It's high time to apply for college
Now is the time high school seniors are scrambling to apply for colleges, and admissions offices are feeling it.
“We're knee deep in the admissions process right now,” said Michael May, director of undergraduate admissions at Slippery Rock University.
SRU has modified rolling admissions. He said counselors will be reading applications and making decisions until classes are filled, which usually is by May.
“We're looking for the same things in September that we are looking for in March,” May said.
There is no final deadline for students to apply, but May said he recommends students who are seriously interested in attending SRU to apply by Thanksgiving for the following fall semester.
However, applicants can still apply later and be ready for the fall semester. May said many good applicants apply late because their first choices suddenly become impossible.
“Very strong students will find us later in spring and early summer,” May said.
He said applying early means that all scholarships, all majors and all freshmen dormitories will be available for those students.
SRU also offers what it calls “automatic offer,” where applicants who have at least a 3.0 college prep GPA and either a 950 score on the SAT or a 20 on the ACT receive automatic admission.
An application to SRU includes the actual application, an official transcript and test scores. May said no essay or letters of recommendation are required, but he said applicants are not discouraged from including those items.
“We're happy to consider that as a part of our review,” May said.
Additionally, music and theater students do auditions, and many art students submit portfolios. May said this usually is so those departments and the students can better decide if they would be a good fit at SRU.
The office has nine admissions counselors who read applications.May said a couple counselors review each application. Counselors look for the strengths and weaknesses of each applicant. He said they often contact high school guidance counselors to get a better idea.Because SRU is a regional school, May said admissions counselors have a strong relationship with area guidance counselors. He said they often work together, such as making plans for students to spend a year or two at community colleges so they are able to get into SRU or have a better chance of success there.“For students that have the will power, there is a way to get to Slippery Rock University,” May said.May said he or the assistant director of admissions make the final decision, but he said he often asks counselors their opinions.SRU gets about 6,000 freshmen applications per year for a class of 1,550. Of the students who are accepted, 43 percent choose to attend.When counselors are not reading applications, they are visiting high schools and college fairs, and participating in open houses and panel discussions.“There's never a dull moment,” May said.Counselors visit all over the state, and also go to Ohio, New York, Maryland, Virginia and New Jersey. May noted that SRU's out-of-state tuition is competitive with in-state tuitions in Ohio, Maryland and New Jersey.Applying to Grove City College is a little bit different.Sarah Gibbs, director of admissions at the college, said the application process there is deadline based.The first deadline is Nov. 1 for early decision applicants. If these students are admitted, they are notified by Dec. 15 and they have to accept the college's offer by Jan. 15.If they choose to accept, they have to withdraw applications to other colleges. Grove City in almost all cases is the top college choice for early decision students, she said.“They go into it fully knowing the guidelines,” Gibbs said.This school year, the college added an early action option, with a Dec. 1 deadline. Students will know if they are accepted by Jan. 15 and they have until May 1 to decide. This route is designed for applicants who are highly interested in the college but also have applications out for other schools, or who are taking strong financial considerations in their school selection.“They just want the flexibility of having a little more time,” Gibbs said.Students who take these two options get priority consideration for scholarships and are allowed early access to the college's “roommate finder” software.Finally, the regular application deadline is Feb. 1. These students are notified if they are accepted by March 15, and they have until May 1 to decide. Generally, Gibbs said students doing this started applying later, decided to retake their SAT tests or found out about the college later.In years past, Gibbs said half of the freshmen classes were early decision applicants.The size of incoming freshmen class is 650 students. Last year, the college received 1,500 applicants. It has 2,500 total students. Of the students that are accepted, 53 percent choose to attend.Counselors do a lot of outreach and engagement with potential applicants. She said most students who feel they would not be a good fit at the college self-select out before applying, and she said part of that might be due to the $50 application fee.“By the time a student applies to Grove City, they are pretty certain they're a good fit,” Gibbs said.The college employs 14 people in the admissions office. Six of those are admissions counselors who do the first reading of the applications.These counselors read the applications, make a preliminary decision to accept or deny the application and then forward it to Gibbs, who will read all of the applications again and make a final decision.Applications include the actual application form, two essays, two letters of recommendation, the student's transcript and an academic data form filled out by a guidance counselor. Gibbs said it is also recommended students do an interview with a counselor.She said what she and the college looks for in applicants often depends on the program the students are applying for.For example, for the college's mechanical engineering program, Gibbs said the first thing she looks at is whether the student took AP calculus or AP physics classes. If their schools do not offer that, she looks at whether they got involved in clubs or groups related to the major.“That's probably one of the main things,” Gibbs said.After that, counselors look at the applicants' activities. Gibbs said the college wants to see what the applicants are passionate about and wants students to be well rounded.And counselors are looking to see if applicants would be a good fit for the college. She said the typical good fit applicant takes AP courses, may have a classical background and is heavily involved, either with school clubs, intramural sports, outside groups or jobs.“They're very proactive; very involved,” Gibbs said.The college is known for being Christian. She said counselors would not disregard applicants who do not have a faith, but said they do talk to them about the college's Christian foundation.“We do have those conversations with students,” Gibbs said, noting that the college does have students who are Jewish and Muslim.From the end of October to February is the busiest time for applications.“It's always busy this time of year,” Gibbs said.The college gets applicants from all 50 states and several countries. In fact, the college has admissions counselors based in California and in New York City.Gibbs said the college is hiring a counselor who would be based in Virginia or North Carolina.When counselors are not reading applications, they are speaking at schools and youth groups, and building relationships with potential applicants. During the summer, they go to Christian music festivals, and during the fall, they work weekends at events.“They're getting out into the community,” Gibbs said.
