General Information

Getting into a top college is really more stressful than it use to be. There are more students graduating from high schools and more apply to college than ever before. Even nonselective schools have seen their application numbers increase dramatically. The good news is that there are plenty of schools across the nation looking for motivated students. In fact, the average rate of acceptance at colleges nationally, mostly public and far from elite, is close to 70 percent. Colleges and universities across the country are looking for our students. The time is here for our students to start looking at those schools.

It has been over two years since the United States Supreme Court reaffirmed the importance of diversity on college campuses in its ruling on the University of Michigan’s admissions policies. Most universities have abandoned the old system of automatically eliminating applicants with low SAT scores and automatically accepting anyone with exceptionally high scores. Most now use a comprehensive review that begins with a careful look at grades and test scores and then moves on to an examination of leadership positions, teacher recommendations and essays. This bodes well for CSHM students. Still, students need to be the best they can be. If your son or daughter is hoping to be accepted into a competitive college or is applying for scholarships, test scores can be very important. Included with this newsletter are eligibility indexes for the CSU and UC systems which you may find helpful in reviewing your student’s academic and test records.