Admissionisms

College Admissions Consulting | Fort Lauderdale, FL

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Tale of Two Applicants: Why Admissions Decisions Are Unpredictable

admissions decisions

I’ve been a student of psychology, in some shape, form, or fashion, for nearly half of my life now. Something I know for sure: Our brains crave predictability. You can thank your prefrontal cortex and its role in executive functioning.

Executive function includes planning, judgment, decision-making, assessing risk, and anticipating future events and consequences. These high-level intellectual abilities are what makes humans the “king of the jungle,” so to speak, but they can also signal feelings of distress when things go radically different than planned.

Before we go further down the rabbit hole of neuropsychology, does it make sense why the college admissions process can seem so ambiguous and unpredictable? Because in many cases, especially with selective colleges and competitive programs, there are not sure bets. Our brains attempt to hack the system, pre-judge the outcome, and we often get our face cracked….

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The Science of College List Building

science of college list building

Let The Research Begin

In the first part of this series, I explored the Art of College List Building, which includes introspective assessment of students’ wants, desires, and preferences. This represents the more subjective side of identifying a good college match and devising a list of schools to apply to.

On the other hand, there are also a host of objective factors – the hard data and systematic analysis – involved in college list building. Unlike the natural sciences, there are no precise formulas to follow, but it does make sense to look at the numbers:…

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The Art of College List Building

 

art of college list building

College list building is one of the most time-intensive elements of the college application process. There are a lot of similarities between choosing colleges and screening dates for a serious, long-term relationship. Which qualities are on the top of your list? If you haven’t done a bit of soul-searching beforehand, how will you know what you’re looking for?

There are over 4000 different colleges and universities in the United States alone. As it turns out, colleges attract different types of students, share unique campus cultures, traditions, and personalities. What type of college environment is best suited for their academic and career needs? What about their social needs? Where will the student thrive as they take their first steps into adulthood?…

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Everyone’s Not A Writer. But Everyone Has A Story.

 

everyone's not a writer but everyone has a story

I consider myself a writer. Reading and writing have always been among my great passions in life. I was one of those kids who took great delight at library visits because this is where I felt at home. So many books and so many interests, I wandered up and down the aisles in search of my next great adventure.

In time, I wanted to write, and I did. I wrote and wrote and wrote and wrote as a middle schooler and high schooler. When faced with the decision of what to major in in college, I was torn between English and Psychology. Psychology won out (with some parental guidance) and I designated English as my minor.

Throughout my college, grad school years, and beyond, one of the most consistent praises I’ve earned is for my writing style. My first college-level paper submitted for my English Composition class: “You’re such a great writer,” the professor wrote in the margins in red ink….

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What Is An Independent Educational Consultant?

professional school counselor admissions consultant

College and graduate school planning are both very serious business.

Students are anxious stressed about selecting colleges to apply to and making it through the application process.

Parents are anxious stressed about a myriad of different issues: whether their daughter or son will be admitted to the college they’ve set their hearts on, whether their financial aid offer will meet their needs, and managing differing admissions policies, and a multitude of essays, dates and deadlines.

Where School Counselors Fit In

Your first stop in the application process should be to your school counselor. If you’re applying to college for the first time, your high school counselor fills a number of important roles to get your started along your admissions journey. They are able to provide:

  • Advice on appropriate coursework
  • Distribute information on entrance exam deadlines and college fairs
  • Maintain school and testing records
  • Transcript preparation and recommendation
  • Field information requests from colleges, such as first semester senior year grades

However, not to scare anyone, but high school counselors who have time and availability to meet extensively with students are becoming somewhat of a rarity. According to a survey conducted by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling, almost half of counselors (54%) reported spending less than 20% of their time working with students on college readiness, selection, and applications [1]. They juggle other job functions, such as individual counseling, testing and assessments, behavior management, and crisis intervention. Another sad reality is that many school districts have cut the number of counselors advising on college admissions.

Colleges, on the other hand, vary in the type of on-campus assistance available to support students who seek admission to graduate or professional programs. There may or may not be a dedicated office or counselor to schedule an appointment with. Your best bets are to check with the Career Center (if your campus has one) or schedule time to chat with a trusted professor. Be forewarned – college professors are often juggling a multiple of different job responsibilities and commitments, so do your homework first, and ask pointed questions for advice.

Where do students turn when they’re in need of more detailed, personalized advice, feedback, or hands-on assistance? This is where the independent educational consultant steps in….

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The -Isms in Admissionisms

admissionisms

An -ism is defined as a distinctive practice, system, or philosophy. Admissionisms, a full-service educational consulting company specializing in college and graduate school admissions, strives to bring the following core principles front and center as part of our guiding mission:

A3

Admissionisms clients are defined by 3 central characteristics:

  • Academics
  • Ambition
  • Application

Our clients share something in common: They are aspirational, motivated, high achievers who are committed to pursuing college and graduate education. Not necessarily “Perfect Students,” they share the belief of putting forth your best self to achieve big, huge, audacious career goals. Even if unsure of “what I want to be when I grow up,” they are committed to asking the important  self-discovery questions and systematically exploring their options….

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My Eternally Soft Spot for Graduate School Seekers

grad school seekers

Confession time

I am a softie for graduate school seekers who find themselves lost in the special sauce of the application process, because, well, this was me, way back when.

My personal story isn’t that I did everything right. Far from it.

I had very decided Ph.D. aspirations without a real clue of how to get there. Yeah, I knew the basics: High GPA. High test scores. Write a few essays. Send the applications off. But, boy, was I missing a whole lot of nuance. How do I best communicate my skills and preparation? How my past experiences shaped me and led me to pursue this path? Why me and not someone else?

I didn’t know how to best advocate for myself on paper… or in person….

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Breaking The Radio Silence

Admissionisms News

Ahem. Guess who’s back?

Things have been quiet around here for awhile. I took a hiatus – a pretty long one. As life would happen, I’ve been making major moves and transitions off-line. I started working as a college professor. I jumped feet-first into a whirlwind of course development, lecture preparation, paper grading, office hours, and committee work. Summers were optional, they said. My student loans disagree!

As the new kid on the block, er, department, I made myself indispensable. I workshopped and conferenced my way to professional development glory. I went above and beyond to earn the coveted award of tenure at the college, earn tenure I did, along with the benefit of added job security.

I’ve taught dozens of courses and literally thousands of students to date. I’ve gained experience in in teaching both traditional and online classes. I’ve earned glowing teaching reviews. In my spare time, Inner Evil Kermit propelled to me binge-watch entire Netflix series, but I shut him up when he intimated that I needn’t come back.

I’m sorry to inform Inner Evil Kermit, but I have even more to offer admissions seekers today. I’ve taught thousands of students. I’ve seen several of them transfer to university, even move on to grad school, and prosper. I’ve leveled up in my career, and today bring even more insight to Admissionisms as a full-scale college admissions consulting firm.
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Traditional vs. Online Graduate Programs – Pros and Cons

There are a myriad of choices to be made once you’ve finally committed to continuing your education into graduate school. Now that you’ve decided “I will,” where should you go? Is a traditional or online grad program the best one for you?

Making a Distinction

At least for the purposes of this post, I’m defining traditional graduate programs as those offered through brick-and-mortar educational institutions. Many traditional graduate programs have been in existence for decades, require that you take classes on-campus in a traditional classroom environment, and should have proper program accreditation.

Online graduate programs don’t require that you step foot on campus. Getting your graduate education on is as simple as logging into your computer. There are several “traditional” universities that offer online extensions of their programs to cater to the preferences of their students (also called “distance learning programs”).

And then there are online graduate programs that do not operate as an off-shoot of brick-and-mortar institutions. The university is online. Many of these types of programs are delivered through for-profit institutions of higher education.

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How Hard Is It To Get Into Graduate School?

how hard it is it to get into graduate school

 

If you had ONE question about graduate school, what would it be?

I recently posted this question to social media and received the following submission:

“Is it really that hard to get into grad school? Should I be as worried as I am? I worried a lot for undergrad and it wasn’t even that big of a deal.”

Wouldn’t it be some kind of crazy to get all worked up – only to find out that you were making a big deal out of nothing? So, just how hard is it to get into grad school?
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