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COLLEGE COUNSELING WITH MARTIN WALSH

On High School Profiles

By Martin Walsh, TIE Columnist
01-Dec-10


I find it surprising how few administrators understand the crucial role that the high school profile plays in the university evaluation and admissions 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 examination scores and, most importantly, the secondary school report (also known as the 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 admissions 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.
Furthermore, 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 around 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 admissions 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 (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 admissions office or the administration, both of whom may see the profile mostly 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 a long list of the activities offered to students, 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 with 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 admissions officer desperately needs clear counselor contact information, including name, address, telephone, email and fax. Additionally, this section should tell the admissions officer the number of seniors in the graduating class and the percentage of seniors that will be attending college in the United States, the United Kingdom or Australia. Matthew O’Rourke, Assistant Director of International Admissions 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 to 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. Becky Jensen, 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 your 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 admissions 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 admissions 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 admissions 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 students taking AP or IB examinations, and the results, is also quite helpful.
7. Optional Items: Ted Spencer, 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, much more so than the colorful pictures of swimming pools, tennis courts, or playing fields.
8. College Attendance: Finally, take a moment to include a list of higher education institutions 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 their 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 importantly, high schools must update their profiles annually. They need to highlight changes in ranking and/or grading policies, and 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 admissions offices with needed information, can really end up hurting your students in the long run.
Upcoming Stanford University Applications Audit
Stanford University recently announced that they will begin a random auditing of applications in an effort to “keep the process fair for all students.” Counselors with a large number of students applying to Stanford should be ready to assist in validating student records. For future reference, I think this will be a trend at many of the more competitive universities, as they try to make certain that the applicant that shines on paper is the same one who shows up for orientation!




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COLLEGE COUNSELING WITH MARTIN WALSH