College Admissions Reps Visit WKHS

Did you know that many college admissions representatives come to WKHS in order to visit with you? Stop for a moment and think about that – the schools are paying someone to come to Kilbourne in order to meet with you and showcase the opportunities available at their college. We had the first college admissions rep, Ohio Wesleyan University, at WKHS today and over 40 more already slated to spend time in the building visiting with our students this fall.

While meeting with a representative cannot replace the actual experience of walking on campus, seeing the people, and experiencing the classes, it can be a very important piece of your information gathering process. Possibly even more importantly, you are expressing your interest and desire to attend their college! The admissions representatives who are traveling to the schools keep track of who they see. Many colleges can go back and tell you exactly how many times a student has come to tour campus, contacted the admissions office, or had an official interaction with a representative of the school. You never really know what can make a difference when it comes to admissions or getting a scholarship from a school, so if you are able to attend a meeting with a representative, it can only help you.

We have a list of the upcoming college visits posted in the Upcoming Events calendar on the Counselor website so that you can see which schools are coming to WKHS. If there are schools that you'd like to meet with, please sign up for the session with the link on the Counselor Website.  Please also be sure to write down the dates and times so that you can come to the Counseling Center to meet with the rep.  When you get there, a secretary will introduce you to the admissions representative and after your meeting with them is over they will give you a pass to return back to class.

Juniors and Seniors have unlimited opportunities to attend these sessions. Please be reasonable though. If a visit is scheduled during a time when you have class, you should get your teacher’s approval in advance of attending the information session. You are responsible for all missed work and teachers are not supposed to excuse you from tests, quizzes, or labs. 

Freshmen and Sophomores are also invited to attend the sessions with the college representatives, but are limited to participating in the visits during your lunch or Academic Prep periods. 

These are great opportunities to talk directly with the college admissions representatives so please take advantage of their visits!

Junior Testing Recommendations

Juniors, let's talk for a second about college admissions tests and their practice tests that you should be considering for this school year... Here would be my general recommendations if you are planning on applying to a 4-year college after high school.

1. In October, take the PSAT.  This will be during the school day on Tuesday, October 26th.  It is the practice test for the SAT, but it is also the qualifying test for the National Merit Scholarships.  The deadline to register for the PSAT (which is FREE for sophomores and juniors) is on Tuesday of this week (September 14th).

2.  In November, take the Pre-ACT.  This will be during the school day on Monday, November 8th.  It is the practice test for the ACT and it is a great, inexpensive way to practice for the ACT.  Cost will be $16 and registration will open in October.

3.  In December, consider strongly taking the ACT or SAT.  You don't have to take the test in December, but it's a good chance to take one of the college admissions tests.  If you are planning on focusing on the ACT, another great reason of taking the ACT in December is that you can also order (for an additional fee) your score questions and answers with the test which would allow you to review how you answered and what the right score is which can help better prepare you for the future tests.

4.  In March, take the ACT.  This will be during the school day on Tuesday, March 1st and is the FREE test opportunity that all juniors will get to take.

After that, depending on how you have scored you can determine the rest of your testing plan.  There will be more opportunities to test in the spring and summer as well as the early part of the fall during your senior year.

If you have any questions about these testing opportunities or why I am making these recommendations, please don't hesitate to stop and talk to me about it!  We also did a presentation to parents last week about testing as a whole and you and your parents can review the slides by visiting the counselor website.

Recommendation Letters

Many colleges have moved away from requiring letters of recommendation - in part because all students will pick teachers that like them to write letters on their behalf and so the letters often sound similar and therefore it doesn't really help them to differentiate between the students.  So, your very first step connected to recommendation letters is to figure out if any of the colleges you are considering will actually need any letters of recommendation - and if they don't then you just saved yourself and your teacher a lot of time. (And you can stop reading now.)  :-)

There are some colleges that will want a recommendation letter and others that will want multiple letters.  You need to look specifically at what they are asking for you to provide.  Some colleges will require teacher recommendation letters, some counselor letters, and others may be open to coaches, bosses, religious leaders or other adults who know you well.  Each college gets to make up their own mind and determine what information they want to have as a part of your application package.  OSU, for example, does NOT require any recommendation letters. (Can you blame them? Imagine trying to read 52,000 recommendation letters on top of the applications and essays that they receive.) Harvard, on the other hand, will require 2 teacher recommendations and a counselor recommendation. After reviewing the college websites, if you are still having problems determining if the colleges you are considering require recommendation letters – just stop down to see me and I can try to help you figure it out.

If you find that you do need recommendation letters, you have some work to do.  First, give some thought about who you would like to ask for the recommendations. Look at the requirements specified by the school – are they open to coaches or community representatives writing letters or do they want them to come from academic teachers? If it requires that the letters come from teachers can it be from any subject area or are they only open to the core subjects of English, math, science, and social studies? Are you looking at a career in a specific area that a teacher at WKHS can write about your strengths in that field? For example, if you are considering majoring in Spanish perhaps a recommendation letter from one of your Spanish teachers would be appropriate. What teachers know you best? Who can speak to your work ethic and classroom contributions?  Remember, in recommendation letters from teachers the colleges are asking for information about you as a student and your potential for handling the academic rigors of college.

Once you have figured out the teacher or teachers that you want to ask for a recommendation, it is then time to ASK them if they are willing to write a letter for you. It is really important to be reasonable in the amount of time that you are allowing them to have to write your letter. (Think at least 30 days - preferably more!) They are very busy with their classroom work and grading homework and papers and of course life in general and many teachers are often bombarded by students requesting recommendations. If a teacher is unable to write a recommendation letter for you – either because they don’t feel that they know you well enough to write a strong letter or because they have too much on their plate, don’t take it personally, simply ask another teacher. You will be thankful that you didn’t force them to write the letter because it wouldn’t be as solid of a recommendation letter if they were rushed or only had vague highlights to discuss.

After you have asked a teacher to write a letter on your behalf (and they agreed), then you will want to provide them with the teacher recommendation letter forms that can be found on the www.wkhscounselors.com website or in the Counseling Center.  You also need to be sure to invite your teachers electronically if you are applying through Common App.  It is rare that you will need hard copies of any of your letters, but if that is the case for a particular college, then you are responsible for providing your teacher with an envelope addressed to the appropriate school.  Please be sure that you have indicated to your teachers your application deadline.  You can submit your application through Common App even if your teachers have not uploaded their recommendation letter, but your application packet will not be complete until all parts (including the rec letters) have arrived at the college.

If you are applying to schools that do not need teacher recommendation letters, please do not waste your teacher's time by asking them to write a letter. Also, only ask the number of teachers that you need recommendations from - so if you are applying to two schools and both need 1 teacher recommendation letter, just ask one teacher to write a letter that will be used for both schools. You do not need to ask for more letters in case one is "better" than another - if you are not sure the teacher will write a positive letter for you, then you need to pick someone else. If you trust the teacher enough to ask them to write the letter, then you should trust them enough to be able to send their letter (without seeing it) to the college.  In fact, you should not be reading your recommendation letters - they are supposed to be confidential.

For those students that will need a counselor recommendation, please be aware that I write the letters on a first come first serve basis. It is the only way I know how to be fair. Recommendation letters are incredibly time consuming - especially when I have so many to write because, unlike with teachers, if your college requires a counselor recommendation letter you don't have a choice about who you are asking to write your letter.  So please, watch your deadlines and try to help me write the best letter possible by allowing me to have the time with it. As with the teachers, please plan to give me at least 30 days to write your rec letter.  There is a Counselor Recommendation Letter supplement form that we ask each student to fill out and a Parent Brag sheet that we ask you to have your parents complete and turn back in to me to use when writing your letter.  Please, be detailed and thoughtful when completing these forms because I want to be able to showcase you in the best way possible.  Each of you are unique and have wonderful qualities that you will bring to a campus, but when writing recommendation letters generalized praise is wasted space so I need stories and examples to help give people a true image of you and to make it more than just what they can read about you in your application. Once you have turned in your 2 forms, I will add your name to my recommendation letter list.  I also ask you to consider doing the YouScience assessments before I write your reccommendation letter.  This is not a deal breaker, but having concrete examples of your aptitudes and being able to back them up with examples throughout your high school career can greatly enhance your recommendation letter.  (Not to mention that doing YouScience can also help you significantly when considering future careers and possible majors.)  Some students also like to give me a copy of their resume or list of activities and awards and that is fine too - I will welcome any information that you think will help me "showcase you" to the best of my ability to the colleges.

Before I close I want to point out that the need for counselor recommendation letters is a great reminder of why it is important for students of every grade level (Freshmen, Sophomore, Junior, and Senior) to drop by my office throughout the year to allow me to get to know you better.  I sincerely want to know students of all ages so that I am more comfortable with talking about some of the incredible things that you all are involved in and are accomplishing during your high school careers.

#WordsToLiveBy

We all have phrases that we tend to tell ourselves when we need a little pick me up or the day isn't going the way we had hoped or planned.  Perhaps you have statements you like to remind yourself of when a competition/ game isn't going your way.  And, if nothing else, I am confident that you have statements of encouragement you give to your friends when they are having a bad day.

These uplifting, positive messages are your #WordsToLiveBy.

What can those sound like?  Anything that helps support you or others and your mental health.  "Life is better with chocolate."  "This is tough, but I'm strong and can make it through."  "Play the next play."  "Everyone can do something, but no one can do everything."  "Breathe and let the tension go."  "You Matter!" "Remember to add the ...'yet'."  "Be here now."  "I feel anxious, but I am not my anxiety." 

Hopefully you get the idea because tomorrow during lunch periods we are asking all students and staff members to share one of your favorite #WordsToLiveBy and post it on social media.  We want to support and encourage each other with your positive impact messages.

I am so excited to see all of my students in the commons during lunches and I can't wait to see what you come up with as your phrase to share!

College Related Article Links

I read a LOT of college related articles.  And they are helpful to me in answering student and parent questions, but most of the time I don't pass them along simply because I would never keep up with all of the various links to share with you.

I have talked before about my love for the Olympics and since the Olympics and Paralympics have both now concluded when I saw these articles about how college admissions can be explained in relationship to the Olympics it was definitely something I paid attention to and I thought you might also like this way of reframing it...

How the Olympics Explain College admissions:

Part 1

Part 2

And since I am sharing articles here are a few others which simply reinforce messages you have likely heard from me in other places but are key reminders to students as you work on your applications.

What are colleges looking for in your essays

Womp womp moments in college admissions

How to start thinking about the Common App's newest prompt

I hope you had a relaxing and enjoyable long weekend!

College Application Deadline Terms

As you start through the college application process you will be exposed to a variety of new terms. One area that can be confusing is what all of the different application deadlines such as Early Decision, Early Action, Regular Decision and Rolling Admissions mean.

Early Decision

The key to remember with Early Decision is that it is a final decision and a COMMITMENT! Applying to a school in this program is considered a contract between the student and the college. You can apply to only one school as an Early Decision school. If you are accepted, you are promising to withdraw all other applications. Few students will ultimately apply to a school Early Decision because you are promising to attend the school - without seeing their financial aid package - and most students are not 100% certain that they want to attend one particular school. If you are considering applying to a school under the Early Decision program, please stop in and talk to me.

Early Action

This is a non-binding option and significantly more students will apply to schools using this option. Early Action has an earlier application deadline and students will learn if they have been accepted to the school much earlier than regular decision dates. (Some schools will defer an admissions decision to the Regular Decision deadline if the student is on the bubble and they want to wait to see how the rest of the applications will look.) Early Action is not a contract and, as a student, you are not obligated to attend school at that institution.

Regular Decision

This is the deadline that you will generally see publicized from colleges as it is the most common. This means you are applying and will hear your decision on their regular time schedule. There are no commitments or early notifications. It is important to note that the Regular Admissions deadlines are often AFTER the deadline for scholarship consideration – which adds in a whole additional set of deadlines to watch, but that is a different story for another day.

Rolling Admissions

Do you know how exciting it was when I received a phone call this afternoon from one of my students announcing that she had been accepted to her top-choice college?  It was an awesome moment!  She had applied to a college with Rolling Admissions.  This means that the colleges look at each application as they arrive and they make a decision on those applications as they go. So, if you apply quickly to a school with rolling admissions you are generally going to receive your admissions decision quickly. Schools that function with a rolling admissions policy of evaluating applications will still generally have a regular decision deadline which is the final date that the college is willing to accept any applications for the fall class.

It is really important to be watching your deadlines carefully – I can’t stress that enough! If you are struggling to find the deadlines for different schools, please stop in to see me.

Demonstrated Interest

Did you know that colleges keep track of every contact and interaction you have with them?  For colleges, they typically refer to this as your demonstrated interest.  They want to know that you are genuinely interested in their college and that applying to their school is something you have investigated and feel like it would be a good fit. Don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean that you should call a school multiple times a week - that would definitely get on their nerves, but they want students who are truly interested. You can show that by meeting with their admissions representatives when they come to WKHS (visits begin this month) or by attending their virtual events, participating in "optional" interviews and essays, and visiting their campus.

Just because you have clearly demonstrated your interest in a college will not be what gets you accepted to their school, but since colleges are always trying to predict who it is that will ultimately attend their university out of those they accept, it works to your advantage to be sure that the college will be a good fit - not only because it demonstrates your interest, but also - and more importantly - because it will enable you to be confident that this is a school which fits your needs and goals in what you were hoping for in a college campus community and in your collegiate home.  

On a different note, just a reminder to all parents that tomorrow at noon is our first Zoom Lunch and Learn Series.  The topic is Testing 101: PSAT, PreACT, SAT, and ACT.  Except 15 minutes of a presentation about testing and then time for questions and answers.  We are excited to see you online tomorrow - zoom link will be emailed out to parents tomorrow morning and I will also post it on the Counselor Website.