Weekly Update: November 12

Good luck to everyone submitting in advance of the November 15 early deadline on Monday!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

EARLY APPLICATION NOTIFICATION DATES

College Kickstart has released their list of notification dates for early decision and early action applications. If you submitted an early application, you may want to bookmark this page - they keep it updated regularly with statements from the schools, as well as information on last year’s release dates. Keeping our fingers crossed for those of you expecting mid-December decisions!

UNIVERSITY OF AUSTIN ESTABLISHED

No, not UT Austin - a group of scholars and activists have set the plans for a new college, the University of Austin, which they say will be dedicated to free speech. A soft opening is planned for the new institution next summer with a non-credit discussion course on censorship at institutions of higher education. And this is no online-only university - the plans allow for in-person classes and a campus in Austin. Still, the university aims to reduce tuition costs below the national average. 

But the University of Austin isn’t the only new college opening even as the pandemic continues to wreak havoc on older institutions. Some of these new colleges, like the Roux Institute in Portland, Maine, focus on in-demand disciplines like computer science and technology. Others are aiming to serve underrepresented populations in traditional colleges, or to keep costs down by avoiding the traditional structures of higher education. 

JILL BIDEN KICKS OFF VACCINE CAMPAIGN IN MCLEAN

The first lady and the surgeon general visited Franklin Sherman Elementary School to offer a message to students and parents at the school’s vaccine clinic. So far, over one million children have received the COVID-19 vaccine! 

LOUDOUN COUNTY HIRES FIRM TO INVESTIGATE SEXUAL ASSAULT

Two weeks ago, we wrote about the student walkouts at Loudoun County schools in protest against the school’s handling of sexual assault cases. Now, the school system has hired a firm to provide an independent review of their response to the situation. We will see whether the review leads to any changes in how these events are handled in the future.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

We’ve covered the change in TJ’s admissions policy on the blog before, and this article from NoVA magazine dives deep into the two sides of the argument when it comes to admission. The Coalition for TJ argues that the new admission policy discriminates against Asian American students, and also that it could lower academic standards and lead to deserving students being denied admission. On the other side, the TJ Alumni Action Group believes that broadening the admissions pool will combat inequity and a lack of diversity at the school. And while this issue is salient to those of us in Northern Virginia, it may also set an example for other elite schools around the country. 

Even as new colleges are being created, many liberal arts colleges continue to suffer in the wake of COVID-19 changes. This article explores whether the liberal arts model can survive - especially in a world that rewards research and innovation over teaching, discussion, breadth of knowledge, and other key attributes of the liberal arts. But all hope is not lost - the article lists several ways that liberal arts colleges could innovate in order to stay relevant post-pandemic and beyond. 

Finally, as schools continue to be the focus of political battles, school board members have been facing threats. The threats come as a result of everything from objections about the way children are taught about race in the classroom to COVID-19 restrictions like mask-wearing. While clashes between parents and school board members are not new, the escalation of threats of violence demonstrates just how contentious school-related issues have become.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We are so excited that Staci has started full time with our team this week! Our students already know and love Staci from all of their essay work, and we are thrilled that she will be able to continue working with our students and helping them to achieve those “17-year-old perfect” essays! Keep an eye out for more from Staci on the blog next week :) 

Right now, our juniors are really focused on the college search process, and we are so excited to get their feedback! It really is like a puzzle, finding a great list for each individual student, and so much fun to hear about the schools that our students feel would be a perfect fit. 

If you are feeling overwhelmed by the choices or unsure how to research schools, book a Meet & Greet to learn more about how we can help!

Enjoy the weekend!

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Weekly Update: November 5

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

ELECTION DAY IMPACTS

The results of this week's elections will definitely have an impact on the local educational landscape. First, the 2021 School Bond Referendum was passed, providing Fairfax County Public Schools with an additional 360 million dollars to fund a number of projects. One of the most controversial of these projects is the acquisition of land for the new "Western High School" that may impact the boundary lines for Langley HS. The good news for the Langley-zoned families reading this blog is that your children will likely not be impacted, even if the Langley boundaries change - we're looking at a solid decade before the high school would open.

On the other hand, we'll likely see the impacts of the gubernatorial election very soon, as Youngkin's commitment to education reform played a major role in his win. NBC4 put together an easy reference list of the changes we can expect to see.

NEW COLLEGE COMPARISON TOOL

The Gates Foundation released a new tool, called the Equitable Value Explorer, which will allow users to compare colleges on factors such as the percentage of students who receive Pell Grants, cumulative net price, completion rate, and even percentage of STEM majors. While the tool still has some gaps, the foundation hopes that it will enable students to make better choices about where to attend colleges - and help college leaders and administrators strive for more equity at their institutions. 

JMU LEAVES THE COLONIAL ATHLETIC ASSOCIATION

JMU is moving up to the Sun Belt, leaving the CAA conference. JMU is one of the league’s founding members, and is the latest school to leave for a higher-level conference. Unfortunately, the CAA has ruled that JMU’s athletes will not be able to compete in conference championships this year as a result of the change. This article explores the impact that decision will have on student-athletes who have been working hard to compete. 

UNEMPLOYMENT DOWN, WAGES UP FOR NEW GRADS

The Fed released new data today on the labor market for recent college graduates. The unemployment rate for new grads fell to 5.4% in September and wages are up too. This is great news in our office, because it means less competition with grad school applications!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

We wrote in a recent blog about registering for college courses (and how college experience coaching can help!), but what about law school? This article contains some advice from law school professors at the University of Virginia on which courses students should take - a great read for any future lawyers out there!

Not a ton of great articles this week (maybe everyone was focused on Election Day!)… stay tuned for more next Friday!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

November 1 deadlines may have passed, but things are still busy over here! We are focusing on wrapping up applications for our late-start seniors, as well as law school and MBA applications. We’re also getting started on military academy applications (remember to start these early!) and brainstorming college lists with our class of 2023 juniors.

Finally, we are continuing to finalize course selection and scholarship applications with our college experience coaching students. UVa freshmen enrolled in spring courses today and it was like the Hunger Games of course registration... even the fourth and fifth backup choices were full for some students! If ever log into SIS again, it will be too soon! But everyone has a solid spring semester planned now - phew! One of these days we will take a vacation ;)

Have a great weekend!

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Weekly Update: October 29

Happy Halloween!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

LORI LOUGHLIN PAYS TUITION FOR TWO COLLEGE STUDENTS

After being released from prison for her role in the Varsity Blues scandal, Lori Loughlin paid more than $500,000 in tuition for two college students. There haven’t been any details released about the students yet, but the amount is roughly the same as Loughlin and her husband paid to have their daughters admitted to USC as recruits for the crew team. 

HOWARD’S PRESIDENT RESPONDS TO STUDENT PROTESTS

As the student sit-in at Howard University’s student center entered its third week this week, the president of the university released a letter calling for an end to the “occupation” of the Blackburn center. The president called the sit-in a health and safety risk that impeded essential student services on campus. Students insist that they will continue to occupy the center until their demands are met for improved housing on campus.

SCHOOL CURRICULA AT THE CENTER OF VA GOVERNOR’S RACE

As election day for the Virginia governor’s race draws closer, the issue of public school curricula has become central to the campaign. After Youngkin’s campaign released an ad this week featuring a mother who fought for parents’ rights to veto certain books after her son read Toni Morrison’s Beloved in his AP English class, parents’ rights and curriculum decisions have become notable issues for both candidates. 

STUDENTS HOLD WALKOUTS AT LOUDOUN COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS

On Tuesday, students at several Loudoun County schools held ten-minute walkouts on Tuesday to protest the schools’ handling of sexual assault cases. The walkouts were a response to two incidents allegedly perpetrated by the same student at two different high schools, one in May and one in October. Parents and students are demanding more transparency from the school district when it comes to sexual assault cases.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

A controversial piece in The Atlantic explored Amherst’s decision to end legacy admissions, and the “fairness” of college admissions. The author doesn’t believe that ending legacy admissions will suddenly make the process fair for under-served populations, but it’s a great start, he feels. “Amherst took one step closer to it this week. And for that, I’m happy to light a sparkler.”

One note about this article and legacy admissions in general: I personally believe that the general public has a TON of misconceptions about the impact of being a legacy candidate. Whether you’re for it or against it, it’s important to recognize that the student must already be qualified for legacy status to make a difference. This is just fact.

So nobody’s getting into a school because of legacy status if they aren’t qualified, I promise. To the dismay of their parents, they are rejected just like everybody else that’s not qualified! Development legacy cases are different, but those kids are being admitted because of the development part, not the legacy part. Where legacy can make a big difference, though, is when it comes to narrowing down a pool of highly qualified applicants. Especially when it comes to those who choose to apply to the school through a binding Early Decision plan.

Speaking of qualified applicants… according to a Washington Post poll, about half of high school students said the pandemic had a negative impact on their academics. That is by far the largest group, with a third of students saying that there was no impact, and ⅙ who felt that the pandemic actually improved their academics. Some of the positive impacts that students saw were a closer relationship with their parents, as well as less stress and a less intense workload than during in-person classes. 

Undergraduate college enrollment is still down due to COVID-19, particularly when it comes to low income students or non-traditional students with children and families. Unfortunately, it seems like last year’s huge decline in enrollment wasn’t just a blip - and we may soon be faced with a large population of students who did not complete their college degrees. Especially now that the labor market is strong and wages are going up, it is likely that low income students may choose to enter the workforce rather than go to college. 

In the past two years of the pandemic, college enrollment has fallen a total of 6.5% - the largest two-year decrease in fifty years. But the decline is not spread equally - selective schools are bouncing back, while community colleges are continuing to see declining enrollment.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

It’s that time of year again - lots of speaking engagements! Shannon had the opportunity yesterday to speak at a College Selection webinar through the office of the DC Student Loan Ombudsman. The Ombudsman’s role is to help make higher education available and affordable for all DC residents, and Shannon was really excited to participate and talk to students about what they should consider when selecting a college, essay preparation, and application timelines. And timehop reminded me that I spoke at a junior parent night at Marshall HS two years ago today!

The shift to online events has presented a challenge for a lot of organizations during COVID-19, but it’s been almost 20 months and we’re virtual presentation pros at this point! From moms’ groups, to school-sponsored presentations, to community and religious organizations, to sports teams - we’ve done it all! If you have a group whose members could benefit from our (free!) guidance, please reach out and we’ll do our best to fit you into our calendar for the upcoming year. 

I also wanted to mention that the office of the Student Loan Ombudsman is an excellent resource for DC families with questions about paying for college. College Access Fairfax provides resources for Nova families as well - if you need help with the FAFSA, CSS profile, or other financial aid issues, I really recommend attending one of their free virtual seminars. These events are open to anyone and can be really helpful in figuring out financial aid questions. 

CONGRATULATIONS to all of our seniors who have submitted their early applications! We are so proud of all of you. Enjoy the Halloween weekend!

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Weekly Update: October 21

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

AMHERST COLLEGE DOES AWAY WITH LEGACY ADMISSIONS

Amherst is the one of the first highly selective colleges to announce that it will no longer take legacy into consideration during the college admissions process. Other top-tier schools that do not consider legacy include MIT, Johns Hopkins, and CalTech. 

If the announcement has left you with questions about what exactly legacy is, which schools consider legacy, and how it might impact your college process, check out our blog post on the topic!

MIZZOU SUSPENDS FRATERNITIES ON CAMPUS

After a freshman at the University of Missouri was found unresponsive following a frat party, the university has announced that all fraternity activities on campus are suspended. The school also intends to complete a review to determine if any changes need to be made to Greek life on campus. The last such review at the university took place in 2016, after a hazing incident. 

HOWARD UNIVERSITY PROTESTS CONTINUE INTO A SECOND WEEK

Last week, we covered the student sit-ins in protest of living conditions on campus at Howard. Students have now entered a second week of sit-ins in the student center, with some even sleeping in tents overnight. The students are complaining of issues like rats, roaches, and mold that make university housing unlivable. 

The protest is making even more of an impact as this is Howard’s homecoming week. Gucci Mane, who was scheduled to perform at homecoming, canceled his appearance in support of the protests.  

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

After financial hardships for many colleges and universities during the pandemic, this article explores how colleges might use their endowment funds to help students and faculty during times of crisis. Traditionally, the role of the endowment has been to sustain colleges over the long term, not to respond to immediate needs. Even in the height of the pandemic, only 8% of colleges and universities had any intention of changing how they used their endowment funds. But those that did draw on endowment funds were able to absorb some of the worst impacts of the pandemic, by reducing layoffs for faculty and staff and sending more money to student services. 

UVA clinched the second spot on the Princeton Review’s list of best-value public colleges, right behind UC Berkeley. We always say that those of us in Virginia are so lucky to have such great in-state options! For private institutions, Princeton and MIT were top for ROI. Return on investment for the schools was calculated using the average amount that students spend in tuition compared to the salaries they were making shortly after graduation.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Merit scholarship deadlines are coming up quick, and for students that do not complete their applications early, it may be difficult to even find deadlines you are missing! We love this list from College Kickstart, which keeps track of the hard scholarship deadlines at popular schools. If you are applying for merit scholarships, bookmark this list!

As I’ve mentioned before, I find it very gratifying to work with last-minute students because we are able to restore order in their lives so quickly. Here's some feedback I received this week from one of their moms!

This student worked with us for six weeks and was able to submit his first round of early applications this week! We have been working with a lot of students who are just beginning the process, and it was great to hear this positive feedback. If you are interested in working with us for those regular decision deadlines (they are coming up faster than you think!), please book a Meet & Greet.

Have a great weekend?

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Weekly Update: October 15

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

NEW ASPIRE RESIDENCE HALL AT ST. JOSEPH’S UNIVERSITY

Students on the autism spectrum will have the opportunity for a typical college living experience at St. Joseph’s University. The new Aspire Residence Hall will assist students with personal care, problem-solving, and the social skills necessary for dorm life. If you or someone you know are looking for this level of support in college, the hall is now accepting applications for next year’s class!

SIT-IN AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY

Howard students staged a sit-in and protest on campus this week. They were protesting the lack of COVID-19 testing on campus in addition to other residential safety concerns, including mold in the walls of residence halls. The students’ current demands include an improved housing plan for incoming freshmen, as well as representation on the university’s Board of Trustees. 

TENURE CHANGES IN THE GEORGIA UNIVERSITY SYSTEM

The concept of tenure for college professors is an often-controversial one - with some arguing that it is necessary to protect academic freedom, while others argue that it is an outdated method of retaining professors. Now, the Board of Regents for the Georgia university system has given its universities, including UGA and Georgia Tech, the power to fire tenured professors without faculty input. 

Faculty argue that the move limits academic freedom, and may also prevent the state university from attracting and retaining top professors, given the higher risk of termination under the new policy.  

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Considering going back to school for a graduate degree? This article explores the master’s degrees that give the biggest increase in salary. Topping the list is a master’s degree in biology - professionals with the graduate degree make on average 87% more money than those with a bachelor's degree! Other top master’s include business, education, and communication. Surprisingly, finance and accounting were at the bottom of the list - professionals with a master’s in accounting make only 4% more on average than those with a bachelor’s degree. 

On a much more difficult note, UNC gave students a day off for mental health this week following two suicides and at least one attempt on campus this semester. The tragedies and UNC are just an example of the mental health challenges that many students are encountering during the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has only exacerbated what was already an issue of limited mental health resources on many college campuses. 

Note: if you are struggling with mental health, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255. 

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 and UGA early action applications are due today! SAT results from the October test were also released today, and we have been excited to get some good news from our students - especially since some of those applications, like UGA, require test scores this cycle. 

Enjoy the weekend!

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Weekly Update: October 8

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

FAIRFAX COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS VIRTUAL COLLEGE WEEK

Fairfax County Public Schools are continuing with a virtual approach to college fairs this fall. They will have live virtual sessions from Monday, October 18 - Thursday, October 21. There will be three sessions each evening, and students should take a look at the schedule to see which sessions they may be interested in attending - there are sessions available for everyone from ninth graders to high school seniors. 

COVID-19 JOB MARKET BOUNCES BACK

As you may have noticed from all of the “help wanted” signs, the job market is coming back as more people are vaccinated. While class of 2020 students graduated into a very difficult market, the class of 2021 is finding a much easier time when it comes to the job search. On campus recruiting has begun again at several schools, helping to connect these students with employers. Part-time work and internships have also been picking up.

If you are (or you know!) a local college student looking for an internship, we are hiring! Interested students should send us their resumes via email. 

FIRST VARSITY BLUES TRIAL WRAPS

Lawyers delivered the closing arguments in the first Varsity Blues trial on Wednesday, and the jury is deliberating as we write this blog. The lawyers for the two fathers facing trial argued that they did not know the methods that Rick Singer was using, and believed they were making legitimate donations. We’ll be watching closely for the outcome of this trial, which will likely set precedent for the upcoming trials of parents and others involved in the scandal.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

We liked this post from Akil Bello (featured in the Varsity Blues documentary!) a lot, and wanted to share it because it has a lot of helpful information in terms of making the decision to take a standardized test. However, there were two pieces of information from Akil that don’t align with the advice that we’d give students, so we want to also provide a clarification. Keep in mind that all advice is subjective and dependent on many factors such as geographic location, etc.! 

1. We believe that students should take their first SAT/ACT during the fall of junior year if possible, and finish testing by the end of junior year. This empowers them to make final decisions about their college list after they know their scores. Otherwise, they'd be making these decisions based on guesses about what their scores might look like. That can lead to overshooting or undershooting in terms of selectivity, and we prefer to work with actual numbers.

2. We really agreed with everything in the test prep section and found that to be very valuable. For example, the 6-8 week span and the potential for improvement. The one part we didn't agree with is about potentially making the choice NOT to prep if a student scores above the 90th percentile with no prep after the fall of 11th grade. This is accurate from a national standpoint, but not at the schools to which most of our students hope to attend. 90th percentile scores are not going to cut it at their schools of choice - even UVA's 25th-75th% range reflects the 97th-99th percentile of ACT-takers. This means that only a quarter of UVA's admitted students who sent ACT scores came in lower than the 97th percentile (depressing, right?). So don't be lulled into a false sense of test prep security if you reach the 90th percentile and hope to attend a highly selective school.

When the College Board got rid of the SAT II earlier this year, many of us speculated that AP exams would come to be more significant in the college admissions process. This article in Psychology Today explores why that may not be such a great idea for students. In fact, the way that many AP classes are taught - “to the test,” to prepare students to take the AP exam - is the exact opposite of how many actual college classes are designed. In college, it will be far more important that students learn to think critically than that they memorize facts (that they promptly forget!) in order to score well on a standardized exam. 

While we agree with much of what this article says, the fact is that for many students, AP classes are part of setting themselves up for success in the college process. And until schools stop offering them as part of the curriculum (as many private schools have!), it is important for students to take a rigorous curriculum based on what is offered by their high school. So we are sorry to say that our general advice is, take the AP class! Of course, this is also particular to the student, and there are certainly students for whom the cons outweigh the pros when it comes to managing an AP course load. 

While we like to think that the work we do is pretty important, we wouldn’t have said it was a “matter of life and death” - until this interview! Angus Deaton, a Nobel prize winner and professor emeritus at Princeton, suggests that four-year college graduates are less likely than those who did not attend college to succumb to “deaths of despair” - suicides, drug overdoses, and the like. The gap between people with a bachelor’s degree and those without when it comes to these tragedies is only growing in the United States.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

I was so honored and excited to co-host a roundtable session on “The Joys and Challenges of Being a Female Entrepreneur” today for IECA, the professional organization to which Shannon and I belong. Here’s a snapshot of some of the attendees! I’m on the top row to the left with my co-host, Dr. Pat Smith, to my right.

October is National Women’s Small Business Month, and this roundtable was a great way to celebrate. It was heartwarming to see how all of these individual consultants run very different businesses, yet we all care immensely about providing our families with the best possible experience.

Have a great weekend!

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Weekly Update: October 1

Happy October!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

THE FAFSA IS OPEN

Finally, the moment some of you have been waiting for… the FAFSA opens today! If you intend to complete the form, I 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 my 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.

WILL STUDENT-ATHLETES BECOME EMPLOYEES?

At the very least, they are a lot closer this week than ever before! On Wednesday, the National Labor Relations Board released a memo classifying some college athletes as employees and allowing them to petition to unionize. Some experts think that students will make the push to unionize this year, which will definitely complicate the relationship between the school and its students (now employees).

NORTHWESTERN STUDENTS PROTEST GREEK LIFE

In the wake of reports that students were drugged without their consent at fraternity parties, protestors at Northwestern are asking the school to abolish Greek life on campus. In response to the allegations, the university has suspended social events and recruitment activities at its fraternities for at least the next two weeks. 

FORENSIC SCIENCE STUDENTS AT GMU WILL USE REAL HUMAN BONES

GMU is launching a new, five-acre research center where forensic science students will learn how to find and recover human remains, using real human bones from donors to recreate actual crime scenes. Students will begin being able to use the center next semester. 

SCHULER EDUCATION FOUNDATION DONATION TO THE LIBERAL ARTS

In an effort to promote equity in the liberal arts, the Schuler Education Foundation plans to donate $500 million to 25 liberal arts colleges, including Bates, Tufts, and Union. The donations are intended to expand access for underserved students to these institutions, which the foundation selected because of their historic support for underrepresented students.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Now that it is already October, it seems that students have had to transition rapidly back to going full steam ahead at school. But after so many months off, this transition can be tough!

This New York Times article explores the effects of the pandemic on students who are now returning to the classroom, many of whom need to catch up on academics (and the college planning process!). It is sobering to read the statements from these students. And if your student is one of those seniors wondering how to move forward with college planning or how to ask teachers they barely know for recommendations, book a Meet & Greet with us and we can talk with you more about getting back on track. 

In college admissions, one of the most unpredictable movements of the year is “melt” - students who have made a deposit to the college over the summer, but for one reason or another, do not ultimately matriculate in the fall. This is the reason why some colleges will pull from waitlists as late as the first week of classes! This podcast from NPR explains more about melt and why it has been so much more difficult for colleges to calculate during the pandemic. 

U.S. News put together this helpful guide for planning college visits in the DC area. We are so lucky to live in an area with so many different (and excellent!) colleges and universities. A good strategy for current sophomores and juniors is to take day trips to nearby schools on weekends to start to figure out their preferences before they start traveling around the country. If you know the difference between the way GW and Georgetown feel, for instance, you also have a pretty good understanding of how it might feel at Boston University versus Boston College, or NYU versus Columbia, and will be able to prioritize your list for out-of-state visits. 

This expose on sexual assault at Moody Bible Institute is a difficult, but important, read. Moody is the most prestigious evangelical bible college in the country, and eleven alumnae who were assaulted at Moody have recently decided to speak up about their experiences. The pressure on women to stay “pure” in the evangelical tradition often translates to school administrators placing blame on the women who were assaulted rather than the perpetrators. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We’re so excited that local events are (slowly) coming back for our students to attend! On Monday, the deans of admission from the University of Chicago, Vanderbilt University, and Brown University will be holding an information session on the admissions process at highly selective institutions. Interested students can register here. 

Shannon really enjoyed presenting as part of Illuminos Academic Coaching & Tutoring’s “Less Stress Parenting” webinar series this week - if anyone knows the stress that the college application process can bring for parents and families, it’s us! Shannon is currently booking presentations for school and community groups for the rest of the school year and can speak on a variety of topics, including:

• Finding the Best College Fit for Your Child

• Top Tips to Avoid Parenting Stress during the Admissions Process

• Academic Planning for Middle School Students

• Demystifying College Admissions

• College Selection

Shannon can also tailor a presentation specifically for your school or organization. If you are interested in getting on our calendar for this school year, reach out to her directly at shannon@dccollegecounseling.com. These presentations are completely free to organizers as a service to the community, and your organization can either charge a modest fee for attendance and use the profits as you see fit, or offer an event to participants at no charge.

And after some heavy news and articles this week, if you need a laugh, check out this Daily Princetonian article!

Have a great weekend - I hope everyone has a chance to get outside and enjoy the weather!

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Weekly Update: September 24

The official start of fall is here - hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

LIVESTREAM LEARNING BEGINS FOR FCPS STUDENTS

Students in Fairfax County Public Schools will be able to stay on top of their coursework even when they are quarantined or exposed to COVID-19. Students who can’t make it to class will be offered livestream instruction (via Zoom or Google Meet) and interactive check-ins with teachers during the period in which they are out of the classroom. 

COLLEGE RANKINGS FROM THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

As we always say, it is good to take college rankings with a grain of salt - and one way to do that is to look at a variety of different rankings systems (there are many out there beyond U.S. News!). We’ve already shared on the blog the rankings from Forbes and our personal favorite, the Princeton Review rankings. 

Different ranking systems use different criteria, and the most important factor for the WSJ is one we think is super important too- career outcomes and ROI! This ranking measures where they work, how much they earn, and how much debt they have. So it's not shocking to learn which schools topped the list: Harvard, Stanford, MIT, Yale, and Duke. Keep scrolling down, though - there are some surprises. For example, Carleton College is #35 while UVA is #55.

COLLEGES ADD NEW PROGRAMS IN RESPONSE TO COVID-19

As the workplace shifts, so do college programs, and many schools have added new programs in response to the major changes brought by the pandemic. New offerings include options in health communications and health law, for obvious reasons, and those in e-sports and cybersecurity respond to our increased time in the virtual space. NYU has also added a masters’ program in health law & strategy. 

PENN CHANGES RECOMMENDATION LETTER REQUIREMENTS

The University of Pennsylvania announced this week that they will be changing their requirements when it comes to letters of recommendation - starting this cycle! In the past, Penn has required a counselor letter and two teacher letters of recommendation. Now, they will continue to require letters from counselors and one teacher, but the third letter can be from any adult you choose: it might be a teacher, but may also be a coach, employer, mentor, or even just an adult who knows you well. If you are a student who has already applied to Penn, don’t panic! Two teacher letters are still perfectly acceptable, and in fact that is still our strong recommendation.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

The Wall Street Journal published a great article this week about how Rick Singer’s “side door” worked - examining the Varsity Blues scandal in depth as trials continue this week. USC’s assistant dean of undergraduate admissions testified that the eleven students who were admitted after using Rick Singer’s services would not have been accepted without their (fabricated!) athletic experience. At USC, the admissions rate for recruited athletes is 85-90% - compare that to just 15% for all applicants! In the wake of Varsity Blues, USC plans to audit team rosters and to implement increased scrutiny in reviews of academic credentials. 

Our colleagues at College Kickstart released some of their latest admissions data in a private session for members that Shannon attended yesterday. To recap, some of the major trends we noticed last cycle were:

• An 11% increase in applications across the board (Virginia Tech, for example, saw a 39% increase! 😬)

• Schools relying more on early decision to fill their classes

• Smaller schools (like Williams and Dartmouth) having the inability to absorb gap year deferrals and admitting smaller classes as a result.

These factors combined to make for a very competitive admissions cycle, particularly for regular decision applicants!

This cycle, we are probably going to continue to see these elevated application volumes, as well as a widening gap between ED and RD acceptance rates. That means that schools like Colgate and BC, which would have been targets for many of our students a few years ago, are now reaches; same goes for flagship public schools like UGA and UC system schools, which are becoming more competitive. We always encourage our students to take advantage of early decision options where possible, and that just became easier thanks to the new ED II plans available at Carnegie Mellon, Emerson, and Loyola Marymount. 

Finally, we are still encouraging our students to take a standardized test if it is available to them - but talk to us before sending the scores, because we can’t emphasize enough that this is a very individual decision. Some schools, like Georgetown and all of the Georgia public universities, are back to requiring tests this cycle, but even for those that don’t, testing still seems to make a positive difference for most (not all!!) applicants. At very selective schools, applicants were nearly two times more likely to be admitted with test scores than without! At Emory, for example, students who submitted test scores were 2.3 times more likely to be admitted. Colgate and Boston University showed similar results. Meanwhile at other schools, like Boston College, Vanderbilt, and Harvey Mudd, there were very slight difference in admissions rates between those with test scores and those without. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Shannon will be presenting at a free event next Wednesday at 12:00 pm as part of the Less Stress Parenting webinar series. Great concept, right? We are all about less stress parenting here! If you feel overwhelmed by the college admissions process, you can register here to check out the event!

I was so surprised and excited to be featured in the Tysons Reporter this week by the amazing Realtor Laura Schwartz (alongside Emily of Tangible Designs - she did all of our branding and logos a few years ago and was so great to work with)!

And yes - I’m transitioning back to my maiden name! (From one hard-to-spell name to another, but at least this one is mine 😀)

Lastly, our earlier blog covered a variety of virtual info session options this fall, but we are so excited that there are also some in-person events coming to our area! Notre Dame will be coming to the Tysons Corner Marriott on Wednesday, October 6 - this is an excellent way to learn more about the school and to demonstrate interest. Students can register here to attend!

Have a great weekend!

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Weekly Update: September 17

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

OPERATION VARSITY BLUES TRIALS BEGIN

The first trial for parents implicated in the college admissions scandal began on Monday. In opening statements, their lawyers blamed not only Rick Singer for duping the parents, but also the college admissions process as a whole for being susceptible to this type of manipulation. 

In other Varsity Blues updates, Georgetown’s former tennis coach was the latest to plead guilty on Wednesday, in advance of his scheduled trial in November. 

WANT TO START A 529? GO TO SCHOOL IN NYC

Starting this fall, every public school kindergartner in New York City will receive $100 in a 529 account. The new initiative is aimed at closing the wealth gap in NYC. In addition to the initial deposit, students will have the opportunity to earn up to $200 in rewards. With the initial deposit as well as rewards and donations, the program is expected to yield $3,500 per student on average by the time the children reach 12th grade. 

While New York is the largest public school system, it isn’t the first to start this type of initiative - in 2011, San Francisco began opening accounts with $50 for every student entering the public school system. 

Though these amounts may not seem like much, studies show that students with at least $500 in a savings account are three times more likely to enroll in college and four times more likely to graduate than students with no savings

WHAT IS THE BEST COLLEGE TOWN IN AMERICA?

ESPN’s new bracket hopes to determine America’s best college football town! Vote every Wednesday for your favorite team, current college, or (hopefully!) future college town as they work to determine the winner this fall.

And if you’re attending a game in a college town, you might want to avoid staying at an Airbnb! This Wall Street Journal article shared information from a study showing that Airbnb hosts “jack up their prices” for their biggest rival teams because of “affiliation bias”—in other words, the hosts just can’t stand the visiting team’s fans.” And many of the units end up going unrented, which ultimately hurts the owners because they lose money - but at least they know they were loyal!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

I loved this article from the New York Times about raising resilient children. If the past year and a half has taught us anything, it is that resilience is key! As we know firsthand, resilient kids are more likely to bounce back and even to thrive when they are faced with disappointment (like a waitlist decision from their dream school!), and this article lays out some actionable steps that parents can take to increase their children’s resistance. I know that I’ll take advantage of these tips, and I encourage every parent to think about how they can model resilience for their kids.

The Wall St. Journal article we covered last week about the widening gender gap in higher education has received a lot of attention in the past few weeks, spawning several response articles. This one from The Atlantic explores the history of this gap, and the role of ideas about masculinity in discouraging boys from seriously pursuing higher education. Not only do boys enroll in college at lower rates than girls, but in middle and high school, girls tend to spend more time studying, get in trouble less often, and get better grades across all subjects. The article suggests that the answer to this issue doesn’t happen in college admissions - instead, we need to address the gap that appears in early adolescence to control the ripple effect for higher education.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Shannon attended a networking event this week with so many amazing professionals from the DC area! We love being able to make connections and refer our students to people that we trust for tutoring, testing, evaluation, and more. Stay tuned for some collaborations and events that we have in the works!

We are busy with so many virtual tours and information sessions. We had hoped for some in-person tours this year, but you can’t beat the convenience of the virtual options! For a list of upcoming virtual fairs, tours, and information sessions for students and parents, see our latest post, and bookmark it for later - we’ll add new events as the dates are released. Let us know what you think of these virtual events!

Enjoy the weekend!

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Weekly Update: September 10

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

UC BERKELEY IN NUMBER ONE SPOT ON FORBES’ COLLEGE RANKINGS

Forbes released its college rankings this week, with Berkeley as number one! Berkeley is the first-ever public school to top the list. Forbes cites the world-class education that Berkeley students receive, many of them at a fraction of the cost of top private schools, as the reason for the UC school’s number one ranking. The new rankings represent a change in Forbes’ criteria - they now consider schools that “educate the greatest number of students from the broadest range of backgrounds” - something that large schools like the UCs can do more effectively than schools like Harvard, which dropped to number seven on the Forbes list. 

HARVARD DROPS FOSSIL FUELS FROM ITS ENDOWMENT

Harvard is not the first campus to divest from fossil fuels, many thanks to the pressure from students and faculty. But with the largest endowment of any school in the U.S., Harvard's withdrawal may have a big impact for activists. The student activist group that pushed for this decision was Divest Harvard, which in 2019 staged a protest by interrupting the Harvard-Yale football game. Yale has also recently adopted what it calls “ethical investing principles,” in which several major oil and gas companies are considered ineligible for investment by the institution. 

AMAZON COVERS COLLEGE TUITION FOR US EMPLOYEES

In a newly competitive market for hourly employees, large companies like Amazon have been working to provide more incentives for employee retention. Amazon recently announced that it will pay 100% of college tuition, including books and fees, for hourly employees beginning in January 2022. Employees can begin to take advantage of this benefit 90 days after employment.

HOWARD UNIVERSITY CLASSES CANCELLED AFTER RANSOMWARE ATTACK

On Friday, officials at Howard University discovered a ransomware cyberattack that took the school offline for the entire holiday weekend, with online and hybrid classes cancelled on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. Students headed to nearby stores and restaurants off-campus in order to access wifi during the week. Without internet, professors have also been confused about how much work to assign and what to expect from their students. The university is still trying to figure out whether student data was accessed during the attack.  

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

We posted on social media earlier this week about this Wall Street Journal article, which illuminates a widening education gap between men and women across the country. We’ve talked before about the decline in college enrollment over the past five years, but this article highlights that men have been responsible for 71% of that decline. Women now make up nearly 60% of the college-age population in the U.S.

That 60-40 split is a scary line for colleges - it usually marks the point at which both women and men are reluctant to attend a school with an imbalanced population. But given that women are more likely to apply to college, more likely to complete their applications, and more likely to enroll and stay enrolled, it is becoming increasingly difficult for colleges to maintain close to a 50-50 split. 

The efforts to do so mean that men are more likely to receive offers of admission than women, which the article calls a “tacit affirmative action for boys.” There are definitely schools, both public and private, where we see this happen - and often have to remind young women with whom we work that there is this additional chip stacked against them - one which is usually not discussed. The article suggests that people aren’t talking about this difficulty because it is unpopular to work toward support for men in higher education - particularly white men.

The New York Times also published a response this week, noting that despite the fact that women have outnumbered men with college degrees since the 1970s, men are still more likely to have leadership roles and to make more money in the corporate world. Rather than asking about why boys aren’t enrolling in college, this article asks us to consider why girls need additional education to get the same jobs that boys are getting without attending college. 

College disability services offices are contending with a new population of students this year: COVID-19 long-haulers. There are still a lot of questions about long-haul COVID, but we know that many sufferers experience physical symptoms of dizziness or difficulty breathing, as well as brain fog and difficulties with memory and concentration. President Biden announced in July that long-haul COVID cases could qualify as a disability, and colleges will need to continue to consider how their disability services can assist these students. An increase in accommodation request may illuminate existing challenges and lack of resources that colleges face when it comes to accommodating students with disabilities.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We’ve found out about a lot of cool student opportunities this week and are excited to share them with you!

The Girl Scouts are partnering with PepCo to offer a panel of early career women professionals in STEM careers, particularly in the energy industry. This event takes place next Tuesday and is open to all Girl Scouts - it could be a great opportunity to hear about young women’s experiences in STEM! 

Next, the Daughters of the American Revolution are launching a High School Essay Contest. Students are asked to write about a person, famous or unknown, who contributed to the founding of the nation, and to use primary source material. DAR will be providing first, second, and third place awards. This is exactly the type of award that looks fantastic in the Honors section of the Common Application. 

And finally, the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society has another really great opportunity for local high school students. SOY is a seven-week fundraising challenge focused on helping 9th-12th graders develop their communication, project management, and presentation skills while raising funds and awareness for LLS’s mission of curing blood cancers. So for everyone who complains about how they can’t find activities because of Covid - here is your chance to add some leadership to your resume :) One of our client dads is hoping to find five more potential candidates to participate, so please let us know if you are interested (whether you work with us or not) and we’ll send you his way!

• Hear from Past SOY Candidates & Parents

• How SOY Impacts Your College Application

• SOY Behind the Scenes

Have a great weekend! 

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Weekly Update: September 3

A bit of a chill in the air when we came into the office this morning, kids back at school, and seniors submitting applications almost every day - happy September!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

TULANE EXPERIENCES BACKLASH FOR IDA RESPONSE

Early on Tuesday, Tulane University began evacuating students to Houston in response to Hurricane Ida. Students won’t be permitted to return to campus until October, and classes will continue online, so many are headed home while others will stay with faculty in New Orleans. 

Tulane blamed faulty forecasts for the late evacuation, and people on Twitter became ANGRY! Criticisms of the university’s response went viral, demonstrating that the path of the hurricane had been predicted to hit New Orleans several days in advance of the evacuation. We touched base earlier this week with a current freshman we have at Tulane and were glad to hear that she is safe and doing well, but really sad that she won’t be able to return to campus for six weeks. 

(Side note: Despite the sometimes unpredictable weather, Tulane is growing increasingly popular with students - their acceptance rate dropped from 30% a few years ago to 9.73% this past year! The class of 2025 at Tulane set records for diversity as well as academic excellence.)

BUT THE AMHERST COVID BACKLASH IS WAY WORSE

I have always been on the more conservative side with Covid - just this week I kept one of my kids home from school for days as a precaution because kids in other classes there were testing positive and I didn’t want to risk exposure. So I do understand being cautious and in general applaud that.

But what is Amherst thinking? They are taking their Covid restrictions way too far, in my opinion, and students are furious. This piece from the New York Post made me laugh - “Students, all of whom were already required to be vaccinated, will spend non-class time in their dorm rooms and may leave campus only in a handful of defined emergency situations. One of these is apparently going to the bank, though what a bunch of would-be rowdy undergraduates who can’t hit up the local dive bars or have a coffee will need money for is a mystery.” Sounds fun, right? I really like Amherst, but yikes.

COVID-19 OUTBREAK AT LIBERTY UNIVERSITY

On the other end of the spectrum, Liberty University switched abruptly to remote learning this week following a coronavirus outbreak on campus. Their numbers tripled within the last week and they now have 4x as many students with Covid as UVA, JMU, VCU and Virginia Tech COMBINED!!! To put this into perspective, their student population is about 15,000, and the combined student population at those four schools is about 115,000. Time to start getting vaccinated, guys! With limited ICU space at the only local hospital, the university had to pivot to protect its students. Liberty is just one of several schools, including Rice and Duke, that have made changes in the last few weeks in response to the Delta variant. 

One week ago at Liberty. Seriously???

COLLEGE FOOTBALL KICKOFF

College football started this week, with fans eagerly awaiting yesterday’s top-25 matchup between Ohio State and Minnesota. As universities struggle with the Delta variant, it is up to the colleges to manage COVID-19 during these travel games. Some football teams, including Ole Miss, Arizona, and Boston College, have 100% vaccination rates headed into the season.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

My favorite college rankings were released this week! I look forward to the Princeton Review’s rankings every year, and we often recommend them to our clients. Instead of ranking the colleges from best to worst in a general sense like many other guides, Princeton Review identifies the characteristics that students seek in an undergraduate education and identifies the top 25 schools that best fit each one. They are called "Great Lists" and range from "Great College Dorms" to "Great Career Services" to "Great Professors" and more. 

I also really like the write-ups in the Princeton Review rankings - they give a "School Says" and a "Students Say" section for each aspect of the school. This gives you a more realistic sense of what's happening on campus. For example, the "School Says" part about Wash U's campus life reads: "Washington University offers a nurturing, yet intellectually rigorous, environment where students from all identities and backgrounds thrive." But what do the students say? "WashU is ‘the package deal. Great academics, amazing extracurricular activities, and the best people.’ There’s ‘always funding for student groups, student initiatives, university-run activities, research, and the infrastructure is unmatched’: ’Dorms are five-star hotels, food is delicious with tons of variety, [and] the buildings are gorgeous.’ (I agree!). 

Create a free account on review.com to check out all of the rankings and write-ups, or buy the brand-new "Best 387 Colleges" book, which contains the same information all in one place.

Tulane and Penn State joined together this week for a webinar on “Making the Most of Your Common App.” If you missed the event, you can check out this recap. There are some common sense tips from each school, but our biggest takeaway is the importance of demonstrated interest at Tulane. As we mentioned above, their acceptance rate has dropped into the single digits, and Tulane is a school that takes demonstrated interest seriously! Students who are applying this cycle should make sure to prioritize visits, optional essays, and interview opportunities to maximize their admissions strategy. 

Lastly, the WSJ published a fascinating piece that I know would strike a chord with MANY of our readers here in Northern Virginia. It explores the increasingly problematic issue of public universities rejecting their own state’s students in order to accept more out-of-state applicants. Why is this happening, you ask? Because the out-of-state students pay a whole lot more in tuition. Texas and North Carolina were identified as two schools that are bucking this trend, which is why it’s next to impossible to get into UT Austin or UNC Chapel Hill from out of state. According to the article, the other “48 out of 50 flagship universities increased their share of out-of-state freshmen from 2002 to 2018. The average increase was 55%, although some … increased by more than 150%.” So basically everyone just pays extra to go to their neighboring state’s universities since they can’t get into their own, which brings the states more revenue but also increases student debt.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

As I have mentioned before, we are continuing to transition from working primarily with our original Class of 2022 cohort to kicking off the application process with our juniors and spending more time with our Late Start Seniors and grad students. And we’re hearing from our Class of 2021 students as many of them finish up their first week of classes, which is so fun!

One of our 2021 students sent us this absolutely adorable plant a few weeks ago (the picture doesn’t do it justice). I’m considering kidnapping it for my home office instead because I like the color so much ;)

Remember, if you just started senior year and are feeling overwhelmed - it’s NOT too late for help! Seniors who book a Meet & Greet within the next several weeks will likely be able to finish their applications by November 1. It never fails to amaze me how we can completely dig these families out of a bad situation and put them on a path to success in a matter of days, and it’s really gratifying because they are always so thankful and appreciative. A mom told me the other day that working with us was like taking a magic pill and losing ten pounds overnight. I wasn’t sure where she was going with that (haha) but then she explained that while it’s always better in retrospect to do things the right way (I.e. diet and exercise, or spending a year on the college application process), sometimes you really just need a quick fix and that’s exactly what we gave her! :) I can appreciate that!!

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Weekly Update: August 27

Happy back-to-school week! With a few exceptions, most of our students are back to the grind (and the seniors are really glad they worked so hard over the summer on their applications)!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

VIRGINIA SOL SCORES RELEASED

The Virginia SOL results were released for the 2020-2021 school year and we find them very concerning (although not all that surprising, I suppose). The navy column on the left represents Fairfax County's performance in 2018-2019, and the navy column on the right represents Fairfax County's performance in 2020-2021.

Note that these results only measure students who participated in the SOL exams, and many students opted out. In addition, these were only available for students attending in-person school. I read on one site that the results only reflect about 80% of the FCPS population, although I do not know if that is true or not.

The reason that this is such an issue is because coursework builds on itself, especially in areas like math, science, and foreign language. You can't perform well in AP Calculus until you master concepts from Pre-Calculus. You can’t do well in Spanish 3 if you have gaps from Spanish 2. You get the picture.. and now we have confirmation that many students really did miss key concepts last year.

We recommend that parents stay on top of this and take a very proactive approach, particularly if their students were enrolled in courses like the ones I just mentioned. I am less worried about courses like Geometry, which isn’t all that relevant for the next course in the math sequence, Algebra 2. Or World History, which is good to know in general but won’t impact most students’ performance in U.S. History, the next course in the history sequence. But for the those who are enrolled in courses that build on previous years’ material, it’s never too early to start with a tutor!

EARLY ADMISSION PLAN CHANGES

We love the lists on the College Kickstart blog! This past week they shared a list of schools with changes to their EA, ED, and ED II plans for the upcoming 2021-2022 admissions season, and it’s worth a look. Some standouts: Princeton reinstated SCEA, Carnegie Mellon added ED II, Syracuse removed EDII, and Loyola Marymount added EDII. Remember that we may still see some additional changes in the next month or two, as well!

COVID’S FALL SEMESTER IMPACT MAY VARY WIDELY FROM SCHOOL TO SCHOOL

It looks like Covid’s impact on undergraduate education during the fall semester will vary greatly from school to school, according to this Washington Post article. The University of Michigan’s chief health officer is optimistic and excited for the semester to begin, believing that we’ve turned a corner, and the president of Wellesley College agrees that this year will be different because of the vaccine. But not at the schools without mandates! At Florida A&M University, one out of every four students living in a residence hall has not been vaccinated. That does not bode well…

GETTING BANG FOR YOUR BUCK

If you’re on the fence about which major to pursue, we liked this research showing the best ROI for three different types of programs: bachelor’s degrees, associate’s degrees, and certificates. This is a smart way to look at it, because the type of degree obviously impacts earnings and there may be certain fields that are better for students to pursue if they know from the get-go that they don’t want a four-year degree. I actually thought there would be more variation than the study showed - nursing for the win!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

We saw this graphic from Binghamton University that we LOVED! This is hard for a lot of parents, including me. You should have seen the “tell me about your child” worksheet I filled out for my daughter’s teacher the other night! I had a lot to say :)

So I get it - we want to fix their problems, or even better, we want to prevent their problems in the first place. But it’s so important to recognize the message under the “Roll” graphic - we are HELPING our children by letting them problem-solve on their own. Yes, we can be there for support and we should. But they need these skills, even if they are a little painful to learn at times. If you aren’t convinced, pick up a copy of Grit!

…Or just read this WSJ article, “Lessons From the Parents Who Raised the World’s Top Soccer Sisters.” It was published earlier this summer, but we just saw it and thought it was worth spotlighting. Pretty amazing that two sisters made the same Olympic team! Their parents made sure that the girls were the ones driving their soccer training as young children - particularly when it involved missing school for camps and making up a ton of work. “Every single time they went, they were taking responsibility and commitment to say they wanted to do it,” their mom explained.

While most of our students complained about online learning this past year, we have a few for whom it was a very positive experience. They are not the only ones! The New York Times published a piece on the positive impact of remote learning for students with disabilities, and it brings up some very interesting points. I wouldn’t have thought this before reading the article, but it looks like there may be some legitimate legal reasons for colleges to offer virtual or hybrid options to students who need it.

Lastly, check out this Philadelphia Magazine article about the broken nature of the college admissions process. I know, I know, we’ve read about twenty of these so far this year, and I almost skipped right over it because of that. But this was a good article that’s worth a read, particularly for parents of sophomores or juniors who are about to start the process in earnest.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We still have a few stragglers whose private schools haven’t opened yet, but our whole team enjoyed having a few minutes during the school day to breathe this week since most of our students were back at school. Of course, this just means that afternoons are busier than ever!

Hope everyone had a great first week! My two are very happy to be back at their respective schools and I’m crossing my fingers that ALL of our kids are able to attend in-person school all year long!!

And if you are getting back into the swing of things and already at home Sunday afternoon working on homework, check out the NWHE Virtual Information Session featuring Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins, Wash U and Emory. Don’t forget to sign up in advance!

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Weekly Update: August 20

We made it!!!! The weeks between August 1 and the start of the school year for FCPS are always the craziest of the year for our office.. but we reached the finish line and have so many students finished as a result. Because of this, we just took a few students off our Late Start Waitlist this past week- don’t hesitate to reach out if you are a rising senior family that needs some last-minute help!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

FACULTY PROTEST LAX COVID-19 REQUIREMENTS, AND STUDENTS SEEK TO SPREAD INFORMATION

Tensions are on high this week as students have returned to campus and cases have risen. At Duke, more then 100 mostly-vaccinated students tested positive, which is very alarming. As a result, faculty at many colleges and universities are protesting the lack of strict COVID-19 precautions on campus. At Penn State, the faculty senate passed a vote of no confidence in the administration’s plan to allow unvaccinated students to return to campus. And students heading to Clemson may be in for a surprise - faculty are planning a walkout on the first day of classes to protest the lack of a mask mandate. 

Yet the faculty aren’t the only ones concerned! Students at 40 different colleges and universities across the country have joined the Covid Campus Coalition, an organization founded by a Cornell student, and are working on TikTok and Instagram campaigns to educate their peers with science-backed information.

DO YOU KNOW HOW MUCH COLLEGE REALLY COSTS?

Turns out, many students and families underestimate the cost of attending college. On average, parents of high school students expect to pay $22,000 annually, even when asked to include room and board, books, and fees. In actuality, this number isn’t too far off for students who attend in-state public colleges, but students interested in private schools can expect to pay more than double: $51,000 per year on average. And keep in mind - that’s an average that encompasses many types of private institutions. The more selective private colleges that many of our students put on their lists cost right around $80,000, all in.

VACCINE REQUIREMENT RULING SETS A PRECEDENT

Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s denial of the lawsuit against Indiana University, which we covered on the blog a few weeks back, may have set a precedent about what colleges and other organizations are allowed to require of their students. It sets up a way, for instance, for the NCAA to require that student-athletes be vaccinated - something that hasn’t occurred yet, but that we’ll be watching closely as the Delta variant continues to spread. 

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

We know that parents are getting nervous about sending kids off to school, and I LOVED the advice in this guide for parents of new college students and thought that so much of this was spot on - except the frequency of contact part. To the contrary, I actually think it would be almost strange for an 18 year old NOT to be in touch with a parent once per day or so via text to say hi. I am 36 and I still text with my mom most days! These don't need to be long conversations but just a way to stay in touch. Also, if you have a student at UVa, there was exactly one spot left in the author’s class as of earlier this morning!

On a more somber note, this article is definitely worth reading for the parents of any (soon-to-be) freshman boys (and though the article is specific to boys, a lot of the advice could help parents of girls too!). But generally, boys tend to share less with close friends and family, and so may need a more watchful eye to make sure that they are staying healthy and taking care of themselves when they’re away from home. 

This interview with University of Maryland president Darryll Pines is a much-needed shot of hope in a time that has been so tumultuous for higher education. Despite the crises in his first year as president (a global pandemic and a nationwide racial reckoning), he turned these challenges into opportunities for UMD to change and move forward.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Good luck to all of the FCPS students heading back to school next week! And a special congratulations to our rising seniors, who have been putting in serious work on essays and applications and are on the final stretch.

If your student is heading back to school, now is the perfect time to check out academic coaching. Many students and families don’t think they need a coach when the workload hasn’t started up yet, but really, this can be the most effective time to start working with a coach! Shannon can help your student go through their syllabus, plan out major projects and assignments, and work on figuring out what organizational systems and study skills work best for them - before things get too crazy later in the semester. Book an academic coaching Meet & Greet to talk more with her about how we can help your student succeed. Trust me, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, and you don’t want to be scrambling to bring up grades and complete late work during finals week! 

And for students who struggled with finding productive opportunities for enrichment this summer, you’re in luck! Cornell is offering their pre-college program online this fall, including some little-known language courses and an Introduction to Evolution and Diversity. A great way for a student interested in biology or environmental science to get some helpful experience this fall. 

Lastly, we can’t sign off without mentioning that we can't get the situation in Afghanistan out of our minds this week. If anyone knows of any refugee families in the DC area who need help with anything relating to education as they are resettling, please let us know. It’s so hard to watch this without being able to help in some way, and it would make us feel good to be able to do something useful for them - whether helping to get their children placed in the right classes at school, finding ESL courses, or anything else related to secondary, higher, or even elementary education. Let us know if there is a need and we will either take care of it ourselves or find someone who can. You can email me (Colleen) directly here.

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Weekly Update: August 13

Another busy August week, another late weekly update :)

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

AND IT BEGINS.. (OR NOT?)

Ughhhhh. The University of Florida is planning to switch back to virtual learning for the first three weeks of classes during the fall semester. I wonder if this is going to be the first of many such decisions? Closer to the home front, FCPS is holding a “Return to School Town Hall” next week and they appear to be optimistic about sending kids back for five days. Fingers crossed!

Edited 8/14: Looks like UF reversed course on this after all! There was a lot of backlash last night, and the school sent out another email to the campus community less than 24 hours later.

COLLEGES AND VACCINES

Another week with a huge amount of news about colleges and vaccine requirements (or lack thereof). The issue of vaccines for colleges has gone beyond the campuses themselves, with state and local lawmakers weighing in on vaccinations. While Texas public colleges are not allowed to require vaccines (and UT Austin plans to start its school year online for this reason), the city of Philadelphia has issued a vaccine requirement for colleges. 

Vaccine requirements are likely to stand, at least for now - the Supreme Court recently rejected a case that students brought against Indiana University’s requirement. But if you are thinking about faking your vaccination status to attend school next year, don’t! This wouldn’t only lead to disciplinary action from the school, but is also a federal crime. Not to mention, you certainly don’t want to be the cause of a campus outbreak.  

P.S. If you’re headed to Tennessee State in the fall, get your vaccine on campus before August 27 and receive a $100 gift card!

SMALL COLLEGES CHARGE “COVID FEE”

In one example of an extreme vaccine incentive, West Virginia Wesleyan College has announced its intention to charge unvaccinated students a $750 “COVID fee” to cover the costs for testing on campus. So though the college does not mandate the vaccine, there is certainly a cost to not receiving one.

Birmingham-Southern College in Alabama implemented a similar fee, charging unvaccinated students $500 in lieu of a vaccination mandate. So don’t be fooled by the article in the Onion - these COVID fees are a real thing!

ELITE COLLEGES REQUIRE COVID-19 TESTING

This week, Stanford joined Brown, Harvard, and Princeton in requiring mandatory weekly COVID tests for all students, even those who have already been vaccinated. Students will also be required to wear face masks on campus. This is a shift in the university’s previous policy, which allowed vaccinated students to skip weekly testing.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Jeff Levy and Jennie Kent are two educational consultants who take the time every year to compile data on RD and ED decision rates - and I always look forward to it! They put it together based on the Common Data Set information, which is really the most updated and the only truly accurate information available online.

We highly recommend that students and families check out the CDS data for themselves - it is easy to find if you Google the school’s name and “Common Data Set,” because most schools make the data publicly available - they just don’t advertise it! But knowing this information is really key to educating yourself on the difference between ED and RD acceptance rates.

Here are some standouts from this year:

On a lighter note, we always love to check out dorm room decor, which has gotten more and more elaborate in recent years! According to a study from Deloitte, Americans will spend nearly $7 billion on dorm room appliances, furniture, and decor. This article covers many of the retailers and online spaces where parents and students are discussing and purchasing their dorm room decor for next year.

Can you believe those are DORM ROOMS? Incredible. And speaking of dorm rooms, this was a sweet blog post on Grown & Flown about taking time to grieve after dropping your kids off at college.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Hard to believe we are halfway through August already! We have been starting to submit applications with several of our seniors, and even more of them are seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as they finish up their essays. We had MULTIPLE students who completed 8-10 essays in this past week alone - their hard work is so impressive and inspiring for all of us.

Despite some power outages last week (for us and for our clients), we still managed to have over 100 hours of client meetings this week - and that doesn’t include all the post-meeting follow-up! Shannon or I do an additional review of every single supplemental essay, so there’s a lot of behind the scenes work.. not to mention Donna tracking every single document, appointment, you name it for every single kid (she is a saint)!

Have a great weekend!

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Weekly Update: August 7

August is here, and we are busy!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

DC SCHOOLS GRAPPLE WITH COVID-19 LAWSUITS

American, Georgetown, George Washington, Howard, Catholic, George Mason, and the University of Maryland are among many other universities around the country that have been sued by current or former students for partial refunds of tuition fees. The students argue that they paid tuition expecting an in-person education, and the online schooling during COVID-19 is a breach of contract. There doesn’t seem to be a consensus yet on whether these suits have merit - the cases against Georgetown, George Washington, and American have been dismissed, while those against Howard, Catholic, and George Mason have been allowed to proceed. 

CALLING ALL DC AREA FUTURE LEADERS!

ABC and McDonald’s are seeking nominations for high school and college-age students with strong leadership skills and experience to be featured on the evening news’ “Future Leaders” segment. If you know a student whose leadership and service is an inspiration to the community, complete the form to nominate them!

DISABILITY ACCOMMODATIONS AT FCPS

If your student receives accommodations from school, unfortunately they do not carry over to the PSAT or SAT (though luckily, the ACT recently announced that it will give students accommodations from their IEP or 504 plan!). If you are an FCPS student planning to take a test on the October 13 test date this fall, you will need to submit an accommodation request by August 10 (this Tuesday!) to receive accommodations for the exams. 

Speaking of accommodations, FCPS students seeking them for dual enrollment classes will also need to submit an accommodation request through the college or university where they are taking the class, as well as through their high school. Submit your requests sooner rather than later to make sure that you receive the accommodations you need!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

A few weeks ago, we featured an article about students taking out loans for graduate school that they were unable to pay back. Some of you may have read that article thinking, “Well yeah, of course, if you go to graduate school for art or film, you’ll graduate with a lot of debt!” But even the graduate schools that were once considered “sure bets” may no longer be the best financial choice. With the job market so uncertain during COVID-19, law schools too have seen a big increase in applications, but law students are already graduating with high levels of debt. 

We often tell undergraduate students to pay less attention to the school rankings - fit is much more important at the undergraduate level, and the rankings usually do not accurately reflect the student experience (for example, the number of books in the library is a big factor for US News, but usually NOT a factor at all in whether someone enjoys their four years at college!). When it comes to graduate schools, though, rankings do matter, and it is usually students at top-tier law schools that find high-paying jobs after graduation. But salaries for most legal jobs are not rising at the same pace as tuition, and students graduating from lower-ranked schools may find themselves with a lot of debt and no way to pay it off. And this will only increase in the next few years, as more students than ever graduate from law school and the job market becomes more saturated!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Week 1 of August is done! Many of our students have rolled over their Common ApplicationⓇ, our essay coaches continue to work through supplemental essays, and we are so impressed with how hard our students are working! For many of them, this is the final stretch - and they will definitely see their hard work pay off this fall! 

Finishing up with our current seniors this month also means that we will have space opening up in the fall for Late-Start Seniors. If you are interested in working with us this fall, check out our Late Start Waitlist page for more information!

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Weekly Update: July 30

Hard to believe this is already our final July blog post! We are working hard to gear up for August :)

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

COMMON APPLICATION® RELEASE

The 2021-2022 Common Application® will be released Sunday, August 1, after a several-day shutdown period.  We’re excited! We will be hard at work updating all of our application guides, and our clients and membership vault subscribers will have access early next week!

SUNI LEE HEADED TO AUBURN UNIVERSITY

Suni Lee, the American gymnast who just won gold in the all-around gymnastics competition, has big plans for after her return: she’ll be reporting to Auburn University just a week after returning from Tokyo for her freshman year. She’ll be attending the university on a gymnastics scholarship, and said she looks forward to a more fun, less highly competitive experience. 

WALMART PAYS COLLEGE TUITION FOR EMPLOYEES

Walmart announced Tuesday that it will be doing away with the $1 a day fee that employees formerly paid for college, and now pay for 100% college tuition. They will also pay for books. The program allows employees to choose from ten different academic partners, including the University of Arizona and Southern New Hampshire University. Walmart is the country’s largest employer, with 1.5 million employees. 

UPENN ADDS BITCOIN TO PORTFOLIO

After receiving a $5 million donation in bitcoin earlier this year, the University of Pennsylvania confirmed that it still holds some of the funding in the cryptocurrency. Penn typically immediately liquidates these types of donations as per university policy, but in this case the anonymous donor wanted the university to hold onto some of the donation (it did liquidate a portion).

COLLEGES PROVIDE VACCINATION INCENTIVES FOR STUDENTS

While many colleges have announced that they will be requiring students to get vaccinated, some have gone beyond the requirement to provide incentives to vaccinated students. Auburn University, for example, is giving prizes like $1,000 scholarships, meal plan upgrades, and prime parking spots to vaccinated students. The University of Alabama is offering all vaccinated students $20 in Bama Cash to spend at restaurants and stores around Tuscaloosa. Rider University in New Jersey and Ohio Wesleyan University are taking it a step further - Rider will choose three vaccinated students at random to win a year of free tuition, and Ohio Wesleyan has opened up fifty additional spots for incoming vaccinated first-year or transfer students. Each of these fifty students will be eligible to receive a $25,000 scholarship as long as they meet basic admissions criteria. Pretty good!

“Currently, only a handful of colleges in Ohio are requiring all students to be vaccinated,” said Stefanie Niles, Ed.D., Ohio Wesleyan’s vice president for enrollment and communications. “We know that many students out there would prefer to live and learn on a campus where they feel safe and where they know they won’t have to experience another year of mask-wearing and social distancing.”

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

COVID-19 is continuing to impact college enrollment. After record low levels of enrollment last year, many schools were hoping to recoup tuition dollars and see a more typical campus environment in the fall. But with the spread of the Delta variant, over one-third of college-age students are reconsidering their college plans. Some will go to college closer to home, or attend a community college to save money. Others won’t go to college at all. 

The impact on students who did continue their education during the pandemic exists as well. While the college Class of 2021 will likely have an easier time with the job search than the Class of 2020, this is still a strange year, with many students still looking for full-time employment. If you are searching for your first post-grad job, check out this article with tips to stand out during the hiring process.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We are completely full for Class of 2022 students in our initial cohort, but have spots on our Late Start Waitlist for students who still need assistance beginning in late August/early September. Check out our Late Start Waitlist page if you’re wondering how it works, and fill out this form to be added to the list!

In other news, Common App® is rolling over from the 2020-2021 version to the 2021-2022 version this weekend, and we will hit the ground running on Monday with our Class of 2022 students as we help them navigate this rollover process. Check out our June 11 weekly update for a quick refresher of what that entails!

August is our busiest month of the year, but we love seeing our students’ hard work all come together!

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Weekly Update: July 23

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

AP EXAM SCORES RELEASED

2021 AP Exam scores are out! Check out the full distributions - if you click on the exam name, you can see the year over year differences in pass rates. Overall, students did not perform as well on this year’s exams, but the differences varied substantially from test to test. The pass rate for AP Lit, for instance, plummeted over 16 percentage points from 2020!

PURDUE TURNS TWO-PERSON HOUSING INTO FOUR

If you’ve been reading the blog (or any college news!), you know that many colleges received record numbers of applicants last cycle. Purdue was one of those schools, and will be welcoming the largest freshman class in its history in 2022, bringing 10,000 freshmen to campus. 

In response to the unprecedented number of first year students, Purdue has made the controversial decision to house three or four students in dorm rooms originally meant for two. Purdue is not the only school to have these “forced triple” (or quadruple!) rooms (Villanova is one school that typically offers a housing discount to students willing to stay in forced triples), but students who were used to social distancing for the last year may have to get used to being very close to their roommate(s)! We encourage all class of 2022 students to read any housing information carefully and prepare for potentially overfilled dorm rooms next year.

YES, WILLIAM & MARY IS PUBLIC

William & Mark faced criticism this week after Education Reform Now released a report about equity issues in Virginia higher education funding. The report pointed out that William & Mary is one of the highest-funded public institutions in the state, based on 2019 funding per full-time student - yet it enrolled the lowest percentage of students under a certain income threshold.

W&M responded by saying they consider their peer schools to be private institutions. Ouch! And that may be true in terms of who they consider their peers to be (W&M does fit a certain niche in that it is a public school that feels private!) - but make no mistake, the school is not private.

This Twitter thread about their tone-deaf response and potential student confusion caught our eye. I’ve certainly seen students confused by the fact that schools like University of Miami, New York University and the University of Pennsylvania are private, but William & Mary is definitely a public institution and we are pretty confident that our in-state Virginia students are well aware of this :)

ACT WILL HONOR STUDENT ACCOMMODATIONS FROM 504 PLANS

The ACT announced this week that it will automatically approve students with IEP or 504 plans to receive the same accommodations on the test as they receive at school! We have always recommended that parents initiate the accommodations process for students with disabilities as early as possible, but this is even more reason to do so!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

We know that the cost of college is rising, and students, parents, and families pay for college through a variety of means: income, savings, scholarships, grants, work study, loans - it can be overwhelming! This CNBC article explores how many families are funding students’ college education today. The moral of the story? Apply for as many sources of funding as you can! For more insight on whether you should complete the FAFSA, check out our blog post on the topic. 

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to a lot of changes in the job market, and we are seeing many low-wage workers looking for more fulfilling work (and shortages of restaurant and retail workers as a result). Two-thirds of these workers do not have a college degree. This Washington Post opinion piece argues that employers should stop requiring that employees have bachelor’s degrees, instead allowing non-college-educated workers to rely on their skills and experience during the hiring process. 

Also in the Post this week, an article about the impact of smartphones and social media on teens’ feelings of loneliness. Concerns about loneliness and mental health struggles in teenagers have only grown after the year these kids have had, but this report reveals that loneliness in teens has actually been on the rise for years - doubling between 2012 and 2018. Before 2012 - that is, before over 50% of Americans had smartphones - loneliness and depression levels were relatively stable for years and even decades around the world.

Many today believe that standardized testing in college admissions is discriminatory, and equity and inclusion advocates have celebrated the increase in test-optional admissions during COVID-19. But this Atlantic article paints a very different picture, arguing that issues of equity are much more prevalent in student GPA and the course load available in high school, and that standardized testing is in fact an equalizer, at least in the University of California system that he investigates. The difference, though, is that GPA and course load are contextualized, usually by a counselor letter - admissions officers are aware of how a student performs in the context of their high school. The SAT or ACT, by contrast, do not provide the same context. This is part of why it’s really important for students to provide their counselor with thoughtful material for this letter!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Shannon held down the fort last week while I was on vacation in Italy - and in a really fun coincidence, I got to meet up with one of my all-time favorite clients in Venice after discovering that we were both there at the same time! We worked closely together for four years with two different children, but the family doesn't live in the DC area, so it was a real treat to be able to catch up face-to-face and reminisce!

And speaking of all-time favorite clients, we also released a very exciting announcement this week about our new pro bono program, in partnership with the Fieldstone Foundation! Thanks to the incredible generosity of an amazing family with daughters in both the Class of 2020 and 2021, we are now able to offer 100% FREE college counseling services to a select group of talented, ambitious students who might not have access to expert counseling. We are so grateful to them for making this possible!

Successful applicants will demonstrate commitment and a desire to succeed, as well as significant financial need. Check out https://www.dccollegecounseling.com/probono to learn more about this opportunity - and please share with anyone who might be interested in applying! We will have more to say about this program in the coming weeks :)

Have a great weekend, everyone! Exactly one month until school begins for our FCPS families. Hard to believe, right?!

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Weekly Update: July 16

Colleen is out of the office, so it’s Shannon here again with this week’s update!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

PENNSYLVANIA STATE UNIVERSITIES LATEST TO CONSOLIDATE

Following in the footsteps of other state university systems like Connecticut, the Pennsylvania state system will be consolidating 6 different schools into just 2 in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Students and faculty have continued to protest for their schools, but unfortunately I expect that we will see more changes like this as universities consider the best way to move forward after such a difficult year.

UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA SYSTEM TO REQUIRE COVID-19 VACCINE

While the University of California system initially planned to require vaccines only once they were fully FDA-approved, the system announced a policy change yesterday that will require all students and faculty to be vaccinated before returning to campuses in the fall. The change was prompted by an increase in cases in California, and the UCs are now the largest state system in the country that will require vaccination. At the moment, nearly 500 schools will be requiring vaccines next year. Class of 2021, make sure you know the requirements for your campus before moving in this fall!

CDC URGES SCHOOLS TOWARD FULL REOPENING

Even with those rising cases in some parts of the country, the CDC is still encouraging K-12 schools to fully reopen in the fall. This new guidance recognizes the challenges that students, parents, and teachers have faced with fully virtual learning, what the former CDC director calls the “real costs” of keeping children at home.

Large school systems are coming up with their own guidance for students and families. The New York City school system does not intend to even offer an online option next fall, while here in Virginia schools are proceeding cautiously by still requiring mask-wearing. Meanwhile, eight states including Vermont, South Carolina, and Texas have banned schools from instituting these types of mask requirements.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Community college has really come into the forefront recently with Biden unveiling a proposal this week that would provide tuition-free community college to all young adults. After community college enrollment plummeted during the pandemic, this plan may help more students attend college.

Here in Virginia, UVA’s Guaranteed Transfer Admission program makes attending community college a really attractive (and less expensive!) option. For students who meet the academic requirements at a college in the Virginia Community College System, there is a guaranteed spot at UVA waiting for them after two years! This article from the Wall Street Journal is a great read for anyone who wants to learn more about the pros of attending a community college.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Colleen will be back in the office next week - in the meantime, I am holding down the fort with the essay coaches as we work with students on their supplemental essays! I love being able to read students’ work and get to know them even better. I always discover something new about students in these essays, which is so much fun!

If you are not a client, but still want a sneak peek into what we do when we work on these essays, check out our post from last week: Supplemental Essay Secrets Revealed!

Have a great weekend!

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Weekly Update: July 9

Colleen is out of the office today, so it’s Shannon here with this week’s update!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

COLLEGE PERSISTENCE RATES SEE PANDEMIC DROP

As you have probably read already this year, on this blog and elsewhere, the number of students enrolling at colleges during COVID-19 dropped dramatically, particularly at community colleges. Now, statistics are showing an alarming drop in college persistence rates as well - the largest single-year fall since 2009. The college persistence rate (not to be confused with the retention rate) measures the percentage of students entering college in fall 2019 who returned to school in fall 2020 - this year, 73.9%. Like enrollment, persistence and retention rates declined most at community colleges.

IS YOUR COLLEGE REQUIRING THE COVID-19 VACCINE?

With vaccine requirements changing by the day, it can be difficult to keep track of what you need for next year! This helpful graphic tracks the rules that states have when it comes to vaccinations (colleges in Florida and Texas, for example, are legally prohibited from requiring vaccinations), as well as providing a comprehensive list of colleges that will require the vaccine next year.

2021-2022 SAT REGISTRATION IS OPEN

Seats for the SAT are filling up fast, so make sure that you register now! Many local schools are already full (Madison filled up the first day!) so getting a seat could be challenging if you plan to take the test this fall. We recommend completing your registration as soon as you can.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Discussions about student loan debt often focus on undergraduate students, but many young adults are in debt due to a graduate or professional degree - particularly one that did not lead to higher income to pay down the loans. This Wall Street Journal article explores “the elite master’s degrees that don’t pay off,” including programs at Columbia like film, history, social work, and architecture. The same held true at other top colleges and universities, like NYU, Northwestern, and USC, where students with six-figure loan debt from their master’s programs were making low five-figure salaries two years after graduation. Unlike undergraduate loans, there are no limits on the loans that graduate students can take out, making them very profitable for these universities.

For students who are touring colleges this summer and fall, make sure to check out this list of places you should explore on a college tour! Some of my favorites include “facilities associated with your desired major” - these are the building where you’ll be spending most of your time, and it is easy to go the entire tour seeing only the most renovated buildings on campus. Great if you’ll be studying in one of them, but not if your department is housed in that unairconditioned building all the way across campus! Same goes for any facilities related to your hobbies or extracurriculars you’d like to try. The article also recommends keeping an eye on the bulletin boards, which is a great way to see what types of activities are happening around campus.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We have continued to be extremely busy working with students on their supplemental essays (and researching to ensure that our supplemental essay prompts list remains up to date!). We love working with our students on essays - reading their writing really helps us get to know them even better!

We also have a big announcement coming up next week about a project that I have been working really hard on with one of our client parents - stay tuned!

Enjoy the weekend!

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Weekly Update: June 25

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

SUPREME COURT RULES IN FAVOR OF STUDENTS AGAINST NCAA

On Monday, the Supreme Court decided in a rare unanimous vote that the NCAA could not limit the educational perks offered to student athletes. These perks can include everything from scholarships and paid internships to free computers or textbooks. The ruling could lead to further action against the NCAA’s stance on compensating its players, especially in light of many new state laws that will allow athletes to make money off of their name or image, beginning July 1. 

YES, YOU CAN NEGOTIATE FOR COLLEGE AID!

Many students and families don’t even realize that they do have some power to negotiate for more financial assistance from colleges after admission. But this family’s successful appeal to Fairfield University led to a scholarship increase, as do around one-third of funding appeals each year. Of course, the effect of an appeal depends greatly on the school, as well as the reason for the additional funding, but if you are a student whose ability to go to your dream school is dependent on more aid, don’t be afraid to go ahead and ask!

FLORIDA GOVERNOR SIGNS CONTROVERSIAL COLLEGE LEGISLATION

Florida governor Ron DeSantis signed legislation this week that will require students and faculty at state colleges and universities to take annual surveys about their beliefs. The surveys are intended to determine whether a diversity of perspectives are taught at the institution and whether students feel safe to express their beliefs. 

INDIANA STUDENTS SUE OVER COVID-19 VACCINE REQUIREMENT

The Indiana University system is one of a small number of schools in red states that will require students to have the COVID-19 vaccine in order to return to campus in the fall. Eight students filed a federal lawsuit, arguing that the requirement violates their 14th amendment right to personal autonomy. The outcome of this lawsuit could have an effect on the hundreds of other campuses that will also require the vaccine this fall.   

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Duke Professor John Rose published an interesting opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, sharing the classroom principles he uses to encourage open debates in often-controversial classes like “Political Polarization” and “Conservatism.” Professor Rose says that his commitment to open conversation in a non-judgmental setting allows students to share a variety of opinions and viewpoints, and improves his class discussions. 

Speaking of Supreme Court decisions, this week also saw the Court agree with a fourteen-year-old high school student that an inappropriate Snapchat post taken outside of school should not have consequences in school. There is no doubt that the ubiquity of technology has blurred the lines between what schools can control and what they can’t, and this Washington Post article dives further into the topic, considering whether teens’ social media posts should be temporary, disappearing as they age. This is especially important to us in the admissions process - we always advise students to be careful about what they post on social media, since 36% of admissions officers say that they use social media to help make admissions decisions, and over half of those say that social media has a negative impact on the decision! 

Since the Israel-Palestine conflict worsened this spring, many schools are seeing a rise in anti-Semitism on campus. In an op-ed for the New York Times, Matthew Bronfman, chairman of Hillel International, argues that schools have to do more to protect Jewish students, while still allowing for debate about the conflict in Israel. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Shannon attended a great webinar this week about preparing students for college success. If you’ve been reading this blog, you know that I love Julie Lythcott-Haims’ book How to Raise an Adult (so much so that we bought the companion book, Your Turn: How to Be an Adult for all of our graduating seniors!). And this slide from the presentation really sums it up - high school parenting vs. college parenting: 

This summer is also a great time for students to learn the important skills that they’re going to need in college, and here is a list to choose from (though, let’s be real, we don’t expect many students to learn how to iron!): 

If you are worried about your student’s organizational skills heading off to college, and you don’t want to be on call for those daily reminders, why not try out academic coaching? It is a great way for students to gain some of these skills and have a head start when they arrive at school in the fall!

Some of our current class of 2022 students have already moved on to their school-specific supplemental essays! Even though the schools are not required to release their essay topics until August 1, many release earlier, and our seniors usually have around half of their essays DONE even before the beginning of August! If you are not a current client, but you want to get ahead on your essays, check out our Supplemental Essay Prompts page, which we are updating every week as we find out new prompts have been released. Happy writing!

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