I’m on my way to the Association for College Admissions Counseling national conference where a massive amount of time will be spent (one might say wasted) on technology issues. There are a slew of sessions on the use of technology, and, of course, a whole bunch of companies that claim to offer THE NEXT BIG THING. Of course it’s assumed that ...

In the world of admissions officers, August is an incredibly stressful time. The source of this anxiety isn’t the students moving in, the recruitment travel restarting, or the summer ending--it’s THE RANKINGS. Most of my colleagues describe their feelings towards THE RANKINGS as ambivalent. "Ambivalent" means they hate them, they really hate them. Unless their college or university is blessed by ...

Time, once again, to rant about how colleges and universities busy themselves trying to manipulate you. Transfer students are a hot commodity in admissions. Since Mason is one of the most popular transfer destinations in the U.S., I may be even more disturbed by misinformation about transferring schools than I am about the usual admissions confusion. A recent article intended for ...

A couple of weeks ago, the ongoing drama at the University of Illinois (motto, “Will trade admissions for appointment to U.S. Senate.”) led me to post a note debunking one of the three great myths of college admissions. In case you’ve forgotten, the three great myths of college admissions are: 1) The college admissions process is fair. 2) The college admissions ...

I know I promised to get back to the GREAT MYTHS OF COLLEGE ADMISSIONS, but you all send such INTERESTING questions that I get distracted. This can also happen with shiny objects, or really interesting events, such as…. Shameless Plug: Just two weeks ago Mason hosted the first annual Washington Journalism and Media Conference. Enrolled students got to hear from Chuck ...

According to Dean Flagel, the average admissions officer reads about 1,000 applications per month and spends roughly 7 or 8 minutes on each application. That's not a lot of face time for a student's essays, letters of recommendation, or resume. Oftentimes, students cram as much as possible into their application so that admissions officers can feel like they really get to ...

According to Dean Flagel, admissions committees want to paint students in the best light when it comes to standardized test scores. Here's how: • Take best score from each section and combine for best score • Some colleges look at writing score; others don't

Admissions committees care most about grades in certain subjects: Science Mathematics English Social Studies Foreign Languages

Andrew Flagel currently serves as the Dean of Admissions for George Mason University. With over 20 years of service in college admissions, Dean Flagel is more than well-versed in the ins and outs of the admissions process. Even better, he is all-too-honest with his advice ...and his opinions.

It’s breaking news!!! The admissions process isn’t fair! I know so because The Washington Post had a big article recently (ok, April, but I’ll admit I didn’t notice until one of our readers forwarded it to me for comment) on the subject. Their intrepid reporter, after what I’m sure was a grueling round of research involving at least three phone calls, ...

I periodically scan the Washington Post blog Admissions 101, and recently came across a ridiculous debate about school size. The author, my longtime acquaintance Jay Matthews, asserted that large schools offer more options, then noted that he received a ton of feed back that smaller schools do an even better job of helping students look at options. That's just hooey (that's ...

For many of you, the most stressful part of the admissions process happens AFTER you apply. First, the waiting, hoping for the thicker envelope (or the email with more megabytes), wondering how a bunch of people you don't know can have so much to say about what you get to do next year. So then you get admitted (I hope). Unfortunately, ...

Just after my last post about grades, I heard from a student who wanted to know if the trends in grade issue (up trends better than down trends -- up all the way along is best) extended into senior year. It’s true that, for the most part, junior year of high school is the most important period for admission as a ...

In August, I was on a panel with some other folks talking about the local grading scales with a moderator from USA Today. The last time I dug into the subject on my blog I got some great feedback (including being called full of excrement). That kind of robust and thoughtful feedback was probably helpful in prepping for the live session. Here’s ...

After the last few posts on grades some questions were swirling about how we judge courses students take, so I’ll steal liberally from my old posts and add some new stuff to create an overly verbose answer. In answering this question, admissions officers have been infatuated with the word, “rigorous.” I believe this is because it lets us sound smarmy without ...

As promised, here is an exceprt from the first of my posts on navigating the admissions process. Just a reminder (DANGER! legal jargon coming), the information in these notes does not necessarily reflect the views of my institution , or anyone else in admissions or counseling (even though, no matter what anyone else has told you, I’m right and they’re wrong). ...

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 admissions process. Now, he’s lending his talents (and sarcasm) to FastWeb users. “First off, no matter what ...

Some simple suggestions to round out my series on your admissions essay. Do: Write multiple drafts, get help with reviewing your document, and proofread. Allow TIME for revisions and reflection. Be especially careful of how your document cuts and pastes into online applications - with many you may have a perfect essay transformed into (in technical terms) gobbleygook. Keep the length ...

I promised I’d get around to writing about recommendations, and at long last I have. Colleges look at recommendations, first and foremost, to get additional information about what kind of student you have been and will be. It shouldn’t be much of a surprise, then, that the most important recommendations are usually from teachers. There are, of course, exceptions. If your ...

OK, I’m back. Sorry to be gone so long right when you all were in the midst of your applications, but hey, it happens. I was off in Japan and Korea where Mason is incredibly popular, and came back to a FLOOD of early action applicants screaming for attention. Also, thanks to over 4,000 of you who attended our Fall Showcase ...