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Tough Talk From a Top Admissions Officer

One reason George Mason University was voted the nation’s number one “Up-and-Coming University” by U.S. News and World Report is their straight-talking Dean of Admissions, Andrew Flagel. With over 20 years of experience, Flagel has been helping students all over the country navigate the <a href= “/college-search/articles/261—admissions-whats-it-really-about”>admissions process. Now, he’s lending his talents (and sarcasm) to FastWeb users.

“First off, no matter what anyone else has told you (because they’re wrong and I’m right), the most important thing is your grades,” says Dean Flagel. Unfortunately, it’s not your overall GPA that really impresses the admissions committee, which means your A+ in Physical Education would compensate for you C- in Biology. Below are the course grades that DO matter:

• Physical Sciences
• Mathematics
• English
• Social Studies
• Foreign Languages

One consolation for the GPA-phobic: admissions committees will track grade trends, strength of courses, type of high school, and class rank when determining your worth in terms of GPA.

The Dean also reveals the truth about the average length of time an admissions officer spends on each application. An hour? A half-hour? Actually, it clocks in at roughly 10 minutes. And he or she reads about 1,000 applications per month. That’s not a lot of face time. So he advises you to avoid fluff and focus on important points, like noteworthy activities and accomplishments.

As for your letters of recommendation, The Dean has an interesting reality check: Search for people that actually like you. If a teacher tells you they’ll write you a “truthful recommendation,” run in the other direction.

Flagel always says that too many students are worried about getting into college when they should be worried about getting into the right school. Don’t make this mistake. Start following Dean Flagel’s advice in a regular feature on the new FastWeb. And watch for more advice in an upcoming video.

<a href = “/college-scholarships/”>Find Scholarships Now!

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Love him? Or love to hate him? Either way, you can’t get enough. Check out more advice from Dean Flagel here on FastWeb:

• How About That Facebook Thing
• Don’t Let Senior Year Screw Up Your Admission
• Admissions and Courses: To AP or Not to AP
• Do’s and Don’ts for Your Admissions Essay

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