Are You Being Productive?

I'm curious to know how productive you have been this summer? Personally, I find that I need to structure my time or else I can waste a day away and not have any idea where the time went. I am particularly anxious to hear (and see) how productive all of the seniors have been this summer. Last spring when we met for your individual meetings as well as in the large junior student & parent meeting we talked about some of the things you could (and ideally should) be working on this summer to prepare yourself for the college application process.

We talked about researchng colleges, making college visits, asking teachers for recommendation letters, organizing your list of high school activities and awards (into resume format or at least a list), narrowing down your college list so that you have a pretty solidified list about where you plan to apply when we start school next month, organizing all of your intended colleges so that you know their deadline dates and what materials you will need for applying, reading, doing any prep-work for the ACT/ SAT that you still wanted/ needed to do, working on your essay questions, volunteer, look for scholarships, and, if applicable, complete all of your summer coursework for AP or Honors classes. It is a pretty demanding list and a lot of times students think they'll have "more time" to work on it "later" when it isn't summer and they are back in a school mindset. Please remember, that once you start your classes you will have teachers demanding homework, over 7 hours of your day spent in school, plus athletics and other activities occupying your time.

Summer is also a great time to be able to ask questions of your friends who are home from college about what their experience has been like. Types of questions you might want to consider asking include:

- What did they like best about college? Least?
- What best prepared them for college?
- Did their college search give them an accurate picture of what college would really be like?
- Are there particular things they would recommend that you look at or consider when researching schools?
- How large are the majority of their classes? Biggest class? Smallest?
- What activities did they get involved in on campus?
- Was it easy to make friends at school?
- If they could go back and repeat their senior year over again, would they have done anything different? Would they still have made the same choice about where to apply and attend?

Those are just a few ideas to get you started. In my experience, students are always more than happy to spend some time talking about their first year (or two) of college. Take full advantage of the opportunity - it really might help guide you in your own college search, or, at the very least, hopefully it will motivate you to get started. :-)

And, just in case you think I am crazy for wanting you to be working on your college application process now, check out all of these articles/ blog posts pushing students to do just that.

Summertime Opportunities
Summer Task for Seniors: The College List
Summer Task for Seniors: Get Organized
Summer Task for Seniors: Complete your Essay
Summer Task for Seniors: Prepare Additional Materials
5 Things High School Seniors Should be Doing Now

In all sincerity, I also hope that this summer you are finding some time to do things you enjoy, to relax and de-stress, and to spend time with your family and friends! Enjoy the rest of your summer break and if you are a senior who hasn't started thinking about your college application process yet, please get started!

AP Test Scores

Those students who took one (or more) of the Advanced Placement Tests in May should have received their test scores this month. I hope that you were pleased with how you did on the tests you took! Many students assume that we know your scores in the counseling office, but we do not know how you did on the test unless you share that information with us.

A lot of times students are curious about the policy various colleges have on how they grant credit based upon the AP scores. CollegeBoard maintains a list giving an overview of the college's policies.

College Information

Many of you are thinking about college and your plans for the future. There is a lot of information available to you on the internet that can help as you explore schools and consider what is going to be the best fit for you.

These articles might help guide you as you look for schools with the best fit:

What college has the right fit for you?
College Search – finding the right college
Finding Great Colleges – Handy Cheat Sheet

It is really important to keep in mind that just because a school was the right college for your friends or your siblings doesn't necessarily mean that it will be the right fit for you.

As you consider colleges it is important to keep in mind basic information about the schools you are looking considering.

10 College Admission Trends You Should Know

Largest US Colleges and Universities by Enrollment

What is a liberal arts college?

The length of time that you will spend in college and the costs associated with your school of choice are also factors to keep in mind.

Baldwin Wallace announced a new program to guarantee that students can graduate in 4 years which is one strategy to help keep costs under control - especially with so many students taking more than 4 years to graduate which is very costly!

Many students are starting their education at 2-year colleges in order to help keep costs under control. This article points out that this is a becoming very common for students to begin at 2-year schools with the plan to transfer later.

Picking out colleges that are going to be ideal for your future can seem like a daunting task at times, but it is exciting and fun too. Try not to get stressed about the process and just take it a step at a time.

Celebrate!

Hello! Sorry it has been such a long time without a blog post. I hope you are enjoying your summer. It is hard to believe that next week is August! My summer is definitely flying by at a rapid rate.

As some of you may be aware I have been in school to further my education by getting my community counseling license. This required an internship and so for the last 13 months I have been working at OhioHealth's HomeReach Hospice with the bereavement team. Basically, I have been working as a grief counselor with them. It was a wonderful experience and very rewarding. Today was my last day and I am now completely DONE with my classes and my internship! :-) YEAH!!! I am so excited and glad to be finished. I enjoyed the experience and all that I learned, but it will be nice to have my life back.

So, even though after I have been slacking on updating my blog this month, I am going to put off writing an informative/ educational update for another night as my own treat to myself for being done. :-)

Since I am updating about myself, I might as well add in that in addition to classes and working at Hospice this summer I have also squeezed in some time with my sister's family. It is so hard (and scary) to believe that my niece will be starting 3rd grade and my nephew will be in Kindergarten this year. Time flies and they are growing up so fast! (Wow, that makes me sound old doesn't it? Unfortunately it is true!)

I hope your summer has been just as exciting and wonderful. I am looking forward to the start of the school year so that I can hear about all of the things that you have done and accomplished this summer!

College Visits

While traveling this summer for family vacations, don't forget to stop by the local colleges and walk around their campuses. Even if it is not a school you are considering, it is always beneficial to see different college environments to get a feel for the options available to you in the future. And, of course, please remember to take a picture of you somewhere on each campus that you visit for me!

Happy 4th of July

I hope that you are having a great summer and that you had a safe and enjoyable 4th of July holiday! It's hard to believe that it is already July, but as I was with my family enjoying the festivities of the 4th of July my mind frequently turned to how fortunate we are to live in the United States of America. As a result, when I saw this blog post that gave suggestions for ways that high school students (and really anyone) can spend time this summer celebrating our nation by helping others, I knew immediately that I wanted to pass it along. Happy 4th of July!