Regular Decision Notification Dates

Regular Decision Notification Dates

By Brittany MaschalFeb 28, 2021

March snuck up on us! If you are waiting for regular decision results, they will begin to release in a few weeks. Sometimes schools release before their notification date; this year, however, we have already seen a few schools push out their release dates. With application numbers up at many schools, who knows if schools will be running ahead or behind schedule. 

Every year my favorite college data site, College Kickstart, compiles a list of regular decision release dates and updates it frequently when changes are made. 

Review the list here, and keep an eye on your email and school portals for release updates. 

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Why B Students Make Great Leaders

Why B Students Make Great Leaders

By Brittany MaschalFeb 25, 2021

As a solid B student myself in high school, I love articles that normalize B’s. As a college counselor, of course I have to be transparent about the A expectation of top colleges and universities. However, many of my B students have gone on to do great things in college and in life—no Ivy-league or top-30 school required.

Two of my favorite takeaways from this old-ish article that I have seen be true for some of my favorite B students:

  • Leading rarely has anything to do with pure intellect alone.
  • B students flourish by using a combination of good-enough mental horsepower with a kind of emotional intelligence that gives them the ability to relate to people.

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Do Your Best

Do Your Best

By BMC BloggerFeb 23, 2021

In a recent Inside Higher Ed article, W. Kent Barnds reflects on what he should have told his daughter and thousands of other high school students: just do your best. 

As we approach the time of year when it can be easy to lose sight of what matters (regarding college admissions!) it is worth a read!

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Dear Struggling Parents, It’s Not Just You.

Dear Struggling Parents, It’s Not Just You.

By Brittany MaschalFeb 05, 2021

TIME’s It’s Not Just You newsletter is a good one. This past week it was a letter to parents of teens, many of whom are struggling right now, plus a selection of expert pandemic parenting advice.

Parenting teenagers in the middle of a once-in-100-years pandemic is hard, doing so while they are applying to college in a year when the whole college process has blown up, and it’s even harder.

Check out the newsletter or signup here.

 

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Our Early Admit List!

Our Early Admit List!

By Brittany MaschalFeb 02, 2021

Our students rock! We are grateful they chose to have us along for the ride, and this year, an extraordinarily tough year, we are so so proud of the work they put in. Their efforts do not go unnoticed by colleges, either. Although we are believers that the journey is just as sweet as the reward, we are celebrating the reward (acceptances) in this post. 

Below you will find some of the schools our students have been admitted to so far:

Boston College
Boston University
Carnegie Mellon
Coastal Carolina
College of Charleston
Columbia University
Cornell 
Drexel
Duke
Elon
Embry Riddle
Fairfield
Fordham
Georgetown
Georgia Tech
Grand Valley State
Hope College
Indiana University
Knox College
Lehigh
Loyola Marymount (CA)
Miami Ohio
Michigan State
New York University
Northeastern 
Oakland University
Ohio State University
Ole Miss
Pace University
Penn State
Providence College
Rollins College
Southern Methodist University
Temple University
Texas Christian University
Tufts
Tulane
Union
University of Arizona
University of Delaware
University of Georgia
University of Massachusetts, Amherst
University of Miami
University of Michigan
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh
University of Richmond
University of South Carolina
University of Tampa
University of Tennessee
University of Texas, Austin
University of Vermont
University of Wisconsin
West Virginia University
William and Mary
Xavier University

…and many more on the way for the class of 2021 (college class of 2025)!

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Seniors & Juniors: Get On LinkedIn

Seniors & Juniors: Get On LinkedIn

By Brittany MaschalJan 31, 2021

No, admissions officers are not widely looking for applicants to have LinkedIn profiles yet, although some colleges do have a space for a profile link (or other media link, like your YouTube channel, GitHub, or blog) on their Common App “Questions” section. 

Building a comprehensive LinkedIn profile is a vital first step to setting yourself up for max exposure in your early career, and maintaining a presence on the site is just as crucial as you navigate career changes, pivots, launch new ventures, and make other notable moves.

So why create one in high school? 

Even prior to COVID-19, students were online, and colleges were there, too. But today, and likely moving forward, online platforms are going to become increasingly important for sharing information — and not just between friends and family. Colleges have been trying to meet students where they are (in the past, Facebook and Snapchat, today, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok), but many students are not taking advantage of the forum for connection that LinkedIn provides. We believe they should!

Beyond connecting with colleges and having a formal (and lifelong) space to record your career and extracurricular progression (extra coursework, publications, volunteerism, etc.), LinkedIn is the perfect place to connect to favorite teachers, coaches, counselors (us!) and mentors, and make it easy to stay in touch. “Networking” (aka building meaningful relationships) does not start when you enter the workforce, it starts now. 

LinkedIn publishes guides for students. Here is one to get you started:

https://university.linkedin.com/content/dam/university/global/en_US/site/pdf/TipSheet_BuildingaGreatProfile.pdf

A few additional tips:

  • Keep your profile current! If there are only two things you always keep updated, make sure you have an accurate headline and location. Set a calendar reminder to update your profile every 3-4 months.
  • Customize your public profile URL. Mine is https://www.linkedin.com/in/brittanymaschal. Fancy!
  • Use professional and accurate photos. No cropped shots where the shoulder of your best friend shows in the corner! Have a friend take one that looks like a professional headshot or use your school photo/yearbook photo. Including a simple background photo is also a nice touch.
  • Don’t be shy! Showcase your accomplishments, ask people who have taught you or who you have worked with for recommendations, and connect with everyone you know!

Want help setting up your LinkedIn profile? Contact us today!

 

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SoCal College Collab Event: Chapman, Pepperdine & University of San Diego

SoCal College Collab Event: Chapman, Pepperdine & University of San Diego

By Brittany MaschalJan 29, 2021

Admission representatives and current students from each school will serve as panelists to provide you with an introduction to the unique aspects of each institution, from academics to student life.

Programming will include overviews of each university, current student interviews, and application advice. The last 30 minutes will be a Q & A session with the school of your choice.

Please register here.

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LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges & Universities

LGBTQ-Friendly Colleges & Universities

By Brittany MaschalJan 25, 2021

For nearly two decades, Campus Pride has advocated and supported college and university campuses to improve LGBTQ campus life and change institutional policies, programs and practices.  The Campus Pride Index (CPI), located at www.CampusPrideIndex.org, provides an invaluable benchmarking tool to assess LGBTQ-inclusion efforts from academics, to student life, to housing, to recruitment and retention activities. There are nearly 400 colleges that have “come out” on the index and hundreds of thousands who utilize the public search to find LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities annually.

At the end of 2020, Campus Pride chose to put a spotlight on the regional diversity of the list by highlighting colleges and universities by region. Campus Pride works with over 1400 colleges and universities annually to improve the quality of campus life for LGBTQ people and to create safer, more inclusive campus communities. Sixty percent of their work is dedicated to working with colleges in the South, Midwest and campuses within more rural communities. 

Check it out here!

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Move Over Testing

Move Over Testing

By Brittany MaschalJan 20, 2021

Testing has been on the way out for some time now, and 2021 just might be the year that we see test blind—even beyond SAT subject tests—become more prevalent. 

So with testing on its way out, what’s in?

  • Being interesting, bold, different, eclectic in your interests and pursuits outside of “school”
  • Excellence in something (or a few things), but real excellence, like wow excellence
  • A deep interest in something (or a few things), but real depth, like wow depth
  • Forging your own path…

But this isn’t anything new.

In the past, the most successful applicants we have gotten to know were those who had competitive grades, competitive scores (maybe even a laundry list of them), and on top of that—for the most selective schools—had an interesting resume that told a clear and compelling story. Some activities were even a bit out-of-the-box, rare/unique, or at best a bit surprising; surprising is wonderful in college admissions because so many applications are just the same. If an applicant took an interest to a depth uncommon for someone in high school, even better. 

At the most selective schools, everyone has awesome grades and test scores. One of the main reasons so many applications don’t stand out has nothing to do with testing or grades, but a student’s resume and activities—their life outside of coursework. Many students feel like they are doing something wrong if they are not doing what everyone around them is, like play multiple sports, joining Science Olympiad or Debate, NHS, Interact/Key Club, and minimally taking part in a bunch of other clubs or “service” opportunities they don’t really care about. They do this instead of pursuing a few activities deeply, especially if those activities are not what their peers are doing. 

If we keep moving toward a test-less or less test-heavy college admissions model, students will hopefully have more time to focus on their interests outside of school. What these interests are, and the depth in which they are genuinely pursued, might become more important than ever before as we see the bar on that front rise. 

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