Application Details

Tomorrow is December 1st! This is one of the significant deadlines for many colleges and so over the last few days seniors have been scrambling to try to get their applications finished up. As you get ready to hit submit, I'd like to remind you to double check every aspect of your application before you turn in your application!

Make sure you didn't skip over an area planning to come back to it later. Many students leave activities or honors lists empty intending to return to update that information later. Also, be sure that you have provided accurate information about yourself and your parents. For example, when you mess up your social security number, it can be difficult for the college to match your information together and it takes a lot longer to get everything straightened out with your application.

If your application required an essay, make sure that you put the right essay with the appropriate application. (In other words, don't submit an essay to Dayton answering OSU's question and vice versa.) Also, be sure that your essay is within the specified word count. Hopefully it goes without saying, but since it is all about details, please make sure that you upload the final version of your college essay rather than a draft version.

For those students who are applying to schools which utilize the Common Application, you have some additional details to pay attention to with your applications. It is essential that you print preview your application before you submit it to be certain that everything looks exactly like you want it to appear. The way it looks when you hit print preview is the way it will look for your college. A hint of what you should be looking for when you print preview the page would include making sure that nothing is being cut off. For example, double check the short and long essay as well as the general application text boxes to make sure your information isn't being cut off. If your application isn't appearing exactly how you wanted it to look, then you need to make changes to your application so that it does look how you wanted it to appear. Also, when using the Common Application, double check that you have truly submitted your application. This includes submitting the main application, paying the fee for the application (if the college charges an application fee) and submitting any supplements that the college requires. You will also want to verify that all of your school forms have been submitted. (You will be able to see this on the school forms tab of the Common Application.) The school forms area will include the transcript being submitted by me and, when applicable, the teacher or counselor recommendation letters. If you notice that one of your school forms/ recommendation letters has not been submitted, but you had previously asked a teacher for a rec letter, please go and see the teacher and ask nicely what the status of your recommendation letter is and ask if they need you to resend them the common application recommendation link. Try to keep in mind that they are helping you by writing your recommendation letter, so be sure to approach the contact with gratitude and kindness rather than being upset about the fact that you have to ask them again about your recommendation letter.

For those college applications that are not on the Common Application, don't forget that you need to make sure that you have mailed in your transcript in it's sealed envelope. Many students still have transcripts in the Counseling Center that you need to pick up, address, and mail before the deadline.

If you need any last minute help with your applications, feel free to stop down and see me tomorrow.

Procrastination

Procrastination is one of the more common problem areas that students battle. Every year I meet some students who are "master procrastinators." The reality is that some people don't mind putting everything off until the last possible second and then working like crazy to get everything accomplished before the deadline, but this can result in a lot of unnecessary stress. Procrastination certainly doesn’t mean that you are lazy or incapable, but it is often a sign that something is getting in your way of completing your tasks and responsibilities. If you are interested in learning strategies for gaining control over your tendencies to procrastinate, it is important to remember that there are no quick fixes. As with most things in life, what works for one person will not necessarily work for someone else so it is important to find a strategy that will work effectively for you. I doubt that any of these suggestions will be ideas that you have never heard of before, but it comes down to deciding that you want to try to make a change. So, reward yourself for progress made because it does take time to improve.

Some ideas to help combat procrastination:

Plan ahead.

Break your big projects, assignments, or responsibilities down into smaller, more manageable tasks.

Commit to spending at least 15 minutes working on something that you have been avoiding.

Remind yourself that there is not going to be a better time – not tomorrow, not next weekend, or next month – something else will always come up that continues to contribute to the procrastination.

Ask for help.

Focus on the desired outcome – rather than your fear or inaction.

Be realistic – most tasks take far longer than you expect.

Minimize Distractions… and take care of whatever is distracting you.

Let go of perfectionism. (And, for those of you who are perfectionists, I know that this is a hard one, but the reality is that many things aren’t worth doing perfectly, so just start and do your best – it will still be better than not doing it at all.)

Recruit a friend to help keep you accountable. (If you tell someone else about your goal or plan to battle your typical procrastination blocks, you may be more likely to follow through, but please make sure it is a friend who will help you stay accountable not convince you that it is OK to put off starting your paper for a few more days.)

Do the hard part first… or… do the easy part first. (Whichever is more motivating to you is the one you should choose.)

Keep track of your progress so you don't lose sight of how much you've accomplished.

The bottom line is that if you get it done when you need to instead of procrastinating, you’ll feel better about yourself and have less stress… so get to work. :-)

If you are wanting to procrastinate a little longer from doing the work you should be accomplishing right now, perhaps these articles about procrastination will be of interest:

What is procrastination?


7 Ways to Get Started


How to Cure Deep Procrastination


The Procrastinating Caveman: What Human Evolution Teaches Us About Why We Put Off Work and How to Stop


7 Symptoms of procrastination and how to stop them


10 ways to give procrastination a bypass

Number of Years in College

How long will it take you to make it through college? Most people will automatically think to themselves "4 years" because most WKHS students are planning on attending 4-year colleges after graduation.

Unfortunately, graduating from college in 4 years is not always the reality. While a traditional college is a 4-year school, it is not always realistic that their students will, in fact, graduate in 4-years. You may wonder why this matters now, but it is very important for you to look at the 4-year graduation rates when you are considering colleges for your future because the longer it takes you to graduate from college, the more you will be taking on in costs for college as well as the longer it will take you to graduate and get out into the working world or to move on to grad school.

You can usually find the 4-year graduation rates on college websites, but it isn't always easily accessible. This is a link to a US Department of Education website called College Navigator where you can search for schools and then by looking at the retention/ graduation rate area you will be able to see the statistics for each school in an easily accessible way.

Each school's 4-year graduation rates should not be your sole factor in making a decision, but it is another piece of the puzzle to help you. You should use the information to help you ask more questions about why their graduation rates are so low. Is it because it is too difficult to schedule classes when you need, is it because the costs are too expensive, is it because students change majors too many times so they end up with a lot of classes that do not help them toward their major, etc.

Happy Searching as you look for the school that is the best fit for you and your future.

A "Black Weekend"

The day after Thanksgiving is known as “Black Friday” for all of the people who plan out their day and shop til they drop, but for high school seniors across the country the entire weekend has been called a “Black Weekend.” NOT because of shopping, but because the push to finish applications is down to the wire so parents are forcing their senior students to spend all weekend working on college applications in an effort to try to get them completed. I keep wondering how many of you are really spending the weekend locked away in your rooms stressed out as you try to finish your college applications. Hopefully many of you were ahead of the game and didn't end up procrastinating to try to get everything done over the holiday weekend. If a significant part of your holiday weekend has been "black" due to non-stop college application work, I hope you finish soon so you can enjoy some of the break.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I wanted to take a moment and wish each of you a Happy Thanksgiving!

Enjoy spending time with your family, eating turkey, watching the parade, watching football, and taking a nap... or whatever your own traditions include.

I am fortunate to be spending the holiday with my family and am cherishing the opportunity to be with the people who mean the most to me. I have so much to be thankful for today and every day. I hope you know that all of you are part of what I am grateful for and that I am thankful that you are in my life!

Have a great day and a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Stressed?

How are your stress levels?

Stress comes from a range of events and life circumstances. When positive things happen such as getting a new job, dating someone new, or graduating from high school, stress levels increase. And, obviously, stress levels are higher when negative things take place like failing a test, fighting with family or friends, or having a lot to do in a limited amount of time. Quite simply, the reality is that stress is a part of life and it cannot be escaped, but it is important to learn strategies for dealing with stress.

Hopefully having 5 days off school is helping to decrease your stress levels, but I am also very aware of the fact that holidays can also create stress. Expectations tend to be higher during holidays. Families are often together and sometimes that means lots of questions about your college plans or it could mean that siblings who are off to college are home and the change in routine can cause challenges. Students whose parents are divorced are often juggling multiple holidays and trying to be in several places at once which is never easy. Whatever the circumstances are for your family, try to remember that even though the holiday may not be the picture of perfection that you might see portrayed on movies or TV shows, it can still be enjoyable - even if it is stressful.

Finding the stress relievers that are effective in your own life is important not only during the holidays, but throughout the year. Talking to friends, journaling, drawing, reading, listening to music, running, coloring, playing sports, spending time with your pets, taking a walk, dancing, exercising, watching a funny movie, or helping someone less fortunate are all examples of some simple stress relievers that might be ideas you can consider utilizing. Remember, once we are back at school if you are needing someone to talk to about some additional strategies for learning to manage the stress in your life that I am always around and willing to listen.

Also, below are some articles related to stress that might interest you:

Stress among teens is real and parents can help


Are your kids stressed?


What to do if your child is stressed


45 Second De-Stress Tips


5 stress busting techniques from my household


How to avoid burn out: 10 symptoms of severe stress

(And we can handle that!) :-)

Delaware Area Career Center

Today was a field trip to the Delaware Area Career Center. As a reminder, don't forget that even if attending the career center, WKHS students are always WKHS students. With most programs you will have the option of attending the career center for full days (where you would take your lab coursework which counts as elective credits and your academic courses all at the career center) or for half days (where you only take the lab coursework at the career center and then return to WKHS for the other half of the day for your academic classes). You will graduate from Worthington Kilbourne and continue to participate on our athletic teams - even if you decide that you want to attend the career center for the full day. I strongly encourage you to check out the programs because the hands on opportunities to learn something new while also gaining your required elective credits can be a very appealing option! If you didn't have the chance to participate in today's field trip there is a second look day trip on December 8th. Any students interested in making this visit should stop by the WKHS Counseling & Career Center to pick up a permission slip from the secretaries. Permission slips must be submitted in advance in order to make arrangements for your visit.