High School Counselor Week has a good post up at their Counselors' Corner blog about the new Common Application -- including advice about signing the FERPA release, the Common App and Naviance and coping with the glitch that occurs when cutting and pasting essays from Microsoft Word. Read the whole post here.
No more pencils, no more books... No more bake sales, soccer tournaments at 7 a.m. on Saturday or carpool lines... If you're feeling the pain of empty nesting as your last one heads off to college, check out this post from blogger Sharon Greenthal of Empty House, Full Mind: 25 Things I'm Glad I'll Never Have to Do Again -- Back To School Edition. Who misses head lice or homework? And we empathize with No.'s 24 and 25. But we have to admit, we always loved Back to School night. That still fills us with nostalgia.
We're two!
Independent college counselor Lee Bierer has some great advice for HS juniors on the college application process. You don't need to know which college you want to attend or what you want to study in order to prepare well -- from planning for testing to a first campus visit. Check out all her recommendations here.
Patrick O'Connor, Associate Dean of College Counseling at Cranbrook-Kingswood School in Michigan, has an excellent riposte to Obama's plans for college reform, Mr. President, Here's the College Reform You Forgot. O'Connor calls for more college advising training in schools -- and a loss of federal funding for those who fail to comply:
The impact is immediate. The quality of training improves, so the quality of advising improves, and students make better choices. Even better, the cost of the training is minimal, since the class replaces an elective course or required professional development, and is already available through a variety of instructional methods -- including an online version.
Read the whole post here. It's our anecdotal experience -- and the "data" back us up -- that access to good college counseling provides hope for real change.
Latif Thomas of Complete Track and Field: Practical Training Information for High School Coaches recently published a round-up of responses from college coaches to the following question:
In your opinion, what is the #1 thing HS athletes need to do to put themselves in the best position to be noticed by and therefore ‘recruited’ by college coaches/programs?
The responses come from track and field coaches, but there's lots of good advice for any student athlete interested in playing at the collegiate level, such as the following:
As much as we try, we do not know the name, phone number, email address and personal best of every athlete that could help our program. Don’t be afraid to directly contact the coaches of every single school that interests you. Email and call.
Read the whole post here.
For the Class of 2017, GM means food that is Genetically Modified, Java has never been just a cup of coffee, and Washington, D.C., tour buses have never been able to drive in front of the White House.
It’s back!
Today's column is from John Carpenter, author of Going Geek: What Every Smart Kid (and Every Smart Parent) Should Know About College Admissions. John will be joining us this year to contribute a series of monthly columns covering all things college admission. His first post is on Perspective. The dictionary defines perspective as “a way of regarding situations, facts, etc., and judging their relative importance” – adopting such an attitude will come in handy for all students and their families as they start out on the college admission journey. Read on to learn more about how to gain ground on your application process and face the road ahead with an eye toward getting -- and staying -- happy.
It’s official. Your last year of high school has arrived. Right here, and right now. And let’s face it, that’s pretty awesome. Your final year is a big deal for all the obvious reasons, and of course, you want it to be the best year yet--and it can be.
About now, everyone from your mom to your counselor to your next door neighbor is probably giving you tons of advice about things you should do in order to have a good year: things like get organized, start working on your college applications early, get the best grades you can, and so on. All very good ideas, by the way.
We talk to our sons and daughters about testing and essays and big schools vs. small but we often forget to talk to them about staying healthy through the process and beyond into college -- from taking care of themselves by getting enough sleep to always carrying their insurance card. Pediatrician Perri Klass has an excellent piece in today's New York Times, College Prep, This Time for Health, about the important conversations parents and students need to have about making wise health choices and getting help when it's needed. And high school is not too early to start having these conversations. We talk to our children about doing their best in the classroom and on a playing field. Don't forget to teach them to tune into their health and do their best there, as well.
Tired of fast food joints, chain restaurants and tourist traps on your college road trip? Well, if you're planning a visit to the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, you can dine out on these recommendations -- from the best tacos and pizza or Thai and Italian to solid Southern fare like fried chicken and sweet tea. In the best tradition of southern hospitality, Georgia Tech Admissions has played favorites and offered their seal of approval for the place for that special evening out, breakfasts with biscuits, a steak place called "Bones", and a BBQ joint that serves "Tomminator tater tots" -- which we are definitely intrigued by. See all of their favorites here.
