Weekly Update x2: August 14/21

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

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

WEST VIRGINIA CUTS FOREIGN LANGUAGES

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

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

ATTACK AT HOWARD UNIVERSITY

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

CHANGES TO FCPS TRANSCRIPTS

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

NEW FAFSA IS COMING

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

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

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

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

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

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

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

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

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Have a great week!

How to Make a Great Impression on the First Day of School

The first day of school can be nerve-wracking for many students - and it’s right around the corner for most of ours! Whether you're starting a new school or returning to the same one, it's important to make a good impression on your first day. Here are some tips to help you start the school year off on the right foot:

Finish your summer work

Did you have any required summer reading? Or maybe an AP assignment to complete over the summer? Make sure you’ve finished any work that’s been assigned to you over the summer. You don’t want to have to admit to your teacher on the first day that you didn’t do your homework! And who wants to start off the school year already behind?

Look your best

Your appearance can say a lot about you, so make sure to dress appropriately for the first day of school. This means following the dress code, if there is one, and making sure your outfit is clean and wrinkle-free. We also recommend getting a fresh haircut. While these details may seem small, they give the impression that you care. Plus, you’ll feel more confident if you’re looking your best. 

Get to school early

The first day of school is likely to create additional traffic jams on the highway (especially in the DMV area!) and even in the school parking lot. Plan to arrive a bit early, so you’re not stressed, or even worse, late for your first class. Use the extra time to organize your locker, catch up with friends, and find your classrooms. You’ll feel much calmer and will be prepared to start the day off right. 

Smile

Even if you’re not a morning person, even if you’re not thrilled to be back at school, smile! It will set a positive tone for the day and draw people to you. This is especially important if you’re starting a new school and need to make some connections and lunch buddies fast! 

Introduce yourself to teachers

Okay, this might sound like a dorky move, but we promise that it goes a long way! Introduce yourself to your new teachers. You don’t have to offer up a formal handshake, but a quick “Hi, my name is…” when you come into class shows you’re mature and personable. And if there’s anything you want to share with your teacher—like how you’ve always struggled in math or have accommodations—send an introductory email or arrange a meeting. They’ll be impressed that you are taking initiative!

Introduce yourself to students

And while you’re at it, introduce yourself to new students. They’ll appreciate your efforts to make them feel more comfortable on the first day. If you are a new student, don’t be afraid to introduce yourself, either! A small “hi” to the classmate sitting in the desk next to you or “do you mind if I sit here?” at lunch will show off your confidence, even if you’re faking it a bit until the anxiety of your first day eases.

Listen and participate

The first day can be intimidating, but make it your goal to participate at least one time in each class. This will show your teachers that you are engaged and interested in learning. It will also help you make a good impression on your classmates, as they will see that you are knowledgeable and enthusiastic!

GOOD LUCK ON YOUR FIRST DAY!

By following these tips, you can start the school year off on the right foot and set yourself up for success. Remember to be yourself, be prepared, and have a positive attitude—and you'll do great!

A Day in the Life, Part IV

For those who have followed our blog for a while, you might remember Colleen, Shannon, and STACI sharing a behind-the-scenes perspective of life at DC College Counseling. NOW WE WaNT TO GIVE YOU SOME INSIGHT INTO OUR BUSIESt TIME OF YEAR - AUGUST! - In PART IV of our day in the life series.

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At the Front Desk:

When you enter our office, you will likely be greeted by Libby! Libby holds down the fort at the front desk, welcoming students in for their in-person essay coaching appointments. You’ve probably also seen emails from her with reminders about tasks or scheduling. She is busy making sure that all of our students have enough appointments on the calendar during this hectic month!

We also wanted to capture our entry wall - so fun to see all of the college memorabilia and interesting articles (many of which feature Colleen!). We used Framebridge to design this back in 2020 and they did a great job!

Libby is also in charge of ordering snacks and stocking up our candy jar, so if you have any special requests, make sure you let her know! She has everything freshly stocked and ready for the next few weeks.

Our office is on the first floor of our building, but we also see some families from the pediatrician’s office upstairs. In fact, today we had a prospective client and her rising ninth grader stop in after seeing our sign on a visit to the doctor! P.S. We love the pediatricians upstairs! Colleen uses them for her children and they are amazing.

Another post-pediatrician visit! Colleen’s friend Amanda also stopped by with her new baby after visiting the doctor - but this one probably isn’t ready to start college counseling just yet!

IN THE ESSAY COACHING OFFICE:

Staci is in the office today because we have several in-person essay coaching meetings scheduled - but in between, she is also ready with her laptop for students who prefer to meet virtually.

In addition to helping students with their generic and school-specific supplemental essays for most of the month, Staci is also meeting with a former client who is currently working on her graduate school applications, as well as doing interview prep with a student who is preparing for an upcoming William & Mary interview (p.s. - if you are a client with an interview coming up too, you can book a prep session here).

Staci isn’t our only essay coach working today - the rest of our coaches are just as busy with virtual meetings from home. Most of our students prefer virtual meetings, so for now our team is working with a hybrid approach to be able to accommodate everyone’s preferences.

IN the College Counseling Offices:

Shannon and Colleen are here for most of the week in August. In addition to updating the Common Application rollover guides and helping students complete their application work, they are also reading and reviewing essays and applications behind the scenes, and making sure each student stays on track!

Colleen checking the mail first thing in the morning. This is our back door, which provides access to the rest of the building - like the bathrooms!

While typically more of us are doing hybrid work during the school year, in the summer Shannon and Colleen are here almost every day! Today, Colleen got in early and will leave around 6:00pm, while Shannon will hold down the fort until 8:00pm.

…And remotely!

In our current hybrid work plan, many team members are working from home rather than the office, including Donna, Grace, and some of our essay coaching team.

McClain’s home workspace…

…and a couple very cute coworkers!

McClain’s share: “About to hop on an essay coaching session to help a student revise one of her Wake Forest supplemental essays! To get ready for my meetings each day, I usually spend time preparing the night before. I look at where each student is in the writing process, find the document links I'll need, and create skeleton recap emails to fill in post-meeting. My coaching sessions are usually in the afternoons since I’m with my kids—Theo, 1.5, and James, 3—most mornings. This organizational routine allows us to enjoy our favorite summer activities (pool, playground, and lots of ice cream breaks) without stressing about being prepared for my students in the afternoon. My WFH setup is very fancy—my dining room table :). I’m always ready with a flavored seltzer, a big cup of water, and way too many open tabs.”

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WRAPPING UP:

Colleen’s kids stop by to grab snacks with their au pair before Colleen leaves to take her daughter Caroline to an appointment at 6:00. She’ll likely be back online at night to review progress from the day and respond to emails!

Caroline, 11, will be in 6th grade this year, and James, almost 7, will be in 1st grade! James has a big smile on his face because he thinks he’s getting away with taking handfuls of snacks to eat before dinner (sadly, it was not to be and most of them ended up back on the shelves!).

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August is a crazy month, but it is also so exciting to see our students’ hard work start to come together. Now we’ve got to get back to it!

Weekly Update: August 7

August is here, and we are busy!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

COMMON APP UPDATES

This has been a doozy of a Common App® update! For more on that, check out our Special Topics post from last week: Notable Common Application® Changes - 2023-2024 Edition. Since I wrote it, we continue to discover more essay changes (from the prompts that schools originally released for this application cycle) every single day. I have never seen anything like this in my entire career and I do not like it one bit! This is a hard enough process without kids having to re-write a bunch of essays! And even from the schools that have not changed their essays - they have added so many more. The overall essay load for are students has been truly unprecedented this cycle - which is especially challenging when paired with the significantly-delayed release of the Common App® personal essay prompts that gave everyone a late start. And that’s why I’m on my 12th hour of work today as I type this :)

COLLEGE BOARD RECOMMENDS FLORIDA SCHOOLS NOT OFFER AP PSYCHOLOGY

In the latest conflict between the state of Florida and the College Board, the College Board has asked Florida high schools not to teach its AP Psychology course. The Florida State Board of Education banned teaching students throughout high school about sexual orientation and gender identity in March, and asked the College Board to perform a review of the AP curriculum to determine that it aligned with Florida laws. In a recent statement, the College Board said that “any AP Psychology course taught in Florida will violate either Florida law or college requirements,” and advised schools not to teach the course. But now it might be back on? Time will tell..

FORMER STUDENT SUES UVA

We’ve talked on the blog before about Morgan Bettinger, the former UVA student who was accused of threatening a group of Black Lives Matter protesters and received harassment online. Now, Morgan is suing UVA, stating that the university violated her free speech rights by punishing her for the remark. Both President Jim Ryan and former Dean of Students Allen Groves are named in the lawsuit, which is the most compelling legal document I’ve ever seen. The detail, the story, etc- it reads like fiction! Pretty incredible, and so devastating for that poor girl.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

This article, “The Real, Hidden Truth About College Admissions,” discusses whether elite colleges in the United States receive too much credit for preparing students for the future. After all, neither the president nor the vice president went to top universities - and neither did the House minority or majority leader, the Senate minority leader, or the vast majority of Fortune 500 CEOs. This Duke professor argues that the real test of a student’s outcome isn’t the selectivity of their college, but instead whether they take advantage of all of the opportunities they are offered during (and after!) their college years. 

We talk with students a lot about the impact of their location - for our students, mainly in Fairfax and Loudoun Counties - on their admission to top Virginia public colleges. This graphic is really helpful in visualizing the difference between a student applying to, say, UVA from rural Virginia, versus those applying from Northern Virginia. Some of the most rural counties in southwestern Virginia have 89-90% admit rates for Virginia public four-year colleges, versus a 67% admit rate for students in Fairfax County.

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! 

One of the topics we mentioned in last week’s post has come up this week in our office with our own students - the use of ChatGPT. Remember: many schools are asking students to certify that they did not receive help from ChatGPT when writing their college essays, and others are providing instructions about the extent of Chat GPT help that they will allow. Our essay coaches are doing a great job flagging this in meetings when it’s an issue, and we encourage all parents to discuss it with their children as well. Please, please review policies on the use of ChatGPT or other large language models carefully, to ensure that your essays are your own work! Trust me - we are all about making things easy when we can. If there’s a way to be more efficient, I promise, we’re all over it. But using ChatGPT for college essays is not going to make things easier for anyone. It’s just going to wind up getting you in trouble!

Notable Common Application® Changes - 2023-2024 Edition

As we pore through the Common App® to capture all of the changes in the 2023-2024 application, I wanted to draw attention to a few in particular that stood out!

LaFAYETTE’S STANCE ON ACTIVITIES

I actually really admire this! Lafayette has made the decision to only review a student’s first six activities on the Common Application® instead of all ten. The idea is to be straightforward with students about their preference for quality over quantity when it comes to extracurricular involvement - they want students to be “deeply invested” in what matters most to them. While this is supposed to make things more equitable across income levels, and it will, I think this is really helpful for ALL students. I am so tired of watching teenagers feel overwhelmed and exhausted, doing things they don’t want to do, just so they can write them down on college applications. As a mom, it is painful to watch. I hope other schools follow Lafayette’s lead here!

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NYU’S QUESTION ABOUT ASSISTANCE

NYU has added a question to their supplement about external guidance in the application process, and this threw everyone for a loop! As always, I would recommend being honest. There is nothing wrong with using an independent educational consultant - just as there’s nothing wrong with using an SAT tutor! However, I do think this is where it (really) helps to be using an organization that is vetted. NYU wants to make sure that the next Rick Singer isn’t running the show!

For what it’s worth, the counselors in our office are members of IECA - the Independent Educational Consultants Organization. We have an EXTREMELY strict code of ethics that goes well beyond expectations for most professionals in other industries. For example, we would never, ever accept any type of referral fee for directing a student to a third-party professional or organization, like an SAT tutor or summer program. Beyond agreeing to abide by this code of ethics, you can’t just sign up to become an IECA member - you have to qualify based on a certain number of college visits in recent years; professional references; experience; a certain number of students advised; and more. Because of this, colleges and universities have great relationships with IECA members - NYU itself held a private informational session just for IECA consultants! Anyway, I share all of this to point out that it’s important to let NYU know that you are working with an IECA member.

I would advise our clients to write something like this: “Because [I am the oldest child in my family/ my school does not provide individualized college guidance/ my parents are unfamiliar with the college admissions process today/ my parents didn't go to college in the United States/ etc] my parents and I felt that we could benefit from professional guidance with the college search and application process. I worked with Colleen Paparella, a professional member of IECA. Colleen and her team helped me narrow my college preferences to find the right fit; provided guidance on ways to determine which of my interests would translate to an intended major; advised me on course selection; and more. More recently, they helped review and edit my application materials. Every piece of information and aspect of my application is my own work, factually true, and honestly represented.”

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SO MANY ESSAY PROMPT SHIFTS

Wow - there have been an incredible amount of changes when it comes to supplemental essays! Colleges are clearly trying to work within the boundaries set by the Supreme Court in order to get a sense of the ways that students have been shaped by their backgrounds. Harvard and William & Mary, in particular, are ones that stand out to me as very different this year!

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LOTS OF AI/CHAT GPT ACKNOWLEDGMENT

Institutions ranging from the College of Charleston to Georgia Tech (and plenty more!) have added snippets to their supplements about the use of AI to generate essay content. Stay away from this! Remember, even the “good” AI-generated essays are not actually good, because there’s no way for a student’s voice to come through! Plus - by sharing these types of cautionary messages in the applications, these schools are actually TELLING students that they are watching for this type of thing. And they are! Any attempt to get pass their filters is not going to be effective and will ruin years of your hard work. Do the right thing from the start and create your own content!

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We’re still working our way through these applications, and we look forward to sharing more thoughts and guidance with our students in all of our August meetings!

Weekly Update: July 31

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

COMMON APPLICATION® RELEASE

The 2023-2024 Common Application® will be released tomorrow, after a several-day shutdown period.  We’re excited! We will be hard at work updating all of our application guides and sending them out to our clients soon. 

VIRGINIA TECH GETS RID OF ED APPLICATION PLAN

Virginia Tech announced late on Friday that they will be doing away with their ED application plan this cycle. Students applying to VT will now have two options: Early Action or Regular Decision. As part of the change, the Early Action deadline will be moved forward, so students will need to apply by November 15 rather than VT’s previous December 1 EA deadline. In addition to complying with the Supreme Court decision to eliminate race and ethnicity as a consideration in the admissions process, VT has also made the decision to eliminate legacy preference as well.

UNC PROHIBITS SEX DISCRIMINATION IN ADMISSIONS AND HIRING DECISIONS

Anybody remember this article? It caused such a stir at the time, I don’t think I’ll ever forget it - and I would say at least 2-3 parents per year mention it, 13 years later. And now the girls trying to find boyfriends are not going to see their situation improve anytime soon! UNC’s board has announced that they will not consider “race, sex, color or ethnicity” in admissions or hiring decisions. This resolution, which at least one board member noted “goes well beyond the Supreme Court ruling,” also explicitly prohibits using admissions essays as a proxy for race. 

BIG CHANGES AT NEW COLLEGE

When Florida governor Ron DeSantis replaced many of the leaders at Florida’s New College, we knew that there would be changes to the small and previously liberal campus. Under new leadership, the school will have a record number of incoming students this fall, with much of the growth coming from recruited athletes. In March, the college announced the creation of a new athletic department, driving recruitment. While the number of incoming students is higher, metrics like average SAT, ACT, and GPA have gone down. This larger class will come in as the school works to fill 36 vacant faculty positions, about a third of the college’s full-time faculty members. 

The board also eliminated the college’s diversity office, a move that one trustee discusses in this opinion piece about DEI programs. The public institution has also requested $2 million in funding to create a center that will oppose cancel culture on college campuses. 

CU BUFFS MOVE TO BIG 12

CU Boulder’s Buffaloes will go back to the Big 12 conference after the coming season. The university left the Big 12 in 2011 for the Pac-12, a conference which lost its two powerhouses when UCLA and USC announced their move to the Big Ten. This is part of a larger realignment within college athletic conferences - as CU Boulder joins the Big 12, Oklahoma and Texas will likely leave; both are in the process of moving to the SEC.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

There has been a lot in the news recently about legacy admissions (see the VT news above!), and it can be difficult to keep up with the changes and the reasoning behind them. If you’re looking for a refresher, this article covers what legacy admissions is, why it is relevant now, and what the impact might be of the current legacy admission investigation at Harvard. Plus, it contains a list of all the schools that currently consider legacy as part of the admissions process.

On Thursday, a House subcommittee held a hearing about the cost of higher education and its value for families. Democrats focused the hearing on for-profit colleges, while Republicans expressed concern about the transparency of colleges and universities when it comes to their value proposition. One solution they raised is a risk-sharing approach, where colleges and universities will become responsible for student loans that alumni are unable to pay. The committee explored other aspects of the process as well, including the Biden administration’s proposed regulations defining what it means for an institution to prepare its students for “gainful employment,” as well as increased accountability for schools. 

This opinion piece from the National Review argues that accreditation, which previously served as a measure of accountability and value, is no longer an accurate way to represent the quality of education from a particular institution. The argument is that required programs, like DEI programs, are not improving educational quality but are still relevant to accreditation.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

It is hard to believe this is already our final weekly update of July! The Common App® is rolling out in less than eight hours (!), and we will hit the ground running tomorrow with our Class of 2024 students. August is our busiest month of the year, but we love seeing our students’ hard work all come together!

Have a great week!

So You Want to Be an Entrepreneur?

When I formed DC College Counseling in 2010, I knew literally nothing about business beyond whatever I picked up in my first-semester freshman year Management 100 class at Wash U. But I did know that I was really good at my job as an independent school college counselor, and I also knew that there was a growing need for people like me to serve the general population, outside of a school setting. So I created a website, looked up how to create a Virginia LLC, and here I am today!

There are so many success stories just like mine, when it comes to service-based businesses. You do not need capital, help, or specialized business knowledge as long as you have a skill that matches up with a need in the marketplace, a willingness to work (extremely) hard, and an internet connection. I want to emphasize this because I truly believe that one of the most amazing things about entrepreneurship is the ability to create something from nothing. ANYONE CAN DO IT!

That said, not everyone does do it, and it’s helpful to have companies which exist in this space to provide budding entrepreneurs a little extra help, if needed. After all, having a project of your own - like a business or non-profit organization - can really help applicants stand out in the admissions process. One such company is the Leadership & Innovation Lab, and today we have a guest post from their director, Maya.

If you are interested in starting your own business but feel a little overwhelmed at the thought, it might be worth learning about how the Leadership & Innovation Lab can help you get started. As always, do your own research to see whether this - or any third-party program - is right for you. We do not endorse this program or any other!

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Hi everyone, I’m Maya, the Director of the Leadership & Innovation Lab.

My work focuses on curating training programs to develop our students' leadership and innovation abilities. Of the whole complex college application, how students present and package their leadership and innovation abilities has always been the part that fascinated me the most. This is why I do what I do today!

So you’re wondering - how do you truly stand out in the college admissions process that gets more competitive every year? My advice is: be an entrepreneur and start your own project. This is going to be the only thing on your application that is truly unique and wholly yours. 

Think about it: anyone else can join the same competition, attend the same summer program, or complete the same online course. Your student-initiated and student-run project is something that cannot be replicated. It is unique to your circumstances and profile. What’s more, it could well be the centerpiece of your entire application, linking together your personal statement, your activities list, your supplementary essays and perhaps even your choice of major. 

What is entrepreneurship and why is it important?

The most basic explanation for entrepreneurship is two-fold: first, the ability to envision something where there is currently nothing; second, the determination to work hard and to endure hardship for a vision that others may not see or share. 

To put it bluntly, the road to becoming an entrepreneur (especially a young entrepreneur) is not easy. It is often a long and lonely road. However, every single person who has tried to walk down this road, even if they do not reach the end for a multitude of reasons or simply decide to change paths along the way, will tell you that what they have learned on this road is unique and irreplaceable.

Let’s dive into specifics of what you might learn on the entrepreneurial path. From the leadership perspective, you’ll learn:  

• How to articulate your ideas clearly to others

• How to convince others of your ideas, even to join you in your entrepreneurial endeavor 

• How to organize from within your social networks

• How to build up up a leadership structure

• How to establish and maintain leadership authority 

• How to mediate or resolve personnel disputes

• How to motivate your team to work toward a shared vision

Taking a step back, in the process of cultivating entrepreneurship, you will also encounter significant elements of personal growth. You’ll learn:

• How to handle interpersonal relationships

• How to be strategically observant and perceptive

• How to seize opportunity

• How to decide when is the right time to give up or to cut your losses

• How to be more patient

• How to persevere against all odds

• What it means to be a visionary 

What are some obstacles you might face?

Of course, it is not easy for high school students to engage in an entrepreneurial endeavor - whether it is starting a business, club, or other organization. To be honest, it is not easy for anyone to do so!

You may think there are perhaps legal hurdles - after all, high school students are underage. Or perhaps our schools do not provide enough entrepreneurial resources for them. Or perhaps the wider society isn’t sufficiently supportive of youth entrepreneurship or adopts a skeptical attitude. It is true that these are some of the problems high school students encounter in their entrepreneurship journey. But from what I’ve seen, the biggest obstacle to youth entrepreneurship is that the students themselves do not believe that they can do it.

The most frequent challenge I encounter when mentoring students on leadership and innovation is their mindset. They think, “This is impossible, I cannot accomplish this,” or “I’m just a high school student, what can I possibly do to make a difference?” Such thoughts are very common. As an educator in this field, a lot of my time and energy is actually spent on undoing this mindset, building up students' confidence, convincing them of the possibility of entrepreneurship regardless of age, and explaining to students that entrepreneurship can take many forms and varieties. It is not necessarily a for-profit business. 

Most of the time, after overcoming these hurdles, I discover that the students are already internally inclined toward entrepreneurship - some even have concrete ideas of what they would like to do - but they never verbalized these ideas because of the doubt that their ideas can actually become reality.

It can be difficult to manage the legal, financial, personnel, and management aspects of any entrepreneurial endeavor. But under our guidance and mentorship, most students are pleasantly surprised to discover that if they are shown where to look and do so carefully, they find more useful resources among their communities than they previously thought existed. They find also that their communities are in fact more supportive of their student entrepreneurship efforts than they imagined. The problem is that most students struggle to find this door on their own, but once they are guided and shown the way, many students discover that while the road to entrepreneurship is not easy, it also is not as difficult as they feared.

How can the Leadership & Innovation Lab help?

Starting your own new project (whether it's a for-profit business, an on-campus organization, or a community group) requires a clear goal. Students must be innovative, adept at project management, and determined to work hard and persevere against all odds. 

Our Leadership & Innovation Lab is focused on helping students to learn, develop and practically apply these precise skills.

What is unique about our Leadership & Innovation Lab is that we place great value on hands-on application. Students are given a lot of space to try and practice the skills that they are taught in a real entrepreneurial context. Under the guidance of our experienced mentors, students will explore and discuss various entrepreneurial and management skills, then work in small groups, building on collective wisdom, to form their own new ventures and organizations. 

Our Lab will even guide students on how to strategically amplify their entrepreneurial efforts and curate demonstrated impact, as well as integrate their entrepreneurship into their overall personal narrative in a manner that is optimized for college applications. 

How does Leadership & Innovation Lab accomplish all of this? 

• First, the leadership, innovation and entrepreneurship courses we use have been specially developed in-house for high school students to quickly acquire the relevant knowledge and skills in a short period of time.

• We focus on helping students understand their own entrepreneurial and leadership strengths, discover their own natural leadership style, and define the roles that would fit them the most during the entrepreneurial process, so that they can play to their strengths.

• We help students set up their own ventures step by step, accumulating quantifiable achievements that are incredibly useful during college applications.

• We encourage students to take advantage of our workshops and networking opportunities to advance their projects and source for partnerships.

• We help our students develop a higher-level, bigger-picture vision and ultimately enhance their understanding of entrepreneurship and leadership over the longer term. We emphasize legacy planning and guide our students to think about the long-term development of their venture.

We also have a repository of existing student-run projects in which we can install new students to hold leadership positions and even to take over entirely. This is something that is uniquely offered by our Lab. 

Furthermore, we provide Showcase opportunities for our students to demonstrate and feature their work, not only for publicity and exposure but also to gain some conference-speaking experience. We also provide up to $10,000 in funding annually, dedicated to high school-level student-run projects. 

Please visit our website for further information about the Leadership & Innovation Lab.

What are some projects past students created?

• One student created a peer counseling platform to help students deal with stress and mental health issues. This student hired 9 peers, officially registered his company, and launched a website.

• Another developed a new coffee cup sleeve made exclusively from recyclable and plantable materials (it even had seeds!). With new marketing and business development skills, this student built a website and partnered with local coffee shops. 

• Finally, a student collaborated with artists from 15 high schools across the country to curate 2 online art exhibits. This student auctioned 100+ art pieces and raised proceeds to donate to disease relief.

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If you are inspired to start your own project, you can reach Maya directly at maya@leadershipinnovationlab.org.

Weekly Update: July 24

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

MARIUPOL STATE UNIVERSITY GRADUATES THE CLASS OF 2023

Ukraine’s Mariupol State University held its graduation ceremony about 400 miles away from its war-torn home city of Mariupol last week. Only about 60 of the university’s 500 graduating students attended the event in person, with the rest tuning in online. The university has been educating students virtually since the city fell to the Russian offensive last year; with about 5,000 students before the war, it now has an estimated 3,200 students actively enrolled. The university has begun constructing its new campus at a former military education center in Kyiv. 

WESLEYAN DOES AWAY WITH LEGACY ADMISSIONS

Wesleyan University announced last week that it will no longer factor legacy into its admissions process in the wake of the Supreme Court decision. Wesleyan joins highly selective schools like Amherst, MIT, Johns Hopkins and Carnegie Mellon, who have already ended legacy admissions. 

NEW VDOE MODEL POLICIES

FCPS shared the Virginia Department of Education’s new model policies last week, raising concerns about what the changes in the policies may mean for LGBTQIA+ students. Glenn Youngkin emphasizes parents’ rights in the publication, which quotes Virginia code § 1-240.1: “A parent has a fundamental right to make decisions concerning the upbringing, education, and care of the parent's child.” As such, schools are now ordered to defer to parental preference on a variety of issues, ranging from preferred pronouns to the use of school counseling services. The policies also mandate that every student (and their parent) has the right to opt the student out of sharing bathrooms and locker rooms with transgender students. FCPS is conducting a review of the policies, and reaffirmed the commitment to inclusivity for all students. 

UNIVERSITY PRESIDENTS RESIGN

This week saw two major resignations of university presidents, at Stanford and Texas A&M - both related to the universities’ journalism programs! A Stanford freshman journalist exposed photoshopped images in President Marc Tessier-Levigne’s research in November, after years of rumors that the research was doctored. In December, a Board of Trustees review of 12 of Tessier-Levigne’s papers found issues in the five papers on which he was the primary author. Though he is stepping down, Tessier-Levigne will remain on Stanford’s faculty as a biology professor.

At Texas A&M, President M. Katherine Banks resigned following controversy over her appointment of journalism director Kathleen McElroy. Dr. McElroy said that she was initially offered a five-year contract, but that it was changed to one year after conservative alumni groups objected to her work promoting diversity, including an op-ed that argued for the hiring of more non-white university professors. The controversy over the appointment, which Dr. McElroy ultimately turned down, led to the resignation of both Dr. Banks and the dean of the College of Arts & Sciences. 

SARAH LAWRENCE COLLEGE ADDS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAY

If you are a student with opinions on the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision, Sarah Lawrence wants to hear what you have to say! The university has added a new supplemental essay option to its application, which reads:

"In a 2023 majority decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, Chief Justice John Roberts wrote, 'Nothing prohibits universities from considering an applicant's discussion of how race affected the applicant's life, so long as that discussion is concretely tied to a quality of character or unique ability that the particular applicant can contribute to the university.' Drawing upon examples from your life, a quality of your character, and/or a unique ability you possess, describe how you believe your goals for a college education might be impacted, influenced, or affected by the Court's decision."

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Everyone is talking about a new study from Harvard and Brown researchers, published this morning, which found that the top 7% of college students come from families earning over $611,000 - the top 1% of the income distribution in the United States. It also found that on average, legacy students at top colleges were actually more academically qualified than non-legacies, and that graduates from private high schools had stronger academic credentials, objectively, than those from public high schools.

This aligns with an argument that professors and others have made for a long time - that increasing socioeconomic diversity means admitting fewer highly qualified students to college. But the studies also found that 16% of college students come from that top 1% of income - far higher than the percentage that excel academically. The three factors that this newsletter sees as the cause are (a) legacy admission, (b) admission from top private schools, and (c) admission for recruited athletes, who are often more affluent than other applicants. 

At first glance, the data suggests that the higher the household income, the greater the chances of admission to a highly competitive school. However, this is not the case. One nuance I noticed is that this trend only applies to the top 5% of household incomes. Between the 20th and 95th percentiles, the relationship between parent income percentile and acceptance rate is inversely proportional.

Look carefully at the numbers. Once you hit the 40th percentile in parent income, admissions rates fall. They go up slightly between the 95th-97th percentiles, a little more between the 97th-99th, and of course they skyrocket at the 99th percentile.

I would highly recommend reading the study yourself, by the way, as there are a lot of fascinating nuggets like this and I can’t summarize all of them!

It is no surprise that colleges are often liberal enclaves, with students typically more likely to vote Democrat. This Politico article explores the impact that liberal college towns have on more conservative areas of the country, arguing that Democratic votes in Dane County, home of the University of Wisconsin-Madison, make it nearly impossible for Republicans to win in Wisconsin. The same pattern is happening in a variety of other states, too - examples include Arizona, the Carolinas, Georgia, Texas, and even our home state of Virginia.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Essay work is full steam ahead here in our office! We noticed a definite lag in schools releasing their essay prompts after the Supreme Court decision, but many of our students have been able to get a great head start on their supplemental essay work anyway.

So many, in fact, that I used my time out of the office last week to catch up on essay edits! I thought this was a funny picture - I was on a boat from Cannes to St. Tropez and hot-spotting in :) Every hour counts, right? I have mostly graduated from direct essay work with our students, but I still provide extra levels of review on every single essay they produce with our team (at no extra charge!). If you’re thinking “wow, she must review a TON of essays” - you’re not wrong. I do. But the perfectionist in me needs to do it or I can’t sleep at night!

I’m sad to say that my essay edits are now taking place in a much less exciting environment, as I’m back in the office! We’re gearing up for the Common AppⓇ release next Tuesday - we’ll be working hard to make sure that all of our clients have an updated, comprehensive guide to completing the 2023-2024 application during the week of its release!

Have a great week!

Meet Rose!

We are so excited to introduce you to our newest essay coach, Rose! Once again, she’s already been on the job a little while, but we’re excited to finally introduce her to those of you who haven’t had the benefit of working with her yet!

Rose is pursuing her graduate work at the University of Maryland, and started with DCCC last spring after working as a college adviser herself for several years. We are thrilled to have her on board!

Hello! I’m Rose, one of the essay coaches at DC College Counseling. As someone who loves writing and is passionate about working with students, I am excited to get to know you and be a part of your college application process! 

I’m currently an English Literature graduate student at the University of Maryland, College Park. After finishing a year-long honors thesis, I graduated from Davidson College (home of Steph Curry) with an English major and history minor. I then began my professional career working as a college adviser, helping high school students take the next step towards their postsecondary goals. 

I’ve recently worked as a TA for a journalism grammar class at UMD and as an editorial assistant for Restoration, an academic journal that looks at seventeenth-century literary culture. Working as an essay coach at DC College Counseling has allowed me to combine my passion for writing and love of working with high school students. I hope to see you in a meeting soon!

To learn more about Rose, we thought it would be fun to have her answer some of our favorite supplemental essay prompts and short questions from previous admissions’ cycles.

We’re interested in learning about some of the ways that you explore your interests. List some resources and outlets that you enjoy, including but not limited to websites, publications,  journals, podcasts, social media accounts, lectures, museums, movies, music, or other content with which you regularly engage. (Columbia University)

Big surprise, I love to read! One of my favorite things about summer is that I have more time to read books for fun since I’m not reading for my classes. I track the books I read with an app called Storygraph, which gives you detailed data in the form of charts that categorize your reading trends. So far this year my top categories are memoir and contemporary fiction with reflective, funny, and challenging moods. Moving my body is also important to me, so I love doing yoga and walking around D.C. to explore the incredible museum culture, restaurants, and events. My favorite activity recently was the Smithsonian Solstice Saturday, with late-night music and exhibits. The next stops on my list are the Old Post Office Pavilion and an outdoor movie!

What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed? (Stanford University)  

I wish I could have witnessed the first photograph being taken. It would have been fascinating to watch people’s reactions when it was developed.

What’s your favorite word and why? (UVA)

My favorite word is “interesting” - it can have so many meanings and is also a valuable starter word that can help you get your thoughts on the page. I had a professor who banned us from using the word in her classroom because it was overused and she thought it prevented us from communicating a fuller meaning. Instead, we had to come up with synonyms. Once you start to think about what you really mean when you say “interesting,” you have to be specific and expand your vocabulary. Do you mean provocative, astonishing, relevant, ironic, disturbing, alluring? Interesting!

Dream trip… (USC)

One of my close friends from college lives in Hong Kong and I hope to visit her soon and see Asia for the first time.

Which Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor (real or imagined) best describes you? (University of Vermont)

Chunky monkey! Banana Ice Cream with Chocolatey Chunks and Walnuts: a nostalgic flavor with sweet chocolate chunks and some tougher, crunchy bits in a creamy banana ice cream.

In keeping with Rice’s long-standing tradition, please share an image of something that appeals to you. (Rice University)

Afternoon light in the windows of the Sagrada Familia, taken on my recent trip to Barcelona.

want to book a meeting with Rose?

You can schedule an essay coaching session with Rose here.

Get to know the rest of our essay coaching team!

Meet Ian

Meet Stephanie

Meet Staci

Weekly Update: July 17

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

WAKE FOREST DOES AWAY WITH INSTITUTIONAL APPLICATION

Students will no longer be able to apply to Wake Forest using the school’s own institutional application - this cycle, Wake will offer only two application options: Common or Coalition/SCOIR. This is particularly important for students who want to take advantage of Wake’s rolling ED application. The rolling admissions process makes it possible for a student to apply ED to Wake in August or September and, if they receive a deny decision, apply ED I to another school before the November deadline. 

However, the Common ApplicationⓇ only allows students to apply ED I to a single school and will block any subsequent ED I applications, even if the student hears back from the first school early. As a result, students wishing to apply rolling ED to Wake should do so using the Coalition/SCOIR application, so that they can apply ED I to another school, if need be, through the Common AppⓇ. 

HOUSE COMMITTEE INVESTIGATES UC BERKELEY PROGRAM

The House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party is expressing concerns about national security risks posed by UC Berkeley’s Tsinghua-Berkeley Shenzhen Institute, a collaboration with China’s Tsinghua University. The Committee is questioning whether Berkeley has properly disclosed Chinese funding for the Institute, as well as whether the Institute gives China access to U.S. military technology. Berkeley has said it will cooperate with the inquiry. 

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE FACES $8 MILLION FINE

The NCAA is fining the University of Tennessee eight million dollars following an investigation into recruiting violations. Tennessee football also faces five years probation. The number means that Tennessee will lose a total of 28 scholarships for athletes. The university has already self-imposed a loss of 18 scholarships, and will need to hold back 10 additional scholarships over the next several years. 

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY INSTITUTE CHALLENGES TEXAS TIKTOK BAN

A lawsuit filed last week by the Knight First Amendment Institute at Columbia University supports a coalition of faculty from Texas public universities, who argue that the state’s TikTok ban prevents them from using the platform to teach or conduct research. Texas is one of several public state university systems to ban TikTok on school-owned devices or networks. The lawsuit asks that faculty be exempted from the ban, so that they can use TikTok for research and teaching.     

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Jeff Selingo’s Next newsletter last week covered some of the biggest things we are watching in the wake of the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision. We were particularly interested in Jeff’s discussion of when college admissions officers will know about the racial and ethnic makeup of the incoming class. Will they only be able to see the data after students commit in May, or will they have the ability to look before students submit their deposits? 

While race cannot be used as a factor in admissions, if deans know the makeup of their class before deposit deadlines, race may play a major role in recruitment. If race is a factor in yield, we may see it impact financial aid packages, visits, and other outreach that contributes to how colleges increase their yield. 

A fact that won’t be surprising to most parents: college is getting more expensive. Average tuition at private colleges is $40,000, and goes down to $10,500 as an average for state colleges. But for highly selective colleges, those numbers are much higher. This article digs into some of the reasons why a college like Harvard has a final cost - including tuition, fees, housing, books, and cost of living - of $95,438 per year. Causes include the salaries of faculty. The main business of colleges, after all, is teaching - which is something that has not (yet) been outsourced to advances in AI or other tech. Plus, wealthy families are able and willing to pay more in tuition for nicer dorms, better food, and prettier campuses. And state subsidies are dropping - 37 states decreased the amount they spend on public education between 2020 and 2021. 

But there is a silver lining: while the sticker price of college has gone up, the amount that the average student actually pays for college is going down. Adjusting for inflation, students and families pay 11% less on net for college than they did five years ago. 

This article explores the impact that “ALDC” admissions has on the college admissions landscape, and how it may change in light of the Supreme Court decision. ALDC stands for athletes, legacies, children of donors, and children of faculty and staff - a population that makes up about 5% of Harvard applicants, but 30% of admitted students. This example is not unique amongst highly selective colleges, and the likely outcome from ALDC admissions is a whiter student body - something that may not be possible for colleges to maintain after the affirmative action decision. 

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Wondering how to fill that “Honors” section on the Common AppⓇ? Looking for some more activities this year? Check out some of these contests and other opportunities:

Library of Congress Friends’ Choice Video Game Challenge - Create video games that “improve public knowledge of civics” and win up to $20,000! This contest is open until November 27. 

Virginia’s Soil & Water Conservation Districts Photo Contest - Submit up to 10 photos showing what conservation looks like by August 1 and win in one of three categories, including Young Photographer for photographers under age 18. 

Northern Virginia Soil & Water Conservation Poster Contest - Design a poster focusing on the theme of watersheds and “One Water” and submit by September 30. Winners will be forwarded to the state competition. 

Fairfax Food Council Youth Representatives - Rising juniors who live and attend school in Fairfax County, Fairfax City, and Falls Church are eligible to apply, and should do so by September 15. 

National Environmental Youth Advisory Council - If you are over 16 and interested in environmental science or other related issues, this is a great position. Apply by August 22, and don’t forget to check out their info session on August 7. 

If you are a current client interested in any of the above positions, let us know - we are happy to help with your application!

Unique Freedoms on College Campuses

Happy (belated) 4th of July! As we celebrated our country’s independence last week, we thought it would be fun to honor “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness”-- college-style, of course! So today we’re sharing some unique freedoms on college campuses, from self-scheduled final exams to make-your-own-majors to tuition-free schools. 

HONOR CODES

An honor code is a set of standards and values that a school outlines for its students regarding academic integrity, ethical conduct, and behavior. Although it might just sound like a fancy label for another set of rules and restrictions, honor codes can actually offer students a surprising number of freedoms. 

At Davidson College, for example, students have the flexibility to self-schedule their final exams–and no, the professors don’t watch them take the test. Randolph-Macon College takes a similar approach to final exams, allowing undergrads to choose the time, day, and even room to complete their tests. And as part of their honor code, students have another unique liberty: freedom from “telling on” someone else. Instead of reporting an honor code violation, students are encouraged to ask the person to report themselves. 

But with great honor code freedom comes great responsibility. Haverford College has one of the few student-run honor codes, which is overseen by its Honor Council. This group of 16 students works to resolve honor code violations and maintains the spirit and integrity of the code. It’s a big job, but the Honor Council gives students the freedom to shape the campus culture and address problems fairly.

Design your own major 

Forget having to pick from a list of approved majors! Some schools give students the freedom to design their own course of study. In Indiana University’s Individualized Major Program (IMP), undergraduates work with a faculty sponsor to design a multidisciplinary major and a personalized curriculum. IMP students can’t escape the university’s general education requirements, though!  

Similarly, James Madison University’s Independent Scholars Program seeks students whose interests break the typical curricular boundaries. Participants develop an area of inquiry and plan a course of study which is grounded in experiential learning. Independent research or a creative project is a must! 

New York University is so committed to freedom of study that it dedicated an entire school to personalized majors. Gallatin School of Individualized Study emphasizes self-direction for mature students who want to build their own majors. The school also takes into account that designing a unique course of study can be challenging–and sometimes lonely. Therefore, Gallatin students are assigned two advisors. One acts as an “intellectual mentor” while the other oversees a small cohort of students and takes charge of community-building.

Grades

It’s not an urban myth! There actually are colleges and universities that don’t assign grades–well, at least not in the traditional way. Rather than relying on simple letters to measure student performance, professors at Sarah Lawrence College take a three-step approach to assessing undergrads. Critical ability assessments and narrative evaluations give faculty more freedom and flexibility to explain a student’s overall progress and performance. Plus, students are free from having to guess why they got that B+ instead of an A-. The thorough assessments and evaluations explain everything that the letter grade can’t.

While Sarah Lawrence students still see letter grades on their transcripts, that’s not the case at Brown University. Students here can choose to earn a letter grade for a particular class or a satisfactory/no credit designation. It’s up to the individual at the time of course registration, and if they change their minds later, they have the first month of the semester to switch their grading option. So with the freedom to choose letter grades or not, how does Brown calculate GPAs? Simple, they don’t! 

Students at Bennington College can also opt for letter grades, BUT only if they specifically request them during the semester. Otherwise, transcripts are composed solely of narrative evaluations, which are meant to foster a culture of conversation between students and faculty. 

Tuition

Let’s face it. High tuition costs and decades of loan repayments can be a huge burden for students. However, there are some colleges that have managed to free students of any financial worry. They have found creative ways for students to exchange tuition payments for good old-fashioned hard work. 

College of the Ozarks covers tuition costs, provided that students demonstrate need and agree to work on campus. Students at Warren Wilson College also work in exchange for tuition, with emphasis on learning a craft and gaining valuable skill sets for the professional world.

At Deep Springs College, located on a cattle ranch in California, all accepted students receive a full scholarship, including room and board. In return, undergrads are expected to work on the cattle ranch and contribute to the life of the school. The student body even helps make important decisions about admissions and faculty hires. 

scheduling

Thanks to a reimagining of the traditional semester calendar, some schools are able to offer undergraduates more freedom and flexibility in their schedules.

At Bates College, undergraduates spend the month of May taking a short course. These are immersive classes that take students off campus and into the field. Last spring, undergrads were analyzing earthquakes in California, studying theater in central Europe, and researching healthcare systems in South America. 

Undergrads at Colby College have the freedom to make dreary January much more exciting thanks to Jan Plan. This month-long block allows students to choose from an array of internships, research opportunities, and unconventional classes. For example, this past January, students had the option to earn their EMT licenses, learn the art of blacksmithing, study tropical plants in Costa Rica, and more! 

And finally, one of the most famous schools for scheduling freedom is Dartmouth College. Their D-Plan allows students to design their very own academic calendars. How exactly does that work? Well, the college distinguishes between residency terms, those where students study on campus, and leave terms, in which students intern or undertake research projects. Of course there are some guidelines to help students organize their calendars, but the D-Plan ultimately opens up a lot of possibilities that wouldn’t be available within a traditional semester schedule.

Did any of these special freedoms pique your interest? If you’d like to do some more research on any of the schools mentioned, here are some our favorite online resources:

• You can find virtual tours on the school's websites or at youvisit.com. The virtual information sessions will almost always be on the individual school websites. 

• Create a free account on the Princeton Review website at review.com and read their write-ups on various colleges. I particularly like the "See what students say" perspectives and the “Rankings & Lists” sections.

• More great resources for college profiles are the reviews at unigo.com (I like the "Most-Answered Questions" part), and the "report cards" at niche.com.

Weekly Update: July 10

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

CLEMSON UNIVERSITY BANS TIKTOK

Clemson University announced today that students will no longer be able to access TikTok through the campus network. Students, faculty, and staff can still access TikTok on personal devices using their cell networks, but the app will not be accessible on campus Wi-Fi. The university says the decision was made in order to maintain campus security.

FLORIDA ATLANTIC UNIVERSITY PAUSES PRESIDENTIAL SEARCH

On Friday, Florida Atlantic University’s Board of Trustees received a letter from the Florida State University System Board of Governors, alleging that there were anomalies in the university’s presidential search. The university argues that the anomalies were a result of a questionnaire sent out by an independent search firm, AGB Search, and were not authorized by the university. Anomalies in the questionnaire included asking a male candidate if his sexual orientation was “queer” and whether he was a “male or transgendered male.” The university is cooperating with the Board of Governors’ investigation.

LSU MAKES HISTORY IN MLB DRAFT

The MLB draft began Sunday night, and LSU made history when its players went numbers one and two overall, the first time two college teammates have been selected for the top slots back-to-back. LSU also had four draft picks total on Sunday, the most of any team in the first night. The big wins in the draft come on the heels of LSU’s national championship win last month.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

We’ve been anticipating the effect of the recent Supreme Court case on legacy admissions since long before the decision was handed down, and we’re starting to see the impact play out. Last week, a legal activist group filed a complaint against Harvard University, arguing that the school’s legacy admissions preference discriminates against Black, Latinx, and Asian students. This interesting opinion piece from a Princeton professor argues that in fact, the presence of legacy students at elite colleges benefits underprivileged students, because they can network with students that have more “cultural capital” and useful connections.

Another group with a clear admissions advantage? Recruited athletes. This opinion piece argues that it is athletic preference, not legacy admissions, that should be the first practice to go in an effort to make admissions more fair. Over 1,000 Harvard students, for example, are recruited athletes, and they receive significantly more preference in the admissions process than even legacy students. The author, who was a recruited athlete at Princeton, argues that the number of athletic recruiting slots a school offers is a “de facto quota,” which goes against the decision by the Supreme Court. We will have to see whether legacy admissions, athletic recruitment, or any other aspects of the admissions process change in the next few months and years after the decision.

For students looking for less selective schools that have great name recognition and on-campus recruitment opportunities, public state flagships are a great option! This article lists the state universities with acceptance rates over 50%, and features well-regarded schools like the University of Alabama, Penn State, and Virginia Tech. While it is important to take the acceptance rates at state schools with a grain of salt, as they are often much lower for out-of-state students than for those applying in-state (or vice versa, depending on the state!). I would not include Virginia Tech as a less selective option for Virginia residents, unfortunately, But this list could be a great starting point for students who are beginning to build their college lists!

And for college students heading off to school in the fall and looking for tips, check out Forbes’ top five financial tips for college kids to follow. This summer is a great time to start building credit, creating a budget, and getting familiar with the perks offered to you as a college student, which can range from free museum or movie tickets to free public transit in your college town to discounts at local businesses. I will add my own tip here: return your library books, and when you get a letter in the mail about library fines, DO NOT ignore it. In one sense, it’s kind of funny that the biggest mistake I made in college was failing to return library books, but the consequences were a lot less funny. The library reported me to the credit bureaus, it impacted my credit score, and when I bought my first home in my early 20s, I had to pay a higher mortgage interest rate as a result. I was never so happy to see that fall off my credit report!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

If you didn’t catch my FAQ on the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, posted at the end of last week, check that out here.

Speaking of the Supreme Court decision, I think that it is impacting some of the timing around supplemental essay prompt releases for the current admissions cycle. Schools which have had the same essay prompts for years have now indicated that they are considering making changes as a result of the ruling - because of increased dependence on essays. And from other schools that have always released prompts by this point in the cycle, we’re just hearing crickets…

If you want to know which schools have released prompts already, we keep a running pre-8/1 list here: 2023-2024 Supplemental Essay Prompts. As a reminder, our goal is to help our students complete as many essays as possible before August. This gives them plenty of time to get a lot of it out of the way before the school year starts, so they can focus on their classes (and enjoying senior year) in the fall!

Have a great week!

Questions on the Affirmative Action Decision - Answered!

Last week, the Supreme Court released decisions in the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard and Students for Fair Admissions v. UNC cases. As expected, the ruling effectively eliminates the use of formal affirmative action practices in college admissions: an incredible development for some and a devastating setback for others.

Our goal at DC College Counseling has always been to help each one of our students navigate today’s college admissions landscape in the most advantageous and strategic way possible, given their varying circumstances.

Whether our next steps together involve maximizing new opportunities or overcoming new limitations, please know that we remain committed to finding creative and ethical solutions to increase the likelihood of a positive outcome for each individual student.

With that said, we’ve been fielding a lot of questions - and we want to share our answers!

IS THIS AS BIG OF AN ADMISSIONS gAME CHANGER AS IT SEEMS?

It’s very important to read the wording of the opinion carefully to differentiate between what will change and what will stay the same. Yes, an admissions committee is no longer able to give an applicant an advantage simply due to the color of their skin alone, in a vacuum.

But admissions committees are still able to consider the impact of students’ races on their individual experiences. The mainstream media isn’t picking up on this as much as I wish it would. College admissions professionals know that this makes a big difference, because the entire college admissions process is holistic by nature anyway at highly selective schools.

Chief Justice John Roberts wrote: “Nothing in this opinion should be construed as prohibiting universities from considering an applicant’s discussion of how race affected his or her life, be it through discrimination, inspiration, or otherwise.”

That doesn’t mean this decision doesn’t matter, though. Roberts also added, “Universities may not simply establish through application essays or other means the regime we hold unlawful today.”

Ultimately, I think that underrepresented students may not see as much of an impact as we had previously imagined if (a) they have faced adversity as a result of their race, and (b) they can successfully communicate the impact of that adversity on their individual circumstances through their essays and other application materials.

We will know much more next summer, after we are able to analyze the results of a complete admissions cycle.

When does this go into effect?

The ruling will go into effect immediately, so rising seniors will see the impact of the case.

Which students will this impact most?

Now that schools have lost the ability to consider race as part of the admissions process in a blanket sense, we expect admissions committees to give more consideration to other factors that may increase diversity- such as socioeconomic status.

That could result in an easier admissions process for white or Asian students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds, and a much more difficult process for underrepresented students from privileged backgrounds. 

Asian students will likely see the biggest positive impact - in fact, the negative impact on Asian students from affirmative action policies was the central argument in this case. The major benefit to this group will actually be a lack of discrimination.

There’s also another group that I think could come out ahead - students who are diverse but didn’t quite “fit the box” for a leg up. For example, students of Middle Eastern descent. There is no question that they face discrimination in today’s society - so why weren’t they getting any kind of admissions advantage?

The justices cited this group as an example three separate times throughout the course of the opinion, noting that existing affirmative action policies “fail[ed] to articulate a meaningful connection between the means they employ and the goals they pursue” in this regard. It also specified that the current approach was “underinclusive” for Middle Eastern students in particular.

If colleges shift their approach to considering the impact of race or minority status on each individual student’s life, these students may not fall through the cracks as much.

WHICH colleges will this impact most?

There are many colleges and universities that do not use race-conscious admissions at all - in fact, it is banned in nine states, including California (so the UC system is not impacted).

I believe that the changes will be most obvious at public schools which currently do use race-conscious admissions and are less holistic in their admissions approach. To be clear, not all public schools operate this way. Many do not, including the more academically competitive institutions here in Virginia.

Private schools, on the other hand, often place greater emphasis on subjective factors like essays and recommendations. These institutions may not have to change their policies as drastically, because they can simply continue evaluating candidates on an individual basis that takes many different factors into consideration.

HBCUs, like Morehouse, Spelman, and Howard, will probably see a rise in applications as more Black students choose alternative options.

What will change on the Common ApplicationⓇ?

Students will likely still have the opportunity to indicate their race on the Common ApplicationⓇ, but beginning August 1, colleges will have the ability to block the race answer on their side, so that admissions officers do not see this answer while reading the application. We will have to stay tuned to see whether Common AppⓇ decides to do away with the box entirely in the wake of this decision.

What should I do differently as a result?

While “checkboxes” or other binary options indicating race cannot be used in the admissions process, essay content is still fair game. ALL students, whether or not they are from an underrepresented group, should pay close attention to their college essays and be strategic about the information they share (this was always true, but is especially true now!). There was actually an article in the LA Times about this very issue today.

Black, Latinx, or other underrepresented minority students will need to make sure that if they do want to discuss race on their applications, they do so in a way that connects directly to their personal characteristics. For example, a Black student could focus an essay on her determination, showing how she overcame persistent racial slights at her mostly-white high school. 

For DC College Counseling clients, we already take this approach! All of our students build their essays by choosing a personal characteristic first, before focusing on the story.

PRO TIP: Underrepresented students who do not want to include anything about race in their main Common ApplicationⓇ essay should consider preparing a separate written statement for the “Additional Information” section of the application instead.

What will the future impact of this case BE?

This decision is expected to encourage colleges and universities to remain test-optional in the coming years. As we’ve seen already with the UCs, which are test-blind, eliminating test scores from the admissions process helps create diversity on campus in the absence of race-conscious admissions. This may apply to graduate schools as well, with less of a reliance on GRE, LSAT, or GMAT scores. 

This is not necessarily a good thing for students, by the way. As many of our rising seniors are learning, test-optional policies are not test-blind policies. If you don’t know the difference, I still like my pool analogy from 2020! Plus, test-optional policies have caused test score averages to skyrocket now that the bottom group of test-takers is no longer factored in.

We may also see more schools making the decision to stop relying on legacy admissions in an effort to diversify their incoming classes. Because larger proportions of white applicants are admitted through the legacy process, colleges hoping to increase numbers of Black, Latinx, and Native American students on campus may look to eliminate the legacy preference. 

Finally, we are likely to see an impact on minority scholarship programs and outreach initiatives at colleges and universities.

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As we continue to learn more about how individual institutions plan to modify their policies or approaches in response to the ruling, we will do whatever we can to leverage this information to help our students.

Do you have any questions that I didn’t answer? Let us know in the comments!

Weekly Update: July 3

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

SUPREME COURT ENDS AFFIRMATIVE ACTION IN COLLEGE ADMISSIONS

The biggest college-related news of the week is, of course, the Supreme Court’s decision last Thursday that did away with the use of race in college admissions. We have been getting a ton of questions from you about this decision and how it will impact this admissions cycle, so look out for more information in our FAQ blog post later this week. 

GRADUATE CHARGED IN ASSAULT CASE AT UNIVERSITY OF WATERLOO

Also on Thursday, a 24-year-old recent graduate of the University of Waterloo was charged with assault for stabbing two students and a professor in a gender studies class. The attack is believed to be a hate crime, targeting gender identity and gender expression. 

MONTGOMERY COLLEGE PROFESSOR GUILTY OF SEXUAL HARASSMENT

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights found a professor at Maryland’s Montgomery College guilty of sexual harassment and violation of Title IX after he required his female students to remove their shirts and commented on their bodies, allegedly to demonstrate a medical examination. The professor was fired after it was determined that his class created “a hostile environment on the basis of sex.”

DEBATE OVER “PROBLEM OF WHITENESS” COURSE AT UCHICAGO 

The “Chicago statement,” a 2014 declaration in support of free speech on campus at the University of Chicago, has been a guideline for other schools for years when it comes to campus speech. The statement came under question this year when a UChicago sophomore and conservative activist shared the name, photo, and email address of Professor Rebecca Journey, who was scheduled to teach a seminar called “The Problem of Whiteness.” The student has not received any disciplinary action in response, and others at the university continue to debate what constitutes free speech and what can be considered “cyberabuse.”

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Lots of articles to share this week in the wake of the affirmative action decision! This one from the New York Times discusses how race-neutral admissions may lead to the entire process becoming more subjective, with more emphasis on personal qualities (and the essay) and less emphasis on grades and test scores, in an effort for admissions offices to retain diversity without explicitly considering race. The Atlantic explores the particular impact that this decision may have on the admissions essay, arguing that the decision will mean that more students will need to shoehorn race-related incidents into their admissions essays, leading to more formulaic personal statements. And NPR reviews how the UC system responded to the ban on affirmative action established for California public universities in 1996, which may provide some insight into how other colleges will respond to the ban in the coming months and years. We think we might see more colleges going the way of the UCs and becoming test blind in an effort to maintain their diversity - more on this soon!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Our office is closed tomorrow for the holiday - wishing everyone a happy Fourth of July!

If you’re on the beach this week, don’t forget to check out our 2023 Fiction Summer Reading List and 2023 Nonfiction Summer Reading List. And I have an extra recommendation for parents - I’ve been making my way through Dr. Becky’s Good Inside: A Guide to Becoming the Parent You Want to Be and I can’t get over how spot-on it is. I wish I had read it sooner! :)

Weekly Update: June 27

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES AWAIT AFFIRMATIVE ACTION DECISION

The Supreme Court could issue a ruling on whether schools can continue to consider race in college admissions as soon as tomorrow, and colleges and universities are preparing. While no school has yet released a concrete plan for how they might respond if affirmative action is abolished, we suspect that this will impact whether or not schools remain test optional, as well as whether those that consider legacy as part of admissions will continue to do so. 

DESANTIS CHALLENGES COLLEGE ACCREDITATION

Last week, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration sued the U.S. Department of Education, claiming that it was disrupting the efforts of Florida public universities to switch accreditors. DeSantis says that accreditation boards have too much power over Florida schools, and are undermining decisions made by his administration. Florida’s current accreditor is the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACS), but more than half of Florida public schools are expected to change accreditors in the next two years. 

DUKE UNIVERSITY OFFERS FREE TUITION

If you are a Carolina resident, you might be in luck - Duke University is offering free tuition to students from North and South Carolina whose families make less than $150,000 per year. Duke is already need blind and meets 100% of students’ demonstrated need, but the full tuition grant is designed to encourage more applicants from the Carolinas, who can apply with the knowledge that if admitted, they will be able to attend without financial hardship. 

FLORIDA GATORS SCORE MOST RUNS IN COLLEGE WORLD SERIES HISTORY, BUT STILL LOSE

During a 24-4 game against LSU on Sunday, Florida scored 24 runs - breaking the previous record of 23 runs, scored by Notre Dame in 1957 and by Arizona State in 1984. But don’t feel too bad for LSU - they had a comeback on Monday evening and won the College World Series!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Last week, we shared an Atlantic opinion piece from a Princeton professor who believes that universities should not take political stances. This week, the opinion comes from a Princeton student - a rising senior who argues that when university departments take a political stance, it alienates some of their students. In the coming months, Princeton’s faculty will vote on a proposal that would prevent departments from taking positions on controversial issues. The student offers examples of the kind of official communications, from condemnation of the Kyle Rittenhouse verdict to the support of Roe v. Wade, that would be limited under the new proposal. 

The recurring question - is college worth it? - has a new answer. According to an analysis from the Institution for Higher Education Policy released last week, college is worth it for 93% of students. The report is meant to identify colleges that provide a “minimum economic return” for their students. In other words, college is “worth it” if students earn at least as much as a high school graduate, plus recoup their investment in college tuition, within 10 years after graduation. Public universities provide the best economic return, likely due to lower tuition costs, while for-profit colleges and private colleges are least likely to help students reach the threshold. 

Not a fan of Greek life? Check out U.S. News’ list of 10 Colleges with No Fraternities or Sororities, which features schools like Princeton, Middlebury, and Virginia’s own University of Mary Washington.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

I (Colleen) was featured last week in U.S. News’ list of 18 Ways to Prepare for Your Freshman Year of College, sharing some of my top tips. If you are a Class of 2023 student, I highly recommend using at least a few hours of your summer to refresh yourself on topics from your high school courses, especially courses like math and foreign language that build on themselves year to year. This is also a great time to take a look at the list of clubs and organizations on your campus, so you can make a plan to get involved - without getting totally overwhelmed at the club fair! 

Shannon, Staci, and Ian led our second research session for clients last week. Performing college research is an essential skill for students as they think about writing “Why This School?” essays this summer. Wondering how the research session came to be? We noticed that our students have so much trouble with these types of essays and wanted to give them a little bit of extra help. After brainstorming ideas, we decided to offer all rising seniors two different opportunities to join a special session on research at no additional charge.

We covered: 

• Parsing the prompt to really understand what the school is asking you to write about in your essay

• Identifying aspects of the school that are unique and relevant to your interests - and which attributes aren't unique at all!

• Using the ASC Method for performing research focused on academics, student life, and community

• Choosing where to get started with your research and how to fact-check when you are done

Current clients who weren’t able to attend a session can, of course, work on these skills one on one during regular essay coaching meetings with their coaches! Our schedules are now posted throughout the summer, and we encourage our current clients to book meetings ASAP to ensure they get their preferred times to complete their essay work this summer. 

Have a great week!

Meet Ian!

A few months ago, we were thrilled to welcome our newest essay coach Ian to the DC College Counseling team! He’s been so busy working with our students that he hasn’t had a chance to formally introduce himself–until today! Read on to learn more about Ian, including why he loves tutoring students and which videos he can’t get enough of on YouTube.

Hi there! I’m Ian, and I’m happy to join the DC College Counseling team as an essay coach! I’ve been obsessed with writing ever since the fourth grade, when I was assigned the task of writing my first-ever short story. I’ve come a long way since then, but my interest in reading and writing has only gotten stronger. 

I graduated summa cum laude as an Outstanding English Major from Oklahoma Christian University in 2017, and then pursued my M.A. in English at Georgetown University. I passed my M.A. thesis with distinction, and graduated in the spring of 2020. That fall, I matriculated in the Ph.D. in English program at the University of Virginia, where I am currently a doctoral candidate, having finished coursework and passed my qualifying exams. I’ve begun work on my dissertation, and hope to earn my doctorate by the spring of 2025. I’m especially interested in contemporary fiction.

I worked as a writing center tutor in both college and at Georgetown, and this is really where my love of essay coaching began. There are few things I find more rewarding than talking to someone one-on-one about their writing: how to make it sharper, clearer, and more able to express the ideas they want to convey. I’ve also worked as a teaching assistant at all levels of my undergraduate and graduate education. I have been the instructor of record for a first-year, essay-focused writing class at UVA, and I have extensive experience in helping high school students, college students, and veterans with their writing.

Being a student, teacher, and tutor simultaneously has allowed me to engage in the writing process from all sides, and it’s deepened my appreciation for writing across disciplines and contexts. I’m so excited to have begun essay coaching at DC College Counseling, and I’m looking forward to helping everyone embark on the writing process!

Ian is currently working toward his Ph.D. in English at UVA. Maybe you’ll run into him as your first-year writing instructor one day!

To learn more about ian, we thought it would be fun to have him answer some of our favorite supplemental essay prompts and short questions from previous admissions’ cycles.

We’re interested in learning about some of the ways that you explore your interests. List some resources and outlets that you enjoy, including but not limited to websites, publications,  journals, podcasts, social media accounts, lectures, museums, movies, music, or other content with which you regularly engage. (Columbia University)

I love going to museums — the National Gallery of Art and the Hirshhorn are two of my favorites. And I love watching Architectural Digest house tours on YouTube! 

What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed? (Stanford University)  

I wish I could have seen the moon landing in real time! 

What’s your favorite word and why? (UVA)

My favorite word is “plangent” — a word that sounds just as evocative as its definition: “(of a sound) loud, reverberating, and often melancholy.” 

Dream trip…(USC)

I would love to make a return visit to the North Island of New Zealand — the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. 

Which Ben & Jerry’s ice cream flavor (real or imagined) best describes you? (University of Vermont)

I would have to go with Cherry Garcia: sweet with cherries, but also with chocolate chunks! 

In keeping with Rice’s long-standing tradition, please share an image of something that appeals to you. (Rice University)

Cheval Rouge by Alexander Calder, in the National Gallery of Art's Sculpture Garden -- one of Ian’s favorite places in DC!

want to book a meeting with ian?

You can schedule an essay coaching session with Ian here.

Get to know the rest of our essay coaching team!

Meet Stephanie

Meet Staci

Weekly Update: June 19

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

COLLEGE BOARD WILL KEEP AP CURRICULA

Florida recently asked the College Board to update its AP curricula to modify any courses that conflict with Florida’s law which restricts teaching sexual orientation and gender identity in the classroom. Last week, the College Board responded to the request with a letter stating that it would not be making the changes. 

Florida’s request didn’t specifically mention AP Psychology, but this is likely the course that would be impacted by the rule. The College Board argues that without discussing sexual orientation and gender identity in AP Psychology, the course would no longer have all of the content necessary for students to receive college credit. 

The College Board’s refusal comes in the wake of Florida’s ban on the AP African American Studies course. The Board did make changes to that course, and received a lot of backlash from professors of African American studies. We will be watching to see if AP Psychology is banned for Florida students!

COLLEGE DEI PROGRAMS DISAPPEAR

On Wednesday, Texas Governor Greg Abbott prohibited diversity, equality, and inclusion offices in Texas public colleges. The law will affect UT Austin as well as other colleges in the UT system. The law allows students and faculty to sue the college if DEI trainings of any kind are mandated. Florida has already instituted a similar ban, stopping state funding for DEI programs - Governor Abbott is expected to sign a similar funding-related bill in Texas. 

But Florida and Texas aren’t the only states where DEI offices will see changes. North and South Carolina introduced bills to track DEI spending at public colleges, while in Ohio, a bill to abolish diversity training in public colleges is currently in the legislative process. 

DREXEL AND SALUS UNIVERSITIES MERGE

Mergers between larger colleges and struggling smaller schools have been more common since COVID-19 depleted college enrollment, and the latest schools to merge are Drexel and Salus Universities. The merger, which will take place next summer, will provide Drexel with the health sciences resources of Salus, including labs and clinical facilities. New programs at Drexel will include optometry, audiology, occupational therapy, and more.

WAKE FOREST’S FIRST COLLEGE WORLD SERIES SINCE 1955

The Demon Deacons are headed to the College World Series for the first time since their 1955 championship win. 68 years ago, the biggest controversy around their appearance was the team taking the field on the Sabbath - thankfully, this time around Sunday will be an off day for the tournament!

THE YOUNGEST COLLEGE GRADUATES

Every year around this time, we see a rash of stories about interesting college graduates - the youngest, the oldest, the entire family graduating at once that we wrote about a few weeks ago! This year brought us a 12-year-old with an associate’s degree from Los Angeles City College - she started when she was 9 - and a 14-year-old with an engineering degree from Santa Clara University and a job at SpaceX! 

We found these two stories particularly interesting because of the contrast between the parents’ choices for their young students. 12-year-old Fiona Currie’s parents are sending her to high school, despite her 4.0 college GPA, saying that they want her to have the social experience of being in high school with students her age. 14-year-old Kairan Quazi, on the other hand, applied to 98 jobs and chose SpaceX from his three offers. 

Your student may not be a college graduate as a preteen, but these are things that many parents think about when debating whether to send a student to college early or help them pursue an associate’s degree while in high school. Our perspective? It is generally better to keep a student with their peers, like Fiona’s parents did - but the choice is different for different families!

FCPS INTRODUCES COURSERA CAREER ACADEMY PILOT

Coursera and FCPS are offering an awesome pilot program for Fairfax County students! Up to 1,000 students will be able to access Coursera’s Career Academy, with the ability to learn from experts at companies like Microsoft and Google and access almost 30 professional certificates. This is a great opportunity for students to explore different careers! You should be able to fill out the interest form here to gain access, but as of the time we are posting, it’s not loading for us. We assume that it will work for those with FCPS email accounts!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

We’ve got some interesting questions for you to consider this week!

Where did most Fortune 500 CEOs attend college? If you guessed “nowhere,” you’d be right! Successful CEOs go to a huge variety of schools - this year, only 11 or 12 of the top 100 CEOs attended an Ivy League university for undergrad. Of the top 20, 14 of them went to public colleges and only one - Amazon’s Andy Jassy - graduated from the Ivy League. But 5 of the top 20 CEOs didn’t go to college at all! Looks like resourcefulness, determination, and networking skills are much more important for aspiring business leaders than the brand name of their college. 

Should colleges take political stances? Princeton professor Robert P. George says no. George argues that when Princeton’s Program in Gender and Sexuality Studies released a statement condemning last summer’s Dobbs decision, the program made a mistake. Official political statements from universities, he said, can make some students feel excluded. 

Do American universities have something to learn from Oxbridge? As we wait for the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision and colleges’ responses, this article from the Financial Times has a suggestion - American schools could learn something from the UK’s Oxford and Cambridge. The article outlines what elite UK schools have done to make their classes more diverse, and considers whether these changes would be applicable to schools in the United States. 

What does the average University of Minnesota student look like? We’ll give you a hint - they appear to be standing in the snow. When AI was asked to generate “average” students at 18 different colleges, it turns out they all dress in their schools’ colors - and aptly, UT Austin students wear tank tops while Minnesota students are bundled up! Check out all of the fun photos on Buzzfeed.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

I (Colleen) am out of the office this week, but Shannon and our admin team are holding down the fort - please reach out to them at admin@dccollegecounseling.com with any questions.

Have a great week!

Best of LGBTQIA+ Colleges

This year we are celebrating Pride Month by recognizing some of the most LGBTQIA+ friendly campuses in the country! These picks are based on our own impressions as well as data from the Campus Pride Index - a resource that measures a number of factors to compile a list of campuses to help LGBTQIA+ students and families find their best fit! Take a look at some of these schools this Pride Month: 

BEST IN VIRGINIA - Virginia Wesleyan University

Okay, so it may not have as much of a household name as some of the other Virginia schools, but Virginia Wesleyan is a great hidden gem! It ranks #5 on the Campus Pride Index (the highest ranking), and offers an Office of Gender and Sexuality Equity; Safe Space and Unconscious Bias workshops for faculty, staff, and students; and gender-neutral restrooms. In 2021, the university was recognized as an Equity & Inclusion College of Distinction. VWU’s Preferred Name and Pronoun form is shared with all faculty before the start of the semester, so students can ensure that professors know their preferred method of identification before they step into the classroom.  

BEST IN MARYLAND - University of Maryland

UMD offers a multitude of unique opportunities for LGBTQIA+ students. Any student can access the resources of the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, & Transgender Equity Center, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg! The Lavender Leadership Honor Society is believed to be the first of its kind in the world, recognizing students, faculty, staff, and alumni involved in LGBTQIA+ social justice leadership. The Rainbow Terrapin Network organizes members of the school community to advocate for LGBTQIA+ social justice on campus, particularly in its newest initiative, the #TransTerps Project. 

In fact, not only did UMD receive the honor of being named the most LGBTQ+ friendly college in Maryland, it is ranked #1 in the nation by Campus Pride!

BEST IN DC - American University

The American University Center for Diversity and Inclusion spearheads a number of campus initiatives. In addition to producing an LGBTQIA+ newsletter, the office also offers a Trans Resource Guide and dedicated contact to help students navigate university policies. The university also has an all-gender housing option and the popular AU Pride student organization. Students can find support in a variety of ways at AU - everything from a dedicated AU LGBTQIA+ Facebook group to specialized health equity resources. 

BEST LIVING-LEARNING COMMUNITY - Dartmouth College

Dartmouth College’s Triangle House is open to all students, regardless of their sexual identification or gender identity. Residents have discussion groups focused on LGBTQIA+ issues, and can choose from multiple other options for engagement, from taking courses that focus on LGBTQIA+ topics to conducting an independent project with the Triangle House Live-In Advisor. Students are also encouraged to work together on social justice organizing, service, activism, and/or social change. In addition to the Live-In Advisor, students have the support of a Staff Advisor and peer mentor. 

BEST HBCU - Howard University

Another DC school on the list, Howard has the honor of being Campus Pride’s most highly-rated HBCU. Howard staff and faculty receive Safe Zone training on campus, and students can join organizations like the Coalition of Activist Students Celebrating the Acceptance of Diversity and Equality (CASCADE). Additionally, the university provides gender-inclusive housing and specialized LGBTQIA+ organizations in academic disciplines ranging from science to law. 

BEST STUDENT-SELECTED - Mount Holyoke College

Mount Holyoke tops the Princeton Review’s list of LGBTQ-Friendly colleges, based on student responses to the statement, “Students treat all persons equally, regardless of their sexual orientation and gender identity/expression.” This statement definitely describes Mount Holyoke!

This women’s college was the first of the Seven Sisters colleges to adopt a trans-inclusive admissions policy. LGBTQIA+ students can attend programs at the Jeannette Marks Cultural Center; live in the Mary Woolley Living-Learning Community with a focus on sexuality and gender identity; and join one of several LGBTQIA+ focused clubs. 

BEST FOR HEALTH EQUITY - University of Pennsylvania

All students can take advantage of Penn’s LGBT Center, which, in addition to providing advocacy and access to campus resources, also hosts a variety of events (most recently a pride month Pride & Popsicles pop up!). You can check out their active instagram @PennLGBT.

But it is the school’s medical system that stands out on this list. The Human Rights Campaign recently named Penn Medicine a “Leader in LGBT Healthcare Equality.” It offers LGBTQ treatment teams as well as a Transgender Patient Advocacy Program.

BEST PRIDE MONTH CELEBRATION - San Diego State University

If you are going to celebrate Pride Month at any college, make it San Diego State! The university’s Pride Center has an annual contingent in the San Diego Pride Parade, as well as an alumni mixer and happy hour. And for those who can’t make it to campus, the university will also host a virtual celebration. 

But it isn’t only during Pride that LGBTQIA+ students should consider San Diego State - its Pride House living-learning community, active Pride Center, and gender-inclusive housing make it #2 on Campus Pride’s list. 

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If you didn’t see a college you liked on this list, check out our list of unexpectedly LGBTQ-friendly campuses!

Finally, if you came upon this post as an LGBTQIA+ student who is embarking on the college admissions process without parental support because of your sexual orientation, our hearts go out to you. Please reach out to us - you DO have options, even if you don’t know they exist, and we would be happy to discuss them with you and get you the help you need at no charge. 

Happy Pride!

Weekly Update: June 12

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAY TOPICS RELEASED

Several schools have begun to release supplemental essays for the 2023-2024 application cycle, including the University of Georgia, the University of Vermont, and the University of Miami. We’ll be keeping track of these prompts for our clients, but even non-clients can follow our Supplemental Essays Database to have access to the prompts. Remember: the more work you complete over the summer, the easier fall will be!

COLUMBIA DROPS OUT OF U.S. NEWS RANKINGS

Last week, Columbia became the first major university to stop sharing data on its undergraduate program with U.S. News & World Report. Several high-ranking law schools (including Columbia, Harvard, and Yale) have already stopped using the ranking system, but undergraduate schools have not followed suit - until now. The move comes after Columbia dropped from #2 to #18 in the rankings, due to providing inaccurate data, and is only the latest in a series of criticism of the U.S. News rankings and whether they actually benefit potential college students and families.  

KENTUCKY STRUGGLES TO HOUSE RECORD NUMBER OF INCOMING FRESHMEN

Many schools have record-breaking incoming classes this cycle, and the University of Kentucky is no exception. Without enough housing for students, Kentucky is encouraging students to “TRI-IT” - in other words, to create forced triples with three students in rooms initially meant to house two. Students can live in the triple rooms for a discounted rate. 

Even if you aren’t headed to Kentucky next year, this is something to look out for - other universities, like Villanova, also have forced triples, and with record numbers of incoming first year students at many schools, the practice may become more common. 

TRIBAL UNIVERSITY IS FIRST TO OFFER PHD

Navajo Technical University plans to offer a Ph.D. program in Navajo culture and language sustainability this fall, making it the first tribal university to offer a program at this level. The goal of the program is to help preserve the Navajo language, and the university hopes that it will be the first of many such programs at tribal colleges and universities across the country.  

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

As we all wait anxiously for the Supreme Court affirmative action decision, there are plenty of articles about the impact it may have on the admissions process. We were particularly interested in this piece from The Atlantic, which discusses the problem with colleges expecting students to “put their trauma on display” in their college essays. We hear about this expectation from students all the time. Many of them feel that if something “bad” hasn’t happened to them, they won’t be able to write a good college essay - or that if something bad has happened to them, they need to share it with college admissions officers to write a strong essay. The fear is that if affirmative action goes away, students will have even more pressure to discuss their traumatic experiences in their essays, so that colleges can use their personal background in the consideration of their application. We will have to see whether this is true after the Supreme Court releases its decision!

Graduating seniors were in ninth grade when the pandemic began, and this has affected their future plans. This article states that COVID-19 affected the decision on college choice or college major for over 40% of the Class of 2023. Post-COVID graduates are more likely to go directly to work rather than attend college, compared to students in the Class of 2019. Social and academic challenges as a result of the pandemic have definitely contributed to students’ attitudes toward school in general and college in particular, and we’ll have to wait and see whether this trend continues - or whether the number of students interested in college bounces back in the next few years.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

The end of the school year is around the corner for many students, and with it, essay work is ramping up for our juniors! They are going to put in a lot of hard work over the next few months, but it will be so worth it when they are done with our Finish by September Timeline! They will spend senior year focused on their classes and other commitments, not applications. Our past clients report that this is one of their favorite parts of working with our team!

We’ve also brought on a new essay coach for our busy essay season - a big welcome to Rose! She is pursuing graduate work at UMD, after working as a school college counselor with the College Advising Corps in conjunction with Davidson College. It’s rare to find an essay coach with college counseling experience, so we’re thrilled to have her on board. We will introduce her on the blog in more detail in the coming weeks!

Last but not least, McClain - who I believe at this point has been with DC College Counseling longer than any other essay coach - is back again for another great summer with us. So many kids over the years have absolutely loved working with McClain and we’re very lucky to have the benefit of all of her experience!

Current clients can book meetings with Rose and McClain here!

Have a great week!

Spotlight on the New AP Precalculus Course

There’s good news in store for math lovers and even reluctant math learners: this coming fall, AP Precalculus will make its debut! Today, we’re going to tell you all about this new class and explain why it could be a great addition to your schedule next year. 

Why was AP Precalculus Created?

For years, College Board has offered Advanced Placement courses in Calculus AB, Calculus BC, and Statistics. These have been good options for students who took Geometry or higher in ninth grade, and will therefore have a math sequence** that culminates beyond Precalculus.

But what about the students who took Algebra I in ninth grade, or just want a more rigorous math option earlier in high school? That’s where AP Precalculus comes in! The course is designed for a broader range of students– anyone who’s successfully completed Algebra II and Geometry or Integrated Math 3. As College Board explains,

“AP Precalculus will open the door for many students to advanced course studies in mathematics and will bring a college-level course to students who may not have access to other AP math classes.”

And not only does AP Precalculus “open doors” for a more diverse group of students; it’s also been created to help address a significant issue in higher education: weak math skills! According to College Board, one-third of undergraduates don’t actually have college-level math skills. That means many students struggle through required math courses ,and some even have to spend extra time and money on remedial classes. AP Precalculus is meant to empower high schoolers with the foundations they’ll need to successfully navigate college-level math, regardless of their major or future career path.

* Sorry, stats lovers. While these courses are all higher level, that doesn’t mean that colleges regard them equally.

** If you’re confused about how high school math sequencing works, you have to go back to middle school math enrollment to see where it all begins. Check out this blog post to learn more. The average American high school student takes Algebra I in 9th grade and Precalculus in 12th grade. This is not the case in our geographic area, where most students come in at a higher level with Geometry in 9th grade - and some even higher, with Algebra II.

What content is covered in AP Precalculus?

AP Precalculus is rooted in the development of three mathematical practices: procedural and symbolic fluency; multiple representations; and communication and reasoning. To develop these practices, students complete four major units of study: polynomial and rational functions; exponential and logarithmic functions; trigonometric and polar functions; and functions involving parameters, vectors, and matrices. PS: Unit four is NOT included in the AP exam! 

Within each unit, there are a series of smaller, more specific topics. We’ll spare you the details so this blog post doesn’t turn into a book, but if you’re curious about the topics, you can take a look at the Course at Glance document. And if you’re really brave, you can delve into College Board’s whopping 183-page AP Precalculus course and examination description. 

What are the advantages of AP Precalculus?

One of the big advantages of AP Precalculus is that it’s great preparation for the math you’re likely to encounter in college, regardless of your major. Even if you don’t plan to become an accountant or engineer, you’ll be ready to conquer any general education or core Calculus I requirements. 

And if you’re not sure what you want to major in, AP Precalculus could help spark your interest in STEM-related fields. In fact, College Board reported that female students “taking one year of high school precalculus resulted in a 48% increase in the odds of choosing a science or math major.”

There’s also the allure of college credits. You might be able to fulfill a college math requirement if you successfully pass the AP Precalculus exam. Like any AP course, though, there’s no guarantee that your future college or university will accept the credits. Use College Board’s AP Credit Policy Search tool to see which schools offer credit or placement for AP scores - and know that since this particular course is being offered for the first time, schools may not know for sure yet.

Lastly, the AP option is a great way to maximize course rigor for students who plan to take Precalculus anyway. A student who chooses AP Precalculus over Honors Precalculus will show colleges that they have taken the most challenging math course available to them during that particular year.

Who Should Consider Taking AP Precalculus? 

AP Precalculus could be a good fit for a range of students, most notably:

• Those who began with Algebra I in ninth grade and are ready for more challenging math coursework during their senior year, or are preparing for a STEM-related or business major requiring higher-level math in college

• Those who began with Geometry in ninth grade and are preparing to take AP Calculus AB or AP Calculus BC during senior year

• Those who began with Algebra II in ninth grade and are preparing to take AP Calculus AB or AP Calculus BC during junior year, and AP Calculus BC or Multivariable Calculus/Linear Algebra during senior year

Like any other advanced placement course, AP Precalculus will be rigorous, and it will take up your time. Before enrolling in the class, think realistically about how it fits in with your math abilities, your academic interests, and your other academic courses. Your counselor and math teachers are good resources to help you make an informed decision.

Additional AP Precalculus Resources

AP Precalculus: An Overview

AP Course Ledger: Check this website throughout the summer to see which high schools will be offering AP Precalculus in the fall.