Henry Broaddus, Dean of Admission, William and Mary

Henry Broaddus, Dean of Admission at William and Mary, has a blog post today in The Washington Post entitled "Reading college applications."

Mr. Broaddus' insightful and entertaining article provides an eye-opening portal into the bleary-eyed realities that come with admissions work this time of year.

To read the full article click here.

On February 17-18, Mr. Broaddus will be on Casady's campus to speak and facilitate discussion at Junior College Night, as well as speak in chapel to all UD students.

The College Counseling staff is anxious to get Mr. Broaddus on campus to bring his expertise and relevant message to our whole community.

Class of 2010 Application Trends

Many of you have probably heard through the weekly UD push page about our college acceptances to date. I thought though I would fill you in on other statistics and trends that we are seeing with the Class of 2010.

What has held steady this year, like last year, is that our seniors are applying to schools that all have "the right fit" in mind.

As of 2:13 pm today, here are the numbers:

75 seniors

373 total applications to 131 different colleges and universities

4.9 application average per student

114 in state applications

259 out of state applications

54 early applications

by 31 students

The Top 10 Most Applied To Colleges:

#1 OU (60 apps)
#2 OSU (27 apps)
#3 TCU (19 apps)
#4 Tulsa (16 apps)
#5 Arkansas, Baylor, Rhodes, SMU, Wash U in St. Louis (8 apps)
#6 UCO, Vanderbilt (7 apps)
#7 UT, Trinity, Tulane (7 apps)
#8 Northwestern, USC (5 apps)
#9 UNC, Hendrix, KU (4 apps)
#10 Auburn, Belmont, UCLA, U. of Chicago, Emory, Kenyon, San Diego, Sewanee, Texas A&M, Princeton (3 apps)

New Colleges (at least one student applied to):

American Musical and Dramatic Academy
Averett University
Avila University
Cornell College
Drexel University
Elon University
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Furman University
Fordham University
Lynn University
Montclaire State University
Muhlenberg College
UNLV
Ohio Wesleyan University
Rider University
Stetson University
Wellesley College
Westmont College
Wheaton College (MA)
Whitworth University

Last year 65% of our seniors went out of state. We anticipate the same percentage of seniors will do the same, especially if the scholarship/merit monies continue to pour in.

Overall, this senior class has embodied a spirit of adventure that has energized all of us on the college counseling staff. Way to go, Class of 2010!

Colleges to Visit over Spring Break

Suggestions for Spring Break College Visits

Colorado: CU-Boulder and CU-Colorado Springs, Colorado School of Mines, Colorado State U., U. of Northern Colorado, Fort Lewis College, Mesa State College, Western State College, U. of Denver, Colorado College, Regis University

Pacific Northwest

Washington: U. of Puget Sound, Whitman, Evergreen State,

Oregon: Lewis & Clark, Willamette, Reed, U. of Oregon, and Oregon State

California: Stanford, Santa Clara, U. of San Francisco, Claremont Colleges, Whittier, Occidental, Loyola Marymount, Univ. of San Diego, U. of Southern California, U. of California system (esp. Berkeley, Santa Barbara, LA, & Santa Cruz), St. Mary’s, Redlands.

Southwest

U. of Arizona, Arizona State, U. of Northern Arizona, U. of New Mexico, New Mexico State, College of Santa Fe, St. John’s College

Texas & Louisiana: U. of Texas – Austin, Trinity U., Southern Methodist, Rice, Texas Christian, Austin College, Southwester, Loyola, Baylor, Tulane, Xavier (HBCU*), Dillard (HBCU*)

Northern Midwest

Montana: U. of Montana, Montana State

Minnesota: Carleton, Macalester, St. Olaf

Wisconsin: U. of Wisconsin, Ripon, St. Lawrence University, Beloit

Michigan: U. of Michigan, Michigan State, Hope, Kalamazoo

Midwest

Illinois: U. of Chicago, Northwestern, Lake Forest, Knox, Lewis

Iowa: Cornell College, Grinnell, Coe College

Nebraska: Creighton University, University of Nebraska

Ohio: Kenyon, Oberlin, Denison, Wittenberg, Xavier, Ohio Wesleyan,

College of Wooster, Miami (Oxford), Hiram, Case Western

Indiana: Indiana U., Notre Dame, DePauw, Earlham, U. of Evansville

Missouri: Washington U., St. Louis U., U. of Missouri - Columbia, Westminister

Kansas: U. of Kansas, Kansas State

Mid-Atlantic

Pennsylvania: Bucknell U., Franklin and Marshall, Dickinson, Gettysburg, Bryn Mawr (women), Haverford, Villanova, Lafayette,

Lehigh, Carnegie Mellon, U. of Pennsylvania, Allegheny

New York: Colgate, Hamilton, Hobart & William Smith, Cornell, Rochester, Ithaca College, Union, Skidmore, Vassar, Sarah Lawrence, New York U., Columbia, Fordham, Bard, Barnard (women), City College

New Jersey: Princeton

Maryland: Johns Hopkins, Washington College, Goucher , U. of Maryland

Washington, DC: Georgetown, George Washington, American, Howard (HBCU*)

Northern New England

New Hampshire: Dartmouth, U. of New Hampshire, Keene State College, Colby Sawyer College

Vermont: U. of Vermont, Middlebury

Maine: Colby, Bates, Bowdoin

Southern New England

Boston Area: Boston College, Boston U., Tufts, Brandeis, Babson, Bentley, Emerson, Simmons (women), Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Wheaton, Wellesley (women), Northeastern

Western Massachusetts: Amherst, Hampshire, Williams, Smith (women), Clark, Holy Cross, Worcester Polytechnic

Connecticut: Trinity, Yale, Connecticut College, Fairfield University, U. Conn

Rhode Island: Brown, Rhode Island School of Design, Salve Regina, Roger Williams, U. of Rhode Island, Providence College, Bryant.

Southeast

Alabama: Auburn University

Arkansas: Hendrix College, University of Arkansas

Georgia: Emory, Spelman (HBCU*, women), Morehouse (HBCU*, men), Georgia Tech, UGA

Tennessee: Vanderbilt, U. of the South (Sewanee), Rhodes, U. of Tennessee

North Carolina: UNC, Duke, Wake Forest, Davidson, Guilford, Elon

South Carolina: College of Charleston, U. of South Carolina

Virginia: U. of Virginia, Richmond, Roanoke, Lynchburg,

Hampden-Sydney (men), Randolph, Washington & Lee, William & Mary, Mary Washington, Hampton (HBCU*), Virginia Tech, Shenandoah

Florida: U. of Miami, Rollins, Eckerd, Flagler , U. of Florida, Florida State

Blue = Casady students matriculated to in the last four years

In State Application Week - OU/OSU TUESDAY!

Yesterday was OU/OSU application day. We had over 80% of our seniors fill out applications to one of our in-state universities.





Of course there was pizza involved. 21 Papa John's pizzas to be exact. Didn't get a picture of the public consumption. But seniors left with their bellies full.

A special thanks also needs to go out to Andy Roop, our OU rep, and Macy Panache, our OSU rep. They were both in the computer labs with our seniors, answering questions, and making sure our student's applications were perfect.

Tomorrow is Tulsa/OCU application day!

See you in Woods computer lab during Block A and Block B

Wash U and Chicago Tours

September was my month of visiting schools.

First stop. St. Louis. The city with the arch. And the old Mississippi. Not to mention the red hot Cardinals.




I had the privilege to spend two full days visiting Wash U and drink in the gorgeous Gothic architecture.



The spacious quad. The friendly, very "nice" student body of 5,000.



I know now why Wash U is the "Harvard of the Midwest".

Next stop. Chicago. Three schools in three days.

First day. Lake Forest. The national liberal arts college of Chicago.



Lake Michigan is a block away. Chicago a 50 minute train ride away. What stood out to me was the passion Lake Forest professors have for teaching.

Second stop. Northwestern. I felt right at home in a sea of purple. Love Evanston too. It's know as the "cuisine capital of the world". And what stunning architecture and beautiful Ivy.




This is a picture of "the Rock". To advertise NW students have to camp out for 24 hours to claim rights.




Last stop. University of Chicago. Interesting factoid: U of Chicago was the second choice for the Harry Potter movies. U of Chicago IS HOGWARTS.



Another interesting factoid. U of Chicago is the home to the 1st Heisman Trophy. Who would have thought it?


Great stretch of college visits. And a reminder that there are excellent schools all over the US. There is just no such thing as only "one good school".

Peter van Buskirk Recap...if you missed

130+ from Casady community showed up - students and parents. From the feedback I received - all were educated and energized by Peter's seminar on what they learned about the college admission process.

Here is main message I took:

A student-centered approach to the college search as opposed to a destination-centered approach serves the student best.

Our overarching goal overlaps with this approach: we want to provide each student withe excellent college options and discern the best college fit.


Other content highlights from Peter's seminar:

Pyramid of Selectivity




All 3,000 colleges and universities in U.S. fall somewhere inside the pyramid. 15% of colleges have either a 1/4 (e.g. USC) or 1/8 (e.g. Harvard) admit-to-deny ratio. 85% of colleges, however, have a 1/2 or 3/4 admit-deny ratio. So then the higher a student aspires on the pyramid, the higher the unpredictability of acceptance. The key then is to build a final college list that reflects the college reality. The majority of schools then a student should apply to will fall into that 1/2 and 3/4 range. What all the schools though should have in common is the right feel and right fit for the student. In other words, apply only to schools where you will not just get in, but thrive, and graduate.


The Agenda versus The Hidden Agenda



Peter talked about the college agenda and hidden agenda. The former represents the faculty's "core values": they want bright, motivated, high achieving, diverse, and giver-not-taker students. The latter represents the administration's "core v's": $$$ (fully pay represents "free student"), ? (yield factor: if student is accepted will he or she enroll?), and SAT (test scores matter for college status).


The second half of the seminar moved into mock admission. Each parent and student was assigned an applicant. They were asked to review the application for "hotspots" (spots on application that are important: geographic location, plan of study, parent's pedigree, student passion, etc.) and "hooks" (a hook is something that will give applicant advantage in process because the applicant has something college wants). We then debated the candidates in terms of strengths and weaknesses, and the "hotspots" and "hooks". And then we voted. And we learned that admission decision at the "top of the pyramid" is not so black-and-white.

Here is breakdown of each candidate as discussed.



Applicant #1: Austin



Applicant #2: Danielle




Applicant #3: Josh




Applicant #4: Hobie




So who did you admit?


To purchase Peter's best-selling book, The College Admission Game, click here.

The College Admission Quiz

Next Tuesday, September 15th, Peter van Buskirk, author of The College Admission Game will be presenting in Fee Theater at 7 pm.

ALL UPPER DIVISION students, parents, and faculty ARE INVITED to attend.

Peter van Buskirk sent me a quiz for the Casady community to take in preparation for his presentation.

Click here to take The College Admission Quiz.

I took it.

Scored 22 out of 25.

It seems I still have much to learn about the realities of college admission.