Crafting Your College List for Admissions Success

Webinar Transcription

2026-07-22-Crafting Your College List for Admissions Success

Lydia: Hello, hello, hello, everyone. Welcome to, “Crafting Your College List for Admissions Success.” My name is Lydia Hollon, and I am going to be your moderator tonight. I’m also a senior advisor here at CollegeAdvisor and have been with the company for about four years now. And in addition to advising students, I’m also a proud graduate of New York University.

Lydia: To orient everyone with the webinar timing for tonight, we’re going to start off with a presentation, then answer your questions in a live Q&A. On the sidebar, you can download our slides and start submitting questions in the Q&A tab. We are also recording this session, so you can review the webinar again later on the CollegeAdvisor website.

Lydia: Now, let’s meet [00:01:00] our presenter.

Stacey: Hi there, everyone. My name is Stacey Tuttle. I’m a former admissions officer for the Yale University School of Public Health, where I’ve gained most of my admissions experience and insights. Um, my alma mater is also Yale University, and I’m still at Yale today, so I, I guess that’s kind of a, um, the majority of my background.

Stacey: I’m very excited to talk about this topic. This is one of my favorite topics. It’s actually one of the reasons why I got into college advisement work. Um, and I’m really excited to share my tips and tricks with you all today

Lydia: Fantastic. So before we jump into the presentation, we’re gonna ask a quick question to figure out what grade you all are in.

Lydia: And while I give you all a chance to answer that poll, Stacey, I would like to hear from you. I know you’re a Yale alum, but when you were putting together your college list, was there any other college that you thought, “Oh, this is probably the school that I’m gonna go to,” besides [00:02:00] Yale?

Stacey: Yeah, I mean, that’s a really good question.

Stacey: I don’t think I’ve been asked that one before, Lydia, which is really a- actually odd, because I think that would be a natural question that somebody would ask you, right? My second choice was Northeastern, so I’ll talk about this in a little bit, but I really prioritized schools that were closer to home, and so it was looking more so in Rhode Island, Massachusetts.

Stacey: Uh, Connecticut is where I’m from. So, you know, Yale was right in my backyard. New York, um, was also in my wheelhouse at the time and… But I wasn’t trying to go really far. Um, and Northeastern was a great, a great school at the time. Still is today. Um, and they had programs that were really, really interesting, interesting to me, and I love their campus.

Stacey: They had an honors program that I was really interested in. So lots… E- even today I remember all of the reasons why that was my second choice, and you’ll see through my presentation those exact, uh, factors coming to play now while you’re creating your college list.

Lydia: Yeah. [00:03:00] Makes a lot of sense. For me, the two colleges that were my top two were very different from each other.

Lydia: Obviously, I went to NYU, but my second choice was Vanderbilt, which different part of the country. Okay. Very different in terms of campus, but it was a lot closer to home. Um- Ah … but they definitely had appeal for very different reasons. So. Y- Yeah …

Stacey: you know, Vanderbilt and NYU were on my list too, Lydia, so we had common l- things in common amongst our lists.

Lydia: Yes, definitely. Great. Well, I will go ahead… Well, actually before I pass it over to you, let me go over, uh, the responses we got. So we have 18% in 10th grade, 29% in 11th, 44% in 12th grade. Makes sense. You’re locking down those college lists. And nine percent in the other or parent category. Okay, I’ll pass it back over to you to go into the presentation.

Stacey: Awesome. Thank you. So [00:04:00] let’s dive in here

Stacey: All right, let’s get started. So what is a college list and why is it important to create one? So this is probably one of the most important takeaways from the presentation today Your college list is a list of schools you would be happy attending if you were admitted. This is very different than what some students think should be on their college list, should be their college list.

Stacey: It is not a list of the top schools ever. It is not a list of the top 20 schools that you’re trying to get into, or a list of Ivy League schools, or the ones that you see in the media most frequently. It’s a list of schools that matches your needs, and we’re gonna talk a little bit more about what this looks like.

Stacey: Um, but a school that’s going to help you ultimately achieve your educational goals and ultimately, uh, also your career outcomes in relation to those goals, right? That is the whole reason why you are going to college. And so that should really [00:05:00] be the focus of your list. If you’re applying to a top institution, that institution might be a great institution for a number of programs and majors, but if its top programs and majors are not in alignment with what you want to study or what you hope to do, then that school might not be a great fit for you, right?

Stacey: So this is very, very important for, um, students to realize early on as they’re creating their list. You do not need to have these, like, shiny name brand schools on your list as long as the schools are going to meet your needs. It’s also a list that should not necessarily look like the person to your les- left or the persons to your right.

Stacey: Um, comparison is the thief of joy, and that’s another key takeaway that you’ll see throughout this presentation. I’m not saying that you can’t talk about your list with other people. You absolutely should talk about your list with people like parents and mentors and counselors, and of course you’re gonna naturally talk about that with your peers.

Stacey: But the danger [00:06:00] in doing so is that you might say to yourself, “Oh, well, this person’s applying here, and I’m also applying there. Maybe I should change my list because of that.” And that is not necessarily the right approach to your application process. So again, we’ll dive deeper into that in a little bit.

Stacey: It’s also important to create a list to keep yourself organized and focused going into application season. You’re going to be going into a senior year that is full of academic and extracurricular and, you know, to be frank, joyous obligations for you as a graduating student from your high school. And in order to balance your schedule and those competing demands, it’s a really good idea to be organized going into your senior fall with a list of colleges that you are confident meet your needs and that you wish to apply to.

Stacey: There are so many different deadlines and requirements for your applications as well. It’ll allow you to create a timeline so that you’re not missing those deadlines and that you’re setting yourself up for the most success [00:07:00] and the, the strongest application pros- possible. And finally, that list, that final list you have going into senior fall should be a balanced list.

Stacey: Um, and by balanced I mean- We’re not applying to necessarily all of those top 20 schools, and we’re not necessarily applying to only those schools that you feel like you’re absolutely gonna get into because maybe their admissions rates are higher. But y- you’re applying to maybe a little bit of in both categories, and then maybe some schools in between.

Stacey: So again, um, I’ll go into more detail in a few about what that looks like. But first, let’s talk about the factors that you should be considering when building your list, and I just alluded to this on the prior slide. The majors or academic programs that an insti- institution is offering to you should be one of your top priorities when reviewing colleges.

Stacey: Again, the whole reason why you’re applying to these institutions is so that you can gain an education in a particular field of study that will ultimately help you to achieve either further study of saying, you know, you wanna go on to [00:08:00] a PhD or a master’s program after you’re done with your undergraduate degree, um, or an MD program or a JD program, whatever that looks like, and/or your future career

Stacey: Help, uh, move you in the direction of an appropriate future career goal that’s in alignment with that field of study, right? So the majors and the academic programs that you’re looking at at these institutions should ultimately be the foundation off of which you build your future education and career.

Stacey: Uh, and so when you’re looking at colleges and you say you want to be a nursing major, and you’re looking at colleges and some of them don’t have nursing programs, those colleges should not be on your list, right? I know this might seem intuitive, but you would be surprised. I think a lot of students especially, like, I was a first-generation college student.

Stacey: I- I did not think to look to see if the schools I was applying to had the majors or programs that I was interested in studying. I just assumed, you know, that everybody would have X, Y, Z major, and for the, the most part that is true. [00:09:00] But they may come, they may come in different flavors at different institutions.

Stacey: So for example, um, you might find a public health major at one institution, but at another institution it might look like history of medicine or science, or it might look like epidemiology, or it might look like biostatistics. And so these different flavors may ultimately align in some ways, but you may be more interested in one of these majors versus another, and therefore it’s really important you’re doing that research.

Stacey: The size of the institution is also going to be a really important factor for you to consider, because the way you approach your studies and you are entrenched in your studies will change depending on the size of the institution. Because your classes may be bigger at a larger institution. Your advising groups may be larger at a larger institution.

Stacey: The campus feel itself may feel more city-like as opposed to maybe this more intimate, um, setting. And so to consider that size factor will be important. For some students, this might not be as important as something like their [00:10:00] major or maybe another factor that they’re considering, but it’s something to think about because you may have strong preference in one direction.

Stacey: Location’s also usually an important factor for students when they’re thinking about where they’re going to go to school. Um, I mentioned earlier that I really wanted to be close to home, and home was Connecticut, so I was really applying, you know, within a certain amount of driving distance from my home, and luckily for me, I was in the New England area.

Stacey: So a lot of schools in the New England area were really, really stellar, and I was really interested in many of them, and I had a lot of choices. For some of you, you may need to look a little bit farther out, um, or maybe you are desiring to be further away from home. So really think about location, um, when you’re deciding between colleges.

Stacey: I know another kind of funny thing to consider is the weather. Um, are you okay with Northeast weas- weather, or do you wanna go someplace warm? These are different factors that are legitimate and ones that you should [00:11:00] be considering Financial aid usually come, comes to the top of the list with, um, students building out their college lists.

Stacey: Uh, does an institution have scholarships available? Does it have honors programs? I talked earlier about my second choice, Nor- Northeastern. They had a specific honors program that I was really interested in because it provided all sorts of perks and streamlined my pathway to my end goal, my end, uh, field of study or major.

Stacey: Um, I think there was some housing benefit, you know, where you got like a single dorm because you were in the honors program or something like that. So, you know, that, uh, came with a fi- a generous financial aid package, and I was really interested in that feature of that institution. You can often look to colleges’ financial aid websites to understand what sorts of things might be available to you, if they have merit-based aid, loans, need-based aid, and the like.

Stacey: Um, those financial aid resources on their, their websites will be helpful. And [00:12:00] you can also always ask to talk to a financial aid officer at these institutions so that you can have a better sense of what might your financial aid package look like if you were to get into that institution. Um, feeling or sense of connection.

Stacey: There’s not really a great way to describe this outside of the feel- like I said, the feeling that you’re getting when you, you actually step foot on a college campus. And I say this because, you know, you could research a lot about an institution, you can understand a lot about an institution, but if you get to an institution and you’re not really feeling at home there, that feeling of connection or belonging, maybe that school is not the right choice for you.

Stacey: I will not talk about the institutions that kinda landed in this category for me, where I didn’t feel connected to that school and so I decided not to apply to them. But, um, there were definitely a few out there where I went for college visits, and I, you know, I just didn’t feel like it was the right fit for me, and that’s totally okay [00:13:00] Um, other.

Stacey: There’s a number of other categories of factors that you might consider in your personal college search. Um, I’ve listed a bunch here. Um, diversity, inclusion, equity, and belonging might be factors that you’re considering when looking at institutions and the emphasis they place on that. Career resources may be important to you, um, as they should be in, in the same vein that majors and academic programs should be important to you.

Stacey: Um, uh, is there a robust career service office that can support you in the career area or career areas that you hope to ultimately pursue? Um, research support. You know, not every institution is strong in research in every area. So really think about what ins- what you’re hoping to research if you are hoping to do research, and look to institutions that have strong faculty or research centers associated with that area of study or area of research.

Stacey: Extracurricular offerings. You might be really [00:14:00] extracurricularly inclined, and so maybe you’re looking at sports, maybe you’re looking at theater groups, maybe you’re looking at music. What does that look like at that institution? Are they going to be able to support you in your extracurricular endeavors, the way you want to be supported?

Stacey: Study abroad opportunities. I personally studied abroad when I was at, at my undergraduate institution, and when I … I remember distinctly when I was on a tour, they highlighted how accessible studying abroad was to undergraduate students. And I remember thinking, “Oh, I hope t- I can do that one day if I get in.”

Stacey: And sure enough, when I got in, I made that a priority and I ended up studying abroad in Rome in my sophomore summer, and that was a great opportunity for me. Of course, there are many other, um, factors you might consider in addition to all of these

Stacey: So when is a good time to begin your school list? Really, um, for those who are [00:15:00] planning really far in advance, you can start your list at any time. I mean, you can start your list in freshman, sophomore year, but really when it becomes critical will be your junior year, um, and particularly in the fall.

Stacey: You’ll wanna start really researching colleges, creating a list, and that list might be a long one at first. But you wanna start identifying those schools that are really of interest to you, and it could be 20, 30, 40 colleges, right, on that init- on the initial list as you do your research. But then that gives you a basis off of which you can cut it down as you continue to learn about these institutions and work toward a final list.

Stacey: Um, excuse me for one second. I’m just grabbing another drink of water.

Stacey: Thank you for your patience. So junior fall, um, you’ll be researching those colleges, and then going into winter and [00:16:00] spring you’ll continue to research. When you have opportunities, I would suggest visiting college campuses, especially if you live close to some in your area. Um, so you’ll continue to do that research, start thinking about what’s important to you.

Stacey: Going into summer, um, that is a great time, junior summer, between junior and senior year, to visit colleges and continue doing that research. Um, and during your visits, I would highly encourage you to take notes about your tours, about what you’re learning about an institution so that later when you have to write your essays about why you’re applying to these places, you can reference those notes and say, “Oh, that’s that, that thing that I really like.

Stacey: That’s that program that I really thought was interesting to me.” And you can reference those as you’re writing your essays. It will benefit you profusely in the long run to have those notes available so you don’t have to go back and do that research again. And then toward the end of junior summer, I would suggest [00:17:00] revising, trying to finalize that list to a more reasonable, uh, number of schools, and I’ll talk about kind of the recommended number and how to balance that in a moment.

Stacey: But the goal would be to finalize in the August before senior year, because this is typically when applications will open, and you want to feel confident and not have to still do that research going into senior year. Now, I will say your list can continue to evolve into your senior year as well. Um, so you might decide, “Oh, I f- I didn’t realize this school was such a great fit for me.

Stacey: I’m gonna add that onto my list.” Or, you know, maybe I’ve decided I’m gonna cut one more school off my list. I don’t really want to apply to this many. So you can continue to evolve moving into senior year, but it’s good to have a, a good sense of your finalist going into your senior year So I typically recommend for my students to aim somewhere between 10 to 12 schools in the application process, and there’s a number of reasons why.

Stacey: Um, first and foremost, [00:18:00] applications take time. Every application is going to require a different set of, um, requirements from you, including essays that will take time to write. Some schools don’t require many. Some schools will require four, five, six essays, and every school’s essays and their prompts will look a little bit different as well.

Stacey: So you do need to take into account that you can’t apply to every institution ever, right? Um, so you, in order to make that application process manageable, it’s recommended that you keep it somewhere around that 10 to 12 range, at least in my perspective. Um, also, personally, I couldn’t apply to every institution ever because they cost money.

Stacey: Um, and so I really had to ask myself, “How many application fees am I going to pay in this instance?” Um, some institutions will offer application fee waivers, which is great, so you should always ask about those if those are of interest to you. At the time, I don’t think I was savvy… Again, I was first generation.

Stacey: I don’t think I was savvy enough [00:19:00] to ask, um, so I ended up paying all of those fees, and it does cost money. At the end of the day, the number of schools you apply to is a personal choice, but ultimately, that list, whatever it is, should be balanced. So within that 10 to 12 range, I would say aim for three to four safety or likely schools, three to five target or match schools, and three to four aspirational schools.

Stacey: So let’s talk about what I mean by that Um, actually, sorry, before I do, I wanna talk about narrowing down the list a little bit, and then we’ll talk about the different categories. So first and foremost, when you’re narrowing down your list, identify your priorities. We talked about all of those factors you might wanna consider.

Stacey: What is important to you? Uh, if you wanna study chemistry and the institution on your list isn’t, doesn’t have a strong chemistry department, remove them from the list. If financial aid is really important to you and an institution basically is explaining that they don’t have really robust financial aid for students from your [00:20:00] area or, um, what you’re looking for, remove that from the list.

Stacey: If you are interested in a large institution, look at those, the institut- institutions on your list and think about whether or not they’re large enough to meet that need. And while identifying your priorities, think about what is an absolute deal breaker. So if you’re interested in chemistry, but maybe you’re also interested in another couple of majors in the sciences, is not having a strong chemistry department a deal breaker for you or is it a nice to have?

Stacey: What are those deal breaker things that absolutely means you would not be happy if you got into that institution and chose that institution in the long run? And this should be true of not just the schools that are the Ivys or the top 20s on your list in terms of meeting your nees- needs. It should be true of every institution on your list, even the ones that you’re fairly confident you’re gonna get into because you might end up choosing the [00:21:00] schools that have higher admission rates, um, because they have offered you a great financial aid package.

Stacey: They have the programs that you’re interested in. They have given you, um, a great opportunity in their honors college, like I was talking about. They have great study abroad opportunities that are really interesting to you. So make sure every school on your list is one where you would be happy and that none are hitting those deal breaker qualities that you ultim- mean you ultimately shouldn’t have applied to that institution.

Stacey: Also, continue engaging conversations with your family, your counselors, and your mentors, the people who are really invested in this process, right? Your parents, your guardians, and your counselors and mentors, they’re gonna wanna see you succeed, and they may know you very, very well, right? To the point where they could even recommend schools to you or tell you more about the schools on your list such that you’re making more of an informed decision.

Stacey: Now, I, I’m gonna reemphasize. Exercise caution when discussing your list with your [00:22:00] peers. Um, and keep an open mind during the process as well. So when discussing with your peers, I would definitely not make decisions about where you should be applying based on where another person is applying. So if somebody else is applying and that’s making you feel discouraged about applying to that institution as well- Remember that you, there are factors in university admission decision-making procedures that are completely out of your control.

Stacey: And, you know, in looking at your application and another person’s application, you may b- be both equally qualified, and therefore could do very well at both institutions. But maybe you’re applying to an engineering major, and they’re really interested in having another engineering major from your area, whereas your peer applied for, I don’t know, an English major, and they’ve already kinda met what they needed in that department.

Stacey: You may actually get into the institution while your c- your peer does not. And so that’s an example of [00:23:00] where university needs and university goals may make a difference in who is getting into the institution in a given application cycle. Um, and so don’t be discouraged just because, you know, so-and-so is applying, I’m probably not gonna get in.

Stacey: That is not necessarily true. And so definitely focus on the schools that are a good fit for you, and then articulate that in your application such that you are putting your best foot forward, and you’re ensuring that you’ve articulated to the institution, “This is why you and I are good fits for each other.”

Stacey: Um, and then keeping an open m- and m- keeping an open mind, excuse me, I, in the same sense where you might have a student… or sorry, excuse me, a college on your list that you originally wanted to keep, but now you’re realizing maybe it’s not a good fit Keep an open mind to institutions that you didn’t originally consider, and maybe it’s time for you to add that college to the list because you’re realizing it’s a really good fit.

Stacey: At the end of the day, make sure each school has at least two majors or programs that would [00:24:00] be of interest to you. This is, um, a really, really good piece of advice because if you get to an institution and you have all of your eggs in the basket of, “I’m going to study in this great history of art major.

Stacey: This is what I wanna do,” and then you start taking classes and you realize, “I don’t like this.” And I cannot tell you how many students this happened to. It happened to me. I did not apply, um, to the major that I ultimately graduated with. It’s a very, very common thing to happen to students. And so being prepared with another option to pivot to at that institution will be really important.

Stacey: And of course, you know, try to visit in person if possible. Take those virtual tours if you can’t, um, or attend virtual information sessions because that feeling about how you align with a school and, and the feeling that you’re getting, the feeling of connection you’re getting with a school is very important at the end of the day.

Stacey: So let’s talk about the different categories of schools on your [00:25:00] college list, um, that you should be aiming to balance amongst. So the aspirational category, this is often called the reach category. Um, these are institutions where they’re either their admissions rates are of 25% or less, and your overall profile is weaker than the average admitted student to that school And, or admissions rates of 15% or less, which really in reality is a reach for any student.

Stacey: These are very competitive institutions in the a- inspirational category. Um, when institutions are admitting 15% or less of their admitted or their, um, applicant pool, that means they’re receiving a high volume of very qualified applicants, and they are having to make very, very difficult decisions around who will be coming and joining their community that coming year.

Stacey: Um, and it’s not an easy thing to do, and often, like I was talking about earlier, the [00:26:00] decisions may come down to factors that are totally out of the student’s control. So you can put forward an amazing application, great references, wonderful resume, great extracurriculars, awesome essays, but because of some university need, like let’s say there’s department caps on, on certain majors, or they’re looking for infor- um, a number of students from different demographic areas, these are things that you cannot control.

Stacey: And so for that reason, you may be an excellent candidate and still not get into your top choice institution, and I have absolutely seen that happen. Um, and so it’s very important for that reason that you balance your list with match or target schools and safety, likely schools. So the match target schools are those who have admission rates somewhere in the middle.

Stacey: They’re somewhere between the 25 to 75% range, and they’re also schools for which your profile matches that of the average admitted student. Um, so this school is likely a really good- Match [00:27:00] for you in the downstream. The, the admissions officers are going to see that, and you’re likely going to be admitted to that institution as a result.

Stacey: It’s not guaranteed, because they’re still competitive, but they’re somewhere in that middle zone. The safeties or likely schools are those that have a h- those high admissions rates. So they’re the ones that are admitting more than 75% of their applicant pool, and in those cases, your profile likely is going to exceed that of the average admitted student.

Stacey: Um, so how are we using that admissions data to our benefit? Um, if you do find admissions information online from prior classes for these institutions you’re applying to, and many do publish admissions rates as well as their average applicant profile statistics. So you can find for some of these institution what, institutions, excuse me, what their average test score was for their last admitted class, their average GPA potentially for their last admitted class.

Stacey: If it’s not published online, see if an admissions [00:28:00] office or, or at an information session they have that information available, or they have it in admissions pamphlets or information online, um, that you may not have referenced otherwise. Do a deep dive on their websites and, and really look. Um, and using that information, that will be able to help you understand, is this institution a safety or likely school?

Stacey: Is it a match target school, or is it an aspirational or reach school? And so you’ll look at those average test scores, those average GPAs, and ask yourself, “Is my average GPA test score, whatever the stat is, is that lower than what their average was for the last admitted class? Is it about on target with their average from the last admitted class, or is it higher than what they had for the average for the last admitted class?”

Stacey: That will tell you more about kinda where that school falls on the list and whether or not you are competitive in kinda each of those categories. If you’re not seeing averages, they might also [00:29:00] publish ranges, which would be equally helpful as well. So really use that data to strategize around your application process.

Stacey: So when should your student’s college list be finalized? I mentioned earlier it should be the August, um, before your senior year, and another reason for this is you– there are a lot of deadlines that you wanna be prepared for, especially for your top institutions on your list. So those, um, earlier deadlines that will be important to you are called early action or early decision deadlines.

Stacey: Early action and early decision typically fall somewhere around October, November, and there’s a couple of benefits to applying early as opposed to the regular decision deadline. Early often is associated with a slight increase in chance of admission because you are applying early. You also do find out early, so both of those things are, are huge benefits.

Stacey: Um, but you do need to apply early. You need to be prepared [00:30:00] early, and so that is why we want to have that list ready so you can start working on those essays for those schools that you’re hoping to apply to early. A c- a quick note here about early action or early decision. Early action is non-binding, so you can apply and you find out early, but you don’t have to go to the school, um, if you do get in.

Stacey: Early decision, meanwhile, is, um, is binding. You apply, you find out early, and if you get in, you are basically saying, “I’m going to your institution.” So early decision, um, and early action are distinct in that way. You may see different flavors of these at different institutions. Um, when I applied to Yale, it was restrictive early action, so while it was not binding, so I didn’t have to go if I got in, I could only apply to one school restrictive early action.

Stacey: So I couldn’t apply early anywhere else. Um, and that basically gave Yale some assurance that, you know, you are my top choice. I’m choosing to apply to you early without forcing me into that binding [00:31:00] arrangement necessarily. Um, early decision, you’ll see both early decision and early decision two. Early decision two is, is basically another round of early decisions, so if you’ve already d- heard back from your early decision school and they’ve maybe deferred you to the regular cycle or they waitlisted you, you can then apply early decision two to another institution.

Stacey: Um, and so it kinda gives students different waves of early decision to elect. Um, now again, this doesn’t mean in solidifying your list early in, um, the fall of your senior year that you can’t add or remove colleges. So just keep that in mind. You can stay flexible, but having that baseline list is helpful.

Stacey: You’ll apply final, um- re- to your final schools through the regular decision deadline if you didn’t apply to them early, or you may have some schools on your list that are rolling. So rolling means that they open, say, applications in September. You can apply in September, um, but you can also [00:32:00] apply all the way through April, and based on when you apply is when probably going to correlate when you receive your decision.

Stacey: So if you, you apply in September, you may find out in September. Um, but if you apply, apply in February, you might not find out till April. And it’s really important that you keep in mind for rolling schools, they fill up as well. They, you know, reach their admitted student caps at some point. And so you do

Stacey: don’t wanna sleep on those applications, but it is helpful when they have the rolling application process because then you could apply early and find out early, or you could put- could apply later if you didn’t, um, prioritize that earlier in your application process What resources can help students build their list?

Stacey: So the first here, US News and World Rank- Report rankings. These are, these are particularly helpful in informing some of your decision-making and understanding what kind of resources are available at the institutions on your list. Um, the rankings are driven by a number of factors that are helpful, such as [00:33:00] graduation rates, first-year retention rates, um, student to faculty ratio, indebtedness of graduate.

Stacey: Um, and so these things may… are all important factors, um, usually to students, and therefore, the rankings will be informative, um, in your decision-making process. College websites are also really helpful. I’ve mentioned them a few times throughout this presentation. Explore them. Dive deep. Look at their student life pages.

Stacey: Look at their academic program pages. Look at their career resources pages. Look at their alumni network. I mean, something that you’re not even thinking about now, but it’s an important thing for you to know. What resources are available to me as a- an alum of this program later on? Those things might be important and exciting to you at this stage.

Stacey: I personally love college catalogs, and I know this sounds ve- probably very unexciting to some of the students in the room today. Um, but I find them to be helpful because you can gain key insight into the majors and fields [00:34:00] of study available and programs available at your institution that you’re applying to.

Stacey: Um, and you can also look at the course requirements and what those courses are in relation to those majors or programs. So you can look at, say, their, um, Spanish program and see what courses you would take to complete that major and what sort of flexibility there is. Like, can you take electives? Can you double major?

Stacey: The course catalog could tell you that. Can you do, um, what we call four plus one programs? So there’s some institutions that allow you to complete a master’s degree alongside your bachelor’s degree. So there’s a lot of value in looking at that course catalog and informing your decision academically.

Stacey: Campus tours or virtual tours, of course, are very helpful in understanding, um, what it’s like to be at those institutions, um, and to get that campus feel, that connection, um, sense that I was talking about earlier. Information sessions and college fairs are always helpful, and I would encourage you to engage with an institution before applying in some way, um, because it is helpful to [00:35:00] indicate that interest.

Stacey: Guidance counselors and academic mentor- tors may make- be able to make some great recommendations for you. Um, based on how much they know you and what you’re interested in, and what their experience has been like in, in guiding students in the past. And the current students and alumni associated with that institution, I mean, really valuable sources of, uh, insight.

Stacey: Talk to the people who are living it now, right? Talk to a current student, and sometimes admissions offices can actually facilitate that connection, where you can talk to a current student or an alum. Um, or you can, you know, do your own research. Does your high school or in your community, are there people who have attended that institution that you can talk to to give you further insight?

Stacey: So some final advice here. The number one consideration and I’m sorry to be a broken record, but do they offer your programs or majors of interest? This is why you’re going to college. Yes, everything else is important. Everything else you should be researching, student life, extracurriculars, um, [00:36:00] financial aid, the location, the size, the campus feel, all of it, the career resources.

Stacey: But if you can’t study what you wanna study such that you are coming out of your undergraduate education with the tools you need to move forward with additional education or career goals, then that’s not the right institution for you. So definitely continue to look at colleges through that lens. Look at them in the sense that, you know, you’re…

Stacey: This is a tool for me to move forward with my future career. Um, and so that is very, very important. And that ultimately means that an Ivy League or a top 20 school may actually not be the right fit for you. Um, and consider those factors that impact the value of your education, right? You wanna look at the career outco- outcomes and the indebtedness of the alum.

Stacey: So it’s not just about getting into the career, but are you able to manage the debt that you gain from your undergraduate studies reasonably, given those career outcomes? Um, and so really ask those hard [00:37:00] questions. Continue to evaluate colleges throughout your process based on those priorities we talked about.

Stacey: What factors are most important to you, and what are those deal breakers that you absolutely cannot get beyond, um, when, when you’re looking at colleges? Um, and that will… These factors all in combination will hopefully help you get to a confident final college list. Over to you, Lydia.

Lydia: All right. Thank you so much for that great presentation, Stacey. As promised earlier in the presentation, we are now gonna transition into the live Q&A. So feel free to continue submitting questions in that Q&A tab. I’ll read them aloud and give Stacey an opportunity to answer them. As a heads up, if your Q&A tab isn’t letting you submit questions, just double-check that you joined the webinar through the custom link in your email and not from the webinar page.

Lydia: So we will go ahead and jump in. Also, um, I saw someone [00:38:00] ask a question about whether or not the web- webinar is being recorded. Yes, it is. So if you need to leave early or do anything else, you will be able to watch the recording of this webinar on the CollegeAdvisor website. So do not feel like you have to stay, but we encourage you, um, if you’re able to, to stick around so that you can ask any questions that you may have for Stacey.

Lydia: All right. So our first question is, especially with the changes to test optional policies, how should a test optional policy affect whether a student considers a school to be a target versus a reach? Or should it not matter? Should you just look purely at the stats that the school has on their website for admitted students?

Stacey: That is a great question, and I am so glad. Thank you for whoever asked this because usually I do talk about it in my presentation, and I did not today. So let’s talk about test optional schools. Um, some schools are test optional still. Many have [00:39:00] moved back in the direction of being test required. So for those that are test optional, you wanna use the admission statistics that you may be finding for these institutions online to understand not only if a school is, you know, a reach, um, aspirational school, target match, or a safety likely, but also whether or not it’s advan-advantageous for you to submit your test, right?

Stacey: So if you’re seeing that the average applicant is scoring higher than you, a successful applicant, I should say, is scoring higher than you in past admissions pools, then maybe it’s not, um, wise to submit your test score to a test optional school. Maybe it’s best that you don’t put that information forward.

Stacey: And so that’s part of the strategy in using those prior admission statistics while planning your applications. Um, and some, like I said, some institutions will require you to submit those test scores regardless. But for those that are test optional, it can help inform your decision as to whether or not you’ll submit your [00:40:00] scores

Lydia: Um, another question we have is if you are a rising senior working on your college list right now, what should you do to maximize your time if you feel like you’re running out of time to see all the schools and figure out what the best fit for you is?

Stacey: Yeah, you know, I think this is where being, sitting down and getting organized with potentially a guardian or a trusted mentor will be really helpful.

Stacey: It can be so overwhelming, and you might feel like, “Oh, my gosh. I am going to miss out. I am going to not apply to that one institution that’s gonna be the right fit for me. Um, this is too much. I don’t know where to start.” The, the place to start is exactly sort of where I’ve been talking, um, through the, the process in the presentation.

Stacey: You should start with a list of those priorities for you, right? Don’t start with the schools. Start with what you’re looking for, and maybe use the presentation points here as a guide. [00:41:00] Talk to your mentor or your guardian or whoever is important to you in your life. Soundboard with them and say, “Okay, w- am I looking for large or small?

Stacey: Am I looking for good financial aid? Am I… What kinds of majors am I looking for?” And from there, you can start doing some research online. You don’t have to visit all of your colleges right now as a senior. In fact, if you have not visited any colleges right now, I think the focus right now for you instead would be choosing colleges that on paper, on, on their websites look like a good fit for you.

Stacey: And then come the spring, you could always attend or visit schools. Um, often they, for admitted students, they have admitted students days. And for your top choice institutions who have admitted you, I would suggest attending those if you’re able. Um, in the meantime, you can use US College, um, and World News Rankings.

Stacey: You can use the, um, resources that I’ve talked about, course college catalogs. You can do simple Google searches to see, you know, which top, um, biology programs in the nation, right? And then, then you can start looking at their [00:42:00] websites and decide, “Is this a good fit for me?” But again, keeping it balanced. So if you’ve already selected three top colleges, top 20 colleges, aspirational colleges, start thinking about, “Okay, I have those, those three.

Stacey: I’m really happy with those. What are some target schools that I can add to my list? What are some likely or safety schools that I can add to my list?” Um, and then settle on a f- a, a reasonable number in each category of, as I’ve described today. Keep it, uh, take it off in bite-sized chunks as you go along.

Stacey: So again, what are my priorities? Let me do some research around which schools might meet these priorities, and then, uh, settle on a list that’s balanced amongst those different, um, kind of a, a competitive c- uh, pots of schools.

Lydia: Um, another question that we have is, if we know that no one from our high school has been accepted to a certain college or university in the past [00:43:00] six years, although they were, you know, within the stats that the school normally admits, does that mean that it would be better for us to not apply, that maybe they just don’t like students from my specific school, or should I still consider it?

Stacey: Okay, definitely apply. Um, you just don’t know when it’s gonna be the year, right? Um, and that may be driven by factors, again, that are completely out of your control. Um, but I will say, you know, when I was admitted, there wasn’t a strong history of a ton of students being admitted from my school. I went to a public school in the local area, um, and Yale did have a strong partnership with my high school, but you know, it was competitive.

Stacey: And so we didn’t have an admitted student every year from my high school. I don’t think we had one for a few years before I was admitted either. Um, and so that did not, you know, deter me, and it happened to be the year that I was, um, somebody from our institution was [00:44:00] accepted. We did only have one person get in, um, but you know, it’s valuable in trying, and at the end of the day, if that school is a good fit for you, you feel like it’s a good fit for your needs, and you’re putting forward your best application, um, there is no harm in applying to an institution that has historically not admitted students from your school.

Stacey: Because again, that year might be the year

Lydia: I definitely agree with that. And I think, you know, sometimes students can get really hung up on that, not just from the perspective of, uh, you know, no one from my school has been admitted to this school. But also if you go to a school where you know there are a lot of students that apply, I think I’ve, I’ve also seen sometimes students count themselves out ’cause they’re like, “Oh, well, I’m not the top of my class.

Lydia: I’m not number one class rank.” But again, like Stacey said, there are so many different factors that go into determining who is admitted. And as someone who has worked in higher ed admissions and then also been a high school educator, [00:45:00] you might be surprised. Like, so sometimes the students that end up getting into the selective schools are not…

Lydia: It’s not a one-to-one conversion. You know, top 10 students are automatically the students that get into the top 10 schools. There are other things that, that play a role as well. So never count yourself out just because of the school that you attend and things like that. Just making, make sure that you’re doing the best you can to prepare.

Lydia: Um-

Stacey: Lydia, if I could add to you. Yeah, go for it. I think that was a really good point. Um, just to relate a personal anecdote, and, and Lydia, I don’t know where you, you were, um, I’m not sure if this is, uh, relatable, but I wasn’t number one in my class. I’m just saying that out loud. Yeah. I was not number one in my class, um, and I still was able to get into my top choice school.

Stacey: Uh, and so again, it’s really about presenting a strong application and doing that research and making sure the school’s a right fit for you.

Lydia: Yes. Definitely agree. Um, another question that we have is: Do you have any advice for rising seniors who are [00:46:00] trying to finish up a college list but don’t know what they want to major in?

Lydia: What other things should they be thinking about

Stacey: Ooh, that’s a really good question. Um, so I would, this is where I would really employ, um, the people who know you best in your life. If you’re having a hard time with that internal kind of soul-searching of, of what your next educational move would be, um, I would talk to your guidance counselors, I would talk to trusted advisors, I would talk to your parents, and ask them what they think, um, based on what they’ve seen of you over the last few years, are your strength areas, or areas that they’ve seen you shine, that they’ve seen you enjoy.

Stacey: Um, and using that information, so what are some extracurricular things you’ve done? What have, what are some classes you’ve really enjoyed? What are some, um, personal projects that you’ve done that maybe have brought forward new interests? Um, what are some qualities you have that might lend themselves to a future career in certain areas?

Stacey: Are you [00:47:00] service-oriented? Are you really compassionate and kind? Maybe that is lending… And maybe you love the sciences. Maybe that’s lending itself to a work in healthcare. Um, and so maybe that’s the avenue you move in, and that’s the direction you move in. Talk to the people around you, and I think their insight will actually be helpful in your application process if you personally are not feeling that strong compass toward a particular field of study.

Stacey: Um, there are students who apply undecided. I would tell you that it is a more challenging route, um, strategically as an applicant to justify kind of why you’re applying as an undecided major. I would also take comfort in the fact that a lot of institutions do allow you to change your major once you are on campus.

Stacey: So you don’t necessarily need to be completely wed to the one major in the one area. I talked earlier about my personal journey changing my major. Um, if that’s something that’s important to you at an institution, make sure you’re choosing schools that offer that option, [00:48:00] right? Um, and then I would advise kind of strategically thinking about the major that positions you best for admission and presents the strongest applicant profile to those institutions.

Stacey: So, like, maybe you’re, you have a really strong background in the humanities, and so maybe choosing a humanities major through the application process, that initial application process, makes sense. But maybe you, you know, you explore some classes your first year at that institution, and you decide to pivot to something else later

Lydia: Yeah, I definitely agree with that. And I, I think for anyone that is uncertain about their major that they wanna pursue, also just be conscious of, like I’ve seen students make this mistake either because they weren’t– they had a major in mind, but it wasn’t something that they were, had their heart fully set on.

Lydia: Don’t make a school’s one program, like, the only reason that you go to a school. I’ve seen sometimes students choose a school because, like, it has a really great [00:49:00] pre-med program.

Stacey: Mm-hmm.

Lydia: And they’re maybe s- 70, 60% confident that they wanna do pre-med, and that ends up being the only reason that they chose that school, and they end up deciding to transfer because once they decided that, “Oh, pre-med’s not really it for me,” there’s r- not really a reason for them to be at that school, ’cause they didn’t really enjoy the campus, they didn’t really like the location.

Lydia: It didn’t really have much to offer in terms of the other programs that were available at that school. So just make sure that when you’re selecting your school, unless you are, like, 100% sure this is the path that I wanna go down, I just wanna go to the school that is best for this specific program, for this specific course of study, make sure there are other reasons.

Lydia: And also, for students that are not sure what they wanna major in, could be worth considering, like, schools that have an open curriculum or, like, a liberal arts college as well. You know, a school that allows you to [00:50:00] kind of explore things and figure out what you wanna do before committing-

Stacey: Yeah …

Lydia: as well. So.

Stacey: Very, very good advice

Lydia: Um, another question that we have is, is there a minimum number of schools that we have to apply to? You said 10 to 12 on average-

Stacey: Yeah …

Lydia: but is eight enough, for example? That’s actually how many schools I applied to, but that, that was some time ago. A different world.

Stacey: That is so funny.

Stacey: I think I applied to nine, if I’m-

Lydia: Yeah

Stacey: It was either eight or nine, and I don’t know why that was a magic number at the time, Lydia. Maybe there was, like, some overall guidance at that point-

Lydia: Yeah …

Stacey: from schools. Um, so you can apply to one school. You can absolutely apply to one school, but that school should probably be one of the safety or likely schools if that’s the only school you’re applying to.

Stacey: Um, or you should be applying with some degree of confidence that you’re gonna get into that institution. Um, there wa- there’s- [00:51:00] there are, um, kind of fatal flaws, if you will, on both ends of the spectrum. If you apply to all aspirational schools, that is a bad strategy because you may not get into any of them, right?

Stacey: And if you apply to just one target or one likely school, um, that could also backfire because maybe you don’t get into that one target or safety school. Um, it’s a possibility. Uh, so I would advise at least applying to two or three just to be absolutely safe that you’re gonna … If your goal is to go to college next year, then it makes sense to make sure that you have a couple of eggs in different baskets, right?

Stacey: Um, but in theory, if you’re fairly confident in applying to this institution, you’re gonna get in, you’re, you’re an excellent candidate for that institution, um, their admissions rates are high, you could apply to one. Um, but again, just make sure that one institution meets your needs and allows you flexibility if you ultimately decide to pivot amongst their [00:52:00] programs.

Stacey: Um, and I will … I- A- another little anecdotal piece here. When I applied early action to my top choice, and when I got in, I actually withdrew all of my other applications except for one. Um, and I- that was my decision at the time, you know? I, I didn’t, I didn’t wanna, you know, take a spot from another person, and I knew I was going where I got in.

Stacey: So I, I said, “I’m done,” and moved on. Um, so that’s also your prerogative at that point

Lydia: Definitely. It, it, it, it’s, it’s a very personal decision, but I, I do th- I, I would say in this day and age where admissions are getting more and more selective, it is probably… If, if you think that you’re gonna be applying to some more selective schools within that mix of w- within that list, I, I think that eight is a good kind of min- minimum, roughly.

Lydia: Or I’d say at least six is, like, a [00:53:00] bare, bare minimum, um, because you just wanna have options. I always tell students, like, if you only got into just one school on your list and you had no control over which one it was, would you feel okay with that, when you have, like, a really short list? And s- some- sometimes, like, if, if you, if you realize the one safety that you had on your college list was one that, like, you really didn’t even wanna go to at all, you just had it on there because you felt like you had to, then maybe you need to add some more, like, target and safety schools to your list so that you can feel more confident that you’re gonna have more options to choose from versus, “Oh, I’m gonna apply to all of the Ivies and then my one state school,” and then you just get into the one state school and you feel really, really disappointed.

Lydia: But it is, like, you know, a mix of how many schools are you genuinely interested in? How much time do you have? Which is why it’s beneficial to be thinking about these things now. [00:54:00] And also to some extent, finances, although there are… You know, a lot of schools have waivers and things like that if you qualify for free or reduced lunch and things like that to kind of mitigate those costs.

Lydia: But definitely plan ahead so that you can have the time to apply to multiple colleges, and you’re not having to limit yourself because you just don’t have the time to finish, like, essays and

Stacey: things like that. Um- And Lydia, to just double down on kind of some of the advice you just gave, um, having multiple schools’ financial aid packages to work off of will be really helpful.

Stacey: I, I wish somebody kind of told me that in retrospect. Um, Yale’s financial aid packages are stellar, um, but, you know, for a lot of students, they wanna leverage those in the downstream. So applying to multiple schools will allow you to do that, even if you really only wanted to go to the one and you’re probably gonna get in.

Stacey: Having that, um, negotiation tool will be helpful

Lydia: Yes. Okay. And as a segue, um, we’re gonna do [00:55:00] a quick, uh, pitch or t- a chance to talk about CollegeAdvisor, uh, for a little bit. So, uh, we’re gonna spotlight two students that we have served. The first one is DJ, who grew up wanting to be a physician. He was active in relevant extracurriculars and sought out challenging coursework, and as a scientist, writing narratively was a challenge for him, so the college essay style just didn’t really come naturally.

Lydia: He decided to sign up

Stacey: to work with CollegeAdvisor and was accepted by five colleges,

Lydia: including Johns Hopkins, where he received an institutional scholarship of around sixty-one thousand dollars a year. Really impressive. And then we also have another student, Abby, who reached out because she was an aspiring first-generation college student, and her immigrant parents had no experience applying to US colleges, and she just wasn’t receiving much support from her teachers or school counselors, so she felt a bit alone.

Lydia: She was thinking ahead and connected with CollegeAdvisor as a sophomore and ended up applying [00:56:00] early decision to Cornell, where she was accepted and received full financial aid. So these are just two examples out of the ten thousand plus students that we have served, um, we have guided through the application process.

Lydia: Our team, over three hundred former admissions officers and admissions experts is ready to help you and your family navigate the college admissions process in one-on-one advising sessions and stand. To learn more about how you can get started with CollegeAdvisor, just scan the QR code to sign up for a free sixty-minute strategy session with an admissions specialist on our team.

Lydia: During this meeting, you’ll receive a preliminary assessment of your academic profile, along with some initial recommendations on what you can do to stand out. Excuse me.

Stacey: Yeah, the, it’s … I don’t know what it is this summer. There’s, like, a lot of summer bad air and [00:57:00] colds.

Lydia: Yeah, I know you’ve had-

Stacey: I’ve, you know

Lydia: I had- I know you had it not too long ago. Yeah. I’ve made it this long without having a coughing fit, so I feel good.

Stacey: Good.

Lydia: Um, so, um, but yeah. So, um, one last question. I think you already touched on this a little bit, Stacey, but I saw it come up, which is how should a student decide if they should apply ED to a school on their college list?

Stacey: Yeah, yeah. No, that’s … I, I did touch on it a little bit, but to reiterate, that decision is binding, and so, and I would also say, again, carries a slight increase in, in your chance of admission. You are basically saying to an institution, “You’re it. You and me, we’re in this together. If you let me in, I’m coming.”

Stacey: Um, and in fact, doubling down, “I’m definitely coming if you let me in,” right? Uh, versus early action where you’re saying, “I’m applying to you early because I really wanna [00:58:00] come, but I might be deciding between other schools still.” So early decision is a very heavy decision. Um, and I would advise that students apply early decision to their top choice institution, right?

Stacey: Um, not every institution’s going to offer early decision options or even early application options at all. Um, but if your institution d- your top institution does offer it, I highly advise applying early if you feel, um, your student, or you as the student, um, are ready and confident. I would not rush your application for the sake of applying early if you don’t feel like your application is gonna be strong or you can meet that deadline accordingly with the strongest application that you could put forward.

Stacey: I would rather see my student apply, take more time, make sure their essays are ready and stronger than rush and submit a mediocre essay that hasn’t had the right review process. Um, because it [00:59:00] does matter at the end of the day that you put your best foot forward, um, in that final decision-making process.

Lydia: Yes. And there’s a reason that early decision specifically, we’re not talking about early action, which is a little bit different. Early… There’s a reason that with early decision it has a slightly higher acceptance rate. Well, not slightly. It can, it can be, depending on the school, significantly higher.

Lydia: Yeah.

Stacey: Mm-hmm.

Lydia: Um, and it’s because you are making that commitment. You’re saying that you are definitely going. It is a binding agreement. And I think that’s also why you should be thoughtful about if early decision is the right decision for you at all, because, um, I know Stacey was talking a little bit just a moment ago about being able to kind of leverage financial aid packages and things like that.

Lydia: If you are admitted early decision, that’s something that can be a little bit more challenging. You don’t have as much leverage, right? Because it’s not like you can make the decision to just go to another [01:00:00] school. And so what I often tell students is if you’re planning on applying early decision, be prepared for somewhat worst case scenario in t- in terms of fi- in terms of the financial aid that you may get.

Lydia: Sometimes you apply ED and you still can get a nice size, you know, financial aid package, but make sure that your family is actually prepared to foot a l- a large part of the bill if, you know, according to FAFSA, it seems like you’re able to cover that, um, because you are committing to go there essentially no matter what, unless there is a real extenuating circumstance.

Lydia: And so I, I have seen families, their child gets in ED or ED2, they get the bill. Technically they can afford it, but they don’t really want to, and it’s just a really difficult situation to be in.

Stacey: Yeah. Very good point

Lydia: Okay. [01:01:00] So, uh, without… Uh, I know we, we had a few other questions in here. I know we weren’t able to get through all of them, but we tried our best to get through as many as we could.

Lydia: I encourage you all to scan that QR code if you haven’t already to get that free 60-minute strategy session where you can get some of those more specific questions. I know some of you were asking about your individual student and things like that. That’s a great opportunity for you to get those questions answered.

Lydia: Um, the link to schedule the session if you don’t scan the QR code should also pop up immediately after the webinar if you don’t get a chance. But thank you so much, Stacie, for an excellent presentation, for taking the time to answer our questions tonight, and thank you to everyone at home for joining us, and we hope to see you again soon.

Lydia: Thanks.

Stacey: Thanks, everyone.

Lydia: Have a great night!