Mosaic Admissions

Why Mosaic?

Sure, it takes grades to get into your dream school.  Grades tell an admissions officer that you can do the work.  But it doesn’t stop there.  Grades are only the first criteria in a process that gets more competitive every year. 

Today’s top colleges are searching for the “whole scholar.”  They will scour your application for opinions, statements, passions, hopes, dreams and fears.  They want to know what you’ll do to make their school a little different.  They’re not necessarily looking for the class valedictorian.  They’re looking for someone like you.

Unfortunately, many people get lost in the admissions process.  It’s intimidating.  The essays can be overwhelming.  And you can wind up looking at a blank screen, attempting to outguess the admissions officer, trying to be someone you aren’t.

Interesting Stats

The college admissions process grows more competitive every year.  More high school students are applying to private and public universities, while high school resources are increasingly stretched because of the difficult economic climate.  Here are a few interesting facts that illustrate how tough it can be to gain admission to college, and how working with Mosaic Admissions in conjunction with your high school counselor might help:

  • For the Class of 2013, Harvard admitted a record-low 7 percent of applicants – only 2,046 students out of 29,112.  More than 2,900 applicants had a perfect SAT Critical Reading score, 3,500 had a perfect SAT Mathematics score, and almost 3,900 were high school valedictorians.
    *Source: Harvard Club of New Jersey News, 2009.
  • The University of Chicago received 19,306 applications for the 2010-2011 school year – a 42 percent increase from the previous year.  The University plans to accept only 19 percent of applicants.
    Source: U.S. News & World Report blog, “The Paper Trail,” 1/14/10.
  • The number of applicants to Brown University’s Class of 2013 rose 21 percent over last year.  The University admitted only 10.8 percent of students who applied.
    *Source: U.S. News & World Report blog, “The Paper Trail,” 3/31/09.
  • Applications have surged at the nation’s top three military academies.  For the Class of 2013, the U.S. Naval Academy saw a 40 percent increase in applications from the previous year.  Applications rose 10 percent at the U.S. Air Force Academy and 9 percent at West Point.
    *Source: http://www.foxnews.com, 6/16/2009. 
  • The number of freshman applications to Northwestern University has increased 70 percent over the past five years.
    *Source: Northwestern University Newscenter, 2/8/10.
  • While the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) recommends a 250-to-1 ratio of high school students to counselors, the national average is actually 460-to-1 (2007-2008 school year).
    *Source: American School Counselor Association, 2010.

    • Only four states meet or fall below the recommended ratio, while fourteen states exceed it.
    • Colorado exceeds the national average, with a student to counselor ratio of 470-to-1.
    • Counselors in Illinois are stretched most thin, with the ratio a staggering 1,047-to-1.
    • To see how the individual states measure, click here.
  • High school guidance counselors spend on average only 28.8% of their time advising students on college admissions. 
    *Source: NACAC Counseling Trends Survey, 2009.Â