Weekly Update: June 3
BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK
BIDEN ADMIN CANCELS STUDENT LOANS FOR CORINTHIAN COLLEGE STUDENTS
The Biden administration announced this week that it will forgive student loans for over half a million students from Corinthian Colleges, one of the nation's largest for-profit colleges. Corinthian Colleges has faced numerous lawsuits for its predatory practices. This is the largest student loan forgiveness action that the government has taken to date, and will cost close to 6 billion dollars.
PANDEMIC RELIEF IMPACTS FINANCIAL AID
Students who received unemployment benefits in 2020 may be facing issues getting the financial aid they need through the FAFSA. This is an ongoing issue that began after many families faced drastic changes in income during the pandemic. So make sure that your FAFSA is as accurate as possible, and don’t be afraid to reach out to schools if you think your aid should be reevaluated!
TITLE IX TURNS 50
For the 50th anniversary of Title IX, USA Today investigated how colleges are doing in the march toward equity for women. The results aren’t inspiring - the expose uncovers how women are still underrepresented in college sports, and reveals the colleges that have padded the numbers and inflated women’s rosters rather than abiding by the spirit of the law.
BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK
The New Yorker explored how the pandemic has affected the SAT as we know it. In addition to the number of test optional schools making the SAT less important in the admissions process, the pandemic has also prompted the creation of the new digital test. The article explores the history of the SAT and how it has endured through multiple scandals and shifts, with the pandemic only the latest (and perhaps most drastic) change that College Board and its flagship test have had to face.
This article about the top ten highest-earning degrees from public universities is worth checking out for a few reasons. Most of these schools are not considered “brand names,” and I doubt that many of the students in our area have even heard of some of them! This just goes to show that a “big name” doesn’t necessarily map onto a higher salary after school. And we were excited to see that UVA made the list - students with computer engineering majors make a median salary of just under $102,000 three years after graduation.
OFFICE HAPPENINGS
Our juniors are starting to finalize their lists, are finishing their Common App essays, and several have even moved onto early supplemental essay work! While we know that summer is busy for these students, we also know that they will be excited come senior year to have all of this essay writing behind them.
I don’t think we have written about this much on the blog, but we’ve talked a lot internally about how different this essay season has been from any other year. This group was in the middle of their freshman year when the world turned upside down… and they just haven’t really done very much.
It’s not even about activities, as most of them have taken our advice and maintained extracurricular involvement as much as they could, even virtually. But we don’t advise parroting off a list of activities in the college essay. Whether activities are involved in the story or not, the essay really needs to be a venue to show personal growth and share insight about the student that can’t be found anywhere else in their application. It’s really tough to do that when you haven’t had a typical teenage experience.
But we are lucky because Staci is basically the most patient woman on the planet! She has been working so hard with these students to help them craft amazing essays regardless of what they have been able to come to the table with! Shannon and I have been helping out with lots of extra editing behind the scenes and of course Alan is a godsend! He does the last round of edits from a fresh perspective, having never seen the pieces before. It is amazing to me how much value his perspective adds to the final versions.
Anyway, over the last week we have finished a whole lot of these essays and it’s amazing to me how all the extra work has paid off. The final versions are AWESOME, which is not necessarily something I thought I was going to be able to say a couple of months ago. I actually think they have turned out even better than final versions usually do. For example, I don’t know that we have ever had a year with such little feedback about potential changes. Sometimes parents and students aren’t on the same page about certain aspects and we have to play mediator, but not this year. All constituents involved have just been very happy with few or zero suggestions, and I really hope that ends up to be a theme this season (knocking on wood right now)!
On an entirely different note - we want to congratulate our graduating seniors and wish them well on this next adventure! This is always a bittersweet time because we’re really excited about how we’re getting to know the juniors more, but it’s sad to be done with the seniors and their families. We become so close with these students and we really do miss them! We’re excited to see where they go next - and to see a few of them back for College Experience Coaching.
Have a great weekend!