Many of the seniors have heard back from many of their first-choice colleges about admission. Many of those decisions were probably not what was hoped for. A college acceptance does not define you. This decision may also be the first time that you were told that you could not do something. The question is, what are you going to do about it? Will you linger over this decision which was entirely out of your control or will you move on? If you have the credentials to apply to a highly selective college that means you are probably going to be successful regardless of where you go. You have to trust yourself to be awesome. Will you be more driven or a better student at College A than you would at College B? I hope not. I hope you will be great regardless of where you attend. Studies show that if you have the grades and scores to apply to a highly selective school, but don't go, you will earn the same amount of money ten years after graduation as others who attended those selective locations. (https://www.nber.org/papers/w7322 )
Anyway, I am happy for those of you who have been accepted into your dream school. I am also happy for those of you who were able to apply to your dream school but maybe did not get accepted. All of you will pave your own path and make your own success. Grit and determination go a long way and I am confidant that you will achieve whatever you set your heart on.
These articles may help : https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2018/12/does-it-matter-where-you-go-college/577816/
https://grownandflown.com/rejected-dream-school-now-here/
Monday, December 17, 2018
Saturday, August 25, 2018
I LOVE application season!
Essays, transcripts, recommendations, applications, more essays, scholarships, deadlines, decisions, majors, testing, apprehension, confidence, rankings... isn't that fun?! As much as I love the beginning of the school year because it is application season, having gone through it twice now as a parent I totally understand how you all feel...anxious! But do you know what? I will all work out. Seniors, if you follow your heart and listen to that voice of reason in your head that sounds strangely like your parents you are going to be fine.
Follow the process, obey the rules and trust yourself to make the right choice. Yes, some of you will not get into the school of your dreams and that will hurt. Some of you will get into the school of your dreams and that will be great. Either way, the college you attend will not create your success for you. If you work hard, look for opportunities, pursue activities like internships, co-ops and study abroad, and create relationships with your peers and faculty, you will be successful.Those pursuits should not change regardless of the college. Trust yourself to do what you need to do to become successful and you will. A college can't make you work hard, only you can.
So with that being said, I am always happy and willing to help in any way that you feel you need help. I can review your essays, help you look for best-fit colleges, discuss majors and more. Just asking for help is already putting you a path of self-advocacy which is so important in college. Even with so many people around you cheering you on, the decisions you make will truly only affect one person, yourself.
Enjoy the process, enjoy senior year and this time next year most of you will be sitting in a dorm room trying to figure out what happened to the time. Your parents already are.
Follow the process, obey the rules and trust yourself to make the right choice. Yes, some of you will not get into the school of your dreams and that will hurt. Some of you will get into the school of your dreams and that will be great. Either way, the college you attend will not create your success for you. If you work hard, look for opportunities, pursue activities like internships, co-ops and study abroad, and create relationships with your peers and faculty, you will be successful.Those pursuits should not change regardless of the college. Trust yourself to do what you need to do to become successful and you will. A college can't make you work hard, only you can.
So with that being said, I am always happy and willing to help in any way that you feel you need help. I can review your essays, help you look for best-fit colleges, discuss majors and more. Just asking for help is already putting you a path of self-advocacy which is so important in college. Even with so many people around you cheering you on, the decisions you make will truly only affect one person, yourself.
Enjoy the process, enjoy senior year and this time next year most of you will be sitting in a dorm room trying to figure out what happened to the time. Your parents already are.
Wednesday, June 13, 2018
When to test.
Many families ask the question of when is the best time to start taking standardized college admission tests, the ACT and SAT. There is no correct answer for all students. I feel if you are a good student and tests do not bother you an earlier test late sophomore or early junior year would be great. If you are anxious about the test, maybe you should wait, practice often, and feel very prepared before you take it.
Most colleges only want your best scores and don't care how many times you take a test. Some colleges also super-score the tests which means they take the highest sub-scores from multiple sittings and create a higher composite score. Ask colleges that you are interested in if they do this.
ACT and College Board both offer free test-prep on their websites if that is something that you feel you want or need.
Remember that the test is just one part of the entire application. Your GPA and the college prep classes you take are more important. There are many colleges that are test-optional and do not require that you send in a test score. Here is a list of those colleges.
Here is a full list of the testing dates for the 2018-2019 school year.
Most colleges only want your best scores and don't care how many times you take a test. Some colleges also super-score the tests which means they take the highest sub-scores from multiple sittings and create a higher composite score. Ask colleges that you are interested in if they do this.
ACT and College Board both offer free test-prep on their websites if that is something that you feel you want or need.
Remember that the test is just one part of the entire application. Your GPA and the college prep classes you take are more important. There are many colleges that are test-optional and do not require that you send in a test score. Here is a list of those colleges.
Here is a full list of the testing dates for the 2018-2019 school year.
Standardized College
Testing Dates for 2018-2019
Test Date
|
Registration Deadline
|
Late Registration (Extra Fee)
|
September
8, 2018
|
August
10, 2018
|
August
11-26, 2018
|
October
27, 2018
|
September
28, 2018
|
September
29- October 14, 2018
|
December
8, 2018
|
November
2, 2018
|
November
3-19, 2018
|
February
9, 2019
|
January
11, 2019
|
January
12- 18, 2019
|
April
13, 2019
|
March
8, 2019
|
March
9-15, 2019
|
June
8, 2019
|
May
3, 2019
|
May
4-10, 2019
|
July
13, 2019
|
June
14, 2019
|
June
15-14, 2019
|
Test Date
|
Subject Tests Available
|
Registration Deadline
|
Late Registration (Extra fee)
|
August
25, 2018
|
Yes
|
July
27, 2018
|
August
15, 3018
|
October
6, 2018
|
Yes
|
September
7, 2018
|
September
26, 2018
|
November
3, 2018
|
Yes
|
October
5, 2018
|
October
24, 2018
|
December
1, 2018
|
Yes
|
November
2, 2018
|
November
20, 2018
|
March
9, 2019
|
No
|
February
8, 2019
|
February
27, 2019
|
May
4, 2019
|
Yes
|
April
5, 2019
|
April
24, 2019
|
June
1, 2019
|
Yes
|
May
3, 2019
|
May
22, 2019
|
Wednesday, May 9, 2018
Rankings and Selectivity
College Rankings- Do you know what they mean?
As you research colleges, one of the pieces of information
that most confuses students and parents is rankings. Rankings can be very
misleading since not all “Best” lists are created the same. You have to ask
about the methodology behind the rankings to understand if it is a good ranking
for you to consider. There are many entities that rank and they are all
published. Here is a great list of the rankings and how they come up with their
lists: NACAC
Methodology.
Let’s use Northwestern as an example. Great university
probably on many lists and ranked highly. The class of 2022 had 40,420
applications to fill 1,925 seats. They admitted 8% of the applicants but half
of them were Early Decision applicants. Last year’s applicants had a range of
1420-1540 SAT and a 32-34 ACT. I will assume that this year’s numbers will be
similar. So over 40,400 kids with fantastic scores and grades apply and about
37,000 of them get denied. These types of applicants are more than just scores as you can see
from this cool
profile from Washington University in St. Louis.
I do not think that those 37,000 students will be
unsuccessful in life by not going to Northwestern. In fact, college acceptances
are lower across the nation due to more students applying to more colleges than
ever thanks to the Common App and the Coalition App. Not every student who
wants to go to a “Ranked” college will get in to that college.
Please do not get hung up on the name or the rank of a
college before you research it. Success is determined by your hard work and
reputation. Does that mean you should never apply to a highly ranked and
competitive school? Of course not. Could attending a certain college get you a
first job or interview, of course. But
remember that over 90% of applicants don’t seem to be getting into some of
these colleges. College fit is much more
than a name or reputation. Fit includes
many factors like cost, population of undergrads, class size, retention and
graduation rates, location, opportunity, major, career outcomes, internships,
employment rates and don’t forget your gut feelings.
I like to compare colleges to pizza. Most people like pizza,
but there are many different toppings, sauces and crusts to fit what you like
best. College is similar. You may want to go to college but your toppings will
probably be different than someone else’s.
Friday, May 4, 2018
College Visit Tips
There are particular types of colleges in every state. There
are the large, public universities, the small to mid-sized privates, highly
selective colleges and various combinations of each of those. There are urban
campuses, suburban campuses and rural campuses again, in every state. What I am
getting at is if you have no idea what you want, stay close to home and try out
a few different schools before you travel too far. Once you start to narrow
down what you like about these different types, then start expanding your range
away from home.
Regardless of where you are visiting, here are some tips and
questions to get the most out of your time on campus.
· Take the official tour and attend the
presentation (sign up online ahead of time)
· Eat in one of the cafeterias
· Arrive EARLY as parking is usually not close to where you are meeting
· Meet with an advisor in your major if they are available
· If you don’t have a major, ask about how they advise their undecided students
· Look at the students walking around; are they in groups talking or by themselves
· Ask what the largest classes on campus are and how many of those you may have
· Check out the surrounding area outside of the campus to see what there is to do
· Don’t eliminate a college too quickly until you give it time to process
· Take notes and pictures because if you visit a few in a week they may get mixed up in your head
· Fit is a combination of things, just not how pretty the campus is so keep in mind, cost, distance, class size major and career advising and placement
· Eat in one of the cafeterias
· Arrive EARLY as parking is usually not close to where you are meeting
· Meet with an advisor in your major if they are available
· If you don’t have a major, ask about how they advise their undecided students
· Look at the students walking around; are they in groups talking or by themselves
· Ask what the largest classes on campus are and how many of those you may have
· Check out the surrounding area outside of the campus to see what there is to do
· Don’t eliminate a college too quickly until you give it time to process
· Take notes and pictures because if you visit a few in a week they may get mixed up in your head
· Fit is a combination of things, just not how pretty the campus is so keep in mind, cost, distance, class size major and career advising and placement
If you are going to drive for more than an hour you should
probably try to visit more than one college. Pull up Google maps and type in
universities OR colleges and a list in the area you are searching will pop up.
Have fun road tripping!
Tuesday, May 1, 2018
Monday, April 30, 2018
It is HARD to get SCHOLARSHIPS!
Scholarships may be harder than college applications to
find, complete and win. You can start looking at any age so here are some tips:
Finding Scholarships and Helpful Hints
1. It is hard to find and earn FREE
money
2. E-mail address- you may want to
create a scholarship e-mail or be really good at putting your messages into
folders
3. Set aside a time to apply for
scholarship applications. I think one day a week, for one hour and fill out at
least one application.
4. Use other area high schools’ websites
to search as well.
5. The college you will be attending has
many private and endowed scholarships. Find them and apply for them.
6. Use Naviance
7. Keep at it all year
8.
Finding scholarships does not end once you enter college, there is much money
out there once you are in a major and for different activities that you may
want to do
1. Cappex https://www.cappex.com/scholarships/
2. College Board https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/scholarship-search
3. Fastweb www.fastweb.com
4. FinAid! http://www.finaid.org/
5. Naviance
6. Raise Me https://www.raise.me/
7. Scholarship Experts https://www.unigo.com/scholarships#/fromscholarshipexperts
8. Scholarships.com https://www.scholarships.com/
9. StudentScholarships.org https://www.studentscholarships.org/
10. Zinch/ Chegg http://www.chegg.com/
11. Unigo https://www.unigo.com/
12. Niche https://www.niche.com/
13. Collegenet.com https://www.collegenet.com/elect/app/app
15. Career One Stop https://www.careeronestop.org/Toolkit/Training/find-scholarships.aspx
17. College Xpress http://www.collegexpress.com/scholarships/search
18.
Scholar
Snapp: https://www.scholarsnapp.org/
Friday, April 27, 2018
Getting Ready for College Essay Season
Current seniors are taking their exit survey now and were
asked to give one piece of advice for current juniors. Here are some of their
comments:
- The earlier you start the process, the better
- Try to get all of you application stuff and essays finished the summer of your junior year
- Start writing essay responses as soon as they are available and take time to revise and edit
- Write your essays before senior year starts it helps so much with stress
- Don't be intimidated by Essays
- Start Early x 50% of the seniors
So based on their comments and what I know about the beginning
of senior year, here are the essay prompts for three applications: The Common
Application, The Coalition Application and the University of Illinois.
Here
also is the Essay Writing Presentation I did earlier this month. I will be again offering Summer Application
Workshops before classes start in the fall. Stay tuned for those dates and
times.
2018-2019 Common Application Essay Prompts
(250-650 word count)
(250-650 word count)
1. Some students
have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they
believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like
you, then please share your story.
2. The lessons we
take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a
time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you,
and what did you learn from the experience?
3. Reflect on a time
when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking?
What was the outcome?
4. Describe a
problem you've solved or a problem you'd like to solve. It can be an
intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma - anything that is
of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you
and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.
5. Discuss an
accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth
and a new understanding of yourself or others.
6. Describe a topic,
idea, or concept you find so engaging that it makes you lose all track of time.
Why does it captivate you? What or who do you turn to when you want to learn
more?
7. Share an essay on
any topic of your choice. It can be one you've already written, one that
responds to a different prompt, or one of your own design.
The Coalition
Application Freshman Essay Prompts
(recommended minimum-maximum word count: 300-500)
(recommended minimum-maximum word count: 300-500)
- Tell a story from your life, describing an experience that either demonstrates your character or helped to shape it.
- Describe a time when you made a meaningful contribution to others in which the greater good was your focus. Discuss the challenges and rewards of making your contribution.
- Has there been a time when you’ve had a long-cherished or accepted belief challenged? How did you respond? How did the challenge affect your beliefs?
- What is the hardest part of being a teenager now? What’s the best part? What advice would you give a younger sibling or friend (assuming they would listen to you)?
- Submit an essay on a topic of your choice.
University of
Illinois Essays
Essay 1
Explain your interest in the major you selected and describe
how you have recently explored or developed this interest inside and/or outside
the classroom. You may also explain how this major relates to your future
career goals. If you're applying to the Division of General Studies, explain your
academic interests and strengths or your future career goals. You may include
any majors or areas of study you're currently considering. Limit your response
to 300 to 400 words.
Essay 2
If you select a second-choice major other than the Division
of General Studies on your application, write a second essay explaining your
interest in this major, too. Again, limit your response to 300 to 400 words.
I am willing to help at any time. I may offer some lunch 'n learns this spring after AP tests to give you some writing advise. Read your e-mails
Monday, April 23, 2018
It's Almost May 1, I have to choose!
Seniors, if you already decided on a college to attend in the fall, Congratulations! 😁😁😁
However, did you:
However, did you:
- accept your offer of admission and send your enrollment deposit?
- review your financial aid report and formally accept your scholarships, loans or work-study?
- sign up for housing and start looking for a roommate?
- tell the other colleges that you are not going to attend?
- look for more scholarships that have a later deadline?
- fill out your Class of 2018 Senior Exit Survey in Naviance?
- put April 30 on your calendar to meet with your counselor to fill out your Final Transcript Request form during any open period?
- iron your best college shirt/sweatshirt to wear on Decision Day May 1 during lunch?
- ask Mr. Krause any questions you have about life?
Juniors, if you are ready to start looking for school or careers:
- fill out a College Planning Worksheet, turn it in and make an appointment to see Mr. Krause.
- use SuperMatch in Naviance to filter out choices for colleges and universities
- use the Occupational Outlook Handbook to research careers and opportunities
- review your Do What You Are assessment in Naviance and ask your counselor to re-set it if you think you want to take it again
- do something useful this summer, like get a job, volunteer, take a fun class
Sophomores:
- feel free to start visiting colleges this summer, if you are ready
- don't just visit one size school; if you are driving for a few hours there will be other sizes of schools to check out, give them all a chance
- sign up for an official visit online
- do great in your classes
- use Khan Academy to practice your skills for the PSAT in the fall
Freshman:
- rock your final exams as your GPA is super important
- find something constructive to do this summer
- read some books for pleasure
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