COLLEGE ADMISSIONS UPDATE JUNE 2024 |
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Timely Admissions News, Tips and Trends to Your Inbox |
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Why You Should Get to Know Your High School Counselor |
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It was my years as a high school counselor that sparked my passion for college admissions advising, and understanding the inner workings of a high school counseling office is a unique advantage to my work as a consultant. For the college applicant, it is also valuable to understand the part your counselor plays in the admission process and why getting to know him or her is in your best interest. At most high schools, the counselor is managing class scheduling, academic advising, test administration, social-emotional counseling, possibly 504 Plan writing and management, and general problem-solving for a myriad of unforeseen events that arise. All of this in addition to delivering a college planning curriculum. So there are many opportunities to see your counselor for any of the above reasons. Why should you make a point of doing so? And your counselor is required to complete a school report that accompanies your transcript where they rate you on a scale comparing you to your peers for Academic Achievement, Extracurricular Accomplishments, Personal Qualities and Character, and an Overall rating. Knowing this, it is in a student's best interest to give their counselor some good material to write about.
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Free College Visit Checklist and Campus Comparison Tracker |
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New Spin on Career Planning |
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According to Laura Amigone's Career Design Process, asking an adolescent what career they want adds unnecessary stress. Instead, she suggests asking what problems they see that they are curious about to identify a career that has more emotional investment and therefore greater sustainability and potential for success. She incorporates Jonathan Field's Sparketypes, a new way to focus on the type of work that makes a person feel energized. |
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Increased Deferrals: The New Normal? Ever since COVID pushed admissions testing off the list of required admissions criteria for the majority of colleges, they responded by moving to a more holisitic method of evaluation. Character-driven applicant traits, as presented in the applicant's letters of recommendation, activities list and essays have taken on increased value in determining the applicant admission "score." And because test scores often aren't required, students who may have previously shied away from applying are now more brazen in their hopes for acceptance, skyrocketing the number of applications colleges are receiving. To consider this from an admissions viewpoint, officers must read more involved applications from more applicants, resulting in overworked admissions staff. What changes have taken place to make this more manageable for admissions but less reliable for applicants? |
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The Common Application is wrapping up its 2nd year piloting a program that offers admission directly to qualifying students. The program focuses on first-generation and low to middle-income applicants in an effort to encourage confidence. Students with Common App accounts who meet the GPA criteria can be offered admission without applying or even knowing anything about the college. If interested, they go ahead and apply but are guaranteed acceptance. Invitees are identified by fee waiver eligibility, first-generation reporting, and zip code location. In 2023-24, 71 colleges participated, with 140 projected for 2024-25. |
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Curry College Guarantees Employment |
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Higher education institutions have begun to recognize one of the main reasons kids go to college are to obtain a good job, economic stability, and social and economic mobility over time. Toward this end, Curry College, a small, private school in Milton, MA, has announced The Curry Commitment, essentially guaranteeing employment within 6 months of graduation. There are conditions to be met by the student, but if a job isn't secured, Curry will offer either tuition relief, continued employment support, or graduate school tuition credit. Certainly a strategic marketing effort considering families are focusing on ROI more than ever. For more data on employment vs. debt, for every college, by major, check out https://collegescorecard.ed.gov. |
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LIST OF THE MONTH FISKE GUIDE: BEST PRIVATE BUYS Private institutions where students enjoy a quality academic experience at a relatively low cost (price + ave. debt) |
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Agnes Scott College Alfred University Beloit College Centre College Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Rice University The Cooper Union for the Advancement of Science and Art Vanderbilt University Warren Wilson College Xavier University of Louisiana |
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Your input is requested! What would you, as a consumer of college admissions information, like to see in future editions of this newsletter? Please take a few moments to share your thoughts below! |
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If you would like to continue receiving this newsletter, please subscribe: |
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VP College Consulting, LLC Overland Park, KS |
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vicki@vpcollegeconsulting.com 913-228-2807 |
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