Notice how the older, more experienced student is looking after the younger one? (Photo credit: Oakley Originals via Flickr)
Welcome back everyone!
By now I'm sure all of our Freshman and Sophomores are well on their way to a fantastic start to their high school career. But what about those students that have been there and done that? They need just a little more in the way of advice than just, "study hard." Lucky for all of you, in addition to the basics, we here at Omniac have more specialized things that our upper classman can be doing to improve their college applications!
Junior Year!
This is when most people start to really think about college, but you should have already done some of that stuff already, so you'll be a few steps ahead of your classmates. As always though, there's still plenty you can do.
"Study Hard!"
Thought I wasn't going to tell you this? Well, Im sorry, but there's never a time when you can afford to give up on your grades. The first thing you should do as a junior is take a good, long look at your GPA. If you've kept your nose to the grindstone the past 2 years, it'll be just more of the same for you. If not, then this is the time to try to pull that up. Remember! Most applications will have deadlines in the winter of your senior year, so you only have 2-3 more semesters to improve your grades.
"Take the PSAT"
This test is open to all juniors and there's really just no excuse not to take it. I know it's a long, boring standardized test, but if you do well enough, your college prospects will greately improve. Let me repeat that for emphasis. If you do well enough on this single test (the PSAT), colleges will literally fight each with big handfuls of money to get you to go to their school. And if you don't do very well...then you've only lost about 3 hours. Like I said, there's really no reason not to at least try it out.
"Take the ACT/SAT. Take them early and take them often"
On the subject of tests, when spring rolls around, you should be trying out your first ACT or SAT. These tests are only held 6 times every year; so the earlier you take it, the more time you'll have to
fix any problems you find. And if you get the score of your dreams now, then that's one less thing to worry about next year.
Senior Year!
Here it is! This is what the past three years have been all about. More than any other year in high school, your senior year is all about what you've made of it. If you've had your eye on the prize this whole time, you'll largely be able to sit back and enjoy yourself this year. But if you've slacked off as an underclassman, there'll be no enjoyment to be had as you work your butt off trying to play catch up.
"Avoid Senioritis"
The first and most important thing you can do during your senior year is AVOID SENIORITIS!!! One F or major discipline problem can destroy all the hard work you've put in over the past 3 years. The party that everone is going to or the class that's so easy to skip...is just not worth endangering your future. This is the last year of high school and the end is so close, just a little more work and you'll finally be done!
"Dot your Is and cross your Ts"
You've done all the work already. You've kept a good GPA throughout high school. You've experienced different clubs and activities and lived life outside of the classroom. You've taken your tests.
You've picked your colleges. Now all that's left is to put all that hard work together and wow colleges with your tremendous application.
That's all there is to it. If you can stay on top of everything, you can almost just coast this last year. You may have to take a test again, but at least you know what you need to do to prepare for test day. You will have lots and lots of applications to fill out, but since you've spent the past 3 years building towards this, it should be relatively easy. This is the reward for all the previous years of hardwork you've put yourself though, so enjoy it!
She looks like she's starting to study. Remember that: we'll go back to it again...several times. (Photo Credit: Dawn Ashley via Flickr.)
Hey all!
A new school year is right around the corner, if it hasn't gotten to you already, and there are always things you can be doing to improve your college applications regardless of your current grade. Every year, students of every grade level have questions about things they can do to start prepping for college. As always, Omniac is here with some answers!
So, without further delay, here are a few simple tips that any student can use to help prepare for college!
Freshman Year
In a lot of ways, freshman year is the most important year because it sets the tone for your entire high school career. Rock the socks off it, and you've put yourself in a great position to do the same for the next three years. But if you blow it, you'll spend those same three years trying to dig yourself out of a very, very deep hole.
1.
Study, Study, Study!The number 1 thing you can get taken care ofduring freshman year is
GRADES, GRADES, GRADES! High school GPA is the biggest clue as to how well a student will do in college and it's the most important part of your application. The earlier you can lock down your grades, the better you'll look to colleges.
2. Embrace your next 4 years!
After you get your grades where you want them, the next most important thing is to fully experience high school. Like it or not, this is where you'll spend the next 4 years of your life, and you can make yourself have a great time, or a miserable time. Obviously the better time you're having, the better you'll do academically. Make some more friends, check out sports, or band, or the myriad other clubs that every campus offers. Find your niche, find the thing that makes you special and colleges WILL notice.
Sophomore Year!
You're a year older, a year wiser, and you're hopefully well on your way to having that whole "high school thing" figured out. There are good and bad things about sophomore year: the Good is that you're not a freshman anymore. The Bad, though, is that you're kinda like the middle child of the school. You don't get all the cool stuff that the juniors and seniors get, but you're held to a much higher standard than the freshmen. That doesn't mean you can let sophomore year go to waste. There are still lots of things you can be doing to make this year great!
1. Find "Yourself" and make that person AWESOME!
After the obvious (keep those grades up!), the best thing to work on is YOU! Ya know, the unique individual things that make you stand out. Hopefully, you have a couple of ideas about what those things are, and you might have even found extra curricular activities that let you show your passions off. Dive as deep as you can into your activities and make them your own!
2. Take your show on the road!
Let's say that you've been finding things out about yourself that are unique and great and you've been exploring those things through your school. Fantastic! But there are plenty of other avenues outside of school that are just as good, if not better. Always remember that, in addition to big changes in your education, your high school years are about big changes to you and your community. Taking whatever skills and talents you have to help better your community is not only just an all-around good thing, but it will look even better on your application than school-sponsored events!
Thanks a lot for checking in with the first part of this series. We certainly hope that all Freshmen and Sophomores are able to put these ideas to good use so they can have a spectacular start to high school! Come back next time to see our tips for upper classman!
University of Chicago (LHOON via Flickr)
There is no question that the University of Chicago is a prestigious university that attracts some of the best and brightest high school students in the world. Founded in 1890 by the American Baptist Education Society and funded by a donation from John D. Rockefeller, the University is the crown jewel for the Hyde Park area of Chicago and a prime example of the effectiveness and quality of private liberal arts institutions across the country. Year after year, the University of Chicago stands as an outstanding, well-funded institution staffed by some of the best teachers, thinkers, and scientists in the world.
Yet, as an admissions crunch has overwhelmed Ivy League schools like Harvard and Yale, Chicago has remained an extremely reasonable option for high-achieving students. While the ACT and SAT averages for Chicago stretch toward the 99th Percentile, the admission rate in recent years (20-30%) has been consistent with an admission process that welcomes students who are excellent without being miraculous and wonderful without being perfect.
Harvard and Yale expect you to walk on water to get an admission letter (7% admission rates!); University of Chicago admits hundreds of students every year who stand out through their great GPAs, excellent test scores, and solid extracurricular activities. In fact, I often advise students to seek out schools like Chicago in lieu of applying to Ivy League schools because the process at a school with a 25% admission rate is fundamentally more rational and reasonable than the process at a school with a 7% admission rate. In years past, you could count on this "second tier" of quality schools to respect and value solid applications that would be pushed aside at Harvard and Yale for flashier, more "impressive" applications.
This year, however, things were different.
Chicago received approximately 13,500 applications for admission to their freshman Class of 2013, a slight increase from the previous year. For the upcoming Class of 2014, however, the University of Chicago received nearly 42% more applications, pushing the number of applicants close to 20,000. This did not bode well for the applicants: the admission rate dropped well below the norm to a measly 18%.
Students that otherwise would have been admitted were waitlisted; students that otherwise would have been waitlisted were denied outright. Chicago had so many students applying that they were given a new level of options when viewing the applications. No longer did the admissions officers need to look deeply at a student with a lower test score or a slight downturn in GPA: they had all the applicants they needed to be as picky as they wanted to be. Like it or not, some applications were thrown out that would have been considered deeply in the past, denying some students the chance to impress the admissions officers through less concrete achievements.
It's in this way that schools with extremely low admission rates enter some sort of Twilight Zone where normal rules simply don't apply. A 89th Percentile ACT Score? We've got tons above 90th! A 3.8 GPA? Too common around here. We need to see something really impressive to admit a student to Our Prestigious University and we're not seeing it from you...
If current trends continue, University of Chicago is no longer a rational place for students to apply. It's as if Harvard, Yale, MIT, and every other Ivy League school have reached a point of saturation where they simply aren't attracting more applicants at the same rate. Perhaps students, like locusts, realize that there is no more meat on the bones of these schools and they must move on. And, like locusts, they ravage the schools who are just a little bit down from the Ivies on the list, driving admission rates down ever further in their quest for a Golden Ticket.
Every student who is looking to apply to those schools "down the list" from the Ivies better get ready for the coming storm. It's going to be a nasty, drop-down, drag-out fight as schools like University of Chicago see their applicant pools swell and their admission rates drop. Solid applications won't garner much attention; excellent applications are going to be the new normal. There is simply no more room for students to be anything less than the best possible applicant the school has ever seen.
Welcome to the December 23, 2009 edition of the Carnival of college admission. We here at Omniac are wrapping things up for the year, but we've got just enough time to share the latest Carnival of College Admission with ya! Check out some of these awesome links!
Choosing the Right College
For an unorthodox education, you may want to look for a unique experience. Here are a few schools worth checking out courtesy of Kathryn Hawkins. She presents Want a Unique Academic Experience? Try One of These Schools posted at My College Guide.
Baker Jason presents 10 Non-traditional University Rankings that should help you get a grasp on some different schools available to you. It's posted at Online University Rankings 2010.
Jennifer Meyer presents 10 Most Selective Universities in the US posted at College Stats.org,
saying, "You aced your SATs and your GPA is 4.0. Do you think you can
get into Harvard or Yale? If you don’t excel in sports and if your
father is not a senator, your admission be subject to a number of
arbitrary whims, including the side effects of food poisoning."
College Life
Beware the lure of Greek life! It can be dangerous! Barbara Williams fills us in on the Top 10 Worst Greek Hazing Scandals & Stories at Online Colleges.net.
Kaitlyn Cole helps all of you college students struggling in the dorm with 100+ Helpful Tips for Surviving and Thriving in Dorm Life and 101 Ways to Hack Your College Cafeteria at Online Colleges.net.
College is a tough time for poor students even when the US isn't in a recession. Jim Wang helps all students out with 40 Money Tips for College Students posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity.
Financial Aid
Ron presents Student Aid Eligibility posted at ScholarshipBeat, saying, "Eligibility for federal student aid is based on financial need as well as several other factors. The financial aid administrator at the college or career school you plan to attend will determine your eligibility."
Getting Admitted
Want to join graphic design school, but don't know how much it costs? Let Tom Tessin give you the low down in his article How Much is Graphic Design School? posted at FCC Student Blog.
Sophie presents Vital Must Know College Terms- Your Personal Cheat Sheet and a fantastic video post titled Critical Tips for Navigating the FAFSA web site at Sophie's Blog.
Angela Martin presents 50 Great Blogs for College Admissions posted at Online Colleges.org.
Tell her if you know of any others!
That concludes this edition. Now we can get back to wrapping presents...
Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of college admission
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our
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carnival of college admission, blog carnival.
Welcome to the June 10, 2009 edition of carnival of college admission. This is the second time we've hosted the Carnival and I'm really excited to have all of these wonderful bloggers featured here on the site again...
Let's get started!
Choosing the Right College
Elizabeth Kraus presents Affordability and Flexibility: Two Great Reasons to Pursue Online Education posted at myUsearch.com, saying, "If you're heading to college next year or are considering going back to school, you might be wondering how on earth you will fit your college classes into your busy schedule. Laurelin Kruse, student blogger for myUsearch.com, suggests that you might want to consider an online degree as a flexible and more affordable college education option."
Mark Montgomery presents Adjunct Faculty and Student-to-Faculty Ratios: What Universities Don’t Know posted at Great College Advice, saying, "College marketing is sometimes out of touch with what is actually happening in the classroom. Sometimes, university administrators have no idea who is teaching the most students. But you should be asking the question--get them to pay attention!"
College Life
TJ Hanson presents You're Still Young - Earning Respect in the Workforce posted at The Digital Student Blog. It's a must read for any young adult looking to enter the workforce and make the bets possible impression.
Andrew Skinner presents What To Bring To College: Things You Might Forget posted at DormDelicious, saying, "A quick list of oft-forgotten items by freshman moving into the dorms."
Ray presents Best Student Credit Card Tips For Smart Credit Use posted at Money Blue Book. If you're going to be using credit cards in college (and who doesn't!) then you should definitely take a look. It even has a list of good cards for college students.
Diane presents What to Expect During Freshman Orientation posted at ULS Blog for International Students, saying, "No matter how many campus visits you made before being admitted, freshman orientation often gives students their first tastes of what college life will really be like."
Getting In To College
Linda Abraham from the Accepted Admissions Almanac graces us with an awesome article about the college admissions essay titled Yikes! My essay is too long!!! Her tips are golden!
Graduate Schools
GeekMBA360 presents An in-depth look into MBA Admission Consulting posted at GeekMBA360. It's a great, personal look at hiring an MBA Admissions counselor written by an up and coming student.
Other Cool Stuff
Lynn Mattoon presents Career Article - A College Degree Can Help You Get a Better Job, But What about an Online Degree? - CollegeJobBank.com posted at CollegeJobBank.com. A quick and useful summary, I think that Lynn's article does a great job of outlining why a online degree might be good for you.
Alvaro Fernandez presents Book Announcement: The SharpBrains Guide to Brain Fitness posted at SharpBrains: Your Window into the Brain Fitness Revolution, saying, "While most of us have heard the phrase “use it or lose it,” very few understand what “it” means, or how to properly “use it” in order to maintain brain function and fitness. Here's the story on how my interest turned into a blog and now a book!"
jim presents Is College Worth the Cost of Tuition? Yes. posted at Blueprint for Financial Prosperity, saying, "Based on some recent data, it's clear that going to college is worth the price of graduating, despite an increase in costs."
College Degrees presents Academic Credential Evaluations: What is Your Degree Worth? posted at The Degree People,
saying, "People who immigrate to the United States arrive in this
country with a wide variety of foreign degrees and other education.
Because of this, most people must have their degrees evaluated by a
foreign credential evaluation agency prior to getting a job or
enrolling in a higher education program in the United States."
Sarah Scrafford presents Top 10 Commencement Speeches for Tech Lovers posted at Online Colleges.
It's a great collection of speeches from the likes of Ray Bradbury and
Bill Gates that not only reminds you who said what, but also points you
to a copy of the speech itself!
That concludes this edition hosted on the Omniac Attack blog. Submit your blog article to the next edition of
carnival of college admission
using our
carnival submission form.
Past posts and future hosts can be found on our
blog carnival index page.
The next edition will hosted by Eric Perron at Dreamstrategy.com. The URL to submit a post for the next edition is http://blogcarnival.com/bc/submit_5094.html
Technorati tags:
carnival of college admission, blog carnival.
It's been said time and time again: Grades are by far the most important element of your college application. In the eyes of college admissions officers, high school grades reflect your comittment to learning, your desire to succeed, and your willingness to push yourself as you work toward your dream school.
When I meet with students, however, they largely consider GPA to be the least fascinating part of the college admissions process. Students always have questions about SAT and ACT tutoring, college essay help, and school search tips, but rarely does a kid sit across the table from me and ask "What about my grades?"
I think this is because students think that improving their grades is going to be hard work. And they aren't wrong. Bringing up your grades and improving your GPA requires more than just a twitch of your nose.
Yet, improving your GPA is easier than raising an SAT or ACT score. It's a lot easier than writing the perfect college essay. And it's a ton easier than doing hundreds of hours of community service or opening your own business to impress colleges.
So where do you start if you want to raise your GPA?
We suggest hiring a tutor. Our Omniac Tutors can cover any subject you throw at us and even come to your house to meet you!
And we don't think you should wait until finals week to get started working with someone. It's tempting to try to make things up at the end, but it's often not realistic. In addition, getting started early has quite a few advantages you probably haven't even thought about:
1. It's easier to catch up when you start early.
It is significantly easier for a tutor to help a student meet their academic goals before all of the damage has been done. Many of our clients call us the week before finals, hoping to use the last test to turn a D into a C. While we are always happy to help students patch things together at the last minute, all tutoring is more effective if it starts early and stays consistent. Learning is like losing weight; it can't happen all on one day!
2. Tutors help you focus on learning instead of your grade.
Most students get into trouble when they start to think that grades are more important than learning. A grade is temporary; you will get a new set every semester. If you are working smart, you should be focused on learning the material, not just getting your goal grade. Working with a tutor gives you the confidence you need to concentrate your efforts on understanding the class you are in now so that you can use that knowledge to learn more effectively in the future.
3. Busy schedules mean you have less study time.
Students with a long list of intensive extra curricular activities often don't have time to spend 3-5 hours on their own studying. While a student in an ideal setting would have an infinite amount of time to study and work, it's an unfortunate reality that most students don't have enough time to even do the homework they are given. A tutor can help make the most of the time you do have and aid you in prioritizing the elements that will help most when finals week does come calling.
4. Tutors keep you motivated by keeping you accountable.
A tutor is your study friend, there when you need a partner to keep you going or when you need someone to quiz you for that test coming up. They call you to remind you that you need to have all your math done by Friday before the test and they are there to answer questions at late hours when Mom and Dad are tired from a full day of work. In short, they've got your back when you need a lift to succeed!
5. Tutoring can help make your good grades great.
Are you consistently getting Bs? Always stuck at the low end of As, worried that you might drop lower? Why are you settling? Selective colleges don't mind the occasional B in a class, but you really should be earning As to impress the schools you dream about. Working with a tutor can streamline your work and push you to the point of real success! Think of tutors as personal trainers for your mind!
So go get a tutor. You'll thank me when your grades (and your college application) become that much stronger!
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Got other reasons that tutors rock? Leave them in the comments!
Do you think they made any part of the donation in coins? (Photo Credit: Flickr via Theiving Joker)
Several universities (including Purdue, UC Colorado Springs, and UNC Asheville) have recently received very large donations from a mystery donor! Chronicle of Higher Education
California is facing a 6% shortage of college trained workers by the year 2025. Yup, a college degree is more important than ever. Los Angeles Times
Do you have an unusual passion like solving Rubik's Cubes or collecting free stuff on the Internet? Weird hobbies can look very good on an application if framed correctly! About.com
Admissions officer from U of Georgia talks about some of the reasons applicants are denied. He strongly suggests reapplying as a transfer student if you still want to attend. AJC.com
Credit Card applications are everywhere on campus and college students are racking up more debt than ever before. WISTV.com
NYU changes it's testing requirements...one step closer to an SAT-free world! Now all you need to take is the ACT. Inside Higher Ed
National Association for College Admissions Counciling wants National Merit Scholarship to move away from PSAT, claiming that the Scholarship focuses too much on one day of testing. Pittsburgh Post Gazette
Even Princeton is starting to question the effectiveness of the SAT!
The GW Hatchet
New law makes it easier for students to earn financial aid through volunteer work. San Fransisco Chronicle
Tell your teachers it's Facebook's fault! (Photo Credit: Flickr via Laughing Squid)
New study, by Ohio State University, shows that Facebook users have
lower GPAs than non-users. Perhaps it's time to turn off your computer
and do some work? Information Week
Many high schools have students post rejection letters to a wall in the school as a show of camraderie. Examiner.com
The gap between higher and lower income students when it comes to admissions highlights the growing differences in the way students apply to college. Washington Post
If you didn't apply for financial aid during your initial admissions process, you can go back and change your preference. But there may be consequences... New York Times
New novel highlights admissions process from the view of the admissions office. Craziness ensues. San Fransisco Chronicle
Students could find trouble by expressing their desires to bring top atheletes to their college on Facebook. Associated Press
SAT 'at war with itself,' according to former UC president. It's another major hit against the beleagured test. Inside Higher Ed
Can pizza save the US school system? (Photo Credit: Bala via Flickr)
Idaho High School sells pizza ads on tests to raise money for printing paper. AP via Yahoo News
Five students in Mumbia, India expelled for doctoring their transcripts while applying to US Universities. The Times of India
Yale and other top universities have stopped mailing out rejection letters in favour of online notification. Yale Daily News
So-Cal charter school, High Tech High, opens as one of the most eco-friendly schools built to date. SignOnSanDiego.com
Texas state legislatures are considering new law that could make it easier for New Mexico students to get accepted to Texas universities. Beaumont Enterprise Local
New York Times releases new college admissions blog by national experts authored by famed writer Mr. Jacques Steinberg. Fox Business
During recession, students who can pay the full cost have better chance of being accepted into selective colleges. New York Times
If you haven't heard, things aren't going so well for the global economy. The Dow has dropped to half its previous value in just a few months, unemployment is rising to possibly double digits, and consumer spending and confidence are at nearly all-time lows.
So how does this affect America's colleges and universities? Are they immune to the slings and arrows of outrageous global catastrophes? Do their massive endowments shield them from the "real" world. Unfortunately...the answer is an unequivocal "no."
Last month, Harvard announced that it was cutting the travel budget for its admission department by 50%, slashing all out-of-state travel programs and reducing individual visits to only local high schools. Admissions Dean William R. Fitzsimmons stressed that Harvard will still strive to reach out to interested students through their "joint" programs:
Fitzsimmons said that joint travel trips—attended by larger numbers of
students, parents, and counselors—have proven more effective in
attracting prospective applicants. He added that Harvard will continue
to visit 127 cities with along with Georgetown, the University of
Pennsylvania, Duke, and Stanford.
When asked if he was worried that these cuts would hurt
Harvard’s perception of accessibility, Fitzsimmons acknowledged that
this is “always a concern,” but said that this was one of the purposes
of joint recruiting trips.
Teaming up with these colleges may help attract students who
might not attend an information session only for Harvard, Fitzsimmons
said. Joint trips with Princeton and the University of Virginia to
target students from lower income backgrounds are still on the books
for November. - Harvard Crimson
In short, don't expect to meet a Harvard Admissions officer at your school's counseling office. They simply don't have the money to come out and see you. Harvard isn't publicly funded, but its endowment lost over 20% of it's value in 2008.
On the other side of the spectrum, larger schools are finding that budget cuts are having a much more immediate and dire impact on their ability to enroll students. This year, San Jose State University was forced to deny admission to over 4,000 qualified applicants due to the state's budget crisis:
University officials blame
the budget for the enrollment cuts; overall the CSU system got 10
percent — $283 million — less than officials say they need. On Nov. 20,
CSU Chancellor Charles B. Reed asked every campus to cap enrollment
because funding hasn't kept pace with a growing student body. For San
Jose State, that meant a 9 percent reduction — 29,750 students in the
2009-10 school year, down from 32,750 in 2008-09. - MercuryNews.com
That cap resulted in the first time the university has ever turned away applicants who met the minimum qualifications for attending the university. Without time to plan for the cuts, San Jose State officials noted that they simply didn't accept the 4,400 most recent applicants.
I feel pretty terrible for those kids who tried to get into a safety school at the last minute, only to be denied on the basis of a state budget crisis. Next year, San Jose promises to think more carefully about applicants and design some way of selecting the most qualified rather than the "first" qualified.
These trends are only becoming more common as schools get final budget numbers and endowment results. If you're looking at colleges for the first time now, it's time to start asking them "How are you planning on dealing with less money?" They might have answers that will shock you.
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Got another college trying to cope with budget woes? Let us know in the comments!