Get a welcoming handshake in minutes with 'instant' admissions
Getting accepted into Newbury College this fall could take about as long as watching your favorite sitcom. Instead of filling out a lengthy application and waiting weeks for a reply, students can take advantage of the school's "instant admissions" option. Applicants meet with an admissions official–either at the college's Brookline, Mass., campus or their high school–who reviews their transcript and test scores and asks them a few questions about their academic interests or extracurricular activities. Applicants then get a thumbs up or thumbs down, usually within a half an hour.
Virtually unheard of 20 years ago, "instant" or "on-site" admission has been adopted by a host of state schools over the past decade, including William Paterson University of New Jersey in Wayne and Virginia Tech in Blacksburg. Now, private colleges like Newbury and DePaul University in Chicago are jumping on the bandwagon, too. For schools, the advantage of this quickie service is that it ups the percentage of accepted students who choose to attend. Students given a welcoming handshake during an interview are more likely to attend the university than other admitted students, says John Fraire, dean of admissions at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo. For their part, high school seniors get a big reduction in stress. While they may be offered admission as early as the fall, they usually can wait until May to give the school an answer. Julia Pravlochak, 18, didn't wait that long, however. When offered a spot in Western Michigan's freshman class last fall, she immediately accepted. "I had the best smile on my face," she says.
Going with an instant-admission interview does not appear to increase or lower your chances of getting in. At Newbury, for instance, the regular and instant-admission applicant pools both have acceptance rates of about 80 percent.
"Don't see this as drive-through admissions," warns Sal Liberto, assistant dean of admissions at Newbury. Call the college ahead of time and ask what you need to bring, he says. Newbury requires a personal essay, for example; Western Michigan does not. Also be sure to practice your interview with a guidance counselor or parent. If you got an F in sophomore English, you should be able to explain why you received the grade and how you've improved. If you can't, you might flunk instant admissions, too. -U.B.
