News of the Week!

News of the Week!

Through mid-November, applications are up, the Common Application finds. For early applicants, there is only a modest increase in submitting test scores.

Ohio State U. Unveils a Plan for All Students to Graduate Debt-Free

Admission to University of California campuses will from now on be done without standardized tests. When the board voted to eliminate SAT and ACT scores from its considerations, it left open the possibility of using another test. But faculty members did not believe such a test existed or could be created.

Schools are starting to release their testing policies for the 2022-2023 admissions season. Stanford is one of the first, going test-optional for a third year in a row. 

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News of the Week!

News of the Week!

International enrollments fell 15 percent in fall 2020, the largest one-year tumble in the 72 years the Institute of International Education has been publishing the annual international-student census. By comparison, foreign-student numbers declined cumulatively by less than 4 percent in the years following 9/11.

Wake Forest Makes Tailgates More Inclusive. The university adds music, seating, food trucks and tent rentals to pre–football game tailgates, hoping to draw students who have never felt welcome at the fraternity-dominated events.

GW Launches Interdisciplinary Climate and Health Institute. The institute brings together faculty to explore cross-cutting research and advance policy solutions to the 21st century’s most significant health challenge.

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Are You Putting Too Much Pressure on Your Child During the College Admission Process?

Are You Putting Too Much Pressure on Your Child During the College Admission Process?

Intense achievement pressure, particularly in affluent communities, can generate high levels of stress, anxiety, and/or depression in young people. We are sharing this from MCC, and hope you give it a read!

The questions and short quiz created by the team at Making Caring Common can help parents and caregivers (and even counselors like us!) be alert to red flags that they may be putting too much pressure on their student in the college admissions process.

College Admissions Red Flags: Quiz and questions for consideration

  1. During dinner conversations, do you often talk about your child’s grades and college applications, forgetting to ask your child what they find interesting and fun about school?

  2. When you meet with or contact your child’s teacher, do you ask primarily about grades and test scores? Do grades and test scores tend to crowd out discussions of whether your child seems to be enjoying school, is a good friend to others, and contributes to the classroom?

  3. Do you email or call your child’s teacher about assignments or grades more than once a month, even when your child is not having any problems (e.g., trouble completing homework, absence due to illness, etc.)?

  4. Does your child sometimes not eat or sleep well because he or she is worried about not performing at a high level in school?

  5. Do you press your child to take certain courses or participate in extracurricular activities in which they have little interest, or which are stressful for them, for the sake of college applications?

  6. Do you encourage your child to do certain community service projects that they are not interested in because you think these projects will be helpful for their college application?

  7. Do you sometimes allow your child to exaggerate or lie about the extent of their community service because it will help them get into a selective college?

  8. Do you ever encourage your child to apply to selective high schools or colleges based on prestige or commercial rankings, such as the U.S. News & World Report ranking, without considering whether the school is a good fit for your child’s personality and interests?

  9. Do you ever see your child’s peers as competition in the college application process—for example, telling your child not to let others know where they are applying to college because others might apply to the same school and hurt your child’s chances of getting into the same college?

  10. Do you sometimes pressure your child to engage in substantial college preparation while they are on vacation (e.g., intensively studying vocabulary cards or math problems), instead of ensuring that they have ample time to relax or play?

  11. Did you or do you plan to hire an SAT/ACT tutor or have your child take an SAT/ACT preparatory course before junior year of high school?

  12. When you visit colleges with your child, do you sometimes ask more questions than your child does on the tour or at the info session?

  13. If your child was not accepted at a selective high school or college, would you be embarrassed? Would it affect your self-esteem?

  14. If your child received a bad grade on a test or assignment, would you feel responsible or like a failure?

  15. Do you primarily visit and talk about highly selective colleges with your child, rather than a wide variety of colleges, including less-selective ones?

  16. Do you frequently think about whether your child is performing at a high level or will be accepted at a high-status college?

If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, it may be time to take a look at the messages you may be inadvertently sending your child, and to talk with those you respect and trust about how you might reduce college admission pressure. Learn more about our Turning the Tide Initiative and use our tips for dialing down achievement pressure and raising caring kids.

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News of the Week!

News of the Week!

10 trends to watch as testing reopens (short version: ACT/SAT tests still matter).

Why January application deadlines are just a bad idea.

Advocates say a comprehensive approach is required to address mental health challenges on college campuses, but more information is needed about what does and doesn’t work. Bipartisan legislation introduced in Congress aims to find that information out.

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Bank of America Student Leaders – 2022

Bank of America Student Leaders – 2022

Summer program alert!

As a BOA Student Leader, you will participate in an eight-week paid internship at a local nonprofit organization where you will learn first-hand about the needs of your community and the critical role nonprofits play. In addition, you will learn valuable civic, social and business leadership skills. Each Student Leader will attend the Student Leaders Summit held in Washington, D.C. where you will learn how government, business and the nonprofit sector work together to address critical community needs. Note: in-person events will be in line with local and national guidelines around gatherings and travel and may be subject to change.

To become a Student Leader, you must:

  • Currently be a junior or senior in high school
  • Live in one of the eligible markets listed
  • Be able to participate in an 8‐week paid internship at a local nonprofit/charitable organization and work 35 hours a week*
  • Be legally authorized to work in the US without sponsorship through the end of September 2022
  • Be able to participate in a week‐long Student Leadership Summit in Washington, DC (July 25-30, 2022) (All expenses paid as part of Student Leaders. This week will be part of your 8‐ week experience.) *
  • Be a student in good standing at your school
  • Please note: Bank of America employees or members of their immediate family (e.g., children, siblings, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, etc.) are NOT eligible to apply.

*In-person events will be in line with local and national guidelines around gatherings and travel and may be subject to change.

Click here for FAQs on our Student Leaders program.

Applications for the 2022 program will be accepted from Monday, November 1 through Friday, January 28. Apply Now for the 2022 Student Leaders program.

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Peer Project Grants

Peer Project Grants

The non-profit My Friend Abbey is awarding grants for peer-to-peer projects. The Fall 2021 grant cycle is now open to youth and young adults! The application deadline is November 15, 2021. The theme for this season is “Share Your Light.”

Here are some suggested ideas for grant projects:

Sharing your talent and teaching someone else your craft! For example, gardening is good for your mental health, so if you garden, buy some bulbs and teach your friends how to plant them and care for the plants. Or if you knit or sew, show a group of friends how to make something for the holidays that they can give as a gift.

You can always find a way to #37HelpOthersInABigWay or highlight the good in others.

You could complete a ‘compassion project’ in which you and/or a group agree to raise awareness in the area of mental health and wellness through kindness. You can document this project by performing a short play, blogging, researching and joining an existing group you never knew about (for example, an LGBTQ group, cultural group, or volunteer group like a soup kitchen.)

Or start your own group! Spread your kindness and compassion for all to see!
These are just a few suggestions. What will YOUR project be? Don’t forget to tell your friends and family, and request an application!

To request a grant application, email Gillian@myfriendABBY.org.

Click below to read about recent grant recipient’s projects:

2020

Spring 2021

Remember, applications must be received by November 15th!

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News of the Week!

News of the Week!

New NCAA eligibility guidelines released! 

Admissions as a Game of Chance? New Research Says Lotteries Could Decrease Diversity.

High School Students and Counselors Are Burned Out. We feel this. 

One response: “Our kids are really burnt out. Their usual ability to persevere is significantly lower. They are needing schools to come to them not the other way around. Doing virtual events is NOT helpful as they don’t even want to look at a screen.”

Another response: “Students are experiencing a lot of stress and anxiety with being back in person. Even the brightest students are struggling with completing homework and being present.”

And another: “Our students are markedly less mature this year, and moving through the college application process slowly. I don’t know that Ursinus can help, but the pandemic definitely hurt the students’ development and maturity.”

This article is definitely worth a read as we all need to keep mental health and wellness at the top of our to-do lists with our students. 

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On Celebrating What Really Matters

On Celebrating What Really Matters

To all our seniors: just submitting applications is a huge accomplishment!!!

Take 7 minutes to listen to Kelly Corrigan’s case for celebrating the litany of accomplishments that a completed college application represents. 

There’s so much more to applying to college than where you get in or don’t. Listen here!

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Merit Money Deadlines for ’21-’22 App Cycle

Merit Money Deadlines for ’21-’22 App Cycle

College Kickstart helps you track those merits $$ deadlines. Students: yet another reason to get apps in EARLY! We suggest submitting as many RD apps as you can by 12/1. 

To help you stay on top of free money opportunities for your students, they’ve compiled a list of popular schools with hard merit deadlines for the 2021-22 cycle.  

For each school listed, they’ve included the stated deadline, as well as the percentage of students receiving merit aid, the average amount of aid awarded and a link back to the school’s merit scholarship page.

Get there now! 

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Juniors: What’s Your Story?

Juniors: What’s Your Story?

The start of junior year is the perfect time to determine your story for applying to college. What majors are you considering? What have you done to explore those majors? Where will you add value in college both inside and outside of the classroom? Is your value add clear on your resume? 

It might seem early since you won’t be submitting apps until this time next year, but those apps are much easier to write if you’ve done some work ahead of time. 

Juniors, right now you can:

  • Create a testing plan and learn about test-optional admissions
  • Develop relationships with admissions officers and regional reps (the people who make key decisions on your application) as well as current students and faculty (we can fill you in on why these connections are so important and set you up with a peer guide)
  • Open up a Common App account to get familiar with the system
  • Craft a preliminary college list so you understand the many application plans colleges now use, and why this is a critical component of a smart application strategy
  • Make the best of virtual campus visits 
  • And of course, determine your academic narrative and “story” for your apps, and learn how this plays into one of our favorite parts of the college app process: essays!

Speaking of essays now would be a great time for juniors to grab a copy of our book, The Complete College Essay Handbook

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