The Insider: College Admissions Advice from the Experts

Can you believe it’s nearly August?  Because the Common Application goes “live” on August 1, some would argue the last week of July is the last week of summer.  While technically it’s still summer, time is passing!  So what’s your college application plan?  Your child’s future is nearly here.  Are you ready?  Do you have your timeline set for the next few months?  Know what’s coming?  You can learn how to have a stress free rest-of-summer with our "Ten pre-application steps."  Download it now before the summer passes you by!

When the junior year winds down, it’s hard to focus on anything outside standardized testing, but students should be aware that the last month or two of school is also the perfect time to approach teachers for a letter of recommendation. This soon?  Yes — this soon. Because “this” really isn’t all that “soon.”  Starting the college admissions process early is key to keeping everyone's stress levels down.  After all, college application deadlines start as early as next fall — they’ll be upon you before you know it!

In an effort to beat back the demographic headwinds now working against them, some colleges and universities are coming up with ever more clever ways to maintain their “uber-selective” titles.  They're using every weapon within their recruitment and selectivity arsenal — from demographics to yield to just plain making it easy to apply — to improve their relative rank.

Can students be blamed for thinking they have to apply to 100 colleges just to get admitted somewhere?  Think about it. The population of high school graduates was supposed to have peaked in 2008, but colleges and universities are still finding creative ways to round up new applicants. As a result, admit rates are being driven down to staggering levels.  A few examples:

Recently, my colleague, Marj Southworth, and I met with 25 residents of the Light House, a maternity home in Kansas City providing comprehensive care for young women facing unplanned pregnancies.  Ranging in age from 14 to 30, the women we met were all in different stages of their educational careers.

Over the last week I enjoyed four conversations with four different college bound students about their summer plans: