Julie Shields Rutyna: [00:00:00] Well, good evening everyone. Welcome. My name is Julie Shields and I am the director of college planning education and training at MEFA. And I, I’d like to welcome you to our webinar this evening in highly selective college admissions, what really matters. So I’m just gonna take you through some logistics.

This is our, um, terrific panel and I’m gonna have them introduce themselves to you in a moment. Uh, but I’m just going to talk about some of the ways you can interact with the webinar. Um, if you have a question, please use the question and answer section below. And I’m so fortunate to have my colleague, Andrea Keenan, here with me this evening, and she is going to be monitoring those questions behind the scenes and answering some, bringing some to the panel.

Um, and we probably will take some throughout, but at the end we’ll leave. [00:01:00] Time to, to get some of those questions answered. If you would like to have closed captioning, please hit the live transcript button on your screen and you’ll be able to see the words that we’re speaking. And if you do need to leave the webinar for any reason that feel free and know that we will send you a copy of the, of, well, there aren’t too many slides, so more importantly, we’ll send you a link to the recording of the webinar.

So you’ll have that and you can also share that with others, um, who weren’t able to join tonight. A little bit about MEFA. If you don’t know MEFA, we’ve been around since 1982. We are a state-based organization, uh, with the mission of helping families plan, save and pay for collagen. We’ve been doing that for all of this time.

So please stay in touch with MEFA for, um, you know, anything you have to do with the college admissions, financial aid process. We’re so happy to, uh, take your calls, take your [00:02:00] emails. Uh, you could look at our robust website and we have many more webinars like this one. And there are ways that you can also connect with us on social media.

And so all of the handles are here. And again, I will, I will send these few slides to you so you’ll have them as well. And also, so you’ll have our telephone number and our email address. Alright, with that I am going to stop sharing. And I’m gonna have our panel introduce themselves and then we’ll, we’ll get started.

So, um, Sean, I’ll start with you.

Sean Ashburn: Sure. Hi everyone. Julie, we should also share a bit about our schools, right?

Julie Shields Rutyna: Absolutely.

Sean Ashburn: Great. Okay.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Absolutely.

Sean Ashburn: All right. Good evening. Good afternoon everyone. Um, my name is Sean Ashburn. I use he, him pronouns. I’m the director of Admissions Communications at Tufts University in Massachusetts, your nearby school.

Um, if you don’t know a lot about Tufts, we’re a medium sized tier one research university, and we have [00:03:00] offerings across the liberal arts and sciences, engineering fine arts. Um, have a personalized learning environment that focuses heavily on academic flexibility and an interdisciplinary experience. Our main campus, if you haven’t visited us before, is located just outside of Boston.

We’re in a residential neighborhood on the border of the cities of Medford and Somerville, and closely connected to Boston’s public transit system. Um, our students are civically engaged, they’re collaborative, they’re creative, they’re entrepreneurial. They’re really interested in using their knowledge to make a positive impact in the world.

So if that sounds like you or your student, we hope you’ll check out Tufts and maybe next I’ll turn it over to Becky.

Rebeca Tynan: Great. Thanks, John. Um, good evening everyone. I’m Becky Tynan. I am one of the associate directors of Admission, uh, in the undergraduate admissions office at Yale University down in New Haven, Connecticut.

Um, and I’ve been here for about 16 years now. Um, but prior to that, um, I started my career at my alma mater, which is Kolby College up in [00:04:00] Maine, not too far from Claudia. Um, and, uh, started working in admissions and financial aid there many years ago. Um, and in the middle of my professional experience, I spent, uh, about six years working at a boarding school in Western Massachusetts.

Um, and part of my role there was as a dorm parent living with juniors and seniors as they went through this process as a bit of a, an additional, uh, stand in parent, uh, for the boarding students. So, um, hopefully. I’ll have some wisdom to share, uh, based on both my college side experience and that experience.

Um, Yale is a medium sized research university. We have about 6,500 undergraduates. Uh, the college, which is the undergraduate portion of things, is right at the center of the university, which also has 13 graduate and professional schools, um, on our central campus, uh, in New Haven, as I said, about a two hour train ride or bus ride or car ride, uh, from Boston.

Um, so we’re not too far away, uh, from all of you in [00:05:00] Massachusetts. Um, and we are a place where I think what I’ll emphasize is just that our undergraduates have the opportunity to tap into the resources of the broader university, um, and the collections of the university in really incredible ways, whether that be the law school or doing research at the medical school, um, while also taking advantage of being in a medium sized liberal arts college environment.

Um, and with that, I’ll pass it along to Claudia.

Claudia Marroquin: Great. Thank you Becky. Hi everyone. My name’s Claudia Marroquin and I’m the Senior Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Student Aid here at Bowden College in Brunswick, Maine. Um, I am also an alumna of Bowden College, so I graduated in 2006 and spent four years living in the Boston area.

So first in Somerville and then Medford. Um, so maybe I know some of the schools that many of you are attending. Um, but I’ve now been working at Boden for 16 years. Um, so it has been a fantastic ride. Um, and if you’re not familiar with Boden, we are the small one of the [00:06:00] bunch, um, represented on this screen today.

So we are a completely undergraduate institution. We have about 2000 students on our campus. We are a small liberal arts college. Um, we are, um. In the town of Brunswick, which is a coastal community here in Maine, um, we’re about 30 minutes from Portland, which is the largest city in the state of Maine. And if you’re driving, uh, down 2 95 and 95, you can be in Boston in about two hours and 15 or so minutes.

But there’s also a bus station here in Brunswick that, um, has direct service to, uh, north Station. And there’s also a bus line. Um, but with our, um, community here on campus, we were founded back in 1794 on this idea of the common good that an education is not just for the students’ own benefit, but what they’re gonna do, um, with their talents and skills to make an impact in the communities they choose to be a part of.

That guides our students in the ways that they approach their academics, [00:07:00] where they can choose from one of 42 different academic majors to minor or to major or minor in. Um, but again, that ethos of really thinking about your impact, um, is definitely alive and well on our campus. And, um, with our coastal community 15, um, minutes from campus, we also have our Coastal Study Center, which is a research facility.

So research, research does happen at small liberal arts colleges, whether it’s in the sciences or again, across, um, all of the departments. And the last thing that I’ll mention, which I’m sure we’ll get into as we head into the questions and the conversation, um. Boden was the first test optional college in the United States back, um, in 1969.

Um, so I mentioned that, um, because again, all of our schools here and we’ll certainly talk about the way that we evaluate applications. Um, but again, the personal matters and we really try to understand who the individual student is since that’s, um, really what they’ll benefit from, um, when attending a institution that is, [00:08:00] um, focused on the undergraduate experience.

So, Julie, back to you.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Thanks so much. All right, well all of you. Let’s start at the very beginning. Uh, so Sean, I’ll turn back to you again. What, what happens, uh, at the very beginning when a student presses the button and presses submit for an application? Yeah,

Sean Ashburn: it’s a good place to start. So you might feel like you apply and then two days later we’ve gotten back to you.

And the reality is, in a selective admissions process, that’s just typically not how things are working. Um, so right away upon submission of your application, it’s gonna be imported into the college’s own specific software platform. Each school is gonna use their own kind of internal system to collect online applications.

We’re doing everything digitally, no paper. Um, and so then a record of your application is created. And the first thing we need to do is make sure that your application is matched with any of the supporting documents we need. So you’re likely familiar that high school transcripts and letters of recommendation, um, any test scores, if you’re submitting those.

All those supporting materials that are sent by your [00:09:00] school have to be synced up with the application you’ve submitted. And typically you’ll get a notification within 24 or 48 hours after submitting an application to a school where you’ll have access to login information for a school specific portal.

And in there you’ll set that up and be able to track the status of your application. So that’s kind of your first responsibility to look through that UpToDate list of application documents, kind of a checklist, um, as well as any financial aid materials that the school has requested from you. You’ll wanna make sure your application is complete and that everything’s been submitted by or close to by the deadlines, right?

We have some grace and flexibility, but be mindful of deadlines. And then once we have completed applications, we can begin reviewing those. So there are some colleges that are using a, an individual or single based application reader model. Others might use a pair based or partner based review model. In many cases, they’re going through a multi-stage committee or group selection process prior to release of the final decision.

So depending on our applicant pool and the round in which you’ve applied, that could take [00:10:00] several months. So we appreciate your patience, um, but just know on our end we’re working hard to both kind of process and connect all the materials with your help and then doing our best to give thorough review.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Thank you. And Claudia, I’ll ask you this question. So the title of this webinar describes your institutions as highly selective. Can you talk a little bit about what that means?

Claudia Marroquin: I sure can. And I will, um, start off by saying I feel like none of our schools like to admit that. Um, and I think at the end of the day what it really boils down to is that, um, we just have far more applicants, um, than we have space for on our campuses.

Um, and I recognize that for many families, um, that ends up being a really disappointing part of the process depending on where you’re applying, um, to again. You know, as, as I’m sure you’re gonna get guidance from counselors to make sure that you have a breadth of types of institutions on the list that you’re applying to.

Um, one should never have only [00:11:00] highly selective colleges on their list. Um, since that does, um, potentially lead to more disappointment. But I think, you know, regardless again, of this selectivity, when we are looking at our schools, it, it’s also about the thoroughness, as Sean mentioned of our application process where because those seats are so precious and we have a limited number, we are very thorough and intentional in who we’re inviting into our communities because we recognize that there’s so many young people out there who would be fantastic additions and who are really eager for an opportunity at the schools that, um, we.

Um, work for. Um, but since we have smaller classes, then um, we’re able to, um, that’s again where the thoroughness, um, and the intentionality of our process is really something that I lead with when talking about highly selective admissions, um, in, in the way that our institutions do it.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Yeah. I think about how, how difficult your jobs are.

And so, Becky, I’ll, [00:12:00] I’ll, I’ll ask you. When you are reading so many applications from very strong students, um, what, what distinguishes the students who will get in and those who might be denied or waitlisted? Mm-hmm.

Rebeca Tynan: It mean, it’s a challenging question to answer because as. We admissions folks often joke, uh, so many things depend.

It depends on, um, the, the given year. It, you know, all these decisions can depend on, on many factors. Um, but I think a few of the things that I would highlight when it comes to how applications tend to stand out in our process or how they are differentiated. First and foremost we’re academic institutions.

Uh, and so I think we’d all, you know, agree that we are, um, evaluating academic credentials and wanting to make sure that we are admitting students who are prepared to thrive in our rigorous [00:13:00] classrooms. Um, so that’s job one. But the reality of our applicant pool is such that students do a wonderful job of self-selecting.

They know that they’re top students and, um, the majority of applicants in our pool then tend to bring the kind of academic credentials that make them competitive applicants in our pool. It is the case there. There may be some applicants that based on their academic credentials, we may say, you know, this might not be exactly the right spot for this student.

Um. But for the most part, I’d say we are really splitting hairs among incredibly, uh, qualified applicants academically. One of the things that I would highlight is that that then allows us in our contextual review of applications to broaden the aperture and think about who are these students as individuals, um, and what are they bringing to the table in the way of talents and lived [00:14:00] experience that is going to enrich our community on campus.

So that’s why we spend so much time with essays and with letters of recommendation. Those pieces that Sean was mentioning need to be matched up with, uh, a student’s record, um, in our systems. And so we are spending a lot of time looking at those pieces. And I think what often does help students differentiate is as trite as it sounds when they are presenting their full selves authentically in the process.

Um. And I encourage students when they think about hitting submit, to get back to kinda that very first question when they hit submit on their application, to read the whole thing as a piece, as we would when we’re reading an application, to make sure that they have included all the bits and pieces that they want to be sure to share about themselves, and that they’ve used each of those opportunities to its fullest advantage in being able to share their authentic self, but certainly put their best foot forward.

Um, you know, in, in doing [00:15:00] so in terms of what they want to present. Um, and I think what does help students differentiate is when we are getting a consistent picture as readers and committee members from the students pieces that they’ve crafted to the letters of recommendation to, you know, at times there may be an interview report that’s part of an application that all of these different pieces line up and we feel like we’re meeting the same person that’s a student who tends to, um, you know, stand out in our process, um, in, in many ways.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Thank you. And I, I will say a word that I think, I know I hear all the time, and you do as well when we talk about college admissions is fit. So what, what does fit mean? And, and Sean, I’ll ask you what, what does it mean from a college perspective?

Sean Ashburn: Yeah, I think I, I agree with you, Julie. We use this word a lot and it, it sometimes for me gives the connotation that some students fit and some don’t.

And I, I don’t like to think of it that way. I don’t think of it as an exclusionary concept. There are lots of [00:16:00] colleges that you, as an applicant, as a student who’s going through this process, may find a sense of fit. And really the ideas trying to describe an alignment between the experience we are offering and what your, the student is looking for in a college.

So the idea is that, you know, as Becky shared, we would wanna admit students who are well prepared for the academic rigor we offer, firstly. And that we have the opportunities and the environment that they desire and will allow them to thrive. So the right majors and the study abroad and the research experiences, all the things that we can make available to students match up with what they’re hoping for or envisioning for their undergraduate education.

I see this once in a while. Uh, you know, there are lots of students, uh, high school students who are excited by a career or a degree in nursing. We don’t offer a degree in nursing at Tufts, but we have a, a short essay in our application process that invites applicants to ask why they’re interested in our school.

And every once in a while I’ll read one that talks about our amazing nursing program, and that’s been their motivation to apply. And [00:17:00] so when I read that, it doesn’t mean it’s automatically a student who’s not going to be considered, but it does mean they’ve made it very clear what their, their aims are and what they hope to do.

And not that you couldn’t come to Tufts and then go on and become a nurse in the future, but ultimately the experience that they’re seeking is not exactly one that we offer. And so it may not be a fit if we choose to admit them and they choose to come. So at the end of the day, we’re asking, you know, will they enjoy the classroom environment we offer, which for the case of our, our three schools are often going to be.

Quite participatory and small and require active engagement in the discussion. So is that something that feels like a fit or an alignment with what they’re, you know, most confident in or comfortable with or seeking out? Um, and there are things about school culture too, right? There are some colleges that are, you know, highly collaborative, others that might feel a little bit more competitive or, or sort of ambition oriented.

Some colleges have a really pre-professional, sort of technical approach to learning, and others might feel more, uh, leaning into the broad liberal arts. Some campuses, the student body’s really [00:18:00] politically active and others it’s not. So, you know, we’re all diverse environments with students who represent all different qualities, but there might be some broad characteristics that either resonate as students are researching schools or don’t.

Um, and so they, we hope are gonna find some kind of alignment when they’re applying and then communicate how they see a match during the application process between their interests and values and what we have to offer.

Claudia Marroquin: Yeah. Julie, can I chime in with one other kind of fit piece? Um, I totally agree with everything that Sean has just noted and, um, I, myself as a first generation college student, and I think the other piece that families ought to consider is also the financial fit.

And I know we’re gonna get into more of the conversation around, um. Financial aid, and obviously this is a finance, um, organization that helps in the college planning. But I think that’s the other piece around, um, making sure that families are having, um, upfront conversations with their young person to understand what commitments are going to be [00:19:00] expected of the student, but also of the family.

And trying to align that, as Sean noted with the resources that a college has, um, available. Because it’s not just about the tuition and um, cost, but again, there are other opportunities that a student might want to avail themselves of. And that’s where again, they need to, um, really figure out whether the financial fit not just from, um, cost of attendance is there, but again, all of the other, um, supports that a student might be looking for in order to take advantage of things like internship opportunities, studying abroad, et cetera, et cetera.

So yes, everything Sean mentioned, and then there’s the complicated layer of financial fit as well.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Oh, such good examples. Yes. And you know, you mentioned academic rigor again, so I’ll just talk, ask you, Becky, can you elaborate on that a little bit? Mm-hmm. Uh, you know, what does that look like at your institution and is there anything about that that you feel [00:20:00] students or even parents sometimes misunderstand about that?

Rebeca Tynan: Yeah, you, I think, um, I’ve been hearing the word rigor come up already in various ways in the conversation, and it’s actually, when I think about it, um, I certainly never used that term as much in the first, however many decades of my life before I became an admissions officer. And it does come up a lot.

Um, I don’t know whether there’s a better, better word for it, but what, what we mean is, um. Really the level of, of challenge of a student’s courses as they’ve gone through their high school education. Um, and when we as admissions officers are, are talking about rigor, I do think, um, one of the misconceptions at times is that students and family members might interpret that as I need to take X number [00:21:00] of advanced level courses, whether they be named Advanced Placement or honors or International Baccalaureate or, um, we see a wide variety of of names and I always like to try to dispel that myth a bit in terms of, you know, sharing that we don’t have.

A set number of courses by any name, you know, for which we are looking. What we are looking for is to get a sense of what opportunities a student has had available to them academically in their setting at their high school or secondary school. And then how well have they engaged those, to what extent have they engaged those?

Um, and when we’re making that kind of evaluation, the reason that we’re doing that, I should say, is that we’re offering a rigorous, a highly rigorous academic environment for students. And as was already said a few times, you know, we wanna make sure that students are set up for success in [00:22:00] that environment.

And so to see students who have chosen to challenge themselves to the extent that challenge is available to them is a positive piece for us to see. But we are not expecting that students. We’ll somehow find a way to take courses that are not offered at their high school or, um, we’re not expecting that students will, um, oh, for example, I had a great question in an information session.

Uh, a few, you know, probably two years ago now, where at the end of my information session on campus with a bunch of prospective students and families, a family member stood up and entirely reasonably said, you know, my child has the chance to either take three advanced placement courses their senior year, or they could not have lunch and take a fourth advanced placement course.

And I said to the audience. For goodness sakes, please let your child have lunch because that [00:23:00] marginal one or two, you know, advanced courses versus not is extremely unlikely to impact the ultimate admissions decision. Um, so that’s a piece that I always want to share because we are also looking for students who found the skills to balance these rigorous classes with all sorts of other things.

’cause we want students who are going to play in the symphony orchestra and are going to contribute to athletic teams and are going to be student leaders on campus and, um, involved in community organizations, like all those things. Um, so it’s a balance and we always try to say then we’re looking for students who’ve engaged many of the more rigorous options at their high school within reason.

Um, and that’s also why, I’ll stop talking in just one second, but you know, students will often say. Well, yeah, my GPA would be higher if I had taken an AP course instead of band, because band is unweighted at my school. Our [00:24:00] admissions committee might be more inclined to think positively of the student who continued with their musical involvement.

So these are all pieces. We think about it in a big picture way, is what I’m trying to say, to bring it all together. We think about that rigor piece overall as a much more macro sense of has this student really tried to engage a level of challenge and have they enjoyed stretching themselves and taking some of those more challenging courses.

That’s what we are thinking about in a much broader sense than counting up, you know, a number of advanced courses.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Thank you. Yes. And Claudia, you, you started right out mentioning about the testing policy at Bowden, which is great. Um, can you talk a little bit more about testing policies in general and, um, how, how different colleges, you know, the, the, the categories and buckets they fall into and how that works as part of the admissions process?

Claudia Marroquin: Yes, absolutely. So there are [00:25:00] many, many different policies. So I think this is one of the pieces where families certainly need to do their research. And I also recognize that, you know, every year. Some policies might change at institutions. So this is probably the piece that is the most in flux, certainly since the pandemic.

Um, but again, the, the terms that are out there just to um, kind of key you into some of the things to look for. You’ll find schools that are test optional like Boden, where you have a choice on whether you’re gonna submit your SAT or a CT scores. Those are generally the two scores that, um, we are really talking about when we’re talking about testing.

However, there are other schools where test optional might also be AP exams, as Becky was mentioning as, um, one of the types of course offerings out there. Um. So test optional again means you have a choice. You are deciding which scores you’re gonna send, if you want them to be considered as part of the evaluation that we are doing when we are reading and taking note [00:26:00] of the ways that you have challenged yourself in your high school and what a test score might say, um, in conjunction with your scores.

The other phrase that you might hear out there are test blind. Um, California, um, I think is one place in particular, um, that is very notable, um, since the pandemic. But there have been many other institutions who are test blind, where even if you wanted to submit your test scores, they would not take them.

So they again, will not look at test scores whatsoever. And then there are other schools who again, may have different, um, requirements for scores. Um, and I know that that has started to change again since the pandemic where, um, some schools will start to, um, have required that students send the SAT or a CT.

And then again, um, there’s a, a whole bunch of kind of in between and different policies. I’ll say many times the test optional policies, students are really thinking about it, about in the admissions process sense, but know that many schools might utilize test scores for [00:27:00] merit awards or for again, financial awards as well.

So that’s, I think, another big piece where you need to really kind of. Do your due diligence, um, and be prepared to kind of understand whether it’s, um, used in the admissions process or if it’s utilized, um, for financial aid purposes. And certainly when it comes to merit awards, often there. But I think the last thing that I’ll mention about, um, testing policies, another word to be on the lookout for is whether, um, colleges will super score.

Students’ exams. So what this means is, again, if a student has taken the SAT twice and say they got a, um, a higher math, um, score on the second time that they took the test, um, schools will super score and we’ll let you take the highest of the two, um, sections to give you the best overall score. Um, and most schools will do this automatically.

Sometimes they’ll ask you, um, if you want to consider all of your test scores or if you wanna submit just portions. [00:28:00] So again, lots of different language out there around testing, but the biggest ones are test optional, test blind, and then obviously if there’s a requirement.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Thank you. And I’m sure we have lots of parents, uh, here tonight who will benefit from the answer to this question.

Sean, can you just talk to parents a little bit and tell them about the role that they can play that will be most helpful, and sometimes are there things that parents do that. Is a little less helpful so you can share those tidbits.

Sean Ashburn: Yeah, yeah, of course. I’ll start by saying I’m not a parent, so you know your child best, and I sort of feel, feel empowered to work with them in the way that they are best served.

But I do interact with parents a lot in the admissions process. I’ve also been a counselor at a, at a high school and at a college access organization where I spend a lot of time with families. So the first thing that comes to mind is, um, in helping students develop a balanced college list. So I would encourage you to be open-minded to institutions, both [00:29:00] open-minded for yourself, to learn about new schools, and also to be open-minded to the ideas that your student brings to you about specific colleges that appeal to them.

So. Rather than sort of harshly disregard a college that you haven’t heard of or, or that you have some resistance or preexisting, you know, reaction to, it’s okay to be open-minded to at least have the conversation about why that school stands out and appeals to them. And it might open a door to a conversation about similar or adjacent or overlapping schools that you might think make more sense on their college list.

So it’s sort of about the softness and the gradual coaching around, um, you know, being open to certain schools and then introducing other possibilities. A sublet or item of that is really to facilitate opportunities to expose students directly to colleges. So I think parents and families can play a really important role in both through on campus tours and visits that are accessible and, and convenient and available for you, but also online opportunities.

Um, you know, some students are gonna go through this process sort of staying within the framework of the colleges they’ve already heard of, [00:30:00] or that they have peers and classmates who are, who are, who are already connected to those schools. And so it might feel like, oh, I, I already know Tufts, or I already know Yale.

Because it’s a good school and someone told me, but there can be value still in going to the information session, walking around campus, talking to the admissions officer, sitting through the virtual session, they may hear things that actually contradict preexisting knowledge or make them more excited.

So taking advantage of all the ways to connect directly and hear from us is, is helpful for them in their own reflection and, and also just developing a stronger application through that kind of guidance. Um, a second maybe item that comes to mind for me is, is to provide some gentle guidance for students about application deadlines, and most importantly, to ensure that they have access to all of the financial aid materials that will be needed.

In the college application process should you be seeking financial aid? So in many cases, the financial aid application deadlines come shortly after the application deadline. Um, typically for more selective schools, you’re not waiting [00:31:00] until after you get a decision to then apply for aid. It actually comes before.

So for many cases that could be in, in January, February of, of a student’s senior year. So being prepared for that and gathering the materials and ensuring you have access to recent tax documents and sort of being a partner in meeting these deadlines for students and submitting things on time is really helpful.

And then lastly, I’ll say, I would encourage you to think about the sort of. Application process as a chance for students to develop or practice some of the success skills that are going to be relevant when they get to college. So a a straightforward thing to say is don’t do all the communication to colleges on a student’s behalf.

Right? If there’s a question or a concern or something that needs follow up, rather than, you know, making the phone call during the school day when the student’s busy and not around you, working together to coach them through that, or doing that in partnership to help them build up that skill. Because when they come to our campuses, they will need to do some navigation of some [00:32:00] of the kind of bureaucratic systems of advising and financial aid and going to the career center, making a doctor’s appointment.

And so if you can practice that at home during the senior year of high school and use the application process as a venue for that, they’re just better set up for success when they start college the following year.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Thank you. And Claudia can, we’ve started to talk a little bit about financial aid here.

Could you talk a little bit about, um, how financial aid works and maybe define some of the terms, uh, need-based aid, need blind, things like that?

Claudia Marroquin: Absolutely. And before I do that, I should go back to, um, one thing that I realized I didn’t mention about, um, the question around, uh, testing policies. And I see that there was a question around the importance of SAT scores, um, that came up in the q and a.

And to piggyback off of, um, you know, Sean’s advice for parents and the role, I feel like often, um, whether it’s students or parents think that, um. A test [00:33:00] score has an outsized weight in the admissions process. You know, especially at highly selective colleges like ours. Um, you know, we’ve talked about the intentionality, the thoroughness of the application process, how we try to understand, um, all the many gifts that a student’s gonna bring to our campus.

And, you know, I often hear parents, uh, you know, asking, you know, similar to Becky’s question, I’m like, should they take that fourth class and skip the lunch? It’s should they sign up for the SAT another time, um, and maybe get 10 more points or try to improve their score by, um, a small margin because.

That’s gonna be the ticket, um, into admission. And it’s not, I, I, I think again, that’s one of the myths that we often, um, hear, is that people think that test score is going to be the thing that matters the most in the application process. And it, it is, again, a very thorough holistic process. And for schools like mine that don’t have test scores for, um, a good number of our [00:34:00] applicants, um, regardless of the test scores, were there or not, we’re gonna concentrate on what the student has done in their four years in high school.

What are their interests? How have they, again, challenged themselves and what are gonna be those ways that they’re gonna contribute to our camp and its community? And again, that they have identified us as a good match for the things that they wanna take advantage of. So I, I would really hate if I didn’t really, uh, note that in my initial response too.

But when it comes to financial aid, um. You know, there are again, a lot of terms, and I, um, note that this is potentially the most complicated part of applying to colleges is not only, um, you know, as Sean mentioned, collecting all of the documents that might be needed. Um, but also, again, there’s such a variety of terms.

And again, there are so many institutions across the us um, that, again, we all have different practices, but the two main forms that families need to be aware of are the fafsa, the [00:35:00] federal application for, um, free application for federal Student aid. Um, so this is a government document and application that, um, most schools are going to require.

Um, and that form allows families to be eligible for things like, um, Pell Grants, um, subsidized or, um, unsubsidized loans from the federal government. So, um, anyone who is a US citizen or permanent resident. Would end up filling out that form, um, for most colleges in the us. The other form, um, that folks will need to be familiar with is the CSS profile.

Um, that form is something that all three I think of our schools will require. It is a much longer form and document. It asks a lot more questions to really understand the financial stability and wellbeing of a family. The FAFSA has, uh, fewer questions, CSS profile because institutions use it to give out our institutional [00:36:00] aid.

So this is again, all of the, um, grants and scholarships that students will gain from individual institutions. It will have more questions regarding the size of the household, what sort of medical expenses might a family have, you know, not just looking at the income, but also the assets that a family might have to have a really realistic idea of what is, um.

Family’s capacity to pay for college. Um, and I think the other big kind of terms that go with this too is you’re gonna find schools that are, uh, that will have financial aid, that is need-based, which again, once we look at all of the financial documents, we will assess again what is realistic for a family to contribute for their child’s education.

Um, and I note that again, it is the college determining that based on our assessment, um, which is different than a family’s, um, desire to pay. Um, and I think [00:37:00] again, that that’s where, again, financial aid can become really tricky because colleges will look at a lot of different financial, um, pieces of a family’s, uh, kind of portfolio.

And some of those may be, um, things like home equity, which a family may not want to dig into, but yet it is a resource that is available to a family. So there’s need-based financial aid. And then I’ve mentioned Merit Awards when I, um, was talking about some schools utilizing sometimes test scores for that.

Um, th those will be scholarships that a student might gain, um, based on a talent. So whether it’s an academic scholarship, a athletic scholarship, maybe it’s a musical scholarship, um, maybe you have a wonderful talent. Um, or sometimes again, it is, um, very specific reasons that a college might be awarding.

Um. Financial aid dollars to a student to ensure that they can attend that institution. But I think it’s very important to, um, [00:38:00] try to understand what type of financial aid is available where, whether it’s need based or merit awards. Um, because at a need-based institution, um, you would not be able to get, again, any of these other merit scholarships.

We’re fully making our financial aid available based on the assessment of a family’s, um, capability to pay. Um, and then the other term that you may hear out, there are schools that, um, have no loan policies. What that essentially means is when we look at all of these financial documents and we present a financial aid award.

There will be, um, the piece that is a family contribution. It could be everything from zero to the full cost of attendance. Um, there will be the piece that is a, again, the, the grant money or the scholarship money that a student is receiving from the institution. Some schools, um, don’t, um, package loans. So all of the financial aid that a student might receive will be in the form of grant [00:39:00] and scholarships, which is the free money.

You never have to pay it back. Some institutions, um, might build in a loan, whether it’s again, one of these government subsidized loans which have caps or they will expect a student to finance on their own to be able to kind of meet the full bill. So the big terms here, again, I know I talked a lot, lot of words out there, but it’s whether, um, schools are need-based, have merit awards.

They’re no loan. And then the two big applications are the FAFSA and the CSS profile. And just to complicate things a little bit more, know that some schools will also have their own individual financial aid awards, but generally speaking, you would still have to fill out a fafsa. So I think I’ll leave it there before I complicate it even further.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Thank you. No, that’s, that’s a wonderful overview. Um, and I see Andrea is with us, um, on screen and do we have some questions from the audience that you’d like to share?

Andreas Keenan: Yeah, we have one, uh, quick follow up [00:40:00] that I think would fit here regarding the need-based aid category that you spoke about. Um, Claudia, this, uh, this parent’s asking, I’m concerned about the FAFSA process as my income will change significantly between now 2025 tax return and when my junior starts college in 2027, I don’t know if, uh, one of you might wanna address that piece.

Claudia Marroquin: So I can start and then certainly we’ll let Becky and Sean chime in since I know I’ve spoken quite a bit about financial aid already. But, um, I also wanna address the point that very astute parent to know that, um, again, when your child is starting college in 2027, um, the FAFSA and really all of our financial aid we’re looking at prior, prior years.

So we’re looking at two years back. And I think the really, um, important piece here is that the FAFSA, again is capturing income again from two years. Most colleges and certainly the ones on this screen. Um, once we have, um, determined a financial aid award, there is a process [00:41:00] for families. Again, if you have experienced a significant change in income in the most recent, um, year, for you to submit documentation for that.

And that’s often where, again, the CSS profile is that form that gives us a lot more insight into changes that a family might be experiencing, whether it’s job loss or an income change. Or maybe you won the lottery and you wanna report that to us and let us know that there’s a, a significant change in a positive direction.

But every, um, uh, financial aid office, um, again, we’ll welcome conversations with families and certainly when there’s new information, um, certainly with income changes, um, that we will, um, do reassessments, um, based on that information.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Becky, Sean, do you have anything to add from your institutions?

Rebeca Tynan: Not really. I was just going to emphasize Claudia’s comment about the availability of conversations. Um, you know, both with admissions offices and financial [00:42:00] aid offices. And I think often it’s easy to think about this entire process as being a bit of a black box and not understanding what’s going on.

And hopefully panels like this help illuminate some of these pieces. But, um, I always like getting in front of any audience I can and mentioning that. Not only are we humans populating the admissions office, but we also have great colleagues across campus who are populating our financial aid office and are, uh, there to counsel families and help them through this process, whether they be on the prospective student and family side of the equation or, uh, you know, once they’ve been admitted and or enroll

Julie Shields Rutyna: Such an important message.

Yes, yes. And Andrea, do you wanna ask if you have other questions? This might be a good point.

Andreas Keenan: Sure. Um, we have um, a little bit more of a general question and I think piggybacks off of what, um, Claudia was explaining. Can a student get both merit aid and need-based aid?[00:43:00]

Sean Ashburn: I am happy to start with this one. Um, so it’s going to depend on the school. So there are some colleges, including the three here tonight, that offer exclusively need-based financial aid, where as Claudia was sharing all of the financial aid resources we have, we’re dedicating to students and families that we’ve determined need it the most in our application process.

But there are lots and lots of other colleges out there that will offer a combination of merit-based and need-based aid. Um, and so that’s a conversation you’ll have to ask. The school or, or their financial aid website will likely make that very clear whether they’re exclusively offering need-based aid or there may be a small number of highly selective merit-based scholarships or in, for some universities, particularly public universities, there can sometimes be a, a grid or a rubric that helps you understand how certain test scores or academic performance might qualify you for certain merit-based awards.

Andreas Keenan: Thank you. We have one more, um, question regarding financial aid, and please [00:44:00] keep them coming. If, if you have more, um, can you share potential risk of applying early and then being locked in on a surprising, in a bad way, financial aid package?

Julie Shields Rutyna: So this is about early decision, right? I know that’s a, that’s a really great question.

Yeah.

Claudia Marroquin: Yeah, so I can start here. And I think, um, I’ll talk about two tools that I again, encourage, um, families to utilize. And this is certainly where parents, um, given that again, you know, your finances and have access to your tax records, um, every college, um, out there in the US needs to have something called a net price calculator.

Um, you can search for it on their website. Some of our schools make it really easy to try to find this. Um, but I, if you were considering an early decision, which again is an, um, binding, um, process, I always counsel families to ensure that they [00:45:00] have, um, worked through the net price calculator to have a sense of what their finances might look like in terms, again, of need-based financial aid.

Um. I also, you know, to Becky’s point, if you filled out a net price calculator, follow up with the financial aid office to make sure that you answered the questions correctly. Because again, these are calculators, they’re only as good as the data that you are putting in. And if you were unsure of how to answer a question, you may not have reported something correctly.

And then that’s where surprises might come in. Um, these net price calculators tend to not be as great for folks who might own businesses or who have, um, divorced households and might have two households. So that again, is another situation and we’re certainly reach out to our financial aid offices. Um, but the other tool, not as many schools have a shorter calculator called My Intuition, but that’s again, another term that you might wanna do some Google searches on.

Um, when you’re researching schools, it’s a shorter calculator that gives you, again, [00:46:00] a wider estimate. But I always, um, tell families do those first before really trying to, um. Explore an early option. At the end of the day, if a student has applied early decision, they receive a financial aid award. They are in good faith communicating with the financial aid office, trying to again, explain the financial situation, um, at, again, appeal the financial aid award.

And if at the end of the day they are not receiving additional funding, they can walk away from that early decision offer based on financial aid. Um, again, I always say in good faith, but know that if you are walking away from that offer, it means that you are closing the door on that institution. Um, because again, especially the institutions that have need-based financial aid, the aid is not gonna look different, um, later on based on another parameter, um, or whatnot.

So again, there is that fail safe option that again, if financial aid through a really good faith effort is [00:47:00] just not gonna be a financial fit, then you can be released from the early decision binding part of that agreement.

Sean Ashburn: Thank

Julie Shields Rutyna: you. I had a, uh, general question that I wanted to ask you, Becky. Um, can you, you know, this process I, I know causes some anxiety and stress in students sometimes.

Can you talk about some things that, um, maybe they shouldn’t be worried about that you find many students are worried about and how they can focus their attention and what they should pay attention to instead?

Rebeca Tynan: Yeah. You know, and I, I have thought of a few examples here, kind of along the range of, um, significance maybe.

Uh, and I’d certainly also welcome Sean and Claudia to, um, chime in if they have thoughts about this. I mean, I think one of the things that probably a lot of us as admissions professionals think about [00:48:00] more than much of anything else is that this process can cause so much. Stress for students. And that is not our intention at all.

I think, uh, all of our offices are constantly trying to think about how we can best support students and be as transparent as we can about kind of what’s, what’s going on. Um, but I think in terms of the things that students have concerns about that I might try to have them redirect. Uh, you know, the one thing that comes to mind in a pretty concrete way is that I hear all the time questions about, you know, what essay topic, excuse me, should I choose?

And are there ones that are just like verboten I should stay away from and they’re not going to go well. Um, and I just always wanna encourage students to not think about their being. Topics that are the silver bullet, or not the silver bullet, but that they are, um, in the driver’s seat in terms of [00:49:00] what they can share with us, and that they’re going to be able to write the strongest possible essay about a story that they’re really excited to share.

Um, and they do wanna think about what someone like one of the admissions officers on this webinar, you know, what we’re going to write in our brief little comment form, um, about their essay. You know, what are the qualities that you want to make sure come across to us? When I present a candidate to the committee, do you want me to be sharing the, the charismatic empathetic student or the edgy creative student?

You know, what, what can you tell us that’s then going to lead to that kind of outcome? And. Please know, at least in my experience, it’s not that we’re sitting there saying, oh, this is a good topic or this is a bad topic. We’re talking about the essay as a whole. So that’s one kind of concrete piece. Um, the other thing that I would mention is just, you know, don’t, don’t worry about what the admissions committee is [00:50:00] looking for, as if we have some sort of checklist that we’re working through as we evaluate applications of a certain number of community service hours or a certain GPA or a certain, you know, it, it doesn’t exist.

Um, and we’re looking at these applications holistically and in context. Um, and so think about again, um, what it is that’s important to you. And that’s going to come through clearly to us. Um, and the last piece that I would just mention is, um. I really discourage students from thinking about trying to craft themselves into a successful college applicant and really focus on like, how can I be the most successful college applicant?

Really, I think the best thing that I’ve seen actually lead to the greatest success in the admissions process for students is when they start to really think of themselves as a future college student and what is it that I want to accomplish in college? What am I so excited about taking advantage of and [00:51:00] contributing and taking away from the experience when students have taken some time to sit back and take a deep breath and think about those things and really start to picture themselves as a college student and not just thinking about what is this admissions committee going to think of me and how are they going to judge me?

You wanna think about who am I going to be on a college campus and why did these schools wanna fight among themselves to make sure, you know, which is what we’re doing in April with the, you know, applicants to the class of 2030. Um, this is our reality right now we’re fighting for, for these students to say, oh, you’re amazing.

Come to our campus. Um, so I guess those are the things that I would highlight.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Yeah, that’s a great, a great mental shift of how to think about that. And Andrea, I think you might have some more questions too. We have a, we have a couple more minutes. Yeah,

Andreas Keenan: I have one that came in early that, um, yeah. Will be I think, interesting to hear all your thoughts.

Um, we have a parent asking, do elite colleges still value legacy students? [00:52:00] My husband and I both went to the same Ivy and our daughter’s interested in going there as well. Just curious whether that matters to admissions at all or not.

Rebeca Tynan: I, I’d say this is another, it depends question. Um, specifically for us at Yale, we do consider legacy, um, as, as part of our process, it’s definitely been an area of kind of admissions institutional priorities where there has been significant evolution and, and some schools are not considering legacy, some are, and so it’s a, it’s a very fair question to ask of any school that you’re visiting or to send an email to a school that you’re considering.

Um, but so it does depend on, on the institution. Um, but for for Yale, we are still considering legacy.

Sean Ashburn: One thing I might add about this topic is you, you can find this information within this the, your research of colleges. So many institutions [00:53:00] participate in something called the Common Data Set Initiative, which is just a standardized survey that institutions will submit information to.

And it’s a very helpful place to look because colleges are invited to sort of rank the level of significance of various elements of the application process in their review. So many of us are going to say the academic performance that a student’s shown in high school is the most important in our selection.

Hopefully you’ve heard that from our answers tonight, but one option on that little survey, this little grid is asks about family affiliation and if it is considered in a school’s admission process. And so schools might say it’s very important or moderately important or some have somewhat importance or no importance, and that will give you a sense for the school you’re interested in.

Claudia Marroquin: Last thing I’ll mention about legacy is, um, I think in the way that this question was asked, um, it would be important for your daughter to make sure that she’s expressing exactly why it is that she’s interested in attending, um, the institution. And hopefully again, there’s gonna be the remarkable fit things and the, um, [00:54:00] items that she wants to take advantage of from the institution rather than simply, again, because the, um, there’s a family connection there.

’cause ultimately you can imagine that each highly selective college has many students who have some familial connection to the institution, whether it’s parents, grandparents, a sibling, and I think this is another one of these. It depends. Some schools will consider legacy to be a parent or grandparent.

Others will consider, um, a sibling connection. Others might even consider, um. An aunt, uncle, or some other, um, relative. But I think again, the biggest thing is even if you do have a connection, recognize that there are many students who likely do have one as well. So, um, to Becky, she used this phrase before, it may not be the silver bullet that you think, um, that having that connection, um, might have in the process.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Well, thank you. I am, I am so, so [00:55:00] grateful to, um, to all of you and to the audience who has had some terrific questions. Um, I’ll, I guess I’ll ask, are there any, any more, Andrea, we should cover before?

Andreas Keenan: Um, we don’t have any more from the audience. Thank you.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Yeah. So maybe I’ll just ask if you each have any parting words, uh, to this, um, this terrific audience that’s here tonight.

I guess Sean, you’re at, you’re at the top of my screen. I’ll start

Sean Ashburn: with you. Sure. I can begin. Yes. Thank you. Um, maybe what comes to mind for me is that, um, I would encourage students and families to, to understand that a student’s interests and goals are going to evolve during the course of the application process and during college.

So I would, I would caution against getting too fixed on one vision. Or one belief about what the right outcome of this process is, whether that’s the right major, the right career, or the right institution in particular. [00:56:00] Um, we all have experiences and stories, all of us who’ve gone to college about how our own interests and goals evolved.

We know that that happens for students. And so being open-minded all the way until May 1st, when a senior makes a decision, and beyond that, that who they are, what they like, what they aspire to is going to evolve as they have more experiences. And so, you know. Being prepared for that, expecting that, and coming into it with some grace and flexibility, I think is a, is a good place to be.

You know, be curious, ask questions. And as I shared before, I’d sort of repeat myself. I, I want people to use the college application process as a chance to build up and practice some of the skills that are going to be relevant to college success. Right? You wanna get into a school and then also persist and take advantage of all the experiences that you have there and thrive.

And so that requires some active engagement and, and certain skills and habits. And so practicing those now will only set the student up for success in college and in their career and beyond.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Great advice. And Becky? [00:57:00]

Rebeca Tynan: Yeah. You know, I think the, the best advice that I can share with students is, is, yeah. A, to make sure they’re taking care of themselves.

And, and during this whole process, it is a lot. You’re probably gonna have a lot of checklists and, you know, a million pieces of essays and short answers to write and all, you know. So make sure that, uh, you’re taking care of yourself and family members. Please take care of, uh, your applicant, uh, children and family members.

Um, and you just, this is again, redundant with something I’ve already shared, but I, I truly do think that what students do once they are college students, um, is so much more important than. Where exactly it is that, uh, they are doing those things, um, because there are such incredible opportunities out there.

Um, and so I think doing all the things that Sean was mentioning to, to prepare to just make the most of that college experience, [00:58:00] um, and hopefully hone in more on, on that than exactly where it needs to be. Um, because I’ve certainly had lots of conversations with young people in, in my life, nieces and nephews, um, who ultimately feel as though, you know, they could have found multiple wonderful college homes.

And I, I do think that that tends to hold true for, for students

Julie Shields Rutyna: worth hearing again and again. Yes. And Claudia,

Claudia Marroquin: yeah, and I know we’re outta time, so I’ll be brief, but I think, um, you know. Think of this process as one of reflection, not just about getting into a place, but I think again, around the intentionality, around the things that you’ve been involved with.

And, and that’s the advice for the student, I think for the caregivers and the relatives and parents who might be watching is, um, piggy back off of something Becky said is, um, high school matters. It shouldn’t just be about, um, applying to college and [00:59:00] collecting these things, um, that will hopefully look good on a college application.

I think especially in the senior year, there’s so many really important things that are happening in a young person’s life and for the supporters to really support them in those moments, um, not just about college. Um, and again, the application process might come with some disappointment. I always tell students, um, feel those feels it’s fine to cry and be disappointed and then.

Get excited about what might come next. And, um, I think, uh, you know, I love that Sean has mentioned a, a number of times the life skills. I think being able to come back from that disappointment and reframe and reflect and move forward, um, will make a student that much more successful in life, regardless of what college, um, they might end up at.

Julie Shields Rutyna: Thank you, Andrea, Sean, Becky, Claudia, thank you so much for all your expertise and, um, wish. We wish [01:00:00] everyone great, great luck and fun with the rest of the process, so thank you. Have a good evening everyone.

Claudia Marroquin: Bye.

Sean Ashburn: Thank you all.

Claudia Marroquin: Thank you.