the “What’s Zinch?” button is particularly helpful; they’ve got some pretty cool features and scholarship money up for grabs too.

Ranking run-ins

Posted by Dee

Not unlike most years, the U.S. News and World Report 2008 college rankings are of course expected to receive controversy when published in August this year… but there’s a new something festering beneath the tidy, numerical surface this time.

Plenty have spoken out publicly against the rankings over the years, but not college administrators, who, if anything, bow down to the wondrous accuracy of the rankings in hopes of being boosted up them… I don’t call that subjective at all. But this year, it seems more college presidents are out to complain… finally!

According to an article published today in Inside Higher Ed, nearly a dozen liberal arts colleges are set to join the initiative that Sarah Lawrence College’s president, Michele Tolela Myers, began Sunday — against the revered U.S. News rankings. Apparently, Sunday Ms. Myers publicly charged the publication with making up data about Sarah Lawrence (apparently the issue is that Sarah Lawrence made the decision not to collect or use SAT scores in their admissions process so U.S. News decided to make up an average SAT score… one standard deviation lower than the SAT averages of schools similar to Sarah Lawrence!) So now, a handful

When to know if you’re accepted: season 2007

Posted by Dee

It’s almost March, which means that results from regular admissions will start trickling in soon enough.

Since there seems to be no comprehensive list anywhere on the Internet that compiles the dates when each of the top schools report their decisions for regular admissions, we at AdmitSpit created one. The name of each school, along with the date you should expect a response and any special notes are provided. This data was taken from each college’s admissions Web site. This post will likely be updated with more detailed dates and times as deadlines approach and colleges release more precise information about when notifications will be sent out.

Brown: Decisions will be mailed “end of March” 2007, and definitely they will be mailed no later than in the first week of April.

CIT: Decisions mailed “late March/early April.”

Columbia University: Regular Decision application decisions are mailed out in the first week of April, along with invitations for on-campus and regional programs for accepted students.

Cornell: Regular Decision application decisions for Agriculture and Life Sciences, Hotel Administration, and Industrial and Labor Relations are rolling starting in the