Some "Light" College Related Reading

Have you been spending time this summer thinking about college and the application process?  Chances are pretty good that I follow a lot more authors and blogs that detail college tips and strategies than most of you so I have saved some of them that I thought might appeal to you.  I've got to be honest, my initial hope was that I would be able to write individual blog posts on different topics and then link to the applicable articles in each post, but since the summer is running out in a hurry, I figured it would be better for you to have the articles to be able to read at your leisure.  This way you can pick the topics that interest you the most and I can start fresh at the beginning of the year without worrying that I have missed out on sharing some useful and insightful articles with you.

So, happy reading... :-)

College Basics for High School Juniors

7 Things Graduating Seniors Should Know About College

The ‘Heady Rush’ of Freedom in College, and How to Manage It

How to Make the Most of a College Visit

 ‘Ignore the Rankings’and Other Advice from the College Life Fair

Planning a College Visit? Readers Suggest Questions to Ask

Public Service Pays Off with these Scholarship Opportunities

Tuition Hogs: The Priciest Schools in America

GPA, SAT, and ACT Data for the Ivy League

Bad Essay Topics for College Admissions

Colleges for Beach Lovers

Short Answer Mistakes (article refers to Common App Short Answer)

5 Tips for a College Admissions Essay on a Significant Experience

A Lesson in Demonstrated Interest

Reasons to Live with a Roommate You Don’t Know  (See, I'm not the only one who says this!!)

College Readiness for Parents

Never Underestimate the Power of Etiquette in theApplication Process

Going to College? Get Ready Now! (Article for To be Seniors)

Where Will I Send My College Applications Next Fall?

10 apps for the connected co-ed

Good manners matter when applying to college

Don’t fall for these 5 college scholarship scams

Top 10 Reasons You Should Write your College App Essays Yourself

What is Important in the Common App Personal Statement?

5 Potential ‘Game Changers’ for College Applicants

10 Ways to ‘Visit’ a College Without Leaving Home

Feds Make Available New Data on College Tuition, Enrollment,and Graduation

12 Ways to Make the Most of the Summer before Senior Year

5 College Admissions Tips for the A- Student

12 College Financial Aid Terms Defined

The Best College for You may be one you have never considered

5 Tips for a College Admissions Essay on Diversity

Should you explain a bad grade when applying to college?

Can your common app essay be more than 500 words?

Why are you interested in our college? – Interview Tips

10 Ways to Improve Your Chances

Tips for an Essay on a Character in Fiction

10 College Interview Mistakes

Choosing a College: Don’t Ignore the Cost

The perfect college essay: edit, edit, then edit again

The perfect college essay: get them hooked

The perfect college essay: what to say when you have nothing to say

The perfect college essay: tell a good story

The perfect college essay: going deep

The perfect college essay: focus on YOU!

Busting the Ivy League Myth

Researching College Majors

Studying for the SAT for Free

Is College Still Worth It? Infographic

The SAT Essay: An Exercise in Efficiency

Summer Tours – Eat Lunch on Campus and Other Good Suggestions

Letters of Recommendation: Asking the right teachers

Hard Decisions for Learning Disabled

Before Athletic Recruiting in Ivy League, applying some math

Making the most of your college visits

Want a job? Go to college, and don’t major in Architecture

Low ACT or SAT scores? Here’s why you shouldn’t panic

Why U.S. Universities want “Active” Students

5 Ways to Create Your Personal Brand

5 Things I Wish I had Known About the College Admissions Process

What is Important in the Common App Personal Statement?

Four Tips to Reduce College Costs

Colleges Offering the Most Merit Aid to the Most Students

Comparison Shopping Financial Aid Just Became a Little Easier

How much Merit Aid will your College Offer? Take a Look.

July Checklist for Seniors

Olympics

I'm obsessed with the Olympics!  Really, obsessed is definitely the best word to describe it.  I love everything about the concept of the Olympics!  (Actually, as I was sitting here starting to type this blog post, my sister just sent me a text with questions about the Olympics and it's kind of pathetic, but I was able to answer without hesitation.  LOL.)  As you are probably aware, I love sports so that makes the Olympic appeal natural, but it is so much bigger than that.  Normally in sports the focus is on beating your opponent and winning and while each of the Olympians certainly wants to win they are representing more than just their individual goals.  As Olympians, each athlete is a part of something bigger than his/ her self.  There is such unity in the Olympics - we are all united together and cheering on the United States of America.

As I have been sitting here watching the opening ceremonies I had a moment where I thought, 'this is fine, but I actually like the sport competitions of the games more than this ceremonial aspect', but then I started thinking about how incredible this experience must be for all of these athletes who are currently marching into the stadium.  Most of these athletes will not win medals, but they are proudly representing their countries, their communities, and their homes with pride and celebration.  As a result, I'd imagine that this moment as they march into the opening ceremonies of the Olympics is going to be one of their most memorable Olympic moments.

It amazes me to think of all the time, energy, effort, hard work, perseverance, drive, and passion that each athlete must demonstrate to even qualify for the Olympics.  These athletes have excelled and have pushed themselves often solely focused on reaching this one goal.  I feel like there are so many lessons we can learn from these athletes.  Each of you has such remarkable potential within yourself to achieve any goal that you desire.  While you may not (or may) be a future Olympian, you will face moments in your life where you are looking forward to a goal and will have a choice of how to respond.  I hope you will find the strength and courage within yourself to believe in your dreams and to chase them with unwavering focus.

There will be inspiring stories of triumph, heart-breaking stories of defeat, and many incredibly exciting moments to watch over the next 16 days.  If you are also excited to watch the Olympics, I will be anxious to hear your thoughts and favorite moments from the games.  And, in case you haven't been able to guess, for the next couple of weeks, I will be glued to my TV to watch the Olympics and cheer on the Red, White and Blue whenever possible.  And yes, as they announced the United States of America to enter the stadium, it brought tears to my eyes and chills that still haven't gone away!  :-)  GO USA!

Alphabet Breakdown

For the coming year we are working to balance the caseload of students assigned to each counselor.  As a result, that means that we have to adjust the alphabet breakdown for each counselor.  This means that some students will have to change counselors.  The good news is that none of my students will have to move to a new counselor and therefore, I don’t lose any of you!  This is a huge relief for me.  I will actually be gaining some additional students and I look forward to the chance to get to know them as we start back to school this fall.  All of the counselors are committed to making sure we make this transition for students and families as smooth as possible. 

For your reference, below is the new alphabet breakdown:
A – Fl:  Miss Abbott
Fm – Li:  Mrs. Gratz
Lj – Sc:  Ms. Schwartz
Sd – Z:  Mrs. Lord

Travel Safe

Tomorrow a group of Worthington Kilbourne High School students and staff will be leaving to travel for 10 days throughout Europe.  This is an exciting opportunity for those of you who will be participating.  Not only will you have a great time seeing another part of the world, but it will also provide the chance to see first-hand some of the areas and aspects of history that you have previously only studied in books.  Have a safe trip and have fun!  I cannot wait to hear about your experiences!

Seniors - There is No Better Time

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. Earlier this year, 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 researching 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 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, volunteering, looking for scholarships, and, if applicable, completing 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.  Quite simply, there is no better 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. :-)

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 Results

Those students who took one (or more) of the Advanced Placement Tests in May should have received their test scores by now (or you will be receiving them very soon).  It has been reported that the results for the AP Calculus BC test were a little delayed.  l I hope that you were pleased with how you did on the tests you took!  

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.

Halfway Point

You are now half-way through summer.  Hard to believe isn’t it? I hope that you have been enjoying the time off, staying cool in the hot weather, and finding time to connect and spend quality time with your family and friends.  Although I suspect that I am like many of you in wishing the summer would slow down, I am looking forward to seeing all of you again and hearing about everything you did this summer.  Since we are at the half-way point, I thought a few reminders might be in order…

-         --  Summer work!  Many of you have signed up for classes that require summer assignments to be completed.  I know that procrastination is king in many of your lives, but please let me remind you that if you put off completing your summer work until August then you are going to start the year in a mad scramble and already be sick of doing work.  Believe me, I understand that it is hard to work on something that doesn’t *have* to be done yet, but in the long run, using your time now will be worth it.

-        --   Summer School!  Quite a few students are taking summer school classes either at Thomas Worthington or through an online program.  Those of you who are going to school every morning at TWHS are certain to be making progress in your classes, but I always worry about the online classes since they require more self-discipline and like summer work are easy to procrastinate on until it is too late.  I have received transcripts already for a few students who have already finished their online summer school classes so I know that some of you are working on the courses, but if you have been putting this off, please get moving on your summer school assignments.

-       --  College visits – many students and families will use the summer months to explore colleges.  Whether it is wandering around a campus near your vacation spot, checking out a school that is definitely on your application list, or just visiting schools to try to figure out what you like or don’t like, please make sure you take a picture of you somewhere on campus for me!  I also suggest that you jot down a few notes about your first impressions of the school.  This will be helpful to you later in the college decision making process.