An Imaginary University, a Virtual Platform and Real-Life Opportunities

“The college application process is a nerve-racking journey, and this is a fact,” said Melanie Ahn ’21. Enter the Mayfield College Counseling Department’s annual Case Studies program, which helps ease college app anxiety by giving students an inside look into the admissions process. At this annual hands-on event, students play the role of college admissions officers for a night. “It’s a great exercise for the girls to see how an application can be perceived by others,” said Co-Director of College Counseling Lynn Maloney.

This year, with statewide “safer at home” restrictions in effect, Ms. Maloney and fellow Co-Director of College Counseling Samantha Pieper moved quickly to translate this popular event into an online format for the first time. Students worked alongside 23 professional college admissions staff from universities across the country, including USC, UCLA, Purdue and Chapman, in small Zoom meeting rooms to evaluate applications from three imaginary students to the fictional Plymouth Shores University.

The role play is highly collaborative, and although moderators occasionally share general tips and advice, students are treated as fellow members of the “Plymouth Shores” admissions team. By the end of the hour, every group has to decide which student to accept, which to waitlist, and which to deny.

Students assessed each application, including GPA, APs and extracurriculars, even delving into disciplinary action records. Their deepest dive, though, was evaluating the fictional applicants’ essays. “This is really the one time that you have the opportunity... to tell us about yourself, however you want,” said Caitlyn Latta, Senior Assistant Director of Admission at Denison University.

Our Class of 2021 students are concerned about how they will fare with the unique challenges created by COVID-19. But this conversation with a person who actually reads applications for a living was a revelation for many students. “One of my biggest worries was not understanding how all of the factors of my application would truly weigh into the admissions process,” said Giulia Moschella ’21. “This exercise definitely helped.”

Ms. Maloney said that most students feel much more confident after the event—a key goal of the program. “They see that they don’t have to be perfect; they can be themselves,” she said.

A group of junior students met with Libby Browne from the University of Rochester’s admissions office via Zoom.