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Right Major + Right College = Success!
College Talk Blog
If you have accepted your admission offer...you are not done yet. Not reading and acting on email can lead to the cancellation of your admission acceptance.
If you have accepted your admission offer...you are not done yet. Not reading and acting on email can lead to the cancellation of your admission acceptance.
Blog
Don't let your rising senior hurt his college admission chances
Posted on June 27, 2019 at 4:43 PM |
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Summer Plans Anyone?
Posted on May 8, 2019 at 12:41 PM |
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Make sure your kids have plans for summer that include an academic activity and a volunteer activity. Although summer is a great time for rest and relaxation for families and students, it can also be a time where students lose academic skill gained during the school year. Studies show that students lose ground with reading speed and comprehension. These two skills are critical to academic success as well as college admission success. College admission test scores depend on student ability to read rapidly and comprehend what they read. Students who are out of practice in reading will need time to regain what they lost over the summer. Protect your kids from losing reading skills by making sure they read regularly over the summer. In addition to reading and other academically related activities, another great idea for students is to volunteer. It is never too early to get your kids into the habit of helping others. Volunteering helps students grow in many ways. They grow in empathy for others and learn about needs in their community and how they can help. They also grow in self confidence by making a difference and tend to volunteer again on a regular basis once they realize they can make a difference. Volunteering can also lead to taking on small responsibilities that teach leadership skills and time management. It is never too early to start preparing your kids for college. Summer academic activity and volunteering are two easy ways to begin that journey. |
College interviews anyone?
Posted on August 7, 2018 at 2:36 PM |
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Students who choose to participate in optional college admission interviews can add a slight positive impact to their admission application review. Much like taking the time to officially tour campus, students who participate in interviews are communicating their interest in a college. Most colleges say that interviewing or not interviewing will not make the difference in getting in or not. However, interviewing does show interest and colleges want to admit students most likely to attend. Students who decide to interview should be on time, dress appropriately and have a few questions prepared for their interviewer. They should avoid criticizing their school or teachers and focus on areas of the college that they feel are a great fit for them as well as what they bring to campus as individuals. |
Don't Slack Off Senior Year!
Posted on May 25, 2018 at 4:28 PM |
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Warning!!!!! Students whose academic records show less achievement as a senior are in danger of losing their admission offer and scholarship. Take a look at this warning on the Virginia Tech website: Your offer of admission will be withdrawn under the following condition:
You might think this is a rare occurence. But actually, many colleges feel this way AND many students feel that they don't have to work as hard as a senior-especially if they have been admitted to a college already. Colleges are looking for students who will be an academic success on campus. They are not looking for students who only achieve for admission purposes and then do the minimum required to pass. Any student who has a significant decrease in achievement should contact their college admissions office with an explanation before their offer of admission is withdrawn. There are legitimate reasons such as serious illness or accident. If there is no reasonable explanation, it is likely best not to call attention to the situation. The best strategy is not to be in the situation of having declining grades. Rather, pay attention to academic progress and get help at the first sign of trouble. The other issue that plagues seniors is the temptation to take a light academic load of just a few required classes with limited to no rigor. This too is seen as a declining academic indicator. |
Why Some Don't Test Well
Posted on June 24, 2017 at 11:28 AM |
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One of the questions I ask students who say they want to improve their grades or standardized test scores is: "How much do you read for pleasure?" This question is often met with a downward glance and a mumbled: "not much". When we talk about why they are not reading, they often report that they do not enjoy reading for a variety of reasons: vocabulary, losing their place, becoming distracted or not having enough time. I like to compare doing well in school and on tests to preparing for a bike race. I ask students: "If you were preparing for a bike race in three months, what would you do?" They always have the correct answer: "I'd ride my bike everyday and each day I'd ride farther and faster!" It is the same with reading. If you are planning to take courses or a test...you need to read. Reading an SAT book or textbook is not the only reading needed to win. Students need to learn to read well and comprehend (and remember) what they read. That can only happen when they read regularly and part of that reading should be pleasure reading. So the answer to why reading a book is like riding a bike is that both activities increase your skill, your speed and your confidence! I highly recommend that students use some form of electronic reader because they will always have their books with them. Armed with books they enjoy, they can turn a twenty minute wait for a doctor's appointment into an enjoyable experience. A list of 35 books suggested for high school age college-bound teens follows: FICTION
AND NONFICTION SUMMER READING LIST IDEAS* 1.
Indentured: The Inside Story of
the Rebellion Against the NCAAby Joe Nocera 2.
Virals
by Kathy Reichs 3.
The Undoing Project: A Friendship
That Changed Our Minds by Michael Lewis 4.
Strong Inside: Perry Wallace and the Collision of Race
and Sports in the Southby Andrew Maraniss 5.
My
Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She’s Sorry by Fredrik
Backman 6.
Fahrenheit
451
by Ray Bradbury 7.
10%
Happier by Dan Harris 8.
The Checklist Manifesto: How To
Get Things Rightby Atul Gawande 9.
The
Boy in the Stiped Pajamas by John Boyne 10.
Daisy
Fay and the Miracle Man by Fanny Flagg 11.
The
Reader by Tracy Chee 12.
Quiet: The Power of Introverts in
a World That Can’t Stop Talkingby Susan Cain 13.
To
Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 14.
Don’t
Just Do Something, Sit There by Sylvia Boorstein 15.
All
the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr 16.
Small
Steps by Louis Sachar 17.
1984
by George Orwell 18.
Tools of Titans: The Tactics,
Routines, and Habits of Billionaires, Icons, and World-Class Performers by Tim Ferriss 19.
Dear
Committee Members by Julie Schumacher 20. A Man Called Ove
by Fredrik Backman 21.
Short and Tragic Life of Robert
Peace: A Brilliant Young Man Who Left Newark for the Ivy League by Jeff Hobbs 22.
Exit West by Mohsin Hamid 23.
Brave
New World by Aldous Huxley 24.
A
Gentleman in Moscow by Amor Towles 25.
Blindspot,
Hidden Biases of Good People by Mahzarin Banaji and
Anthony Greenwald 26.
The
Memory Book by Lara Avery 27.
The
Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald 28.
The
Light Between Oceans by ML Steadman 29.
Snoop: What Your Stuff Says About
You by Sam Gosling 30.
The
Orphan Master’s Son by Adam Johnson 31.
Station Elevenby Emily St. John Mandel 32.
The
Lie Tree by Frances Hardinge 33.
No Barriers: A Blind Man’s Journey
to Kayak the Grand Canyon by Erik Weihenmayer 34.
The Gene: An Intimate Historyby Siddhartha Mukherjee 35.
Grandma Gatewood’s Walkby Ben Montgomery *Some books recommended in 2017 by educators and
others by members of the National Association of College Admission Counselors |
Seven Minutes
Posted on June 27, 2016 at 2:11 PM |
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Kid #1 is not Kid #2
Posted on July 16, 2015 at 11:18 PM |
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When to start college prep
Posted on July 12, 2015 at 12:59 PM |
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Summertime college prep
Posted on July 6, 2015 at 11:49 PM |
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Resolve to be ready for college
Posted on January 2, 2015 at 8:15 PM |
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One resolution all high school students should make this New Year is to get ready for college. That means taking the most challenging courses available to you, doing your best academically and being active in your high school and community. 1) If you are a high school senior, pay attention to the email and other mail you are getting and answer/return phone calls from colleges to which you have applied. This is the time of year when scholarship offers are made and there may be things you need to do to be considered. Do your best this coming semester. You are not just studying for grades, you are getting ready for serious academic challenges in the fall. 2) If you are a junior in high school, take the SAT and ACT and take them several times this spring and fall. If you have disappointing results, take a class or get an SAT or ACT tutor. Make sure you sign up for a healthy load of challenging courses for your senior year. Admissions officers assume that students who take a light senior year load are less likely to be ready to successfully manage a full course-load in college. 3) If you are a high school sophomore, make sure you take the PSAT. It helps you qualify for some scholarships. This year is also a great year to take an ACT or SAT class. Talk to your counselor about honors, advanced and AP courses you can take next year. 4) If you are a high school freshman, don't let yourself fall into the trap of thinking that you'll worry about college later. Later is now. How well you do in classes this year sets the stage for how well you will do next year and in the future. It is very hard to recover from a lost freshman year with no involvement in school or community and an easy course load with mediocre grades. |
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