AI Camp (www.ai-camp.org) is offering 10 scholarships for their Introduction to AI lecture series. This lecture series is the same series that offered at Stanford University this summer and will introduce AI and careers in tech to you. No coding experience is needed. The opportunity is first-come, first serve. You can register it here: www.ai-camp.org/free-lesson. AI Camp is founded by Stanford Ph.Ds and advised by a Stanford Professor and CTOs in Silicon Valley.
Monday, December 21, 2020
Friday, December 18, 2020
PSAT at WA for Class of 2022
Westford Academy is offering the PSAT on Tuesday, January 26 for interested juniors. Due to health and safety guidelines, this administration will be offered to juniors only.
Registration is via Total Registration and the cost of the exam is $25.
To register, go to: www.TotalRegistration.net/
The test will be administered during the school day for both pod A and pod B, as well as RLA students.
All other students (grades 9, 10 and 12) will learn remotely on January 26, instructions to follow.
Important to note:
The National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) recently announced an opportunity for Alternate Entry to the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program (see this link for a complete description and program entry requirements) whereby students have the opportunity to enter the program based on SAT scores in lieu of PSAT scores. This is a good opportunity for any students/families who are concerned about health and safety with the January 26 administration.
To do this, students must:
1) take an official administration of the SAT given from August 2020 to June 2021,
2) request that College Board send an official report of your SAT scores to NMSC (code 0085), and
3) visit forms.nationalmerit.org/
Many organizations offer FREE PSAT practice exams that provide students with the opportunity to practice and get a sense of pacing, as well as feedback on areas to focus in preparation for the SAT.
One example is Summit Educational Group and the information on practice tests they offer can be found here: https://mytutor.com/one-
Wednesday, December 16, 2020
Article: Rejected From Your First-Choice College? Here Are 7 Tips to Move Forward
https://www.niche.com/blog/rejected-from-your-first-choice-college/
Every December, many high school seniors function in a vacuum of anxiety. Their most-visited web-pages become university admissions sites, where they spend hours poring over the requirements they hope they’ve met. They check their emails too frequently and open any messages sent from colleges with embarrassing speed. And they search in vain for concrete decision release dates, only ever finding vague answers: By mid- to late December.
After a week or two of this, clarity finally comes. An email notifies the student of the time and date on which they can view their results. The waiting days begin to blur together.
Colleges tend to release their first wave of admissions decisions—Early Action, Early Decision—during this part of the year. When the big day arrives, students around the world sit in front of their computer screens with bated breath. For some, it is one of the happiest days of their adolescent lives. For others, there is only disappointment.
If you fall into the latter camp, this post is for you. It’s hard not to feel cheated. After all of the buildup, all of the anxiety, it’s hard not to feel sad and angry.
But life goes on—and so does the college admissions process. So before you a. start scrambling to meet January Regular Decision deadlines or b. accept total defeat and completely give up, there are some critical next steps you should take. We’ve outlined them for you below:
Allow yourself to hurt.
There may be tears, and that’s okay. Let yourself be mad, frustrated, unhappy. You are human, and you are allowed to feel things, so feel them deeply. Scream into a pillow, scream in your backyard, sob as hard as you want. College applications are a thing into which you pour a lot of time and energy, and it’s only natural that you’ll be upset if you don’t receive the desired result of your work. But after months of building pent-up stress, this is an opportunity for you to release all of that.
Stay away from online forums and social media.
In the days following decision release, there will inevitably be countless social media posts and Internet message boards on which applicants post their “stats”—laundry lists of activities and test scores, accompanied by results. It’s easy to look at these posts and compare yourself to their authors. But do your best to stay away from them, because at the end of the day, you’ll never know exactly why someone else with a lower GPA or less activities got in, or why someone with ‘better’ stats didn’t. You can only be yourself; analyzing the lives of others is never productive.
Remind yourself that this rejection is not a reflection of your character.
Rejection oftentimes feels personal, as if an admissions officer simply doesn’t like you. And how could it not be, when all the components of a college application—academic interests, extracurricular activities, personality in your essays—are the same components that make up you?
But that’s exactly it—remember who you are. After a day or two of mourning, remember that all of those things—activities, your personality—are things that no one can take away from you. Just because you were rejected doesn’t mean that those things are inherently bad; it just means that they may not have been a right fit for the school. And just because they were not a right fit for the school doesn’t mean that you are not a good fit for hundreds of other schools.
Reevaluate your goals and consider your options.
Where do you want to go from here? If you’re dead-set on your first choice, you may think about taking a gap year of travel or employment before reapplying; remember also that transferring after one or two years of study at another institution is always an option.
If you’d like to expand your options a bit, begin looking at other schools to apply to. While this isn’t to ‘diss’ your Early Decision school, it’s possible that you may have been looking at it through rose-colored glasses. Now is a great time to reconsider your original wants and ask yourself some essential questions about college: Do you still want to study the thing that you originally chose as your major? Do you still want to study in the same city or town that you originally wanted? What did you like about your Early Decision/Action choice, and what did you dislike? These are questions that will take you right into our next step.
Research other schools.
Take your answers from Step Four and use them to find new options. In researching other colleges, it’s important to be realistic. If, for example, you were rejected from an extremely selective school, it may be wise to look at slightly less selective schools. You can use Niche’s Best Colleges to customize a list of schools based on factors like this, in addition to virtually whatever else you want. Our tools allow you to sort schools by major, cost, and student body size, just to name a few. And after you’ve compiled a list, take a look at Niche reviews to get a better idea of student life.
Apply to other schools.
Keeping those early to mid-January deadlines in mind, work on your applications. Make sure to have a trusted adult—parent, school counselor, favorite teacher—offer suggestions for improvement, as you want your next round of applications to be as successful as possible.
Relax.
Congratulations—you’ve done it! You’ve gotten through one of the most difficult times of your high school career. Take some time to de-stress, hang out with your friends, and treat yourself to something nice. You deserve it.
Thursday, December 10, 2020
College Guidance Network: "Ask Us Anything: Admissions Experts Open Up"
The final episode of College Guidance Network's fall programming schedule will air on Wednesday, December 16 at 7:00 PM ET. We hope our first ten episodes have offered support for you, your students and their families. And now we'll answer any questions your students and their parents still want to ask related to college admissions and financial aid.
“Ask Us Anything: Admissions Experts Open Up", brings together both returning and new experts to answer questions live for a full hour:
The discussion will be moderated by Brennan Barnard, Director of College Counseling & Outreach from the Derryfield School.
Know other counselors and educators who would love access to this programming for their school community? Forward this email and share the episode information with your peers! |
Tuesday, December 8, 2020
Gap Year Information Sessions
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Monday, December 7, 2020
NAMI "In Our Own Voice" Presentation - December 9, 7pm
In Our Own Voice (IOOV) is a powerful presentation that aims to change attitudes, assumptions, and stereotypes about people living with mental health conditions. Two trained presenters with lived experience of a mental health condition talk openly about their experiences and how they have found pathways to hope and healing. Audience members have the opportunity to ask questions, learn more about mental health, and challenge misconceptions.
The presentation is offered free of charge and is appropriate for diverse audiences, including family members, friends, mental health professionals, and people diagnosed with mental health conditions. IOOV presentations have taken place at hospitals, schools, churches, community organizations, and more.
Virtual In Our Own Voice presentation
hosted by NAMI Central Middlesex
Wednesday, December 9th
7 – 8:15 pm
To register: send an email to nami.cmsx@gmail.com and request the Zoom link for the event
Wednesday, December 2, 2020
College Guidance Network: "Selective Admissions: An Inside Look at How Admissions Pros Read Applications"
Every college-bound student wants to know what goes on after their application is received and the high-stakes review begins. What are colleges really looking for? How will one student’s application match up against the others?
Share this with your students and families to join us tonight at 7:00 PM ET Link to Register: "Selective Admissions: An Inside Look at How Admissions Pros Read Applications"
On this episode your students and their families will learn:
Join the experts for advice and live Q&A: Ronné Patrick Turner, Vice Provost of Admissions & Financial Aid at Washington University in St. Louis, Peaches Valdes, Dean of Admission at Hamilton College and Gil Villanueva, Associate Vice President and Dean of Admission at University of Richmond. This behind-the-scenes conversation is moderated by Brennan Barnard, Director of College Counseling, The Derryfield School.
Know other counselors and educators who would love to share this information with their school community? Be sure to share the episode information with your peers! |
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