Exclusive Insider Interview: Senior Admissions Counselor

SocratesPost: When you’re reading international applications, how do you rank the importance of each aspect of the application? We were just talking about the SAT and ACT which are important, but what about the others?

Karla at Florida Southern: There are different things. We have a couple of different checkpoints that we have to hit. Did the student submit a college essay? What was the writing level? What was the context? Were they able to answer the question and go into further detail? There are some essays that I can’t wait for them to publish their work because they’re a great writer already. So, a review on the essay is one rating.

SocratesPost: What are other aspects do you really pay attention to?

Karla at Florida Southern: Letters of recommendation is another. We leave it open where a student can submit more than one letter of recommendation, but we need at least one. If they submitted more, were they diverse or were they all more on the academic side? I know some schools want to have one from a teacher, one from this, one from there, but we allow the student to pick what they want. Because of this, we ask, were they able to select somebody that knew them since they were given this option? And what was the content involved?

SocratesPost: Are there questions unique to Florida Southern that you like to ask your candidates?

Karla at Florida Southern: We have a section for special accolades, which includes the organizations that they’re a part of. So, is there anything outside of what a typical student is asked to do? Are they showing any sort of leadership skills or are they part of organizations or anything that they’re currently doing that is extraordinary? So, we look at a couple of things outside from just the academics. We look at the type of school and the opportunities that there may be at the school. There are some schools that don’t offer AP or IB and that’s fine. Some students may not be able to pick where they want to go, which may limit their opportunities at school. But we’re also looking at if there was an opportunity to take a challenge and do something within the school that’s further than normal, did they take it or not? Those are a few little check marks apart from just plugging in the grade point average.

SocratesPost: What happens when a candidate doesn’t meet the minimum criteria? Is there any flexibility or leeway, or is it an automatic rejection?

Karla at Florida Southern: Florida Southern truly does take a holistic approach. There have been times where a student may not meet the minimums or we don’t have the test scores but there are certain things that we look at and have a director or somebody above us take a second look. I had the VP of enrollment management come to me yesterday. He was looking at one of my students and saw what I wrote about them and asked if we could chat further, maybe have a meeting with the student.

SocratesPost: What’s the result of the VP of enrollment management looking at applications with you?

Karla at Florida Southern: After those discussions, the student was accepted today. The VP of enrollment management is in our admissions office, so you can just go in and out, bother him all the time. And then he comes and bothers you, too, so you have to be ready for that; he has a very open door policy. But he’s another person that also knows the students. So, he’s looking at those students who may not meet all of what we’re looking for on the admissions side, but then the admissions counselor will think that they would be a good fit and then you get to ask why. Sometimes we say no, which is just fine. One of the last denies that I had, that I was really pushing for, we said no to him, but gave him recommendations from our vice president to work on and told him we would love to see his application again. So, it was a soft no. Even though it was deny, we still ended up on a positive note, which was great.

SocratesPost: Are your rejections sometimes just a “not now” instead of a “never?”

Karla at Florida Southern: Yeah, and everybody’s situation is different. The students tell me so many things and I understand where they’re coming from. But, we’re also looking at the academic side. Sometimes I don’t know if we’re going to be able to give them any academic scholarships, and lots of students would not be able to attend without some sort of scholarship. Sometimes, I’ll encourage them to work for a semester and finish a couple more courses, then they can reapply if they can reach these goals. And so the students feel like that’s going to be a better option. Not every school can do this, sometimes you get so many applications, I can’t imagine being able to communicate with everybody. But I have the ability to do so, I even do deny calls. It’s great to have the opportunity to have that one-on-one communication.

SocratesPost: You were talking about writing notes on the application and using a rating system. It sounds like to me you’re spending a decent amount of time reviewing every applicant. How long do you think it takes for you to evaluate one application?

Karla at Florida Southern: It’s not too long. When you start off reading applications, it can take some time. I can do about 20 to 30 minutes on each one, because everything’s organized a certain way. Essays are not too long, and you start to quickly figure out what the student’s talking about. Sometimes they catch you a little when they write really well, so maybe you take a little bit longer, because you just love it. Sometimes you get these five sentence essays and you think, why? I had one student whose essay took me three minutes because they didn’t say anything, it was just so general.

SocratesPost: When are times you need to take extra time to review an app?

Karla at Florida Southern: On the other hand, I’ve gotten 10-page essays and those can take a little bit longer. But I try to read through everything: did the student answer the question of the essay? Were they able to put content and go into further detail? I’ve noticed that within the college essay sometimes students tend to write, “I like to go to the playground,” but they don’t explain what they like about it. And I think it’s standard in school that you learn to go into further details. So, you’re just trying to see if they’re ready for that college level.

SocratesPost: So do you have like a paper checklist that you’re referring to when doing this application checklist? Is there a scale that they want you to use?

SocratesPost: What usually causes the director’s decision to disagree with the first and second readers’ recommendations?

SocratesPost: How do you use your admissions trends to improve processes year to year?

SocratesPost: I didn’t realize it was so data-oriented. Can you tell me more about that?

SocratesPost: Is that an automatic denial?

SocratesPost: How does it make you feel when an applicant tells you how many other schools they’re applying to?

SocratesPost: How many applications would you estimate that you’ve reviewed in your whole career so far?

SocratesPost: Oh, absolutely. So among the at least 1800 to probably more applications you’ve read, what are some that really stand out to you and why?

SocratesPost: Why did this essay stand out to you so much?

SocratesPost: What other types of essays do you enjoy reading?

SocratesPost: What about essays that aren’t as compelling to you?

SocratesPost: What’s another example of a stellar essay topic you still remember today?

SocratesPost: Do the students have any idea how their essays impact you?

SocratesPost: What do you think is a big misunderstanding that students or their families have about getting into Florida Southern?

SocratesPost: So what’s the truth about application fees?

SocratesPost: What causes students to have this misunderstanding about getting in?

SocratesPost: What else contributes to the misconceptions?

SocratesPost: Do you think there’s a clear understanding among your applicants about the academics you offer?

SocratesPost: What percentage of the students that you accept actually matriculate? And for those who don’t, what do you think are their main reasons?

SocratesPost: Among them, what are some of the most popular academic programs and does their major selection affect their admissions chances?

SocratesPost: What are some of the more competitive majors at Florida Southern?

SocratesPost: I’ve never heard of faculty advisors being so involved with accepted students who haven’t enrolled. What’s the purpose of that?

SocratesPost: How does this faculty advisor engagement affect the whole college’s performance?

SocratesPost: Some people wonder if there is a secret to getting into college. What do you think about that?

SocratesPost: What’s the best way to find the right school?

SocratesPost: What’s a little-known question that you think college applicants should be asking themselves?

SocratesPost: That’s a fresh perspective. What’s the secret behind food and college?

SocratesPost: What’s another overlooked consideration when choosing a right college?

SocratesPost: It’s great you get to live vicariously through these transfers that you work with and understand what didn’t work for them at their old schools.

Last question — what is your best piece of advice who wants to get into Florida Southern?

SocratesPost: What a unique and generous incentive for accepted students! I don’t hear about this one a lot.

SocratesPost: Why do think this is the most important thing to do?

SocratesPost: What’s the significance of seeing your students graduate and make it through the four years?

SocratesPost: Thank you so much for your insights today, Karla.