Weekly Update: November 4

And.. we’re back!

RECENT COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS

DIVORCED FAMILIES TAKE ON ELITE UNIVERSITIES OVER ALLEGED ANTITRUST SCHEMES

A lawsuit filed in federal court accuses the University of Pennsylvania, Villanova, and 38 other private universities of colluding to make college more expensive for students with divorced parents. The schools require financial aid applicants to include income from both parents through the CSS Profile (as well as their spouses, if they are married), even if only one parent provides financial support. The suit alleges that this approach, which began in 2006, increased tuition costs by an average of $6,200 per student. It claims that this practice violated antitrust laws by limiting competition and making college less affordable, causing stress and financial strain for families. 

This year’s FAFSA redesign has been tough on divorced families, too. Previously, the custodial parent (defined as the parent the student lived with the most during the past year) was responsible for completing the FAFSA. The new FAFSA will now require financial information from the parent who provides the most financial support – and that parent’s spouse, if they are married. If parents provide 50/50 financial support, the FAFSA will require financial information from the parent/spouse pair with the highest income and assets – regardless of custody arrangements or willingness to pay for college.

A WHITE COAT WITH DARK INTENTIONS AT MIAMI

When reflecting on the professionals that students should be able to trust most in a university setting, it’s hard to think of positions higher on that list than professors and doctors. And yet, a professor (and medical doctor) from the University of Miami’s medical school was recently arrested for trafficking and distributing GHB, according to police reports. GHB is widely known as a common date-rape drug; rapists put it in beverages so their victims will lose consciousness. This horrifying incident has raised significant concerns and discussions among students, staff, and the local community about campus safety and ethics at the U. So far, his name has been removed from the school’s website - and we will definitely continue to follow this case to monitor the university’s response.

RECORD-BREAKING DONATIONS ELEVATE W&L AND VILLANOVA

Washington and Lee University received a record $132 million donation from alumnus Bill Miller, the largest in the school’s history (and one of the largest financial aid-related gifts in history for any liberal arts college). It will enable the school to institute a brand new need-blind admissions process, as well as a no-loan financial aid policy. Similarly, Villanova University just announced a $40 million gift - its second-largest ever. This anonymous gift will support the President’s Strategic Initiative Fund, allowing investments in academic programs, campus improvements, and student needs. The gifts to both schools underscore efforts to increase access, affordability, and the overall student experience.

THE NEW RUTGERS ROOMMATES NOBODY WANTED

Gross! Rutgers University students have raised very understandable concerns about bed bug infestations at their residence halls on the main campus in New Brunswick. They are urging the university to take more effective action to address the problem, as it continues to be unresolved over six months (!) after the outbreak began. The situation has prompted calls for better pest control and more transparency from the administration. We caution prospective students to be aware of these concerns - bed bugs could theoretically happen anywhere, but in our opinion, it’s unacceptable that this has gone on for six months.

IS MINNESOTA THE NEW DC?

Wondering which college had the highest voter turnout among students during the last presidential election? Nope, it’s not Georgetown, George Washington, or American - it’s St. Olaf College in Minnesota! The student body achieved an incredible 87% voter turnout during the last presidential election, an impressive feat driven by the college’s strong culture of civic engagement. This commitment to voting reinforces St. Olaf’s dedication to nurturing socially responsible and active citizens. Students interested in a campus that values civic involvement and leadership should make sure to check out St. Olaf - you can even read our thoughts about the school in our college profile (we’ve created these for a huge number of schools to help our students!).

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

While W&L and Villanova administrators are likely thrilled about the recent donations to their respective schools, their colleagues on other campuses are having a bit of a harder time. This Town & Country article explores the challenges that can occur when long-time wealthy donors begin to disagree with institutional policies. 

The piece discusses the recent wave of "donor revolts" at schools including Harvard, Penn, and Columbia, where formerly-generous alumni have threatened to withhold (or have already withdrawn) their support due to disagreements over campus policies - especially those related to political and social issues. This became a particular issue over the last year, as the donors reacted strongly to what they felt were failures to address antisemitism and other political stances.

These conflicts show the powerful influence that major donors can have on universities, sometimes pushing for actions or policies aligned with their beliefs. Critics argue that this kind of influence undermines academic freedom and the mission of higher education, while others believe it holds institutions accountable. One thing is for sure, though: the growing reliance of universities on these donations means that the disputes can significantly impact campus operations.

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SMU in the ACC? UCLA in the Big Ten? The recent changes in college football conferences - motivated by financial opportunities, media rights deals, and the pursuit of higher visibility - have become downright confusing to prospective students. However, as The New York Times discusses, no one feels the impact more than the actual players. Yes, they are racking up all kinds of frequent flyer miles (and bonding opportunities!) but jetting across the country takes a major toll on their mental health, academic priorities, and ability to live a well-balanced life. 

The realignments have also impacted traditional rivalries, travel logistics, and the overall college sports landscape. They also reflect how college football - and many other college sports, like basketball - have become increasingly driven by business considerations. In combination with all of the NIL controversy, it’s no wonder that long-time coaches are leaving, one after the other. Everyone seems to agree that change is needed, but when will it happen? And how? We’re following this closely.

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Data science has some competition for the position of “hottest new degree” - and the subject matter couldn’t be further away from anything quantitative! Strange as this may seem, a new trend has emerged for mid-career professionals to leave their established careers for a stint at … divinity school! From Wall Street analysts to singer-songwriter Maggie Rogers (yes - the Maggie Rogers who played at Madison Square Garden this past month!), twenty-somethings are flocking to Harvard, Duke, and more to pursue the country’s hottest graduate degree. Confused? You’re not alone, but this Town & Country article provides some helpful insight. 

No, most of the students aren’t trying to pursue careers in religion. Instead, they want to explore deeper questions of ethics, purpose, and morality. The trend reflects a desire for intellectual growth and a break from traditional career paths, with some seeing such degrees as unique credentials that distinguish them in fields valuing empathy and understanding. The programs offer flexibility, allowing students to pursue personal and interdisciplinary interests, impacting their careers and perspectives in unexpected ways. Impressive, yes - but if it were me, I’d still go the data science route. Think about the ROI!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

It’s been a minute! I know we say this every year (and it’s true every year), but August-October was just beyond hectic in our office. Something that was a little bit different about this particular year was that a lot of colleges released their essay prompts later than usual. 

Most years, about half of the essay prompts are released in advance of the Common Application® refresh on August 1. This year was very different - we had a much smaller percentage of school-specific supplemental prompts in advance and it impacted the ability of our students (and staff!) to use the early summer months for specific prompts. 

Fortunately, we made sure that our students were done with their Common Application® and generic supplemental essays*, which made things as easy as possible for them once the school-specific supplemental prompts were released - but it was still a lot of work for us with many, many late nights spent editing! 

As a result, we made the executive decision to put the blog aside for a few months to focus on our seniors - but we’re excited to be back as things have calmed down! Onward to transfer apps :)

*Wondering what generic supplemental essays are? Stay tuned for an upcoming post..

Weekly Update: June 20

Hope everyone is finding a way to stay cool this week; it’s a hot one!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

COLLEGE BOARD PRESIDENT TO OVERSEE THE FAFSA

In some rather shocking news to the educational community, the Department of Education has tapped Jeremy Singer, president of the College Board, to oversee the continued development of the new and “improved” FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. Education Secretary Miguel Cardona called Singer’s appointment part of the “transformational changes” they are bringing to the FAFSA. Singer will not be stepping down from the College Board, merely taking a leave of absence. Students, families, and colleges alike will wait with bated breath to see if the FAFSA will be ready for use by October 1, as promised.

FOUR U.S. COLLEGE INSTRUCTORS STABBED IN CHINA

Four instructors visiting from Cornell College were stabbed by a man as they strolled through a public park in Jilin, China. All four are doing fine and the suspect was arrested, though there is no known motive shared by the police or the Chinese government, and the footage on social media has been mostly censored. Cornell College, a private liberal arts college in Iowa, is known for their innovative “One Course at a Time” block-schedule, similar to Colorado College. It is also one of the Colleges That Change Lives.

USC OFFERS TUITION-FREE MASTERS OF FINE ARTS DEGREE

The University of Southern California School of Dramatic Arts will now be offering tuition-free Masters of Fine Arts programs. Beginning this fall, those pursuing MFAs in acting and dramatic writing will have their tuition waived. This move reflects USC’s “investment in the future of storytelling and the performing arts,” as well as the school’s commitment to making “top-tier training” affordable to future professionals who often face financial barriers, according to Dean Emily Roxworthy.

GRAND CANYON UNIVERSITY ACCUSED OF RACKETEERING SCHEME

Doctoral students at Grand Canyon University have filed a class action lawsuit claiming that the school “intentionally defrauded [them] out of thousands of dollars through what attorneys claim was a racketeering scheme.” The suit alleges that they were charged more than they were originally told tuition would be and for classes added on at the end that they suddenly needed in order to graduate. This is not the first time the university has faced scrutiny. Last year, the Department of Education fined Grand Canyon University $37.7 million dollars for “deceptively marketing its doctoral degrees.”

ANOTHER UNIVERSITY FORCED TO MAKE CUTS DUE TO FINANCIAL CONCERNS

The University of North Carolina at Asheville will be cutting four academic programs and reducing a fifth in cost-cutting measures. This is a move seen more and more around the country as financial woes continue to cause concerns across the higher education landscape. The four programs slated to be cut are Ancient Mediterranean Studies, Drama, Philosophy, and Religious Studies. Languages and Literature will be “curtailed” under the current plan, to reduce a $6 million dollar deficit. Tenured and tenure-track faculty in those departments will get six to 12 months notice of their loss of employment, but others will only receive 30-90 days notice.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Roger Federer, retired Swiss tennis legend, gave an inspiring commencement speech at Dartmouth University’s graduation ceremony this year. With many words of wisdom and thoughts shared, one that is important for all folks to keep in mind is that it’s okay not to know answers about their future. That might relate to what happens after students graduate from college, what they might want to study in college, and especially the dreaded, “what do you want to be?” question! The future doesn’t need us to know everything right now, despite the fact that so many people spend significant time dealing with worry and fear about just that. Federer sagely pointed out that “negative energy is wasted energy.” How might students be more ready for the future by focusing on the here and now? Nobel winning chemist Louis Pasteur observed that “chance favors the prepared mind.” I take this to mean learn all you can, follow your curiosity, and engage with the world around you physically, mentally and spiritually (as you define it). Then when an opportunity pops up, you are ready to grab it!

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose, by any other word, would smell as sweet.” The Bard did have a way with words, but the reality, when it comes to college scholarships, is a different matter! This article in the Wall Street Journal tells of several last-name specific scholarships that are out there, some searching desperately for a recipient. Are they calling your name?

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

In 2017, the American Psychology Association conducted the Stress in America Survey and found that teens are very stressed. 83% of teens, it noted, felt stressed about getting into a good college or what to do after high school. In 2020, they conducted another survey, this time at the end of the first year of the COVID detection. Needless to say, the stresses in teenagers’ lives did not go down! It is probably not a surprise that issues about academics, life after high school, leaving home for college (hoping you get into one, of course), and fears about the future were still the number one stressor. And, from what we have been sensing as we work with students this year, the trend has not shifted. 

One of the pillars of DC College Counseling is working with families and students to manage the stress of the college search and application process. We can’t take it away, nor should it all be removed, as learning how to successfully manage stress in a healthy way is an important part of growing up. What we do provide is the structure, scaffolding, and safety net to help our students get through this process without being derailed by stress. We do this through our meetings, our strategically-paced timelines, and gentle reminders of what needs to happen when. But we are only focusing on one of many common stress points a teen faces today, and more support is out there, if needed. The information below comes directly from an email from Fairfax County Public Schools, and we encourage any FCPS student or family in need of support or assistance to reach out:

This summer, the FCPS Office of Intervention and Prevention Services will offer virtual Mental Wellness Consultations from June 24, 2024 through August 2, 2024. Any Fairfax County parent or secondary student will have an opportunity to schedule a 45-minute consultation with a school psychologist or school social worker by phone or videoconference. Consultations will be offered in two ways:

1. Directly to parents of students in any grade level. This consultation provides an opportunity for parents to receive guidance on how to support their child’s social, emotional, and academic success. Information about community resources will also be provided.

2. Directly to students in middle or high school. This consultation provides an opportunity for middle and high school students to receive guidance and support for concerns related to anxiety, mood, behavior, peer or family interactions, or school transitions and changes. Strategies and tools can also be provided to address academic challenges such as organization and time-management.

What a great opportunity! Click here to request a consultation. Families may also leave a message at 703-503-2520.

For more about mental health, check out these posts.

Weekly Update: June 12

HAPPY LAST DAY OF SCHOOL, FAIRFAX COUNTY! Catholic schools finished up yesterday and most of the independent schools have been out for a little while already — so we are officially on summer break!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

FAFSA DEBACLE CAUSES PROBLEMS FOR THOSE WHO NEED AID THE MOST

The rollout of the new FAFSA, the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, has been a nightmare for students and colleges this year. As we have mentioned in previous posts, this had led to students not being able to receive their financial aid packages, compare offers and pick schools at which to matriculate. And it also means that colleges are not sure who and how many students will be enrolling for the coming school year! One latest development as a result of the chaos: more students than ever are not even bothering to complete the FAFSA due to the ongoing issues and lack of guidance and support. The University System of Maryland’s 12 schools and three higher education centers saw a decrease of 15.6% in form completion; the University of Wisconsin had 14% fewer students complete; and UVA’s Board has been informed that thousands of returning students are still waiting for their packages. Plus, the entire state of Virginia is down almost 13% in completed FAFSA forms. Unfortunately, it’s the colleges which serve those with the highest need that are also seeing the highest non-complete numbers.

THE COLLEGE MERGER TREND CONTINUES

The California State University system is waiting on Board approval for Cal Poly-San Luis Obisbo to merge with the California Maritime Academy in a bid to strengthen both of their financial challenges. If approved, the Cal Maritime students would become part of the Cal Poly student body in the 2026-2027 school year. Cal Maritime has seen a drop of over 30% of their student body in less than a decade and now serves just over 750 students. The Board will consider the plan in its November meeting.

STANFORD WILL REINSTATE TEST SCORE REQUIREMENTS NEXT YEAR, DESPITE THE FACT THAT CALIFORNIANS HAVE FEWER OPPORTUNITIES TO TEST

Beginning next year in fall 2025, students hoping to become part of Stanford’s Class of 2030 will be required to submit a standardized test score (in other words, students currently finishing their sophomore year of high school). Students applying during the upcoming admissions cycle for the Class of 2029 (those currently finishing their junior year) will still be grandfathered into the current test-optional admissions process. It is somewhat ironic that trying to take the required tests, or at least the SAT, has become harder than ever to do in the state of California. The June 4th test was abruptly canceled in Oakland due to internet issues, leaving approximately 1,400 students high and dry! Unfortunately, this lack of testing sites is not unique to Oakland. College Board, the company that makes the test, reports that there are now fewer than half as many SAT testing sites in CA as there were before the Covid pandemic. Across the country, the fact that the test has now gone digital means that students who attend schools without adequate internet infrastructure will have even less access to the tests.

COMMUNITY COLLEGE MIGHT BE THE BEST RETURN ON INVESTMENT

As student debt climbs, students and families are looking at how to get the most out of the huge financial investment that college could be. The debate about whether college debt is “good debt” these days is raging, given that it can take a student 20+ years to pay off a loan or even get close to just paying off the interest of a loan. This Forbes article sheds some light on 16 high-paying jobs that you only need an associates degree to get, making them some of the best for a true return on that educational investment. The jobs on their list all pay over $70K/year and averaging more than $100,000. Who knew?!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

While people usually feel the power of empathy, they may not always be aware of how it is taught or gained: it is often considered a trait that a person simply has or doesn’t have. However, a new study sheds light on the practical impact that empathic parenting can have on teens. Parents who practice empathy are actually giving their adolescents the tools to developing their own capacity for empathy, both in the moment and lasting through their adulthood. The study is part of  an ongoing project called KLIFF/VIDA (Kids, Lives, Families, Friends/Virginia Institute for Development in Adulthood) at the University of Virginia. The research shows that with a grounding in empathy, “[t]eens […] start to depend less on their parents, discover their own identities, become interested in understanding the perspectives of others and learn how to navigate social situations independently.” 

If you’re solidifying summer plans, check out this piece by a former admissions officer, weighing in on the benefits of summer jobs and internships. Sure, college applications will be enhanced by these activities, but the students themselves will also learn important life skills such as time management, networking, interviewing and financial responsibility. These are all important aspects of growth and maturation that will help them successfully navigate college as well. PRO TIP: When it comes to internships, a lot of students think that unless they are at some “big firm” or nationally known company, it’s not worth it, but that just isn’t the case. Covid taught both students and colleges that creative, “out of the box” thinking can lead to some amazing opportunities. More on that below!

Recently, our essay coaches were discussing how to best guide students if they wanted to write about their learning differences or mental health challenges. This opinion piece in Scientific American, “Neurodivergent Kids Flourish When They’re Taught How Their Brain Works,” was so on point that we decided to share it anyway, even though it’s a few weeks old! When students understand their own learning styles and needs, they naturally become better self-advocates — and this leads them to truly own their education. Deeper understanding also plays a role in the college search as students grasp what successful classroom and educational environments look like for them. Not every school may have that perfect classroom or professor, but students who know what they need are better equipped to seek out supportive accommodations. A sense of empowerment will go a long way in having a fulfilling college experience.

High school students feel a great deal of pressure in their junior and senior years. It’s not just because their classes may get harder, their hormones are raging, and they are trying to figure out who they are — though all three of those things do make up a bulk of that pressure! It’s that the world suddenly begins to start asking them seemingly impossible questions about their future. What do you want to study? What are your plans? What will you be? Who will you be? Some students are on a pretty decent path towards finding out. But not everyone is. For many, the best years of their lives were not in high school, despite what all the movies, television shows and society in general promised. And life did not – is not – playing out the way they hoped. This opinion piece in the New York Times reminds us that everything can still turn around. That late bloomer can still bloom; that kid who made some bad choices, can also make good choices, too — that “[your] destiny is not shaped in high school.

Every time I am in Connecticut, I go by my high school - Choate Rosemary Hall. It was such a pressure cooker, and I have so many mixed emotions about my experience there. Ultimately, it was good for me, and helped me grow in ways that were critical later in life. However, I would most certainly NOT classify those years as the best of my life!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

As we mentioned above, sometimes the most valuable summer and/or extracurricular opportunities do not come in the form of fancy internships. We have spent a lot of time talking about this with our students lately — especially those finishing their freshman and sophomore years of high school, as many of them are still on the hunt to find something meaningful to do this summer. They often ask us for examples of projects or undertakings that our former students have pursued, and we have a great one to share with our readers today!

While working at an international school in Thailand during the pandemic, Sonya had a student (let’s call her Jes) who used imagination and persistence to create a unique opportunity. As you may remember, the summer programs and internships dried up everywhere; some went virtual while others just hit the pause button, hoping to resume the following year. With all her original plans canceled, Jes tried to think of something she could do that would have a positive impact on people even at a time when we were all socially isolated.

Jes had read stories of older people in care homes and assisted living residences who could no longer see their families because of Covid and it broke her heart. In Thailand, there aren’t “old folks homes” or the equivalent as families live in multigenerational households. Being half Dutch, Jes tried contacting some places in Europe, hoping she could “volunteer” via Zoom or Skype, but it was not received well. She then decided to try places in the US, cold-calling nursing homes — and she struck pay dirt! She was connected with a woman named Elizabeth at a care home in the midwest, and the two began chatting virtually. Despite the 12-hour time difference, every Saturday, around midnight they would talk. This went on throughout the summer and all through Jes’s senior year.

Jes is now a junior at Duke and is still in touch with Elizabeth, who thinks of her as another granddaughter. This level of persistence, creative-thinking, and long-term commitment was something that really impressed the schools on Jes’ list. We encourage all of our students to think about how they can spend time identifying needs and using their intellectual curiosity to find solutions!

Want more on Learning differenceS? Check out these posts!

Weekly Update: June 6

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

ART SCHOOLS SUFFER FROM TOUGH ECONOMIC TIMES AND LOW ENROLLMENT

Columbia College Chicago and the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, two well-respected arts schools, have both come into economic difficulties recently. With just a week’s notice, the University of the Arts sent out a message stating that the school would be closing June 7th, catching students and faculty completely by surprise. The university, home to approximately 1,125 students, had just enrolled next year’s new class. Area universities such as Temple University, Drexel University, and Moore College of Art and Design have all reached out to try and assist current and incoming students with transfer opportunities. 

Columbia College Chicago, also with little notice, laid off 70 faculty members and eliminated 32 vacant staff positions due to financial worries and declining enrollment. The concerns of the college were not a secret, though; last month they announced that first-year enrollment was down 46% from last year and transfer deposits down 36%. “The advising office, library, admissions and enrollment, career center and the counseling services office were among the departments affected by layoffs,” said Lillian Gecker, co-membership chair of the Columbia staff union.

HARVARD WILL NO LONGER WEIGH IN ON GLOBAL AFFAIRS

A new policy is being put into place at Harvard, in which the university will no longer share an official opinion on issues that are “not relevant to the core function of the university”. While it will no longer share “statements of empathy” as it did for Ukraine and the attacks on October 7th by Hamas, it is also not becoming “neutral” on global issues, like the University of Chicago. Others, of course, believe that it’s impossible for a school such as Harvard to have true “institutional neutrality”. 

FAFSA ISSUES AND CHANGES IN JOB MARKET IMPACT COLLEGE  ENROLLMENT

Fewer job postings are listing formal educational requirements as employers have trouble filling positions. Listings with no degree requirements have gone up 4% over the last 4 years. A cascade of problems with the FAFSA, or Free Application for Federal Student Aid, this year, have seen a drop in the number of completed financial aid forms by almost 16%. The worry is that these two issues will have a stalling or even backsliding effect on what had been an increase in college enrollment over the last few years. While the numbers are not back to pre-pandemic rates, they are up 2.5% this spring after decades of decline. Some of the overall decline is due to lower birth rates and fewer students who may be attending college, but the increased price of four-year institutions has meant that the majority of that 2.5% increase is happening in community colleges. People are less willing to take on what can turn into life-long crippling debt just to attend a 4-year university.

WOMEN MAKE “FIRSTS” IN LEADERSHIP ROLES AT TWO UNIVERSITIES

Both Yale University and Winston-Salem State University hired their first female leaders in either school’s history. Dr. Maurie D. McInnis, former head of Stony Brook University, will become the new president of Yale University starting in July. She will be the first permanent female president of the school since its inception in 1701. 

The University of North Carolina Board of Governors elected Bonita J. Brown, an attorney,  to be the new chancellor of Winston-Salem State University. The HBCU, founded in 1892, is ranked as the number one school in the state for economic and social mobility (by the New York Times and US News & World Report. It is also considered a healthcare education powerhouse in the region. Congratulations to both!

AMERICAN UNIVERSITY ADDS EARLY ACTION

For students starting in the Fall of 2025, American University will offer Early Action application plans alongside their Regular, Early Decision I and Early Decision II plans. Unlike ED, EA is not binding; however, it allows applicants to apply early and get decisions early. This, in turn, suggests that students are interested and that they have done their research. For American University, EA will be due November 1 and EA applicants will receive their decisions by January 31.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Sonya recently reflected that she is so glad she didn’t grow up with social media or a smartphone. The pressure to conform at lightning speed and at such a granular level that apps like Snapchat and “Insta” apply to young people seems like such a daunting and bloody gauntlet to traverse, she explained. And to do it at the age when a person is probably at their most vulnerable and unsure of who they are and what they believe makes it a scarier prospect still.

(P.S. How do you even know if you grew up with social media or a smartphone? It’s not a completely cut-and-dry answer. I attended high school from 1999-2003, so I would think I qualify as having grown up with social media in its earliest forms, like AOL profiles and MySpace. Facebook came out during my freshman year of college, 2003-2004, and my peers were all just starting to get smartphones right around the time of our college graduation. This is on my mind right now because I am in the middle of reading The Anxious Generation, which you will find on our summer reading list soon!)

In any case, we found an interesting article which looks at teens around the country whose parents resisted pressure from the outside and inside the house to give their teen a smartphone, despite some being shown up to four slide deck presentations about the merits of doing so! Some had “dumb” phones for communication, but others didn’t even have that. I know that now it’s almost unimaginable to be out in the world without a smartphone, but this article suggests that their experience shows them to be more independent, more able to problem-solve and more capable of handling being bored and entertaining themselves. One of the more slightly ironic differences is that those without a phone also were able to be more “sociable” and had better coping skills when dealing with the public. Just the opposite seems to be the case for kids addicted to social media!

And staying on the theme of being sociable, dating as a teenager is also quite different now, in the age of smartphones, than it was ‘back in the day”: for better and/or worse. In this article about his son’s first girlfriend, the author talks about the generational differences in how we consume social media versus today’s teens; the impact that has had on attention spans; and ultimately how this has changed how young people communicate, compared to us “olds”!

In the last few posts we have talked about teens and summer jobs (and sometimes their first job) along with helping them navigate this new, adult responsibility. Nothing screams adult responsibility louder than taxes! Sometimes the expected amount of that first glorious paycheck and the reality of learning what net pay is can be stunning. This MarketWatch article shares the importance of talking to your teen about taxes and how this knowledge can lead to better overall personal financial management in the future.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Since many of our juniors have finished drafting their Common App (R) personal essays and are now on to their supplemental work, we started putting together our Class of 2025 Supplemental Essay Database this past week!

A number of colleges have already finalized their essay prompts for the coming application cycle, including Georgetown and the University of Georgia. As a reminder, we are vigilant about checking for updated prompts on a nearly-daily basis throughout the summer so that our students can write their essays earlier than the official August 1 release date.

And of course, we are still deep in behind-the-scenes Common App (R) essay edits — just because the juniors are done with their work doesn’t mean we are all done with ours! I say this every year, but there is nothing more exciting to me than the moment when the essay really clicks into place.

Usually, the man responsible for that amazing-ness is none other than Alan, our essay coach who works solely behind the scenes helping those final edits be just a little bit more sparkly than they otherwise would be. We are super lucky to have him on our team!

He has this magical ability to shift a student’s own writing and voice around into different and unexpected ways — it really is an art! I could never do as good of a job as he does.

Have a great rest of your week, everyone!

WANT MORE ON HBCUs? CHECK OUT THESE POSTS!

Weekly Update: May 1

It’s National Decision Day!

May 1 used to mark the end of the college admissions cycle in a given year, but not this year — everything is just completely up in the air because of all of the FAFSA issues.

And the most interesting part is the widespread nature of the impact: most of our clients don’t apply for need-based financial aid, so you’d think it wouldn’t matter for them, right? Wrong. The drawn-out timeline and increased reliance on waitlists is impacting everyone.

Not to mention the fact that colleges and universities across the country are experiencing absolute chaos right now in terms of student protests (more on that below). There’s only so much tear gas and riot gear that high school seniors can see on tv before they begin to reconsider the type of school community with which they’d like to affiliate. And that goes both ways - the protests are very appealing to some and very unappealing to others!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

COLUMBIA CRACKS DOWN AFTER BUILDING TAKEOVER

The situation at Columbia escalated significantly over the last week as professional protest consultants worked to exacerbate (and, it is suspected, to fund) the encampment of student protesters. The group then ultimately occupied, vandalized, and blockaded a campus building, Hamilton Hall.

Mayor Eric Adams issued a “shelter in place” order on campus and brought in over 100 NYPD police officers dressed in riot gear, who arrested over 230 students at Columbia last night. These students now face expulsion from the university. He explained: “This is a global problem, that [the] young are being influenced by those who are professionals and radicalizing our children. And I'm not going to allow that to happen.”

At this point, the campus is closed to everyone except for essential staff and students who live in residence halls, with only one campus access point.

HUNDREDS OF ADDITIONAL PROTESTS CONTINUE AROUND THE COUNTRY

While we are hopeful that the situation at Columbia will begin to improve over the next few days, similar demonstrations continue to rage on at many other campuses around the country. From state troopers in riot gear at the University of Texas at Austin to UCLA to UNC and more, nearly 400 demonstrations have taken place and continue to occur at schools all around the country. These have resulted in consequences ranging from suspensions, expulsions, cancelled classes and disrupted graduation ceremonies — a particularly unfortunate situation for a cohort of students that missed their high school graduation ceremonies during the Covid-19 outbreak in the spring of 2020.

STILL NEED A HOME FOR NEXT YEAR? YOU’RE IN LUCK

Whether you’re dealing with waitlist uncertainty, financial aid confusion, or protest fear, more students than ever have begun to reconsider their college choices for the upcoming year. We definitely don’t recommend making hasty decisions about this kind of thing, but there are a few circumstances in which a pivot may make sense. Fortunately, the National Association for College Admission Counseling posts a list of colleges with spaces remaining this fall. The list has over 200 options at the moment, although it is updated daily. Check it out - there are some good choices here, including Colorado State, Ithaca, Rollins, St. Joseph’s and more!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Shout out to my mom for sending me this article, which was a great one! Noting that "something feels distinctly off on Ivy League campuses” after years of increasing student entitlement that culminated in the recent protests, Forbes announced a list of twenty “New Ivies,” universities “producing the hard-working high achievers that employers crave.”

But students and parents shouldn’t get too excited — the acceptance rates at the private schools on the list are still extremely low, and the public school acceptance rates incorporate individual state legislation that makes the shared statistics largely non-representative for most applicants.

On the private side, they seem to have forgotten to include a certain school in St. Louis, but I’ll forgive that: the list includes many great options, ranging from Vanderbilt and Emory to Notre Dame, Georgetown, Boston College and more. I was also somewhat surprised that Duke and NYU were not on the list (probably too many protesters). The public institutions include all the usual suspects, including Michigan, UNC, Florida, Wisconsin, and of course our DMV favorites UVA and UMD. The only one that surprised me a little bit was SUNY Binghamton, a school to which we rarely have any students apply. I would have expected to see a mention of Indiana or UGA over Binghamton.

Speaking of public schools - Nate Silver is no exception to everyone singing their praises this year. In a recent blog post, he too reflected on the idea that state schools are often a better choice for most students than top-tier Ivy League programs (especially those going to “find themselves”).

One item that I wanted to clarify: he gave a few exceptions of students who might benefit from going to top-tier Ivy League programs, and one of those had to do with students planning to study law: “I’d … tell them to go with the elite private college,” he wrote, “If (i) they had a high degree of confidence in what they wanted to do with their degree and (ii) it was in a field like law that regards the credential as particularly valuable.”

He’s referring to law school here, not undergrad — students planning to attend law school later are actually one of the prime examples of those who do not need to pick an undergraduate school based on name, but their law school name is very important.

And lastly — I have tried to stop posting the generic articles that discuss how crazy this year’s college admissions process was, because we have covered all of the reasons for the craziness quite a few times already and I know that all of you get it by now. This morning, however, I read a great take in the New York Times and just couldn’t help myself from sharing it, so here we go: This Is Peak College Admissions Insanity.

I really agree with the idea that institutional certainty and applicant certainty have a negative correlation, with the events of the last several years increasing the potential to manipulate institutional certainty like never before. Unfortunately, this has left applicant certainty at an all time low.

Additionally, I think it’s eye-opening to recognize that even with advantaged “applicants … whose parents had taken the wise precaution of being rich,” their wealth wasn’t enough to get them where they wanted to be! Yes, the Visi student they profiled was ultimately admitted to Dartmouth, her father’s alma mater, which is amazing. She had some other great options as well. Still, look where she wasn’t admitted - even as a full-pay student with “stellar grades” at one of the top high schools in the D.C. area and a perfect ACT score. And we can’t even chalk this up to demonstrated interest, because she applied ED to Duke. Yet it wasn’t enough!

The uncertainty is out. of. control., and the truth is that we just don’t know where a student will get in anymore. We typically know where they won’t get in, but when it comes to qualified applicants, we have no clue. Could we have predicted that this girl would not have gotten into Duke ED but that she got into Johns Hopkins RD? No way. All we can do is make sure they have an ironclad strategy and do every single little thing right, and then we just have to let the chips fall where they may. But an important part of that strategy is making sure that students’ lists are extensive and balanced enough to have choices, no matter what happens.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

I posted on social media this morning about a new interview trend that’s giving me a lot of pause. A new question making the rounds asks students about their go-to Starbucks order, with the idea that (a) they would not have prepared for this question in advance, and (b) an excessively-complicated order is likely to reflect a high-maintenance, entitled personality.

As a loyal Starbucks consumer, you can find me almost every morning dropping by one of the Vienna/Tysons locations: Spring Hill, Pike 7, or Maple Ave. So I have really thought about this quite a bit since I learned about the trend — probably too much for my own good — and I am just not down with the idea that a Starbucks order can always be an accurate measure of personality.

First, like I mentioned, I just don’t think there’s any truth to it, at least anecdotally. Some of the most high-maintenance people I know have very simple Starbucks orders. And some of the most easygoing people I know have rather complicated orders.

But beyond that, I think that one of the reasons I’ve continued to feel bothered by this trend is that it’s just another reminder that nothing is sacred anymore! It’s frustrating that today’s high school and college students have to come up with a strategy for their COFFEE ORDER so as not to offend or rub someone the wrong way. As if ordering an $8 latte every morning isn’t bothersome enough to lots of people in its own right.

And the choices feel pretty lose-lose: if you order oat milk, you’re suddenly identifying as a liberal environmentalist (I just like the taste..). If you prefer a skinny vanilla latte, you might be accidentally fat shaming someone. If you say you just like plain coffee, they know you’re lying. Ultimately, I decided the safest approach is to respond that your order is an iced coffee with sugar or stevia. It’s plain, but not too plain. Relatively inoffensive, as far as these things go. NO MENTION OF OAT MILK!

P.S. When Starbucks got rid of sugar-free hazelnut in 2017 (such a sad time that was) I got sick of having sugar-free vanilla all the time. So I began to mix various seasonal sauces and syrups with sugar-free-vanilla — like two pumps of each — to incorporate some variation while cutting down on the calories. Only in the fall and winter, because I don’t love the spring/summer seasonal flavors. You can call me high maintenance, but I’d like to think it makes me an out-of-the-box problem-solver :)

Weekly Update: April 16

Finally, a full week of school for all the Fairfax County parents out there! 👏👏👏

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

HARVARD & CALTECH WILL REQUIRE TEST SCORES 

On Thursday, both Harvard and Caltech announced they will reinstitute standardized testing as a requirement for admission. Test-optional policies were instituted with the intent to help low-income students; however, as we have mentioned before, a new study by Opportunity Insights found that test scores help admissions officers identify highly talented students from low-income groups who would have otherwise gone unnoticed. Harvard and Caltech join a growing number of schools that have reversed their test-optional policies, including Brown, Yale, Darthmouth, MIT, Georgetown, Purdue and University of Texas at Austin. If you ask me, the timeline in which these changes have been announced seems a little unfair. Most of our juniors have had their testing plans in place for 9-12 months already, and it’s a little late for schools to be pivoting like this. At this point, we recommend that all students applying to highly selective schools should operate as if they will need test scores for next year.

PRIVATE EQUITY IS TAKING OVER THE WORLD, COLLEGE ADMISSIONS EDITION

When I first read this article, I thought it was a late April Fool’s joke - but it wasn’t! ACT, Inc., the company behind the ACT, announced last Wednesday that it is shifting from a non-profit to a for-profit company. The new company will be majority-owned by Nexus Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based private equity investment firm. This comes after years of struggling to break even. The non-profit reported a net loss of $12 million and a 44% decrease in assets at the end of the 2022 fiscal year. At the height of the pandemic in 2020, it reported a net loss of $60.5 million. The new for-profit is describing itself as a “public benefit” corporation.” It will not have tax-exempt status, but its board is supposed to take the public good, as well as shareholders’ interests, into account.

What does this mean for families? No one really knows quite yet, but in the meantime, test pricing will NOT change as a result of the new partnership. Currently, ACT costs $93 with the writing portion of the test, and $68 without. This includes the option to send the test score to four colleges, but we recommend that students wait to see all of their scores before making the decision about which scores to send where.

CAITLIN CLARK: “THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER 22”

University of Iowa announced last week that they are retiring Clark’s No. 22, the number she wore in her four years with the Hawkeyes. No women’s basketball player at Iowa will ever wear a jersey with that number; it will always belong to Clark. “There will never be another 22,” the team wrote on social media. I’m not crying, you’re crying!

To add to the excitement, Clark was named the #1 WNBA draft pick yesterday and selected by the Indiana Fever! We’re excited to watch her career play out.

BIDEN AUTHORIZES ANOTHER ROUND OF DEBT FORGIVENESS 

The Biden Administration stated last Friday that it will cancel an additional $7.4 billion in student debt, coming to a total of $153 billion in student loan forgiveness from the administration. Biden’s income-driven repayment plan, known as SAVE (Saving on Valuable Education), will erase student debt after 10 years of payments, compared with the 20-plus years in other existing plans. It will also wipe away the accrued interest for loan balances that are bigger than the amounts that were initially borrowed. Republicans have criticized the program, and assert that Biden is circumventing the Supreme Court, which struck down another version of it last year. They also argue that it is unfair to transfer the cost of repaying these loans to American taxpayers who chose not to go to college or worked to pay for it themselves. With the November elections approaching, this national conversation is just heating up.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

As I mentioned in last week’s update, the cost of college education has risen to $95K at some elite colleges. A Bloomberg piece suggested that students who are not accepted to Ivy League schools are better off considering public flagship universities, rather than enrolling in the next-most prestigious school that accepted them. Public schools can be a much better investment than one of the private, elite “Hidden Ivies.”

Their study of more than 1,500 non-profit colleges found that the return on investment (ROI) at many of these elite, private institutions is 9% less than the ROI at the states’ public flagships. Those who paid less by attending a public school had an advantage when it came to building wealth by saving for a house or retirement. Some experts pointed out, however, that success should not only be considered in terms of dollars and cents.

Looking for insight into your brooding or anxious teenager’s mind?  A new documentary called “The Teen Brain” came out yesterday. It’s a ten minute video, and may be worth watching! Top neuroscientists and a slew of teenagers were consulted for the project, which shares medical reasons that explain why teens feel and experience emotions more deeply compared to adults.  Experts said the amygdala, the part of the brain that processes emotions, becomes sensitive and grows in size during adolescence. This documentary comes at a time that teens in particular are facing a mental health crisis, CDC data shows. Last year, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory warning of an urgent public health issue regarding social media usage and youth mental health.

FAFSA has done it again! Just when we thought that colleges could finally start putting together aid packages for students, schools are reporting major errors in the tax information that was automatically populated in the FAFSA form. The Education Department has at last processed and released FAFSA forms to colleges, but they are fraught with mistakes, leading financial aid offices to distrust the data and to manually correct the information themselves. 

For example, some fields in the forms processed by the Department were blank, had the wrong codes, imported incorrect or partial tax data from the IRS, or incorrectly calculated the students’ eligibility for federal grants. Some of these errors will require the applicants themselves to correct them. Many institutions have pushed back their May 1 enrollment deadline to help students.  Some institutions like University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are being even more flexible, and will allow students to decide once they know their financial situation. My guess is that we will see a lot of waitlist movement this summer as a result of these extended deadlines.

And lastly - I almost didn’t post this, but this New York Times piece entitled The Troubling Trend in Teenage Sex is one of the most disturbing and shocking articles I have ever read (and this is coming from someone who has curated articles relating to adolescents every single week for years!). It was almost unbelievable.

I decided to go ahead and post it because of the seriousness of the issue, and I really do think all parents should make time to discuss it with their high school and college-age children. I sent the link to some girlfriends yesterday, and one of them responded: “each line in this article gets more and more crazy.” That was my exact reaction, too. I was stunned by the percentages quoted, and by the time I got to the brain damage part I was in absolute disbelief. At the end of the day, kids need to be educated about the long-term impact of the choices they are making - and my guess is that most of them simply have no idea.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We are having a blast helping our seniors navigate through their acceptances to make their final college choices - this is the hardest part of the process in many ways, but definitely the most fun!

In the meantime, our juniors have been BUSY! We are in our second week of spring check-in meetings and they are all hard at work on their essays. A few are nearly finished at this point! It’s so amazing to cross that major milestone off the list early - not only does it get the actual work out of the way, it leaves them with a well-deserved feeling of accomplishment and motivates them to continue making headway in the application process.

Have a great week!

Weekly Update: March 19

Happy (belated) St. Patrick’s Day! For those of you in the DC area, I hope you get a chance to enjoy the cherry blossoms at the Tidal Basin this week – they’re finally here!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

SURVEY FINDS COLLEGE STUDENTS PREFER CAMPUS GUN POLICIES

A new Gallup survey showed that 81% of current and prospective college students consider campus gun policies to be “at least somewhat important” in their decision to enroll, and 34% say they are “extremely important.” Notably, the results are similar across various demographics, regardless of age, gender, race/ethnicity and political party affiliation. The largest gap among subgroups is a nine-percentage-point difference between Democrats and Republicans. Despite that difference, however, the study still reflects a majority favoring campus gun policies, with 77 percent of Republican students considering gun policies to be important in their enrollment decisions, and 26 percent saying they are extremely important. In light of recent acts of gun violence on college campuses in North Carolina and Michigan, these results do not surprise me!

NAACP LETTER ASKS BLACK STUDENT-ATHLETES TO RECONSIDER ATTENDING FLORIDA COLLEGES

NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson sent a letter to the National Collegiate Athletic Association last week, asking Black student-athletes to reconsider their decisions to attend public colleges and universities in Florida. As I mentioned in my weekly update earlier this month, the University of Florida just closed down its diversity, equity and inclusion programs in order to comply with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ law prohibiting the use of state funding for DEI programs. Other public institutions in Florida, including Florida State University, have also followed suit.

FONTBONNE UNIVERSITY CLOSES, WASH U TO PURCHASE ITS CAMPUS

Fontbonne University in Clayton, Missouri, will be closing its doors next summer after struggling with declining enrollment and a shrinking endowment. Originally founded as a women’s college in 1923, the school has a history of being one of the country’s most diverse Catholic institutions of higher education; as of 2021, more than a quarter of its undergraduates are African-American.  After its Summer 2025 term, the property will be acquired by Washington University in St. Louis. Interestingly, the Fontbonne campus is located on the other side of Wash U’s “South 40,” where the residence halls are located.  As such, it is located closer to most of the students’ residence halls than the current Wash U academic buildings.  Although it is sad to see Fontbonne close, this will be a great expansion opportunity for Wash U!

MARCH MADNESS BEGINS

Selection Sunday is behind us and the NCAA tournament games kick off this evening with Wagner vs. Howard and Colorado State vs. Virginia. The First Four will finish up tomorrow with Grambling vs. Montana State and Colorado vs. Boise State… and then things will really kick into high gear on Thursday! We’ve written before about the impact of “Cinderella runs" on the admissions process, and it will be interesting to see what this year holds!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

It’s been a challenging year in the college admissions world, to say the least, but we are making our way through it! I just read a Wall Street Journal article that summed it up this way: “This might be the most chaotic, frustrating, uncertain college-admissions cycle in recent history.”  

The WSJ highlighted three major factors that created this “perfect storm”: First, the Supreme Court ruling on affirmative action, which restricts how schools can consider an applicant’s race. As a result of this ruling, college applications cannot directly ask about race, but they can provide an opportunity in the essays for this information to be included. This has left many students uncertain whether disclosing their race and ethnicity would be beneficial or not to their application. On top of that, they have to figure out how to weave this information into their essays.

(Here at DCCC, we work with every single one of our students to write content on how their own unique and diverse backgrounds have impacted the person they are today. We then try to incorporate that particular content to fit college-specific supplemental essay prompts whenever possible, because colleges are looking for a class with diverse experiences and backgrounds. Sometimes these cover topics like race, ethnicity, and religion — but many times they don’t. Our students’ past essays on this topic have discussed the impacts of experiences as varied as frequent childhood relocations, to growing up with food allergies, to parental addiction and mental illness — and so many more. Everyone has something that has shaped their background in a unique way, even if it’s not immediately obvious.)

The second factor: test score confusion. We’ve heard it all – test-blind, test-optional, test-recommended, test-flexible and test-required. Understanding these new terms has added a layer of complication to the college application process, especially when students apply to colleges that require tests for certain majors or programs but don’t require them for others. Another consequence of schools not requiring test scores is that some students believe they don’t have to put any effort into prepping for them, only to realize too late that certain scholarships are tied to strong scores - or even worse, learning of last-minute policy changes at institutions that have begun to require them again. So: study for the SAT and ACT, kids! 

And lastly, the most impactful factor in upending this year’s college admissions cycle is the delayed Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) process. Usually by this time of year, students are sorting through and comparing their financial aid offers. This year, however, due to a delayed release of the new FAFSA online application and an avalanche of technological glitches, the federal government is extremely delayed in sending colleges information about applicants’ family finances and how much federal aid they qualify for. This financial information is critical for colleges in calculating need-based aid and creating financial aid offers.

Absent these offers, students are facing the possibility of blindly deciding on colleges to meet enrollment deadlines without knowing the tuition costs in advance. Or, even worse, they may not be able to enroll at all, since many students cannot seriously consider college without financial aid. This could lead to enrollment decline, which, as we have seen, can impact the very existence of certain less-selective colleges. It is ironic that the very system that was designed to help lower-income students has been their biggest bar to college enrollment.   

How did we get here? I came across a recent New York Times article that had a good breakdown of how this happened.  In 2020, Congress ordered the Education Department to streamline the FAFSA process to make it easier and more accessible. The notoriously long and complex form was whittled down from over 100 questions to fewer than 40. Unfortunately, though, it was not released until the end of December, almost three months later than the regular October timeframe. In addition to technical malfunctions that locked students out of their applications, the new FAFSA required social security numbers for both students and their parents. Students with mixed-status families have been disproportionately affected, as FAFSA delays may cause them to miss scholarship and aid deadlines. 

Two weeks ago, when the Education Department came up with a resolution to the social security issue, they discovered 70,000 emails from student applicants sitting in an inbox, unread and unanswered. The Department is now faced with processing a landslide of applications and handling 70,000 emails…and counting. Yikes.

Despite these setbacks on the national level, our DCCC students have been able to navigate this year’s application process with success! We have been hearing good news from so many colleges, and we’ve managed to stay on track thanks to the tireless work of our dedicated counselors, students and families. We can’t wait for more good news to pour in. Way to go, everyone!

On a completely different note, I want to share an excellent article from the New York Times discussing the purpose of universities, and it had me nodding my head in agreement. According to the article, an “understanding,” or something like an unspoken contract, has always existed between American universities, the government, and the people. Universities provide education with the help of government funding and tax breaks, and faculty are given academic freedom when it comes to what and how they teach and research; they are – or should be – insulated from external pressures of politics and industry.  In return, universities cultivate a pluralistic democracy and produce an educated citizenry, allowing for economic mobility and a capitalist economy. 

Stanford international studies professor Anna Gryzmala-Busse stated that “if universities are not fulfilling these missions, and are seen as prioritizing other missions, that political bargain becomes fragile.” The article points out the dangers when universities stray from their essential duty by pushing a political agenda, consequently stifling intellectual discourse and freedom of thought among its faculty and students. A social justice mentality is counter-productive to the university’s work of fostering open dialogue with multiple perspectives. Universities are increasingly forced to quickly make official statements on polarizing, political issues; issues that scholars spend years studying and continually discussing. Political interference in a university destroys its academic freedom. 

The last paragraph stuck with me: “When universities become overly political, and tilt too far toward one end of the spectrum, they’re denying students and faculty the kind of open-ended inquiry and knowledge-seeking that has long been the basis of American higher education’s success.” Well, there’s food for thought!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

I’m excited to share an article from Northern Virginia Magazine, in which I provide advice on making your final college decision! Decision day is just around the corner for many of you, and all of us at DCCC want to make sure you are as prepared as possible.

Scholarships, location, campus culture, post-graduation jobs – there are so many important factors weighed in the balance as you narrow down those college acceptances and decide which college is the right fit for you. So, mark May 1 on your calendar (unless your colleges delayed their deadlines due to the aforementioned FAFSA problems!) and check out the article!

Anybody else go to the ACC tournament in DC last week/weekend? The Virginia games, both of which went into overtime, were insane! Especially Friday, wow. For those of you who didn’t catch it, they had a five-point lead in the last fifty seconds of regulation, and a three-point lead in the last five seconds. Despite ESPN indicating that their chances of winning at that point were over 98%, it was not to be: a very unfortunate series of events ended up resulting in a loss to NC State.

Fingers crossed for a win against Colorado State tonight!

Weekly Update: February 21

Welcome back to reality after the long weekend!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

U.S. SUPREME COURT UPHOLDS NEW TJHSST ADMISSIONS PROCESS

In a somewhat surprising decision yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court chose to uphold a prior court’s decision and will not hear the case alleging that the new TJ admissions process is unconstitutional. Instead of the former process, which was based primarily on test scores and grades, the new process involves a holistic approach that will ultimately have a major impact on geographic and socioeconomic factors. It was modified specifically in order to ensure larger representation from under-represented groups, and has resulted in exactly that - the Asian-American student population has dropped sharply as a result.

Most spots are now spread equally among every single middle school in the county, ensuring admission for the top 1.5% of each school’s students — regardless of that school’s quality or where those students stand in the overall applicant pool. All students who do not fall in the top 1.5% of their class will be able to apply for the small percentage of remaining spots, but preference for those will be given to students who receive special education services, are low-income, attend traditionally lower-performing schools, or are not native English speakers.

In a dissent with which Justice Thomas agreed, Justice Alito explained that he believes the new process is discriminatory and represents “a grave injustice on diligent young people who yearn to make a better future for themselves, their families, and our society.” Check out pages 30-39 of the document, if you can find it - the version I had went down at some point late last night, but I’m linking to it anyway in case it comes back up.

THE COLLEGE BOARD AGREES TO PAY FINES OVER SELLING NEW YORK STUDENTS’ DATA

The attorney general of New York, Letitia James, accused the College Board of selling private student data including “students’ names, contact information, ethnicities, grade point averages and test scores” to more than 1,000 colleges and scholarship programs. In 2014, New York State Education Law 2-D barred the commercialization of such information. Between 2018 and 2022, however, the College Board made millions of dollars licensing this information. Though the College Board still maintains that there was no improper use of the information, they did agree to pay $750,000 to settle the claims.

UPENN FIRST IVY TO OFFER B.S.E. IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

There has been a lot of attention on Artificial Intelligence (AI) in and around schools since the release of ChatGPT and other generative AI sites and tools, much of it negative. Questions such as “How do we stop students from using it?”, “How can we detect if students are cheating?”, and “What constitutes plagiarism for students or even faculty now?” have been asked and discussed in faculty rooms, classrooms, and online. Most Artificial Intelligence degrees are housed in computer science departments. At the University of Pennsylvania, however, the Penn School of Engineering and Applied Science has turned the questions on their head. Penn has now become the first Ivy League university to offer a degree in AI engineering, as Philadelphia’s Channel 6 ABC affiliate reports.

SURVEY BY THE YALE DAILY NEWS INDICATES CORRELATION BETWEEN STUDENTS ON FINANCIAL AID AND STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES

New research points to a link between students who need full or significant financial aid to attend college and their likelihood to take and submit SAT/ACT scores. The Yale Daily News undertook its own survey of current undergraduates at Yale and found “that Yale College students receiving financial aid are less likely to have included an ACT or SAT score in their Yale applications than students not on aid.” This finding corroborates the research from Opportunity Insights released in January 2024, which studied the relationship between standardized test scores and students’ academic success at Ivy-Plus colleges. This research comes as Dartmouth recently announced the decision to reinstate its policy to require test scores, and Harvard committed to a test-optional policy through its Class of 2030. Yale is completing its internal research with a decision expected by the end of February.

BOWDOIN AND GEORGETOWN CONTINUE TO BE FULBRIGHT POWERHOUSES

The Chronicle of Higher Ed reported on schools that produced the most Fulbright Scholars and Students. This incredible opportunity to study and live abroad comes with steep competition, yet Bowdoin College in Maine has been the top producer of Fulbright U.S. Students among baccalaureate schools for four years running! This year, according to the Fulbright Program, 47 Bowdoin students applied and 23 received grants. Oberlin in Ohio and Pomona in California were not far behind. Georgetown University has been the top producer of Fulbright U.S. Students among doctoral universities four out of the last five years (in 2021-2022 Brown University was number one) with 40 students receiving grants. Brown University (RI) and Harvard University (MA) were the next closest schools. 

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

As more and more small, tuition-driven colleges and universities struggle with a death spiral of rising costs and falling enrollments, many have had to get creative to keep their doors open. Some schools have begun to monetize at least one asset whose value has risen even in today’s tough environment: real estate. A recent New York Times article writes about colleges that are selling property to raise funds. The article leads with the New School in New York City, which is selling their five-story West Village townhouse that serves as the official residence of the school’s president — currently, that’s Interim President Donna Shalala, a former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services who also served as the University of Miami President for nearly fifteen years.

And speaking of real estate — it’s not all just being sold. Large, expensive, and tricked-out student housing complexes are popping up across the country. The New York Times reports on the trend and the developer bringing these projects to life in 23 states. Students benefit from numerous in-dorm amenities such as fitness centers and pools, and can even take advantage of apps to match themselves with roommates. But the properties are not university residence halls, which can be good or bad depending on your perspective. It might be better than the sketchy off-campus apartments many parents will remember from the 1990s and early 2000s, but these apartments aren’t cheap, either — Hub on Campus Blacksburg, near Virginia Tech, lists monthly rental rates between about $900 and $1,800 per person depending on suite size, according to Apartments.com. Bigger may be better from the developers’ perspectives right now, but it’s hard to know how it will look for students down the road. 

In more local news, check out Washingtonian’s coverage of the Georgetown University consulting club challenges. Over the last 10+ years, these student-run organizations at Georgetown and peer schools have become quite popular, with demand to participate far exceeding the number of student slots. Most of these organizations offer local companies and nonprofits the benefits of their consulting work, usually pro bono or for a nominal fee, and students are able to gain relevant experience that looks great on their resumes. However, many students (particularly first-generation, low-income, LGBTQ+ students, and those of color) felt excluded by the competition to be accepted into one of Georgetown’s six groups. As a result, a student advisory board implemented new guidelines in August of 2023 that required all clubs to open their membership. This has created a huge problem from the organizations, which have now grown from 60 to 300+ students overnight.

As the FAFSA redesign and implementation continues to be a concern, USA Today detailed one potential change that could alleviate student and family confusion over financial aid awards: standardization. When trying to compare financial aid offers from multiple schools, students and families can struggle to make sense of which aid is school-specific aid, federal aid, or self-help aid in the form of work-study and loans. A standardized format would help families understand exactly how much of the total cost of attendance they are expected to contribute and how much will be covered by each form of aid.

In response to the U.S. Department of Education’s delays in processing the FAFSA and transmitting the information to colleges and universities, many schools have extended their deadlines by which students will need to make their decision and submit a deposit where they intend to matriculate. The Washington Post recently published an article that lists all of the area colleges and universities (those in Maryland, the District of Columbia, and Virginia), the school’s deadline to respond, and whether that deadline has been extended. According to the Post, the list will be updated when and if any schools announce changes to their deadlines. For a list of schools across the country, the American Council on Education is maintaining a searchable list.

Finally, in this piece in The Athletic, Brendan Quinn takes readers inside BYU’s Men’s basketball program as they make the transition into the Big 12 and a new world of high-stakes college sports. BYU Advancement Vice President Keith Vorkink (who oversees athletics) and Head Coach Mark Pope know that navigating this transition into the best basketball conference in N.C.A.A. Division I Basketball is no easy feat. Balancing the school’s mission and culture with the demands of DI recruiting, new rules about name, image and likeness opportunities, and the transfer portal creates a tension, but Pope’s commitment to his mission, his profession, and, most important, his players is remarkable. This article takes readers into the recruiting and gives a glimpse of the unique support Pope provides his players.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Yesterday got a little crazy after the TJ decision broke! We work with a lot of TJ students (as well as a lot of TJ hopefuls in middle school) and I know this is a sensitive topic for many. I have a child in the FCPS system and we are zoned to Cooper Middle School, one of the schools that will likely continue to experience a significant negative impact as a result of the ruling.

Yet after seeing what I have over the last 15-ish years of working with TJ kids, I don’t think I would want either one of my kids to go to TJ, whether they could get in or not. Many of our TJ families complain about a culture they feel is toxic, and the funny thing is that it doesn’t seem to pay off from an outcomes standpoint. TJ applicants often perform worse in the college admissions process than their similarly-achieving peers at other schools because of the extraordinary amount of internal competition.

On a happier note, I am going to hold myself back on sharing details because of privacy reasons, but I just have to brag for a minute that our seniors are absolutely killing it on their ED II decisions. We have kids going to an absolutely phenomenal array of highly selective schools and this past week has involved one piece of good news after the other. I am so incredibly proud of them!

Once again, early decision programs are the way to go if students don’t need to compare scholarship offers and want to end up at highly selective schools. Students who follow our advice on this consistently achieve significantly better outcomes than their peers who decide they don’t want to apply ED. I love ED II, in particular, because it allows students to shoot for a dream reach ED and then a more manageable reach in the second round.

CATCH UP ON OUR WEEKLY BLOGS BELOW!

Weekly Update: February 13

Happy (early) Valentine’s Day!

If you’re interested in learning about some college-specific Valentine’s traditions, don’t miss our post from last year: Schooled in Love: Fun Valentine's Day Facts From College Campuses

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

BROWN UNIVERSITY STUDENTS HUNGER STRIKE TO PROTEST CONFLICT IN GAZA

Campus debates and protests related to the war in Gaza continue. Last week, American University imposed a ban on indoor protests at the school in the wake of ongoing campus conflict. This week, Brown University is in the spotlight, with eighteen students on day seven of a hunger strike (at the time of publication), calling for the school to “‘divest from the genocide in Gaza,’ and allow them to make their case to the university’s governing board,” according to The Washington Post. Brown’s president, Christina Paxson, maintains that the university should not be making decisions about its endowment in response to political issues.

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES RESPOND TO NEW TIMING OF FAFSA DATA

Problems with the rollout of the new Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) have been widely reported, and have created major problems not just for students and families, but also for colleges and universities around the country. Once the delayed information reaches colleges, the schools will still need to scramble to put financial aid packages together. Some colleges have already extended their commitment deadlines from May 1 to June 1 in response, so that students have enough time to make educated decisions once the delayed information reaches them. The University of California system has moved their deadline to May 15 for all nine UC campuses, with the exception of out-of-state and international students accepted to UC Berkeley.

DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION RESPONDS TO FAFSA DEBACLE

Now, the U.S. Department of Education (which oversees the FAFSA) has established a $50 million fund to help schools deal with the backlog—and backlash. The Department will also provide a “concierge service” for schools. “A senior department official said all historically Black and tribal colleges will have the opportunity to get direct support from the agency,” the article says. Colleges seem pretty underwhelmed by the response so far. The article quotes Kiely Fletcher, Vice President for Enrollment Management at the University of Illinois at Chicago (and the first institution to extend its commitment deadline to June 1) as saying “While we appreciate the secretary providing an updated timetable, the partial measures do little to alleviate the burden and anxiety expressed by students, their parents and higher ed professionals.”

CONGRESS RESPONDS TO DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION OVER FAFSA DELAYS

Today, the leaders of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, and the House Committee on Education and the Workforce responded to Secretary of Education Miguel Cardona’s announcement that the department will provide additional supports for high schools as they work with students and families to complete and submit the FAFSA and for colleges as they prepare financial aid packages. In addition to committee leaders Senators Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Patty Murray (D-WA) and Representative Robert “Bobby” Scott (D-VA), 106 senators and representatives co-signed the letter, which asks the Secretary of Education to clarify how the department will minimize the impact of these delays — especially for those students most in need of financial aid. The letter poses a set of seven questions that Congress wants answered. The letter concludes by asking if there are any “specific requests that Congress can respond to in order to help address related issues moving forward.”

LOCAL EFFECTS OF FAFSA DELAYS FELT AT DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM

One of the largest impacts in our local area will be felt at the DC Tuition Assistance Grant (DCTAG) program. DCTAG is administered through the D.C. Office of the State Superintendent of Education and provides scholarships to D.C. residents to offset the cost of attending one of 300 participating colleges and universities. The aim is to help D.C. families with the cost of college as there is not an in-state option for D.C. residents. Because of the U.S. Department of Education's announcement that programs and schools will not receive the data from the FAFSA until mid-March, DCTAG has delayed opening the application until March 11, 2024.

VANDERBILT AND CORNELL EXTEND TEST-OPTIONAL ADMISSIONS

On the heels of Dartmouth’s announcement last week about reinstating standardized testing in the admission process, Cornell University and Vanderbilt University reported that they will each extend their test-optional admissions policies established during the pandemic. Cornell extended their policy for one more year. Several of Cornell’s schools have already adjusted admissions policy to “test free,” meaning they will not consider standardized test scores at any point in the admission process. Vanderbilt has extended their policy for three additional years in order to conduct internal research before making a permanent decision.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Following Dartmouth College’s aforementioned testing announcement, Inside Higher Ed interviewed Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid, Lee Coffin. Coffin makes the point several times that the decision came after an internal study of admissions data for the last few years at Dartmouth. It was a decision made for Dartmouth using data from Dartmouth and is not intended to be a bellwether decision in the standardized testing controversy. Of course, though (as Coffin acknowledges), when an Ivy League university makes an announcement like this, it draws attention from all constituents.

A debate about the value of a college degree versus technical, vocational, and other skilled labor and career training has been going on quietly for the last several years, because leaders are struggling to assess the value of CTE programs. Unfortunately, standard ways of tracking outcomes and collecting data don’t apply, as it’s hard to match up workforce data with protected student records. This week, The Washington Post weighed in on the struggle. “States that do connect school and work data, such as Florida and Maryland, have found that taking career courses in high school can lead some students to earn higher wages after graduation,” Wall writes. But with data hard to come by, and some of it contradictory, it seems as if the debate will carry on a while longer. For now, as the College Board makes clear, getting education beyond a high school diploma is crucial to economic success, and a college degree is one of the best investments a family can make.

In “Legacy Admissions May Not Be at Odds With Diversity,” Wall Street Journal columnist Jason Riley addresses an aspect of the debate over legacy admissions that has attracted comparatively little attention: the negative effects ending the practice might have on minority students. Riley argues that “ending the practice might undercut the left’s campus diversity objectives.” He writes: “Affirmative-action policies have been in place for a half-century. Hundreds of thousands of black students have matriculated at selective colleges and universities across the country, and their children stand to benefit from legacy admissions. Now that race-conscious admission policies have been banned, legacies are one way for schools to maintain a racially mixed student body without violating the Supreme Court’s decision.” Riley also notes that some leaders at HBCUs have expressed anxiety about legal bans of legacy consideration. He quotes Brenda Allen, the president of Lincoln University, a small black college in Pennsylvania, who notes: “People have generations of folks who go to these institutions. My school is like that. We recruit family members … Being able to recruit legacies is important, especially at HBCUs.”

Snowplow, bulldozer, helicopter — we have all read the various research, news coverage, and parenting advice columns that discuss the pros and cons of super involved parenting. The New York Times published a story this week about two new surveys which suggest that there is more to the story when it comes to this style of parenting. In fact, the surveys show that “nine in 10 parents rate their relationships with their young adult children as good or excellent, and so do eight in 10 young adults.” Many past researchers have studied the negative effects of intense parenting on the child — they are less self-reliant, more frequently live at home, and continue to be financially dependent on their parents well into their late twenties; however, these surveys indicate that closer relationships between parents and their adult children can be beneficial to both. In some families with young adults living at home, three-quarters of them contributed to the family expenses and one-third of adult children helped support their parents financially.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

In recognition of President’s Day, our office will be closed on Monday, February 19 and will reopen on Tuesday, February 20. Wishing everyone an enjoyable long weekend!

CATCH UP ON PAST BLOGS BELOW!

Weekly Update: February 6

Happy National School Counseling Week! I spent 10 years as a school-based college counselor, and as I always say, nothing makes me happier than collaborating with my school counselor colleagues.

There are things that school counselors can do for students that independent counselors cannot, and there are things that independent counselors can do for students that school counselors cannot. When families allow school counselors and independent counselors to collaborate together, it’s the best of both worlds and the students benefit SO MUCH!

Here’s a related blog post I wrote a few years ago, which delves into the differences between expectations families should have for school counselors and independent counselors.

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

DARTMOUTH COLLEGE REINSTATES SAT/ACT REQUIREMENT

On Monday morning, Dartmouth College announced that they will require applicants to submit standardized test scores in the upcoming undergraduate admissions cycle. When Dartmouth’s new president, Sian Beilock, started in the summer of 2023, she tapped four sociology and economics professors to complete an internal study on the use of test scores in admissions. In their January 30 memo to President Beilock, the researchers stated several key findings.

First, test scores “are highly predictive” of academic achievement at Dartmouth. Interestingly, they also “predict career success, including high levels of earnings and attendance at elite graduate schools, holding family income constant.” Second, the correlation to academic success is consistent among all demographic groups they studied (regardless of socioeconomic background). Third, they concluded that the test-optional policy currently in place “is likely a barrier to Dartmouth identifying less-advantaged students who would succeed at Dartmouth.” Finally, they conclude that the test-optional policy has not increased the number of less-advantaged applicants in the admission pool.

What is new about this study are these third and fourth points, which assert that the data shows that there were less-advantaged applicants with SAT scores in the 1400 range who did not submit those scores to be considered (the study included data and SAT scores from students who applied test-optional, but whose scores the admissions office was able to see after the admissions process was concluded). Dartmouth historically has admitted disadvantaged students with lower test scores, taking into consideration “students who are excelling in their environment.” The question becomes whether or not schools will seek more socio-economic diversity now that they are unable to use race as a factor in admission decisions, and, therefore, start to require students to submit test scores.

VIRGINIA SENATE PASSES BILL TO BAN LEGACY ADMISSION

The Virginia state legislature has taken the next step toward ending legacy preference in the college admission process. On January 23, 2024, the Virginia Senate unanimously passed Senate Bill 46 which will prohibit public colleges and universities from “providing any manner of preferential treatment in the admissions decision to any student applicant on the basis of such student’s legacy status … ” The Virginia House of Delegates unanimously passed House Bill 48 on January 31, 2024. Both bills are now with the Committee of Conference and once they are reconciled into one bill, both houses will vote again. Since both bills were passed unanimously, it is expected that the reconciled bill will also pass and be sent to Governor Glenn Youngkin to sign. Governor Youngkin has indicated that he is likely to sign the bill, which would make Virginia the first state to ban legacy admissions at public colleges and universities. Following the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in June 2023, Virginia Tech announced a change in admissions policy to eliminate both legacy status and race from consideration when making admissions decisions. The University of Virginia reported that 15 percent of their students last year were legacy, though that statistic does not clarify how many students received preferential treatment in the admission process.

MORE ISSUES WITH NEW FAFSA IMPLEMENTATION WILL AFFECT TIMING OF FINANCIAL AID PACKAGES

Already plagued by delays in launching the redesigned FAFSA, the U.S. Department of Education Office of Federal Student Aid issued an update and revised timeline for the time needed to process FAFSA submissions. Now, the department will not begin to send students’ information to colleges and universities until the first half of March, an additional six weeks later than initially announced. In prior years, the FAFSA opened on October 1 and could deliver student data to schools in four to six weeks. As a result of the redesign and now the additional delay, most colleges and universities will be delayed in providing applicants with financial aid award packages. Many institutions of higher education require both the FAFSA and the CSS/Profile (administered by the College Board). These schools will be able to calculate “estimated” financial aid packages, but cannot finalize those until they receive the official data from the Federal Student Aid office. A handful of schools have already announced that they will extend the traditional May 1 enrollment deadline for students to make a deposit a the school they intend to attend.

UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT FACING MAJOR BUDGET CUTS

The effects of the Covid-19 pandemic continue to ripple across many aspects of education. This week, The Chronicle of Higher Education reported on budget cuts at the University of Connecticut—amounting to an across-the-board 15% budget cut (spread over 5 years) for every school, department, and program. Other public colleges have also seen cuts, which observers attribute to reductions in what had been an influx of Federal money during 2020 to help weather the pandemic storm. In the years since, many public colleges have relied on state legislatures to continue to provide the additional funding. Now legislatures in many states are pushing back—Connecticut, West Virginia, and Arizona, to mention a few—expecting the public colleges to find alternative sources of revenue. Faculty members and administrators say the cuts will have a big effect, perhaps none bigger than the losses of whole departments and graduate programs (including graduate teaching assistants). How this will play out over the coming five years of cuts will be interesting to watch.

PENNSYLVANIA GOVERNOR PROPOSED SWEEPING REORGANIZATION OF 25 STATE UNIVERSITIES AND COMMUNITY COLLEGES

Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro says the system of state universities and community colleges is broken and has proposed sweeping reforms to fix it. While there are no current plans to close any of the 10 state universities that comprise the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) and 15 community colleges, the new plan will bring oversight under a single governing body, while allowing each to remain independent. These schools have faced significant enrollment declines and are bracing for more projected drops due to demographic changes. Pennsylvania State University, University of Pittsburgh, Lincoln University, and Temple University each receive some state funding, but are not owned by the state and will not be affected by the changes in governance.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

In the article “Why Campus Life Fell Apart,” The Chronicle of Higher Education takes a look at how the Covid-19 pandemic affected student engagement on college campuses. Past studies and analyses have found that student engagement directly impacts student success in college. When students are unable to participate in clubs, organizations, and campus activities, they do not develop the teamwork, leadership, and project management skills necessary to keep student-led extracurriculars running from year to year. Students need these clubs and organizations to make connections with other students and build a sense of community and shared purpose. Because student leadership changes yearly and many clubs and organizations did not meet for multiple years, schools need to be more involved in providing leadership training and rebuilding institutional knowledge to revive clubs and organizations and re-engage students.

While the previous article looked at the interpersonal and communication skills lost by students during the pandemic, The New York Times published the results of a national study of elementary and middle-school students’ learning loss in math and reading between 2019-2023. Overall, students have made up approximately a third of what they lost in mathematics during the pandemic while regaining a quarter of what they lost in reading, according to researchers from Stanford University, Harvard University, and Dartmouth College. This extensive study looks at cumulative learning loss across states and the country, but also presents data by school district which clearly identifies significant disparities from district to district. (This tool allows you to look at math scores by district from 2019 through 2023.) In last week’s blog post, we detailed the efforts Fairfax, Arlington, Alexandria, and Loudoun Counties are making to address learning loss for students in grades three through eight.

In his Forbes blog on college admissions, Brennan Barnard has asked college deans and directors of admission for their advice for students as they start the college admission process. They responded: start with self-reflection; assess your interests and strengths; explore your options by visiting local schools and accessing virtual opportunities to get to know schools; and remember that this is your journey. The deans and directors also had advice for families, especially parents: guide your student, but allow them to take ownership of the process; find the balance between encouraging your student’s self-discovery and learning and doing it for them; have an open discussion about finances and college choices; and remember to keep your student and their happiness at the forefront of the process. We agree! This is all advice we also share with students and families as we help them navigate the journey.

The U.S. Department of Education has proposed a change in how students are billed for textbooks and course materials in college. Under President Obama’s policy, colleges were allowed to include the cost of books and materials in their tuition and fees. In doing so, they were able to work directly with publishers to negotiate lower prices. Critics of the policy say that this prohibits students from finding materials and resources at lower costs. Some students like the convenience of the costs included in tuition and fees, while others say they are required to buy textbooks or materials that are seldom used in the course.

Virginia’s Attorney General has filed suit against the NCAA, alleging that the association which oversees college athletics does not have the authority to block colleges donors/boosters from enticing athletic recruits through compensation. The attorney general joins his Tennessee counterpart in asking a judge to block the NCAA rule restricting competition under the NIL, the name-image-likeness rule, which allows amateur athletes to be compensated for any use of their name-image-likeness, arguing that the rule limits competition.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

On Groundhog Day, Punxsutawney Phil did not see his shadow foretelling an early spring. With the nicer weather, February is a great time to visit college campuses. Whether you are considering the specific school or taking advantage of the range of schools in our area, nothing can replace an in-person tour. And as we always say — even if you don’t think your student is particularly interested in any of the schools in the DC area, these easy local visits can still be so helpful when it comes to differentiating preferences. For example, if you recognize that GW is too urban, you can very easily save yourself the trip to BU and NYU!

Some schools offer upcoming special programs for juniors, while others offer individual or group tours:

American University—February 19 Winter Preview Day

Catholic University—February 17 Cardinal Preview Day 

George Mason University—March 25 Junior Visit Day and March 1 College of Engineering and Computing Junior Visit Day

George Washington University—Schedule an In-Person Foggy Bottom Campus Tour and consider adding Discover the Arts at GW or GW Engineering In-Person Tour. 

Howard University—Schedule an Information Session & Campus Tour

University of Maryland—February 19, Discover Maryland

Have a great week!

IN CASE YOU MISSED THEM, CHECK OUT our january updates!

Weekly Update: January 30

Welcome to our last post of January - although it is hard to believe it is the end of January, with recent temperatures in the mid-70s!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

JAMES MADISON UNIVERSITY APPLICATIONS TOP 40,000

JMU received a total of 40,232 undergraduate applications for the class of 2028, an increase of 78% over the 22,603 applications they received in 2021. Melinda Wood, JMU’s associate vice president for access and enrollment management and director of admissions, attributes the increase to ongoing efforts on several fronts, including increased national exposure as JMU’s athletic teams have continued to excel. After all the controversy we wrote about last fall, the JMU football team ultimately did compete in their first bowl game against the Air Force Academy this past December.

NEW BILL INTRODUCED IN MARYLAND STATE LEGISLATURE TO GUARANTEE ADMISSION TO STUDENTS IN TOP 10 PERCENT OF CLASS

Maryland Senate President Pro Tem Malcolm Augustine has introduced Senate Bill 5, which would require specific state colleges and universities to accept students in the top 10 percent of their class at Maryland public and private schools. The 10 included institutions include the University System of Maryland–UMD Baltimore; UMD College Park; UMBC; UMD Eastern Shore; UMD Global Campus; Bowie State University; Coppin State University; Frostburg State University; Salisbury University; Towson University; and the University of Baltimore. Morgan State University and St. Mary’s College of Maryland, which are public schools that are not part of the University System of Maryland, would also be required to implement the plan. Virginia and Tennessee are among the states that have recently implemented similar policies at certain universities.

HOW SUPREME COURT DECISION, FREE TUITION, AND POLICY CAPPING OUT-OF-STATE STUDENTS AT UNC-CHAPEL HILL AFFECTED APPLICATION NUMBERS

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I got this from one of our seniors while I was eating lunch on Saturday and it just made my day :)

In 2023, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill was at the center of a Supreme Court decision that limited the ways in which colleges and universities can consider race in admission decisions. Many predicted the landmark decision would have a direct, negative impact on applications for the class of 2028. In response, former Chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz implemented several new initiatives that include providing North Carolina undergraduate students whose families make less than $80,000 per year free tuition. At the same time, the university hired additional admissions team members to recruit in “under-resourced” areas of North Carolina. Early numbers indicate that those initiatives have had an impact as Interim Chancellor Lee Roberts announced last week that applications are up 15% over applications received by the same date in 2023. UNC-Chapel Hill has received approximately 67,000 applications in 2024 in contrast to approximately 58,000 at the same time last year. Despite all of this, our students actually done pretty well - with multiple EA acceptances that came out a few days ago.

CANADA ANNOUNCES CAP ON INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS

Last week, Canadian officials announced a new two-year cap on the number of student permits issued to incoming international students. The initiative seeks to address severe housing shortages across provinces. In 2023, Canada approved almost 1 million study permits for international students, however, under the new policy, there will be a 35 % reduction, or approximately 350,000 fewer study permits. At the same time, the policy will also limit the number of work permits approved for foreign students after graduation from a Canadian institution. Popular university options for U.S. students include the University of Toronto (U of T), McGill University, and the University of British Columbia (UBC) as they offer excellent undergraduate educations at a lower cost than many private and public universities in the U.S.

A pre-Covid visit to LMU with some of my favorite colleagues - love that California sun in November!

LOYOLA MARYMOUNT UNIVERSITY CUTS SIX NCAA DIVISION I SPORTS

Loyola Marymount University (LMU) announced plans to cut six NCAA Division I sports at the end of the 2023-2024 seasons in an effort to maintain equal access and opportunities for athletes. The sports announced include men’s and women’s rowing, men’s and women’s track and field, women’s swimming, and men’s cross country. LMU’s more than 400 student-athletes are the highest among the West Coast Conference member schools’ athletic programs. The decision to reduce the number of teams allows LMU to redirect its funding to its other DI teams. LMU is assisting students affected by the decision in a number of ways, including continuing to honor students’ athletic scholarships and financial aid, and supporting students who want to transfer to another school to continue to play their sport in college.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR EDUCATION STATISTICS REPORT SHOWS 968 PERCENT INCREASE IN UNDERGRADUATE DATA SCIENCE DEGREES

The results are in and the number of undergraduate degrees awarded in data science jumped from 84 in 2020 to 897 in 2022. Wow! The report released by the National Center for Education Statistics also included an increase in degrees awarded in data analytics from 325 in 2020 to 767 in 2022. The Department of Labor projects that jobs for data scientists will increase by 36 percent over the next 10 years. Majors in data science, data analytics, and statistics are all increasing in popularity, particularly as students can combine them with other areas they are passionate about. Interestingly, in a study released by the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), “data science has a higher concentration of female students than comparable majors, such as computer science and cybersecurity.”

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

The New York Times reporter Bernard Mokam, shared his reflections on changes in the college essay since writing his own 10 years ago. Mokam, a former admissions essay coach himself, wrote on how the college essay and what students choose to write about has changed in light of the Supreme Court decision on the use of race in college admission decisions last June. His research for his article and the conversations he has had with students inspired Mokam to reflect on his own college essay and ask himself, as a Black American attending a boarding school in Massachusetts, if he would have made any changes. While he admits that there is no way to know what he might have changed, he does acknowledge that through the process of self-reflection, writing, and editing the college essay, students learn about their values and themselves.

As has been well-documented, colleges are coping with a mental health crisis among students, faculty, and staff. The New York Times Magazine took an in-depth look into the series of suicides in 2021 on the small, New England campus of Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI). The article takes readers through the events and the response of the school’s administration and faculty. The lessons WPI and its leaders learned are a starting point for other colleges and universities as they assess their mental health resources and emergency procedures. Charlie Morse, the former director of counseling, hopes that the choice to be open, honest, and transparent with all of the members of the WPI community can serve as a framework for best practices for other educational institutions that are faced with such a crisis. 

In past blog posts throughout December and January, we have followed the redesign and launch of the new FAFSA, the application all students must complete in order to receive federal financial aid. NPR’s “All Things Considered” reports that the U.S. Department of Education has confirmed they will fix the error in the formula used to calculate a student’s Student Aid Index (SAI) which we covered on December 12 (the Department of Education neglected to account for inflation in the new formula used to calculate the SAI). (To understand how the SAI is calculated and/or estimate your own eligibility, go to the Federal Student Aid Estimator.) The failure to adjust for inflation results in a lower “income protection allowance” and, in turn, leads to students qualifying for less aid. NPR reports that the mistake could underfund students by $1.8 billion in federal student aid. Unfortunately, the Department of Education has not given a timeline to fix this error, further delaying the release of data to colleges and universities, and, therefore, financial aid packages for applicants.

The board of governors of Florida’s state university system ruled last week to remove sociology as a course students could take to fulfill their core curriculum requirements. It will now be replaced with a “factual history course.” According to The New York Times article, the new course will cover “America’s founding, the horrors of slavery, the resulting Civil War and the Reconstruction era.” This is the latest change enacted by the board in response to Governor Ron DeSantis’s Individual Freedom Act, more commonly known as the Stop W.O.K.E. Act, which was passed in April 2022. 

Once again, this week’s uplifting story comes from a marching band – The Mighty Sound of Maryland of the University of Maryland, College Park. When Alejandro Marroquin answered the door Sunday morning, he never expected to see someone dressed in a turtle costume and members of the UMD marching band standing in his front yard. James Massey, Jr., UMD Director of Undergraduate Admissions, handed Alejandro a letter while saying, “Congratulations! You’ve been accepted to the University of Maryland, College Park.” Alejandro’s parents were in on the surprise, having been contacted a few days prior by the office of admissions to arrange to deliver the good news in-person. Alejandro quickly joined the band to show off some of his percussion skills. Alejandro will be the first in his immediate family to attend college; he plans to major in Cinema and Media Studies and play percussion in the band at UMD.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

This week we’ve seen the release of early action decisions from a number of large, state flagship universities, including the University of Michigan, the University of Wisconsin, the University of North Carolina and the University of Maryland, as well as a number of private institutions such as the University of Richmond and the University of Miami. We are continuing our work with seniors who were deferred by their early decision or early action schools to craft their letters of continued interest (LOCI). If you are a current client, we encourage you to book a meeting with us to discuss your decisions received and advise you in writing your LOCIs. 

If you are a student who is not working with us, follow up with your school counselor about your deferral and take a look at our past blog post about drafting your letter of continued interest.

And as I shared on social media over the weekend, our team participated in a training session over the weekend to get ready for Common Application® essay season!

We expect prompts for this main personal statement - the essay that students will send to each of their schools - to be released in February for the high school Class of 2025. We’re excited to jump right in and help our juniors navigate this important milestone in the admissions process!

Happy Groundhog Day!

Take a look at all of our january updates!

Trends and Themes: January 2024

January is always a good time to reflect on the trends and themes of the most recent application cycle and look ahead to what’s coming in the 2024-2025 admissions cycle. As chair of the Committee on Current Trends and Future Issues of PCACAC (Potomac and Chesapeake Association for College Admission Counseling), Sally and the committee have been keeping track of the following trends:

ChatGPT made a splash in 2022 and since then more generative artificial intelligence programs have been released. Throughout 2023, many people in college admissions questioned how these chatbots would impact the college admission essay and supplements and how institutions would respond. Some schools have instituted new policies to address this issue; for example, the University of California system includes a Statement of Application Integrity in which they state that the “UC conducts regular screenings to verify the integrity of the responses” and “may request authentication of the content or writing as the student’s.” Our March 1 blog post, Rejected! How ChatGPT Destroys the College Admissions Essay, offers an in-depth look at the risks of using AI chatbots to write college essays.

The Supreme Court decision on race consideration in college admission released at the end of June 2023 had a significant impact on the way that colleges are reading applications this cycle and changing their internal processes. Many schools changed their supplemental essays in order to comply with the ruling, including the University of Virginia. Their new prompt asks students: “What about your individual background, perspective, or experience will serve as a source of strength for you or those around you at UVA?” Other schools added on more essays.

In December 2020, Congress passed legislation requiring the Department of Education to update and simplify the FAFSA (the application which determines eligibility for federal student aid) by December 31, 2023. The Department of Education has begun a “soft launch” of the redesigned FAFSA and students and families can begin to complete their applications. We have yet to see the impact of the changes in the formula the government uses to calculate the Student Aid Index (SAI). One of the more significant changes is the removal of the number of children a family has attending institutions of higher education in a given year. 

Changes relating to standardized testing have continued to emerge as a trend. While many schools saw an increase in applications and an increase in applications from historically underserved populations, other schools have decided to return to requiring either the SAT or the ACT. Two great examples are CalTech and MIT. Based on data from their internal review, CalTech has extended their moratorium on standardized test scores through the fall of 2025 and will no longer consider test scores in the admissions process. Conversely, MIT’s internal research demonstrated the need for test scores to be used in conjunction with a holistic review, to properly assess an applicant's preparedness to succeed given MIT’s curriculum. MIT requires students to complete a minimum of two semesters of calculus and two semesters of calculus-based physics regardless of their major. 

In addition to institutional policies based on internal research, the 2023-2024 admission cycle saw an increase in some state schools returning to requiring standardized test scores or considering test scores in specific cases such as below a certain GPA or for consideration for scholarships. For example, the University System of Georgia announced that they would continue the temporary test score waiver for schools not including the University of Georgia, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Georgia College & State University. 

The increase in both state and federal government oversight and involvement grew over the past year to include: a congressional hearing on antisemitism on the campuses of Harvard University, Yale University, and the University of Pennsylvania; Department of Education investigations in response to alleged incidents of antisemitism and Islamophobia; the North Carolina state legislature appointing board of directors; and proposed federal legislation introduced by Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) to ban legacy admissions. We anticipate that such oversight and proposed changes will continue through 2024 and will keep our readers abreast of any changes and their impact on students in the college application process.

Finally, the mental health of college students remains a priority for institutions across the country. Many schools are in the process of increasing access and resources for students who are struggling with issues ranging from anxiety and depression through substance abuse education and addiction counseling.

Weekly Update: January 5

Happy New Year! We hope everyone enjoyed the time off from school and the opportunity to catch up on sleep, TV shows, or favorite blogs! 

My kids and I went to Newport Beach, CA for the week between Christmas and New Year’s. It was nice to get away and the area is fantastic. Now I understand why Chapman has emerged as a favorite (especially for film students) over the last few years! I also really love UC Irvine and had the same impression I had when I saw it a few years back - that more East Coast students should consider it as an excellent alternative to UCLA, UC San Diego, and USC!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT RESIGNS

In an unexpected move, Harvard University President Claudine Gay resigned on Tuesday, January 2 after weeks of backlash following her appearance before a congressional committee looking into antisemitism and questions regarding plagiarism including six new charges. On December 31, two members of The Harvard Crimson Editorial Board penned an editorial – Dissent: For Harvard’s Sake, It’s Time to Let Gay Go – in which they stated that “the continuation of Gay’s tenure as president only hurts the University.”

SIMPLIFIED FAFSA LAUNCHED

The Department of Federal Student Aid (FSA) launched the redesigned FAFSA this past week. Students and parents are now able to access the 2024-2025 FAFSA during what the department is calling a “soft launch period.” However, reactions to the new FAFSA and website have been anything but positive. Students and parents should expect “maintenance pauses” during which the FAFSA may not be accessed and users are directed to try back at a later time. Also new, when logging in, students and parents may be placed in a “waiting room” to help optimize website volume. The department will begin to process FAFSA forms in mid- to late-January. If you are applying for financial aid, be sure to check each of your college’s financial aid websites for their deadlines and any additional forms required such as the CSS/Profile, uploaded documents (tax returns, etc.), and school-specific forms. We encourage families who need to submit to not give up on the new seemingly problematic process and continue to try and submit their FAFSA. Consider registering for one of the FAFSA Completion Events or Line-by-Line Events held by College Access Fairfax. These are incredibly helpful and FREE!

COLLEGE FOOTBALL PLAYOFF NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP

The Michigan Wolverines and Washington Huskies are playing one another in Houston on Monday evening, and it seems like those in the know (in other words.. not me!) are putting their money on Michigan! I’ll be rooting for Washington, because Michigan is already impossible to get into and the absolute last thing we need is a national championship win!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Each year The New York Times publishes a selection of student essays “about money, work, social class, and other related topics.” These essays are great examples of how to take an enormous topic like money and write a piece that conveys what is unique about each student, while telling a story about who the student is and what is important to them.

Derek Thompson of The Atlantic raises an interesting and poignant question in a recent article, “How Anxiety Became Content.” Has the shift in how anxiety and other mental health diagnoses are discussed in the media and in social media taken a once taboo topic and popularized it? And if so, is this shift creating a feedback loop for those with anxiety? In his article, Thompson explores these themes with a clinical psychologist at USC.

Not exactly a traditional article but I saw this TikTok post about hard discussions relating to college major selections and really liked it. I know this is a controversial topic, and I don’t agree at all that you can’t earn a living with less “lucrative” majors (I’m an English major and have done pretty well for myself as a business owner!). But at the same time, I think it’s incredibly important for students to understand more about the cost of living and income potential when they go to make career-related decisions.

Lastly, New York magazine interviewed parents and admissions professionals to expand on the results of a study we covered in a blog post last summer, underscoring that “children who are wealthy, but not private-jet rich, [are] at a disadvantage for admission to the most elite colleges.”

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Our meetings with juniors have picked up as they begin to research schools and build their lists. At the same time, we are continuing our work with seniors who were deferred by their early decision or early action schools to craft their letters of continued interest (LOCI). More early application decisions are expected throughout January and through the beginning of February. If you are a current client, we encourage you to book a meeting with us to discuss your decisions received and advise you in writing your LOCIs. 

If you are a student who is not working with us, follow up with your school counselor about your deferral and take a look at our past blog post about drafting your letter of continued interest.

As the days begin to get longer again, enjoy the growing minutes of daylight!

interested in more updates and trends? take a look at these posts!

Weekly Update: December 19

As we head into the final weeks of December, emotions are running wild as our students have been learning their early application results! We’ve been anxious too!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

LEGACY ADMISSIONS – NOT JUST FOR THE MOST SELECTIVE SCHOOLS

The U.S. Department of Education released data this week on the number of colleges that give preference to applicants with legacy status. A new push to eliminate legacy admissions emerged after the Supreme Court’s decision on colleges’ use of race in admissions decisions this past June. In the 2022-2023 academic year, under 600 colleges and universities consider legacy status while making admissions decisions, with approximately two-thirds of those schools accepting more than 50 percent of applicants.

UVA ANNOUNCES EXPANSION OF ACCESSUVA PROGRAM

UVA’s president announced the decision of the Board of Visitors to expand AccessUVA, the financial aid program to benefit more low- and middle-income students and families. The program was started in 2004 as a way to attract more applicants from diverse backgrounds. Students from families with incomes of $50,000 or less (previously $30,000 or less) will receive grants and scholarships to cover the cost of tuition, fees, room, and board. Families whose incomes are $100,000 or less will receive grant or scholarship aid equal to tuition and fees or more. And finally, families with annual incomes below $150,000 (an income increase from $125,000/year) will receive a minimum of $2,000 in grants. Additionally, UVA has set caps on the total students can borrow within each income bracket, both annually and cumulatively over their four undergraduate years at UVA.

VIRGINIA SENATOR TAKES THE LEAD IN REQUESTING FAFSA CLARIFICATION

Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA) is part of a group of U.S. senators asking the Department of Education to provide “clear guidance and communication” regarding the implementation of the new FAFSA to students and their families. The Department of Education has announced that the FAFSA will be available by December 31, 2023, but the senators are asking for “an actual date.” Recent articles have suggested that once the new FAFSA is launched, there will be further delays in the time needed before the information will be sent to colleges and universities. This comes on the heels of the FAFSA calculation problems we discussed last week.

HARVARD UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT BACKED BY BOARD

Fallout continues following the testimony of Harvard University President Claudine Gay before a U.S. House of Representatives hearing regarding increased incidents of antisemitism on campus. While there was a public cry for her resignation, both the Board of Overseers and the hundreds of faculty supported President Gay in continuing in her role. Since giving her testimony, President Gay has apologized for and clarified her remarks.

STUDENTS ARRESTED IN SIT-IN AT BROWN UNIVERSITY

At a sit-in at Brown University’s University Hall, 41 students were arrested and charged with trespassing. The action was organized by Brown Divest Coalition, a student group demanding that the university divest from companies that produce weapons and support a ceasefire in Gaza. More than two hundred additional students protesting outside the building on the Green were not arrested.

FCPS ANNOUNCES PLANNED OPIOID AWARENESS EVENT IN JANUARY

Earlier this year, Cayden Foster, a Centreville High School student, died from a fentanyl overdose. His parents have asked Dr. Michelle Reid, FCPS Superintendent, to share their story as part of a community conversation about opioid awareness. Please watch their story and join Dr. Reid at Edison High School at 6:30 p.m. on January 10 for this important conversation about opioid and drug use in Northern Virginia and Fairfax County. You can register using this link, though it is not required to register in advance. For more information and resources, visit FCPS’s website.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

A year ago, the media was focused on the impact that ChatGPT and AI tools were going to have on the college essay and supplements. Now recent research from Stanford University shows that the hype and attention may have been over the top. The research analyzed surveys from over 40 high schools and found that 60 to 70 percent of students reported that they had recently cheated – about the same number as compared to last year, prior to ChatGPT. Pew Research Center surveyed over 1,400 adolescents in the U.S. and found that 32 percent reported having heard “nothing at all” about ChatGPT and another 44 percent had only heard “a little.” What we know from our essay work is that students who answer the prompt with highly specific, personal examples fare better in the admissions process!

Entrepreneur and Texas resident Elon Musk may try his hand at education. Reportedly, one of his charities’ tax filings indicates plans to use a $100 million gift from Musk to open a K through 12 school focused on STEM education. Once the school is operational, they will create a university to educate students in person and use technology to offer distance learning.

We mentioned two weeks ago that students might be avoiding Ivy League schools as a result of the anti-Semitism that has been rampant on their campuses since October 7. It turns out that we were on to something, because early applications to Harvard were down by 17%. And that’s not all - word on the street is that a lot of admitted Harvard students are, in fact, turning elsewhere - a theme emphasized in this New York Post article. Remember, Harvard has a restrictive early action program, so applicants are not obligated to enroll. Like I mentioned before, I think we will be seeing the consequences of this for a while.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

The level of stress we feel at this time of year can be pretty intense. Most people have one kid to worry about, but we have about forty! Whether we’ve been working with a student since seventh grade or just for a few months, we hold their hands every step of the way and become very emotionally invested in the outcomes.

We had a lot of good news - more than I was expecting given the circumstances relating to the Supreme Court ruling and all of the uncertainty associated with it - but some disappointing decisions too. And at the end of the day, I really believe that the kids who consistently work hard and make smart decisions will end up somewhere great. They don’t always get into their absolute top choice, but it will still be a happy outcome - it always is.

And with all of that behind us, we’re taking a much-deserved break! Some of us are working reduced hours this week, and then our office will be fully closed from Friday, December 22 through Monday, January 1.

We will reopen on Tuesday, January 2. We wish everyone a safe, healthy, and restful winter break and a Happy New Year!

Interested in other Weekly Updates? Check out these recent posts!

Weekly Update x2: August 14/21

Happy first day of school to FCPS students starting this week! We have been SWAMPED and are combining two weeks of updates for you!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

WEST VIRGINIA CUTS FOREIGN LANGUAGES

West Virginia University made the controversial decision last week to cut all foreign language instruction and let go of professors in response to budget constraints. The proposed cuts include other programs as well, for a total of 32 majors and 7% of the university’s faculty. With declining enrollment, WVU has determined that the drastic cuts are necessary to maintain more popular programs like forensics, engineering, and neuroscience. Professors and students are objecting to the cuts.

While many other public universities have faced budget constraints, WVU is the first state flagship to make such extreme cuts to its programs in response. The proposed cuts, if approved, will take effect in May.

ATTACK AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY

Howard University ramped up security last week after three Howard students were attacked by a mob of teenagers outside of a residence hall and one student was stabbed. In response to this act of violence, as well as rising rates of violence in DC as a whole, Howard has worked to increase security on campus in advance of the arrival of the newest freshman class. The changes for this orientation include “safety paths” on campus with officers stationed every 100-200 feet, and some events being moved indoors where student IDs can be checked on entry.

CHANGES TO FCPS TRANSCRIPTS

I almost had a heart attack last week as I was scanning through a general FCPS email to parents one night and noticed that major changes had been made to high school transcripts effective immediately. They are good changes, actually, but we had already finalized so many self-reported transcripts and senior year schedules and I knew a lot of that work would need to be redone. You can read about the changes here: basically, all courses that receive honors/advanced weighting will now have the designations to match on the transcripts. To be honest, this was a long time coming as the former policy just made no sense - why wouldn’t all courses with honors weighting be called honors? I’m glad they fixed it, but wish they would have done it sooner. I scrambled to put a plan in place and emailed all of our families at 11:00 that night! We’ve been able to get everything fixed for most of the impacted students already, so I’m glad for that!

NEW FAFSA IS COMING

A new version of the FAFSA, said to be more user-friendly than previous versions of the form, is expected to be unveiled for the 2024-2025 school year. In addition to eliminating the “discount” for families with multiple students in college at once, the new form will also replace “expected family contribution” with the “student aid index,” a guideline for the amount of aid for which a student qualifies. The number of questions on the form has also been reduced, which we certainly hope will make this challenging process a bit easier for families!

Unfortunately, the changes do mean that the FAFSA will be released significantly later this year - the form often comes out in October, but this year, it is not expected to be released until December. Colleges and universities are updating their due dates for the FAFSA accordingly, with some pushing March dates to April or rethinking winter priority deadlines.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

We definitely empathized with Clara, the mother in this Town & Country article, who is allowing her son to take a laid-back approach to college admissions in favor of a more balanced experience in high school. There can be something very freeing about intentionally choosing to bypass the rat race. Two words of caution, though: first, if your family is going to go in this direction, you have to truly understand the landscape and what the outcome will be. Some parents say things like: “We have very realistic expectations - he doesn’t need to go to an Ivy! We would be thrilled witha place like Tufts!.” Well, Tufts has a 9.7% acceptance rate - that’s more selective than Harvard was, when today’s parents applied. Tufts isn’t a safety for anyone anymore! Even the University of South Carolina - a fine place, of course, but not the most selective school, historically - is adamant that they are looking for As on transcripts in math, science, and English classes specifically.

Next, after you’re made peace with the outcome, you have to firmly commit to this approach - you can’t change your mind junior or senior year. That would be the absolute worst thing to do. Your family would undergo an enormous amount of stress trying to “catch up” and would likely not be able to catch up anyway, because admissions committees assess students on their performance from grades 9-11.

If you are an international student applying from abroad to US schools, check out this article for a clear breakdown of what might be an unfamiliar education system. Learn about the different types of schools in the US and how the grading system, majors and minors, and exam schedule may differ from your home country. This is also a great primer for US students and families who feel confused by some of the terminology schools use (what are majors vs. concentrations?).

Plus, check out this comprehensive look at legacy admissions, and what it might mean for more schools to eliminate it.

And finally, there are a lot of changes, both good and bad, when a child moves away from home for the first time. Unfortunately, we all know that college students have been suffering from a mental health crisis in recent years, and one mental health issue that is particularly common on college campuses is eating disorders. This article offers some tips to help talk with your student and protect them from this type of mental health challenge when they head off to their new campus home.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

It’s #firstdayfairfax and so many of you are heading back to school! My son James was so excited to go back this morning that he was literally running down the street to try to get into his first grade classroom faster!

We are so lucky to have an amazing neighborhood public school - every year I think to myself that there’s no way this year’s teacher is going to measure up to last year’s (or in last year’s case, that James’ teacher wouldn’t measure up to his sister Caroline’s amazing kindergarten teacher) and somehow they manage to just have a whole team full of rockstars over there. Very grateful! Caroline starts her first day of middle school on Wednesday at OLGC with another incredible team of rockstars and I am so grateful for them too.

(Also, I can’t believe I have a child in middle school! Yikes!)

I would just like to put it on the record that I had nothing to do with this sock choice :)

It has been such a whirlwind over the past several weeks between August 1 and today, when about half of our students returned to school. This has always been the busiest time of the year by a very long shot, and as the FCPS start date inches earlier and earlier, everything compresses into a shorter and shorter period.

This year’s enormous increase in essays as a result of the Supreme Court ruling has just been the cherry on top of a fun three weeks :) Our students and essay coaches have been cranking out supplemental essays at a record pace, and many of our students are close to finishing their Common ApplicationⓇ work! We’re so excited to see everything start to come together.

As always, we will have more space for Late Start Seniors after our first cohort finishes up - so feel free to schedule a Meet & Greet session if you’re a senior who still needs help! We have appointments available as early as next week during school hours (parents are able to attend on their child’s behalf, if that’s easier), and our first after-school availability at the moment is on Thursday, September 7.

Have a great week!

Weekly Update: March 27

Hope you’ve had a chance to check out the cherry blossoms!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

SUPREME COURT RULES ON STUDENT ACCOMODATIONS

Last Tuesday, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of Miguel Luna Perez, a deaf student who sued a Michigan school district for refusing to provide him with a sign language interpreter. The court found that Miguel was not obligated to exhaust all other avenues under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act before he brought the suit. The unanimous decision will give students with disabilities more options for legal recourse when they are not provided with necessary accommodations in schools. 

THE SAFEST COLLEGE TOWN IN AMERICA

It’s Williamsburg, VA! According to a list released by Credit Summit, William & Mary tops the list of the 25 safest college towns in the country. UC Santa Barbara follows behind at #2. There are several more Virginia schools on the list as well, with Mary Washington in the #22 spot and Charlottesville at #23. 

FAFSA RELEASE POSTPONED

The Education Department announced last Tuesday that the FAFSA redesign will be launched in December, missing the typical October 1 release of the updated form. Students should keep in mind that the later opening date means less time to complete the form in order to apply for financial aid, so we will keep an eye on this story and update you as soon as the form opens in December!

COLLEGES ADOPT “UN-GRADING” POLICIES

The impacts of COVID-19 learning loss are still being felt across the country, and more and more faculty have begun to adopt nontraditional policies - without letter and number grades - to help ease the transition to college for first-year students. Some faculty at UC Santa Cruz, TCU, Pitt, UT Austin, and dozens of other colleges are trying out un-grading, joining colleagues at schools like Reed, Brown, Wellesley, and MIT. These institutions have long had nontraditional grading options for students, particularly during their first semester as they adjust to college.  

SOUTH FLORIDA FOR THE WIN

This was a fun weekend full of March Madness games! If you’ve been following my posts, I’m a Miami fan, and wow - that game on Sunday against Texas was just crazy. I did not think they had a chance and the comeback was incredible. I am also very excited about FAU! If you’re looking for a Florida alternative to the typical picks (Miami, UF, FSU), FAU actually has a gorgeous honors college campus in Jupiter in addition to the main campus in Boca. My parents live in Jupiter, so I drive past the honors college campus frequently and it’s a hidden gem!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

One of the biggest reasons why college rankings are not the last word when choosing an undergraduate education is because the factors that are used by resources like U.S. News aren’t always the factors that matter most to students and families - we’re guessing the number of books in the library doesn’t top your list of college priorities! That’s why we’re loving this New York Times rankings calculator, which allows you to weight your priorities and see a custom list of rankings based on what is most important to you. This tool will be incredibly helpful for seniors making their final decisions soon!

Along the same lines, we recommend seniors check out these college regrets from graduates to help you make your decision. Clients can also always reach out to us for help with decision-making - we are confident that you will end up where you are supposed to be!

We posted last week about how rankings are changing as schools decline to participate, and this is particularly true with law school rankings. With top law schools like Harvard, Yale, and Stanford saying that they will no longer participate, the rankings are starting to unravel. This is more of a challenge for applicants, as rankings are a lot more important when selecting law schools (and business schools and other graduate programs) than they are for undergraduate students! We’ll have to wait and see what the impact will be to the law school admissions landscape as these schools pull their data from U.S. News. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGs

If you are a high school junior who wants to get a head start on college acceptances, High Point’s Junior Scholars Program may be for you! The program allows students to be accepted early through a non-binding process, and grants a $2,500-per-year scholarship. If you or your student would like to be nominated, let us know and we are happy to help!

And finally, we’re hiring summer interns! If you know a college student interested in a deeper understanding of the methods for creating and running a growing small business, send them our way. Our paid summer interns have the opportunity to connect with past, current, and prospective students and families while they assist in the day-to-day operations of DC College Counseling.

Our ideal candidate will have social media experience and the skills to maintain and improve our social media presence and processes. Familiarity with posting on TikTok, specifically, is a big plus! Other duties include updating and organizing our website and task management system.

Interns will participate in all of the major aspects of running a business, from company-wide and management team meetings, to small business training opportunities, to industry-specific webinars.

If you or someone you know is interested in a nuanced grasp of how a woman-owned small business operates and how major decisions are made, they should email a resume and cover letter to shannon@dccollegecounseling.com with the subject line “DCCC Summer Internship.” 

We can’t wait to hear from you!

Weekly Update: October 14

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

FEDERAL JUDGES BOYCOTT YALE LAW GRADUATES

A U.S. Circuit Court judge called for a boycott of hiring law clerks from Yale Law School in a speech to the Federalist Society in September. Last week, a second judge signed onto the boycott. The judges argue that the boycott is a result of what they call the “lack of free speech on law school campuses,” particularly at Yale. 

UNIVERSITY OF MIAMI FRATERNITY CHAPTER CLOSED

The Miami chapter of Sigma Phi Epsilon was closed last Friday following an investigation of a party the fraternity held. The investigation was started after student reporters in the school newspaper, the Miami Hurricane, interviewed multiple female students who suspected they may have been drugged. The Hurricane also reported that a video taken at the party showed a crowd singing a song with disturbing sexual content. 

GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY STUDENT GOVERNMENT ELECTIONS

With so many Georgetown students interested in government and politics, we might expect a lot of attention on their student government elections. But this year, the battle between insider candidates with significant student government experiences and two outsiders who want to shake things up has some parallels to the current political landscape of the country- which this article explores in depth.

MICHIGAN STATE UNIVERSITY PRESIDENT RESIGNS

Samuel Stanley Jr. is Michigan State’s third president to resign in the last four years. The resignation was in response to pressure from the board of trustees after what they saw as the mishandling of a Title IX reporting case against the dean of the university’s business school. Sanjay Gupta, the dean of the business school, resigned in August after he allegedly did not follow university guidelines for reporting sexual misconduct.

STANFORD PRESIDENT ISSUES APOLOGY

Stanford created a task force earlier this year to investigate the history of Jewish admissions and experience, and recently released the finding that the university actively undertook efforts to limit the admission of Jewish students in the 1950s. In response to the findings, Stanford’s president released an institutional apology, along with a plan from the task force for steps that the university will take moving forward.      

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

At least a dozen college students are converging in Hawaii this week for the Ironman World Championship, more than ever before. Typically, these races are difficult for younger people to have the time and financial resources to complete - but the COVID-19 pandemic has given college students much more time for training. And with over 40 NCAA schools now offering triathlon as a sport, this may be a change that we continue to see in the future. 

This expose on the troubled teen industry - the “wilderness camps,” boot camps, boarding schools, and other institutions that cater to students with mental illness - reveals that many of the methods that are used to help these kids may actually be causing harm. Powerful interviews with former patients and experts reveal the negative impact that these types of treatment centers can have. 

This interesting article argues for a so-called “no-limit tuition” approach, in which students from very wealthy backgrounds would pay significant portions of their income to attend college. I don’t personally agree with this approach, but it is an interesting method to contemplate when it comes to college tuition reform. 

Looking for some final tips to finish up your college essays? Check out this article to read about why it’s important to maintain your unique voice - not those overly descriptive literary techniques from 9th grade English class. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We’re wrapping up the last of those early applications this week, and crossing our fingers for all of our readers with 10/15 deadlines - UNC, UGA, U of SC, and Clemson early action applications are due tomorrow!

Important PSA for any Clemson applicants who waited until today’s SAT score release to decide whether they’d apply test optional - you need to submit that application TODAY because they are sending the portal access overnight. Then you need to go into the portal in the morning to confirm that your file is complete by tomorrow’s deadline. Operating this way is just the worst - we are all about sending apps as early as possible - but this year some students didn’t have a choice because of the SAT score release date.

Also this weekend, don’t forget about the FCPS College Fair this Sunday, October 16! This is a really great opportunity for seniors to demonstrate interest in the schools on their list, and for younger students to ask questions and learn more about colleges as they start to put their lists together. 

If you are completing the FAFSA, College Access Fairfax provides some great resources and personalized help with completing this form - check out one of their Completion Events to get the FAFSA completed and submitted this month. 

Finally, if you are interested in hiring a tutor for your child, this article will cover everything you need to know - plus, see a shout-out to our own pro bono program at the end!

Enjoy the beautiful weather this weekend!

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Weekly Update: September 30

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

TRACKING HURRICANE IAN

Our thoughts are with everyone who has been affected by Hurricane Ian this week. Several schools, including the University of Florida, have been closed for several days and are expected to resume normal operations next week. The storm is making its way up the East Coast this weekend, so stay safe!

THE FAFSA OPENS TOMORROW

The FAFSA will open on October 1, and if you intend to complete the form, we encourage you to do it as soon as possible. If you are unsure whether or not you should complete the FAFSA, you can check out our earlier posts here and here to help make the best decision for you and your family. There are a lot of myths about the FAFSA that circle around every year, so if any of our current clients have questions about the process, make sure to reach out to us so we can help you make this decision.

NEW EXCELENCIA SEALS AWARDED

Since 2019, Excelencia in Education has given the Seal of Excelencia to schools that serve Latino students. The organization is dedicated to Latino college completion, and this year honored six institutions including UC Santa Cruz and UT Arlington. Nine schools were also recertified this year, including Arizona State, the University of Arizona, and Florida International University. 

COLLEGE FOOTBALL WEEK FIVE

Lots of college football news this week, including a potential breakthrough for NC State and the challenges that UGA will face in the SEC. Are you following the college football season? Let us know your team in the comments!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

This article explores the (somewhat bleak) reality of declining in-state students at flagship state universities. According to a report from the Brookings Institute, Alabama now has 34% in-state students to 66% out of state - a big flip from its 2002 ratio of 75-25. Clemson (though not the flagship) has about 50% out of state students. These numbers stand in contrast to some other states, like North Carolina, which limit the percentage of out-of-state students to 18% at all public colleges and universities. But for many of these schools, taking more (high-paying) students from out of state is a financial necessity - Alabama, for instance, receives only 10% of its funding from the state, and needs to make up a shortfall with out of state tuition dollars. 

If you are looking for statistics on price, admission, or really anything else to help you get a sense of the college landscape, our clients know that your best bet is generally a school’s Common Data Set. These can often be buried on a school’s website, but you can usually find them by Googling the school’s name and “Common Data Set.” For more about the type of data you’ll be able to find on the CDS, check out this New York Times article. 

This is not an article per se, but I have been REALLY enjoying the Gatecrashers podcast and would highly recommend it. It’s about the history of anti-semitism at Ivy League schools (I’m still on Episode #1 about Columbia) and it’s just amazing how much I’m learning.

I had no clue that routine aspects of the process as we know it today are actually a result of anti-semitic practices from long ago- for example, questions about parent occupations on college applications were originally included to try to identify Jewish students and keep them out. Anyway, this is definitely worth a listen!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

It has been a flurry of submissions for us this week, especially for students applying to UGA, U of SC, Clemson, UNC, and other schools with 10/15 deadlines! A huge congratulations to those students who finished up their submissions this week. 

This is also the time of year when we hear from our students how happy they are that they finished up most, if not all, of their essay work over the summer. Every July, students and parents wonder why they need so much time for essay work, and every September they are thrilled to be done and able to focus on schoolwork and enjoying senior year! If you’re a junior and want to be the first one of your friends to finish up applications next fall, don’t forget to book a Meet & Greet - now is the perfect time to start working on your applications.

Stay safe and dry this weekend! My daughter is supposed to cheer at the Madison homecoming game tonight with her VYI team and we are all crossing our fingers it doesn’t get rained out!

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Weekly Update: April 29

Decision Day is almost here - good luck to all of the seniors who are making their decisions this weekend! Make sure to celebrate once that deposit is in :)

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

FCPS HIGH SCHOOLS RANKED AMONG THE BEST IN THE COUNTRY

The U.S. News rankings are out, and TJ tops the list of public high schools as the best school in the country for the fourth consecutive year. Other FCPS schools, like Langley and McLean, were ranked in the top 200 high schools in the U.S. Take a look at where other FCPS schools fall on their website!

And on a related note, the Supreme Court decided this week to let TJ’s new admissions policy stand.

COLLEGES STILL ACCEPTING APPLICATIONS

Thankfully, all of our seniors have great options for this fall! But every year, there are some students who do not plan as carefully and need additional school options. If you or someone you know is looking for college openings, check out this list of schools that are still accepting applications for Fall 2022. 

UC SYSTEM WAIVES TUITION FOR NATIVE AMERICAN STUDENTS

The approximately 500 undergraduate students at University of California schools who are California residents and members of Native tribes will have their tuition and fees waived as part of the UC Native American Opportunity Plan. UC professors say that they hope other public land-grant institutions will follow the UC’s example in offering tuition-free education to Native American students. 

FACEBOOK OBTAINED FAFSA DATA

Code embedded in the website where students fill out the FAFSA automatically sent data like first and last names, email addresses, and zip codes to Facebook. It is unclear how many students were affected by the system, which affected students who were not logged into the FAFSA site and even those who did not have a Facebook account. Scary!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

With so much conversation about student loan debt in the news, it can be comforting to hear that many states already offer free public college options for students. This Forbes article covers a list of the most popular tuition-free schools, as well as other options for students who don’t have the means or the desire to pay for college. 

If there is one thing we can say with certainty at this point, it is that the COVID-19 pandemic and corresponding uptick in applications to selective schools has made getting into college MUCH harder for the students we work with - and they’re not alone! During the pandemic, the number of students who chose to take gap years rather than continuing directly to college rose by over 100%. Some schools have also shifted to rolling admissions models, to give students more flexibility over when to begin their college education. 

Finally, an interesting perspective on the past few years of changes at Liberty University from the New Yorker, including interviews with students, faculty, and staff, as well as with the former president Jerry Falwell, Jr. and his wife.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We are so excited for all of our seniors who have sent in deposits!! Congratulations to everyone for such phenomenal success in such a difficult year. We are so proud of you!

For underclassmen who are still looking to bring their grades up during the fourth quarter, FCPS is partnering with Tutor.com to offer free, live tutoring to students in all years - learn more here. 

And for sophomores and juniors working on the college search, the Six College Consortium (which is made up of small liberal arts colleges - Amherst, Swarthmore, Bowdoin, Carleton, Pomona, and Williams) is offering a variety of virtual events next month, including special sessions for first generation and international students. We’ve enjoyed Six Colleges counselor events, and this is a great way for students who know they are interested in a traditional liberal arts college to explore several in a single session. 

Enjoy the sun this weekend!

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Weekly Update: February 25

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS IN UNIFORM

In some striking images this week, the New York Times covered the use of the National Guard as substitute teachers in New Mexico schools, where the teaching staff has been severely impacted by COVID-19. 

While New Mexico is the only state to use the National Guard as substitutes, National Guard members have also driven school buses in Massachusetts, and police officers in Oklahoma have also served as substitute teachers. 

FLORIDA CONSIDERS FINANCIAL LITERACY REQUIREMENT

Virginia is one of a few states around the country that require students to learn personal finance in the classroom - including balancing a checkbook and completing a loan application. Florida may be the latest state to add a financial literacy requirement for high school graduation. We are big fans of practical coursework like this - and find that students are always more engaged when they know that they will use the material later in life.

VIRGINIA MASK MANDATES LIFT

Most Virginia counties have made mask mandates optional in schools, in response to Governor Youngkin’s recent executive order. In fact, Fairfax County is the last holdout - the only county that has not committed to switching to a mask-optional policy by March 1. 

Update! Earlier today, FCPS announced that masks will be optional starting Tuesday. You can read more about that here.

For an interesting exploration of how politics has played into parenting, both when it comes to mask mandates as well as curricula and vaccinations, check out this Atlantic article.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Yale professor Laurie Santos, instructor of the famous “Yale Happiness Class” and host of The Happiness Lab podcast, gave an interesting interview this week discussing her own feelings of burnout, as well as the anxiety that her students are experiencing. This is a useful interview for anyone trying to support college students - and anyone just looking to lead a happier life!

Based on a recently released Common ApplicationⓇ report, the number of applications has continued to increase this cycle, now up nearly 14% since before the pandemic. The report identifies nine key findings from applications up until the February 15 deadlines (p.s., these findings are all listed on the first page, so no need to read all 19 pages unless you’re admissions nerds like us :) 

Finally, we’re so excited to share this article, which includes some really important information about affording college. We often hear from students and parents that are cost-conscious that they prefer to look at public universities. But as the editor-in-chief of the Princeton Review says, “Never cross an expensive school off your list… by sticker price alone.” If you consider the possibilities of merit aid, whether schools consider financial need in admissions, and other factors, it is possible that a private education can end up being less expensive than a public one. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

February has FLOWN by and we are so excited to start reading student essays as they work through the STAGE Program with Staci. If you are a junior who has not yet booked your essay coaching meetings, make sure you get on the calendar to begin this process! 

Learning students’ personal stories is one of the best parts of this job - in fact, all week I have been thinking about an essay that one of our students wrote about his Ukrainian heritage (during a different application cycle). Such a devastating situation and we have been watching the news nonstop along with the rest of the world.

On a (much) lighter note, we have also been enjoying the end of the college basketball season! As some of you saw on instagram, my kids and I got to see Virginia beat Miami over the long weekend - so fun! Hopefully we will see another win against Florida State this weekend.

Have a great weekend and stay warm!

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