Weekly Update: June 5

Good luck with finals for those of you taking them this week!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

SUNY ACCEPTS 125,000 STUDENTS

The State University of New York is sending out 125,000 acceptance letters to graduating high school seniors. No, they aren’t students who applied - the acceptances are automatic, with the goal of encouraging more high school seniors to enroll in college. We’ve discussed here before how the pandemic exacerbated a decline in enrollment that has been happening over the last decade, and this is the latest attempt by the SUNY system to enroll more students in local community colleges. 

GW JOINS ASSOCIATION OF AMERICAN UNIVERSITIES

The Association of American Universities, an invitation-only organization that comprises the country’s top research institutions, recently gained six new members - including GW. This expansion brings the AAU to its largest-ever membership of 71 schools, also welcoming Arizona State, the University of Miami, and Notre Dame. UC Riverside and the University of South Florida were admitted as well.

This prestigious organization was founded in 1900 by schools including Harvard, Johns Hopkins, and UC Berkeley. 

VIRAL VIDEO LEADS TO FULL-RIDE SCHOLARSHIP

Just a few months after going viral for his video response to his Morehouse College acceptance, Amir Staten got more good news - he was named one of Morehouse’s Bonner Scholars, earning a four-year full-ride scholarship. Morehouse College’s dean said that the selection panel had not seen the video before selecting Amir for the scholarship, though he was personally moved by the student’s excitement over attending Morehouse. 

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

The rise of ChatGPT and other AI models has led to a lot of speculation about the future of the job market - and maybe we should be worried! Two University of Washington students recently won UW’s startup competition and $25,000 with their AI college counseling platform. The platform takes in data from students’ high school performance to offer advice on course selection, strategies for extracurricular activities, and help with the college search. Right now, the platform is maxed out at 30 users, as the college-student founders are doing some 1:1 counseling work themselves while they work on automating the entire process. This isn’t the first time a startup has tried to automate college counseling - for now, we think that a real-life counselor is the way to go! 

We are potentially just days away from the Supreme Court rendering a decision on the use of affirmative action in college admissions, and the expectation is that the conservative Court will abolish or limit affirmative action. We’ve seen a lot of articles speculating on what the ruling will ultimately mean for college admissions, including this one from David Brooks. He argues that the current admissions process creates an “elite” educated class, and that the race-based affirmative action programs at many schools should be replaced by class-based affirmative action in the admissions process. We will be eagerly awaiting the decision and tracking the impact it has on the admissions process moving forward.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

My top tips for parents who are sending their students off to college in the fall were featured in U.S. News’ Parents’ Guide to Freshman Year this week - the whole article is a great read if you are saying goodbye to your senior! While I know it can be challenging as a parent, sometimes the best thing you can do for your student is allow them to advocate for themselves and make mistakes - while always serving as a sounding board and supporter as they navigate this next step. 

Our juniors are starting to finalize their lists and several have moved onto early supplemental essay work! While we know that summer is busy for these students, we also know that they will be excited come senior year to have all of this work behind them. 

Have a great week - the last week of school for some of you!

Weekly Update: May 15

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

VARSITY BLUES FRAUD CONVICTIONS OVERTURNED

Two parents who were convicted in the Varsity Blues scandal had their convictions overturned this week by a federal appeals court. The court overturned all convictions against Gamal Abdelaziz and all but one conviction of another parent, John Wilson.  

The federal judges on the case determined that the two parents did not knowingly commit fraud, believing that they were making legitimate donations to the universities. We’ll be paying attention to how this development affects the 50+ convictions of other parents in the aftermath of Varsity Blues. 

NEVER TOO LATE TO GRADUATE

A 72-year-old man graduated from Georgia Gwinnett College last week. After raising 5 kids and 15 grandchildren, Sam Kaplan got his degree in Cinema and Media Arts with his 99-year-old mother and several of his children in the audience. He hopes to become a screenwriter. 

Meanwhile, at Texas Lutheran University, senior Ashley Adams is making university history by graduating alongside both of her parents on Saturday. We believe that everyone should have the chance to get their degree - but we have to say, we’re not sure many of our students would love having their parents on the same campus!

FREE TUITION PROGRAM IN MINNESOTA

The Minnesota House and Senate passed a bill that includes a free tuition program for students coming from families that make less than $80,000 per year. The program will allow Minnesota students to attend public colleges and universities for free, covering any tuition costs left over after state and federal grants and institutional scholarships. Now, these students will not need to take out loans to cover their education!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

This CNBC article is a reality check for some college students when it comes to starting salary. Job prospects look good for the graduating class of 2023, who are graduating into a strong job market, and the average starting salary for new graduates is $56,000. However, a survey found that college students expect to be making nearly $85,000 just one year after graduating - a difference of 30K! In fact, the same survey found that many college graduates say they wouldn’t take a job for less than $72,000 - lower than the average expectation, but much higher than the average starting salary. While salary expectations vary widely across industries, it is smart for students to do their research so they can manage their expectations upon entering the workforce. 

DC local Yasmine Arrington started ScholarCHIPS - a scholarship nonprofit to assisted Children of Incarcerated Parents - when she was just sixteen years old. The child of an incarcerated parent herself, Yasmine started the organization to provide a safe space for students who need support - many of whom have not disclosed at school or to their friends that their parent is incarcerated. Since the organization was created in 2010, it has awarded over $450,000 in scholarships to more than 80 students. In addition to scholarships, the organization provides each student with a laptop, access to an emergency fund, check-ins throughout the year, and the option of being matched with a mentor. Students can apply or get involved here, or donate to ScholarCHIPS here. Of course, do your research before you donate, as we have not vetted this organization - just passing it along!

We hope the moms out there had a wonderful mother’s day yesterday! My own mom sent this article to me about the #1 phrase that moms are sick of hearing and it really resonated with me (I could probably write a book on invisible labor- don’t even get me started).

Mother’s Day 2023, representing 11 years of love, joy and invisible labor :)

One thought I did have while reading, though, was that I can sleep well at night knowing that my team and I are 100% part of the solution for other parents - we absolutely, one million percent have your back and will do whatever we can to help you out and make adolescence easier on your family, whether something is directly related to college applications or not. And that’s how I ended up at Nordstrom last week, helping one of my favorite young women try on clothes for an interview - true story :) I know we get paid for our services, but at the same time, we really care and will go to great lengths to ease your load however we can (as long as it’s not illegal!). This is a central part of our mission and I think we do an excellent job living it out.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Shannon attended the Best of Boston counselor session this week and wanted to share some of her biggest takeaways:

1. Early decision is becoming more and more important. Tufts and Northeastern expect to admit about half or slightly more through the early rounds, while BU intends to admit 55% of its class early decision next cycle. Many selective and highly selective colleges around the country will have similar projections, so we encourage students to think hard about whether the strategic advantage associated with ED is the way to go!

2. Check your email! Tufts, Northeastern, and BU all expect to close their waitlists in mid-June, so we’ve got about a month or less of waitlist activity. In the event that students are admitted off the waitlist, the school will give them about a week (or sometimes less!) to respond. So, if you are waiting on a decision, make sure to check email regularly and prepare to commit on a short timeline. 

3. Don’t phone in your “Why This School?” essay. All three schools at the session consider demonstrated interest, as do many others. While Northeastern does not typically have supplemental essays, for Tufts and BU, the “Why This School?” supplemental essay is the most important essay - and a big factor in their consideration of demonstrated interest! It is essential to ensure that the essay is unique, authentic to you, and could only be used to describe that single school.

   P.S. We have noticed that these types of essays have been a real pain point for students post-Covid. As a result, we made the decision to offer our Class of 2024 students two options for free instruction from our essay coaches on how to approach these essays. Yes - totally free - that’s how important we think these are. If you missed the email communication and are wondering how to sign up, please email admin@dccollegecounseling.com for details. 

And for any OLGC families reading - students who are members of OLGC parish with a GPA of at least 3.0 are eligible to apply for the JTC Scholarship. Interested students should apply by May 25!

Have a great week!

Weekly Update: March 27

Hope you’ve had a chance to check out the cherry blossoms!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

SUPREME COURT RULES ON STUDENT ACCOMODATIONS

Last Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Miguel Luna Perez, a deaf student who sued a Michigan school district for refusing to provide him with a sign language interpreter. The court found that Miguel was not obligated to exhaust all other avenues under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act before he brought the suit. The unanimous decision will give students with disabilities more options for legal recourse when they are not provided with necessary accommodations in schools. 

THE SAFEST COLLEGE TOWN IN AMERICA

It’s Williamsburg, VA! According to a list released by Credit Summit, William & Mary tops the list of the 25 safest college towns in the country. UC Santa Barbara follows behind at #2. There are several more Virginia schools on the list as well, with Mary Washington in the #22 spot and Charlottesville at #23. 

FAFSA RELEASE POSTPONED

The Education Department announced last Tuesday that the FAFSA redesign will be launched in December, missing the typical October 1 release of the updated form. Students should keep in mind that the later opening date means less time to complete the form in order to apply for financial aid, so we will keep an eye on this story and update you as soon as the form opens in December!

COLLEGES ADOPT “UN-GRADING” POLICIES

The impacts of COVID-19 learning loss are still being felt across the country, and more and more faculty have begun to adopt nontraditional policies - without letter and number grades - to help ease the transition to college for first-year students. Some faculty at UC Santa Cruz, TCU, Pitt, UT Austin, and dozens of other colleges are trying out un-grading, joining colleagues at schools like Reed, Brown, Wellesley, and MIT. These institutions have long had nontraditional grading options for students, particularly during their first semester as they adjust to college.  

SOUTH FLORIDA FOR THE WIN

This was a fun weekend full of March Madness games! If you’ve been following my posts, I’m a Miami fan, and wow - that game on Sunday against Texas was just crazy. I did not think they had a chance and the comeback was incredible. I am also very excited about FAU! If you’re looking for a Florida alternative to the typical picks (Miami, UF, FSU), FAU actually has a gorgeous honors college campus in Jupiter in addition to the main campus in Boca. My parents live in Jupiter, so I drive past the honors college campus frequently and it’s a hidden gem!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

One of the biggest reasons why college rankings are not the last word when choosing an undergraduate education is because the factors that are used by resources like U.S. News aren’t always the factors that matter most to students and families - we’re guessing the number of books in the library doesn’t top your list of college priorities! That’s why we’re loving this New York Times rankings calculator, which allows you to weight your priorities and see a custom list of rankings based on what is most important to you. This tool will be incredibly helpful for seniors making their final decisions soon!

Along the same lines, we recommend seniors check out these college regrets from graduates to help you make your decision. Clients can also always reach out to us for help with decision-making - we are confident that you will end up where you are supposed to be!

We posted last week about how rankings are changing as schools decline to participate, and this is particularly true with law school rankings. With top law schools like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford saying that they will no longer participate, the rankings are starting to unravel. This is more of a challenge for applicants, as rankings are a lot more important when selecting law schools (and business schools and other graduate programs) than they are for undergraduate students! We’ll have to wait and see what the impact will be to the law school admissions landscape as these schools pull their data from U.S. News. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGs

If you are a high school junior who wants to get a head start on college acceptances, High Point’s Junior Scholars Program may be for you! The program allows students to be accepted early through a non-binding process, and grants a $2,500-per-year scholarship. If you or your student would like to be nominated, let us know and we are happy to help!

And finally, we’re hiring summer interns! If you know a college student interested in a deeper understanding of the methods for creating and running a growing small business, send them our way. Our paid summer interns have the opportunity to connect with past, current, and prospective students and families while they assist in the day-to-day operations of DC College Counseling.

Our ideal candidate will have social media experience and the skills to maintain and improve our social media presence and processes. Familiarity with posting on TikTok, specifically, is a big plus! Other duties include updating and organizing our website and task management system.

Interns will participate in all of the major aspects of running a business, from company-wide and management team meetings, to small business training opportunities, to industry-specific webinars.

If you or someone you know is interested in a nuanced grasp of how a woman-owned small business operates and how major decisions are made, they should email a resume and cover letter to shannon@dccollegecounseling.com with the subject line “DCCC Summer Internship.” 

We can’t wait to hear from you!

Weekly Update: October 28

Happy Halloween!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

HALF OF STAFFORD HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS OUT SICK

1,000 students at Stafford High School in Fredericksburg, nearly half of the student body, were out sick today with “flu-like and gastrointestinal symptoms.” The school is investigating the cause of the illness, and currently plans to be open on Monday. 

ELI LILLY CREATES NEW PURDUE SCHOLARSHIP

Eli Lilly has committed a $92.5 million gift to Purdue University, nearly half of which will fund a new pharmaceutical manufacturing scholarship program. The 75-100 students who receive the scholarship each year will receive full tuition, in addition to guaranteed internships or co-ops with Eli Lilly. The school expects to award the first of these scholarships next fall.

The remaining $50 million will go towards extending the established research partnership between Eli Lilly and Purdue. 

UMD MAKES NEW “TERRAPIN COMMITMENT”

UMD pledged this week to invest $20 million in need-based aid. The program will help fill in the gaps for low-income students who receive federal Pell Grants, to make tuition and fees more affordable for these students and families. The “Terrapin Commitment” joins programs such as UNC’s “Carolina Covenant” and Michigan’s “Go Blue Guarantee” in making it easier for low-income students to attend public universities. 

NC STATE COPES WITH STUDENT DEATH BY SUICIDE

This week, NC State suffered the third reported death by suicide of a student in the last two months. With 1,100 deaths on college campuses per year, suicide is the second leading cause of death for college students, and this is another harsh reminder of the mental health crisis that all schools continue to face. 

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

This article from The Atlantic explores the income gap at colleges and universities, in light of the affirmative action case coming before the Supreme Court. The author, Richard D. Kahlenberg, is serving as an expert witness for Students for Fair Admissions, the plaintiff in the case. He argues that striking down affirmative action is a progressive move, because it will require universities to give an “admissions boost” to economically disadvantaged applicants, rather than doing so along racial lines. Kahlenberg notes that while Harvard’s classes reflect America in racial diversity, the school has 15 times as many students from the top quintile of wealth distribution as from the bottom quintile. Likewise, UNC has 16 times as many students from the top fifth as the bottom fifth. He argues that a more authentic way to achieve racial diversity, after affirmative action is struck down, will be by admitting more economically disadvantaged students, noting that this is the case at schools like UC Berkeley and UCLA, which do not use race in admissions. 

Penn’s doctoral program in higher education management - a class for aspiring professionals hoping to become top-level administrators and university presidents - dedicated an entire weekend to discussing college sports and the NCAA. The importance of this subject matter is a clear sign of the impact that athletics have at the top levels of college administration. Students were asked questions about various aspects of athletic policy and budgeting - for example, if they were presidents of Big Ten schools, what would they do with the income from the conference’s new media rights deal? These types of questions are becoming increasingly more important for college presidents to answer as college sports continue to grow in popularity and revenue.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Those November 1 deadlines are right around the corner - good luck to those submitting this weekend and CONGRATULATIONS to all of our seniors who have submitted their early applications! We are so proud of all of you. Enjoy the Halloween weekend!

---

Missed a Notification? Check Out Our Recent Posts!

Weekly Update: August 26

We hope our FCPS students had a great first week back at school!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

BIDEN RELEASES DEBT RELIEF PLAN

The new debt relief plan that the White House announced this week will forgive $10,000 of debt for college graduates making less than $125,000 per year, and $20,000 of debt for Pell Grant recipients. For students who are wondering how this plan will affect the loans they take out for college in the future, the plan also lowers the cap on how much of your income can be spent on debt payments - down to 5% of discretionary income, just half of the previous cap of 10%. We will be interested to see how this plan plays out and what the impacts will be on students taking out loans now and in the future.

UT OFFERS TAYLOR SWIFT ENGLISH CLASS

You may remember that we featured the Harry Styles class at Texas State on the blog a few weeks ago, and we’re realizing that Texas is clearly the place to go if you want to study pop stars in college! Now, UT Austin will offer “The Taylor Swift Songbook,” a class that covers poetry techniques in connection with Swift’s lyrics. Even if you aren’t headed to UT, you can keep up with the class and answer Taylor Swift trivia by following @swiftieprof on Instagram. 

SCHOLARSHIP OPPORTUNITY FOR CLEMSON STUDENTS

Clemson’s Lyceum Scholars Program offers $10,000 scholarships to incoming freshmen from any major. Students who will start at Clemson in Fall 2023 are now eligible to apply for the scholarship, and we recommend that seniors apply as soon as they know they will attend - this is a great opportunity for incoming freshmen to not only receive the scholarship money, but also access to high-level seminars and connections with professors!

IMPACT OF CRIME SURGES ON COLLEGE STUDENTS

Some students at big-city universities are expressing concern about rising crime rates near campus. This is definitely something to keep in mind for students interested in major urban universities (like the University of Chicago and Georgia Tech, both mentioned in the article). Different students and families have different priorities when it comes to safety around campus, so we recommend visiting the campus and surrounding area if at all possible so you can make sure that you feel comfortable on your college campus - after all, it will hopefully be your home for four years! 

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

While it is true that a college degree often increases students’ earning potential, this is not always the case. This article explores the colleges and degrees that don’t necessarily provide additional earnings for students, who tend to earn roughly the same amount as high school graduates six years after graduation. While earning potential shouldn’t be the be-all, end-all of college choice, it is an important consideration and one to which students and families should pay some attention. 

We’ve gotten some questions from parents recently about whether college admissions is “bouncing back” to pre-COVID experiences, as some other industries have. The short answer is: no! COVID has had a huge impact on higher education, and we honestly doubt that admissions at some schools will ever go back to the way it was pre-COVID. Check out this article from Jeff Selingo for more details on the ways that COVID-19 has changed higher education - and how permanent these changes might be. 

Finally, we want to share a tip for students who are heading off to college this fall (many of you are already there!) - start networking! It isn’t too early to be thinking about your career and future after college, and now is a great time to lay the groundwork for your next steps. If you are wondering how to start networking as a freshman, check out this article for some practical suggestions. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

GOOD LUCK to those students taking the SAT this weekend - we are keeping our fingers crossed for all of you! If you are a client NOT taking the SAT, but still want to get some weekend college prep in, we had two last-minute cancellations and now have both 10:00 and 11:00 essay coaching sessions available on Saturday. The sessions are first-come, first-serve, and are not available for online booking - so let our admin team know ASAP if you are interested!

If your student is heading back to school, now is the perfect time to check out academic coaching. Many students and families don’t think they need a coach when the workload hasn’t started up yet, but really, this can be the most effective time to start working with a coach! Shannon can help your student go through their syllabus, plan out major projects and assignments, and work on figuring out what organizational systems and study skills work best for them - before things get too crazy later in the semester.

Book an academic coaching Meet & Greet to talk more about how we can help your student succeed. Trust me, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and you don’t want to be scrambling to bring up grades and complete late work during finals week! 

And lastly… I’m headed back to school! Yikes!

I posted back in May about being invited to the next round of the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses Program. After a lengthy process, I was recently chosen as one of 170 small business owners across the United States to complete what’s sort of like a “mini MBA,” fully funded by Goldman Sachs. I am so appreciative of the opportunity and look forward to continuing to grow DC College Counseling!

---

Missed a Notification? Check Out Our Recent Posts!

Weekly Update: May 13

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

SCHOLARSHIPS FOR ARIZONA THIRD-GRADERS

In 2012, the Rosztoczy Foundation selected a lucky Arizona third-grade class and made them a promise: their college tuition, including room and board, would be covered. With that class graduating from high school, the foundation has decided to continue the good deed, selecting two more third-grade classes from underserved Arizona schools for full scholarships. Students and parents report that the program has allowed them the freedom to focus on high school performance without worrying about how they will pay for college. 

LINCOLN COLLEGE SHUTS DOWN

Lincoln College, a predominantly Black college in Illinois, shuts its doors today after 150 years in operation. The college cites the pandemic as part of the reason for the closure, but it is also a result of a December 2021 cyberattack on the admissions data for the school, resulting in unclear 2022 enrollment projections. This type of attack is becoming more and more common for schools, with 26 colleges and universities experiencing cyberattacks in 2021. 

STUDENT WITH NON-VERBAL AUTISM DELIVERS COMMENCEMENT ADDRESS

Elizabeth Bonker, valedictorian at Rollins College, was selected as commencement speaker - despite the fact that she has non-verbal autism and hasn’t said a word since her diagnosis at 15 months old. She delivered the speech using a text-to-speech computer program, and she had some words of encouragement for other students: “Use your voice.”

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

This opinion essay in the New York Times illuminates some of the long-term effects of the pandemic on new college students. While of course the evidence here is anecdotal, it reflects a lot of what we have been seeing in terms of the lack of motivation and the difficulty establishing study habits that came along with online school. If you or your student are also struggling with this, check out academic coaching, which can help students learn the time management, note-taking, and study skills that they may have missed while learning remotely. 

My (former) favorite blog reader used to send me lots of interesting links and has moved on to bigger and better things now that his child is in college! 🙂 But he came through this past week with a good one from The Atlantic on data-driven parenting, and the one decision that really appears to make a difference. Can you guess what it is? Location.

Definitely read the article, and then you can have fun inputting zip codes into The Opportunity Atlas like I did. Absolutely fascinating. I was really struck by the difference between 22101 vs. 22102, and if you're from Vienna, you know that there's a friendly rivalry between those who live in town vs out... well, 22182 held its own! The author just came out with a new book called Don't Trust Your Gut: Using Data to Get What You Really Want in Life, so add that to your summer reading list - I'm definitely adding it to mine!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We are so excited to announce that our team is growing, and introduce you to Courtney! Courtney will be coming on as an administrator to share some of the workload with Donna, so current clients, keep an eye out for emails that you may see coming from her with reminders (both Donna and Courtney will continue to reach out using our admin email address). 

Courtney is currently a master’s student working towards a degree in social work. During the last academic year, she interned as a school social worker with FCPS and has experience working with students for academic and therapeutic counseling. We are thrilled to welcome her to the team!

Another exciting development for me this week was that DC College Counseling was selected as a finalist for the Goldman Sachs 10,000 Small Businesses program. I’m so honored to be considered and looking forward to the interview process this month - I’ll keep you posted!

Have a fantastic weekend!

---

Missed a Notification? Check Out Our Recent Posts!

Weekly Update: February 25

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS IN UNIFORM

In some striking images this week, the New York Times covered the use of the National Guard as substitute teachers in New Mexico schools, where the teaching staff has been severely impacted by COVID-19. 

While New Mexico is the only state to use the National Guard as substitutes, National Guard members have also driven school buses in Massachusetts, and police officers in Oklahoma have also served as substitute teachers. 

FLORIDA CONSIDERS FINANCIAL LITERACY REQUIREMENT

Virginia is one of a few states around the country that require students to learn personal finance in the classroom - including balancing a checkbook and completing a loan application. Florida may be the latest state to add a financial literacy requirement for high school graduation. We are big fans of practical coursework like this - and find that students are always more engaged when they know that they will use the material later in life.

VIRGINIA MASK MANDATES LIFT

Most Virginia counties have made mask mandates optional in schools, in response to Governor Youngkin’s recent executive order. In fact, Fairfax County is the last holdout - the only county that has not committed to switching to a mask-optional policy by March 1. 

Update! Earlier today, FCPS announced that masks will be optional starting Tuesday. You can read more about that here.

For an interesting exploration of how politics has played into parenting, both when it comes to mask mandates as well as curricula and vaccinations, check out this Atlantic article.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Yale professor Laurie Santos, instructor of the famous “Yale Happiness Class” and host of The Happiness Lab podcast, gave an interesting interview this week discussing her own feelings of burnout, as well as the anxiety that her students are experiencing. This is a useful interview for anyone trying to support college students - and anyone just looking to lead a happier life!

Based on a recently released Common ApplicationⓇ report, the number of applications has continued to increase this cycle, now up nearly 14% since before the pandemic. The report identifies nine key findings from applications up until the February 15 deadlines (p.s., these findings are all listed on the first page, so no need to read all 19 pages unless you’re admissions nerds like us :) 

Finally, we’re so excited to share this article, which includes some really important information about affording college. We often hear from students and parents that are cost-conscious that they prefer to look at public universities. But as the editor-in-chief of the Princeton Review says, “Never cross an expensive school off your list… by sticker price alone.” If you consider the possibilities of merit aid, whether schools consider financial need in admissions, and other factors, it is possible that a private education can end up being less expensive than a public one. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

February has FLOWN by and we are so excited to start reading student essays as they work through the STAGE Program with Staci. If you are a junior who has not yet booked your essay coaching meetings, make sure you get on the calendar to begin this process! 

Learning students’ personal stories is one of the best parts of this job - in fact, all week I have been thinking about an essay that one of our students wrote about his Ukrainian heritage (during a different application cycle). Such a devastating situation and we have been watching the news nonstop along with the rest of the world.

On a (much) lighter note, we have also been enjoying the end of the college basketball season! As some of you saw on instagram, my kids and I got to see Virginia beat Miami over the long weekend - so fun! Hopefully we will see another win against Florida State this weekend.

Have a great weekend and stay warm!

---

Missed a Notification? Check Out Our Recent Posts!

Weekly Update: February 18

We hope everyone has a great holiday weekend! A quick note that we will be closed on Monday for Presidents’ Day.

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

UC BERKELEY MAY CUT INCOMING CLASS

An Alameda County judge ruled last August that Berkeley was under an enrollment freeze, in response to complaints by residents in the area about the school’s plan for expansion. Last week, Berkeley lost its appeal in the case. This makes it likely that they will need to cut one-third of the freshman class - over 3,000 seats! This development will likely make an already ultra-selective school even more so - particularly given that it comes on top of Berkeley’s cuts to out-of-state enrollment. Along with UCLA and UC San Diego, they are cutting their out-of-state population by approximately 21% (going from 23% of the overall population to 18%).

UC APPLICATION OPEN PERIOD EXTENDED

In other UC news, the window during which students can submit their application, which has always began on November 1, is set to begin a full month earlier next year - students can submit their applications as soon as October 1. The deadline for submitting the application will remain November 30 (though given the UC website’s history of crashing on that date, we highly recommend getting the application submitted much earlier!) 

US DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION COLLEGE SCORECARD UPDATED

New changes to the Department of Education’s database allow students to see at a glance each school’s graduation rate, annual cost, and the median salary of graduates. Students can also see the percentage of graduates from any given college that earn more than a typical high school graduate. 

SCHOLARSHIPS AND FINANCIAL AID

We’ve written before about the need- and merit-based aid processes for schools, but there are a variety of scholarships available for students from outside organizations, and it is important to be on the lookout for options like these (Shannon once applied for a college scholarship granted to tall students!). 

This week, we’re highlighting scholarships from the National Center for Learning Disabilities. These scholarships are open to students with a specific learning disability or a diagnosis of ADHD.

And if you’re more focused on the financial aid application process, a great free resource is College Access Fairfax - check out their webinars for step-by-step help through this very complicated process. 

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

In his newsletter this week, Jeff Selingo dives into colleges’ responsibility for graduate outcomes. Specifically, he notes that Black and Latinx students are often enrolled in majors with lower earnings, and this leads to underemployment after graduation. Selingo asks whether colleges are responsible for extending their diversity and equity goals to students’ lives after college as well as while they are at school. 

We just spent a lot of time in strategy sessions and meetings with our classes of 2023 and 2024 students to discuss course selection, and some of the news that gets the biggest groan from students and families is that yes, you have to take calculus. Yes, even you, hopeful English/history/political science major. This report from Inside Higher Ed concludes that a statistics class is often a better choice for high school students, academically. We agree! Unfortunately, until admissions offices start to see the light, students should still plan to take calculus.

Tj is once again in the national news. This New York Times piece covers a federal lawsuit from a group called Coalition for TJ, which alleges that the school’s new admissions processes are discriminatory towards Asian students. A group called the Pacific Legal Foundation is providing support to the TJ group in hopes that the case could potentially set precedent for other highly selective magnet schools. This reminded me of a different article I read last week from New York Magazine, entitled The Left Is Gaslighting Asian Americans About College Admissions. The author supports affirmative action in general but believes that the “dishonest propaganda” regarding the impact of affirmative action on Asians needs to stop. Feelings on affirmative action aside, I can 100% attest that Asian-Americans are discriminated against in high school, college, and graduate school admissions. It’s really awful and the term “gaslighting” sums it up perfectly. Why are we denying that this is happening? Come on - like the author says, it’s not only dishonest but insulting.

When it comes to graduate schools, like law or MBA programs, “brand names” tend to carry more weight than in the undergraduate admissions process. Nearly all students we work with are aiming for the top programs in their field. While attending a top school is extremely beneficial from a networking standpoint, these may not be the only schools that can prepare students for their future. This ABA Journal study lists the law schools whose graduates routinely overperform on the bar exam - and (surprise!) some of them aren’t ranked at all (P.S., shout out to UVA, Washington & Lee, and Liberty as the Virginia schools that made the list!). 

Finally, if you’re wondering how your major choice stacks up against other students in your class, check out this Forbes article for lists of the most popular majors for each class. For current high school seniors, the most popular intended majors include biology, business, nursing, and engineering.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We’ve been busy this week as Colleen and Shannon continue check-ins with current clients and strategy sessions, and Staci dives right into Common ApplicationⓇ essay work with students. It is so much fun to watch our students generate their essay ideas, and we’re really excited to see how this latest batch of essays turn out!

We also heard back about ED II results! We’ve hit the ED II lottery over the last few years; if I'm not mistaken, every single one of our ED II applicants in recent memory have been admitted. Given the selectivity and unpredictability of this process, I know this streak is bound to end soon... but we made it through another application cycle with our perfect track record intact!!! Yay! Our three ED II applicants were all admitted to their top choice schools - one to Johns Hopkins and two to Wake Forest! They are all amazing kids and we are so happy for them. 

On a related note (no pun intended!), we have noticed lately that we've been working with SO MANY sets of siblings and first cousins, and that ED II group is a perfect example. Of the three I mentioned, one is a younger sibling of a past client and two are older siblings of current clients. And we'll see even more of that in next year's graduating class, because our percentage of "legacy" clients is the highest it's ever been for the Class of 2023 - over HALF of them are either younger siblings or first cousins of former students! 

It's really fun to get to work with the same families over and over again throughout the years - and even more so when the older ones come back to work with us for grad school admissions!

Have a great long weekend - we’ll be back in the office on Tuesday!

---

Missed a Notification? Check Out Our Recent Posts!

Weekly Update: December 24

A very merry Christmas Eve to all those celebrating today and tomorrow! Our office is closed today for the holiday, but we will be open on Monday and Shannon and Staci will be available to help answer any questions :)

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

MORE CAMPUS SHUTDOWNS

We covered the campus closures at Cornell, GW, Stanford, and others last week, and this week brought more to add to the list. Yale has moved finals online, while in Boston Harvard and Emerson have announced that the spring semester will begin remotely in 2022. Seven of the colleges in the UC system have also decided to begin next semester online. Meanwhile, several schools including UVA, Oberlin, and Northwestern have made COVID-19 boosters mandatory for students returning to campus. 

However, one medical expert disagrees with the decision to send students home, saying that the travel required to send students all over the country is more likely to increase the spread of COVID than keeping them in a quarantine situation on campus. We’ll be waiting to see whether more closures are announced in the new year. (P.S. If you are a parent worried about your high school or college student’s exposure over the holidays, check out this article for tips on staying safe)

NEW YORK’S CITY COLLEGE HAS A MYSTERIOUS BENEFACTOR

A physics professor at City College in Harlem received a package in the mail. Inside? $180,000 in cash. A letter included in the package explained that the goal of the gift was to help needy physics and math students at the college. The anonymous letter stated that the donation was from a former physics department student. 

After investigating whether the cash was the result of criminal activity, the college’s Board of Trustees formally voted to accept the gift last week.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Every year, there are always a few students who, despite being accepted into their early decision schools, want to know: Is early decision really binding? This article from the New York Times aims to answer that question - and the answer might surprise some families. The truth is that if you cannot afford to attend the school to which you applied early decision, you can back out of the agreement.

Now keep in mind - this doesn’t mean you can go back to the school and change your mind later if you don’t get a better deal from another school - you can’t. This is why families who want to compare aid offers may decide that early decision is not for them. But at nearly all institutions, no one would penalize a student who decides that they can’t afford to attend and wants to back out. That student would be able to withdraw the ED application with no issue. However, many schools leave this information in the fine print, or say that they will work with students on the financial aspect without directly saying that students can back out. 

You should also remember that this applies only to families who are not able to afford tuition - students and families who are simply not willing to pay the tuition cannot be exempted from their early decision agreements. 

And lastly, students can also ask for more funding to make attendance feasible (whether they are admitted early decision or not!). If you’re a current client, we encourage you to work with us on how to ask for more funding in a polite and respectful way. Negotiating is just one of the ways to hack your college tuition bill - check out this Forbes article for more. 

On a lighter note - after reading (and re-reading, and re-reading) their own college personal statements, we hope students enjoy these personal statements from Shakespeare characters as much as we did!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

This week we’ve been busy helping some deferred and waitlisted students regroup and write letters of continued interest - if you need to do this as well, check out our blog post for some examples (or book an essay coaching session!). We’re also wrapping up with some graduate school and MBA applications, and keeping our fingers crossed for students still waiting to hear from their schools!

Since the world seems to have shut down over the last several days because of Omicron, I’m hoping to take advantage of my time at home over the weekend to check out “Try Harder!” a NYTimes Critic’s Pick documentary about the pressures facing high-achieving high school students today.

“Try Harder!” follows a group of students at Lowell High School (think the TJ of the Bay Area - new lottery system and all) as they go through their senior year, and by all accounts it’s supposed to be great. It begins streaming on Netflix today!

Have a great holiday!

---

Missed a Notification? Check Out Our Recent Posts!

Weekly Update: November 26

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and was able to spend time with family and friends!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

VIRGINIA COUNCIL ON WOMEN’S 11TH ANNUAL HIGH SCHOOL ESSAY CONTEST

The Virginia Council on Women has opened up the 11th Annual Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics, and Healthcare essay contest. Virginia high school seniors who identify as women are eligible for these scholarships and should apply by Monday, January 3 (P.S. Need help with scholarship essays? Book an essay coaching session!). 

2022 RHODES SCHOLARS ANNOUNCED

Check out where this group of Rhodes Scholars are from! A lot of Harvard, Yale, and service academy representation, but some great other schools too - Alabama, Indiana, Clemson and more! This is just proof that ‘best fit’ is really important when it comes to choosing a college - and that students who make the most of their opportunities can end up in the same place after graduation. 

CLEMSON LYCEUM SCHOLARSHIP

Lots of scholarship news today! Clemson’s Lyceum Scholars program was founded by the Clemson Institute for the Study of Capitalism. Lyceum Scholars receive $10,000 over their four years at Clemson. The application deadline is December 11, so students planning to attend Clemson next year should apply now!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Our students are ALWAYS looking for the “secret sauce” when it comes to letters of recommendation. Some subscribe to the “more is better” approach, while others wonder if teacher recommendations really have that much bearing on the admissions process. This article from Forbes gives a nuanced perspective on recommendations, particularly those optional personal recommendations from coaches, counselors, mentors, or other people that know a student well but have not taught them in the classroom.

A good rule of thumb when it comes to optional recommendations is that they should contain NEW information about the applicant. Admissions officers are reading a LOT of applications this time of year, and they don’t want to read the same thing twice! If you are considering asking for a personal recommendation, make sure it comes from someone who can give a new perspective on you that the counselor won’t get from your teacher and counselor recommendations, essays, or activities list. 

Second and most importantly, PREP YOUR RECOMMENDERS. Most recommenders will appreciate information from you that helps them to put together an effective recommendation - they want you to succeed, after all! Current clients can book a meeting for help with this, or check out the resources in the Membership Vault to help your recommender write the best possible personal recommendation. 

More and more colleges are moving to get rid of legacy admissions, and this article takes a critical look at what that really means for the admissions process. I wrote a few weeks ago about the misconceptions that the general public has about legacy admissions. The bottom line is, the student must already be academically qualified for legacy status to make a difference. From the article:

On hard measures such as G.P.A. and SAT scores, those admitted as legacies already fit within the larger pool of qualified applicants...the benefit they receive works within the softer, holistic section of the college application. Having an alumni parent is less like magically winning several hundred SAT points and more like writing an essay that the assistant dean really admired. Accordingly, the legacies will be replaced not by a clearly smarter bunch of applicants but by ones who were better at getting the admissions readers to like them.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Colleen attended a virtual session last Friday with the "Metro 5" - liberal arts schools in city settings. Lewis and Clark, Macalester, Rhodes, Richmond and Trinity are all great options to consider for students who seek a "close connection with peers and faculty, but are looking for something a little bit bigger - [the opportunity] to engage in the community in a larger way." The combination of a close-knit liberal arts community and an urban environment really does offer a best-of-both worlds opportunity that some students absolutely love. Our summer intern (and former client!) Tyler wrote a blog post this summer about his experience at Richmond, which is a great read for any students interested in Richmond or any of the Metro 5 schools. Students can download the recording of the student program here.

We wanted to highlight one piece of advice from one of the college representatives about essays. As a whole, the group agreed that they were seeing more and more pieces of writing that clearly weren't written by students or were heavily over-edited. We see these too, when we ask students to turn in an assignment and it's clear that they didn't write it. But please, parents - don't fall into this trap!

"We are professionals, like, this is what we do on a regular basis! We read thousands of essays, we've been teenagers, many of us have teenage children... we have an idea of what a teenage voice is like, and that's what we're looking for!"

We know the feeling - we’ve seen a lot of essays that have been over-edited by well-meaning parents! That’s why we use the Wow Writing Workshop method with our students, to make sure that all of their essays are “seventeen-year-old perfect” - great essays that clearly retain the voice and perspective of a teenager. 

We have been so excited to see some acceptances this week, including our first ED acceptance - yay! That student is so happy to be done and know where he is headed next year :) We love hearing from our clients once they receive their decisions, so if you are a current client, make sure to keep us updated!

Have a great weekend!

---

Missed a Notification? Check Out Our Recent Posts!

Weekly Update: February 12

A quick note that we will be closed on Monday for Presidents Day. We hope everyone has a great holiday weekend!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATIONS AND DEADLINES

We’ve written before about the need- and merit-based aid processes for schools, but there are a variety of scholarships available for students from outside organizations, and it is important to be on the lookout for options like these (Shannon once applied for a college scholarship granted to tall students!). 

Scholarships that have been announced this week include the National Catholic College Admission Association scholarship, which is awarded to 16 randomly selected students who are attending National CCAA member colleges like Boston College, Villanova, or Notre Dame. 

The Cameron Impact Scholars application is also now open - the early deadline for the Class of 2022 to apply for this full-tuition merit scholarship is May 21.

JILL BIDEN PROMISES FREE COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Dr. Biden said on Tuesday that she would work to ensure free access to community colleges and training programs for all students. Those who are local to Northern Virginia are very fortunate to have guaranteed admissions agreements in place between Northern Virginia Community College and over 40 colleges and universities, including William & Mary, GW, Virginia Tech, UVA, and JMU. All students who graduate from NOVA and meet the requirements of the agreement are guaranteed admission to the college of their choice - a great deal for Virginia students! Dr. Biden is an instructor at NOVA.

CHANGES FOR THE CLASS OF 2022

We wrote last week about some of the changes we are seeing to the AP exams, and expect to see even more changes going forward now that the College Board has done away with subject tests. The College Board is offering three administrations of AP tests: the first wave in early May will be in-school only, while the late May and early June test dates will be available in school and at home. Schools, not students, will make the decisions about exam dates and administration methods, so check in with your school for information.

Changes have also been made this cycle to the citizenship section of the Common App. The question about citizenship will now offer different options for international students and undocumented/DACA students. All questions related to geography will now be optional, as will questions about parents and family. Questions about student visas have also been changed. In general, we recommend that students include as much information as possible, even for optional questions, but we encourage clients to reach out to us if you have any questions about your particular situation!

Here’s how the new visa questions will look for international students this cycle.

STUDENTS PROTEST SEXUAL ASSAULT ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES ACROSS THE US

College students at Boston University, Minnesota State, Gettysburg College, and more participated in socially-distanced demonstrations to support survivors and raise awareness of sexual assault on campus. Students argue that schools have deprioritized sexual assault issues amidst the focus on the COVID-19 pandemic.  

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

We had hoped that with more college students back on campus this spring, lessons learned from the fall semester would improve safety. But with the new coronavirus variants now spreading, there are already outbreaks at many schools around the country, including Michigan, Berkeley, and Tulane. Some of these outbreaks are linked to the new variants, while others arose because students did not follow quarantine rules upon the return to campus. As we’ve said before, it is not worth the trouble of a disciplinary violation to flout COVID restrictions on campus - you will set yourself up for success by following the rules as closely as you can!

Though we don’t necessarily agree with every single point made in this article from the Wall Street Journal, there were parts of it that definitely resonated with us as interesting as food for thought with the new changes to the SAT and the admissions process this cycle. The author argues that by focusing less on merit and data like grades and test scores in the admissions process, colleges shift their focus from excellence to “mediocrity.” Definitely makes us think about how schools and colleges (and the rest of us!) define excellence for ourselves and our students. 

If you need a feel-good story to counteract all the negative news lately, check out this Washington Post article. It profiles a Houston high school senior who used the money she had saved to attend Barnard College in the fall to pay her family’s rent after her mother lost her job due to the pandemic. This particular story has a happy ending - the student was able to raise the money after her story was featured on Good Morning America - but it is a reminder that during this difficult time, there are a lot of students forced to make challenging financial decisions. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We have been busy discussing how we might reopen in person in our office - we miss seeing all of you! Given the current Phase 3 restrictions for small businesses in Virginia, this would look very different than it has in the past. Of course, students who want to remain fully virtual would still have this option! If you are a Class of 2022 student or family, please fill out our in-person services questionnaire to help us understand your priorities as we move forward. We really want to serve our clients in person, but we also want this to be safe and successful for everyone - it is a tricky balance!

Have you checked out our Summer 2021 Internships Database recently? If not, you might be missing out on some great opportunities! We update this page every week with local and virtual internships and college courses. You can also see information about registration for the virtual Fairfax County teen job fairs coming up next month on March 13 and March 20. Now is the time to get your plans set for this summer! If you are an employer with an internship or job opportunity for high school students, let us know - we would love to feature your posting on our page. 

Enjoy the long weekend!

Weekly Update: October 2

And.. October it is! With our first deadlines less than two weeks away, everyone has been very busy! It’s kind of killing me that the results of the 9/23 school-based SAT are released THE SAME DAY as the first round of deadlines (10/15). Yet in order to submit an application to at least one of those schools, students have to answer a question about whether or not they are submitting test scores for consideration. So stressful on everyone involved. The idea of submitting an application the day it is due literally gives me heart palpitations, yet at the same time it’s unavoidable if students are waiting on that round of scores to decide!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

THE FAFSA IS OPEN

Finally, the moment some of you have been waiting for… the FAFSA opened yesterday, and if you intend to complete the form, I encourage you to do it as soon as possible. It is more important than ever this year to complete this form promptly!

If you are unsure whether or not you should complete the FAFSA, you can check out my earlier posts here and here to help make the best decision for you and your family. There are a lot of myths about the FAFSA that circle around every year, so if any of our current clients have questions about the process, make sure to reach out to us! We will help you decide how to proceed.

MORE VIRTUAL VISITS

We are working hard to keep our list of virtual college fairs, tours, and information sessions updated, as more and more schools open up registration for virtual events. Some upcoming events that we’re excited about are the Virtual College Exploration fair for Atlanta-area colleges, the Six Colleges events hosted by Amherst, Bowdoin, Carleton, Pomona, Swarthmore, and Williams, and the NWHE special topics sessions that Notre Dame, Wash U, Johns Hopkins, and Emory have put together. 

COMMON APP REMOVES DISCIPLINARY DISCLOSURE FOR CLASS OF 2022

After finding that the disclosure of disciplinary history disproportionately impacts low-income students and students of color, the Common App has decided to remove the question beginning with the Class of 2022. Students who recorded a disciplinary incident were also nearly twice as likely as others to leave their applications incomplete, choosing not to apply to college at all. The Common App will no longer ask students or their counselors to disclose disciplinary information.

But before we get too excited, I should also note that schools will still be able to ask about disciplinary history on their supplements, and it is likely that many will continue to do so.

It was through pressure from schools that the Common App chose to add this question in the first place in 2006, and Common App schools can continue to require it going forward. So while this is definitely a step in the right direction, it is not a guarantee that Class of 2022 students will not have to report disciplinary action. The right choice is always to avoid disciplinary incidents, but in the event that you do have to report, check out my recent video for some tips!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

As my current clients know, I find transparency in college admissions to be incredibly important! So I really enjoyed this article about econometric modeling as it relates to the admissions process. We always emphasize the necessity of demonstrating interest in your school of choice by attending information sessions and (virtual) tours, but this article highlights additional ways to engage without the ability to see a college in person. Some tips I want to emphasize are:

1. Visit the college’s website and click “request more information” - this will enter you into the college’s enrollment management system. 

2. Once you are on that list, you will likely receive a lot of emails, but if you can, click on the links within the email and explore more about the college. Many colleges track this type of engagement, so taking the time to read and learn more is a great way to demonstrate interest. 

3. Like, share, and comment on the college’s social media posts. This kind of engagement may also be tracked. 

The key to any of this engagement is to make sure you have ONE email address that you use for all interactions with colleges (including social media accounts linked to this address). We encourage many of our clients to set up a gmail account just for this purpose. And of course, if you interact with any college on social media, be very careful of what they will see if they click on your profile! 

This Forbes Investigation into the SAT is long, but a worthwhile read. There has been a long-running conversation about the value of the SAT in college admissions, but the change in testing policies due to COVID-19 has sparked a renewal of that conversation. In my opinion, many of the schools who are going test-optional this cycle are likely to remain so, even after the pandemic has passed. That said, I do have my doubts as to whether that will be the case for the most highly selective schools - I’m just not sure how they would be able to assess academic performance without that data point - but it will be interesting to see how it plays out.

Either way, I’m very interested to see how next cycle will look, and I hope that we will see more and more schools focus on students’ academic progress over the course of four years, rather than their preparation for a single test day. What do you think of the potential shift toward test-blind admissions? Has your student been impacted by SAT difficulties this cycle? Comment and let us know! 

We have continued to field a ton of questions this year about how deferrals and changes in class size relating to COVID-19 will impact that Class of 2021. But this article also shows that the pandemic will have a positive impact for transfer applicants, at least in the short term. Over three-quarters of colleges anticipate having a higher admit rate for transfers this year! However, this may be short-lived; I expect that transferring will become more difficult in the long term. COVID-related deferrals mean that many schools may welcome a larger-than-usual first year class in 2021, and be less likely to admit transfer applicants in future cycles. We are already well underway in our work with prospective transfer applicants, and if you are considering transferring, now is the time to book a transfer strategy session!   

It seems like every time I post this Friday blog post, I see something come out right afterwards that I wish I had been able to include. This New York Times article from last Friday notes that one of the major reasons students are still putting in so much effort to take standardized tests in a year when most schools are test-optional is because they hope to receive merit aid. Merit aid can be one of the most opaque parts of the college admissions process, so I was excited to see this article shed some light.

The article also points out that some schools, like the College of Wooster in Ohio and Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington, are offering pre-application financial estimates so that prospective students can assess how much college will cost before they apply. If anyone hears of other schools offering this service, let us know in the comments - we’ll be keeping an eye on how this impacts the admissions process. 

We have worked with so many students this year who care deeply about the commitment to “going green” that college and universities demonstrate, and I think this trend will only continue as high schoolers become more and more environmentally-conscious. The Sierra Club’s “Cool Schools” list ranks colleges based on their environmental commitments, and it is a “cool” alternative to more traditional college rankings.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We’ve begun to spend a lot of time helping our students with post-submission follow-up, and I had a question from a student this week that I thought would be helpful to share as I did not find the answer to be intuitive. Hopefully this will clear things up for anyone else in the same boat!

Many schools require students to submit their self-reported grades and test scores after their applications are submitted. The form through which this takes place is known as a Self-Reported Academic Record, or SRAR. Virginia Tech is one of those schools, and has introduced a test-optional question this year that allows students to decide whether or not they want the SAT and/or ACT to be considered.

Our student wasn't sure how to indicate that she wanted to share her AP scores, but not her SAT/ACT scores. On the Common App, this is very straightforward and easy to do. However, the language that VT used in their question confused both of us.

As you can see, it reads "To allow Virginia Tech access to your self-reported test scores, select Yes below."

However, it turns out that students who want to self-report their AP scores only should actually go ahead and answer NO to this question but should enter their AP scores anyway through the drop-down box under "Add New Exams." The same goes for students who want to share IB or CLEP scores. I honestly would not have thought to do it that way! Thankfully, our VT rep is very helpful and emailed me back to explain, and I was able to pass the information on to our student.

—

I’ve gotten a lot of questions about how it works to submit over Zoom, so one of my seniors yesterday allowed me to share a screen shot of our submission session with all of you (she’s blocked out, obviously). It really does feel just like the real thing! Ignore my goofy smile - I get really excited to click submit and she was equally excited too!

I love each and every one of our seniors but have to brag for a minute about the particular girl - it occurred to me during our session that I literally have not seen or spoken to either one of her parents since I met her mom at our consultation, which took place probably 15 months ago. I mean not ONCE! How cool is that? I truly would not know these people if I saw them on the street :) We have emailed back and forth a few times and my team and I always CC them on everything, so they are always informed, but she’s worked with us independently the entire way. We helped advise her on every single detail - from college tours, to standardized test approaches, to writing amazing essays, to perfecting and submitting every application! And she was so on the ball that she actually finished her testing and most of her college visits pre-COVID!

While that example is a little extreme, and some parents prefer to be actively involved in each step (don’t worry, we love you guys too and welcome as much or as little involvement as each family wants!), on average we probably have less parent contact than most would guess. When families choose to hand us the reins, they always end up to really appreciate the outcome - not only because it reduces stress in the home and they are able to focus on their own lives knowing that their kids are in good hands, but also because of the life skills that their children gain through the process.

SOME OF OUR FAVORITE BOOKS ON THE SUBJECT!

It’s important to be able to know how to communicate and interact with adults without using parents as intermediaries. It’s also important to be able to take ownership over tasks - we try as much as possible to use careful scaffolding and constant reminders to help our students step out of their comfort zones and truly become ready for college - not just to get in, but also to succeed when they get there!

Have a great weekend!

To FAFSA or not to FAFSA... that is the question!

Few things bother me more than processes that aren’t transparent.

As a result, I try to do whatever I can to be honest and direct with my clients. I do not believe in hiding the truth from people - it only causes problems in the long run, even if it seems like a good idea or “the right thing to do” at the time. (Side note: if you haven’t read the book Lying, I highly recommend it. Life-changing!)

One college admissions-related issue where transparency is seriously lacking has to do with filling out the FAFSA, and whether families without financial need should fill it out anyway.

Around this time of year, every year, questions about this issue roll in nonstop. On one hand, colleges and school counselors seem to be insisting that the FAFSA is required for everyone, financial need or not… but many families report that their accountants have advised them that it’s not required, and that they shouldn’t fill it out.

I’m with the accountants. NO! Don’t fill it out if you don’t have financial need.

But my school counselor said to fill it out!

The long and short of it is that school counselors often-times encourage all families to fill out the FAFSA to make sure that no families accidentally bypass it because of a mistaken belief that they aren’t eligible.

While I agree in theory that it’s better to have a hundred ineligible families apply for no reason than to have one eligible family miss out on financial aid… I feel like the whole thing gets tricky when gentle “encouragement” turns into “bombarding families with scare tactics” about how their students will not be eligible for merit-based scholarships if their parents do not apply for financial aid.

And it’s not just counselors, it’s entire school systems and even STATES! Some states have actually begun to force all graduating public school students to complete the form!

As a result, many families truly believe that filling out the FAFSA is just another necessary step in the college application process and they fill it out without questioning anything.

Even though I am not a fan of spreading inaccurate information to scare people into doing something, I think the school counselors that perpetuate this myth have their hearts in the right place.

Moreover, based on the outright arguments I have seen on college admissions list-serves, I am pretty confident that a good number of these counselors actually do believe it’s required and just don’t know any better. Which is sort of concerning, to be honest, but I digress!

But the colleges said to fill it out too!

Colleges, in my opinion, aren’t perpetuating the idea that the FAFSA is required for the same reason as the counselors. Instead, they want the data! If more students fill out the FAFSA, that just means that the colleges and universities have more information to use in sophisticated mathematical models that influence admissions decisions and scholarships.

You can read more about how data is used in the admissions process in a New York Times article that I shared on social media this past fall. It was one of the best college admissions-related reads of last year, in my opinion! You can find it here - but I took the liberty of copying and pasting a selection below, as well:

If you pick any two freshmen at the same college, they are very likely to be paying completely different tuition rates. Those rates are based not on the true value of the service the college is offering or even on the ability of the student’s family to pay. Instead, they are based on a complex calculation, using sophisticated predictive algorithms, of what the student is worth to the college and what the college is worth to the student.

The consultants many colleges hire to perform those calculations — known in the trade as “financial-aid optimization” — are the hidden geniuses of enrollment management, the quants with advanced math degrees who spend hours behind closed doors, parsing student decision-making patterns, carefully adjusting their econometric models, calculating for admissions directors precisely how many dollars they would need to cut from their list price to persuade each specific Chloe or Josh to choose their college. Outside the ranks of enrollment management, the work done by the companies that employ these back-room prodigies is almost entirely unknown. But collectively, they play as big a role as anyone in shaping American college admissions today.

Of course they try to suggest that families have to fill out the FAFSA. Come on - those algorithms won’t run without data!

The Actual Truth

Colleges provide three different types of scholarships, or “free money", “grants,” etc:

• Merit-based

• Need-based

• A combination of merit-and-need based

It is exceptionally, exceptionally rare for a school to require the FAFSA for a scholarship in the first category - one where financial need does not play a role in the selection process.

If you hear an admissions officer say that the FAFSA is required for scholarships, or if you read it on a college website, you need to delve deeper to determine if any of the schools on your list fall under one of those rare exceptions.

NOTE: Since many of my blog readers are Virginia residents, I want to point out that Virginia Tech is one of the schools that does show up on the exception list. Still, the reason for the exception won’t apply to 99% of the VT applicants with whom I work. Most of their “merit-based scholarships” do have a need-based component - which obviously requires the FAFSA - but some of their military scholarships require the FAFSA even though they don’t take financial need into consideration:

So, if you know that you will be applying for a military scholarship at VT: yes, you’re going to have to file the FAFSA regardless of need.

If there is any question whatsoever about whether a FAFSA might be required at a certain school for merit applicants without financial need, make sure to do your due diligence; after all, policies change. Give their financial aid office a call. Ask: “What kinds of scholarships require the FAFSA? Does your institution have a single scholarship that is merit-based only, with no financial need component whatsoever, that requires the FAFSA?”

Be warned: the person may very well tell you at first that merit-based scholarships do require the FAFSA at their institution. But once you start pressing about whether those “merit” scholarships incorporate financial need, you will learn that it is incredibly rare for a college to require the FAFSA for a scholarship that is truly based on merit alone.

Think about it - why would you need to share your financial information for a scholarship that has nothing to do with financial need? That would make no sense.

So why not just submit it anyway, just in case? Can that really hurt?

It sure can!

More on that in my next post..

(And just to be clear - families with financial need should fill it out. No debate there.)