Redding Mother's Business Gives College Applicants an Edge

Your child earned a high grade point average in high school, studied hard on the SAT's, participated in community service projects and penned an essay in hopes of getting the attention of the school of her choice. The online application has been submitted ... along with those of thousands of other applicants.

Questions fill your daughter's head. Did she choose a good essay topic? Apply early enough? Score high enough on her SAT? What's the difference between candidates being accepted or their applications falling in the scrap heap?

AdmissionsCheckup.com can answer some of those questions before an application is submitted.

Stephanie Klein Wassink's office is on the second floor of a red building at 387 Danbury Road in Wilton. The Redding resident recently started AdmissionsCheckup.com, which reviews college applications and gives constructive feedback before clients submit it to the schools of their choice.

"I help facilitate students meeting former admissions officers," Wassink said during an interview at her office Wednesday afternoon.

She said she tries to match students with an admissions officer from the school of their choice or from a similar school, so he is familiar with the requirements.

Wassink had been an admissions officer herself, working at Northwestern University for two years, where she reviewed literally thousands of applications for admission.

She said each client's application is reviewed by three former admissions officers, increasing the chances for some to catch details others may miss.

In all, AdmissionsCheckup.com has 10 readers, two administrative assistants and a proofreader. Wassink started it last November. Prior to that she has run another business, Winning Applications — which assists high school students through the entire college application process — for 15 years. 

The Early Applicant Gets the Desk

Wassink says students should start looking for colleges by their junior year. When applying, the best advice she can give is that doing so early greatly increases your chances of being accepted.

"I think what they see when students apply early is a focus on the school," she said of colleges.

Statistics published by U.S. News on Dec. 15,2010, revealed huge differences in success rates of admissions to schools by early applicants. For instance, all of the early applicants to Tougaloo College won acceptance, while only 25% of "regular applicants" were admitted. Of University of Arkansas' applications, early ones enjoyed an 89% success rate as compared to 32% of "regular applications".

But Wassink said students could also apply too early. She recommends applying by the Nov. 1 deadline. However, this year she believes it should be by the last week of October because of a new online application system, which Wassink said may have some bugs to work out.

For those who want to use AdmissionsCheckup, Wassink said, "Get it to AdmissionsCheckup at least seven to 10 days before you submit, so you have time for feedback."

It costs $399 for college applications and essays to be reviewed by AdmissionsCheckup and an extra $95 to expedite the process.

Doing the Legwork

The online application process will make it much easier for submissions to be sent to favored schools, but Wassink says the work should not stop there.

"Now you can apply to 500 schools with the touch of a button," she said. "One of the problems is you have to demonstrate your interest in the school [of your choice]. Muhlenberg has to know you're interested in Muhlenberg.

"Did you visit? Did you contact an admissions officer? Did you go to a meeting when representatives visited your high school? Did you call alumni? They want to know you took some steps to go to the school. They want to know that you will stay there, because it improves the stats of the school."

Harvard? 'Eh, Too Urban'

Wassink said there is a high transfer rate at some colleges because of students not taking everything into consideration, such as choosing a school based on its reputation rather than if it's right for them.

She strongly suggests looking at a school's transfer rate and job placement rate. "Visit the placement office and see how they support their students and graduates," Wassink said.

While online research is helpful, there's nothing like visiting a college campus, according to Wassink.

She and her son, Will, a Joel Barlow High School sophomore, recently visited Harvard.

"I said, 'What do you think of Harvard?' He said, 'Eh, too urban,'" Wassink recalled with a smile. "I felt so relieved when I heard him say that. He's not drinking the Kool-Aid of thinking he has to go to a certain school."

Wassink said when a prospective student visits a campus and decides against going to the school, it's not a wasted visit, because it helps to narrow down what he wants.

With the recent feedback gained from her own son, Wassink said, "Would I take him to Stanford? Yes. Would I take him to NYU? No."