Narrowing Your College List

There are 5,300 colleges and universities in the United States.  Trying to narrow down the list from more than 5,000 to a reasonable handful of schools to which you will actually apply can feel daunting.  It can feel overwhelming to know that there are so many choices available - colleges you have not even heard of previously - and yet you are being ask to select and apply to the schools which will be a part of your future. The good news though, is that the process of narrowing your college list starts with YOU and what YOU want in a school.

On the WKHS Counselor website there are a variety of pages specifically geared toward helping you in the college search and with lots of information and questions to consider for yourself.  These include Tips for Investigating a College, What do You want in a College, and a Self Reflection page.  We dedicated a lot of content to this search process because it is true that before you really start looking for the “right” school it is important to figure out what you WANT in a school and that can only be found by looking in yourself and determining what factors are most important to you.

You'll find a lot more on the website (which I hope you'll check out), but a few examples on factors that might differ for various students... for some students distance from home may be a big deal. Being close can have it’s advantages – like being able to come home and have a free home cooked meal or a place to do your laundry and also not having to worry about flying half way across the country any time you would want to come home for a visit. Going to school at a college far from home can also have it’s advantages – often a different climate, a new experience and adventure where you can be independent, and no concerns about mom or dad just dropping in unexpectedly. And, of course, there are some students who will elect to find a school that is not too far and not too close. (Remember, that by communicating with your family about what you are looking for in a school you may find that a college outside of your comfort zone is still worth considering because you and your parents may be able to reach some mutually agreed upon ground rules – so the concern that they might come see you or you might come home too often can be eliminated by talking about those issues up front.)

The size of a school is another factor for many students. Small, Medium, Large or somewhere in between – the challenge is that many students will say, “I don’t know” and that is where making a variety of visits to different sized schools can be advantageous. You can explore a small school and see if the experience of knowing lots of people on campus and in your classes is better for you than a medium or large school where you may have a class in a lecture hall with hundreds of other students. As you visit the schools you may find that there are experiences or advantages that a larger school can provide that a smaller school can’t such as a wider variety of clubs or groups for students to be involved. The key is to figure out what size school fits you and then you can narrow your search to explore more schools in that range.  However, it is important to keep an open mind about size because there is only 24 hours in a day so the way you will spend your time is going to be very similar no matter what size of a campus you select.

Other factors that often influence a student’s college decision will include the types of majors or programs offered at the school, their athletic programs – both collegiate sponsored and intramurals, the food, the dorms, the cost (but don’t necessarily eliminate potential colleges simply based upon cost because often the private schools are much more expensive, but also offer a much larger financial aid package to make it competitive and comparable to a public school), extra-curricular opportunities, career placement services and on and on.

Again, I cannot stress the point that everyone is different and what is best for one person is not necessarily the ideal school for someone else. All too often I listen to students who are only looking at the 2 or 3 schools that their best friend or sibling looked at rather than trying to find the school that fits best for them. Also, I truly believe that it is about being a good match – for both you and the college and that there is not 1 perfect school.  You will be successful no matter where you end up attending.

I know, it can be a bit intimidating to search for a school and to try to figure out what you really want in a college and for your future, but it is also supposed to be fun so try not to put too much pressure on yourself to find “perfection” and try to take a step back and figure out what will make you happy. It really can be fun, but I know it is also overwhelming so remember that I am here to support and help you in any way that I can.

College Data

When students are searching for a college, digging into data isn't always high on the list of things to do.  It is much more fun to explore the campus and meet with a professor and decide that this is "THE" school for you.  And yet the data has a valuable story to share as well.

What do I mean?

Let's start with Retention Data.  Information regarding retention rates means how many students who start at the college on the first day of their freshman year come back the following year.  This is important to know because it gives you an idea of how happy and successful students are on the campus.  Students that get accepted and go only to find that they are completely over their heads at the school might not have built the study and organization skills needed to be successful and so they might not return for the next year.  Or students may attend thinking every day would be fun and forget that there is a lot of work involved with college too and so they might elect not to return to school because they didn't enjoy it as much as they had hoped.  Sometimes it is because the college is not a good fit for them after all.  And so if you notice that a college has a low retention rate it doesn't mean you won't like the school, but it may be a reason to pause and really look in depth to make sure you are going to be happy and successful at the college.

The other critical piece of data is how long it will take you to graduate.  Most of the WKHS graduating students anticipate that they will be in college for 4 years.  And that would be great.  But that doesn't always work out for students in the long run.  This can be due to a range of factors including how easy or difficult it is to get the necessary classes for graduation.

The College Results Online website provides a very user friendly tool to search for a college and easily find a range of data about a college that can help guide you as you are working on your college search.  Take a moment and pop onto their website - it really is interesting to explore!

E-mail

In the world of adults, email is a very important tool for communication and outreach.  I realize that many of you have not reached the point in your life where you utilize e-mail regularly, however, it is a valuable skill to develop.

Obviously, you each have your own school (wscloud) email address.  From there you are able to communicate with other students and with the staff, but you cannot use this email for communicating with people outside of school.

Having your own personal email account (outside of school) becomes incredibly important when you reach college application time. College applications will ask you for your e-mail address. Often times the colleges will use your e-mail as their way to communicate with you including notifying you of your admissions decision. 

If you don't have an email account yet, then you need to create one. There are tons of free choices available - gmail, yahoo, hotmail, etc. It is also important to make sure that your account name is appropriate.  (In other words, is the name of your account appropriate as the college admissions officers will be seeing the e-mail address when reviewing your application... and you'd really do better to change your account if your name is sexkitten123.)  

This is also a key point to make sure that you have your OWN account and are not just relying on your parents e-mail addresses for communications to come to you.  Part of the reason for this (beyond just showing college that you're a mature young adult ready for college) is that your college applications will ask for both your email address and your parents email address.)  

Having a valid and appropriate email address for personal use and for school is the first big step.  The second step is ongoing - you have to actually check both accounts regularly!  You can set them up to come to your phone if you want.  But getting in the habit of checking email and following through on communication you receive about steps to take is important for you academically, for college applications, and in life.  So this is one of those life-long skills that you should start to develop now.

And finally, in addition to having an e-mail account, it is also important to remember to use proper etiquette when communicating with college representatives via e-mail. For example, when you need to e-mail admissions officers for any reason, as well as any other college representatives (advisor, professor, etc.) that you communicate with, please remember that the way you write your e-mail is a reflection of you. Please do not use text talk, avoid ALL CAPS, be mature, and write it in an official format “Dear _(insert their name with Mr/ Mrs)_, Text of your message, Sincerely, _(insert your name)__”.  Please, be sure to sign your name, I can't tell you how many times students have emailed me from a personal email and I can't figure out who they are from the message or their email address.  Eliminate confusion by concluding your email with your name.

Schedule Pick Up Days

It's hard to believe that in just 2 weeks you will be picking up next year's schedules, but I wanted to make sure all of you are aware of the designated days for you to pick up your schedules.

Tuesday, August 6th: 
9th graders - 8:30 - 11:00am
All students new to the district (regardless of grade) - 8:30 - 11:00am
12th graders - 12:30 - 3:00pm

Wednesday, August 7th:
11th graders - 8:30 - 11:00am
10th graders - 12:30 - 3:00pm

Thursday, August 8th:
Any Grades - 6:00 - 8:30pm

This evening opportunity on August 8th is new for this year.  If you aren't able to come on your designated day to pick up your schedule due to a parent not being able to bring you to school, etc. then you have an evening option to be able to get your schedule.

Don't forget, schedule pick up day is packed with lots of activities - finding your locker, getting your school picture taken, picking up your books, etc.

The process is paperless again this year which means that your emergency medical information, health forms, athletic forms and fees needs to be updated and paid online BEFORE coming through the schedule pick up lines.  Those forms will all be on the Worthington Schools website (not counselor website).

I know that every year there are questions about what you should do if you are not available to attend on your designated schedule pick up day.  If you will not be able to attend any of the designated schedule pick up sessions, then you will not be able to pick up your your books or get your student ID made until the 1st day of school, but if you want, you can pick up your schedule and take care of the other steps on Monday, August 12th or Tuesday, August 13th from 1:00 - 3:00pm.  (No morning pick up's on those dates though because we are all in mandatory meetings both mornings.)  And then, of course, you can also come to school on August 14th when it is just the 9th graders at school to pick up a copy of your schedule.

Each year schedule pick up days are some of the craziest days in my office, but I am looking forward to seeing you!

Resume

 

If you are wondering what every student should be doing this summer, one of the items that I hope you ALL have on your "To Do" list is to create or update your resume.

It is important to compile a detailed list of:
- all of your activities including clubs, community groups, and sports
- awards received - it is helpful to know the award name, who it was from and the reason for the recognition
- community service commitments with hours
- employment with hours

You can do this informally (just don't lose it!) on a sheet of paper or you can use a resume template.  The format isn't as important as having an organized, accurate list.  For what it is worth, most word document programs have a template, but they aren't necessarily focused on the types of activities and format that high school students might prefer and find applicable.  The Ohio Means Jobs K-12 website has a resume option that some students have liked using so that is also an option you can check out.

Adding to and keeping this resume list updated is an important step for students of every age because when you sit down to start working on your college applications they are going to ask you over and over again to list out these types of items so having a complete list available as a reference is key. I also hope it goes without saying that not only should the list be complete, but it should also be ACCURATE! Do NOT make up activities, awards, or other involvement that you did not participate in and did not earn!

Stress

Sometimes when we talk about stress it seems as if we do it with the thought that our goal should be to eliminate all stress.  That isn't true.  Research demonstrates that we need some stress in our lives to help motivate and push us, but when it reaches unhealthy levels then it causes us to shut down and creates more problems than we can manage effectively.

Below is the Yerkes-Dodson Curve which demonstrates the impact of stress on performance.

As you can seen, too little stress (left side) means that you are under stimulated leading to boredom, fatigue, furstration, disinterest, univolved and overall dissatisfaction.  None of that sounds good.

The other extreme of too much stress (right side) is also not appealing because on that end of the continuum you are over stimulated leading to ineffective problem solving, exhaustion, illness, low self-esteem, control/ passivity issues and overall dissatisfaction.

The sweet spot is in the middle where you have "just enough" stress.  You are at a point where there is optimal stimulation leading to good problem solving, inspiration and creativity, feelings of vitatility, confidence in your progress, good teamwork, and an overall feeling of satisfaction.

It's interesting to think about where you fall on this scale at different times of the year and how it is helping and hurting you.  But the key is not just knowing where you are, but figuring out how to move yourself up or down as needed so that you can stay in that target zone.

Perhaps that means you need to set some new goals and challenges for yourself to move you up a little on the stress level pushing yourself physically or mentally to accomplish something new.  Or if you need to back down, working to be patient with yourself and practicing some of the coping strategies to help yourself manage the stress level more effectively so that you can get back to a healthier level.

The reality is that when you are overly stressed is often the only time we stop to pause and think about stress and that isn't really the best time to try to make practice skills that will lead to changes.  So now, during the summer, spend some time reflecting on yourself and what helps you to feel "in the zone" and what sends you over the top and then work to help yourself move forward and backwards.  Recognizing the power that you have to help control where you are on the stress continuum is important and will pay off in the long run.

A Review on the State of College Admissions

About this time each summer soon to be senior students (and their parents) often start stressing out about their college list.  It is hard to be able to narrow down where you want to apply for college - especially when there are so many viable options where you will be happy and successful.  But, what often happens is a fear that "I won't get in anywhere" or "there is only one perfect college for me."  And I want to assure you that neither of those fears are accurate.

Perhaps it would help you a little to know some of the highlights from this past year's "State of College Admissions Report" put out by the National Association for College Admissions Counseling each year.

- The number of applications from freshmen continues to grow.  That means more students are applying to more colleges.  Last year this increase was 4%.  But, with so many colleges now using Common App, I have found that it isn't because students are really interested in that many more colleges, but rather it is "easy" to apply to more schools.

- Colleges accept, on average, nearly 2/3 of all applicants.  If you look at all of the four-year colleges and universities in the US, their accepance rate is 65.4%.  And yes, that includes all of the highly selective colleges that will have single digit acceptance rates too.  And no, it does not include two-year community colleges like Columbus State.  This is just looking at 4-year colleges.

-  More students are applying early.  I am very confident you will find this to be true in your college search too.  The reality is that so many colleges have moved their scholarship application date up to align with their early action deadlines that students are nearly forced to apply by the early deadlines in order to be considered for scholarships.  Early Decision (meaning you'd be locked in to attending that college) applications increased by 4% and their admission standards from those students increased by 5%.  For Early Action (which is what most of you will do), the applications increased by 9% and the number of students accepted from this pool increased by 10%.

-  The top factors in admissions decisions has remained consistent.  So, what we have talked about in the past (like at Junior night when we did the GPA game) is still the same... your grades, strength of curriculum and test scores are he top factors followed by your essay, your demonstrated interest, recommendation letters, leadership and extracurricular activities.

I hope that you are working on narrowing your college list, but please, let this information be encouraging to you!  You will find a college that will be a good fit and where you will be happy and successful.

AP and IB Test Results

If you took an AP or IB Test this spring your scores are now available!  IB scores were released over this past weekend and AP results for students in Ohio are out as of this morning.

We received the incredible news yesterday that all 10 of the IB Diploma candidate students scored high enough to earn the IB Diploma this year!  That is a huge accomplishment and I am so excited and proud of "my" 4 students who achieved the IB Diploma: Zahra Alshahal, Olivia Baker, Katie Coppel, and Alex Contreras.  Congratulations to all of you!  You worked incredibly hard over these last two years to reach this moment and I hope you are proud of your accomplishment!

To access your AP scores log-in using your CollegeBoard account information.  (If you don’t have an account with them yet then you will need to create one.)

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 searchable list for the college's policies.

Many WKHS students who took AP Lang were hoping to be able to use their scores to move directly to English 2367 (Composition 2) with CSCC next school year.  Please make sure you have scored a 3 or higher on the AP Lang test in order for this to be an option.  If I need to adjust your schedule to add you into Composition 1 because you didn't get the 3 as you had anticipated, or if you put Comp 1 into your schedule "just in case" and earned the 3 please let me know so that I can adjust your schedule and remove the class that you no longer need.  (Also, don't forget that you will need to send your test results to the CSCC CC+ office so that they know you have met the prerequisites to jump directly to Composition 2.)  Please note that I don't have the scores yet so I won't know this about your CC+ classes without you telling me so please shoot me an email to let me know.

Summer Assignment Reminder

Doing school work during the summer time is not typically high on the priority list for many students, but I wanted to offer a friendly reminder that many of you signed up for classes that require you to complete summer work.  If you are taking an AP, IB or Honors class you may have summer work that needs to be done and, if so, hopefully you have started making progress on the work that is expected of you.  It is important to remember that you are responsible for completing all summer work and that it will impact your grade in your class.  Sometimes, in the past, students would procrastinate on completing their summer assignments and then decide at the last minute that they would drop out of the advanced course in favor of the non-advanced version (so, for example, dropping AP US History in favor of regular US History).  Remember, per school policy, you only have until July 15th to make that change.  So if you are planning on switching levels, it is really important that you make that change prior to July 15th.  If you wait until after July 15th to decide that you want to change levels, you will still be responsible for completing the summer work because even if you change levels your summer assignment is a part of your academic record and so your grades on the summer assignments will go with you to the new class.

Like I said, ideally you are feeling good about your summer assignments and how you are progressing on your summer work, but if you haven't started, please get moving on it!  If you have lost your summer assignments, please feel free to check out the WKHS Counselor website - www.wkhscouselors.com - as the teachers have submitted your assignments on there as well.

And, for the record, if you want to drop from an advanced course to a regular class, please just email me at babbott@wscloud.org before the end of the day on the 15th and I will make the change for you the next time I am able to drop by school.  (The time and date stamp on your email will allow me to make sure that the change is able to be completed without the summer assignments being required.)

Happy 4th of July

Ok, so it's July 3rd, but with Red, White and Boom tonight many of you are starting your celebrating a day early so I am willing to wish you all a Happy 4th of July a day early.

I love living in the United States and all of the incredible freedoms that we are able to enjoy.  It is not something we should take for granted and yet, most of us do just that at times.  If you know me at all (or follow this blog regularly) then you know that I love traditions.  The 4th of July is often rich in traditions for so many families.  Parades, Barbeques, Picnics, Swimming, Baseball Games, and of course Fireworks are often a part of many traditions.  It is wonderful to be able to celebrate in these ways.  I am reminded though, that we should also pause to reflect on why we are able to enjoy these experiences.  Not only am I grateful for all the men and women who previously or currently serve in our nation's military, but I am also specifically thinking of the former WKHS students who have joined the military.

I hope that you have a wonderful and relaxing holiday celebrating with those who mean the most to you.  Most of all, I hope that you will be safe!  Please make safe choices and look out for one another to protect the safety of those around you so that the holiday will always be one with positive memories and traditions.