Category Archives: College Admission

College Admission, NACAC News, Uncategorized

NACAC Survey: Colleges Report Transfer Students are Crucial to Enrollment Goals

More than two-thirds of US colleges view transfer students as considerably important in meeting enrollment goals, according to new survey results released today by NACAC.

The finding — included in the 14th annual edition of NACAC’s State of College Admission report — confirms that more colleges and universities are relying on transfer students to help fill their classes. National data show that more than one-third of all students switch schools sometime during their college career.

Continue reading NACAC Survey: Colleges Report Transfer Students are Crucial to Enrollment Goals →

College Admission, College Readiness, NACAC News

#NACACreads: College Prep and the Price of Perfection

2 Comments

College-bound kids from across the globe are increasingly internalizing the same harmful message: Only excellence will do when it comes to grades, test scores, extracurricular activities, and college admission.

But expecting across-the-board greatness is a “set-up,” clinical psychologist David Gleason told counselors and admission professionals on Tuesday.

“Trying to conform to these expectations, kids become depleted, feeling scared about their futures, and disillusioned by their inability to do it all,” Gleason tweeted during a #NACACreads discussion of his book, At What Cost? Defending Adolescent Development in Fiercely Competitive Schools.

Continue reading #NACACreads: College Prep and the Price of Perfection →

College Admission, NACAC News

Tell Us: Is Your Institution Supporting Students Affected by Natural Disasters?

iStock

Is your college or university offering flexibility to students impacted by recent natural disasters? Let us know!

NACAC is creating a digital resource to assist counselors working with US students affected by hurricanes and wildfires, as well as international students impacted by earthquakes and floods. Colleges and universities are asked to add their information to the database by completing a short survey.

Continue reading Tell Us: Is Your Institution Supporting Students Affected by Natural Disasters? →

College Admission, National College Fairs

Help Your Students Prepare for National College Fairs

NACAC photo

Editor’s note: A version of this post originally appeared on Admitted in April 2015. It’s being republished as part of NACAC’s Best of the Blog series.

All hail the humble highlighter.

Neon markers are a vital part of Dana Lambert’s efforts to help students make the most of their National College Fair experience.

“I make them come in with a plan,” said Lambert, a counselor at West Milford Township High School in New Jersey. “Once the list of fair exhibitors comes out, we have them sit down and highlight the schools and the tables that they want to stop at.”

Continue reading Help Your Students Prepare for National College Fairs →

Academic Performance, College Admission, College Completion

Engagement Key to Retaining Non-Traditional College Students

iStock

Determining which returning adult students are at risk of dropping out of college is a complex process, according to results from a recent national survey.

Common data points — such as demographics, choice of major, and hours devoted to studying — can’t reliably predict whether a nontraditional student will struggle to complete their degree.

As it turns out, the most dependable factor for identifying at-risk non-traditional students is the extent to which they make effective connections to their college, a factor that can be difficult to measure. After all, the very students who are most in danger of dropping out often have limited contact with professors, peers, and college staff, according to a recent report from Barnes & Noble College Insights — a division of the bookseller that produces quantitative and qualitative research related to higher education.

Continue reading Engagement Key to Retaining Non-Traditional College Students →

College Admission

Close to Missing Something Great

iStock

Editor’s note: This column was first shared on the NACAC Exchange.

It’s just BUSY this time of the year, and while what I WANT to do is close the door and write, write, write, there are a myriad of other things that have to do done. There is nothing that says fall like the word busy.

So when a student popped in my office and asked if she could work on her application, I told her sure and kept working on what I needed to do. She would ask the occasional question, but mostly we were both working on her separate to-do lists.

Then there was silence. As a father of five, I FEAR silence. I looked up, and she was crying.

Continue reading Close to Missing Something Great →

Access, College Admission, College Completion

Report Examines Experiences of First-Gen Students

iStock

Prospective first-generation college students cite high educational aspirations as 10th graders, but take longer to enroll in college and are less likely than their peers to earn a degree.

Those findings are included in a new research brief from the US Department of Education’s Institute of Educational Sciences. The report uses 10 years of data collected from a nationally representative sample of students who were high school sophomores in 2002.

Continue reading Report Examines Experiences of First-Gen Students →

College Admission, College Readiness, Featured

Study: Are Today’s Teens Afraid to Grow Up?

Dating and obtaining a driver’s license have long been American rites of passage, but a new study suggests that today’s teens seem less interested in meeting those milestones than prior generations.

A study published this week in the journal Child Development showed a sharp decline over the past decade in the percentage of adolescents who date or drive. The share of teens who have tried alcohol or held a paying job has also decreased.

And while some of the data may suggest that teens are making healthier choices, the overall trend of delaying adulthood may speak to the increased pressures today’s kids face, according to a Washington Post article examining the new findings.

Continue reading Study: Are Today’s Teens Afraid to Grow Up? →

College Admission

Navigating the Tide of Stress this Fall

iStock

Each August, I get hit by a tsunami of anxiety and stress. Though it happens year after year, I’m still startled when I look up and see it above me, overshadowing the peaceful laziness of summer that came before.

Call it a professional hazard: Students and parents cannot help but look toward college with apprehension, and their apprehension arrives in force (in my office) in August. Whether stemming from the unbelievable cost of college, or the incredible odds against getting into a dream school, these fears are grounded in the realities of today’s college admission world.

Continue reading Navigating the Tide of Stress this Fall →

Access, College Admission, NACAC News

4 Ways College Counselors Can Increase Access for Underrepresented Students

NACAC 

Diversity on campus strengthens our colleges and our country.

Yet a large number of qualified students from low-income and minority populations are still underrepresented in American higher education due to inadequate access to college advising resources.

Continue reading 4 Ways College Counselors Can Increase Access for Underrepresented Students →