College Counselor Advise: Senioritis - Goof off now, pay later

College Counselor Advise: Senioritis - Goof off now, pay later
By Lauren Starkey
College Admissions Examiner
It’s tempting. You’ve been accepted to college, with one foot out the door. But the other is still firmly planted in high school. Why bother with those end-of-the year projects, assignments, and finals? Your friends are partying, hanging out at the beach, or sleeping in. Joining them sounds like a great idea.
When senioritis is spreading faster than the latest flu strain, it’s time to point out why checking out of high school a few weeks too soon could cost you—big. The most severe casualty could be your admission to college. Kevin MacLennan, director of admissions at the University of Colorado in Boulder, says each year about 50 students have their acceptance rescinded. He tells 9news.com in Colorado, "We want to make sure that the student understands that we're serious here at the university about the student coming in, academically ready to be successful. The grades on which the student used for admission, those grades should be similar at the time they graduate from high school.”
Tamar Lewin of the New York Times recently wrote that colleges are noticing a trend of increasing senioritis and its effect on final semester grades. Middlebury and Connecticut Colleges said the number of offers rescinded was on the rise. A number of other schools reported that they send warning letters of varying degrees of seriousness, depending, as one admissions officer noted, if the problem is a “big oops” or a “little oops.”
But even if your offer isn’t rescinded, and you don’t received what the Dean of Admissions at Reed College calls a ’’Come-to-Jesus’’ warning letter, your senioritis could still come back to haunt you. Here’s the reason: more than half of American college students graduate from a school other than the one they started at, and that number is growing. If you want, or need, to transfer, your entire academic record will be considered. And a serious dip senior year won’t help your cause.
There are only a few weeks left. It probably won’t hurt to ease up a little, but you could damage four years of hard work slacking off now. Stay focused on your future and keep senioritis at bay.




College Counselor Advise: Senioritis - Goof off now, pay later

College Admission Help: Are College Test Prep Courses Worth The Money?

College Admission Help: Are College Test Prep Courses Worth The Money?
By Vince Gerasole
CBS Broadcasting
CHICAGO (CBS) ― If your kids are getting ready to go to college, of course you want them to do well on their ACTs and SATs. So many parents end up spending hundreds of dollars on prep courses to improve the scores. But there's new evidence that you may be wasting your money. CBS 2's Vince Gerasole reports that it's all about how many points those courses help students to improve, which one study concludes isn't enough.

At highly competitive Northwestern University, the incoming freshman class boasts its highest average SAT score to date: 1441 out of 1600.

"All of the big college books list, 'this is the average score that you need to get into this school,' and it always seems daunting at first," said freshman Abby Schwarz.

To help boost their scores for admission, many college-bound students pay for private test coaching.

"We focused on critical reading because that was where I had to improve," said freshman Zach Lyons.

But a new study by college admissions counselors suggests the typical boost in score may not be worth the coaching's considerable cost: upwards of $1,000 for an 8-week course.

"They have shown that it's not a tremendous gain," said Deerfield High School College Counselor Marybeth Kravets. "It could be 10 or 20 or 30 points on the SAT, and it could be 1 or 2 points on the ACT."

From commercials posted on the coaching companies own websites to smiling testimonials from success stories, the courses are heavily marketed to students hoping to land admission to their dream school.

Kravets took part in the study. She points out similar prep material is available online free of charge.

In their defense, coaching companies say not all prep programs are created equal and that the study's conclusions lump all types of prep, from weekend crash courses to those lasting several months in the same category.

Students at Northwestern said prep programs did help improve their scores but only when combined with dedicated study.

"So depending on if you actually take the course seriously, I think overall it contributes to your raw score," said freshman Nela Pree.

Counselors also admit that in the highly competitive world of college admission, sometimes just a few points will make a difference. It's important to realize how much bang for their buck families are getting.



College Admission Help: Are College Test Prep Courses Worth The Money?

College Counselor Advice: Choice and Change Make College Seem Strange

College Counselor Advice: Choice and Change Make College Seem Strange
By Dr. Patrick O’Connor
There’s a lull in the wonderful world of college admissions, so this is the perfect time to talk about why choosing a college is so hard, in 3 words or less: Choice and change
This sounds pretty simple, but there is a world of “Whoa!” behind the idea that students can choose the colleges they apply to. Most students don’t have a choice about kindergarten, middle school, or high school—you go to the public school that’s closest to your house, or you go to the school your parents have in mind. After 11 years of being trained to go where you’re told, someone like me comes by and says “OK—2600 colleges on the menu. What looks good?”
No wonder you’re scared you’ll make a bad choice—you’ve never done this before, your friends have never done this before, there’s 3 million other students with the same lack of experience you have trying to get into the same colleges you want to go to, and there’s all that paperwork. This is not only a big deal, it’s a new deal…
…and to quote the only U.S. President who flunked out of Columbia Law School, the only thing you have to fear is fear itself. You may be a little green when it comes to choosing schools, but you figure out what to wear, eat, listen to and do on weekends without much help at all—and given the huge number of choices about Internet Web sites, choosing 8 colleges to apply to out of a paltry 2600 should be a breeze.
Of course, it’s easier to make a choice if the choices don’t change very much— but colleges are better at making change than the soda machine at school. Just this week, New York University changed the tests they require for everyone applying for admission; you can now send just the ACT, the SAT with two subject tests, the SAT and two APs, the—well you get the idea. NYU says they made the change to offer students—you guessed it—more choice, but many counselors say this freedom creates more stress than it reduces; just tell the kids what to do, and they will happily comply.
Sometimes I wish college was like that, but it isn’t—neither is life, and part of college involves getting you ready for making the most out of what you know, even if you don’t know everything. Once you have some colleges in mind, check their Web sites about application procedures for next year. After that, call them to ask if they plan on making any changes to those procedures this summer—with this economy, they may make changes about everything from the application fee to financial aid procedures. You don’t know that—heck, maybe even they don’t know that—but asking will most likely make you smarter, even if the answer is “We don’t know yet. Call again in August.”
As you start the college search, you can tell yourself you don’t know enough to make this choice, and that the changes are just too confusing-- or you can think about who you are, what you like, what matters to you, and go from there. Yesterday in the school cafeteria, you chose between the gross brown casserole and the gross yellow casserole with less background knowledge than that—lead from your strength, do an online college search, (collegeboard.com or princetonreview.com have two nice ones) ask a lot of questions, and persist. Knowing what you don’t know is the first step to freedom—and wouldn’t that be a nice choice for a change?


College Counselor Advice: Choice and Change Make College Seem Strange

College Counselor Advice: Roommates, Credit Cards, and a June Swoon to Avoid

College Counselor Advice: Roommates, Credit Cards, and a June Swoon to Avoid
By Dr. Patrick O’Connor
Now that you’re all set with college—or at least extremely close to it—there are a few other things to think about. In no particular order, here they are for your consideration, along with some links of some great articles to help you with a few of these ideas:

Roommates — Sometime soon, your college will most likely send you some information about housing and roommates- sometimes they send all of this in one package, and sometimes it’s separate. Unlike the good old days when your first contact with your roommate was the day you moved in, most colleges have a nice system put together where you can contact each other over the summer, Facebook each other, and talk about who’s bringing the fridge for the room.

My brief advice: Make the most of this. Some students don’t pay a lot of attention to the roommate questionnaire most colleges provide, and if you answer it with an attitude of “I can live with anyone,” don’t be surprised if the college takes you up on that offer. You might not feel like filling out one more silly form, or contacting a complete stranger—but in two months, you’ll be glad you did, since by then both will be neither. Find the time between prom and senior skip day to get this done.

College and money — If you thought the mail from colleges was relentless, sit tight. Now that you’ve actually decided on a college, you will get deluged with requests for credit cards—in fact, some companies will send you credit cards or things that look like checks, and the minute you use it, you commit to a lifetime of “easy” payments that make a four-minute mile achievable by a garden slug.

These mailings will continue once you’re at college—yes, they will know where you are—so the best thing to do is make sure you or your roommate (whom you are contacting this summer, remember?) will also sort out who is bringing the compact paper shredder to campus to deal with these. Why not just throw them out? Because someone may (gasp!) fish these out of campus garbage, forge your name, and stick you with the bill. Sad to say, but not everyone was raised the way you were—so buy the shredder, rent it out to everyone else on the floor for their use, and you make your book money AND the confetti for the homecoming float all at the same time.

There’s more to this money thing that’s beyond me. Happily, I’m not the only one who cares about your economic well being, and some very nice folks have put together a great piece on money and college. This takes about 3 minutes to read once—and about 4 years to really understand. Take a look, and understand why a $4 cup of coffee has never really been a good idea:

http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/03/pf/college/boom_years.moneymag/index.htm

Grades this semester —This is my last attempt to beg you to take the next four weeks seriously. With the many strange turns in college admissions this year, it seems many colleges are poised to look at final senior grades with greater scrutiny—and they have very, VERY long wait lists filled with students who will be happy to take your place, just because you thought the real name of this month was maybe I won’t turn that work in. Read on, and don’t worry- just stay focused.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/education/2009-05-06-senioritis-college_N.htm

There’s more to discuss, but that’s enough for now—and seriously, look into the shredder (it’s a great way to meet people!)


College Counselor Advice: Roommates, Credit Cards, and a June Swoon to Avoid

Race for college admission to be tougher

Race for college admission to be tougher
Reprinted from The Times of India
CHENNAI -- The race for admission into professional and arts and science colleges is likely to be tougher this year considering that the number of students who have passed the State Board, plus two examinations, has gone up significantly. This year, 532,222 boys and girls have cleared the examination, which is 35,728 higher than the previous year. Also, the number of students who have secured a first class (aggregate score of 60% and above) has gone up by 23,040.

A preliminary analysis of these figures clearly indicate that this would push up the cut-off marks for admission into MBBS and BE/B. Tech courses. Many students are expected to be tied at every level of cut-off that is differentiated by a 0.25 decimal score. This tie could lead to some students missing the chance of joining preferred colleges or branches by a whisker.

As of mid-May, a total of 129,257 persons had purchased the Tamil Nadu Engineering Admission application forms, a clear sign of a continuing demand for BE/B.Tech courses.

If this is the case with admission into professional degree courses, the scene at the arts and science colleges is not going to be any different particularly for courses like B.Com and B.Com (Corporate Secretaryship).

Trends in the past have been that there is a mad rush among students who had studied in the Commerce Stream in Plus Two to apply for B.Com, B.Com (Corporate Secretaryship) and BA Economics. The competition for these courses is so intense that in well known institutions like the Loyola College, Ethiraj College and Meenakshi College, the cut-off for B.Com (merit quota) has been above 95%.


Race for college admission to be tougher

College Counselor Advice: Still Don’t Know Where to Go? Try Out These Ideas

College Counselor Advice: Still Don’t Know Where to Go? Try Out These Ideas
By Dr. Patrick O’Connor
It’s coming right down to the wire. Chances are this won’t be an easy decision. While college applications are at an all-time high, most students were admitted to more than one college, leaving their options open for as long as possible—but now it’s time to choose.

It’s not uncommon to be uncertain right now, but you really do have a lot of time—you’ve put semester-long projects together in five days, and they came out O.K. If you’re in need of some guidelines as you think your way through these issues, try these:

• Think college qualities, not college names. There are reasons why you loved the colleges you applied to—the small class size, the classes they offer, the feel on campus. Write those qualities down, and see how each of your schools matches up to those qualities.
• Visit the campuses—one way or another. The last time you visited your colleges, you were thinking ‘I guess this could work.’ This isn’t a time to guess—head back to campus with Mom and Dad, bring your list of qualities, and take a much closer look—including sitting in on classes if at all possible. If you can’t get there, take the virtual tour on the college’s Web site—that may bring back some memories, or show you some new things to consider
• De-brief at the end. Once you’re through with a campus visit, talk with your parents about what you saw. What qualities were on campus that you liked? What new questions do you have? Can you see yourself at this college?
• Seek parental input. It’s great to show some independence, but your parents are the two people who know you best. Invite their expertise—“Mom, Dad, do you see me being happy here?”
• Compare the colleges you have, not the ones you wanted. Once you’ve toured the campuses, compare their strengths and weaknesses—but leave the dream school that denied you out of the picture. You might not find a perfect campus, but you’ll most likely find a best one—focus on that goal, and you’ll be fine. It’s time to move on.
• Don’t forget your heart... You might not able to describe why a college is best for you, but that’s OK. You’ve done a lot of research and thinking—at this point, you can trust your heart to lead you. Your head will remember why this college was best for you when you come to campus in the fall.
• Check finances one last time. You still can’t get two colleges in a bidding war over you, but if you have a college you love and it’s a little out of reach, call the admissions and financial aid offices—that’s usually two calls—and tell them so. A sincere call shows them you’re interested; not calling at all doesn’t give any impression, and may leave you short in the wallet for no reason at all.
• Start the hunt again. If your choices really don’t thrill you, wait until May 5th. That’s when colleges discover they have unexpected openings—and of course they’ll want to fill them. Getting financial aid might be a challenge, but you never know—call the admissions office, or look at the Space Availability Report at www.nacacnet.org – but remember, that may mean you risk having no school at all next fall.

I said it once, and I’ll say it again—you can do this.


College Counselor Advice: Still Don’t Know Where to Go? Try Out These Ideas

College Scholarship News: 8th Graders’ Exam Is Delayed

College Scholarship News: 8th Graders’ Exam Is Delayed
By JACQUES STEINBERG
New York Times
The College Board in New York recently said that it was putting off the unveiling of a new standardized test intended to help eighth graders prepare for rigorous high school courses and college. It cited school districts’ tight finances as the cause of the delay.
The exam had drawn sharp criticism from organizations like FairTest, a
non-profit organization that seeks to diminish the role of standardized tests like the SAT.
The College Board, which also oversees the SAT, announced last fall that it would begin offering the test, known as ReadiStep, this fall. It had described it as being for assessment and instructional purposes only, and not for any college admissions purpose.
“With the unforeseen challenge of the current economic situation, many states, districts and schools simply don’t have the resources to spend on new programs,” a College Board spokeswoman, Sheila Jamison, said in an e-mail message.
“When a large enough group of states, districts and schools have the resources that will enable them to launch ReadiStep, we will launch it.”
Robert Schaeffer, the public education director of FairTest, said the College Board’s decision reflected “the overwhelmingly negative reaction to this unnecessary new testing product among college admissions officers and high school guidance counselors.”
“They know that an additional exam would only push already rampant college admission testing hysteria down into middle school,” Mr. Schaeffer added, “with no benefit to anyone other than the College Board.”

College Scholarship News: 8th Graders’ Exam Is Delayed