FAQs

FAQs for the College Search and Application Process

The College Search

Is it important to visit colleges before applying?
Absolutely.  For most juniors, a college is just an abstract idea, an image in their minds that over time has become associated with a name.  Even if a student has been going to Gator or Seminole football games from the time they were small, they probably have only a very limited perspective of campus life.  When students (and parents) formally visit a campus, however, they experience a concrete reality that goes far beyond pretty pictures on the website, Saturday afternoon games, or what friends may have said about it.  Each campus has its own personality, its own ethos, and if a student is to find the college that best fits him or her, a campus visit is crucial.

Will visiting or not visiting have an impact on whether my son or daughter is admitted? 
At some schools, yes.  As colleges face increasingly unpredictable applicant pools (see “What is ‘yield’?” below), many of them are seeking ways to gauge the extent of a student’s “demonstrated interest” in attending.  Hence they have begun tracking the number of “contacts” a student has with their particular institution—through campus visits, meetings with admissions representatives here at Bolles, attending local admission functions, etc.  While most large state universities have too many applicants to track contacts, many private colleges and universities keep careful records of the number of contacts a student has with their institution.  As decision time draws near, students who have not visited campus can be at a distinct disadvantage. 

Where do I find information about visiting?
The admissions or prospective student pages of college websites provide a wealth of information about visiting.  There you will find times of campus tours and information sessions, directions to the admissions office, and even names of nearby lodging. 

How much credence should I give to college rankings?
Very little.  Consider this: Several years ago the editors of U.S. News decided to alter their formula to something that they believed offered a better reflection of educational quality.  When a number of Ivy League colleges did not appear at the top of the list, they reverted to their old formula.  The moral of this story is not that the Ivies and other highly selective colleges are “better” or “worse”; it’s that we must understand that the rankings are carefully designed to sell magazines, not evaluate educational experiences.  The bottom line is this: your child’s college choice should be based upon the best fit for him or her, and very often the best fit and the most highly ranked college are not the same. 

The Application and Admission Process

How many colleges should my son or daughter apply to?
The number of applications will vary by individual, but the average Bolles student applies to between 4 and 5 colleges. We recommend that each student apply to anywhere from 2 or 3 to no more than 6 or 8 carefully chosen colleges.

What’s the difference between Early Action (EA) and Early Decision (ED)? 
Early Action programs are non-binding and enable the student to learn of an admission decision relatively early in the senior year (December) without committing to a particular college or university until May.  Early Action applications are typically due in November.  A handful of schools have recently implemented Single-Choice Early Action (SCEA) programs.  Under such a plan, the student agrees to submit only one Early Action application to that school and no other, yet without committing to attend the college if accepted.  Other applications can be submitted for Regular Decision.

Early Decision is a program in which a student makes a binding commitment to attend the college or university if accepted.  Early Decision applications are generally due in November of the senior year, and the student will receive one of three decisions (admit, defer, deny) in December.  Since the deadlines are so early, it is vital that a student applying under Early Decision have done a great deal of research and be absolutely convinced that the college is an ideal match.  While an applicant gains a statistical advantage by applying under an Early Decision plan, he or she risks committing to a college in October when, six months later, a very different choice might be made.  For precisely this reason, in recent years a number of colleges have replaced their Early Decision programs with Early Action plans.

What is “Rolling Admission”?
Most large state universities, and many private colleges and universities, notify their applicants of the admission decision on a “rolling” basis.  This means that, a few weeks after the application has been submitted, a student will receive a decision in the mail.  However, the student does not have to commit to attending the college until May 1.

What is “Early Admission”?
Not to be confused with either Early Action or Early Decision, Early Admission is for a student who believes that he or she is fully prepared for the rigors of college academic and social life by the end of his or her junior year, and so would seek to skip the senior year of high school and enter college after the 11th grade.  Very few students are ready for this step; indeed, most colleges and universities discourage it.  Any junior considering applying for Early Admission should begin discussing it with his or her Advisor immediately.

What’s a “hook,” and why is it important?
In admissions parlance, a hook is a student attribute that meets a college’s institutional need at a particular time.  The hook could be anything from athletics to development (a family’s ability to add a new wing to a building) to an under-represented ethnic group to the arts (playing an oboe, for instance, when the college orchestra needs an oboist).  When admissions officers at the most highly selective colleges and universities say “We could replace our entire admitted group with students from the Wait List and no one could tell the difference,” what they mean is that there are so many outstanding candidates that they must make hair-splitting (and seemingly arbitrary) distinctions among them.  When that is the case, a “hooked” student has a significant advantage. 

What’s “yield,” and why is it important?
After “size of entering class,” yield is the most important term in an Admission Director’s vocabulary.  Yield is the rate at which students who have been offered admission at a particular college actually decide to enroll there.  For example, if there are 1,000 offers of admission, and 400 students decide to enroll, then the yield for that year is 40%.  While Harvard maintains the highest yield (around 80%), most highly selective colleges anticipate a yield in the 35-45% range.  However, since more students are filing more applications, it becomes increasingly difficult for Admission Directors to accurately predict their yields.  For this reason admission offices often look for signs of “demonstrated interest” (see “Will visiting or not visiting have an impact on whether my son or daughter is admitted?”).

Standardized Testing

We’ve heard a lot about the “New” SAT.  What’s new about it, and how is it being used?  
It’s now officially called the SAT Reasoning Test, and over the years there have been some significant changes to the exam.  The old “Verbal” section is now called the Critical Reading section; analogies have been dropped, and the test places greater emphasis on reading comprehension.  The Math portion is largely unchanged, although there are more Algebra II-related questions on the test.  The most significant change is the new Writing section, which assesses both knowledge of grammar and usage, and includes an essay that comprises 30% of the overall Writing score.  Each section is scored on a 200- to 800-point scale, so the high score on the SAT Reasoning Test is now 2400. 

As always, the SAT plays an important role in admission at colleges that require it; very often, it is among the top two or three items in importance.  (Some colleges do not require standardized testing for admission; see “Are there colleges that do not require standardized testing?”)  At present, the Writing score is required by a great number of colleges, but the vast majority have not begun using the Writing score as part of the admission process.  Notable exceptions include West Coast colleges, especially the UCs, and Ivy League and other colleges that required the old SAT II Writing test.  Thus you will still hear many admissions officers referring to scores on the 1600 scale.  So far, the evidence indicates that the new Writing test has very modest predictive validity, so the extent to which admissions offices will use the score remains to be seen. 

What is the ACT, and should my child take it?
The ACT is another standardized test used in the admission process, usually interchangeably with the SAT, and we highly recommend that students take both tests. The ACT has four categories and a variety of subscores and lasts 175 minutes.  There is an optional Writing Test that lasts an additional 30 minutes.  The four categories are Reading (including both social studies and science), English (with emphasis on writing style in addition to traditional grammar), Mathematics, and Science Reasoning (combining all the physical sciences).  The test is scored on a scale of 1-36.

Since the ACT and SAT are structured differently, some students will perform better on the ACT than the SAT (and vice versa).  In fact, in recent years we have seen some Bolles students score the equivalent of 200 points (4-5 points on the ACT) higher on the ACT than on the SAT.  Thus it makes a great deal of sense to take both tests; many students have qualified for Bright Futures, for instance, on the ACT but not on the SAT. 

What are the SAT Subject Tests and should my child take them?
Once known as the Achievement (ACH) Tests and more recently called the SAT IIs, SAT Subject Tests are one-hour examinations that measure a student’s knowledge of specific subject areas (e.g., Chemistry, French, U. S. History, etc.).  Only about 30 colleges nationally require one or more Subject Tests for admission, so unless your child is seriously considering applying to the one of the UCs, the Ivies, or a handful of other very highly selective colleges, they will not need to take SAT Subject Tests.  If your son or daughter does need to take Subject Tests, please consult both the College Counseling Office and the subject-area teacher to determine the most appropriate time to take the test(s).

Are there colleges that do not require standardized testing for admission?
Yes; in fact, the number keeps growing.  Visit the website www.fairtest.org for an up-to-date list of all the colleges that are test optional. 

Should my son or daughter take a test prep class?
That depends on a host of factors.  We can say two things for certain about preparing for a test: (1) it behooves anyone to be familiar with the format and content of a test before taking it; and (2) there is no independently documented evidence that test prep courses deliver the dramatic results that some in the industry claim.  Students (and families) can make a significant investment in test prep, yet in some cases their scores go up, in some their scores don’t budge, and in some their scores actually go down.  We have found the same of students who have not taken test prep courses.  With all that taken into account, here are a few guidelines to consider:

  • If your child decides to enroll in a course, choose the format (size of class, frequency of meeting, etc.) that works best for him or her. 
  • Don’t let the test prep take up so much time that it lowers your child’s GPA.  GPA (along with quality of curriculum) is still the top factor in virtually all admission decisions, and anything that lowers GPA is ultimately counterproductive. 
  • If your child is prone to test anxiety, be very careful about enrolling him or her in test prep.  A growing number of educators are coming to believe that test prep can actually raise test anxiety, and thus have a negative effect on a child’s scores.  Over the years we have worked with a number of students whose scores went down during test pep, and then actually went up once they got out; we speculatively attribute this phenomenon to increased anxiety created by the test prep.
  • Try to time the test prep so that it occurs shortly before an actual examination date.  However, don’t allow the test prep to force your child into taking the SAT Reasoning Test earlier than January of the junior year.  The test is designed for spring-semester juniors, and we have witnessed a number of students who have taken the test prematurely and then gotten spooked by their scores.  In effect, these students allowed a low test score to become a kind of self-fulfilling prophecy, and they never earned a score much higher than their initial results. 

Again, we neither encourage nor discourage students’ taking test prep courses, and we do not endorse any particular program or company.  It must be an individual decision.

Financial Aid

We’ve seen how much college costs today, and we think we might have financial need.  Is there any way we can find out if we qualify?
Yes.  There are a number of financial aid calculators on the internet that provide a ballpark Estimated Family Contribution (EFC).  These web-based calculators include the following:

            www.fafsa4caster.ed.gov/
            www.collegeboard.com/student/pay/add-it-up/401.html
            www.finaid.org
           
It is important to understand that there are two methods (“methodologies”) of calculating aid: (1) federal methodology, which is based on the Free Application for Student Financial Aid (FAFSA); and (2) institutional methodology, which is based on both the FAFSA and the College Scholarship Service (CSS) Profile.  Generally speaking, public institutions and most private institutions will require only the FAFSA, but many well-endowed private colleges that supply millions of dollars of their own institutional funds to need-based aid will require the CSS Profile as well.  The first website above is for the FAFSA, the second for the CSS Profile, and the third will calculate both. 

Keep in mind that, even if a student does not qualify for federal need-based aid, any student is eligible for a low-interest federal Stafford Loan.  However, a FAFSA must be submitted to participate in the Stafford Loan program.

Will my son or daughter qualify for a Bright Futures Scholarship?
For Florida residents, Bright Futures offers two levels of scholarship with different sets of criteria.  The Medallion Scholars Award requires a 3.00 GPA as Bright Futures calculates it, and either a 970 SAT or 20 ACT.  The Medallion Scholarship covers 75% of tuition at a Florida public university.  A second scholarship, the Academic Scholars Award, requires a 3.50 GPA as Bright Futures calculates it, either a 1270 SAT or 28 ACT, and 75 hours of community service.  The Academic Scholars Award covers 100% of tuition at a Florida public university.  For further information, use the following URL: http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/SSFAD/factsheets/BF.htm

Can a Bright Futures Scholarship be used at a private college or university?
Yes, if the private college or university is in Florida.  The cash value of the average of state university tuitions (approximately $3,500 in 2007-2008) is applied to the tuition of the private college or university.  Parents should also be aware of the Florida Resident Access Grant (FRAG), which is available for any Florida resident attending an in-state private college or university.  In the 2006-2007 academic year, the FRAG covered just over $3,000.