Here we are: mid-December. For a college counselor, it is likely the most challenging time of the year, the perfect storm. Deadlines demand a slew of outgoing documents – letters of recommendation, transcripts, profiles, etc. – and incoming are most of the seniors and often their parents. What makes this week even more intense is the added emotional charge of Early Decision Round 1 students receiving their decisions from colleges. Tears of joy (because an institution said yes), tears of sadness (because an institution said no), tears of confusion (because they still haven’t heard from their Early school, but all their friends have heard from theirs), and tears of “Ugh, on top of exams, family commitments, and the holidays, I have a whole lot more work to do to complete these applications.” This final set of tears is particularly painful for the deferred student because they sense they came relatively close to being done with applications.
During this one week of the year, life IS unequivocally better on the admissions side of things. (As one counselor at a neighboring school advises: “Seniors: don’t check your college news on your iPhone in front of all of your friends in the dining hall. College news is better received in the privacy of your dorm room.”)
Common Application supplements become an easy target for frustration. And despite encouragement to work on supplements in October, busy high school lives mean they are often left to late December. And a meatier supplement – like the one Tufts requires – is often particularly vilified. Why do admissions officers care about the answers to these questions? Why is this supplement so long? Do I really want to apply here?
The Tufts application supplement is made up of one 50 word answer, two 200 word answers, and an optional essay. Let me write that last part again. Optional Essay. Yes, these are truly optional. Last year, the acceptance rate of those who wrote an optional essay was equal to those who chose not to.
Applicants ought to think of the supplement as an opportunity. It is also an indicator of how important “voice” is in our evaluations – it allows admissions officers to advocate for students who might otherwise not stand out. When students approach the questions in the right manner there is often a genuineness that reflects positively on the applicant. Reading ED applications, I was not alone in being impressed by the student who took a new approach to a question that tended to generate conventional answers. On the other hand, I was also frustrated to see a hastily composed or pithy response to a supplemental question.
Speaking of standing out – or is it outstanding? – recently CNN published a list of the top ten off-beat application questions and it shouldn’t surprise you that a few prompts from the Tufts’ supplement were included.
Could Tufts get rid of the supplement and therefore generate more applications? Sure. It might even earn us a stronger Useless Snooze and World Distort ranking. However, Tufts had decided that isn’t the top priority, instead employing the supplement to figure out which applicants are eager to be here, and therefore pick from the best applicants for the university.
Counselors, despite the fact that it is mid-December, take heart: it can only get better from here. Keep those Kleenex boxes handy. And if you get a chance, implore your students to be thoughtful about their supplements.
