highschoolkids

Hey you guys, so school is out, but that doesn’t mean you need to slow down on your college search. Here are 8 things to do in December:

Involving your counselor: 

1. Tell a counselor about yourself and make sure you’re applying to the right schools. Don’t overlook what could be a perfect college for you!
2. Get last minute advice - and answers to all of your questions - about your essays, your resume, your letters of recommendation, your transcript and more.
3. Consult with a counselor as you fill out each individual application. Make sure you understand the terminology and fill out everything correctly.
4. Talk to a counselor while completing the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). There’s tens of thousands of dollars on the line!

Involving students:

1. Before you decide on your final list of schools, talk with a student at each one to ensure you’re making the right choices.
2. Ask students majoring in the academic areas you’re interested in what their professors, classmates and workloads are really like. Is there anything you need to know about their college?
3. Ask your friends where they applied. Are there other schools that aren’t on your radar — but should be?
4. Speak with students in your major about the most common career paths for recent graduates. What companies are recruiting on campus? Make sure your own interests match up.

And I know a lot of people are going to wonder how they are going to be able to talk to all these college students, well tumblr is a great place to do that! Just search whatever college you’re interested in and I guarantee that you can find at least two different people who are so zealous about the school and will be more than happy to answer your questions. Especially since this is around the time where early action students are getting accepted and people are finalizing their applications.

Happy Holidays you guys!!!

School is finally outtt!! Like if you got all A’s & B’s!!

Hey everyone, so my last post was about dealing with rejection/deferral letter and now I want to help you guys who got into more than one college and can’t seem to make up their minds. Hope it helps.

1. Never make your final college selection without visiting at least your top two or three choices. No matter how well you think you know a college or university, you can learn a lot (good or bad) by spending a few hours on campus, including whether or not the college feels like a good “fit” for you. Having family members accompany you on college visits is a great idea because it gives you extra “eyes and ears” and people with whom you can discuss your impressions. 
2. There are no exceptions to rule #1. 
3. A college is not necessarily right for you because its name is familiar. That might seem pretty obvious, but you wouldn’t believe how many students equate educational quality with name recognition. 
4. Investigate at least three or four colleges you know little or nothing about but offer the field(s) of study of interest to you, are appropriately selective for a students with your grades and SAT or ACT scores, and are located in geographic areas attractive to you. You have nothing to lose and you might make a great discovery. A little research and an open mind can greatly increase the odds that you make a good college choice. 
5. There are very few worse reasons to select a college than because your friends are going there. Choosing a college because your girlfriend or boyfriend is headed there is one of them. In fact, if there is a worse reason to choose a college, that would be it. 
6. Google, Google, Google, and be sure to separate reality from opinions. Lots of folks will refer to a college as “good”, “hard to get into”, “a party school”, “too expensive”, etc. without really knowing the facts. Don’t accept these kinds of generalizations without evidence. 
7. Do not rule out colleges early because of cost. Many colleges offer scholarships, financial aid, and tuition installment plans that make them far more affordable than they may first appear. You can’t/won’t know how much it will cost to attend a college until the very end of the process. 
8. Deadlines, your enrollment deposit, financial aid, scholarships, campus housing, etc. are not suggestions. Miss a deadline and you may find yourself in deep you-know-what. Write down on a calendar and adhere strictly to all deadlines. 
    
9. Don’t be afraid to apply to a few “reach schools”. You might be pleasantly surprised by the results if you are not entirely unrealistic. Then, apply to at least three colleges you like which are highly likely to admit you. Remember, choose these three colleges very carefully as they are the places where you are mostly likely to wind up. Finally, choose at least two “safety” colleges. Colleges to which you are virtually certain you will be admitted. Choosing “safety” schools they don’t really like is a mistake many students make. If you take the time to choose safety schools you would be happy to attend, you’ll eliminate all the anxiety some students experience in the college application and admissions process. 
10. When it is time to make your final choice, discuss your options with your family, your counselor (if you have one), and others who know you well and whose judgment you value. If you have a tough time choosing among two or more colleges or universities it is probably because you have done a good job putting together your list and you will be happy at whichever institution you choose. Once you make your choice, don’t agonize over it. If you have followed these rules there is an excellent chance your final college choice will be a good one.

A bunch of early decision/ action decisions are coming out today and I thought this was appropriate, but I pray that this post doesn’t have to apply to any of you.Source: College Confidential, sorry midterms are making me lazy.  

 Getting a rejection letter from a college or university doesn’t make you a bad person. Unfortunately, some high school seniors see themselves in a less-than-positive light when they read the bad news from a highly desired institution.

Dealing with rejection is difficult. Most high schoolers tend to take being turned down by a college or university on a personal level. They seem to think that the letter from the admissions office is really saying something like, “You are deficient and we don’t want to have anything to do with you.” Nothing could be further from the truth.

The truth is that in a lot of cases some rejected students could have done as well, if not better, than those who were accepted. This isn’t a rationalization or sour grapes. At schools where there is a significantly larger number of applications than seats (schools whose acceptance rate is 50 percent or less), there just isn’t room for all the qualified applicants. This fact is borne out by the so-called Wait List. A wait list is a group of “in-betweeners” who haven’t been rejected but haven’t been admitted. They will be offered admission if the number of enrollments doesn’t meet expectations for the incoming freshman class.

One famous dean of admission said that his institution received so many outstanding applications that he didn’t have the heart to send rejection letters. He noted that placing these fine young men and women on the wait list was his way of saying, “We should have admitted you, but we didn’t have room.” Such is the case with many good colleges. Everyone who is good enough to get in isn’t always offered admission.

Take a little time to feel disappointed about not getting into your most-desired school(s). It’s perfectly natural to feel bad. Don’t dwell on it, though, and, by all means, don’t develop an obsessive attitude about it. Don’t hate that school from this moment on. Don’t view successful candidates as elitist snobs. Accept the fact that you didn’t make the cut—for whatever reason—and get on with your life.

Embrace those schools that have embraced you. Select the one that best suits your needs and prepare to have a great higher-education experience. Yes, indeed; there is life after rejection.

Hello there! College Column is a question and answer blog for mostly high school students who are curious about the college admission process and college life in general. I would appreciate it if you would spread the word so I can give first hand advice from my college admission days! Thanks so much!

Update: She’s definitely a dudette.

Sorry that I’ve been M.I.A for a while, but I’m back.

The SAT’s were yesterday and the ACT are coming up on the 10th so I thought that it’ll be convenient to give you guys some tips on standardized tests!

1. Familiarize yourself with the exams. When you register for the SAT or the ACT they’ll send you a booklet of information with a practice test. Look through it and make sure you have a good understanding of what will be asked of you in each section. The tests are timed, so having to read the directions on the test day can waste valuable question time. Read them beforehand so you can focus on what counts!

2. Understand the scoring system. If you’re taking the ACT, don’t be afraid to guess! You won’t lose points for incorrect answers, so there’s nothing to lose from picking an answer even if you’re not sure. The SAT is a little more complicated. You’ll lose ¼ point for each question you get wrong, so you need to dole out your guesses carefully. Statisticians will tell you to guess if you can narrow it down to three choices or fewer. Personally, I always guessed regardless (if you guess on five questions and get only one of them right you’ll ultimately break even), but that’s up to you. There’s no penalty for leaving an answer blank.

3. Practice bubbling. I know that sounds ridiculous, but filling out the Scantron sheet can waste a lot of valuable time if you’re not efficient, and you could even up getting marked wrong for a correct answer if you don’t fill in the bubble correctly. Practice filling out a Scantron while you take a practice exam.

4. On that note, take practice exams! The best way to succeed is to practice, and standardized tests are no exception. You have at least one practice exam in the booklet you got when you registered, so take that one for sure. But you might also want to consider finding practice tests online or buying an SAT/ACT study book for more. Practicing will not only familiarize you with the test, but it will also help you figure out what sort of strategy works best for you and identify your weaknesses so you can work on those before the actual test day.

5. This is probably the most important of all the tips, relax! Take a few deep breaths and try to clear your head. It will be much more difficult to do well if you’re stressing about your score. Remember that if you do poorly you can always take it again, and most colleges will only look at your highest score. If it helps, think of the test as a learning experience—you’ll take it this time to see how you do, and if your score is worse than you hoped you’ll know better what to study for next time.