Admissions Committees: Numbers Do Matter

Katie Cooney LeskoSenior Associate Director of Admissions

Important Factors

• Curriculum• Academic Achievement• Testing• Recommendations• Extracurricular Activities• The “WOW” Factor• Quality of Application

Curriculum

• Course selection• Senior year• Preparation for

area of interest• AP/IB/honors/ college courses

Academic Achievement

• GPA• Weighted /

Non-weighted Grades

TESTING

• SAT Reasoning

• ACT

• SAT II Subject Tests• Testing-optional

colleges

Student A – History Education Single-parent home, one of two children, one visit

Senior Courses: English 4 (H), Pre-Calculus (SUNY), Government and Economics (H), Physics, Accounting

Number of Honors Courses: 7 in Liberal Arts Rank: n/a

Three-year GPA Trend: 83, 86, 80, senior year 86 SAT: 540 cr 540 m 600 wr

Essay: Description of the game-winning catch. “Euphoria wasn’t enough to explain the feeling my teammates and I had.”

Recommendations: “…eager to learn all he can about his future career aspirations.” “…friendly, responsible, mature…” “…a strong writer and is capable of expressing well, both orally and in written form.”

Interested in: Intramural basketball, History Club

Activities: 9-12 baseball outfielder, team captain; 11-12 basketball coach – led team to championship; 11-12 works 15 hours a week; 12 Internship as middle school history teacher – already led 3 lessons

Student B – American StudiesTwo-parent home, one of three children, Catholic school, visited

THREE times before application filed

Senior Courses: English 4, AP Calc, honors civics and psych, Service Class, AP Spanish, chorus, Christian ethics

Number of Honors Courses: 14 Rank: n/a

Three-year GPA Trend: 90, 92, 88 SAT: 660 cr 650 m 700 wrHistory GPA: 88, 92, 88 English GPA: 93, 95, 88

Essay: Little House on the Prairie teaches the young how to live properly.

Recommendations: “…very involved…” “The first one to ask what needs to be done… feels a calling to service.” “Creative research paper on the historical time of Little House on the Prairie…takes risks and rises to the occasion.” “…such a strong sense of self that leads her to helping others.”

Interested in: honors, study abroad, campus groups, chorus and theatre

Activities at home: tutors, drama, captain for community meal programs, chorus at school, church choir

Student C – BiologyTwo-parent home, one of two children, no visit Senior Courses: Literature, AP calculus, government and economics,

marine science, Academy of Finance courses

Number of Honors Courses: 8 Rank: top 38%

Three-year GPA Trend: 88, 86, 87 SAT: 500 cr, 540 m, 430 wrMath: 83, 88, 86; Science: 85, 73, 82

Essay: reader response to “The Yellow Wallpaper.” Interesting take on mental illness.

Recommendations: “…self-confidence without arrogance…“ “…asked to borrow books on marketing…” “…insightful perspective on learning from a group perspective.”

Interested in: lacrosse, communications

Activities: football – capt; lacrosse, business honor society

Keep in touch

Katie Cooney Lesko– klesko@siena.edu

Siena College 515 Loudon Road

Loudonville, New York 122111-888-AT-SIENA

www.siena.edu/admissionshttp://www.rusiena.com