// BLOG
Top-Tier Closed Today
October 30, 2011
Top-Tier will be closed today, Sunday, October 30th due to the Snow Emergency declared in West Orange. Your tutor/counselor will contact you to reschedule your session. We will reopen.as soon as possible.
Please be safe and warm!
The Rise Of The Wait List (Part I)
October 25, 2011
Right now, many college seniors are in the middle of the process of applying to colleges. Some will meet the November deadline looming for applicants going the “early action” or “early decision” route. Others are gearing up for “regular way” applications, usually due in January. Once the applications are submitted, high school seniors feel relief – no more SATs or ACTs or personal statements! Once that euphoria wears off, however, the candidates eagerly await responses from the colleges to which they applied.
Some candidates will receive responses rather quickly, while other colleges will take longer to inform them of their decisions. Either way, high school seniors expect either a “yes” or “no” response. Then, their plan is to choose the one college into which they will matriculate among their acceptances (hopefully they have more than one!). This is the ideal situation.
However, the ideal situation is becoming less commonplace with the “Rise of the Wait List.” Nowadays, colleges are responding to applicants with “yes,” “no,” or, increasingly popular, “maybe.” More and more applicants are being placed on the college’s Wait List, which is tantamount to being a “maybe.”
What does it mean to be Wait Listed? What are the rules of the Wait List? In this two-part blog post series, we’ll explore the current status of the ubiquitous Wait List, where it’s headed and how best to handle the “maybe.”
According to the 2011 “State of College Admission” report recently released by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), 48% of colleges and universities surveyed used a wait list for fall 2010, up from 39 percent just the previous year. 42% of colleges reported that they placed more applicants on wait lists in 2010 than they did in 2009.
Of the colleges that use a Wait List, the NACAC study found that they place approximately 10% of their applicants into it, 56% of which decided to remain on it. On average, the incoming college freshman class of 2010 consisted of 28% of wait listed students, down from 34% for incoming college freshmen in 2009. The more selective colleges generally admitted just 11% off their wait lists.
Why the rise in colleges’ use of a Wait List? Presumably, mainly, it is as a result of the increased number of applications. Because high school seniors are applying to many more schools, it is becoming more difficult for college admissions officers to predict how many accepted students actually will enroll in the school (technically called the “yield”). For example, one student may apply to 10 colleges and get accepted into 6. Since the student can only attend one school, that means 5 colleges will be rejected by the student. That’s 5 slots that are now opened up at the rejected colleges! The average yield has declined steadily from 49% in 2001 to just 41% in 2010. (This phenomenon largely has been fueled by the colleges’ own marketing strategies – listen to our podcast entitled “Colleges’ Dirty Little Secret” for more information.)
Therefore, colleges have to hedge their bets against the unpredictable yield. In some cases, they have increased their use of early decision and early action policies. (For information about these two practices, listen to Top-Tier’s podcast, “The Ins and Outs of Early Decision versus Early Action.”) The Wait List is another tool available to colleges to help manage the admissions process.
In the next post, we’ll go over what happens when you are placed on a college’s Wait List (or several colleges’ wait lists), and what the NACAC is working on in response to this growing practice.
Ear on Careers – Dr. Joshua Lachowicz, Veterinarian
October 17, 2011
Podcast: Play in new window | Download
In this episode of “Ear on Careers,” we are pleased to welcome Dr. Joshua Lachowicz, who is a veterinarian who specializes in oncology.
Dr. Joshua Lachowicz, Veterinarian
Dr. Josh received his Bachelor of Science Degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University with a major in Biology. He earned his Doctor of Veterinary Medicine degree at the Virginia-Maryland Regional College of Veterinary Dr. Josh completed his internship in small animal medicine and surgery at Long Island Veterinary Specialists in Plainview, New York, and his residency at the Veterinary Oncology and Hematology Center in Norwalk, CT. Dr. Josh is a diplomate of the American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (oncology specialty). He currently works with four-legged patients at BluePearl Veterinary Partners LLC, formerly NYC Veterinary Specialists.
Listen as Dr. Josh describes what he does as a Veterinary Oncologist, noting that caring for the human parents’ emotional needs is as important as treating the pet. He offers our listeners a glimpse into a “typical” day as a vet. He also shares his favorite stories, gives insights into what surprises him the most in the field and offers wonderful tips for those listeners who want to become a veterinarian. We hope this podcast gives you a feel of what it is like to work in the very rewarding field of veterinary medicine!
Top-Tier Tutoring is very excited to bring you the web’s premiere “career day” podcast series – what we call “Ear on Careers.” This series of podcasts is designed to introduce our listeners to successful leaders in a variety of different fields, including business, industry, medicine, the arts, and so much more.
We welcome your feedback and ideas. Please submit a comment below, send us an email or give us a call at 973-243-1212.
College Application Highlight Videos
October 12, 2011
Are you a solid high school athlete? Are you competitive in a non-school sponsored sport? Do you have a talent that you wish you could share with college admissions officers? If you answered “yes” to any one of these questions, then a “Highlight Video” may be perfect for you!
A Highlight Video can take many different forms, depending upon exactly what you want the colleges to see. If you want to submit it to college scouts for a sport such as football, basketball, baseball, soccer, swimming, etc., then you want to include your outstanding moments on the field/court/pool as well as clippings in local papers, stats and any trophies you have won. If you are part of a competitive dance troupe or cheerleading squad, you should include clips from competitions highlighting your participation – maybe a solo. Perhaps you are not going to college to become a concert pianist so no audition is required, but want admissions officers to appreciate your talent, so you can showcase your skill in a video. Still photographs can be incorporated into the video to show your achievements by way of headlines. Truly, the sky is the limit!
Highlight Videos should be no longer than 5 minutes long, as coaches/scouts/admissions officers are pressed for time. So, make sure every clip that is included shows you in your best light and that you are easily visible in it. Depending on what you are highlighting, you may also want to include a full-length game video in case the coach wants to see you in action for longer. Your video also must include all of your contact details, as you don’t want to leave a college guessing about who you are!
Top-Tier now offers a “Highlight Video” package option as part of our college counseling services. We can compile your video clips from games, tournaments, exhibitions, recitals, performances, etc., incorporate an introduction by you to the college admissions officers, and produce a professional-quality video for your applications. Send us an email or give us a call at 973-243-1212 for more information and to schedule an appointment!
If the Common App essay is limited to 500 words and a picture is worth 1000 words, how much more is a video worth?
SAT and ACT Scores – Comparing Apples to Apples
October 10, 2011
At Top-Tier Tutoring, we always tell our new standardized test prep clients that they should take both the SAT and ACT once, and then retake the one on which they scored better. They study primarily for the SAT, take it, study for the ACT and then take that exam. Then they get their scores for both and ask us to interpret them – how to tell which one they did better on other than their gut feelings about which test they preferred.
At first glance, this seems to be a tricky proposition. The SAT is based on a 2400 point scale, with 800 being the perfect score in each of the 3 sections (math, critical reading, writing). The ACT, on the other hand, gives a composite score based on a 36 point scale, with 36 being the perfect score in each of the 5 sections (English, math, reading, science, writing). So, unless you receive a 2400 or a 36, how do you translate the scores?
The answer is simple: a Concordance Table. OK, “concordance” is an SAT word, meaning “similarity or agreement between two or more things” (thank you, Encarta Dictionary). If you google “concordance table” you will see numerous results. The ACT has a handy one here.
So, for example, assume that Jane (not her real name) took both the SAT and ACT and scored 2080 and 28, respectively. According to the Concordance Table, her ACT composite score is the equivalent of 1860-1910 on the SAT. Therefore, she performed better on the SAT and, if she wants, will retake only that exam.
As another example, Jack (not his real name) also took both the SAT and ACT, scoring 1520 and 24, respectively. The Concordance Table shows that his ACT composite score is equal to approximately 1620-1670 on the SAT. He, clearly, scored higher on the ACT and will retake only that test.
We hope this post helps you to compare “apples to apples” between your SAT and ACT scores (and taught you a new vocab word in the process)!
