45°
This is a busy time of year for Dan Sullivan, a guidance counselor at Norwalk High School. By May 1, seniors have to give colleges and universities their decisions to attend. For months, students have been popping into Sullivan's office asking him for forms, financial aid help or recommendations, but most of all they are looking for friendly advice. By now, most students have made up their minds about where to go in the fall, but a few are still on wait lists.
Sullivan says this has been an interesting year for college admissions. Over the last couple of years, he has seen several trends emerge in the admission process. For example, more and more colleges are becoming "test optional", meaning students don't need to take the SATs to apply. "This is good for urban districts like ours where some kids struggle with standardized tests." The schools that are test optional are listed on fairtest.org.
Sullivan is also seeing a rise in the number of kids attending a two-year college program like Norwalk Community College. "There are many viable options there for students," he says referring to many career oriented courses like nursing. There's also a program that allows high achieving students to transfer to Ivy League schools after two years.
Among the Ivys and mini Ivys, he says that the competition continues to be very tough. "Kids are competing internationally for these spots," he says. "I tell parents and kids: you may be number one in your class and not get in. But you may be number 15 and get in. It depends what the school is looking for--the oboe player or the field hockey player. It's very niche driven and very competitive."
Sullivan also sees some "out of the box" thinking regarding college choices. He knows a couple of students who are going overseas for university to Canada and the United Kingdom.
Sulllivan says that girls are finding college admissions somewhat more challenging than boys this year because there are more girls than boys nationwide who are graduating from high school and going to college. Last year, for example, this ratio was 57 to 43 nationwide.
The University of Connecticut is no longer considered a safety school for good students. It lures top students to its campus through a rigorous Honors program and scholarships. Out of 23,000 applications, only 3,200 students were accepted, says Sullivan. "UConn is a top public university with very good name recognition. More and more families are considering state schools as a good option, especially because of the economy." He says that many students are not immediately accepted to the Storrs campus, and attend the Stamford or Waterbury campus. "It's disappointing to some kids because they want that campus experience."
Click here to follow Daily Voice Norwalk and receive free news updates.
