High School Seniors, Open Your Email!!

You’ve worked so hard, don’t miss something now!

It happens every year, despite our warnings. “I’m not sure what happened…” begins the text or email. A housing lottery has passed, or course registration is almost over and the pickings are slim.

“Have you been checking your email?” we ask.

“Kinda.”

It’s time to get in the habit of checking your email every day. And really reading it!! Most colleges will send a communication to you once - there are no multiple reminders, no follow up emails to mom and dad. And when a deadline passes, it passes.

You’ve worked too hard to blow it now!

The Myth of the Perfect College

Love at first sight? Rarely!

It’s the stuff of fairy tales: “I walked onto the campus, and I knew immediately that it was the place for me!”

College-bound high school students hear this anecdote so often that they expect it to be true. For a few it is, but most often, each college or university presents pros and cons. There is no one clear winner. I say: that’s OK!

I recently received a note from a high school junior, who had just returned from a lengthy college visit road trip over her April break. “OMG, this is going to be the hardest decision of my entire life.” Even after multiple visits, there was no clear winner!

So, when putting together your college list, don’t look for one that sweeps you off your feet. That’s too much pressure. Like everything in life, your experience won’t be perfect. And there will be trade-offs. But if you do it right, the pros will far outweigh the cons.

The Peril of Asking a 16 or 17-year old: What do you want to do with the rest of your life?

What do you want to do with the rest of your life? Counselors, teachers, parents, and friends often ask this question of high school students as they begin to think about post-high school graduation plans, and it makes sense: we want goals to inform planning.  However, it is essential to recognize that many kids this age don’t know what they want to do… or be.  They may be more drawn to STEM classes or love literature and writing, but their goals may still be quite vague.  And they may not have identified a major or area of interest for college.

In the wake of the prolonged recession that started in 2008 that resulted in a rising number of unemployed college graduates, we have found that families want their kids to identify careers earlier and make that a key criterion of the college search and match process.  The students we work with are feeling the pressure, increasing anxiety for some. 

“Let’s stop stressing out our kids with career choice pressure” an op-ed in the Philadelphia Inquirer by the psychologist, speaker, and author, Janet Sasson Edgette reminds us that forcing our children to decide on a career before they are ready can lead to false starts and unintended consequences.  She also makes a case for raising children who are adaptive — who value education for the opportunity to explore and discover as they will be better prepared for futures where they will have to change as the career landscape changes. Parenting our children to seek a balance between security and what brings them joy is a goal worth promoting.

Ask the Consultant: Breaking Up is Hard to Do!

Congratulations on making your decision!

Q: I’ve decided where I’m going to go next year. Do I need to tell the other colleges that I’m not going to be coming?

A: You should! College admission deans watch numbers very carefully leading up to the May 1 deposit deadline. Letting them know early helps them predict and plan for what’s to come. Should enrollments not be setting pace with expectations and former trends, the college may decide to go to their waitlist early, which could help that classmate of yours that has their fingers crossed for that school.

You can let the college know in one of two ways: via your admission portal for that college (there is often the option there) or by emailing them. And while you do not have to tell them where you are attending, it is a nice thing to do. It helps them to discern their most popular overlap schools and who they are losing students to.

When Selecting a College, Do Something Scary

It was in early September that I received a panicked call from the mother of a college freshman. She was in desperate need of some advice. After two weeks at her “dream school,” Abigail was headed home.

During high school, Abigail had increasingly felt out of place. The risky behaviors of her peers had isolated her from them and, through a friend, she discovered a church community in which she felt at home. But in the classroom, among her peers, and even at the dinner table, Abigail was questioned and doubted and challenged to defend her beliefs. Her pledge to abstain from alcohol, tobacco, and pre-marital sex, and her commitment to weekly Bible study, made her a unicorn in her liberal New England community.

When Abigail was ready to look at colleges, she went to the Princeton Review’s list of Stone-Cold Sober colleges, did her research, and applied to her top five. Armed with stellar grades, test scores, and extracurricular activities, she was admitted to them all.

Arriving on campus that next fall, however, something felt off. It took Abigail a short time to figure it out, for she knew that she was exactly where she wanted to be, among people that were just like her. Her classes were great, her peers accepting and warm. But there, Abigail wasn’t Abigail.

“I quickly came to realize that a huge part of my identity came from being challenged, from being questioned, from having to defend my world view. I knew that I would be too comfortable there, and I knew that I would fail to grow as a person if I were too ensconced in my comfort zone.” I encouraged Abigail to tell that story in her subsequent applications, which she did.

One year later, Abigail reached out again. She was blissfully happy at her new college. She didn’t regret the journey she had taken, for she had learned a lot about herself. “I’m still in touch with my suite-mates from that first year, and they all have had an amazing experience. They’ve grown and changed in wonderful ways. It was a great school for them, but not the right place for me.”

When asked what she might have done differently, she paused and then said, “My advice to students choosing a college is to do something scary. That means something different for each of us, but failing to step out of your comfort zone can become boring pretty quick. My journey had a lot to do with faith, but doing something scary can mean lots of different things to different people.”

As college advisors, we often talk about the college admission process as a time of self-reflection. Making the final choice about where to attend is no different. We encourage our students to think long and hard about where they will feel comfortable and where they can be pushed. To us, Abigail’s advice makes a lot of sense. Think back on the times when you’ve grown and changed and matured the most. Almost always, it has been when you were challenged and surmounted an obstacle.

As her advisor, Abigail’s wisdom was an a-ha moment for me, and something that I share every year with students that are struggling to decide where to attend college in the fall. Do something (appropriately) scary!!

We have seniors looking forward to meeting new classmates with diverse perspectives or traveling abroad for their first semester (or all four years); some are selecting a school that their friends have never heard of or are embarking on academic journeys that will test them in all the best ways.

Congratulations 2019!

Seeing Double: Twins in the College Admission Process

Will they take us both?

When working with twins, the question invariably gets asked, “What if we apply to the same school?” And so we’ve asked those that make the decisions… hundreds of them. Not surprisingly, the answer is often, “it depends.”

Every admission officer that we approached assured us that twins were looked at as individual applicants first. For those colleges using holistic admissions, that means that the student’s essay, transcript, test scores, recommendations, etc. are evaluated together. After that first read and a provisional decision is rendered, however, approaches vary. But there seem to be some common themes:

If the multiples are quite different in their academic profiles, extracurricular activities, or writing ability, or if they are applying into different majors or schools within the college or university, the siblings could get a split decision. One could be admitted and one could be denied. “If we are going to admit just one, we want to have a justifiable reason should we get a call from a school counselor or student.”

But what if the students are virtually identical? Similar transcripts, test scores, and activities. “We try to make the same decision for both if they are close,” an admission dean told us. “It’s a yield thing.” Does that mean that a stronger twin can give a boost to a slightly weaker sibling? “Sometimes, yea.”

And that makes sense. Twins are tight! They look out for one another. And so, even if they aren’t intending to go to college together, a school saying no to their other half can be off-putting!

So, if you are a twin, think carefully about the schools that you choose to apply to! Confer with your twin, but make the best decisions for you and your future.

The Final Choice: It’s Intangible

It may be a coach, or possibly the tour guide, or maybe something they read on the web site. When it comes to making their final decision, students choose where to attend for the darndest reasons.  Often, the most difficult decision an 18-year-old can make, where to attend college, comes down to the intangibles.

Education professionals find that academics can play very little in the decision, much to the dismay of parents and college faculty. Some of the most common reasons students decide to choose one school over another are prestige, location, size, or cost.  For others, it is a feeling that they get coming off of the pavement that tells them “this is the place.”

For students who have done their research up front, the decision likely comes to splitting hairs between two excellent choices.  Some of the most difficult decisions arise over the summer when students, who have already committed to the school of their choice, suddenly find themselves coming off the waitlist. Often, it again comes down to the intangibles.

Waitlisted! Now What?

Being relegated to the waitlist can be hard. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.

Waiting isn’t easy and it certainly can be nerve-racking when it comes to your college results. At this point in the process we always have a few students that aren’t accepted or denied, but are waitlisted at one of their top choice colleges.  If you happen to be in this situation, we offer the following tips:

• In most situations, you will need to put a deposit down at another college.  The universal deposit date is May 1st.  At that time colleges will know how many students are enrolling in the fall which will determine whether or not they need to rely on the waitlist to fill the freshmen class.  Don’t lose your spot at another college because you are waiting for your name to come off the waitlist.  If you happen to get offered a spot off the waitlist, that will likely happen after May 1st.  So, go ahead and put your deposit down at another college.  

• Keep in mind that your deposit is non-refundable so if you are accepted from the waitlist you will lose your deposit at the college you initially selected.

• When you were first informed of your waitlist status, you had the opportunity to remain on or withdraw from the waitlist.  If you have already moved on and are no longer interested in attending, please take your name off the waitlist.

• It is smart to put together a letter or email to your admissions representative to provide them with any updates academically or extracurricularly. This may nudge them to offer you a spot if they need to use the waitlist to fill the freshmen class.

• Finally, by the time colleges are pulling students from the waitlist, the financial aid budget has been exhausted.  So, if you are looking for need-based or non-need-based aid, you will not likely receive much, if any, financial award coming off the waitlist.

It's D3 Week!!!

The realities and myths of division three sports.

Many high school athletes automatically rule out playing college athletics at the Division III level. Before you do, get the facts!

Myth: D-3 isn’t that competitive.

Reality: Many top D-3 teams are stronger than their lower D-1 and D-2 counterparts. In fact, the NESCAC and Centennial conferences field extremely strong teams, particularly in men’s and women’s soccer, lacrosse, cross country, tennis, and volleyball, as well as baseball and softball.

Myth: Division III coaches don’t recruit.

Reality: There is some truth here. Many D-3 coaches rely on student-athletes to reach out and make the first contact. However, for a student on the bubble, having the support of a coach can be the difference between an admit and a deny.

Myth: It’s too much of a time commitment. I need to focus on academics!

Reality: It is a time commitment! College athletes practice each day, when in season, as well as have to balance time in the weight room, chalk-talk sessions, and runs. That being said, at the D-3 level, you are a student first, and coaches make sure that you’ve allocated time for academics.

In fact, many of our high school athletes find that they are more academically successful when they are busy! Too much unstructured time in college may not be a good thing!

Myth: I won't get any money!

Reality: Yes, D-3 colleges do not award athletic scholarships, but many are very generous with merit money, which they award holistically. They may just reward your leadership, commitment and drive with a generous merit scholarship.

It's Been an Honor!

Why choose an honors program?

Congratulations! In addition to being admitted to the university, you’ve also been invited to their honors program! But what does that mean?

Most often, honors programs are highly selective and pull from the top echelon of admitted students. But programs vary from school to school. There are many things to consider when weighing the pros and cons of attending a college or university in their honors program. Here are just a few.

Class size. Honors sections of courses are almost always smaller than their traditional counterparts. And sometimes you get the best faculty too!

Course registration. Getting the classes you want can be a challenge at many colleges, particularly as an underclassman. Honors students often get priority registration and a first in line.

Housing. Some schools have a special Honors dorm.

Money. Often, merit money comes along with the designation, as well as other monetary perks such as research stipends, study abroad scholarships and other endowed awards.

Thesis. Writing an honors thesis is a common requirement for completion of the program. Some students, particularly those in engineering, business or in dual enrollment programs, opt out of honors because of the amount of time writing a thesis will take, especially if their major has separate requirements.

Advising. Honors advisors are in addition to your major advisor!

Diploma. The honors designation is on your diploma. That certainly stands out to employers and graduate programs!