patent pending 2011. the truth re: college apps truth #1: your gpa is merely – and only -- your...

Patent pending 2011.

The Truth re: College Apps

Truth #1: Your GPA is merely – and only -- your ante into the poker game called Admissions.

Truth #2: Your best approach to college applications should involve Differentiation, Customization, and Personalization.

Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC. Patent pending.All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.


This Ppt was created by:Ned Boudreau, founder & president of Synergy EducationalServices LLC, a college advisory firm.

Synergy is a legal entity incorporated and registered in the state ofDelaware, USA. (Delaware State File Number: 50117-41)Its mission is to provide Chinese students with informed,appropriate advice regarding their choice of colleges in the U.S. orthe United Kingdom, as well as with native-level editorial services.Synergy guides students through the entire college applicationprocess, and ensures that essays and personal statements arepolished to a professional level. Synergy also provides languagetraining through its subsidiary, U.S. Ex-pat English.

Go to synergyedu-usa.com.


Ante From Latin: “before” A small portion of a bet contributed by each

player before the game even begins. Each round of bets requires the ante into the game.

That’s all your GPA is: A small portion of a bet, but crucial:

it gets you into the game; allows you to compete against other applicants

Copyright © 2012 by Synergy Educational Services LLC. All rights reserved. Go to synergyedu-usa.com.


Your GPA . . .

Don’t mean nothin’ Zip Zilch Nada



Unless . . .

You have outstanding Extracurricular activities (not just the required IBO

CAS activities) SAT’s TOEFL scores Essays or personal statements Recommendations



Differentiation is Crucial GPA and SAT do not differentiate you

All students applying to any given school will have approximately the same scores

What can differentiate you? Extracurricular activities Personal statement or essay Letters of recommendation



Shanghai American School, September 2008

Presentations by admissions reps from: Brown University University of Pennsylvania

The reps said: “We look at the entire package.” PENN rep “We look at each candidate holistically.”

Brown rep



Holistic = entire package Holistic:

of or relating to the medical consideration of the complete person, physically and psychologically, in the treatment of a disease

Pronunciation: /hō-ˈlis-tik/ Function: adj 1 : of or relating to holism 2 : relating to or concerned with wholes or with complete systems rather than with the analysis of, treatment of, or dissection into parts < holistic medicine attempts to treat both the mind and the body>

Source: http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/holistic



The entire, holistic package means:

GPA plus: Extracurricular activities (not IBO CAS) SAT’s TOEFL scores Personal essays or statements Recommendations



For example

Former students at Shanghai High School International Division (SHSID)

Author’s nieces and nephew Harvard + Cornell (early decision) + MIT

Niece #1: cellist + champion equestrian Niece #2: national champion, crew 4-oar boat +

violinist Nephew: champion volleyball team + debate team +

certified scuba diver



SHSID: A thought experiment Imagine you are a senior admissions rep at

a decent school. Two applications land on your desk.

Both early decision One is from a young lady at Shanghai High

School International Division. So, too, is the other.



Thought experiment (cont’d) Student #1:

Highest GPA in International Baccalaureate Diploma Program (IBDP)

Outstanding SAT’s + SAT II’s Fine PS Letters of rec:

1 all about GPA; 1 about excellent English No extracurriculars listed



Thought experiment (cont’d) Student #2:

GPA in Top 3 of IBDP Outstanding SAT’s and SAT 11’s Fine PS At least one outstanding letter of rec

That letter of rec (which the author of this document wrote) emphasized equally both academics and a wide variety of extracurriculars Go to synergyedu-usa.com to read rec letter



Thought experiment (cont’d)

Which candidate would you choose?

Remember: You are judging “the whole package”--“holistically”.

Which candidate resents the more complete “package”?



Thought experiment (cont’d) This is based on two of the author’s former

students. Student #1 applied early decision to Cornell Student #2 applied early decision to PENN

Student #1 was turned down Student #2 was accepted



What went wrong? Student #1, Apple Lin (name

changed), came into the office. She was in tears. I asked her why she was crying.

“Mr. Ned, I didn’t get into Cornell.” I was stunned; asked her to show me

her copies of her application documents.



What went wrong? Her letters of rec were misguided:

One emphasized GPA, “fine student” The other emphasized her excellent English

Both letters of recommendation were misguided: Approximately 90% of all applicants to U.S. schools are native

speakers of English Thus, English does not truly differentiate a student

All students who apply to a specific college will have similar (competitive) GPA’s and SAT’s GPA and SAT’s will not differentiate a student applying to a specific

school from all the other students applying to that school who have similar qualifications.

She did not list any of her many extracurriculars The emphasis solely on GPA, SAT’s, English was just silly



What went right?

Student #2, Orange Zhang (name changed), admitted early decision to PENN

After rejections from other Ivies, Apple Lin was admitted to her backup choice, University of Michigan She’s very happy there (tho she admitted

she was “freezing”)



So! If you do not have impressive

extracurriculars, don’t even think of applying to top U.S. schools.

If you don’t have lots of extracurriculars, start now: Join clubs, activities outside school Start your own (very impressive)



Start your own extracurriculars On-campus or off-campus clubs, activities Follow your own interests

Chess? Drama? Shakespeare? Start a club at school, or a community theatre

Business? establish one; a real one! Charity? do fundraising Environment? start a neighborhood initiative:

edu, recycle, etc.



SAT’s?

Highly recommended; top American schools will look for them

“Top” schools = top 100 on Princeton Review or U.S. News & World Report lists

Elite schools certainly expect SAT’s Note: Even if they say they don’t “require” them



Special note 1 re: PS and Recs The personal statement and letters of rec will

“make or break” an application Importance of the PS and recs cannot be

emphasized enough Generally, Chinese students do not do a good job on

the PS: Me, me, me! I, I, I! GPA! + imitation Instead, you should demonstrate how you will add

value to the campus community Teamwork + organizational skills + leadership

You must differentiate yourself Read PS’s that worked at various schools



Special note 2 re: Customization Ask your teachers to customize your letters of recommendation

as much as possible Include the entire school address, beginning with

Office of Admissions or Admissions Department or Admissions Office Get this right; different schools will use different terms

Go to the schools’ websites for complete details Use “Dear Madame or Sir”

Not “To Whom It May Concern” (impersonal) Or address the Dean or Director of Admissions by title

or name This shows you are doing research, are interested Again, go to the schools’ websites to find addresses,

names and titles



Special note 2 re: Personalization Letters of rec:

Ask your teachers to include the word “you” at least once

Writers of recs should tell how the applicant will add value to the campus community For ex., “You may rest assured that (name)

will bring her fire and energy to campus.” or “You may rest assured that (name) will add

value to your campus through his/her commitment to excellence and the environment.”



Recommendation letters In 2009, the school where the author

taught brought in an American consultant to speak about recommendation letters. She had been Director of Admissions at top

U.S. schools She used the author’s recommendation

letters as handouts. He writes the best, most powerful rec letters in

the known universe. Go to synergyedu-usa.com to read samples.



Above all (this is Truth #3) Do not imitate or model your PS or essays

on someone else’s. Speak/write with your own voice in your own

words; tell your own story. Admissions reps will know the difference;

they’ve heard and seen all the major “models” on the various websites and chat sites where Chinese students swap info and tips.

And don’t let your teachers copy a standard or form letter of recommendation.



Case history: The author heard the following on a

flight back from New York:

An American official at the embassy in Beijing had spent a great deal of time listening to visa requests from students who wanted to go to college or grad school in the U.S.



Case History (cont’d):

He had heard all the usual formulaic nonsense about “Contributing to international understanding” and “cross-cultural exchange.”

He also knew most of the stories that were copied from Web chat sites where students swapped successful visa requests.


Case Study (cont’d):

He grew quite bored and weary, and did not give visas to students who copied their reasons from the Web.

One Friday, a young Chinese student came in who wanted go to MIT or Caltech or some other top school.



Case History (cont’d): The visa officer asked the student why he

wanted to go to school in the U.S. The student’s reply went something like

this: “My mother was in a car accident when she was very young. Since then, she has never walked comfortably. I want to invent a device that will enable her to walk without pain.”



Case Study (cont’d): The visa officer was very impressed

with the student’s reply, and stamped the visa.

But: The next Monday, all the students who came to request a visa told him the same or a similar story.



Case Study (cont’d): Do not do this type of thing. Copying or imitating someone else’s

voice can and will only hurt you. Visa officers surf many of the major

chat sites, thus they are familiar with the major trends in students’ thoughts. And they know the reasons for successful visa applications.


patent pending 2011. the truth re: college apps truth #1: your gpa is merely – and only -- your...

Documents

synergy guides students

applicants copyright

brown rep copyright

crucial gpa

highest gpa

outstanding letter of

entire package holistic

shanghai american school