August is here, and we are busy!
BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK
DC SCHOOLS GRAPPLE WITH COVID-19 LAWSUITS
American, Georgetown, George Washington, Howard, Catholic, George Mason, and the University of Maryland are among many other universities around the country that have been sued by current or former students for partial refunds of tuition fees. The students argue that they paid tuition expecting an in-person education, and the online schooling during COVID-19 is a breach of contract. There doesn’t seem to be a consensus yet on whether these suits have merit - the cases against Georgetown, George Washington, and American have been dismissed, while those against Howard, Catholic, and George Mason have been allowed to proceed.
CALLING ALL DC AREA FUTURE LEADERS!
ABC and McDonald’s are seeking nominations for high school and college-age students with strong leadership skills and experience to be featured on the evening news’ “Future Leaders” segment. If you know a student whose leadership and service is an inspiration to the community, complete the form to nominate them!
DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS AT FCPS
If your student receives accommodations from school, unfortunately they do not carry over to the PSAT or SAT (though luckily, the ACT recently announced that it will give students accommodations from their IEP or 504 plan!). If you are an FCPS student planning to take a test on the October 13 test date this fall, you will need to submit an accommodation request by August 10 (this Tuesday!) to receive accommodations for the exams.
Speaking of accommodations, FCPS students seeking them for dual enrollment classes will also need to submit an accommodation request through the college or university where they are taking the class, as well as through their high school. Submit your requests sooner rather than later to make sure that you receive the accommodations you need!
BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK
A few weeks ago, we featured an article about students taking out loans for graduate school that they were unable to pay back. Some of you may have read that article thinking, “Well yeah, of course, if you go to graduate school for art or film, you’ll graduate with a lot of debt!” But even the graduate schools that were once considered “sure bets” may no longer be the best financial choice. With the job market so uncertain during COVID-19, law schools too have seen a big increase in applications, but law students are already graduating with high levels of debt.
We often tell undergraduate students to pay less attention to the school rankings - fit is much more important at the undergraduate level, and the rankings usually do not accurately reflect the student experience (for example, the number of books in the library is a big factor for US News, but usually NOT a factor at all in whether someone enjoys their four years at college!). When it comes to graduate schools, though, rankings do matter, and it is usually students at top-tier law schools that find high-paying jobs after graduation. But salaries for most legal jobs are not rising at the same pace as tuition, and students graduating from lower-ranked schools may find themselves with a lot of debt and no way to pay it off. And this will only increase in the next few years, as more students than ever graduate from law school and the job market becomes more saturated!
OFFICE HAPPENINGS
Week 1 of August is done! Many of our students have rolled over their Common ApplicationⓇ, our essay coaches continue to work through supplemental essays, and we are so impressed with how hard our students are working! For many of them, this is the final stretch - and they will definitely see their hard work pay off this fall!
Finishing up with our current seniors this month also means that we will have space opening up in the fall for Late-Start Seniors. If you are interested in working with us this fall, check out our Late Start Waitlist page for more information!
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