Another Friday, another blog post!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

COLLEGES OPENING AND CLOSING AGAIN

What a week with colleges reopening and closing again. We all knew this was going to happen, and students and administrators are blaming one another. I was more on Team Blame the Administration until a meeting I had yesterday with one of our transfer applicants.

It was interesting to hear a student perspective from a normal, social, intelligent kid with a good head on her shoulders. She and her friends at her school are behaving responsibly, but some of the stories she was telling me about friends at other schools… wow. Hearing her take definitely left it in a different light for me. At this point I don’t think it’s rocket science how this spreads, and I think we can all agree that parties with hundreds of people and no masks are probably not the best call.

INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS GOING VIRTUAL

Sort of college related? In the past week it seems like a TON of independent schools announced the shift to virtual learning. Sigh! I honestly don’t even know what the right thing is to do anymore - it is what it is at this point, I guess!

VARSITY BLUES

Lori Laughlin and Mossimo Giannulli were sentenced today to two and five months in prison, respectively. Yikes. Good lesson for everyone!

NCAA ELIGIBILITY CHANGES

This is a really big one, actually - a lot of people were nervous about this, but NCAA finally announced that prospective student athletes who will enroll full-time for the first time during the 2021-2022 school year (in other words, the HS Class of 2021) will not have to take standardized tests. I’m so glad they made this decision now and didn’t wait!

QUARANTINE MEALS

Oh my gosh - these quarantine meals sound so terrible I laughed out loud while reading it! A lemon, granola bar, and cookie?! I am sorry but who eats a lemon? Much less for dinner?? I feel sorry for these kids!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

One of our rising senior dads sent me this very interesting piece from NBC News about regional public universities and specifically Ohio University. I thought it was very interesting (and sad). It’s not exactly a promising outlook for these types of institutions.

Not sure I consider this a “best article,” but this Bloomberg article about college admissions becoming more unfair has attracted so much attention in the admissions world this week that i’ll include it anyway.

It goes on to conclude that the economic impact of the virus will lead admissions offices to have to favor these less-qualified, wealthy applicants. I agree with that prediction, but I have two thoughts:

• This will make much more of a difference at mid-first-tier or second-tier schools. I do not think this is going to change the game at Harvard, for example.

• There is nothing fair about this process. Nothing at all. Certain factors will become more or less fair depending on each year’s landscape, but if you’re hoping for fair, you’re going to be disappointed. Might as well just try to control what you can control and make yourself the best candidate you can.

Okay, so not exactly an article. But if you feel like some fun instagram browsing, I love checking out all the dorm room decor at this time of year. Every year I become more impressed!

Do you see how they attach headboards over the dorm beds? This is genius. Seriously, where were these 20 years ago? If I ever have a career change, I want to be a dorm room designer!

Not messing around at SMU and Mississippi State, that’s for sure.

And don’t worry, guys, you can have fancy dorm rooms too! This cracks me up.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Did you catch my video on our facebook page?

We’re so excited to be adding Shannon to our team on September 1!

Here’s a little more about her background:

As the former Director of Recruitment at Georgetown University, Shannon’s unique skill set blends selective admissions experience with the pedagogical expertise gained as an academic coach and First-Year Writing instructor at Boston College. She has worked extensively with students across ability levels, from academic high-flyers to those struggling with anxiety, specific learning disabilities, and ADHD. Her enthusiasm, patience, and dedication helps students not only to achieve success in the high school, college and graduate school admissions processes, but also to retain invaluable strategies for their future academic endeavors.

Shannon graduated from Phillips Academy Andover before attending the College of William & Mary as a Monroe Scholar and participant of the William & Mary/ St. Andrews Joint Degree Programme. She later received her master's degree in English from Boston College, where she achieved certification from the Center for Teaching Excellence. 

In her spare time, Shannon enjoys reading memoirs and personal essays, teaching group fitness classes, and the New York Times crossword puzzle. Her favorite places in D.C. are the Botanic Garden and the National Gallery of Art.  

Current clients can book meetings with her here.

Have a great weekend!