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COLLEGE COUNSELING WITH MARTIN WALSH

The Crucial Role of the High School Profile in Contextualizing Candidacy

By Martin Walsh, TIE columnist
06-May-15


I find it surprising how few administrators understand the crucial role that the high school profile plays in the university evaluation and admission process. For those of you not quite certain what I am talking about, the school profile is the document that accompanies, or is attached to, every transcript mailed off to a university. Remember that most college applications consist of four parts: the student’s application, letters of recommendation from teachers, standardized exam scores and, most importantly, the secondary school report (SSR). The SSR is made up of the applicant’s transcript, counselor letter of recommendation, and the school profile.
In a nutshell, the purpose of the school profile is to officially (and effectively) “translate” the applicant’s transcript into terms college admission officers can understand. The admission’s reader will use this information to give greater depth and context to the applicant’s academic achievements–or lack thereof–relative to other applicants from the same school. And, the information helps guide the reader as he or she attempts to compare the applicant’s academic record to those submitted by other college hopefuls throughout the world. As Eric Maloof, Trinity University’s dynamic Director of International Admission recently explained to me, “More than domestic profiles, international school profiles must provide the reader with the layers needed to contextualize the student’s candidacy.”
Working as an admission officer at Stanford, I noticed that there was tremendous variation in content and quality among the profiles submitted by international schools. And, after teaching a one-week seminar on college counseling and university admissions that was offered last year by Bambi Betts and the CTC/PTC organization, I quickly picked up on the anxiety and confusion many international counselors feel about the profile. Sadly, more than one international counselor has reported to me that they have no real “ownership” over the profile. The document has been effectively hijacked by the high school admission office or the administration, both of whom may see the profile as a marketing tool, and fail to recognize the role it plays in the university evaluation process. While these profiles offer glossy pictures of the campus and long list of activities offered each student, they often lack the type of easily accessible statistical information that could be critical in deciding the admissibility of a given student.
Based upon conversations wih a variety of international admission officers at top universities in the United States, I have put together a few helpful hints for information that admission officers would like to see covered in high school profiles.
1. Demographic Information: Every admission officer desperately needs clear counselor contact information, including name, address, phone, email and fax. Additionally, this section should tell the admission officer the number of seniors in the graduating class and the percentage of seniors that will be attending college in the United States, the U.K. or Australia. Matthew O’Rourke, the Assistant Director of International Admission at the University of Notre Dame, added that “some schools have sub-groups of students that are planning to study abroad.” These students may take separate classes or study apart from the rest of the school. Mr. O’Rourke added that it would be helpful to get information that separates or isolates this applicant pool because “fully understanding the entire student body does not help evaluate the application received.”
2. History of the School: Be careful here. Readers do need some context regarding how long the school has been open and, if applicable, guidance on where the school is located. But, Mr. O’Rourke also made it very clear to me that he “is not looking for extensive information on school history” and prefers profiles that quickly get to important numeric information. And Becky Jensen, the International Evaluator at Oregon State University added that she “does not have much interest” in the history portion of the profile.
3. Curriculum: This section should be a very clear list of the courses required for graduation and the names of honors, Advanced Placement and IB courses. More importantly, readers want to know whether there are school rules that dictate how many H, AP, or IB courses a student can or must take. Finally, explain course abbreviations!
4. GPA: Briefly list an interpretation of your grading scale.
5. Class Rank: Make a clear statement about whether you provide rank in class or not. And, if you provide a specific rank, is it weighted or un-weighted? While most admission officers love it when they see a class rank, high school counselors and administrators should not feel compelled to provide this type of information if they feel it will prevent the applicant pool from getting a full and thorough read. But, if a rank is not provided to the admission officer, the profile should include information on grade distribution, including the lowest GPA in the class, the highest and a mean GPA. According to the admission office at the University of Michigan, this information is seen as a “minimum requirement.”
6. Testing: List the mean or median SATs or ACTs for the junior class. Additionally, readers love to know the number of students taking SAT subject tests and the mean score achieved. Moreover, a breakdown of the number of kids taking AP or IB examinations and the results is also quite helpful.
7. Optional Items: Ted Spencer, the Dean of Admission at Michigan mentioned to me that he did not mind a bit of “bragging” on the profile. So, if there are items about your community and students that are quite exceptional find a place to quickly educate the reader. Does your school have a music conservatory? A large number of National Merit Scholars or Intel Science Talent Search semifinalists? This information belongs on the profile far more than colorful pictures of pools, tennis courts or baseball fields.
8. College Attendance: Finally, take a moment to include a list of colleges that students have attended over the last three to five years.
Overall, The College Board suggests that high schools should limit the length of their profiles to one page—front and back—on regular (not glossy) 8.5” x 11” paper, using ink dark enough for the processing team to scan the information into computer systems. While I understand the logic behind this request my high school has not been able to comply. Even our profile, which is quite streamlined and easily read, is two pages front and back. And most important, high schools must update their profiles annually. They need to highlight changes in ranking and/or grading policies. And schools should document any alterations to the curriculum. Finally, I implore counselors to take ownership of the profile. Pieces that are too long, or that focus on marketing the school rather than providing the admission office needed information can really end up hurting the students in the long run.
Next, this might be a good time for counseling offices to reach out to the parents who are nervously awaiting the results. I have found that good, sound information goes a long way towards quieting the questions and qualms that will arise in the coming months. Usually, in the winter I send out a letter to parents that provides facts, advice and tips for managing the final step in the application process. In the letter I stress the following:
Everybody gets in, if they apply well.
Twenty-one million students attend a college or university in this country. Your student can get in. That can be hard to believe when you’re reading hyperbolic newspaper headlines about Princeton turning down thousands of students with perfect grades.
Here’s the thing: because the media constantly cover the same eight colleges where the chances of getting in are smallest, it can appear as if it’s impossible to get into any college anywhere. Luckily, there are more than eight colleges in the United States! In fact, there are more than 2,200 four-year colleges and universities and another 1,200 two-year colleges.
There is no denying things are different than when we parents applied to college. Each year more students graduate from high school—about 3.3 million in 2014—and more of them want to go to college. The internet and online applications make it easier than ever to apply and to apply to more schools. In addition, there’s greater interest in college because college is increasingly seen as key to economic success.
These three factors explain why it seems like it is harder to get into college now than ever before. But here’s the truth: most colleges admit about 70 percent of their applicants. And in a recent UCLA survey, 79 percent of college freshmen reported being accepted to their “first-choice” college.
If students invest time and effort in creating a list of eight to ten schools that they have researched well and would like to attend, and that list is balanced for both affordability and selectivity, they will go to college.
Everybody exaggerates.
The process of applying to college abounds in misinformation, urban myth, and what one high school principal delightfully calls “broccoli talk”—the not very reliable “insider” information parents trade over the vegetable bins at the local grocery store. Everyone has an opinion about college admission, but the truth is only one person can definitively answer a question about a student’s admissibility at a college and that is the dean of admission at the school to which the student is applying.
My best advice? Resist becoming hijacked by the broccoli talk or the headlines or the gossip on the soccer game sidelines. A helpful strategy is to choose one friend with whom to share thoughts and feelings and information about the process. Yes, one friend. Your student can do this as well. Other than that, you keep your feelings, and your student’s business, to yourself.
Everybody wins when you expect the best.
When my own daughter was about nine, I observed a friend who had a wonderful relationship with her teenaged daughter—loving, communicative, and close. I asked how she did it. She told me that, despite all the talk about adolescent girls not getting along with their mothers, she had a different expectation—she simply assumed the warm relationship of childhood would continue. And it did. Expecting the best can be a self-fulfilling prophecy.
I adopted this policy through my own daughter’s adolescence and was deeply rewarded, and then I put it to use during her college search process. When she wanted to drop AP Biology because she had other interests and priorities, I said, “Fine.” I trusted that she knew what she was doing, was being true to herself, and that the colleges where she belonged would honor who she was. They did. Because what colleges really seek are students who know who they are and what they want.
So, it may be hard, but try to roll with it when your music-obsessed daughter wants to start a garage band instead of joining the debate club, or your son who loves the classics chooses AP Italian over AP Math. You are now being cast in the role of a parent advising a young adult, not a child. This is an audition to be part of challenging decisions for the rest of his or her life.
Finally…relax.
Put yourself on what one admission dean calls the “college diet”—the subject shouldn’t be on the menu more than twice a week. Choose not to worry and let that mood permeate the household. Your children are becoming college experts and they will make good decisions, because they’ve been learning from the people whom studies show have the strongest influence on their college selection… their parents.




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COLLEGE COUNSELING WITH MARTIN WALSH