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Archive for: College Admissions Counselor

College Admissions Counselor


A college admissions counselor doesn’t want to read an essay about your trip to India. Why not? Because a college admissions counselor doesn’t make a ton of money and their schedule may not afford them the chance to travel as well. If you’re seventeen years old and you get to travel the world and see the great sights of India, how do you think it’ll make someone older feel when they don’t have this same opportunity? It’s simple psychology. It causes resentment. Do you think a college admissions counselor is likely to go to bat for a candidate they resent or rather one they like? It’s a no-brainer.

College Counselor, Admission Counselor, Admissions Counselor, University Admissions Counselor

Don’t write about your trip to India. A college admissions counselor won’t want to read about it in your college essay.

Similarly, a college admissions counselor doesn’t want to read your essay about sports. Do you know how many applications they have to read? Do you know how many college essays they have to read? Do you think the vast majority of these college essays are original? Do you think most of these essays inspire college admissions counselors and get them to do a happy dance on their desks?  Most college essays submitted to highly selective colleges are just awful. Parents and students may think they know what they should write about, but in our years of experience they are almost always wrong. Writing a college essay about being down three goals to two in the final seconds and scoring the goal that ties it all up at the buzzer is not interesting. And besides it will only hurt your chances for admission because it is trite.

At The Ivy Coach, we help you get inside the head of a college admissions counselor. We don’t suggest that you write what you think a college admissions counselor wants to read. Because they don’t want to read what you think they want to read. We help you come up with ideas that will lead college admissions counselors to say — this is the best essay I’ve read all day. It happens all the time for our students. Know how we know? One student received a rubber-band in the mail from an admissions office. Her college essay was about a rubber-band ball. One student was pulled aside by an admissions officer after being admitted as a transfer and told that his essay was the most powerful they’d ever read in their careers. It’s these kinds of stories that our students experience quite often.

College Counselor


With so many students and so few high school college counselors, the Western Association of College Admission Counseling (WACAC) has begun a campaign to support college counseling throughout the American west. According to WACAC, “the national student-to-counselor ratio is 477 to 1. California’s is 945 to 1.” With such a dismal ratio, high school students – particularly those in less affluent communities – don’t receive the counseling they need to succeed in the college admissions process. They don’t know where they can seek out scholarships. They don’t know which universities they should consider applying to. And they’re overwhelmed, just like the college counselors in these states with enormously high caseloads.

College Counselors, College Counseling, College Admissions Counselor, College Admissions Counselors, College Admissions Counseling

The shortage of college counselors in states like California is a problem that the Western Association for College Admission Counseling is trying to combat.

With states like California in major budget crises, it doesn’t seem this disproportionate college counselor to student ratio is going to be fixed anytime soon. And that’s why WACAC has released the following video, to get the word out and to encourage Americans living in the west to contact their legislators in support of changing this broken system. Take a look at the video below and let us know your thoughts about the college counselor to student ratio in your school district. Are you or is your child getting the college counseling they need to succeed?

Check out WACAC’s video on the need for more college counselors.

University Admissions Counselor


The target demographic for a movie like “Tron” was not senior citizens nor was the target demographic toddlers for “Scream 4.” What does this have to do with the college admissions process you ask? Well, it has everything to do with it. You must know your audience. When filling out the college application and particularly when writing your college essays, it’s important to know who is reading your application and essays. If you’re really intent on attending a particular college, you should know the name of your regional university admissions counselor and make contact with him/her. But that’s not what this post is about. This post is about knowing what kind of person is reading your essays and deciding whether or not you should gain admission.

University Admission Counselors, College Admissions Counselors, College Counselors

It's important to know your audience. Just who is a university admissions counselor?

To put an entire group of people into a category is to stereotype. And that is exactly what we are going to be doing right now. Hey, at least we own it. Social psychologists will point out that stereotypes are in fact often based on truth. Anyway, a university admissions counselor tends to be interested in pursuing a career in higher education. Many assistant directors of admission are right out of college — some went to the very university that they now represent as an an admissions counselor. And still others just love the world of college admissions that they aren’t looking for another type of job in higher education. Maybe they want to move up the ranks and become a dean of admission. University admissions counselors also often come from diverse backgrounds — much like the students they are recruiting and later evaluating.

We hope that gives you some insight into who is reading your application and college essays. Read about the admissions process at Amherst College and about mistakes on the college application.

Demonstrate College Interest


In a personal and revealing op-ed piece in the April 3, 2009 edition of the “Los Angeles Times,” Angel Pérez, the director of admission at Pitzer College in Claremont, CA writes about his experiences in reviewing applications. He talks about how when he visited a high school in his assigned geographic area, one student in particular impressed him. Based on everything that the student accomplished as well as his interests and goals, the student made it clear to Mr. Pérez how he would be just the right fit with Pitzer’s “culture” of social justice and social responsibility.

Admissions deans have found that accepting students who have clearly demonstrated interest increases the college’s yield and positively effects its acceptance rate. The value that the college places on applicants demonstrating interest allows the college to accept a lower percentage of applicants to fill its class, which in turn raises its rankings with “US News and World Report.” For the Class of 2013, the most competitive class in history, we at The Ivy Coach are not surprised that there are long waitlists at most of the highly selective colleges. In fact, we actually predicted this to happen in early blog posts.

The regional admissions counselors from the colleges to which you apply can and do advocate for their students. So when this person visits your high school, make sure that you attend this meeting. These visits typically take place in April, May, June, September, or October. If there is no visit planned, then find out if there’s a scheduled evening visit at a local hotel or at another high school in your area. Before and after you submit your application, follow through with occasional e-mails to your regional admissions counselor. The personal contact that you have made throughout the admissions process just might help you to gain acceptance to the college of your dreams.

In Pérez’s op-ed piece, he states,

“…I also recall the young man from New York City who was academically below our margin. If I had read his application without meeting him, I probably would have denied him admission. But he showed up for my school visit when I was in New York, and had several contacts with me throughout the year. Then I interviewed him, and in my evaluation I wrote, “This kid bleeds Pitzer College.” He was concerned about issues of social justice and social responsibility — two key values that our institution was founded on. Clearly this kid had done his research and was determined to help me realize that he was the right fit.

His application eventually arrived on my desk, and I knew he was not going to be an easy admit. With a GPA below our typical average of 3.9 and no test scores submitted (we are a test-optional institution), the committee was not going to be kind. Therefore, I decided to read parts of his essay out loud to the committee. I needed to make sure they saw him outside the context of his numbers. They laughed out loud in response to this young man’s humor, and they could not believe how much time he took to demonstrate to us how right he was for Pitzer.

I followed up the reading by telling them about my impressions from the interview: “He won’t graduate top of his class, but he is going to be a powerful presence here.” One of our staff members, who was clearly impressed, said, “This kid really does want to change the world, doesn’t he?”

In the end, personal contact made a difference, and the young man’s ability to paint a clear picture as to why he was the perfect match for our institutional culture won us over…”

Check out the “Los Angeles Times” article: College admissions’ wrenching ins and outs. For school officials, deciding on students’ dreams is a difficult, emotional task.

MIT Dean of Admissions Resigns


Today when it was discovered that Marilee Jones, the Dean of Admissions at MIT, lied about her credentials 28 years ago it sent a shockwave through the college admissions community. According to her own statement on MIT’s website, Marilee apologizes:

“I have resigned as MIT’s Dean of Admissions because very regrettably, I misled the Institute about my academic credentials. I misrepresented my academic degrees when I first applied to MIT 28 years ago and did not have the courage to correct my resume when I applied for my current job or at any time since. I am deeply sorry for this and for disappointing so many in the MIT community and beyond who supported me, believed in me, and who have given me extraordinary opportunities. I especially apologize to the Institute’s leadership and to my extraordinary staff, whom I have every confidence will continue to deliver on the Institute’s mission. This is the only public comment I wish to make at this personally difficult time and I hope my privacy will be respected.”

While the college admissions community deeply admires and respects Marilee Jones for her efforts in depressurizing the college admissions process, it is with sadness that we learn of her deception. When colleges are holding students to the highest standards, when there are strict honor codes in place at high schools and colleges, when schools such as UC Berkeley do background checks on students, and when there are discipline questions on applications that students are required to answer truthfully, then we can certainly understand why students and parents would find it extremely difficult to find compassion for the Dean of Admissions at one of the most highly selective colleges in the country.

Perhaps, instead of judging her on her indiscretion, we need to applaud her for the work she’s done and for getting her message out to students, parents, and colleges. If she is able to continue that work, then maybe, just maybe, this stressful process of college admissions can become just a little more sane.

Marilee Jones’ statement can be found here.