Going where you're wanted

If it's Tuesday, it must be Boulder. I always enjoy visiting colleges, and last week's trip to Colorado was packed with five schools in two days, not a schedule I usually recommend to my clients. But I didn't want to miss any of the college admission conference in Denver that was the reason for this trip.

Talking to counselors and admissions officers from schools around the country is always the best part of these conferences. The admissions dean of an increasingly selective liberal arts college in the Pacific Northwest attended a session about the predicted increase in California's college-going population.

He asked me if the UC will be building another new campus to absorb the tens of thousands of additional applicants. While UC Merced will certainly grow in the next 10 years, I know of no plans for additional UC campuses. The increased competition for admission to the UC system may raise anxiety in prospective students and their parents, but this admissions dean sees an opportunity to increase his school's applicant pool.

He's not the only one. The assistant dean of admission at a selective college in New England said they are recruiting more California students because of population changes. While the number of high school graduates applying to college will increase here, New England is expected to produce fewer prospective college students in the future.

The UC may be swamped with California students and have higher standards for out-of-state students, but many public universities in other parts of the country are actively seeking out-of-state students. The associate director of admissions at an excellent public university on the East Coast had a booth at this conference, which was attended primarily by counselors from the Rocky Mountain states and the Pacific Northwest. Clearly, he wants to recruit more students from outside his state, and he was delighted when I offered to arrange a meeting to introduce his California recruiter to local counselors.

With New Orleans still recovering from Hurricane Katrina, colleges in that city are eager for more students. While the numbers of applications to Tulane was high last year, the number of students who actually matriculated was lower than they'd hoped for, and I doubt the numbers will be dramatically higher this year. Understandably, families have some concerns, but for the right student, especially someone who would like to help rebuild the city, there are great opportunities in New Orleans.

With competition for admission to selective colleges at an all-time high, students can increase their chances by applying to schools that are looking for students like them. For males, applying to liberal arts colleges where the student body is 60 or 65 percent female is a good way to increase admissions (and dating) prospects.

While Asian-American students are not considered an underrepresented group in California, I've talked to admissions directors at colleges in other parts of the country who would love to see more applications from these students. Jewish students are also in demand at some schools. Of course, the tradeoff is that while it might be easier to get into these schools, students might not find many peers who share their religious, ethnic or cultural background.

It's true that the competition for admission has increased at many colleges. But it's also true that there are lots of good schools that still want you. And being wanted is a pretty nice feeling. It can make the college application process a lot less scary and a lot more fun.

Audrey Kahane, MS, MFA, is a private college admissions counselor in West Hills. She can be reached at (818) 704-7545 or aaudreykahane@earthlink.net.