Coleen Armstrong
Cincinnati MagazineIt’s commonly believed to be a jungle out there, a labyrinth, a tangled web of requirements. By the time you’ve completed the college application form, secured a high school grade transcript, listed your co-curricular activities (“Does chess club count, even though we never held any meetings?”), noted any and all part-time job experiences (“What if I only worked at the pet shop for two weeks?”), written an essay that you pray has no misspellings, and begged your harried teachers to write glowing letters of recommendation, you’re ready to throw up your hands and chuck the whole business. Never mind the added suspense of checking the mailbox each day afterward, chewing your fingernails, hoping for an acceptance, yet also bracing yourself for the agony of rejection.
Well, there’s good news: First, applying for college admission is far less complex or traumatic than you think. Second, your chances of getting accepted range from marginal to fairly decent to excellent to (get this) positively guaranteed—depending on which doorknob you decide to twist.
The Competition Granted, if you’ve set your sights on Harvard, Yale, Duke or Vassar, you’ve got your work cut out for you. For the highly selective Big Ivy, you’ll need stellar grades, awesome ACT and SAT scores and an avalanche of leadership and community service qualifications—and you may still get shut out for reasons unknown. But if you decide to stay in Ohio, as 87 percent of our state’s high school graduates do, then you’ll have 179 public and private colleges and universities from which to choose. Hey, somebody up there is bound to like you.
Many area schools, in fact, will either open their doors a crack or let them swing wide. The College of Mount St. Joseph, for example, utilizes “rolling” admission, where students can apply at the beginning of their senior years and receive confirmation within two to three weeks. How good are your chances? In 2004, 74 percent of all prospective enrollees were accepted.
At the University of Cincinnati, students are admitted directly into specific academic programs such as architecture or English. “Our College-Conservatory of Music and other selective programs have early deadlines, since we have applicants from all over the world,” explains assistant vice-president for admissions Thomas Canepa.
Then there are regional (branch) campuses, such as Miami University-Hamilton campus, which has “open” enrollment for first-time freshmen. Yes, really. All you need is a high school diploma or a GED, says Archie Nelson, director of admission and financial aid. Acceptance is a given, since the philosophy of regionals at their inception was to serve the community, and they’re still in a growth mode. An added plus: a huge tuition difference—around half of what the Oxford campus charges. Although many majors will eventually require some course work on the main campus, Hamilton offers full bachelor’s degrees in engineering technology and nursing, as well as several two-year associate’s degrees.
“Some students have become very skilled at manipulating their schedules and getting the best they can right here for the longest possible time,” Nelson laughs. “I’ve always believed this was the best deal going.”
The Application
It’s basically a matter of connecting the dots and following directions—like “please print,” say admissions officers. You can apply either on paper or fill in the blanks online—which some 60 percent of University of Cincinnati’s and 85 percent of Xavier University’s applicants did in 2004. There’s also a nationally accepted “common” application, to which more than 250 institutions, including Xavier, subscribe. Complete it once, and then send identical forms either by mail or electronically to as many places as you please, as long as you’re willing to fork over... the fee. Every college or university has one, which generally ranges between $25 and $40.
The Transcript
Required everywhere. Ask at your high school’s main desk or guidance office. There’s a minimal charge, somewhere around $3, and they’ll even mail it for you.
The Test Scores
While no one sneers at impressive ACT and/or SAT numbers, don’t expect officers to beat a path to your door if your scholastic performance isn’t equally outstanding. “I have more confidence in admitting a student who has done well in a rigorous curriculum and has moderate test scores than the other way around,” says Marc Camille, Xavier’s dean of admission. “He’s clearly developed the study skills and persistence he needs to be successful.”
Co-Curriculars
If your list is short, don’t fret; sometimes less is more. A class office or participation in a music or drama group, which carries serious responsibility, trumps Spanish Club, where you basically show up twice each semester to plan a banquet. Likewise, one part-time job held for three years beats playing musical chairs with six others. And it’s impossible to log too much community service—unless it’s in connection with having committed a crime.
Letters of Recommendation
Not as essential as you might think—many institutions request them for scholarships or admission to specific majors only. But since you’ll rarely encounter that captive audience of faculty members so eager to say nice things about you, why not gather three or four stunning ones while you’re still attending class every day?
