Admissions Criteria – What are Colleges and Universities Looking for?

The plan you have followed throughout high school has a large impact on which type of college or university you will be a good candidate for. Below is a list of general guidelines and sample schools ranked in order of difficulty of admissions that will help you to determine which type of school you’d like to attend (keep in mind that this is not an official nor complete list but merely a way for you to get an idea of where you stand).

Check the boxes that apply to you:

THE MOST DIFFICULT SCHOOLS look for… Examples of: MOST DIFFICULT SCHOOLS

Grades in college prep courses (AP and CP courses) U.S. Air Force Academy ( Springs, Admissions test scores (75% of admitted freshman CO) scored over 29 on ACT or over 1310 on SAT) Columbia University (New York, NY) G.P.A. Duke University (Durham, NC) Emory University (Atlanta, GA) Class schedule rigor Juilliard School (NY, NY) Class rank (75% of admitted freshman were in the top M.I.T. (Cambridge, MA) 10% of their high school class) (Stanford, CA) Essay/Writing sample University of Southern California (Los Counselor/Teacher recommendations Angeles, CA) Interview University of Notre Dame (Notre Dame, IN) Community Service Northwestern University (Evanston, IL) Extracurricular activities & leadership Yale University (New Haven, CT) positions held/Work experience Harvard University (Boston, MA)

Examples of: VERY DIFFICULT SCHOOLS THE VERY DIFFICULT SCHOOLS look for… (Colorado Springs, CO) Grades in college prep courses (Golden, CO) Admissions test scores (50% of admitted freshman Boston University (Boston, MA) scored over 26 on ACT or over 1230 on SAT) College of William and Mary (Williamsburg, G.P.A. VA) Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL) Class rank (50% of admitted freshman were in the top Lewis and Clark College (Portland, OR) 10% of their high school class) Pepperdine (Malibu, CA)

Counselor/Teacher recommendations Rhode Island School of Design (Providence, Extracurricular activities/work experience RI) Community service St John’s College (Santa Fe, NM) Essay (depends on the school) Tulane University (New Orleans, LA) Class schedule rigor U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD) University of California, Berkley (Berkley, CA) University of California, Los Angeles University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN)

1 Colorado State University (Ft. Collins, CO)

Page , Boulder (Boulder, CO) 1 (Denver, CO)

Examples of: MODERATELY DIFFICULT SCHOOLS

Fort Lewis College (Durango, CO) THE MODERATELY DIFFICULT SCHOOLS look for… University of Colorado, Colorado Springs & Denver Grades in college prep courses Arizona State University (Tempe, AZ) Admissions test scores (75% of admitted freshman University of (Alb., NM) scored over 18 on ACT or over 1010 on SAT) Northern Arizona University (Flagstaff, Extracurricular/work activities AZ) Class rank (75% of admitted freshman were in the top University of Northern Colorado 50% of their high school class) (Greeley, CO) G.P.A. Brigham Young University (Provo, UT) New Mexico State University (Las Cruces, NM)

Examples of: MINIMALLY DIFFICULT SCHOOLS

THE MINIMALLY DIFFICULT SCHOOLS look for… Adams State College (Alamosa, CO) Western State College (Gunnison, CO) High school Diploma Metropolitan State College (Denver, CO) G.P.A. Mesa State College (Grand Junction, CO) Admissions test scores (most admitted freshman Colorado Mountain College (Leadville, scored below a 19 on ACT) CO) Dine College (Tsaile, AZ) Western New Mexico University (Silver City, NM) Colorado State University Pueblo (Pueblo, CO)

Examples of OPEN or NON-COMPETITIVE THE OPEN or NON-COMPETITIVE SCHOOLS look for… SCHOOLS

High school graduation requirements met, or Community Colleges o good scores on GED (Durango & Pueblo, CO) Willingness to attend and pay o San Juan College (Farmington, NM) o Front Range Community College (Westminster, CO o Coconino Community College

(Northern AZ) 2 Junior Colleges

Page Military Induction 2 Vocational School & Technical School o San Juan Basin VoTech (Mancos, CO) o Colorado Technical University