I’m usually not much of a thread-starter, but with college cranking up again in the next couple of weeks, and this being a (relatively speaking) downtime in my office, I figured I’d throw the topic out there and see if anyone has questions.
I work for a small private University in St. Louis, MO, in the undergraduate admissions office, working with applications, campus visits, visiting schools, etc.
Any questions, please fire away!
Does your job satisfy you?
Washington University in St. Louis? Damn you guys are relentless. I made it specifically clear that I had no intentions of going there, yet I still received mail. What’s up with that? Also, why’d it take me so long to get my letter of admission from the school of my choice?
Since there’s this common Doper-bond between us, if I apply to your school, will you make sure I get accepted? 
Zoggie - The job is mostly satisfying. I never thought I’d be making a career of it, but this is my seventh year. The main cause of dissatisfaction is lack of promotional opportunities, as the four people ahead of me (in an eight person staff) have been here forever and have no plans of leaving. So I am having to look elsewhere for bigger and better job titles.
Flood - Nope, not WashU. Webster U. As far as the length of time it took to get your admissions acceptance letter, that depends on the admissions policy of that school. Here, we practice rolling admissions, which means that when we receive a completed application, we review it and make a decision then and there, with the turnaround time usually about 10 days. For more selective schools (Webster is considered to be moderately selective), say, WashU, they often sit on apps until certain target dates, and then sometimes delay decisions until even later in the process for various reasons. A dumb policy, IMHO, as it is a good way to turn off a potential student.
NinjaChick - as long as you make out your application fee check to me personally v. the school, no problem 
I’m glad you did this thread. I used to be in this line of work. I worked for a very small liberal arts college so I maybe able to tackle any questions that fall in that area. Now I do a lot of advisory work for a large selective public university–but I’m a lot more hands off and can really just speak to overall processing.
How important are essays on the applications (assuming applications still require essays)?
What’s the relative importance of grades versus test scores versus extra curricular activities versus other stuff when it comes to applying to your college?
Julie
What are the 10 “secrets” of applying successfully to college? Are there any schools that have any double-top secret rules, like say Harvard or Bob Jones?
jsgoddess - most smaller schools still require an admissions essay. Its importance varies by school, as some schools use it as part of the scholarship offer and give it more weight during the admissions decision process. Here, if a student exceeds the minimum grade/test criteria for admission, the essay is more used in rating the student for scholarship than anything. If the student barely meets or falls below our admissions standards, we use the essay to help determine acceptability (along with the resume and recommendations).
You would be amazed at the variety of essays - some that are incredibly good, some so god-awful bad that it seems impossible that a person considering college could have authored it. Concise, well-written essays (preferably not too personal - I’ve read essays about the loss of one’s virginity, using the essay as a tool to come out of the closet, etc., that get to be a bit much in that setting) that allow the college to get to know you a little bit help a bunch.
Grades v. Test Scores v. Extra-Curriculars - for mildly selective schools (the majority of those out there), grades/test scores carry more weight. For the highly selective schools, all three are muy importante, though the grades have to be pretty damn good (3.7 + on a 4.0 scale, top 10% rank, 1200 + SATs) and even that is no guarantee of acceptance.
Mooney - I don’t know that there are 10 ‘secrets,’ but its pretty easy to put together a successful application -
1. Proof-read everything, and try not to include the essay about how great SLU is with your WashU app (or insert any of your choices there).
2. Complete the app neatly and send in all the requested materials at once (most high school guidance counselors will package up your items with the official transcripts and send them to the school).
3. I recommend against applying to schools were you clearly do not meet the minimum academic criteria, unless there are extenuating circumstances.
4. If you don't hear back from the admissions office within ten days, call to make sure it got there. Many schools now offer admissions status checksheets on their websites.
5. APPLY EARLY - that means August/Sept/Oct. The earlier you are considered for admission/scholarship/housing, the better.
6. Have a 'fall-back' school - apply to the local college you would just as soon not attend but would be your only option in case of some family or fiscal emergency. It pays to have a back-up plan.
7. Apply to at least three schools, preferably 4-6.
8. Visit those applied schools to make sure you'd actually like them.
9. Share the process with your parents, but make sure you own the process.
What is the best way to present a profile of a home schooled student? What would one expect to be included in the student’s portfolio, seeing as grades are not really relevant. How does your college evaluate the qualifications of a home schooled student, particularly for scholarship offers?
Great idea for a thread and timely for me. When school begins August 18 my oldest will be beginning his junior year. I suspect he’ll be gearing up to apply for financial and and colleges over the winter break so I’ll be keeping an eye on your thread.
Thanks Survey1215.
Calliope - colleges have widely varying policies on how they handle the applications of home-schoolers. Test scores (ACT or SAT) are of considerable help when it comes to the admissions decision and scholarship recommendation. Also useful are the essay, resume and recommendation, as they are given more weight v the ‘traditional’ applicant.
If the student is involved with the National Home Schoolers Association or another agency that has had previous success in helping place students into college, that can be helpful as well. The best thing you can do is visit the schools your student is considering and have an admissions rep outline that institutions’ home-schooler policy.