La Salle Executive Director Of Admissions On Applicants: 'I Think Students Are Harder On Themselves Than Colleges Are'
By Dom Giordano
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The fall is college application season and with ever growing importance of college degree, getting into the right school is possibly more important than it used to be.
La Salle Executive Director of Admissions, Jim Plunkett talked with WPHT midday host about admission process from the collegiate perspective and gives some tips for high school juniors, seniors, and college transfers.
"Don't take yourself out. Go through the process. Let your voice be heard. Let yourself be known. I think the students are harder on themselves than the colleges are believe it or not. Ask questions. It is so important with the wealth of social media and email and phone calls and face-to-face. Make sure that that college or university that you're interested in, make sure that they know who you are, what you stand for, and when it comes down to it how badly you would like to attend that institution. "
Plunkett stressed that colleges notice the effort that students put in in high school, whether it be the classes that you take, how you perform in them, or your scores in the SATs or ACTs.
"I find, and there's tons of research on the subject, the students GPA is certainly THE most valuable in the admissions process. That coupled with the SAT is an even stronger indicator of the student's collegiate success. You can't use one or the other independently. You need them together. A student with straight A's, honors, AP credits, any college will trip over that student to get them in. someone with an A that's taking a lower track and maybe not challenging themselves as well, isn't getting past the admissions officer, let's put it that way. We do notice that."
There is a growing trend of prospective students sending a video essay as part of their application and Plunkett says that it is a very effective way to stick out among the rest of the applicants.
"The video essays, or video applications- whatever they're called, it's just another way for a high school student or transfer student, to express themselves. We all have different learning styles there are some students that express themselves better visually than writing the typical 350 word essay or 650 word essay. I love them. Any time we see them, we gather the admission staff around and we take and it helps put a face to the name. "
He may be the Executive Director of Admissions, but the decisions are not entirely up to him, it's more a of a group decision.
"There's so much that's taken into consideration that having that on one person, I don't know if I would want that, that kind of responsibility. It's very much a group (decision). You want other voices in the room."