Bard, Colorado College & RISD leaving the U.S. News rankings
We’ve said it before, and we’ll say it again, the U.S. News rankings are total garbage!
Very happy to see selective schools opting out of this completely non-objective bogus list that emphasizes popularity and $$ over just about everything else. Read more about CC and RISD here. Bard here.
William D. Adams also writes that it’s time for all colleges to follow the lead of Colorado College and drop U.S. News.
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From a teen’s perspective: dealing with college admission stress
I came across an article by a student at Menlo Atherton (Dylan Lanier) that I wanted to share. You can access it here or read it below.
I’m 20+ years out from college (and a low-stress application process), but my days are wrapped up in this world. When I think about college admissions today compared to even a few years ago, the #1 thing that stands out is how much more stressful it is for everyone involved. The number of students (and almost always, they are excellent top students) we see presenting mental health red flags is far too high.
Where you go to college is…simply where you go to college. It’s four years of exploration, developing independence, and figuring it out. I hope both students and parents who are in or approaching this process can keep in mind that it’s a four-year stop on a long journey; it’s not the end game, and it’s not an ultimate goal.
—
It’s that time of year again: No, not Pisces season. College acceptance — and rejection — season.
At M-A, the energy is electric, and not always in the best way. Seniors are on pins-and-needles waiting for letters to come back from the colleges they applied to a few months back. Juniors, on the other hand, are already stressing about their own applications to come next year.
While I recognize the importance of higher education, I think that too many of us compromise our mental health by spending countless hours worrying about college. It’s important to enforce practices in your daily life that help you decompress. Not only will you be a happier and healthier person, but you will perform better in all areas of your life. You can’t crush that AP Lit test if you’re only thinking about college! So, here are some of the ways I find most effective to de-stress:
1. Time Away: Find a relaxing activity you truly enjoy, be it hiking, painting, or reading on the couch. Set a designated time for yourself each day or week to spend solely on that recreation. I recommend choosing a hobby that requires a lot of focus in order to prevent your mind from wandering back to college.
2. Community: Your family and friends are great resources for support and distraction. Go out to dinner, watch a movie, or just talk about everything under the sun other than college. Connecting with others will not only lift your spirits but place your attention on them instead of your own worries.
3. New Goals: The reason college admissions are so stressful is that we view them as the ultimate goal. Therefore, pick new, smaller goals that can help you satiate that need for accomplishment, such as learning an instrument or holding a bake sale for a local charity.
4. Mindfulness: Look, when I first tried meditation, I was just as skeptical about its benefits. But I can confidently say that it has considerably lowered my stress level and allowed me to reflect on my life without the typical emotional responses. I recommend downloading an app like Calm or finding guided mindfulness meditations on YouTube to help you commit to and get the most out of the practice.
Acknowledging your college stress and recognizing the negativity it brings into your life is the most important step. Understand how it’s impacting your daily life and respond accordingly with specific, customized strategies to limit those effects.
However you choose to de-stress, be sure to fully commit to the process. Take it from a fellow student: Nothing is more important than your well-being, and taking concrete steps to improve it will yield exponential benefits. Best of luck in your collegiate endeavors and your journey to de-stress!
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Colleges Where Demonstrated Interest is Important or Very Important
What is demonstrated interest?
Demonstrated interest (DI) is something universities measure to determine the level of interest a student has in their school. It may include:
- Signing up for a mailing list
- Opening and clicking through emails
- Reading a school’s website
- Attending a webinar or virtual info session
- Attending an on-campus info session or tour
- Attending a college fair and talking to an admissions rep
- Talking to students, staff, or faculty
- Submitting optional components of an application
- Following or engaging with a school on social media
- Applying early decision
College Kickstart has compiled a list of popular colleges where the Common Data Set entry for “level of applicant’s interest” is reported as important or very important. Head over to their site for the list!
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Early Decision Continues to Attract Students
Inside Higher Ed’s headline, not ours 😉
But yes, it’s still ED or bust at many top US colleges, and those spots are getting even harder to come by. As the ED application numbers rise, a change in strategy is often needed. Our prediction:
“In” in 2023 –> match schools in ED.
“Out” in 2023 –> overreaching in ED (or SCEA or REA!).
Find an interesting article on the use of early decision here!
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Choices and Options: A Blueprint for College Admission for Everyone
Everyone should read the Georgia Tech admissions blog.
Read rick Clark’s recent post here. For juniors, this section for seniors is important. Read it now, and read it again this summer when you finalize your college list.
Be reminded that your chances of being admitted to a school with an admit rate below 20% do not go up 20% by applying to 20% more of those schools. Trade out “dream school” for IRL colleges. Apply to a group of schools (you figure out the number but generally more than 2 and less than 10) where you know you will be thrilled to get in and excited to go.*
*and we might add: where you can actually get in! Thanks always, Georgia Tech, for keeping it real!
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Best Summer Programs & Activities for High School Students: Engineering
As part of your college application, extracurricular activities—including those over the summer— help demonstrate your intellectual curiosity and commitment to an area of study (typically, the one you might pursue in college).
But “programs” are not the only way to explore academic interests. You can join clubs at your school or locally, take free online classes via edX and Coursera, shadow, or intern (aka volunteer for most students)—there are tons of options ranging from super formal (and pricey) to those as simple as reading in your free time.
The following are some of our favorites for students interested in exploring engineering.
Lincoln Laboratory Radar Introduction for Student Engineers (LLRISE)
The LLRISE program is a two-week summer institute for rising seniors that teaches students how to build small radar systems. The project-based enrichment program challenges students to build a Doppler and range radar.
COSMOS UCSD, US Irvine, UC Santa Cruz, UC Davis
The COSMOS program is a four-week residential program designed by the UC schools. Each campus focuses on different subject areas, all admitting their own “cluster” of students. The courses are taught by UC faculty and researchers. Students choose from nine different clusters, which include engineering design, biodiesel from renewable sources, tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, and more.
MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute
The MIT Beaver Works Summer Institute (BWSI) is a rigorous, world-class STEM program for talented students who will be entering their senior year in high school. The four-week program teaches STEM skills through project-based, workshop-style courses. BWSI began in 2016 with a single course offered to 46 students, a mix of local daytime students and out of-state residential students. In this course, RACECAR (Rapid Autonomous Complex Environment Competing Ackermann steering), students programmed small robotic cars to autonomously navigate a racetrack. It is a 4-week residential program for rising high school seniors and the program is free.
National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Summer High School Intern Program Research
NIST research is subdivided into six organizational NIST laboratories that conduct research in a wide variety of physical and engineering sciences. The labs respond to industry needs for measurement methods, tools, data, and technology. Six laboratories participate in the SHIP program.
- Communications Technology Laboratory (CTL)
- Engineering Laboratory (EL)
- Information Technology Laboratory (ITL)
- Material Measurement Laboratory (MML)
- NIST Center for Neutron Research (NCNR)
- Physical Measurement Laboratory (PML)
Due to the multi-disciplinary nature of NIST’s research, students should look through the different websites above to discover a best-fit project area. The following information describes the types of research performed by each laboratory. See research projects done in previous years.
MIT Women’s Technology Program (WTP)
The MIT Women’s Technology Program (WTP) is a rigorous four-week summer academic experience to introduce high school students to engineering through hands-on classes, labs, and team-based projects in the summer after 11th grade.
WTP is designed for students who are excited about learning, have demonstrated their ability to excel at math and science in their high school classes, and who have no prior background (or very little) in engineering or computer science, with few opportunities to explore these fields.
WTP is a women-focused, collaborative community aimed at empowering students from groups historically underrepresented and underserved in engineering. We especially encourage students to apply who will be the first family member to attend college, who come from high schools with limited access to STEM classes and activities, or who are African American, Hispanic, or Native American.
Minority Introduction to Engineering and Science (MITES)
The MITES program is a six-week long residential program geared towards rising seniors from underrepresented or underserved communities. The program aims to provide the skills and knowledge necessary for pursuing a career in the STEM fields. Students take one math course, one life sciences course, one physics course, one humanities course and an elective course. Placement is determined by diagnostic tests that are administered to all students during the orientation period of the program.
A 10-day program that exposes students to fundamental AI concepts and guides them to build a socially impactful AI project. The program runs as a 10-session (40-hour) project-based Bootcamp.
CATALYST Academy is a one-week residential program for rising high school juniors and seniors from underrepresented backgrounds who desire to learn about engineering and careers within an interactive milieu.
Google Computer Science Institute (Summer Before COLLEGE!)
Google’s Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI) is a three-week introduction to computer science (CS) for graduating high school seniors with a passion for technology — especially students from historically underrepresented groups in the field. CSSI is not your average summer camp. It’s an intensive, interactive, hands-on, and fun program that seeks to inspire the tech leaders and innovators of tomorrow by supporting the study of computer science, software engineering, and other closely-related subjects. It is a 3-week program and it is free.
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Pre-Law Pathways, “Sample” College Classes, and Going Beyond Traditional Info Sessions
Traditional virtual info sessions can get… repetitive. An excellent example of a school that is mixing it up and offering prospective applicants different opportunities is Syracuse! Check out some of them below:
Opportunities for Pre-Law
Hoping to pursue law school or interested in a law-related career? Discover the resources and opportunities available to all Syracuse students through our Pre-Law Advising Office and have your questions answered by Pre-Law advisors and current students.
Wednesday, December 7, 6-7 p.m. EST (click date for link, virtual)
Sample College Classes
Join us for one of our sample classes based on real courses taught at Syracuse University. These classes are open to all prospective students — no matter your desired academic program.
A Day in the Life of a Biomedical Engineer in the Hospital
Monday, December 5, 7-8 p.m. EST (click date for link, virtual)
Introduction to Cybersecurity
Thursday, December 8, 7-8 p.m. EST (click date for link, virtual)
Other virtual sessions this week:
- Admissions Information Session: Monday, December 5 at 7 p.m. EST
- Student Panel Q&A: Monday, December 5 at 8 p.m. EST
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We’re Grateful For…
The chance to help students (and parents!) tackle the process of applying to college. It means a lot to us!
Seniors: if you recently applied or are in the process of applying to college, my guess is you didn’t do it alone. Say thank you to the people who helped you make it happen, such as parents, guidance counselors, teachers, “other” letter of recommendation writers, admissions officers who hosted special events at your high school, friends who read your essays, and test prep tutors, just to name a few!
Why do I think this is important? An attitude of gratitude is—according to positive psychology research—strongly and consistently associated with greater happiness. Harvard agrees.
Also super grateful for our entire team and their dedication to supporting students and families. Happy Thanksgiving!
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Colleges Requiring the Self-Reported Academic Record (SRAR)
Some colleges require a form called the SSAR or the SRAR when you apply to college. It is a self-reported transcript and it speeds up the admissions process tremendously at many schools.
Please read the application instructions for each and every school on your list. The Application Instructions or the “Steps to Applying” will inform you if it is required.
Please see a list of colleges and universities that accept the SSAR-SRAR for current high school seniors below. This list can change and is from a secondary source; please read your app instructions carefully!
| BAYLOR UNIVERSITY | OPTIONAL |
| BINGHAMTON UNIVERSITY, STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK | OPTIONAL |
| CLEMSON UNIVERSITY | REQUIRED |
| DUQUESNE UNIVERSITY | OPTIONAL |
| FLORIDA A & M UNIVERSITY | REQUIRED |
| FLORIDA POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY | OPTIONAL |
| FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY | REQUIRED |
| KEAN UNIVERSITY | OPTIONAL |
| LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY | OPTIONAL |
| NEW COLLEGE OF FLORIDA | OPTIONAL |
| NEW YORK UNIVERSITY (NYU) | REQUIRED |
| PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITY | REQUIRED |
| RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, CAMDEN | REQUIRED |
| RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, NEWARK | REQUIRED |
| RUTGERS UNIVERSITY, NEW BRUNSWICK | REQUIRED |
| TEXAS A&M UNIVERSITY | REQUIRED |
| TEXAS TECH UNIVERSITY | REQUIRED |
| UNIVERSITY AT BUFFALO, STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK | OPTIONAL |
| UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT | OPTIONAL |
| UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE | REQUIRED |
| UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA TWIN CITIES | REQUIRED |
| UNIVERSITY OF OREGON | REQUIRED |
| UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH | REQUIRED |
| UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE, KNOXVILLE | REQUIRED |
| UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT SAN ANTONIO | REQUIRED |
| UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA | REQUIRED |
| UNIVERSITY OF NORTH FLORIDA | OPTIONAL |
| UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH FLORIDA | REQUIRED |
| UNIVERSITY OF WEST FLORIDA | REQUIRED |
| VIRGINIA TECH | REQUIRED |
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