Application season is winding down. If you have a senior, the time to submit applications is coming to a close. Students are transitioning from writing essays, completing transcript requests and sending test scores, to a waiting period. What can a student do to ease their stress while they wait for colleges to make a decision?

Admissions is only the first step in a long journey. While students wait, they should think about how they are going to maximize their experience over the next four years. Did you know that the high school class of 2010 had a 60% graduation rate over a six-year period? Think about that for a minute. Only six out of ten students had graduated in SIX YEARS! Meanwhile, The Colleges That Change Lives have an average acceptance rate of 66% and more than half of the colleges in this country accept more than half of the students that apply.

So why are people worried about admissions when they should really be concerned about making progress towards graduation? High school students that complete a thoughtful college search and create a realistic list should not be stressed about admissions. The numbers say that a student is likely to be admitted to a college but they are much less likely to complete their degree in a timely fashion, if at all and THAT is where the real anxiety should be focused; what happens when they get to college and how do they graduate on time.

Jeff Selingo is an excellent voice that cuts through the college admissions chatter. I took some of my statistics from the article below that he wrote for the Washington Post last December. Enjoy!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/grade-point/wp/2016/12/09/just-because-your-kids-are-headed-off-to-college-it-doesnt-mean-theyll-graduate/?utm_term=.4f2a8878a3c4