November 2013 Senior Update

Class of 2014, many of you will be getting your decisions in the upcoming weeks if you haven’t already. Congratulations on acceptances thus far! Please continue to keep your counselor updated.

DO NOW: Call, email or check your application status online of all the schools to which you are applying. Please let your counselor know if there are pieces missing. 1^stquarter grades: Please see your counselor.

- Remember that if you receive a deferral, your midyear grades will be sent to the college that has offered the deferral option. It's a great oppportunity to remind them why you'd be a great candidate.

- If you are dissatisfied with your current SAT scores, you do have an opportunity with the January test (1/25). For some of you who were deferred, this may be the one factor that pushes you into the accept category. Talk it over with your counselor.

- If you were denied admission, remember you can always consider reapplying after spending a year at another institution.

- Upcoming deadlines: Dec. 1, 15, Jan 1 and 15. Plan to have all applications done by Christmas

- Update Naviance status of applications before you leave for Thanksgiving break.

A reminder about your competition:

- Colleges continue to review a number of applications, which was complicated by the new Common Application implementation.

- Personal statements make a difference. As we have said, this is your chance to let your characeter come to the forefront. This is the time to communicate your personality and special characteristics that makes you uniquely you. Many of you were able to do a great job at this; others decided that it was not important. It matters, so be authentic! Average statistics can come alive with a well written personal statement.

- For the most part, admission committees feel just as overwhelmed as you. They have the pressure of sometimes denying students they LOVE, who they think will be great students.

The moral of the story…

• Maintain your focus! You only have a few weeks left of classes before the end of the first semester.
• Maintain perspective. If you were not admitted to a school of your choice, remember you have other options that you love.

What's next?

• Scholarship monies are going unclaimed. Check the Scholarship page in Naviance as it is maintained and updated regularly. If you have questions, please see your counselor or Ms. Morissette who monitors the scholarships sent to us. For those of you applying for regular decision deadlines, most colleges will notify you in April.
• Schools who review applications on a ROLLING basis tend to notify 2-8weeks after your application is completed.
• Regardless of when you receive a decision from the college, you do NOT have to make a final decision until MAY 1, 2013.
• REMINDER: You need to request your official scores from either College Board (SAT) or ACT administration.
• FAFSA: request a PIN immediately at fafsa.ed.gov. Always complete even it you believe your family does not qualify.

 

Your College Counseling Team

In the world of social media, tweets, Facebook, Vine... it’s easy to forget that colleges often keep track of their schools’ social media mentions. Check out this interesting article, posted by the New York Times regarding your college applications...

Your College Counseling Team

 

They Loved Your G.P.A. Then They Saw Your Tweets.

John-Patrick Thomas

By NATASHA SINGER

Published: November 9, 2013

At Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Me., admissions officers are still talking about the high school senior who attended a campus information session last year for prospective students. Throughout the presentation, she apparently posted disparaging comments on Twitter about her fellow attendees, repeatedly using a common expletive.

Perhaps she hadn’t realized that colleges keep track of their social media mentions. http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/10/business/they-loved-your-gpa-then-they-saw-your-tweets.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1

Dear Seniors – Your November To-Do List

• Register for the December SAT or ACT if appropriate. Deadline is this Friday, November 8^th!
• Have test scores sent by College Board or ACT to the colleges to which you are sending applications.
• Don't let your grades slide. It's easy to be distracted from school work when working on applications. Senior slump can be disastrous for your admissions chances. Remembering that many colleges pay close attention to first semester, sometimes even quarter grades, keep your grades as high as you can.
• Make sure you've submitted all components of your applications if you are applying to colleges with November deadlines for early decision or preferred application.
• Put the final touches on your application essays, and get feedback on your essays from counselors and/or teachers.
• Continue to research scholarships.
• Keep track of all application components and deadlines: applications, test scores, letters of recommendation, and financial aid materials. An incomplete application will ruin your chances for admission.
• Continue to keep close contact with your counselor’s – especially if questions or concerns arise.

~ Your College Counseling Team

 

Chec out this Vintage Article regarding November 1st from 2010! Happy November 1st!!

                                                              ~ Your College Counseling Team

 

 

 

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November 1, 2010, 7:30 am

Early Applications Are Due Today

By SUE BIEMERET

Reflections on a busy month on the admissions calendar, by Sue Biemeret, counselor at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill.

 

All across the country today, thousands of earnest and very tense seniors will be hitting the “send” button so that their early application gets to their dream school. They have fallen under the trance of The Early Plan.
And, my goodness, there are plenty of Early Plans out there. There’s the original binding Early Decision (at some schools today, there are actually two rounds of E.D.) and its less restrictive sidekick, Early Action. But don’t forget about those hybrid Single Choice Early Action plans, or Restrictive Early Action, which shouldn’t be confused with Early Notification, Priority Admission or Equal Consideration Deadlines.
How does a student navigate this sea of seemingly urgent choices? Do all students really have to apply early to have any chance to get into their dream school? It feels like early is the new black — the one admission essential everyone needs in their arsenal in order to gain acceptance to college.
Is that true?

I think the answer is yes and no.

Most students in this country matriculate at large public universities. State schools are still the backbone of the educational experience for many families, and most State U’s don’t engage in Early Decision. However, many public universities have a November application guideline or priority deadline in order to manage the sheer number of applications they receive. Many public institutions operate on a rolling admission calendar, so in order to keep some sanity in their admission offices, they strongly encourage students to apply earlier in the fall.

All applications received by Nov. 1 or 15 will receive equal consideration for admission, so it’s always in a student’s best interest to apply to State U by mid-November.

That’s an early plan that makes sense to me. I’ve always encouraged students to complete all their public university applications, which tend to be less intricate, by late October so that they can concentrate on their more involved private school apps in November and early December.
I think it’s healthy for seniors to have one application in the hopper in the fall so that they are involved in the admission process, and not sitting on the sidelines fretting about that looming January deadline.

However, I just don’t buy the idea that applying under an early plan is mandatory for every single senior. Applying Early Decision isn’t a trump card that the strategic senior plays in order to win the hand. If students have researched colleges carefully and exhaustively during junior year and found one school that they want to propose to — so much so that they’re willing to forsake admission to all other colleges for that one “yes” — then by all means, apply E.D.

But applying ED. — or E.A. or R.E.A. or S.C.E.A. or whatever other alphabetical spin an admissions office puts on it — isn’t for everyone. It’s really O.K. to apply to a college regular decision.
It’s application season and students do need to apply in order to be admitted, of course. But they don’t need to use a designer plan to get the job done.

What are your thoughts on Early Admission? Are you, or is your child, applying early this year? Why, or why not? Let us know using the comment box below.
Sue Biemeret is a post-secondary counselor at Adlai E. Stevenson High School in Lincolnshire, Ill., and executive director of The Academy for College Admission Counseling, a nonprofit organization that provides graduate-level education on college counseling for counselors.