Area high schools are beginning to analyze the results of the college admissions process as they query students to see who got in, who got wait-listed, and who got disappointing “thin” envelopes in the mail.
With more students in the pipeline due to the baby boom “boomlet,” more applied for college this year and more were wait listed, said Meg Gallagher, career counselor at Langley High School.
Gallagher, now in her second year at Langley, is a graduate of Paul VI High School in Fairfax County and Virginia Tech. She has worked as an admissions officer at Virginia Tech, Virginia Commonwealth University, and Christopher Newport University. She has seen the process from both sides.
“Most, but not all, of the colleges over-enrolled last year,” she said. This year, “They were playing it safe. I’ve seen a lot more wait lists come in than usual.” But that also means more students will be notified that slots have opened up for them, as colleges sift through commitments from students they have accepted.
Among the Langley students accepted at the University of Virginia, all but one took at least four Advanced Placement courses.
To be competitive, said Gallagher, students need to push themselves, but not too much. “Schools look to see that you challenge yourself according to your ability,” she said. “I think we really glorify the AP students. There are great 3.0 students out there.”
SINCE SEPT. 11, some parents and students don’t want to fly, said Nina Pitkin, director of guidance at Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology.
“They want to stay closer to home. Some of it is economic, because [the economic downturn] has impacted some families, so they are looking more at Virginia schools,” Pitkin said.
Some colleges seem to be having a harder time keeping up with an increased number of applications this year. “It’s a matter of volume,” she said. “It’s not that they’re not doing a good job.”
With students applying at an average of about seven colleges, the number of applications is increasing. As a result, Virginia colleges are becoming more selective, several counselors said.
Last year, Pitkin said, “More kids were getting wait listed or outright rejected. The grades were there, and the test scores were there.
What wasn’t there was the in-depth, non-academic stuff: extra-curricular clubs and service projects became extremely important when you had so many kids who were at the same level academically.”
Many colleges are putting more emphasis on how kids spend their time when they are not studying, Pitkin said.
Ellen Fay, the guidance director at South Lakes High School, said of her students, “The majority are looking for Virginia schools. We happen to be in a state that has a fantastic education system,” she said.
“Financially, you are getting a better bargain. Why would you pay $32,000 [annually for tuition] when you can be between $10,000 and $12,000?”
Out of 330 seniors at South Lakes, she said, “We have a good number going to Virginia schools. Some student have chosen the community college system because, economically, it is a very good bargain,” she said.
“When a school sees a rapid rise in applicants, it’s a good thing for them,” said Bill Campbell, also a guidance counselor at South Lakes. “It allows them to make their admissions requirements a little tougher. They see better students come through the doors.”
AMONG THE GROUP sometimes called R.K., for “regular kids,” a different set of colleges got most of the applications from Langley students, Gallagher said.
“They love Christopher Newport” in Newport News because, with a student body of about 5,000. “In five or 10 years, no one will be able to get in,” Gallagher said. “It’s a state school that feels like a private school. They have a student-first attitude.”
Two years ago, one Langley student went to Christopher Newport. Last year, the number increased to 15, and this year, about 40 applied, said Gallagher, in part because she has talked it up.
“I won’t support any school I don’t believe in,” she said.
Some Langley students chose Virginia Commonwealth University over other state schools because of its medical and engineering schools, she said.
Other close-by colleges, such as the University of Delaware, the College of Charleston, Gettysburg, Lehigh, and Bucknell got applications from Langley.
Students who wanted large universities applied to Clemson University and the University of Maryland, she said.
Sept. 11 may have had a “subtle” effect on applications, Gallagher said. Some parents mentioned they didn’t want their children to fly to and from college.
Some parents were more disappointed than their children when a certain college acceptance did not materialize, said Gallagher.
“People get very caught up in brand names,” she said.
The college application process “is a match and a fit, not a status symbol. A lot of kids go to college for the name of the school, and not because it fits their personality,” Gallagher said.
Parents who are hoping their children will be accepted at a college like Duke University in North Carolina, she said, “just don’t understand that probably half the [freshman class] is valedictorians. It’s hard to get in,” she said.
But when parents act disappointed, students can lose pride in their college choice. “The ‘take’ of the parents determines how proud the kids is. A lot of them are not proud of their choice,” she said.
Finding a college is a four-year process, said Gallagher. “You end up
where you are for a reason.”