What college admissions officers say they want in a candidate
By Judy MandellAugust 30
(iStock)
Watching
your kid sweat over college applications? Wondering which college is
the best fit for your child and how to help them make that happen? We
asked dozens of admissions officers to reveal the truth about admissions
today. Here is what some of them told us. [Responses edited for length]
Martha Blevins Allman, Wake Forest University dean of admissions: Concentrate
not on being the best candidate, but on being the best person. Pay
attention to what is going on in the world around you. If you do those
things, not only will the world be a better place because you’re in
it, your greatest admissions worry will be choosing which college to
pick from. I look for beautiful, clear writing that comes to life on the
essay page and offers insight into the character and personality of the
student. Beware of being someone you are not in the essay. Beware of
outside influence. Editing by adults or professionals often removes the
very elements that admissions officers seek.
Tim Wolfe, College of William & Mary associate provost for enrollment and dean of admissions: Essays
can help an admission committee better understand the individual and
how he or she will add to the campus community. They are also an
opportunity for us to evaluate a student’s ability to communicate
through the written format. Whether you major in physics, history or
business, you’ll need to write and be able to share thoughts and ideas
with your professors and fellow students. The college application is an
opportunity for the student to share his or her story and allows
students the opportunity to add their voices to this process. We can get
a glimpse into their personalities, and perhaps, learn something new
about them, their backgrounds and experiences that doesn’t necessarily
show up elsewhere in the application.
Read more at...https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/parenting/wp/2016/08/30/what-21-college-admissions-officers-say-they-want-in-a-candidate/
1. An 18-year-old must be able to talk to strangers
Faculty, deans, advisers, landlords, store clerks, human resource
managers, coworkers, bank tellers, health care providers, bus drivers,
mechanics—in the real world.
The
crutch: We teach kids not to talk to strangers instead of teaching the
more nuanced skill of how to discern the few bad strangers from the
mostly good ones. Thus, kids end up not knowing how to approach
strangers—respectfully and with eye contact—for the help, guidance, and
direction they will need out in the world.
2. An 18-year-old must be able to find his or her way around
A campus, the town in which her summer internship is located, or the city where he is working or studying abroad.
The crutch: We drive or accompany our children everywhere, even when a
bus, their bicycle, or their own feet could get them there; thus, kids
don’t know the route for getting from here to there, how to cope with
transportation options and snafus, when and how to fill the car with
gas, or how to make and execute transportation plans.
3. An 18-year-old must be able to manage his assignments, workload, and deadlines
The crutch: We remind kids when their homework is due and when to do
it—sometimes helping them do it, sometimes doing it for them; thus, kids
don’t know how to prioritize tasks, manage workload, or meet deadlines,
without regular reminders.
4. An 18-year-old must be able to contribute to the running of a house hold
The crutch: We don’t ask them to help much around the house because
the checklisted childhood leaves little time in the day for anything
aside from academic and extracurricular work; thus, kids don’t know how
to look after their own needs, respect the needs of others, or do their
fair share for the good of the whole.
5. An 18-year-old must be able to handle interpersonal problems
The crutch: We step in to solve misunderstandings and soothe hurt
feelings for them; thus, kids don’t know how to cope with and resolve
conflicts without our intervention.
6. An 18-year-old must be able to cope with ups and downs
Courses and workloads, college-level work, competition, tough teachers, bosses, and others.
The
crutch: We step in when things get hard, finish the task, extend the
deadline, and talk to the adults; thus, kids don’t know that in the
normal course of life things won’t always go their way, and that they’ll
be okay regardless.
7. An 18-year-old must be able to earn and manage money
The crutch: They don’t hold part-time jobs; they receive money from
us for what ever they want or need; thus, kids don’t develop a sense of
responsibility for completing job tasks, accountability to a boss who
doesn’t inherently love them, or an appreciation for the cost of things
and how to manage money.
8. An 18-year-old must be able to take risks
The crutch: We’ve laid out their entire path for them and have
avoided all pitfalls or prevented all stumbles for them; thus, kids
don’t develop the wise understanding that success comes only after
trying and failing and trying again (a.k.a. “grit”) or the thick skin
(a.k.a. “resilience”) that comes from coping when things have gone
wrong.
Remember:
Our kids must be able to do all of these things without resorting to
calling a parent on the phone. If they’re calling us to ask how, they do
not have the life skill.
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BigSun Scholarship Deadline
The scholarship for the BigSun Organization has a deadline of June 19, 2017. Please encourage your students to apply.
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Georgia Tech administrator tries new approach to dealing with
complaints from parents and others that flood competitive colleges this
time of year. Could this work?
Richard Clark started a recent blog post with two real examples of complaints he has recently received:
“How can you waitlist my son? He has 30 points higher and two more
APs than your average. And we know someone down the street who got in
that....”
“Something is wrong with your process if my daughter who has been
through as many medical issues as she has and still has a 3.8 is not
getting in. Talk about not being fair...."
Clark, director of undergraduate admission at Georgia Institute of
Technology, wasn't writing just to commiserate with colleagues. Nor did
he use those comments as starting points to defend competitive college
admissions as precise and fair.
Rather, he argues that it's time to share what admissions
professionals know: their business is not fair. He doesn't say
admissions decisions are being made in unethical ways, but that any sort
of objective "fairness" just isn't possible in competitive college
admissions.
"[U]ltimately, the admission process for schools denying twice or
three times or sometimes ten times more students than they admit is not
about fairness. It’s about mission," Clark writes.
He hopes that by talking about the issue he will encourage those
rejected (and their parents) to move past the averages or ranges for
test scores and grades and think about the particular qualities a
college might be seeking.
For example, the most obvious "unfairness" at Georgia Tech is the
vastly differing admissions rates for in-state and out-of-state
applicants. The university's overall 23 percent admit rate reflects a 42
percent rate for Georgians and an 18 percent rate for those from out of
state.
Clark said in an interview that the focus of admissions guidebooks on
overall numbers helps to perpetuate an idea of what is "fair" and who
is entitled to admission.
And the problem with that focus, Clark said, is that those numbers
don't tell of the incredible credentials of those getting rejected. At
Georgia Tech, the entire applicant pool has an SAT average of just under
1400 and each applicant has taken and done well in an average of eight
Advanced Placement courses. So credentials associated by some with
assuring admission are really just about assuring that one is logical in
the applicant pool.
About 85 percent of those who apply to Georgia Tech could succeed
there if admitted, Clark said. Admission at competitive colleges has
long since ceased to be about weeding out those who can't succeed.
While some competitive colleges can deal with such a situation by
growing, that's not possible for all. Georgia Tech has, at the master's
level, used online education to expand its student body. But that's not
possible for every program, Clark said.
Clark said he wrote the piece in May, not April, because he finds
that there is a "delayed reaction" to rejections and that the fairness
complaints come in May, not right after admissions decisions have gone
out.
While Clark said he hopes to help change the discussion about
fairness, he stressed that he understands that fielding complaints comes
with the territory of leading a competitive admissions program.
He said that he realizes that "all the emotions build up" when
parents aren't happy about an admissions outcome, and that admissions
professionals need to remember the motivations. "We tell our staff all
the time that this comes from a place of love," Clark said. "It's
because they love their kids."
WestfordCAT - Graduation Ceremony Each year WestfordCAT records the entire graduation ceremony and makes personalized keepsake copies available on either DVD and Blu-ray discs for $15 each. Families can order their copy by calling the station at 978-692-7152 or through their website at: http://www.westfordcat.org/services/dvd-order-form-2/
Are you an 11th or 12th grader in the
Boston area? Or are you a Massachusetts community college student? Then
you’re eligible to participate in a video essay contest sponsored by the
National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) and its
Inclusion, Access, and Success Committee. As an association of nearly
16,000 members dedicated to helping students consider all their options
after high school, NACAC holds the contest each year to showcase the
talents of students in our conference city and help ease students’
financial transition to higher education.
$20,000 in scholarships
will be awarded, with $5,000 for the top-place submission. The winners
will be recognized at NACAC’s 73rd National Conference, Sept.14-16,
2017, at the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. The deadline to
submit your video is June 1.
You only need a camera phone (or camera) and your creativity to enter!
How to Enter
Create a video in response to the following prompt: Why is continuing your education after high school important to you?
Video entries must include the following at some point: "My name is
___________ and I'm ______________ (junior or senior) from _____________
(high school) in ___________ (town).” OR "My name is ___________ and
I'm a student at_____________ (community college) in ___________
(town).”
Video entries should be no more than 2 minutes in length.
Video entries must be created by an individual student. No joint
entries (video created by two or more students) will be considered.
Submissions are limited to one video per student, and all videos must be submitted via ZeeMee.
To submit your video your must do two things. First, create a free account at www.zeemee.com.
Include your first and last name so we know who you are, and then
upload your video entry in the Meet Me Video section of your ZeeMee
page. Student accounts should be set to private.
Then, after you upload your video to ZeeMee, fill out our submission form. You must complete both steps in order to be eligible for the contest.
All videos must be uploaded to ZeeMee on or before June 1.
Submissions Students from all backgrounds and
academic preparation are encouraged to apply. Your submission should be
well-thought out and prepared—similar to the preparation that would go
into writing a school paper—with the freedom to showcase your voice and
talents. Be yourself, show your creative side! Additional Tips
If you use your cell phone, be sure to film in landscape. If you
film in portrait, your video will be sideways and people will have to
tilt their heads to watch.
Don’t speak too fast. You want us to understand what you are saying.
Speak clearly and confidently. This is your time to shine. Engage us!
Have fun! Although this is a contest, it should be an enjoyable experience for you as well.
If you're looking for music in the background, check out Jamendo for royalty free tunes
Awards $20,000 in scholarships to be awarded, with $5,000 for the top-place submission.
Video Evaluation Criteria Videos will be
evaluated on the following criteria and given a mark on a scale of 0-5
(0 being absent and 5 being extraordinary). Criteria )
Ideas Development (5 points) - Did you answer the question? Are your ideas well explained?
Thoughtfulness (5 points) - Do we get a sense of
who you are, a window to your world? Do you demonstrate self-awareness
and awareness of others?
Clarity/Effectiveness (5 points) - Can we see how your ideas are connected? Can we understand the thoughts you are trying to convey?
Quality (5 points) - Submission is well-thought out and prepared.
Creativity (5 points) - Are your ideas presented in an interesting, creative, or otherwise appropriate way?
**More scholarships can ALWAYS be found on Naviance under "Scholarship List"
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Editor's note: This post contains spoilers for the Netflix series "13 Reasons Why."
Full disclosure: It’s my job to save Hannah Baker’s life.
Not the character Hannah, of course — but students like her. If you watched Netflix’s powerful new series "13 Reasons Why,"
then you know the main character kills herself after a spate of
traumatic events, including bullying and rape. I work in a school-based
health center caring for "high-risk" students who are struggling with
depression, suicidal thoughts, poor decision-making and/or impulsive
behavior. My own mother died by suicide when I was 4.
Because
this series is particularly popular with teenagers, I watched it with
much trepidation. I know how difficult it is to portray a delicate topic
like suicide. In writing my memoir about my mother’s suicide, I
wrestled against idealizing her and telling a story that both educates
and engages the reader.
In "13 Reasons Why," the adults, unfortunately, are clueless and ineffectual.
I
worry that "13 Reasons Why" discourages students at risk for suicide
from seeking help, and inadvertently glamorizes suicide for vulnerable
teenagers. That’s why this is a critical cultural moment to speak with
young people about suicide.
Throughout
the series, Hannah was in so much pain and yet was incredibly private
about her isolation. Her solution was to escape what she perceived as
intolerable pain, leaving us with the sense that this was an inevitable
tragedy. Viewers can see that her parents and Clay, a friend, adored
her. But she couldn't. She was in a place where she magnified those who
were cruel to her and allowed their views to define her self-worth.
Remembering
that this is fiction, we can see this as an opportunity to talk to
teenagers who are confronted with some of the same stresses as Hannah.
We can encourage them to seek help.
In
"13 Reasons Why," the adults, unfortunately, are clueless and
ineffectual. When adults at school talk with Hannah, they are distracted
and ineffective; they allow Hannah to be devastated by her treatment at
the hands of other students, and they don't hold the other kids
accountable. After Hannah dies, Clay's parents suggest that he take a
medication (I assume an antidepressant) but cannot talk to him about his
distress. So we're left thinking this fictional world has a "Lord of
the Flies" mentality where cruelty and shaming are accepted. If
teenagers don't feel safe, and don't know that there is a responsive
adult nearby, they are less likely to ask for help.
Guidelines by the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention
say that news stories with sensational headlines or images, repeated
coverage and death glamorization increase the likelihood of suicide in
vulnerable individuals. So whenever suicide hits the news — both with
the show, and with the news of former Patriots player Aaron Hernandez's suicide
— I encourage talking about the stigma of mental illness and the
silence that often surrounds suicide. Below is my cheat sheet for
parents to talk about suicide, using "13 Reasons Why" as a springboard:
Know the signs
A
completed suicide is often referred to as the “tip of the iceberg” —
and if you peel back the layers, there are often inward signs of misery
including increased isolation, prior suicide attempts, academic failure,
sense of being a burden, agitation and difficulty sleeping. One of the
risk factors for teenage suicide is “interpersonal loss" — or the loss
of a close relationship with another person. One crucial studyon
teen suicide revealed that most teens who die by suicide had a mental
illness. It’s important to educate students on the symptoms of mental
illness, and to let them know their condition is treatable.
Encourage talking about suicide
Many suicides occur with little planning during a short-term acute crisis, although research
by psychologist Thomas Joiner suggests that most people who die by
suicide have thought about it for a long time even when it appears to be
an impulsive act. This leads to two clear intervention points: arming
students with a suicide prevention lifeline, and encouraging teenagers
who are worried about the safety of a friend to let an adult know.
Countless times over the years that I've practiced in a school-based
health center, a life has been saved because a teenager was brave enough
to tell an administrator that they had suicidal thoughts.
Whenever
suicide hits the news ... I encourage talking about the stigma of
mental illness and the silence that often surrounds suicide.
Limit access to guns
While Hannah kills herself by slicing her wrists, that method is only effective five percent of the time. Adolescents are twice as likely to kill themselves when there is a gun in the house. Parents should reduce
easy access to guns and keep small quantities of alcohol at home to
avoid the toxic combination of alcohol, guns, and suicidal ideation.
Sensitive
topics like suicide, depression and sex are often hard to broach with
young people — but the key is to look for opportunities to listen and
show interest in having those difficult conversations. I’ve often heard
parents and invested adults like teachers say they’re afraid to ask if a
young person is suicidal, as if it might plant the idea. But
questioning is essential. The QPR Institute offers three steps — Question, Persuade, Refer — as a scaffolding for life-saving efforts.
Know the resources
Losing
someone to suicide is brutal and we all want to take the necessary
steps to prevent this loss. We can make a difference by communicating to
teenagers that suicide is not inevitable and encouraging them to share
their despair so that they can get appropriate support. There are people
out there ready to help — the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, Samaritans and National Suicide Prevention Lifeline (1-800-273-8255) to name a few — you just have to have the courage to ask.
Westford Academy wanted to make you aware of the Netflix series- Thirteen Reasons Why. This show is based on a book that was released 10 years ago and has been made into a 13-episode drama series on Netflix. The series depicts extremely strong and graphic themes of suicide, bullying, rape, substance abuse and other social issues.
The trailer, advertisements and storytelling of this series can be misleading- Teenagers could perceive the message that suicide is a viable or romanticized option.
There is no mention of mental health and treatment options (as it references suicide throughout)
The idea of suicide is romanticized throughout
The series does not express what to do in harmful situations in terms of getting help or utilizing healthy coping strategies
The only time we see the main character seek out professional help is on the day she kills herself. She seeks help from a school counselor (as she is struggling with the aftermath of being raped by a classmate). The counselor is portrayed as indifferent, suggests that she needs to move on and that without disclosing the name of her rapist, there isn’t much he can do to help her. The main character leaves the counselor’s office with a reinforced feeling of hopelessness and a few hours later slits her wrists in her bathtub.
The series is not meant to be an educational film, and it’s message does not comply with health recommendations for treating mental illness, and/or trauma, or preventing suicide.
Please find out if your child has read the book, watched the series, or heard of the series and talk with them about it. We also suggest you research the series or watch it for yourself so you understand what your child may be exposed to.
Please be reassured that the Guidance Department and faculty at Westford Academy are educated in the risk factors as they pertain to mental health. The Counselors at WA would respond to any safety issues with a sense of urgency, seriousness, empathy, problem solving and parent communication.
Please encourage your child to seek out a teacher/coach/counselor if they or their friends are demonstrating mental health risk factors.
Graduation Announcements Graduation Announcements will be sold in the main office beginning Monday, May 1st. These are not graduation tickets! They are simply nice announcements to serve as a keepsake for graduation or to send to family members. The cost is $2.00 per announcement (10 announcements per family while they last.) Please see Mrs. Langille to purchase.
The application for the Acton Toyota Scholarship has been updated on Naviance, under "Scholarship List". All students must turn in their applications (application form and essay) no later than Friday, May 12th to their school’s guidance office in order to be considered for the scholarship donation.
Acton Toyota of Littleton will review all applications and announce the scholarship winner on its website on Wednesday, May 31st. Actual grant or payment will be made directly to the high school’s scholarship fund. Through this fund, the three charitable scholarship donations will be given to the winning students.
The event will showcase senior projects from UMass Lowell’s Francis College of Engineering, the Kennedy College of Sciences and the College of Health Sciences.
It will highlight work at the intersection of creativity and industry, where students apply classroom and hands-on learning to develop products, prototypes and projects that address real-world challenges. Attendees can learn about cutting-edge student and faculty research and participate in interactive presentations. Student clubs and teams will be on hand to demonstrate robotics, 3D printers and more.
The event is free and open to the public.
• When: Noon to 5 p.m., Friday, April 28, 2017 • Where: The Tsongas Center at UMass Lowell • Who Should Attend: High school students and their families, teachers, guidance counselors, college students and faculty members, industry partners, alumni and friends—anyone who wants to be inspired by the innovation taking place at UMass Lowell!
Boost your chances of getting out of the "friend zone" and into the class of 2020.
When college acceptance letters are mailed out this month, tens of thousands of students will open a mixed bag.
They won’t be denied outright but instead relegated to the limbo known as a “wait list.”
The practice of wait listing—where colleges defer an admissions
decision until accepted students have either taken or declined a spot in
the freshman class—is essentially a school’s way of saying, “We like
you, but we just can’t commit right now.”
Colleges often use a wait list to round out how their class looks. If
there aren’t enough students in a certain major or from a particular
region, the school will give wait-listed applicants who can help it meet
those goals a higher priority. That makes it nearly impossible to
predict your chances of getting off a wait list with any certainty,
since it all depends on who applied in the first place, who chose to
enroll, and how your characteristics compare to theirs.
Being wait listed is especially common for students applying to
selective colleges, but some 550 colleges use them. More than 150,000
students accepted a spot on one in the fall of 2015.
Common as they are, however, wait lists remain one of the least
transparent parts of the college admissions process. There are no rules
for how many students can be put on a wait list, how long applicants can
remain there, or even how long those who are accepted off the wait list
have to decide whether they want to enroll.
Despite all that uncertainty, there are a few things you can control.
“Most colleges will be as upfront as
they can be, if you ask questions,” says Jake Talmage, director of
college counseling at St. Paul’s School in Maryland. Here are the steps
to take and questions to ask.
1. Consider your odds
Between 2007 and 2010, colleges admitted less than a third of wait-listed students, on average, according to a study
from the National Association for College Admissions Counseling
(NACAC). But that percentage drops considerably at more selective
schools. At colleges where fewer than 50% of applicants overall were
admitted, just 17% of students got in off the wait list.
These statistics can swing wildly from year to year at any given
school, but it’s still worth asking your target college these questions:
How many students are usually offered spots on the wait list?
How many usually accept spots?
How many are ultimately admitted?
You can also look up the college at bigfuture.collegeboard.org. Many schools have wait list statistics under the “applying” tab.
2. Solidify your plan B
No matter how confident you feel that you’ll be admitted off the wait
list, you should submit a deposit to another school to ensure that you
have a spot somewhere in the fall. Most colleges require a deposit by
May 1.
That deposit—typically $100 to $500—is money you won’t get back if
you ultimately enroll at the other college where you were wait listed.
Bear in mind that if you aren’t accepted off the wait list, your Plan
B college could be where you end up on come fall. So note when its
freshman orientation starts and whether you need to send a separate
deposit for on-campus housing, too.
3. Show you’re still interested
When Muriel Chase was put on the wait list for Marist College,
she wasn’t too upset. The college wasn’t even one of her top schools.
But when she went for a visit after she’d been wait listed, she fell
hard.
Within about a month, she’d visited again, talked regularly on the
phone with her admissions counselor, and ultimately, got accepted. She’s
now a student employee in the admissions office and talks to
prospective applicants about the process.
Colleges want to close their wait list—that is, fill all their open
spots—as soon as possible, so they like to make offers to the applicants
who are most likely to accept. In fact, at some schools, such as Vanderbilt University, the wait list is the only time where demonstrating your interest matters.
It’s important to go the extra mile—but not the extra five miles.
Kent Rinehart, dean of undergraduate admissions at Marist, says reaching
out every two or three weeks to update the admissions staff and ask
about the status of the wait list is fine. But don’t call every other
day. Also avoid more elaborate ploys, such as sending baked goods or
gifts to the admissions staff.
But do consider writing a letter to the admissions officer explaining
why that school is still your top choice (or one of them, if that’s the
case). Update the office on your academics, too, by sending in recent
grades and anything noteworthy, such induction into an honor society.
Finally, parents: Don’t do your child’s bidding here.
“It shows a lot more when you’re the one who’s taking initiative,” Chase say to students.
Be sure to heed any directions the college gives with its wait list
notification. Some will ask for specific follow-up information, such as
additional recommendation letters.
4. Figure out if you can afford it
When you’re asking colleges about their wait list admission stats,
ask about financial aid for wait-listed students, too. Chances are,
getting in off the wait list will be more expensive than regular
admission.
Nearly four in 10 colleges that have a wait list are need aware,
which means they’ll consider how much students can afford to pay in
deciding which ones to admit. That’s good news for families who can
afford the college without extra help, less good for those who need aid.
Even if a college doesn’t favor students who can afford to pay, you
may not be in line for the same aid as students accepted during regular
admission. Some colleges, such as Miami and Villanova
universities, don’t offer any merit aid to students admitted from the
wait list. At many colleges, whether you receive any grants or
scholarships will depend on what’s left in the financial aid budget.
Almost half of the colleges in the NACAC study said they provided
grant aid to all students admitted off their wait lists. But some of
those colleges may have chosen students who needed only limited aid, or
they may have awarded some aid, but not enough to make the college truly
affordable for the family.
To get a better idea of where you’ll stand, ask the college:
Are students admitted off the wait list eligible for the same financial aid as other students?
Have students admitted off the wait list in the past received grants or scholarships from the college?
When do students admitted off the wait list learn about their financial aid package?
5. Prepare to make a quick decision
With regular admission, students have at least a few weeks to
evaluate colleges’ offers, weigh what they like about different schools,
and ultimately decide which one they want to go to.
That’s not the case with wait lists. NACAC recommends that colleges
give applicants at least 72 hours to decide whether to accept their
offer, though there’s no binding rule. You may have even less time to
evaluate the financial aid package, which doesn’t always come with the
initial offer of acceptance.
One way to make your decision easier is by setting the ceiling price
you can afford to pay ahead of time, says Rick Clark, director of
undergraduate admissions at Georgia Tech.
6. Be positive but realistic
The optimists like to say that the bright side of being wait listed
is that it’s not a downright denial. True enough, but the harsh fact is
that at most colleges, the majority of wait-listed students will
eventually be denied admission anyway.
We get it—a wait list designation from your top college makes it hard
to move on. There’s always the “what if” scenario in the back of your
head that keeps you from fully committing to the college you sent your
deposit to. Clark writes in a blog post
that it can be especially tough for wait-listed students to hear their
friends talking about who they’re rooming with or what activities
they’ll join freshman year.
Most colleges don’t turn to their wait lists until after May 1, and
many will still be offering admission to students on wait list through
June, well after some high school graduations.
Clark suggests students in that position focus on why they’re excited
about college in general, regardless of which school they end up
attending. That will let you enjoy the spring of your senior year even
as the exact details of your future remain unknown.
Tired of people asking where you’re going to college? Here’s what to say.
By Christine KoubekFebruary 23
(Illustration by Sean Freeman)
Everywhere she’s gone during the past few months, high school senior Katie Phelan has been asked a variation of one question: Where are you going to college?
In the hallways of her high school, at friends’ houses, at family
events, even while she was trying on clothes at the mall. “One of the
ladies working there was asking me through the curtain — while I was
changing,” she recalls.
“The topic is almost
unavoidable,” says Phelan, who attends the private Our Lady of Good
Counsel High School in Olney, Md. Even though she knows that most people
are well-meaning, and that some are simply using the question as an
icebreaker, it’s nerve-racking. “The more I talk about it, the more I
realize how stressed I actually am.”
“Any questions
that you don’t have an answer to are difficult,” agrees Patty Dirlam, a
senior at Quince Orchard High School in Gaithersburg, Md. “They serve as
a reminder that we do not have everything figured out, that we may be
in a bit over our heads.”
Parents, high school
counselors, independent college consultants and therapists know one of
the most fraught elements of the college application process is the
inquiries seniors get, whether from kindly acquaintances, judgmental
relatives or nosy neighbors.
Plus, especially in the age of social media, choosing a college is
“their first big decision that’s very public,” says Tish Peterson,
director of college counseling at the private Holton-Arms School in
Bethesda, Md.
Peterson, who spent nearly 20 years in
college admissions before joining Holton-Arms in 2000, has watched with
concern as the application process has become accelerated and more
pressurized nationwide. “That’s something we need to acknowledge and
deal with, so that students are capable of making as good a choice as
they can for themselves,” she says.
To help deal with
that pressure, some high school counselors, especially at private
schools, and independent consultants are arming students with strategies
for managing the process’s stress points — including the inevitable
questions.
Robbye Fox, a counselor with the College
Lady, a Washington-area independent college counseling group, encourages
students to embrace this time as a period to develop important social
skills. After all, this is likely only the beginning of the queries
students are going to get in their lifetimes, questions such as when are
you going to get married/have kids/finish that degree/ buy a house,
etc. “Learning how to politely sidestep these questions from
well-meaning others is a skill they will be able to use again and
again,” Fox says.
Peterson begins advising students in their junior year
to anticipate what kinds of questions they will get and think through
which information they’ll share with friends, and with adults outside
their immediate family.
“We try to empower them so they don’t feel awkward about their responses,” she says.
And if they don’t want to share? “We also tell them it’s perfectly acceptable to say: I’ve decided to keep that information private. Or: I’ve decided not to talk a lot about my college process until I’ve made a decision about where I’m going.”
To
make that easier for students at Holton, “We also suggest that here in
school teachers and other students not constantly bombard seniors with
questions about where they’ve applied or been admitted,” says Peterson,
“because they really need to have a break from the constant focus on the
college process.”
If students do want to talk about it,
Peterson and other counselors suggest that they emphasize the range of
schools on their list. Emily Livelli, associate director of college
counseling at Georgetown Day School in Washington, urges students to
have more than one “first” choice (disclosure: the author’s son attended
GDS). “That way they are not putting all of their hopes and dreams in
one basket,” Livelli says, “but rather they have picked schools that are
a good fit for them and what they’re looking for and can honestly say
to that question: I don’t have a first choice; I’m excited about all of my choices.”
Another
reason not to get too caught up in talking about a favorite school is
that teens grow and change quite a bit throughout senior year. “As they
get to April or May, their priorities may have changed, so we want them
to take a fresh look, not to just go for the sizzle, or rush to deposit
at a school that contacts them the most,” says Jim Mahoney, a counselor
at the independent Blake School in the Minneapolis area.
When
Phelan and her mother brainstormed responses that were polite yet
respectful of Katie’s needs, they came up with a similar strategy.
“Most times I say, I applied to a lot of schools in the South, but I’m still waiting to hear back, so we’ll see,” Phelan says. Then she turns the conversation to things going on at Good Counsel.
Redirection
(a skill any parent will tell you comes in handy) can be informative.
Fox suggests that students reframe these conversations as an opportunity
to ask adults about their experiences, perhaps by saying, How did you go about deciding what to do after high school? Or: What led you to your current career/field? “They never know what helpful tidbit they may pick up from the adult’s response,” Fox says.
Fox
also recommends students try to lighten up the situation through humor.
“I try to get their creative juices flowing and help them come up with a
story that’s linked to one of their interests,” she says. For example, a
boy who loves ice hockey might respond to questions about his future
with something akin to, I might take a year off and drive the Zamboni for the Capitals.
Students
aren’t the only ones dealing with this pressure. “The most dangerous
place to be as the parent of a senior is the sideline of a fall sporting
event,” half-jokes Whitney Bruce, a postsecondary counselor at Maine
Coast Waldorf School. Peterson notes that parents “can also feel judged
or scrutinized in the process.” She suggests parents field inquiries by
saying, My daughter has applied to a range of schools she’s interested in, or, Once she hears and decides where she’s going, we’ll be happy to share the news.
When colleges start responding, uncertainty can be replaced
by complicated emotions aroused by acceptances and rejections. Though
counselors emphasize that a college decision isn’t a verdict on a
student’s worth, rejection can be devastating.
At the
Blake School, Mahoney often tells students: “Sometimes you just have to
feel the hurt. You loved the college and you weren’t admitted. Go hit a
golf ball or go for a run, and get up the next day and begin again.
There are some positive decisions around the corner.”
In
addition to dealing with their excitement and dejection, students will
be trying to exercise “the ability to be happy for someone and then sad
for yourself, and vice versa,” Livelli says.
Bailey
Weinstein, a senior at Langley High School in Fairfax County, Va.,
wishes he’d kept the schools he’d applied to private. “It’s not because I
don’t want my friends to think less of me, but I hate knowing that
they’re rooting for me to get in, and because I feel like they were
disappointed for me when I got deferred.”
Under these circumstances, it can be especially difficult to answer the blunt, Did you get into X school? Mahoney says he reminds students to divulge only the information they feel comfortable sharing. One possible response: I’m lucky to be choosing between a few exciting options. If the questioner presses, he suggests: I’ll be happy to let you know when I make a final choice.
If
the questioner is a fellow teen, however, opening up can help, says
Falls Church, Va., clinical social worker Devra Gordon. “What I tell
kids is, if you bring it up, you will be surprised at the floodgates
that open, that others are experiencing these feelings and these doubts.
And you might get some great peer advice about how to handle those
things.”
Gordon, a former public schools social worker,
says answering college-related queries can be especially difficult “for
kids who decide to take a gap year, or for kids for whom college is not
their plan.” She suggests that parents of kids pursuing a
nontraditional path help equip them for the onslaught: “Say, ‘How can I
support you talking about it?’ Sometimes just having a prepared sentence
helps because it gives you confidence in what you’re doing.”
In
communities with a highly educated parent population where it seems as
if everyone is going to a selective four-year institution, it can be
challenging to keep college decisions in perspective. “It’s easy to
believe that that is the norm, and it’s not,” says Bruce. She tells
students that “going to college is life-changing,” no matter where they
wind up.
Alexandra Robbins, who attended high school in competitive Montgomery County and is the author of “The Overachievers: The Secret Lives of Driven Kids,”
tries to remind students that acceptances and rejections can boil down
to mundane details — and luck. “Rejection could be as simple as the
school orchestra needs a French horn player,” Robbins says. She also
emphasizes that what matters is not the name of the college as much as
what students do when they are there.
Sometimes the best
advice comes from those who have been there not so long ago. The
college counseling office at the Bush School in Seattle hosts a
breakfast each winter for recent alumni and current seniors. It’s an
opportunity for the high-schoolers to see that there are many different
ways to go, at all points in the process, explains Melissa Ewing
Lanctot, co-director of college counseling at the school.
“They
talk about what they’re studying, or about changing majors, and what
they wish they’d known a year or two years ago,” Lanctot says. “And the
students see, ‘Hey, I am going to be there — be them — pretty soon, and
I’m going to make it.’ ”
So what can adults do to not add to the stress?
Advice
for parents from counselors and consultants includes asking relatives
to back down on the college questions and avoid talking about it daily
or allowing it to overshadow everything else. “If your child really
wants to talk about it, that’s great,” Livelli says. “And if they don’t,
pick one finite time per week to check in on anything that needs to be
worked on or talked through, and let the rest of the week be about all
the other things going on senior year.”
If you’re a
well-meaning relative or neighbor, Bethesda psychologist Anita Iverson
suggests posing open-ended questions. This allows students to choose
whether to talk broadly or to narrow the topic to specific schools. Some
examples: Is there anything you’ve discovered that surprised you as you visited colleges?How are you faring with the whole process?
Phelan,
the high school senior, hopes parents asking their kids’ friends about
college plans can be nonjudgmental — and avoid the temptation of listing
all the schools their own children have been accepted to. “It is life,
and we all do have to deal with it,” she says, “but I just hope that
more people can be sensitive about this college process.”
Christine Koubek is a freelance writer based in Maryland.
Copied from https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/financial-aid-awards/your-financial-aid-award-explained
Your
award probably consists of a combination of gift aid, loans and a job.
Each of these is very different from the others. Understanding the
differences is important.
You need to know what you have to do to continue receiving financial
aid from year to year, and how your aid might change in future years.
Plan your finances now, so you can complete your degree on schedule.
Gift Aid Is the Best Form of Financial Aid
You don't have to repay it or work for it. Gift aid can be a
scholarship, a grant, or other assistance, such as a tuition waiver.
Questions to ask:
What do I have to do to keep my scholarship?
Is there a minimum grade point average (GPA) or other condition?
Do I have to do anything more than maintain satisfactory academic progress?
Can I expect to receive the same assistance each year I’m in college?
What happens to my aid if I win an outside scholarship?
Can the aid be increased if my family has financial problems?
Loans Must Be Repaid
If your student loan is based on need, it is subsidized. This means
you don't have to pay the yearly interest while you're in college.
However, after you leave school, your payments include the amount you
borrowed plus interest.
Unsubsidized loans aren't based on need. These loans require you to make yearly interest payments.
Questions to ask:
What are the terms of my loan?
Is the yearly interest paid by the government?
What is the interest rate and when do I start repayment?
How much will I owe by the time I graduate?
How much is my monthly bill going to be when I graduate?
Will my loan increase after my first year and if so, by how much?
A Job Is an Opportunity to Earn Money
If your package includes a job, also known as student employment or
work-study, it means the aid office may help you find a position where
you can earn the amount expected. Your earnings are most often used to
pay education costs like books and personal expenses. Questions to ask:
Do I have a guaranteed job or do I have to find one?
How are jobs assigned?
How many hours per week will I be expected to work?
What is the hourly wage?
How often will I be paid?
Do I get paid directly, or is my student account credited?
The Westford
Academy Guidance Department will be holding an Options Fair on Friday, March 31st
during all four lunches.The purpose of
the fair is to provide students with information about alternatives to the
four-year college track after high school.The following organizations will be attending:
Maverick Technical Institute
Certificate Program
Alexander Academy Cosmetology and
Beauty School
Certificate Program
Mount Wachusett Community College
Two-Year College
Peterson School
Technical Program
Division of Professional Licensure
Multiple Licenses
Northern Essex Community College
Two-Year College
United States Navy
Military
Workers Credit Union
Financial/Employment
Middlesex Community CollegeAnd Dual Enrollment Program
Two-Year College
Universal Technical Institute
Technical Program
Continental Academie of Hair Design
Certificate Program
Nashoba Valley Technical High School Post-Secondary
Program
