Tweet your way to a $500 Scholarship

Posted on Thu, 08/08/2013 - 09:33

Submit a 140 character response about how technology has helped with the education system and you could win one of four $500 scholarships for the upcoming school year. The Tweet For Success Scholarship is sponsored by DialMyCalls, which provides mass notification services to schools. "Hello, snow day!"  Find all the info and enter here. And, FYI, while you will need to tweet your message to @DialMyCalls, you do not need to have your own Twitter account to do so or to enter to win. Good luck!

Registering for the September ACT

Posted on Tue, 08/06/2013 - 10:12

If you're planning on taking the ACT on September 21st, remember:  August 23 is your last day to register before incurring late fees. Thanks for the heads up Todd Weaver! If you're taking the SAT, you've got some time. September 6th is the deadline for registering for the October 5th SAT sitting. Remember, there is no need for students to take both the SAT and ACT. Virtually all four-year colleges now accept either test. Famliarize yourself with both tests and take the one with which you feel most comfortable.

Valerie Velhagen of Albuquerque's Eldorado High School is Counselor of the Month

Posted on Tue, 08/06/2013 - 09:48

Valerie Velhagen thought she would be a professor or a lawyer like her father. But some time off before graduate school -- working in her father's law office and studying for the LSAT -- lead her to take a different path. Albuquerque, New Mexico, is a long way from Brooklyn, New York, where Velhagen was born and raised. But after graduating from Massachusetts' Brandeis University with a BA in English and Pennsylvania's Duquesne University with a Masters in a program centered on existential/phenomenological psychology, Velhagen, now the College and Career Readiness Counselor at Albuquerque's Eldorado High School, made her way from New York's largest borough to the city on the banks of the Rio Grande.

Rick Clark, Director of Admission, Georgia Institute of Technology

Posted on Mon, 08/05/2013 - 09:28

Rick Clark, Director of Undergraduate Admission at Georgia Institute of Technology joins us this month to answer five questions about one of the country's leading public research universities. GT or Georgia Tech, as it's known, opened its doors in 1888 with two buildings -- one for classrooms, the other housing a foundry, forge, boiler room and engine room. It was the culmination of a plan spearheaded by two former Confederate officers to found a school that would move the south from an agrarian past into the industrial age.

And we're back...

Posted on Mon, 08/05/2013 - 08:54

It's so long to summer and back to school for us! This month we'll be bringing you insight from Director of Admission Rick Clark of the Georgia Institute of Technology, advice from high school counselor Valerie Velhagen on what juniors and seniors should be doing right now, and the next installment of The Transition from High School to College from educational counselor Jane McClure. And coming up we'll have more restaurant recommendations for your college visits -- and drop-offs -- in the Gourmet Guide, a new round up of experts every month answering "The Question of the Moment" -- from "When Should I Start Testing?" to "Why is College So Expensive?" -- and -- Coming Soon! -- podcasts with deans of admission from around the country.

And later this month, we'll have a completely revised chapter on the new Common Application available as a pdf right here on the site! Great guidance for students and counselors on completing the latest version of the electronic application.

 

How America Pays for College 2013

Posted on Tue, 07/23/2013 - 08:48

A new study from Sallie Mae, How America Pays for College 2013, evaluates how families view and manage the cost of a college education today. Among the findings:

  • Increasing optimism about the value of college. A higher percentage of parents than in previous years — 85% — express an unwavering belief that college is an investment in their child's future.
  • A post-recession cost consciousness. Parent out-of-pocket spending has decreased 35% since 2010. Overall, parents now fund approximately one-quarter of college expenses, down from a peak of one-third.
  • A growing reliance on grants and scholarships. “Free” money is filling part of the gap left by lower parental contributions.
  • Larger student contributions. Students are funding more of the college bill through borrowing and savings/income than they did five years ago.

And for more analysis of the survey, see "Holding the Line" in today's Inside Higher Ed.