As Liberal Arts Honors (LAH) Program/merit scholarship award letters have been released, let's talk a little bit about what we were looking for in the Honors Program review process...

First of all, no separate application was required to be considered for the Honors Program - all students who were accepted to PC were automatically reviewed for LAH. Students are selected for LAH based on academic performance - we have about 125 spaces in the Honors Program for the top academic performers in each year's incoming freshman class. All merit scholarships awarded by the Office of Admission are tied to the Honors Program, so any student who is invited into LAH will receive a merit scholarship as well.

As I've mentioned previously, the average GPA for students accepted to PC's Class of 2012 was just below an "A-minus" in a very rigorous high school curriculum... again, that is an admission invite, not an Honors Program invite. So, for the students who were selected for the Honors Program, we are talking about students who have achieved at the highest possible level throughout all four years of high school. Generally speaking, they have the following credentials:

(1) The absolute most demanding curriculum offered at their high school. In other words, these students have exhausted or nearly exhausted their high school curriculum, taking full advantage of the Honors level, AP, IB, and college-level courses that are offered at their high school. Remember, there is a huge difference between a "strong curriculum" and "the strongest curriculum available."

(2) An overall GPA of an "A" over their four years in that most demanding curriculum. Again, as the average invite GPA to the college (not the Honors Program) was an "A-minus," we are not talking about an "A-minus" average in the most demanding curriculum; rather, these are students who have basically had flawless high school careers performance-wise and have achieved at the "A" level throughout all four years in the aforementioned most challenging curriculum offered at their high school.

(3) If their high school provides class rank, these students are at the very top of their classes... on average, within the Top 3%.

(4) An "A" average in their (Honors/AP level) English classes throughout high school; as a liberal arts institution, English performance is extremely important to us both in the admission and the Honors Program review.

(5) If a student chose to submit SAT/ACT scores, they were also considered in the Honors Program review process, but they never outweighed the academic achievement in the high school classroom. Standardized test scores are an additional factor that we use if a student has made the scores available to us, but the Honors Program review (like the admission review process) puts the majority of the weight on the high school academic performance rather than on standardized test scores.

We feel very fortunate to have such an incredibly strong group of applicants to PC, but obviously it makes the admission review - and even more so the Liberal Arts Honors review - very difficult. In fact, there are a handful of students with perfect "A" averages (4.0 GPA on our 4.0 scale) who were not invited into the Honors Program - and the reason for that is their course schedules, while solid in the admission review, simply did not measure up to those students who truly exhausted the curriculum at their high schools (and also achieved at an "A" level!).

I hope this posting helps to answer any questions you have about the Honors Program selection process. If not, feel free to post your questions/comments here!

Posted by Scott Seseske at 11:47 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Two quick updates:

1. Our Liberal Arts Honors Program/Merit Scholarship award letters were mailed yesterday afternoon.

2. Need-based financial aid packages will be released late next week.

More details to follow! Enjoy the last weekend of March!

Posted by Scott Seseske at 9:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

By Chris Lydon, Dean of Admission

My thanks to Scott for lending me his space to share some of my thoughts about the selection process that has just ended for the Class of 2012.

One of the recurring themes this year and every year for me is, “don’t trust the numbers.” Countless times we’ll be sitting in our committee meetings and we’ll see the academic credentials for the next candidate on our roster before the counselor starts the presentation. Sometimes, the initial reaction is, “this will be an easy one.” Only to find out that the very attractive “numbers” (rank, gpa, standardized test scores – if submitted) aren’t matched by the counselor’s presentation. Glowing cumulative numbers are great, but grade digression, reduced curriculum challenge senior year, poor writing samples and superficial extracurricular participation can change that initial reaction in a heartbeat.

Conversely, there are times when you look at the next candidate’s numbers and wonder, “how did he/she make it this far?” Only to find out that the candidate has a “story” – overcoming personal or medical obstacles, contributing in distinctive ways to their school or community, articulating genuine and specific interest in attending PC – and doing their best work as a high school senior. Bottom line? You may be able to form a class by focusing on the numbers, but you can’t create a community.

This fact was brought home to me most vividly during the 12th and final day of our committee meetings. That day is reserved for the applications that have had multiple reads, have already been heard in committee, but for whom the final decision is still in question. As Scott noted on Monday, we started the final day with 170 applications left – and 66 class spaces available. Every single candidate in the room was academically attractive. No senior year digression, wonderful involvement and leadership in activities, and the support of multiple members of the admission staff. This is Final Committee –and it’s both tense and ultimately, exhilarating.

But that’s the end of the process – how did we get to the final committee day?

The first and second read components of our review justifiably focus on academic preparation and achievement as well as the personal qualities the candidate exhibits. Between recalculating the GPA, evaluating the curriculum, and reading every item submitted, the first reads alone average between 35 – 45 minutes. Scott has mentioned this many times, but it’s important to reiterate it here, the vast majority of our applicants are academically qualified to succeed. The further along we get, the more the academic preparation blurs between candidates – and the personal qualities become the separation points.

But go back to my “story” example. I hear more and more from students who lament that they don’t have a “hook” to their application. No personal tragedies (as if that’s bad), no truly unique experiences, no legacy connection or special talents. In fact, an unusual number of essays seemed to address some variation of that theme this year.

“Hooks” are less common than you think. Most candidates present applications that are thorough and demonstrate academic and extracurricular achievement. Candidates who have helped us understand something about their personal qualities (primarily through their own writing and their recommendations) often become most attractive to us. Remember, we’re trying to build a community. The qualities about Providence College that made you apply in the first place must be preserved with each entering class. Providence College is a distinctive community – as you’ve told us over and over in the thousands of essays we’ve read. My best advice to future applicants is to let yourself come through – it’s not about the style, it’s about the substance.

Third reads follow second reads, and by this time, the majority of the applications have a consensus decision. That doesn’t mean that they won’t get looked at again, but usually at this point they are flagged as invited, waitlisted or denied. They may be looked at again if a coach calls to inquire on behalf of a recruit, if a fine arts faculty member wants to check on a candidate who auditioned or submitted a portfolio, or if another member of the Providence College community asks us to look at someone of interest to them. These applications may also be pulled into a committee meeting if the counselor believes that new information (like late-arriving mid-year grades) could change the outcome (positive or negative). All of this leads to the last day.

How did we select those last 66? By listening to the presentation, by focusing on each candidate and their interest in Providence College, by considering the fit to their chosen major (without penalizing those who applied undeclared), and putting these last candidates into the context of all of the decisions already made. Votes are taken and the pile dwindles – as do the number of spaces remaining. Finally, after several rounds, it truly is down to two files and one remaining space. And this year, after all of the back and forth, when the last vote was taken, the staff was unanimous about our final selection. That doesn’t happen all the time, but it certainly was a wonderful conclusion to the building intensity of the last several weeks.

Scott has a done a fabulous job of conveying what we look for and how the various stages of the selection process work. I’ll add that between the early and regular review processes, we put approximately 2,600 candidates through the full committee review. Some discussions were brief, others went on for 15 minutes. And sometimes after all that, we still pushed the application to the final committee day, where it was heard again. At Providence College, our review is deeply personal. I know that students who are denied or waitlisted usually disagree with our judgment – and I respect that our choices may not seem right to some people. While I’m proud of the profile of those students invited to be part of the Class of 2012, I am most proud of the fifteen counselors in the Admission Office who have carefully and respectfully considered every candidate.

Posted by Scott Seseske at 4:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Be sure to check back to for a special guest blogger... our Dean of Admission, to recap the committee review process... in the very near future...

Posted by Scott Seseske at 9:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Saturday, we concluded the review of our Regular Decision applicants for admission with our final day of Committee on Admission meetings. The admission staff was on campus for about 8 hours Saturday, completing the review of about 170 applicants for our final 66 spaces in next year's freshman class. The final day of committee is often the most difficult, because all of the students we are considering have done remarkable work during high school... but due to limitations on class size we are unable to accept all of them. This year was no different- we had to make many tough decisions throughout the day. But what stood out for me about Saturday was how thoroughly each of these applications (and by extension, all of the applications we received this year) had been reviewed. Although it is very difficult to see some of these very talented students being placed on the waiting list, all of us on the admission staff feel very positively about the WAY we go about the review process - the committee review gives us the opportunity to give these applicants a very thorough and fair review. (And I just used the word "review" three times in that sentence...)

So, we have completed the review process, but we still have some other things to do before decision letters can go out... Among other things, we have to print and proofread each decision letter; stuff and seal the envelopes; complete a roster check to make sure that every student who has applied will receive a decision letter (and the right letter!)... We will be completing these important tasks over the next few days, and will be mailing decision letters by the end of the week. I'll let you know when we release them! Please remember: it is college policy NOT to release decisions over the phone, so please do NOT call our office this week- decisions will ONLY be released through the mail. Thanks for your patience! More updates to come!

*Scott

Posted by Scott Seseske at 9:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The entire admission staff is working on a Saturday to complete our final committee session for the applicants to the Class of 2012... We are nearing the conclusion of our Regular Decision review process... Stay close...

Posted by Scott Seseske at 11:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Hi everyone!

Some news to report: if you were deferred Early Action (EA) and received an invitation to our Family Day accepted student program in the mail this week – oops… and congratulations! Instead of only mailing the Family Day invitations to students who were accepted EA, we inadvertently sent them to some students who were deferred EA, but who we will be inviting when we release decisions next week.

We are finishing our application review this week and our actual decision letters will be released by the end of next week. If you received the invitation to Family Day, you will also be receiving an acceptance letter in the near future. However, if you were deferred EA but did not receive a Family Day invitation – that does not necessarily mean you were denied in the Regular Decision review process. The Family Day invitations were sent to only a small number of deferred (soon to be accepted!) students – other deferred students will be invited by the end of our Committee on Admission meetings this week.

As we near the end of the review process, we work so hard to make sure that everything goes smoothly – and so again I will say, oops! But once more, congrats to all of you who received the Family Day invitation – you can look at it as a sneak preview of your soon-to-arrive acceptance letter!

For our students who were accepted back in December during the EA review process, your Family Day invitations should have already arrived or will arrive this week. You can register for Family Day by following the web link on the invitation or by calling the Office of Admission.

The end of the review process is certainly in sight – more details on the release of decision letters to come shortly! Stay tuned!

*Scott

Posted by Scott Seseske at 5:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Hi again, everybody! Sorry to be MIA for so long... Committee on Admission meetings = my entire life right now! For those of you who posted in the comments section of my "Curriculum" post last week, thanks for your patience! Your answers are up (click on the "Comments" link in the bottom right-hand corner of that posting).

I promise more updates soon... one week of Committee meetings down, one to go! Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

*Scott

Posted by Scott Seseske at 12:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Actually, that title sums up my entire life right now... Therefore, if you have posted here in the last couple of weeks or if you are a junior and have e-mailed me asking curriculum questions, please be patient - I promise to get back to you as soon as I can!

Posted by Scott Seseske at 10:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)