Get a Job!

You earn more than extra spending money!

So what’s your plan for the summer? Lab intern? Hospital volunteer? Teen tour of Asia? SAT prep class? Spending some time at the beach?

What we hear less and less is, “I’ve got a job!” So maybe that is why the admission officers that we talk to say that they are impressed when a student spends their summer pumping gas, bussing tables, landscaping, or working the drive-thru.

Why? Because it shows that the student isn’t afraid to roll up their sleeves. And that is an important attribute to possess. Having a summer job demonstrates a strong work ethic, good people skills, and the understanding of the value of a dollar. And those are just the things that will make you a successful doctor, or lawyer or investment banker in the future!

The One Thing You Need to Keep in Mind When Starting Your College Essay

Well-meaning professionals, parents, and teachers, and even their peers, pepper college applicants with advice full of don’ts. “Don’t write about the death of your grandparent.” “Don’t write about summer camp.” “Don’t write about your mission trip.” “Whatever you do, don’t write about catching the winning touchdown.” But the truth of the matter is that I’ve read some wonderfully poignant college essays about summer camp, grandparents, and mission trips. Why?

Because your topic doesn’t matter.

That’s right! Stop putting so much pressure on yourself to choose the perfect topic, to avoid the cliche, to be incredibly unique! If your essay is really, truly about you, it will be unique enough.

Our approach to the essay starts with the student, not the topic. What is it important that college’s know about you? From there, a theme surfaces. If a story about your mission trip to Honduras would be just as impactful if it happened in your backyard, it is a story about you. If not, it’s a story about Honduras. Use your theme as a jumping off point to delve more deeply into what makes you tick.

So regardless of what you choose to write about, make sure that you know why you are writing about that particular event or person. The best thing you can do to brainstorm the college essay is to look in the mirror and be self-reflective. You don’t need a “catch,” all you need is you!

Federal Loan Interest Rates Are Decreasing

Recent high school graduates have reason to celebrate.  Along with the milestone of attaining high school diplomas, students have the good fortune of lower interest rates on their Federal Direct Student Loans.  This is the first student loan interest rate decrease in three years.  For the 2019-2020 academic year, the interest rate on undergraduate subsidized and unsubsidized loans will decrease from 5.05% to 4.529%.  The rate on the Parent PLUS loan will also decrease from 7.6% to 7.079%. Borrowers currently in college will be able to take advantage of the lower rates on loans issued on or after July 1, 2019.  Let the celebration begin.

Betsy Morgan and Sarah Rickelman's advice featured in College Confidential

Betsy and Sarah were recently interviewed by Suchi Rudra of College Confidential for her article, “Superscore Is Great, But Individual Scores Are Just OK — Should You Retest?”

Juniors: Why You Should Request Teacher Recommendations Now

Most colleges require applicants to supply one or two teacher recommendations, and often a counselor recommendation as well.  But it’s only April, and college applications won’t be due until the fall, or early in 2019, so you may think you have plenty of time to ask teachers for letters of recommendation to include with your college applications. However, keep in mind that some teachers limit the number of recommendations they will write as they usually do them on their own time, sometimes over the summer if they have requests from juniors in advance.  

Ideally, you should choose two teachers from your junior year. They should be from different subjects; the ideal is one from math or science and one from social studies or humanities. But if you have other ideas, check with the colleges themselves to see what their requirements are.

So, now is the time to ask the two teachers who know you best if they would be willing to write a recommendation for you!  Get on their list and check that off your “to do” list for college application preparations. It’s an easy task to take care of now and important to help ensure that your application is as strong as it can be.

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!