Why I Started Varsity Vine

Story by Anne Keogh
April 8, 2024

Let’s not call ourselves Empty Nesters. We are Bird Launchers!

When each of my three children began applying to colleges, I told them it was my job as “Mama Bird” to launch them from the nest so they could start flying on their own.

But I knew the headwinds they would face. College admissions had turned into a serious game of chance since I’d been an applicant 30 years earlier.

 I saw the increasingly tough climb in admissions. It scared me.

When I applied to Penn in the Fall of 1988, I was one of 13,105 hopeful applicants – and remember feeling thrilled and surprised when I was admitted.

After all, the overall acceptance rate was just 35% and the median SAT score was 1280 that year. (In retrospect, how marvelous!). My admission year was (in retrospect) a “tough” outlier; just two years later, in the Fall of 1990, 47% of all applicants to Penn were admitted. The rest of the Ivies posted high acceptance rate numbers in 1990 as well. Columbia University accepted 32 percent, Cornell University 31 percent, Dartmouth University 25 percent, and Harvard University 17 percent, to name a few.

But by the time my daughter applied to Penn in the Fall of 2021, her chance at admission had plummeted to 6%. Her application was one of 54,588, and the median SAT score perched at a head-spinning 1540. The top 25% of those admitted had 1570 – or higher!

And it wasn’t just my alma mater that had gone crazy.

*NYU had 10,000 applications in 1990; in 2022: 120,000.

*UCLA had 24,000 applications in 1988; in 2022: 150,000.

*UNC Chapel Hill had 14,700 applications in 1990; in 2022: 53,700

And with rising application numbers, acceptance rates have plummeted. It’s so stressful for our kids and for us as parents.

When all of us jokingly say we could not get into our own colleges today, it’s no joke. We really couldn’t.

I wanted to know what happened. So, I researched it.

It’s complicated. But the “College Arms Race” boils down to these main points:

1. Debut of U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges Rankings. The first issue in 1983 was the starting gun. For Admission Officers and University Boards of Overseers, admissions became driven by rankings.
2. Aggressive Direct-Marketing. The rankings, in turn, made colleges chase more applications to decrease accept rates and increase yield. Targeted marketing campaigns became the norm.
3. The Online “Common App” (1998). Not only did the Common App streamline applying, it also made it easy to add additional colleges to your list with a checkmark – including new, geographically-diverse colleges you might not have ever considered before. The number of colleges a student applied to started to rise.
4. College-Bound Population Grew. With more U.S. high schoolers in general, and a higher percentage who were seeking college, demand exploded. On top of that, international students have doubled matriculation in the past 20 years.
5. “Holistic” Admissions, Test Optional Policies, and Test Blind Policies. Pre-pandemic, 55% of colleges required test scores. Now, only 4% of colleges do. You don’t have a 1540 for Penn? Well, don’t worry, you can apply Test Optional… just apply! And…the arms race continues.
6. Transparency Brought Panic. Journalists started writing the admissions truth – that a sizeable share of the spots (up to half of a class size in some private colleges) could be claimed early with institutional priorities: Donor Families, Legacies, Athletes, International Students, Questbridge, and “Special Interest Groups.” The available spots for “non-hooked” students grew smaller, especially in Regular Decision.
7. Panic Led to Increased Apps/Person. With increasing admissions uncertainty, more applications per person were submitted. In 1995, only 10% applied to 7 or more colleges. By 2017, 36% submitted 7 or more. Post-pandemic, that number is even higher, with many now applying to 15 or more.

Could I do anything to help tame this insanity?

Turns out, I felt like I could. College Admissions wasn’t a foreign world to me. Starting as a work-study college student working in Undergraduate Admissions at Penn in the 1990s, I led tours and processed paperwork – and witnessed the anxiety in parents’ and high schoolers’ eyes. Fast forward, I was now the parent with panic in my own eyes. I hustled to catch up. Through my employment with Application Nation (a national college admissions group founded by Sara Harberson), college counseling classes through UCLA, my work with private clients, and my own research and analysis, I felt like I had begun to understand the stakes – and exactly what Admissions Officers were looking for. I’ve now planted my knowledge and experience in Varsity Vine at low cost to help others.

What makes Varsity Vine Different? Access to Experts and Low Cost.

Often, when a family investigates hiring a College Counselor, they say something like “I want my child to have the support they need to put forth their best application, but I don’t want to spend a fortune!”

I don’t want you to spend a fortune either.

Hiring a College Counselor often starts at $5,000 up front — and often goes much, much higher. It’s not atypical in the Northeast or West Coast to spend upwards of $15,000 or more.

We have created a new approach at Varsity Vine.

Once you are accepted into this private membership for $39/month, you will have access to our own 24/7 community with professional support, up-to-date information, and step-by-step how-to information. You will receive complimentary one-on-one counseling and strategic, personalized advice on senior year course selection, college list curation, summer activity ideas, scholarships, major choice, and so forth. And we don’t stop with the admissions process. We continue to help your “bird” make a new nest! Rush counseling, clubs strategy, roommate selection, dorm décor – we’ve got you covered with expert advice.

You will have all the information you need to help your child successfully navigate the college admissions and matriculation process, but we will also offer Birdie Boosts — additional one-on-one student support as needed for more intensive assistance, such as essay reviews.

So, why pay $5,000+ up front? Start for $39 — and see what you think.  You can cancel at any time.

At Varsity Vine, we know our way works. With our easy-to-understand, proprietary information, you can become your child’s most-knowledgeable advocate. That is priceless. (And we just saved you $5,000!).

We are a Vine, planted to grow with you, the parents. But how do we work?

We meet you where you are in the process.

We are a national team that has created a private community for parents, giving you critical access to building a successful College Application and Matriculation strategy, backed up by knowledgeable experts, topic-specific material, and crowd-sourced information at your disposal.

Do you want to save money by helping to manage your own child’s application and matriculation process? You can – we give you everything you need to know in an easy, step-by-step, how-to format. If you need any additional, one-on-one assistance along the way, we’re here for you.

Or are you super busy and prefer the idea of a traditional college counselor who manages it all with your child from high school decisions through college matriculation? We do that, too! We can custom-build a full-service package, if needed. Just call us & we will create a proposal for you based on what you are looking for.

What is our purpose?

Varsity Vine is planted in our mission to help parents launch their children successfully into college.

As the Founder of Varsity Vine, I am personally dedicated to educating, informing, and leading you, the parents, across the college matriculation finish line.

The outstanding team at Varsity Vine wants to take away the fear and uncertainty of college admissions and matriculation by putting the control back into your hands with our community and 24/7 support – you can access our team at any time with any question, day or night – and into your student’s hands with one-on-one support.

Our amazing community of support at Varsity Vine is special. Try it out yourselves and see what all the buzz is about!

But does it work?

Absolutely! Check out the Testimonial Page and our Success Stories!

This is our Varsity Vine – let’s start climbing it together!

–Anne

Anne Keogh is the founder of Varsity Vine, a college application and matriculation advising group that supports parents and students through its private online community and one-on-one services. Prior to establishing Varsity Vine, Anne worked for Application Nation (a national private college counseling community founded by Sara Harberson), independently helped students across the nation on their college applications and has continued to build her expertise with college counseling certificate coursework through UCLA. Earlier in her career, Anne worked in finance and strategy in entertainment and media, including the Walt Disney Company, Home Box Office, and Retail DNA (a spin-off of Priceline). She recently served on the Boards of Charleston Stage and Children’s Museum of the Lowcountry and enjoys creative writing. Anne holds an MBA from Harvard Business School (1998) and a BA from the University of Pennsylvania (1993) in Honors History and English. A mother of three grown children, Anne lives with her husband, George, in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. 

Categories: Anne's Blog