SAT/ACT Writing Section? Probably Not Needed!

By Brittany MaschalJul 11, 2019
Photo by Matt Ragland on Unsplash

Fellow IECA member Cigus Vanni is the master of lists. He created many that he shares with fellow IEC’s, and one sheds light on that almost no colleges continue to require or recommend the writing portion of the SAT or ACT. The biggest exception is the UC system, which still requires it.

Here’s his list as of 6/27:

Abilene Christian University (TX) – recommend

Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences (NY) – recommend

Augsburg College (MN) – recommend (note: Augsburg is a test-optional school)

Berry College (GA) – require ACT, neither require nor recommend SAT

College of Charleston (SC) – recommend

Duke University (NC) – recommend

 Eastern Illinois University – recommend ACT; neither require nor recommend SAT

Manhattan College (NY) – recommend; used for placement in writing courses, not for admission to school

Martin Luther College (MN) – require ACT, neither require nor recommend SAT

Michigan State University – recommend

Montana State University – recommend; used for placement in writing courses, not for admission to school

Oregon State University – recommend SAT; neither require nor recommend ACT

Rhode Island College – require ACT, neither require nor recommend SAT

Saint Anselm College (NH) – recommend (note: Saint Anselm is a test optional school)

Saint Norbert College (WI) – recommend

Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania – recommend

Soka University of America (CA) – require

State University of New York at Buffalo – recommend

Texas State University – recommend ACT

United States Military Academy (NY) – require

University of California Berkeley – require

University of California Davis – require

University of California Irvine – require

University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) – require

University of California Merced – require

University of California Riverside – require

University of California San Diego – require

University of California Santa Barbara – require

University of California Santa Cruz – require

University of Evansville (IN) – require (note: Evansville is a test optional school)

University of Mary Hardin Baylor (TX) – require

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities – recommend

University of Montana – recommend

University of Montana Western – require ACT, recommend SAT

VanderCook College of Music (IL) – require

Webb Institute of Naval Architecture (NY) – recommend

 

NOTE:  All information current with the updating of this list on June 26, 2019.  Be sure to check with each college to which you apply before you register for any standardized test as requirements can change.

Thank you, Cigus!

 

 

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Putting Your Best Foot Forward: The Short List

By Brittany MaschalJul 08, 2019
Photo by Matese Fields on Unsplash

I am going to keep this one short and sweet and welcome anyone who wants more info or wants to understand “how” to reach out to me directly.

Here’s how you put your best foot forward in college admissions:

-Grades that meet or exceed the standards of the schools to which you are applying

-Test scores that meet or exceed the standards of the schools to which you are applying (if the school’s you are applying to require them)

-Authentic and long-term community engagement

-Values that match the school’s

When one of these factors does not meet the standards of the school to which you are applying, your likelihood of admission decreases.

I hope to hear from you all!

 

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Off to College

By Brittany MaschalJun 28, 2019

Congrats to the graduates of the high school Class of 2019!

Here’s where our ’19 grads—who hail from 3 continents and 8+ states across the US—are headed this fall:

Berkeley

Boston College

Brown

Cal Poly SLO

Colby (2)

Cornell (3)

Dartmouth

Duke

Edinburgh (2)

Elon

Fordham

George Washington University (3)

Georgetown (2)

Lehigh

Rollins

Princeton

The University of Massachusets, Amherst

The University of Miami (2)

The University of Michigan (3)

The University of Minnesota

The Ohio State University

The University of Pennsylvania

The University of Washington

UCLA (2)

Vanderbilt

 

Congrats!!

 

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Annual Summer Reading List

By Brittany MaschalJun 25, 2019
Photo by Fabiola Peñalba on Unsplash

For years, Valerie Strauss has published an annual summer reading list assembled by Brennan Barnard, the director of college counseling at the private Derryfield School in New Hampshire and college admission program manager of the Making Caring Common project of the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Barnard asks fellow high school college admissions counselors as well as college admissions deans for recommendations of books for students and parents to read. Some of the several dozen suggestions are related to the education world, and some are not.

You can find the full 2019 list here.

I have my own reading list for this year, and I am excited to add a few from his list. I am currently reading The Moment of Lift: How Empowering Women Changes the World by Melinda Gates. It was a slow start for me, but I am glad I kept reading; there are some wonderful messages around unity, inclusion, and connection, and I have enjoyed learning about her early years at Microsoft, how she ramped up her work in their foundation, and even her relationship with Bill. I was not expecting to learn about their relationship at all! How she weaves together data and storytelling appeals to me, and I more now than before (which I did not think was possible) believe that when you lift up women, you lift up humanity. This book is a call to action if you did not feel compelled already.

I have also read the following books this year:

  • Boy Erased
  • Difficult Women  
  • Brave, Not Perfect: Fear Less, Fail More, and Live Bolder
  • Fraternity
  • Becoming
  • To The Next Step
  • The Path Made Clear

And I will be adding the following from Barnard’s list to my list:

It seems that on almost every book list related to college, Julie Lythcott-Haims’ book is included, and I could not be more happy about that!!! I absolutely loved this book when I read it and its messages are as powerful and relevant today as they were in 2015. I suggest all parents read this book:

“How to Raise an Adult: Break Free of the Overparenting Trap and Prepare Your Kid for Success” by Julie Lythcott-Haims

Happy reading!!!

 

 

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Young Women in Business: GenHERation Events

By Brittany MaschalJun 22, 2019
Photo by Pedro Lastra on Unsplash

GenHERation Invitationals 

You are invited to find your dream job! GenHERation Invitationals are half-day career immersion programs that allow high school and college women to work alongside female executives at the most innovative companies in America. These events are your direct line to recruiters looking to hire talented young women for internships and full-time positions. Companies outline the applicant profile for available positions and we invite GenHERation members to apply in order to demonstrate their qualifications in person. Before each event, we share the candidates’ resumes with the companies and after the event we provide actionable next steps to continue the application process.

We will be announcing new invitationals every month and you can currently sign up for the following events:

  • GSK: Wednesday, August 7, 2019 (Philadelphia, PA)
  • AT&T: Friday, September 6, 2019 (Dallas, TX)
  • Capital One: Friday, November 1, 2019 (Richmond, VA)

If you are selected to attend an Invitational, your ticket cost is covered by the host company.

Apply today HERE!

GenHERation Discovery Days 2019

Join us for our largest summer tour yet! GenHERation Discovery Days 2019 are immersive day trips that provide high school and college women with the opportunity to visit the most innovative companies in America. Participants will travel throughout a selected city by bus, which serves as an educational incubator complete with guided discussions by industry mentors. More than 50 companies are participating, including Ernst & Young, Capital One, Facebook, Netflix, Google, National Geographic, GSK, NFP, DLL, Expedia, Hartford Funds, Adobe, Nordstrom, Amazon, Microsoft, Twitter, Lucasfilm, NASA, IBM, Pizza Hut, Fossil, Pixar, CBS, Viacom, AllSaints, Bloomingdale’s, Urban Outfitters, the Philadelphia 76ers, and the Los Angeles Lakers.

Schedule

  • 6/24: Dallas (SOLD OUT!)
  • 6/26: Austin
  • 7/8-7/9: Seattle (1 SEAT LEFT!)
  • 7/10-7/11: Los Angeles
  • 7/15-7/16: San Francisco
  • 7/22-7/23: Charlotte
  • 7/24-7/25: Washington, D.C.
  • 7/31: New York City
  • 8/1: Chicago
  • 8/6: Philadelphia

Tickets are selling out fast! Reserve your seat HERE!

Watch us on ABC San Francisco, NBC Los Angeles, and NBC Seattle to learn more about GenHERation Discovery Days!

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The One Prize That Matters Most

By Brittany MaschalJun 15, 2019

Life is not a contest, and the world is not an arena. Just by being here, unique among all others, offering contributions that no one else can give, you have already won the one prize that matters most.

I read an interesting Opinion piece in the Times the other day, that ended with the quote above. The title, “Let’s Hear It for the Average Child” confused me a bit, because there is nothing presented that shouts “average” to me, and I don’t see how being a student “whose talents lie outside the arena” makes one at all “average,” however average is defined (which is not clear in this piece).

But I “get it” and love the overarching message: you don’t need to be an award-winning, straight-A-getter, popular, all-subjects-enjoying, all-star athlete. Often, student’s whose gifts don’t translate to how society rewards them are the biggest “winners” of all.

It’s too bad we don’t more often—and outwardly—award students who are kind, compassionate, empathetic, self-aware, reflective and who have developed an understanding of how the world works on a deeper level. The students who get that it’s not all about their grades, or their resume, or where they go to college. In fact, it’s not even all about them.

I can’t wait for the day that colleges seek to measure and reward Margaret Renkl‘s “average” student. Until then, I’ll keep encouraging students to do the best they can in school but also to actively pursue their genuine interests, whatever they are, and engage with their communities (home, school, online, wherever they find and develop them!) in a positive and meaningful way. School is a central, significant part of your life in your teens and twenties, but it is not who you are, and it does not define you. 

 

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It’s College Essay Time!

By Brittany MaschalJun 14, 2019

Summer is the best time to write your college application essays, and it’s a process you can and should start now!

The essay writing process might be challenging at times, but it should also be rewarding. Our goal is not only to help students write essays they are proud of and that showcase who they really are to colleges but also to help them improve as writers, so they arrive at college confident and ready to tackle higher-level writing requirements.

Meet our essay experts:

Meet Emma: Emma grew up in NYC but left for Phillips Academy Andover, where she boarded all four years. Before starting at Harvard in 2008, Emma took a gap year during which she worked at a nonprofit in Ghana, taught English in South Korea, began learning Russian in St. Petersburg and took care of horses in the French countryside. At Harvard, she concentrated in Russian History and Literature, studying abroad in St. Petersburg, Russia for multiple summers; she graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude. After graduation, she returned to New York and worked in book publishing for two years before attending the Iowa Writers’ Workshop as a poet, where she taught literature and creative writing. She has since taught composition at various universities, worked as a professional freelance editor, and privately tutored high school students in writing.

Meet Kris: A New Yorker born in Lithuania, Kris graduated from Harvard with a BA in economics, and completed his MFA in fiction at the Iowa Writers’ Workshop, where he received the top student and post-graduate fellowship funding, and where his thesis advisor was Pulitzer Prize winner Paul Harding. In between those two degrees, he worked in finance in Vietnam, started an education consulting company in China, and taught lawyers in Lithuania. His essays and photography have appeared in various outlets, including The Economist’s Intelligent Life magazine, The Browser and The Millions. He splits his time between New Mexico and New York and is working on a novel.

Want to work with Emma or Kris? Contact us to schedule a free, 30-minute consultation call and learn more about our essay process!

 

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College Applications Benefit From Focus

By Brittany MaschalJun 12, 2019

Until colleges start honestly looking for students who aren’t hyper-focused, I find myself having to make clear that students who drill down on their interests early on in high school will be better positioned to tell a clear, focused story in their college applications, and might have an advantage. Being well-rounded is fantastic, but colleges are looking for students with something unique, a specific talent, skill, goal, or interest to add to value to their next class. With a more focused application, you hand the reader of your file precisely what they are looking for—you make it easy to see your value add, and sadly, fit into one of the many boxes they try to place applicants in.

There are some other arguments toward being more narrow, focused. You may love all five (or more honestly, ten…) clubs you are in and the three sports you play, but how much can you meaningfully contribute to all of these activities? Chances are not that much, and by spreading yourself so thin, you’re not making much of an impact in any single one of them.

If you want to have a bigger impact, while at the same time create a profile that might be more appealing to admissions officers, try to narrow down your interests and corresponding activities by the end of 10th grade, and think about how you can engage more meaningfully and at a higher level in the one or two things you love the most. It’s a bonus if these activities relate to your potential college major, or support it in some way, as well as demonstrate a commitment to serving someone other than yourself. If you are not sure what that means or how that translates in a college app, email us.

Drilling down on your interests to develop a clear story or narrative for your college apps will go a long way in the admissions process, and is one of the focus areas of our college counseling work with high school students.

Remember, colleges seek to build a well-rounded class comprised of students with unique talents and skills, not a class full of unfocused students or generalists. If this changes, we will definitely be posting about it here!

 

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UVA 2019-2020 Essay Questions Released (Small Change Only)

By Brittany MaschalJun 07, 2019
Photo by Kaitlyn Baker on Unsplash

One small change for question two. This prompt:

UVA students are charged with pushing the boundaries of knowledge to serve others and contribute to the common good. Give us an example of how you’ve used what you’ve learned to make a positive impact in another person’s life.

Was replaced with a new prompt:

UVA students are charged with living honorably and upholding a Community of Trust. Give us an example of a community that is important to you and how you worked to strengthen that community.

Essay 1 and 2, here:

1. We are looking for passionate students to join our diverse community of scholars, researchers, and artists. Answer the question that corresponds to the school/program to which you are applying in a half page or roughly 250 words.

  • College of Arts and Sciences – What work of art, music, science, mathematics, or literature has surprised, unsettled, or challenged you, and in what way?
  • School of Engineering and Applied Sciences – If you were given funding for a small engineering project that would make everyday life better for one friend or family member, what would you design?
  • School of Architecture – Describe an instance or place where you have been inspired by architecture or design.
  • School of Nursing – School of Nursing applicants may have experience shadowing, volunteering, or working in a health care environment. Tell us about a healthcare-related experience or another significant interaction that deepened your interest in studying Nursing
  • Kinesiology Program – Discuss experiences that led you to choose the kinesiology major.

2. Answer one of the following questions in a half page or roughly 250 words. 

  • What’s your favorite word and why?
  • We are a community with quirks, both in language and in traditions. Describe one of your quirks and why it is part of who you are.
  • Student self-governance, which encourages student investment and initiative, is a hallmark of the UVA culture. In her fourth year at UVA, Laura Nelson was inspired to create Flash Seminars, one-time classes which facilitate high-energy discussion about thought-provoking topics outside of traditional coursework. If you created a Flash Seminar, what idea would you explore and why?
  • UVA students paint messages on Beta Bridge when they want to share information with our community. What would you paint on Beta Bridge and why is this your message
  • UVA students are charged with living honorably and upholding a Community of Trust. Give us an example of a community that is important to you and how you worked to strengthen that community.
This post originally appeared on Notes from Peabody, the UVA admission blog at http://uvaapplication.blogspot.com/

 

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Academic/Career Exploration for Pre-Business Majors: Free Online Courses

By Brittany MaschalJun 04, 2019

There are so many awesome (and free) beginner level courses online, it is a missed opportunity to not take advantage of at least one or two if you plan to study business in college. Here are a few of my favorites—many are self-paced—that you can sign up to take now.

Yale: Financial Markets

Michigan: Risk, Return & Valuation

Michigan: Bonds and Stocks

UVA: Introduction to Personal Branding

Penn:  Social Impact Strategy: Tools for Entrepreneurs and Innovators

Illinois: Financial Planning for Young Adults

To take the course for free, select enroll now and the option that reads “Full Course, No Certificate.” You will still have access to all course materials for this course without paying. Contact us if you have questions about Coursera classes and how they translate, and are useful, on college applications.

 

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