Category Archives: admissions

academics, admissions, college guidance

High School Juniors and the Pandemic

high school juniors

High school juniors may be wondering how the pandemic will affect their college plans. Your student may be asking: 

  • How is this virus going to affect my future college application? 
  • Are these abridged AP exams going to count? 
  • I worked so hard this year, took a rigorous curriculum, but now how can this pass/fail grading highlight my improved grades? 
  • My prestigious summer program was just canceled—what can I do for the next several months? 
  • With all the seniors currently asking for gap years, will this mean there will be fewer spaces in future years?”

These are all valid concerns. Most of these questions don’t have black/white answers yet and as each day passes, colleges are making decisions that will most likely answer all of your questions. Your student can take comfort, however, knowing that every junior is facing the same challenges and concerns. They aren’t alone in their uncertainty.

We can’t know the future, but we can deal with what we know now. As time progresses, the options will change, but for now, here is some helpful information:

Standardized Testing

The June SAT and SAT Subject Tests have been cancelled. You can click here to see the up-to-date information. As it looks now, they are planning tests for August 29, September 26, October 3, November 7 and December 5. If schools don’t reopen in the fall, the College Board will provide a digital at-home version.

The ACT test that was scheduled for April 4 was cancelled. You can reschedule your test date here for June 13, July 18 or schedule a future test date.

To account for all the disruption, colleges will most likely decrease the weight that standardized test scores carry in the admissions process. That being said, if you are able to achieve a high score despite disruptions, you will have an advantage among other applicants.

For the 2020-21 application cycle, many colleges, including selective ones, may choose to move to test-optional admissions. This means that applicants are not required to submit any standardized test scores. 

You can find a list of schools who are currently going test-optional here. 

Academics

The majority of students are now engaged in online learning. Because of this and the decision by most schools to use pass/fail grading, grades from the second semester of junior year will not count for very much in the admissions process. If your student has an option to take a grade for the current semester, I would advise them to do so. If not, colleges looking to see growth in a student’s profile will focus on grades from the first semester of senior year instead. If your student is applying early, colleges won’t have first semester grades available.

Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular activities, especially ones offered through schools and the ones that require face to face interaction, have screeched to a halt. Colleges are aware of these challenges. However, students who find ways to remain engaged despite the pandemic will stand out. 

Just because you can’t participate in the normal activities, be creative. Here’s a list of ways you can still volunteer locally:

College Visits

Even though you haven’t had the chance to visit this spring, you can still visit virtually. Connect through social media with current and past students and ask questions about their college experience. You can find them on the college websites, instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube.

Considering all your options

Since the impact of the virus has certainly changed everyone’s outlook on the future and possibly affected your family financially, your student might want to consider some alternatives to the traditional path to college. Talk to your student about taking a gap year and working at an internship or job, going to community college for the first two years and transferring, attending classes online, or even looking at the military as an option.

Other things to consider

Colleges may choose to accept a higher percentage of next year’s applicants early in an effort to lock in more students. Or colleges may also be looking at their list of deferred students and hold spaces open for them in the upcoming class. Financial aid may also be affected because of less alumni contributions with less money to spread around. Colleges will also be feeling the financial impact of the virus and have less money to give as merit aid.

academics, admissions, college planning

Language and Music enhance your Student’s Education

language and music

We all want the best for our children. As soon as we know they’re on their way, we start making purchases to meet all of their needs once they do arrive. We do our utmost to get them into the best schools so that they can have more choice when it comes to what they want to do in terms of career and their future. But there are other things you can do besides securing them a spot in a great school that produces great results. Here are a few things that you can encourage them to do to increase their skills, their abilities and their knowledge. Just make sure not to be pushy. If your child doesn’t enjoy something, don’t force them to do it. Instead, find something else enriching that they’re actually passionate about. This will create the happiest and most rounded child in the long run.

Encourage Them to Learn Another Language

As your student enters school and continues through high school, the best time to learn another language. Generally speaking, children do tend to pick up new languages more easily and quickly. Learning a language encourages an understanding of different ways that grammar can be used. It creates a wider vocabulary. But most importantly, it encourages an appreciation and respect for other cultures, as well as an ability to communicate with others who may not speak the same first language as your child. In the long term, fluency can help them to spread their wings, increasing their job opportunities when they eventually begin to look for work. Many Private Schools will have a wide choice of languages to offer, but smaller schools with more limited funding may have more limited options. Nowadays, learning languages, however, can be easy to do at home online. Language learning apps and software are constantly improving and your kid could genuinely pick up a second language through Rosetta Stone, DuoLingo or Babbel.

Introducing Them to Music

Learning an instrument is a truly impressive skill. It can also provide social opportunities for your child, as they may grow up and have fun joining orchestras, bands or other musical groups. Music comes hand in hand with a host of benefits mentally too! It significantly improves memory, as the mere act of learning how to play an instrument places a high-working memory load on you. They’ll need to remember how different notes sound, where to place their hands on the instrument to create those notes and what order to play the notes in. As well as this, playing an instrument intrinsically encourages improved hand-eye coordination. Your little ones will have to learn how to play without looking at their instrument – instead, reading from music sheets instead.

These are just a couple of different activities you can encourage your students to get involved with to maximize the scope of their education. They’ll greatly benefit from either. If they’re not interested in these options, there are plenty more out there. It might just be a matter of a little trial and error before you find the perfect option for them.

admissions, gap year

Colleges Contemplating Not Reopening in the Fall–What does that Mean?

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COLLEGES NOT REOPENING

Many of you are in this college limbo. Your student was accepted to college in the fall, you’ve accepted the offer, and now there’s talk of colleges not opening campus to students. The concern is that if one college does it, they will all follow suit–just as they did in March with the closings.

We are already seeing rumblings and articles in the news about colleges not reopening in the fall. Here are just a few:

Boston University Is First To Announce It May Postpone Opening Its Campus Until January 2021

Boston University appears to be the first American college or university to announce that it may not resume live classes until January 2021. If public health officials deem it unsafe for students to congregate, the campus could remain closed until the start of next year.

Richard Ekman, president of the non-profit Council of Independent Colleges, says that some of the 659 colleges in his group have begun quietly to consider whether they too will have to postpone campus openings. Some are discussing start date delays of a month. Others are looking at more extended closures. “They’re all waiting to get better health information,” he says.

Already, universities are planning for a fall without students on campus — just in case

“We’ve got to be prepared for 100 percent online and virtual and 100 percent on campus and everything in between,” said University of Massachusetts president Martin Meehan. The UMass system lost more than $100 million this school year due to COVID-19 and the refunding of student room and board fees.

Will Universities, Colleges, and Law Schools Campuses Reopen in Fall 2020?

Universities and law schools aren’t ready to make a decision because the pandemic is so fluid and there is so much uncertainty, nor do they have to yet. But the question is being discussed on a daily basis, and we have spent a good deal of time speaking with college presidents, provosts, and deans and trying our best to get the most recent and trust-worthy epidemiological modeling and medical community input.

Even if campuses reopen this fall, colleges worry many students won’t return

“This crisis is causing massive disruption to students, institutional operations and institutional finances. On some campuses, it is creating an existential threat, potentially resulting in closures,” Ted Mitchell, the group’s president, wrote in a letter to Education Secretary Betsy DeVos.

Even colleges with deep reserves are expecting a painful financial blow from the pandemic. Brown University was among the first to announce a hiring freeze, citing “dramatic reductions in revenue.” Yale University followed on March 31, asking departments to update budgets in preparation of a “significant loss” in revenue.

‘We’re on the edge of the precipice’: How the pandemic could shatter college dreams

Early national surveys ocof high school seniors are showing those who initially were bound for four-year colleges changing their first-choice schools for something less expensive. Some of those surveyed say they are thinking of giving up on going to college in the fall entirely.

The financial stress for families was cited. About 63 percent of students said they would still enroll in college but were worried about whether they could attend the school of their choice, while 17 percent said their plans have changed, according to the education consultants Art and Science Group.

Students with changed plans said in the survey that they would take a gap year, enroll part time at a four-year institution, go to community college, work full time or enroll in a certificate program. Some still didn’t know what their plans would be. Other surveys have also found similar conclusions.

Already, universities are planning for a fall without students on campus — just in case

Colleges and universities in Massachusetts and across the country have begun planning for what was once an unthinkable scenario but now may be a real possibility: a fall semester without students on campus.

University officials said they are trying to figure out how to re-open safely, how much public health testing is needed for students and staff to be on campus even if there’s no coronavirus cure, whether large lecture classes should be held, how many staff to employ, whether to augment their online capabilities, even what to charge students for online classes.

What will your student decide to do? Will they decide to take a gap year? Will they choose to enroll close to home and save money while living at home? Will they enroll and be satisfied with taking classes online?

Hopefully, colleges will know more by July and be able to make a concrete decision. It’s certainly uncertain times we live in and it’s especially affecting college students and their families.

admissions, college guidance, college planning

How Many Colleges Should Your Student Apply To?

A few years ago I wrote this article for TeenLife online. With school starting and students beginning their college lists during junior year and finalizing the list at the start of senior year, this advice is particularly timely.

colleges

Most teens will tell you that making the college list is one of the most stressful times in their life. It’s a process that begins with a little bit of knowing what you like, what your goals are, and that intuition that every student takes to the table. Knowing yourself, your likes, and your dislikes will help you in the process.

There’s a theory among teens and many parents, which says, “The more colleges you apply to, the better your chances.” In theory it makes sense, but there are other things to consider besides hedging your bets with numbers.

Three Considerations When Applying to College

1. The Cost

College applications can be time-consuming and pricey, costing as much as $100 per application, unless you get the fees waived by the school or an organization. Ten schools at $100 each is $1,000. These application fees are non-refundable and aren’t applied toward your total cost of attendance. Although this should not be the only factor in determining the number of applications submitted, it should be considered.

2. The Time

Applying to college takes a tremendous amount of time, and each college has their own specific application criteria. The average college application usually takes about two hours to complete, not including writing the essay. Common sense dictates that the more applications you have to complete and collate, the less time you will spend on each individual application. The applications are your way of communicating who you are to a college—it’s not the time to spread yourself thin to rack up the numbers.

3. Quality vs. Quantity

Allen Grove, an admissions expert in the About.com College Admissions Guide, thinks it’s a little ridiculous when students apply to a dozen or more colleges. He can’t imagine how the student visited all those campuses, in addition to doing extensive research, and then decided that many schools were good matches.

“You see students who apply to every single Ivy League,” Grove says. “I just have to wonder if the student who is going to like Columbia (in New York City) is really going to like Dartmouth (located in a town of around 11,000 people). I find that unlikely, so I often think students who are sending out that many applications haven’t done their research.”

How Many is Too Many?

Most admissions officers generally advise students to apply to about five to seven colleges, but no more than 10. That includes a couple of safety schools (schools you’ll no doubt get into), a couple of match schools (schools you meet the requirements for), and a couple of reach schools (schools that are less likely to accept you).

In a Huffington Post article, Maura Kastberg, Executive Director of Student Services of RSC Your College Prep Expert, concurs with that advice. “There may be 20 colleges you want to attend, or you could have your heart set on just one. When you are applying to college, be practical. Most students should apply to somewhere between five to seven colleges. There are no guarantees that you will be accepted to the school you desire, but you should have a good idea about your chances of admission to each school.”

What Are the Criteria?

If you’ve done a thoughtful job when compiling your list, you should be able to answer the following questions (provided by Carolyn Lawrence of AdmissionsAdvice.com and contributing author to the College Admission Book blog): (http://collegeadmissionbook.com/blog/how-many-colleges-should-students-apply)

1. Can I explain why all of the colleges on my list are right for me?

If your answers to this question are superficial—such as rankings, prestige, location, or a friend’s suggestion—it’s likely your list is too long. Before you add any college to your list, you should be able to explain how the college aligns with the things you personally need to be happy and successful in college.

2. Will I have enough time and energy to put my best effort into every application?

Even the simplest applications require time and effort. Can you really handle the work involved in completing 15 or 20 applications? Be honest with yourself. It’s better to do an outstanding job on fewer applications than to do a so-so job on too many.

3. Do I love my “safe bets” as much as I love my “reaches?”

Build your college list from the bottom up; fall in love with the schools that are most likely to love you in return before you add colleges that are less likely to admit you. If you do, you’re apt to find that you really don’t need to apply to as many colleges as you think you do. Finally, don’t let fear sway you into panic mode.If you’ve carefully thought about the reasons why every college is on your list, and do your best job with each application, you’ll end up with great choices!

Even with all the right information, facts, and figures in place, choosing a college is more than just a list on a piece of paper. Most students will tell you that they just “knew” when they set foot on campus they knew it was right for them.

In an article for The New York Times, Jordanna Suriani, an admissions counselor at Ramapo College of New Jersey, writes that students who apply to several colleges because they’re undecided are doing themselves a disfavor come April when it’s time to make a decision. Once you get that acceptance letter, you have even less time to make a choice.

Ms. Suriani advises, “Figure out what you need and want now, and apply to schools which offer you most, if not all of it. Forget about trying to get as many acceptances as possible to places that don’t speak to you. Trust me. Come April, you’ll be glad you did.”

admissions, college guidance, college planning, college prep

5 First Semester Tasks for Seniors

This article was originally written for and published at TeenLife.com

seniors

The first semester of senior year is filled with anticipation. It’s your last year of high school and you have so much to look forward to, such as graduation and college. But in order for seniors to reach those goals, you have some high-priority things in the area of college admissions and creating the best college application that you can.

1. Get recommendation letters.

There’s no time to waste. Teachers and administrators and other mentors are busy people. With multiple students asking for recommendation letters, you want to be first in line. If you’ve done your homework, you have built relationships and now it’s time to ask for that college recommendation. Choose people who know you well and will be able to make the recommendations more personal.

2. Complete the college essays.

It’s time to put the finishing touches on that college essay you began working on over the summer. Remember the essay is your chance to demonstrate who you are. Be yourself and don’t try to write what you think admissions officers want to hear. Once your essay is completed, have someone proofread it before submitting with the application.

3. Finalize your college list.

It’s time to nail down your college choices. Review your notes and anything you learned during college interviews. Look at the entire picture for each college: Is it a fit academically, socially and financially? Are you at the top of the applicant pool and in the best position to receive merit aid? Make sure you have some colleges on your final list that are reach schools, some that are perfect fit schools, and some that are schools where you are pretty much ensured acceptance.

4. Visit the colleges on your list.

Fall is the perfect time for college visits. Not only will those visits help you finalize your list, but visiting a college demonstrates interest. Once the colleges receive your application, they will check to see how interested you are in attending and that will influence admissions officers. While you are on campus, schedule an interview and an appointment with the financial aid office. Ask questions that will help you finalize your college list.

5. Complete the FAFSA.

The FAFSA – the Free Application for Federal Student Aid – is available online. You should make filing it out a priority and the sooner the better. Colleges will be awarding financial aid this year along with their admissions decisions. You want to be first in line for this merit aid, so file now. Students who complete the FAFSA are not only eligible for federal aid, but for college-based aid such as grants and scholarships.

6. One last task: Submit your college application ASAP.

Consider submitting your application early. Applying early decision or early action means you will hear from the colleges sooner and also get information on your financial aid award. If you apply EA (early action) you’re not bound to any one college and you can apply to more than one. If you know the college you want to attend and it’s your absolute first choice, you can apply ED (early decision). You are bound to accept the school’s offer of admission, however, and you cannot apply to other colleges.

admissions, college guidance, college planning, college prep, college visits

Lessons I Learned During the College Search

college search

The college search is easily stressful for both parents and students. The amount of knowledge a parent needs to help their student navigate through college prep can be overwhelming. From choosing the college, to deciding how to pay for it, to making the final decision, it’s hard not to become stressed and frustrated.

Both my children attended college but took different paths. One entered college straight out of high school and the other after four years of military service. Even though the college search for each of them was different, during their individual searches I learned some valuable lessons.

Expand your search beyond the usual perimeters

When you begin the college search, you should cast a wide net. Many students limit themselves to state colleges, colleges with prestigious names and even nearby schools. There are over 4000 institutions of higher learning in the United States and even more if you expand your search beyond our borders—Canada and even internationally. Canadian colleges offer excellent educations and are often a better financial fit than many U.S. colleges.

Moving outside your comfort zone might help you and your student find a better fit. My daughter had her heart set on a large university and while doing a college search, we unearthed a small private college in the same city that was a better academic, social and financial fit for her. Keep an open mind and don’t discount a college simply because of name, location, or lack of notoriety.

Do the leg work

Do your research before narrowing down the final college list. Look at statistics. They will tell you so much about a college. You should compare graduation rates, financial aid award percentages, freshman retention rates, admissions acceptance rates and more. Make your choices based on your research statistics and whether or not the college fits your student’s academic and social needs.

These websites that can help with your research: College Navigator, Cost of Learning, Big Future, and the Department of Education.

College visits can be highly emotional

College visits for you are fact-finding missions. College visits for your teen are highly emotional. You can expect to hear words like “I’m just not feeling it”, “I won’t get out of the car”, “I don’t like the look for the campus/buildings”, and other irrational comments. Just remember that feelings are a part of the final college choice. You can’t expect your student to make their new home at a college they don’t like, for whatever reason.

I experienced this with my daughter. She received an offer of admission and a full-ride scholarship from a college we applied to but never visited. Based on the website, location and academic offerings she felt it would be a good fit. When we arrived on campus in early April for our first visit, she refused to get out of the car. She didn’t like the look or the size of the campus. Of course, I was completely frustrated with her, but she just instinctively knew it was not the college for her. Looking back, even though it seemed emotional, she knew what she wanted and ultimately chose the perfect college she felt was a good fit.

Organization is critical

You will be bombarded with information during your college search. The key to keeping track of it all and staying on top of all the deadlines is to stay organized. Your teen should set up an email purely for college information and correspondence. Make it official by using firstname_lastname @gmail.com. All college correspondence will come to this address and your teen can set up folders to help organize it.

You should also maintain a filing system for organizing paper. This might be anything from college brochures to scholarship materials and applications, to keeping track of accomplishments for the resume. Keep all college-related materials in one place—a college landing zone.

Ask for help if necessary

Some parents like me choose to work alone and guide their student through the college process, while others choose to hire a professional college consultant. Choose what is best for your family and its own financial resources. If you choose to work alone, there is a wealth of information online from blogs and social media. If you have a question, leave a post on a Facebook page, comment on a blog or DM someone on Twitter. Most professionals are happy to help with anything that might stump you.

You can also seek advice from your high school counselor, teachers or even college admissions staff. You don’t have to flounder around hoping you have the right information. Approach the college search with knowledge and determination and your student will succeed!

admissions

What Factors Do Colleges Use When Filling their Freshman Class?

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freshman class

What factors influence colleges when filling their freshman class?

College admissions is definitely a subjective process. Colleges must delicately balance a student’s application along with the goals and priorities set by each individual college. While much is written about admissions criteria for students, it’s normal to wonder how the colleges fill their freshman class.

In 2014, Rachel B. Rubin, a doctoral student in education at Harvard University, researched and authored a study on how and why colleges choose some students over others. In her study, she found that most colleges focus first on academic merit. They base the first cut on grades, rigor of high school courses, test scores and so on. Although each college has an individual formula differentiating the relative weight that is given to these various factors, the result is the same: students who do better than others in this area are more likely to be admitted.

Beyond the academic factors, colleges look to create a well-balanced freshman class. This means they look at demographics (where a student is from), minority factors, special talents such as sports or music and any other attributes that might set the student apart and be a welcome addition to the college student body.

Large public universities tend to follow this admissions pattern and a student with an excellent academic record is likely to be admitted. In Texas, all students in the top 10 percent of their class receive automatic admission to any state university.

How are elite colleges and large public universities different?

Elite institutions and small private colleges are a whole other ball game. Ms. Rubin’s findings revealed that these colleges group applicants into “pools” and applications are compared within these individual pools, but not overall. “Certain pools receive preference, largely as a result of the perceived benefits of a particular applicant’s background, academic characteristics, and exceptional talents, and their relationship with a university’s needs.”

For elite colleges, institutional fit is often more important than a student’s academic merit. These colleges do the initial cut based on other factors: student essays, recommendations, and specific questions related to whether a student will contribute to the college in various ways. Each college has their own unique set of qualifiers based on the type of freshman class they want to achieve.

Although academic merit is considered important, the vast majority of applicants to these elite colleges have the appropriate level of academic merit. This allows the colleges to weigh this later, and focus on other parts of creating a freshman class.

What are the most favored factors used to determine institutional fit?

For these elite colleges, the two most favored factors are underrepresented minority status and exceptional talent, which is, of course, any talent the college feels might add to their freshman class. For those colleges who responded to Ms. Rubin’s survey that started with “fit” as their focus, these four factors were the top contenders:

  • Underrepresented race/ethnicity–42%
  • Exceptional talent–42%
  • Recruited athlete status–7%
  • Likelihood of enrolling–7%
  • Fund-raising potential–2%

These practices may not be considered “fair” among parents and students. A student with a strong academic background that doesn’t fall into any of these categories might not be offered admission. But another student with a lesser academic resume who does fall into one of these categories and helps the college create a diverse freshman class might be.  However, each college is allowed the freedom to create their own ranking system for applicants.

What happens after the initial cut is determined?

After colleges have made the initial cut, whether by academics or institutional fit, most colleges have a more formal system. Two readers review the application and all its corresponding documents, with a third reader or entire team to help make the difficult calls. At this state, the colleges that made the first cut using academics, discuss “fit”, and colleges that made the first cut with “fit”, discuss academics.

How can this information help applicants?

While it’s impossible to “get into the heads” of admission officers, it’s important to take into account the college’s means of choosing applicants. If a student is applying to a public university, it’s important to have a strong academic record. If a student is applying to an elite college, it’s important to remember that most all applicants will have a strong academic record. The student will need more than exceptional grades to receive an offer of admission. He will need to fall into one the other categories these colleges use to determine admission.

As always, the key ingredient to applying to college is fit. If a student does his homework, researches the colleges, is at the top of the applicant pool, and fits well with the current body of students, his chances of being offered admission are extremely good. Without that fit, the chances of being offered admission are slim.

admissions, college planning, college prep

Is Your Student Ready for College?

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college

When you have children, you know that you always have to play the right kind of role in their lives. And that can feel quite overwhelming. You need to keep them safe, you need to ensure that they’re healthy, and until their old enough to make the best decisions for themselves, you also need to guide their futures too.

This is why we’re often so interested and invested in the college process. When it comes to college prep, you’ll often know that you need to be actively involved. But sometimes, you won’t know what that looks like, or what you should be doing in order to help them prepare. So let’s take a look at some of the things that will help.

Grades

To start with, you’re going to want to make sure that the basics are covered – grades. Because your kids will need to have good grades to get into the best colleges. Or, at the very least, you need to know what the grade requirements are, and ensure they can keep up. This needs to be seen as the base.

Extracurriculars

But you do have to remember that college is about more than just grades. So many kids have fantastic grades, so it’s important to standout in other ways. This is where extracurriculars come in. There are lots of impressive extracurriculars that your kid could try. Think about their interests and where their strengths lie, and then sign them up as early as you can to see where they flourish.

Tutoring

Now, it’s also a good idea to think about tutoring. When it comes to getting in, a college prep tutor could be great. Your child many not necessary need tutoring academically, but it can often help to work with someone that knows the process, and can help you get in!

Summer Camp Prep

From here, you’ve then also got camp to be thinking about. Summer camp can be so rewarding for your kids, alongside tutoring. So why not think about enrolling them in a camp that can help? You could look into something specialist, such as CT STEM classes, or just a general camp that covers off a wealth of different areas. Either way, this experience can help them develop for the future.

That Je Ne Sais Quoi

Finally, you may also want to think about the little things that will help your child get into their dream college too. Now, not everyone will want to go Ivy League – but even other top schools can be competitive to get into. And it’s nice for you to think about ways for them to stand out. Do they have special interests? Any experiences that they can press? Having that little special something, or je ne sais quoi, can really help when it comes to applications. So pinpoint their special qualities and run with it.


admissions, college planning, college prep

Attending a Suburban College

suburban college
Bentley University in Waltham, Massachusetts

When my daughter applied to college, she knew she wanted to make the move from Texas to an eastern college. She wanted to live in or near a large city and she applied and was accepted to colleges in New York City and Boston. Coming from a small city, I feared New York might be overwhelming since she was traveling thousands of miles from home and was barely 18. But Boston offered the next best things—a suburban college near an urban environment.

Bentley College (now Bentley University) was the perfect option. It was nestled in a small community, Waltham, Massachusetts; but it was close enough to Boston to make it feel like she was attending an urban college. The mass transportation available made it easy for her to take advantage of all the culture and entertainment available without feeling swallowed up by the big city.

Suburban colleges offer some qualities of both urban and rural schools, and might be the best choice for your student.

What is a suburban college environment?

Suburban colleges give students more options for activities off campus in the surrounding rural and urban areas. They often give students the freedom to choose between outdoor activities similar to those at rural colleges and urban offerings such as museums, concerts, plays and other cultural events.

Colleges often provide local transportation to and from the local community and the urban areas surrounding the college. Local venues surrounding the college often offer student discounts for access to eating, shopping and entertainment in the area.

What are the benefits of attending a suburban college?

If your student is looking, as mine was, for the benefits of an urban college in a suburban environment, this would be an excellent choice. In a suburban college you can enjoy the benefits of an urban college experience but escape to the comfort of a college that feels more like home, usually surrounded by nature and part of a local community. Essentially, you get the best of both experiences.

For my daughter, her small college in a suburban area was the perfect fit. Coming from a small high school in a midsize city, the large population in New York City and the overwhelming size of the colleges she applied to would have swallowed her up. When homesickness set in, as it always does, her tight knit community rallied around her and helped her through.

If your student needs more support or feels a smaller, suburban environment would suit them better, this type of college might be the perfect fit.

admissions, college prep

Making the Best Admissions impression

admissions

Your student will spend the best part of the college application process trying to impress. Impress teachers. Impress college admissions. Impress scholarship judges. It’s part of the process and it’s something they will do as they enter the job market after graduation.

There is a lesson that we as parents must teach them about self-confidence and being able to present themselves well. There is a point where their approach to their wild streak has to mean something as they must understand not everyone is like them. There is sometimes a convention that we must follow because it gives us a solid and meaningful foundation from which to stand on. So why don’t we teach our kids how to impress others in certain situations in life? They will need to at some point and yet we don’t often take the time to sit them down and show them when and how they could possibly do this. Here are some scenarios and techniques you can show them to getting people on their side and get their admiration.

https://youtu.be/kTNHTc6YZWM

The starting point

Your children will first need to impress someone for real in their lives when they go for a job interview. Hopefully this will be when they are young and in their mid teens. Working as a newspaper boy or in a grocery store is good life experience for them. But they must get the job first and this is when we need to give them life advice on what the employer is going to be looking out for. First off the simple things, they need to stand and sit up straight and not hunch their shoulders. They need to work on maintaining eye contact and speaking in a steady and clear tone. They should also dress the part, take the extra mile. Even if they are applying for a job in their local cafe, dress as if they are applying for an office role with formal clothes. Ask them to put themselves in the employer’s shoes and hopefully these things will begin to make sense to them.

A stand out essay

When they go off to college they will want to be noticed by their lecturers and other teachers. The common things they will get asked to produce are essays and reports. Aside from proper writing form and style they should also make their work stand out. This can be done by making a cover for their work. This is also helpful when compiling the scholarship application essay. They can use embossing folders which can imprint their own name, title of their work and even logo or slogan. This will create a 3D design on their work, which will also be unique to the touch as the gel used will remain semi-hard. This will no doubt make their work stand out from the piles and piles of other students’ work. It will impress the lecturer and make a good first impression. It’s not just words either, you can imprint shapes and sequins as well to give the cover a little more flare and character.

There are times in our lives when we need to impress someone. But the college application process is a perfect time to help your student put their best foot forward.