Compiled by Randall S. Hansen, Ph.D.

Starting in 2003, the staff at Quintessential Careers decided to start an annual study with a small number of college admissions officials to track and discuss key trends and issues related to helping students get admitted to college. Here is the report for 2004.

[Looking for the most current report? Go to: Answers to Common College Admissions Questions.]

The 2004 Questions
After careful review of last year's results and the new developments and trends in college addmissions, we formulated these questions for our 2004 study:

1. What are the critical activities that a high-school junior should be doing during the year to best maximize his or her college planning? Read the responses.
2. Some experts say the college application process really begins in the ninth grade with the student's academic rigor and grades from that first year of high-school forward. How do you look at grades? Do you look at all four years equally, or are the final two years more important? Can an applicant make a case for admission with a mixed bag of grades in academically challenging courses? Read the responses.
3. How important is an on-campus visit and interview for a prospective student? Do you even conduct interviews? Can a marginally acceptable student with great sales skills and a passion for your college make a positive impact with a personal interview? For an extremely shy applicant, can an interview actually hurt his or her admissions standing? Read the responses.
4. What is so important about an applicant's outside activities and this notion of being "well-rounded"? And why is leadership in one of these outside activities -- sports, clubs, student government, etc. -- so important to the college admissions process? How do you view these things? Read the responses.
5. Academics (grades, rigor, class rank), standardized test scores, application essay(s), recommendations, and outside activities seem to be the main criteria schools use to rank and decide on acceptances. Can you give any more insight into how your school views these components -- as well as discuss any other components you use to judge applications? And trends? Read the responses.

Finally, any other words of wisdom you can offer prospective students as they begin the college evaluation and application process would be greatly appreciated. Read the key tips.

The 2004 Participants
We solicited the opinions of top admissions officers from a wide spectrum of colleges and universities -- both academically diverse (from liberal arts colleges to large state universities) as well as geographically diverse (from every corner of the U.S.). Each institution is highly regarded and ranked among the best in the United States.

Here are the wonderful admissions officials who responded to our study. Please feel free to follow the link to learn more about each person and his/her college/university. (Some of our participants were more forthcoming than others!)

• Eric W. Fulcomer, Ph.D., Vice President for Enrollment Management, Bluffton University
• Eric Kaplan, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, Lehigh Univeristy
• Terry E. Whittum, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, Stetson University
• Joyce Lantz, Director of Admission, Valparaiso University
• Dr. Brian Sajko, Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, Eureka College

Get More College Planning Resources
Quintessential Careers is your source for college, careers, and job-search information, resources, tools, and links. Go to our Go to College -- College Planning Resources section.