I reported last week that the 2010 edition of the State of College Admissions was out. Today I want to talk about the latest information on what colleges look for in admitting students.
Consistent with past years, the most important factors that colleges consider are, in order, the grades in college prep classes, the strength of the curriculum and the standardized test scores. The percent of colleges that view grades in college prep courses as considerably important has risen from 76% to 87% since 2006. The take away is that grades in college prep courses are more important than ever.
Here are some of the other factors that colleges consider of considerable important including the percent of colleges that consider each factor important.
Grades in all courses 46%
Essay 26%
Class Rank 16%
Counselor Recommendation 17%
Demonstrated Interest 21%
Teacher Recommendation 17%
All other factors were considered of considerable important by fewer than 10% of colleges.
Class rank is of considerable less importance over the years as more and more colleges discontinue the ranking of students. On the other hand, demonstrated interest was of considerable importance by only 7% of colleges in 2003 but has been over 20% in recent years.
These percentages are for all types of colleges combined. Next week I will talk about the different views that public and private colleges have on some of these factors.
This is a great outline of college requirements. Most of the points illustrate how a student would potentially perform once they are accepted into college.
It is noteworthy to mention the importance of further skills required of students transitioning into college.
John,
Thanks for the comment. Yes, you are right, there are skills that are helpful for the students to have as they transition from high school to college.