Let's Fall In Love

Just like the dating adage says, “there are plenty of fish in the sea,” the same holds true with colleges...there are many colleges in the academic sea...ya gotta start swimming to see which you like and which you don’t. As you build your list, the goal is not to find “the one” but to find many colleges you could fall in love with.

How do you determine if a school is a potential love match?

Meet Them

• Participate in live virtual admissions presentations which you can schedule on the college’s website. These typically are one hour powerpoint presentations given by admissions officers who share details about the school and answer questions. They go over the same content they would if you were to visit physically. Some of these events will even include a panel of students.

• Attend college fairs...Big Future, NCAC, NYSACAC as examples, offer college fairs, virtually, which allow you to go from zoom room to zoom room to meet college reps. This is a great way to learn about schools.

• Sign up for in school college admissions presentations...often reps will travel to your school to meet students for a period during school time. These physical meetings have become virtual. Your counselor should have a list of all the colleges scheduled to attend your school. Find that list (which is updated often) and sign up for the presentations (admissions officers have reported that attendance has been light so this is a great way to make an impression).

• Research what kids have to say...unigo is a great resource to learn about the school from a student’s perspective.

Follow Them

• Socials: This is a great way to learn about the culture and heart of a school. Through Insta, Snap, Facebook, Twitter, Youtube, etc you get an inside look into what happens on a daily basis and what is important to that school.

• Emails: please go on to the colleges you are liking and sign up for their emails. This is another way to stay in touch and learn about the school (some schools even track open rate and email engagement to see which students are demonstrating interest!)

Visit Them

• Most schools offer virtual tours on their websites, on youtube and campusreel.com.

• While virtual tours are great, there is no substitute for walking the campus, experiencing the town and breathing in the environment. While Covid has temporarily put a stop to many in person admissions presentations and tours, some schools do offer limited on campus experiences. Even if schools are not offering official visits, if you can swing it, visit..do a walking tour or car tour (Richmond is getting major props for their car tour). This is one of the best ways to fall in love with a school.

Show Them Love

• Colleges need to know that you would accept an offer of admission if provided one. When selective or highly selective schools hand out 100 acceptances, they want to feel confident that all 100 students will say yes. This is called their “yield.” Generating a high yield is a big deal for schools so you need to show them love or “demonstrate interest” which would convince them that you would accept. How do you reveal your love? Reach Out...after a virtual or physical visit, send a thank you note to the rep and assert your specific interest and how you could give back to their school. Engage...don’t just follow their socials, engage with them. When you receive an email from the college, open it and click through (some colleges track engagement to determine if a student is interested and therefore more likely to accept an “admissions rose.” It’s your way of “swiping up.”

Keep Them All Straight

• Imagine dating 15 people at once? How would you remember what makes each unique. After a while, everything starts to blend together. Buy a college notebook, keep it with you as you meet, follow and visit. Jot down anything you find interesting, any interaction with a student or a professor or the admissions officer or a fun activity you saw on Insta that you would love to participate in as a student. This content will especially come in handy when you need to write the “Why XYZ College” Essay.

Here’s to falling in love...