...If They Can't Stay In
It can seem like getting into college is the biggest challenge these days. With the application process getting more and more competitive, unfortunately, getting in is only the beginning. The real challenge is staying in and graduating. Years ago, I had a friend I was working with who graduated in the top third of his high school class. He was thrilled to be accepted by Columbia. Everything was just as he imagined. But when I saw my friend in November, things were different. After lunch one day, my friend began explaining that he had been expelled from college for his grades, and he would be taking a year off and enrolling in a community college to retake some courses. How could this happen to a good student? My friend admitted that he wasn’t ready for the sudden freedom and responsibility he had in college. He also wasn’t prepared for the academically challenging courses. I understand sudden freedom can be too much for some students. I just never expected a good student to be one of the first of his graduating class to have to dropped out. As the excitement of high school graduation is behind us and students are enjoying the summer before heading off to school, it is essential to plan ahead for the challenges of college life. My friend’s situation stands out in my mind because it was so unexpected. I’ve had a number of former students with more predictable college problems. As you are in the college planning process, watch for these foreseeable issues:
Identify potential problems and avoid them in your college search process. Keep in mind “fit” isn’t just about finding a school that will admit you based on your scores and grades; it is about finding the college where you will be most successful. Remember, getting into college doesn’t matter if you can’t stay in.
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August is a slow time when it comes to scholarship deadlines, but this doesn't mean you should be complacent. Some funding opportunities do, in fact, have deadlines in August.
The more scholarships you apply for, the more likely you are to land some extra dollars for funding your college education. There are plenty of scholarships that expire in August. The criteria for applying vary widely, so be sure to look through them to see which ones might be a match for your credentials. The awards range in value from $200 to $5,000. You'll find links to additional information at Fastweb.org an excellent free website that provides college and scholarship matching services. Steph can help you with the scholarship searches and help you with the application process. Don't let scholarship essays deter you from applying for Free Money! So why wait? Begin the scholarship process this summer! Most schools have had a chance to distribute PSAT scores from last October’s test. Here are some ideas of how you can get these numbers to work for you.
Juniors Your PSAT scores will not be sent to colleges or used for admissions purposes, so use your scores to identify strengths and weaknesses prior to taking the SAT this spring. Sophomores You want to prepare for next year’s PSAT, especially if your current score is over 170 because with practice, you may be able to qualify for National Merit recognition in your state. Below are the most common areas for improvement:
Finally, use your PSAT results to set your expectations and future goals. If you are not a great test-taker, you probably aren’t shocked by less than perfect results. Try to match your PSAT scores to colleges that interest you and see how much you may need to improve. College planning seems so far-off and parents of middle school or junior high students aren’t sure of their place in this process. If you have a student grade 6-8, your early college planning begins now! Now is the time to lay the foundation for high school (and college admission) success. Here’s what you should be doing now:
1. Earning top grades and learning. Take this opportunity to build a solid academic foundation and develop skills in reading, problem solving, writing, math, listening, communication, and analysis. 2. Taking challenging courses. All students should be challenged in their academic classes. Depending on your school system, high school classes may be offered to seventh or eighth graders. These courses are a great way to challenge top students. Just remember if high school credit is awarded, these classes and grades will appear on the transcript sent to colleges. 3. Experimenting with interests and activities. The focus isn’t resume building; activities allow students the opportunity to expand their talents, interests, and strengths. Elective courses help, but students should get in the habit of participating in extracurricular activities. You aren’t limited to school activities. Consider community organizations, youth group, sports, and volunteer opportunities. 4. Developing study and organizational skills. Students who effectively make the transition from elementary school, learn to prioritize, balance the demands of classes and activities, organize their work, and become responsible for themselves will be ready for the challenges of high school. 5. Promoting positive peer groups. Grades 6-8 are socially challenging times. Unfortunately they are also the years when many students begin to associate with “the wrong crowd” out of a desire to belong. Colleges focus on student achievements in high school, so grades 6-8 are your dress rehearsal for what’s to come. These Bad Essay Topics Could Land Your College Application in the Reject Pile
A bad essay topic can have horrific results when applying to a selective college. 1. Your Drug Use Probably every college in the country has to deal with substance abuse on campus, and most people who work at colleges have seen students' academic careers and lives ruined by drugs. If you've had problems with drugs in the past, even if you overcame those problems, the essay isn't the best place to draw attention to your use of illegal substances. 2. Your Sex Life Yes, sex is usually a bad essay topic. The admissions officers probably don't care whether or not you have an active or interesting sex life. More importantly, an essay on your sexual experiences is going to make many readers cry, "too much information!" You don't want to write about something that might be embarrassing for your reader. 3. Your Time in Jail Lots of successful students have had run-ins with the law, but it's not something you want to draw undue attention to in your application. The admissions staff is always working to create a safe campus community, and the image of you sitting behind bars isn't go to work in your favor. 4. Your Heroism If you acted heroically in some way, it's a fair topic for a college admissions essay. It becomes a bad essay topic when the essay is self-absorbed and arrogant. I've read a lot of annoying essays about how an applicant single-handedly won the baseball game or turned a friend's life around. Humility is more pleasant to read than hubris. 5. One-Track Social, Religious or Political Lectures Be careful with controversial issues like abortion, capital punishment, stem cell research, gun control, and the "war on terror." You can certainly write an excellent and thoughtful essay on any of these topics, but too often than not applicants stubbornly and closed-mindedly argue what they see as the "right" side of the argument. The readers of your application don't want to be lectured to, nor do they want to be told they are wrong. The chances of offending your reader are high with some of these touchy topics. 6. Traumatic Life Events Writing can be excellent therapy for working through difficult and traumatic events in life -- assault, rape, abuse, incest, attempted suicide, cutting, depression and so on. However, you don't want your college admissions essay to be a self-analysis of your pain and suffering. Such topics might make your reader uncomfortable, or they might make your reader question how ready you are for the social and academic rigors of college. 7. The Travel Journal Colleges like students who have traveled, and travel can lead to a life-changing experience that could make a great college essay. However, travel is a remarkably common topic for college essays, and it often isn't handled well. You need to do more than highlight the fact that you have traveled. A travel essay should be an analysis of a single and meaningful experience, not a summary of your trip to France or Australia. 8. A Comedy Routine The best essays often reveal a writer's sense of humor, but the jokes shouldn't be the point of the essay. Don't use the essay to showcase how witty and clever you are. A good college admissions essay reveals your passions, intelligence and strengths. A 500-word comedy routine doesn't do this. 9. Excuses If you had a bad semester or two in high school, it may be tempting to use the essay to explain your low grades. Perhaps you were ill, your parents were getting divorced, your best friend died, or you moved to a new country. You will want to convey this information to the college, but not in your essay. Instead, have a guidance counselor write about your bad semester, or include a short supplement with your application. 10. Your List of Accomplishments A college application gives you a space in which to list your jobs, community involvement and extracurricular activities. Don't use your essay for repeating this information. Redundancy isn't going to impress anyone, and a tedious list of activities isn't going to make a good essay. College admissions can seem overwhelming. Yet there are so many factors to consider and it seem as if you are getting contradictory advice at times. Here are my top 5 suggestions for making the college admission process easier.
1. Make Good Grades In Challenging Classes For college admission A’s are great, B’s are good, C’s are questionable, and D’s and F’s are red flags. But colleges aren’t just looking at your grades, they are looking at the courses you’ve taken. Your course selection choices show your interests, talents, and willingness to academically challenge yourself. 2. Become Passionately Involved Pursue an interest, learn something new, help others, and have fun. Colleges want students who are involved in things they love. Not all students are talented in the subjects offered in school. Extracurricular activities allow students to discover their interests and gifts. Some of the most successful people in life, did not have perfect grades in high school, but they did develop skills and talents outside the classroom which helped them excel in the workplace. 3. Do well on the SAT Spend the time to study and prepare for the test. Review the reading, math, writing sessions, and overall test strategies. Having great scores now will save you time senior year. Most of my students will take the SAT twice their junior year. Students can always re-take the test October of their senior year, but this should be viewed as a last chance effort. 4. Know Your Schools Research and visit colleges. If you know where you do (and don’t) want to apply, you will be ready for early admission. Don’t wait until junior year is over to begin this process. Colleges want students to learn more and will be glad to see you attend college fairs or official information sessions and campus tours. 5. Put Your Summer To Work Participate in a summer program at your top choice college, volunteer, do independent research, or work 40 hours a week. Colleges love students who make the most of their time. You will still have time for friends and vacation. Remember when you apply to college, your application will be reviewed against that of the person who did something with their time, so don’t let this opportunity slip away. You can’t wait until the beginning of June to make plans, start thinking now and take action to secure your top choice position for the summer. These five elements apply to all high school students. If you master these, your college admissions options will improve and you will find the process less stressful. Planning a productive summer is imperative when it comes to the college admissions process.
It can show that you develop your interests throughout your time in high school. Summer presents many opportunities for students to further develop their interests and goals. You can travel to a foreign country, continue training in your favorite sport, make up a class or gain extra credits in summer school, start a business, get an internship, or join community service organizations. Steph Lee has come up with the following tips for spending your summer wisely. The longer, the better. Look for programs that last at least 4 weeks. Colleges will recognize your long-term commitments to the things you love. Avoid teen tours. Colleges will view this as a vacation, not an impactful experience. If you want to spend time in a foreign country, you absolutely should! Do something productive, just don’t eat pizza in Rome for a month. Preview College Life. See what it’s like to study your favorite subject under the guidance of a college professor. Get a taste of college life by living in a dorm room, eating in a dining hall, and hanging out on campus. Get a Job. A summer job may help you confirm your career aspirations, discover new interests, or gain firsthand experience. It’s not crucial for you to make money; it’s the experience that truly counts. For more tips, speak with our College Advisor for more information at [email protected] . When should students take the SAT or ACT? Does it make sense to take both tests?
I recommend that students take the SAT or ACT in the spring of junior year and retake that same test in the fall of senior year, if necessary. May is a perfect month for the SAT since students can order “Question and Answer Service” (which is only offered three times a year), a terrific study tool for the next round. Taking the May SAT also allows students to take SAT Subject Tests in June, close to the end of the semester in which they are studying those subjects. The ACT Q&A service is offered in April and June. June is the best time to take the test, when courses are nearly over and students have learned more math, which is relevant on this test. Then take the test once more in September or October. Colleges accept both. For students applying to colleges that require the SAT + SAT Subject Tests, or ACT alone, and who do not have strong SAT Subject Test options, the ACT is appealing. For students who are weak in reading and vocabulary but strong in math, the ACT is often the better option. Otherwise, the SAT is generally considered the more coachable test. Students can take a practice test in each to get the definitive answer of which test is a better fit for them. Under what circumstances should students retake the SAT or ACT? How much better should a student expect to do the second time around? Although the trend is to take more and more tests, there are several reasons students should not retake the SAT or ACT more than once. For one, colleges look at the records of students who had to take the test numerous times in order to compile a competitive score selection. Students’ time could be put to much better uses than prepping for and retaking tests, too. Students who study for these tests tend to make a big jump in scores after their first course of study: 50 points or more in each SAT section, 2-4 points in each ACT section. After that, many students plateau out, but still manage to raise their scores in the fall, sometimes an additional 50 points per SAT section, and a 1-3 points on the ACT. Since colleges cherry-pick the best scores to make a superscore, nearly everyone should take the test again in the fall. Many students pull it all together then: They are a half-year older than when they first took the test; they’ve grown and matured over the summer, too. A number of factors lead some students to see big improvement in the fall test. Even if they only pick up a few points here and there, it adds up and overall is likely to be much higher than initial scores. What is your advice for parents, when it comes to helping your child juggle the necessary components of admissions (exams, essays, paperwork, tours, etc)? Every student and family is different, but the demands of college applications and admissions are the same: burdensome and confusing! Students need to be willing to accept some parental help and guidance but may rightfully reject meddling. Families should sit down early in the process and establish roles, boundaries, and procedures for making sure everything gets done. Personally, I have no objection to allowing a student to delegate much of the logistics and bookkeeping to parents. Some students are not ready to take on that responsibility or are too busy juggling school and test prep and all the rest of their myriad responsibilities. It does not mean that they are not ready to go on to the next step. Essays, however, and anything that is supposed to be in the student’s voice should not bear any parent’s fingerprints. Should students ever cancel their scores on the ACT or SAT? If you feel you did particularly bad is it a good idea to cancel your test? Both ACT and SAT scores may be cancelled within a few days of the test, but students should really have a good reason to do so. It really is difficult to predict one’s score based on a gut feeling after taking the test, but if the student was ill or had any other extraordinary circumstance that would have affected his or her test performance, cancellation is a last resort. Remember though, most colleges will superscore the results from all the SATs taken, and a growing number of colleges will do so for the ACT, too, so even if the results in one or two sections of the test are poor, a higher score in another section generally makes it all worth keeping, since that score would benefit the overall score compilation. For students taking the SAT Subject Tests, note that score cancellation affects all tests taken that day. Even if the student is concerned about one of two or three tests, it probably would be wiser to keep all the scores. Most colleges allow Score Choice, so any weak scores can be suppressed later. Happy July 4th, everyone!
Most seniors dread writing college admissions essays. I can’t blame them. College essays are difficult for many students because they are unlike the writing taught in high school. Personal statements are first-person narrative stories. I remember my high school writing teachers telling me never to use "I's" in my writing. College essays are full of “I’s” as students present their unique stories. And while personal experiences and deeply held principles are revealed in a well-written manner it presents a challenge to any writer. Add in the pressure of college admission and many students experience writer’s block. Increasingly, the application essay gives admissions officers insight into who students really are and are becoming the deciding factor. So it should really “sound” like the applicant, revealing personality, interests, quirks, personal style, and voice. Here are my top essay tips for students: • DON’T copy or emulate successful essays; they are good because they are unique. • DO write on different topics if you have more than one essay. • DO write it yourself. • DON’T plagiarize! • DON’T try to sound more sophisticated; just be yourself. Write about something important to you. • DO write in a conversational—but professional—tone. • DO answer the question and adhere to the word limit. • DO proofread, proofread and proofread. A small spelling mistake can cost you. • DO read your essay as if you were the admissions officer and ask what it tells about you as a person. • DON'T wait until the last minute to start working on your essays- when you are rushed, you can't think as well. • DON'T try to impress your reader with your vocabulary. Keep in mind essays can rescue a borderline application if they present strong personal and intellectual characteristics. Essays can also sink an otherwise strong application if they reveal poor writing, carelessness, lack of interest, or poor character. Essays count; make them work for you not against you. So, start writing those essays this summer! |
Stephenie Lee
Stephenie, having been a tutor/instructor/mentor since 1996, discovered her passion and founded Lee Academia Educational Consulting, LLC. after she left the dental and medical field. She loves teaching/mentoring and counseling her students. Her passion lies in educating others and helping them pursue their educational path. Today, certified in College Counseling and with more than 10 years of experience, Stephenie and her team continues to blog about current updated educational news and events. Archives
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