Socratic Society

On Friday morning 49 students were inducted into the Socratic Society. Staff members are given the opportunity to recognize students for excellence in one or more of the core socratic values of Scholarship, Integrity, Personal Effort, Compassion, or Lifelong Learning. Students are only eligible to be selected for this honor one time during their high school career.

I was disappointed that I wasn't able to be there for the ceremony so I had to ask Ms. Adrean to share a copy of the group picture with me.  I had 17 students in my part of the alphabet who were honored.  So impressive!  A special congratulations to "my" students who were among those recognized this month! (Alphabetically): Joey Ambrozich, Miriam Bassani, Sam Beerman, ChaRon Booker, Steven Borchers, Anna Chen, Joey Coogan, Charlie Cox, Markell Crockett, Sammie Crozier, Vaishnavi Dasaka, Grant Dierksheide, Amy Du, Luke Durbin, Hannah Fahmy, and Trey Flores. I am proud of each of you!

December Test Registration

Just a quick, last minute reminder that we have reached the deadlines to register (without late fees) for the December ACT and the December SAT. Today is the deadline to register for the December SAT and tomorrow, Friday, is the deadline to register for the December ACT.  If you were planning on trying to take one of these tests in December, please make sure you get online and complete your registration today!

Why THIS college?

Why do you like a particular college?  What is it about the school that made it stand out to you and left you with the impression that this would be a good place for you to spend your collegiate years?

Hopefully, you have an idea about what you'd answer for both of those questions for each school that you are including on your list of schools where you are going to apply.  And, let me clear - you should like something about every college that you are considering and you should feel good about each of the schools if you are applying there.

In addition to mattering for deciding where you are going to apply, your answers to these questions are essential when you are trying to answer college-specific essay questions.  Some colleges will ask applicants to answer supplemental essay questions and often one of these questions relates to what you like about their school.  They may phrase it in different ways, but the bottom line is that they are trying to determine why you believe their school is a good fit for you.

Remember, the admissions officers who work for the school already think their school is great and they know about the wonderful opportunities available so you need to take it beyond saying that they have a great location, outstanding professors, and wonderful weather.  You need to take it to the next level by identifying specific aspects at the school where you can see yourself contributing to the school and offerings that you plan to take advantage of while you are in college.

This article has great information and suggestions for doing specific research about a college and what you like best about the school and how you'll take advantage of the opportunities.

College Admissions: School Specific Research

Good luck in searching for the right college fit for you and for conveying why it's a good fit in your essays.

Demonstrating Interest

It is interesting to stop and think about all of the different factors that play into a college admission decision. When colleges are evaluating all of their applications, one of the aspects that may help set one student apart from another is the level of interest that they have demonstrated. The reason that demonstrating interest is important to a college is that they have a limited number of spots that they can offer for admission. They are trying to find a way to maximize the number of students who they accept that will actually attend their college in the future and they still want to find a way to get the most competitive, involved group of students that they can find.

So what are some of the ways that you can demonstrate your interest in a college?

Meeting with the college admissions reps when they come to WKHS is a great first step. I'll be honest, for this year, admissions officers visiting Kilbourne is coming to an end, but for the younger students, this is something you should keep in mind for next fall. The reason that this is such a significant way to demonstrate your interest is because a lot of kids don’t take advantage of this opportunity so when you do take the time to come and meet with them, you will stand out.

Attend their community nights – many colleges will offer presentations at area hotels or community centers that students and parents can attend. We have been listing these upcoming nights on the WKHS Counselors website. These events tend to be more common in the fall and spring months so you can always check our website and also the college's website for opportunities to meet with them.

Visit their campus! Visiting their school is probably the best way to demonstrate your interest in their college. 

I know it isn't always feasible to visit every single school that you are interested in applying to so find other ways to familiarize yourself if you can't make it to their campus. Visit their website. Read the admissions blogs. Don’t be a pest, but if you have questions, seek the answers by contacting admissions representatives. (And, for the record, you should make those contacts rather than having one of your parents call on your behalf!)

Some schools will offer alumni interviews in the area and if the school you are considering is among them, it would be wise to take advantage of this opportunity as it, again, demonstrates the sincerity of your interest in their college.

College Application Step Review

Today the most common question I heard (and I heard it a LOT) was, "Did I miss anything?"  The reality is a lot of seniors have been worried that they are missing steps related to their college applications. The most accurate and most important response that I can give to you is to look at exactly what the college is asking for and make sure that they have each item requested by the deadline date. (And remember, that means that they actually have the materials in their office - not the date that you bring it to WKHS to have us mail or even the postmark deadline - it is the date that they need to have your entire completed application packet.)

1. Complete your application - this will be online.

2. Write your essay. I have mixed emotions if I should list this as #2 because you can't actually complete your application without your essay if one is required, but you probably don't know what the essay questions are unless you have started the application. Some schools will not require an essay while others will require multiple essays. Please plan accordingly because they take a long time to perfect.

3. Fill out the blue Transcript Release card for each school that you are applying. You can find this card in Mrs. McDaniel's office (you do not need to wait to try to see me). There is a $1.00 transcript fee unless you are applying to a school that utilizes Common App or SendEDU as we can submit transcripts to those two systems for free.

Another side note related to the transcript release cards- if you are applying to schools with deadlines of December 15th - January 10th we ask that you complete your transcript release card by December 1st.

4. Send your test scores - You need to make sure that you have submitted your ACT or SAT test results directly from the testing agency to each college where you are applying. You complete this step directly with the testing companies. If you are not sure if your test was sent, please log on to their site and double check.

5. If your college requires a teacher or counselor recommendation I really hope you have already arranged for someone to write them. Again, you should be giving your recommender at least 30 days notice to write a letter.

6. Double check your entire application, pay your application fee and submit the application.

7.  Sometimes people ask what are the other papers that might need to be mailed. This is one of those pieces that goes back to what the colleges require. Some colleges will have other requests such as a resume, an extra essay, teacher recommendation letters, a picture, etc. If it cannot be uploaded and needs to be mailed to the college, then you should combine it all into the same packet and mail it to the college.

It truly is not meant to be overly difficult, but it does require a great deal of organization and follow through on your part. With 278 seniors in this year's graduating class it is important to remember that you have to stay on top of things because deadlines are real and you do not want to lose the opportunity to apply to a school or to earn a scholarship just because you had not taken care of all of the details required.

If you have questions, stop by and see me and I will try to help make sure that we are all on the same page regarding what you need to do before your deadlines to complete all of your college applications.

The Week Ahead

I hope you are having a great weekend!  As we look at the week ahead, you are probably looking forward to the fact that you only have a 4 day school week.  :-)  You do not have school on Tuesday as it is election day.  With so many schools in the district serving as polling places the district doesn't have students in the building as just another example of the fact that you, your safety and well being is our top priority.

I also wanted to let you know that I will be out of the building on Thursday and Friday for two full days of a statewide counselor conference.  (I even get to present at the conference so I'm pretty excited to learn more and also feel like I am contributing back to the profession too.)  Why does that matter to you - because if you need anything from me this week, I'd ask you to plan ahead and stop to see me tomorrow or Wednesday.  As always, if there is an emergency that comes up while I am gone, you will be able to go and meet with one of the other counselors.

The other reminder that I wanted to mention is that any students interested in participating in the fieldtrip up to see the Delaware Area Career Center and all of the programs available as options there, please turn in your completed permission slips to the tray in the front of the counseling center as soon as possible!  Technically they were due on Friday, but we can still accept late forms over the next few days so don't delay in getting your signatures and turning it in.  Remember, making a visit doesn't commit you to attending - it is just keeping that option available to you for the future should you decide that you'd like to apply.

I've Been Slacking

Clearly, I have been slacking off on updating my blog this week.  Yikes!  I am sorry for the delay.  Between parent/ teacher conferences and the madness of trying to hit the November 1st deadline, something had to give and evidently it was updating the blog.  But, I'm back.  :-)

Today is November 1st.  Can you believe it?  This school year is flying past!  Today is a common early action deadline for a lot of colleges and so many of our seniors are submitting applications today.  (Or, ideally, have done so in the days prior to today.)  One common question that has been coming up a lot over the last few days is about what appears on the pdf submission preview.  Multiple students have been concerned that their test scores aren't appearing even though they have entered them.  Colleges have the option of how they want some features to appear (or not appear) and OSU, for example, doesn't have test scores show up.  So, don't worry about it being missing if you are reviewing your information before submitting and it doesn't appear.