Scarsdale Dean Outlines Shifting Landscape for College Admissions

The college admission process is ever-evolving and has certainly changed a lot since most Scarsdale parents applied to college themselves. In the last few years however, the landscape seems to have changed not only rapidly, but drastically as well. Before the pandemic, some colleges and universities, already looking to recruit a wider array of potential applicants, became “test optional” and looked to dissolve constructs like “legacy status.” This move towards more geographic, cultural, and socio-economic diversity was only hastened by the pandemic when a majority of colleges also suspended the need for applicants to submit SAT/ACT and other standardized test scores. These major changes in policy had elite colleges seeing a record number of applicants for the same number of seats in their freshman classes…making an already intense application process even more stressful for our Scarsdale High School students. Many Scarsdale parents are also wondering how these big shifts in the application process affect our children. On Monday December 5th, Oren Iosepovici, Director of Counseling at SHS, with the help of all of the SHS deans, presented, “The Evolving College Admission Landscape: Trends and Thoughts from the SHS Counseling Department”. The presentation provided an overview of these changes from the perspective of the Counseling Department, insight to what they have seen at SHS with respect to college admissions, and a review of how the Counseling Department supports students in this process.

The evening began with SHS Principal Kenneth Bonamo acknowledging, “The uncertainty generated by these developments has raised the already high level of anxiety many of our students and families experience around the college process. This is entirely understandable, given that we have no track record to refer to to determine how these changes will affect admission decisions in general and specifically for our students.”

Bonamo went on to remind the audience that despite all the uncertainty, “the core message of our counseling department, is that the most important thing we can do as teachers and parents is to ensure that our students are getting the most of their high school experience, engaged in rich learning experiences, becoming acquainted with the various disciplines, exploring different activities, so they can begin to have an idea of what majors and interests they might like to pursue in college, and to view the college process as one of exploration and discovery, with an open mind, excited by possibilities and prepared for unexpected outcomes. Regardless of the pressures and uncertainties, it is incumbent upon us to keep students at the center of our thinking and to communicate to them in word and in deed, that they will find success because of who they are and what they make of the opportunities before them.”

Bonamo then introduced Dean Iosepovici who said that historically, the application process to higher learning institutions has not been an even playing field for people from diverse socio-economic or cultural backgrounds. In response to an out-dated process, these institutions have made more significant adjustments and changes in these last few years than he has seen in his entire time as an SHS counselor.

Iosepovici explained that because of these changes, colleges have the strongest, most diverse freshman classes in history with some 20% being first generation applicants. While many elite colleges have seen an overwhelming number of applicants, Mr. Iosepovici also described huge changes at large public universities noting that even though places like the University of Georgia went back to using standardized test scores, applications are still on the rise. As a result, the caliber of students applying to these colleges has also significantly risen even from only 1-2 years ago. Comparing GPA and test scores from Scarsdale students accepted at one top school in 2009 versus 2021 saw GPAs increase from a 3.39 to 3.93, ACT scores increase from 30 to 34, and SAT scores increase from 1340 to 1520.

Many students (some 50%) in Scarsdale take advantage of Early Application, but according to the presentation, EA has also significantly increased and may not always be the best option for every student. Mr. Iosepovici explained that the SHS counselors carefully consider and discuss all options for each individual student.

Mr. Iosepovici went on to detail the many variables that go into shaping a freshman class and that it is a very purposeful process where individual applicants are considered for the unique seats they would fill and how well they would fit in. Mr. Iosepovici shared a slide outlining the many of the objectives considered when building a balanced class list:

The next three slides in the presentation addressed the use of AT classes in Scarsdale versus AP classes. As Mr. Iosepovici explained, colleges and universities are made aware (both formally and informally) that Advanced Topic classes are the highest level classes offered in Scarsdale and many applaud our district’s approach. He explained that sometimes students want to take the AP exams because they feel it would enhance their applications, but according to Mr. Iosepovici, the reality is very different. Most elite institutions recognize that a student’s success in an AT/AP class usually also relates to how well you do on tests like the SAT, and so high scores on these exams don’t necessarily make you stand out amongst a crowd of similar candidates. Instead of test scores, many institutions considering high caliber students will consider if these candidates possess qualities like being a good roommate or a good human. While the counseling department recognizes that taking the AP exams can be valuable for some students (and have conversations with these students), the counseling team does not recommend that all AT students take the AP exams and instead could benefit from spending their time and energy on enhancing their lives in other ways.

In reference to the next slides Mr. Iosepovici discussed how the application process isn’t a team sport and students are considered on an individual basis. While the numbers in the slides sometimes fluctuate slightly from year to year, it was also emphasized that colleges know our SHS students are incredibly well prepared and continue to be some of the most successful students.

Before opening up the presentation to a Q and A session, Mr. Iosepovici outlined the various programs offered by the SHS Counseling Department. It should be noted that many of these programs exceed what is offered at other schools and SHS is also the only school in Westchester to offer a GAP year program. In addition to the programs listed on the slides our deans visit colleges across the country to better educate our students and also hold a Counseling Department Symposium where 30 different universities gather to talk application and admission trends.
Slides # 21-23

Perhaps one of the biggest takeaways of the presentation was Mr. Iosepovici’s message “We see an important part of our mission to remind students of the incredible opportunities out there, and as the admissions landscape continues to evolve, to provide families with perspective. As professionals, we are reminded of this in conversations with colleagues from other schools, who often share thoughts about their students that allow us to take a step back and remember this reality about Scarsdale graduates - that among their peers across the region and beyond, they continue to be among the most successful in this process, and prepared overall. Still, we do not live in a vacuum. Our students are undoubtedly seeing and hearing the reality of this changing landscape, and consequently feeling the pressure to work even harder, pile on a greater number of challenging courses, take more exams, and add to their extracurricular portfolio. It is our collective responsibility, all of us, to remind them that high school is not a means to an end, but rather a journey where mistakes are okay and failures are opportunities to grow. Framing their experience here not as outcome driven, but rather as one to develop life long skills, will help them to focus on what makes most sense to them, academically and personally, and will ultimately allow them to see the many, many outstanding educational opportunities that are out there.”

The presentation was then opened to questions from the audience where, through some of the questions asked, it was again made clear that SHS students continue to do really well and find schools that are the right fit for them socially, academically and personally. It was also reiterated that colleges recognize that SHS students are well prepared, own strong life skills, and can manage a rigorous workload. And while acceptance to the top 50 colleges is more competitive for every student from every high school, colleges not on the top 50 list are eager for SHS students to attend their institutions.

A recording of the “The Evolving College Admission Landscape: Trends and Thoughts from the SHS Counseling Department” is available here. For more information about the SHS counseling Department, click here.

Wendy MacMillan is a former teacher and now a proud mom of two, school aged children. With a background in psychology, education, and mindfulness, Wendy has long been passionate about wellness and helping others.