Recruiting Athletes

Sports Illustrated's latest issue includes a story about how college coaches go about the process of mailing information and letters to prospective student athletes. They provide some fascinating data about the quantity and substance of many of these mailings. I think what impacted me most (and is consistent with what I have seen in letters to WKHS students) is how few of the letters are personalized and how many are just a standard mass mailing communication. I was a bit shocked by how few of the letters that the student athlete they were following actually opened. I wonder if they would have looked at the times of when the letters were mailed if they would have found that he read more of the letters early on and then as the letters became overwhelming and he had realized that they were not personalized that the liklihood that he would actually open and read them decreased. For those students who are hoping to pursue athletics in college, this is an article worth the time to read.

The Princeton Review's View of Colleges

There is a wide range of resources available to help students obtain a better idea about different colleges and what life might be like on campus. Nothing can replace your impression of the campus and how you can (or cannot) imagine fitting in at a particular school, but there are other tools such as school websites, visits with admissions representatives, and books or other resources that all contain information that can help round out your view of a school. Many people put a great deal of stock into college rankings and this week the Princeton Review released their updated book on the "Best 371 Colleges" which features summaries of different schools and lists "Top 20's" for 62 different categories. The lists are entertaining and shouldn't receive too much attention (since, as this Associated Press story points out, there were, on average, just 325 respondents per school), but there is some very interesting information that you can find by reading these lists. For example, if you LOVE sports then it should be a warning to you if you realize that your top choice of college is on the "Nobody plays intramural sports" and "Intercollegiate Sports Unpopular or Nonexistent" lists. I do want to caution you - do NOT read too much into this resource - use it as just one more source. For example, when you read things like top party schools (which has OU at #5 on the list) you will find that some students might be responding in a way that they want outside people to perceive their school and it is also important to keep this in perspective because students can find and make college into whatever experience they want. Obviously, since they are highlighting 371 colleges, all schools are not included. Enjoy checking to see where your colleges of choice fall on their various lists.

Independent College Counselors

The front page of Sunday's New York Times featured a story about the use of independent college counselors. It is a trend that started on the coasts and has expanded across the nation and I have even heard that it is here in central Ohio. The concept of using an independent college counselor is a hotly debated topic which was evident by the follow up story that the New York Times ran on their Choice Blog. I would caution you to be careful to avoid paying someone for the work that can be done for you free of charge at school!

Visiting Colleges

I hope that your summer has been productive and enjoyable! I have been enjoying the beautiful weather and spending time with family and friends.

One common summertime activity for many high school students (and counselors) is to visit college campuses. The New York Times recently featured a story about a group of counselors who made a tour through college campuses and made the entire trip on bicycle. *I* will not be heading out on bike to see colleges, but it is a good reminder that you can be creative in finding the best method that will work for you and your families to visit schools.

Please remember, that I would like a picture of you on every college campus that you visit!

The Search for a College

The Cincinnati Enquirer is running a series called "College Quest" as they follow a group of students through the process of searching for a college. They have created a special website with various articles related to the students and their college search. Students and Experts are also blogging about the college search. There is a lot of great information contained within the stories and articles. It is also a good reminder that there are LOTS of other students going through the college search process in addition to you so even though it can be a bit overwhelming you will make it through. Check out the article and be sure to click on the links to read some of the blog updates and other related articles too. A special thank you to Mrs. Haverkamp who shared this website with me!

An Update...

My goodness... I have been slacking on getting updates out here on my blog. I am sorry! Every day I think that I will make a post and then somehow the day escapes me without updating.

I had a great question e-mailed to me by a student regarding the difference between the Common Application and the College ZApps that is featured on PrepHQ. Chances are that more of you probably have similar questions so I wanted to share the answer with all of you...

The Common Application is a centralized website (see previous post) where you can go and fill out applications and then have it submitted to the colleges who are on the Common App list. There is no additional fee for using the Common Application website to apply to the colleges - just the college application fee (if applicable) which would be the same if you applied using the Common App website or if you applied directly on the college website.

PrepHQ is a GREAT resource for WKHS students and parents and it has a ton of information. It is free for the district to use, but in order for the company to pay their bills they have a variety of different sponsors and corporate partners. College ZApps is one of those partners. Honestly, I do not see any value or reason to use their website as you can go out onto the college's website directly and apply to the schools without the extra fee that they will charge you. I also learned that on PrepHQ some of the colleges have a "share information" button - this is not something that I can see from my side of PrepHQ, but generally speaking, my recommendation is not to use that feature. Nothing the colleges need to know about you needs to go out through PrepHQ - it is intended to be used as a resource for you and your parents and not as a tool to communicate your information to the colleges. Obviously, you have the right to release any information that you want, but I would recommend against it.

If you have any other questions, feel free to let me know.

The Common Application

The Common Application is a centralized application that students can complete for over 300 different colleges and as of July 1st is now updated and released for the Class of 2010 to begin working on their applications. The colleges that participate in this application method commit to treating applications received through the Common App with the same consideration as if students had applied through the institutions idividual application. This will generally mean that you have to spend less time filling out all of the basic information about yourself and can mean that you have fewer essays to write (but maybe not).

On the common app there are two essays - one short answer (150 words) and one long essay which is to answer one of the following questions:

- Evaluate a significant experience, achievement, risk you have taken, or ethical dilemma you have faced and its impact on you.

- Discuss some issue of personal, local, national, or international concern and its importance to you.

- Indicate a person who has had a significant influence on you, and describe that influence.

- Describe a character in fiction, a historical figure, or a creative work (as in art, music, science, etc.) that has had an influence on you, and explain that influence.

- A range of academic interests, personal perspectives, and life experiences adds much to the educational mix. Given your personal background, describe an experience that illustrates what you would bring to the diversity in a college community, or an encounter that demonstrated the importance of diversity to you.

- Topic of your choice.

Then, the "tricky" part of it all is that many of the schools will also have supplements required which are other questions of their own that they want students to complete. Sometimes it is just simple questions that weren't covered on the common app, but would have been if you had applied through their individual application, but often times it includes short or long answer essays. Be aware and be prepared for that when completing your application. (I will say that over the last several days I have been looking at various supplements from schools that I know some students are considering and I caution you to double check before you start writing essays to make sure that it is an updated supplement - a few of the colleges still have last year's supplements posted and you definitely do not want to have to write any more essays than necessary.)

Not all schools use the common app - there are 17 Ohio schools which utilize the common application, but as you are getting ready to start applications for the schools you are considering it is worth your time to look and see if more than one school uses the common app.