FREE Portfolio review for Pratt Applicants!!

Portfolio Review and Counselor Meeting Options:

1. On-Campus Portfolio Reviews: on-campus meetings/portfolio reviews are offered Monday through Friday from April 1 to December 1. Reservations are required. To schedule, please email visit@pratt.edu or call 718.636.3779. You may schedule a campus tour or information session on the same day if available by registering online. See below under Additional Visit Options.

2. Off-Campus Meetings/Portfolio Reviews in your area: Admissions counselors meet with prospective students in many areas of the country and the world.  These meetings are ideal for undergraduate applicants looking for feedback on their visual portfolios or to discuss Pratt and its programs with a counselor. Appointments must be scheduled in advance. Each session lasts one half hour; please arrive ten minutes before your appointment. It is best to bring original artwork. If you have time-based work or digital work to show, please bring your laptop. View off-campus visit options below. You may also download a PDF of the chart at the bottom of the page. Email visit@pratt.edu to schedule. Reservations are required.

https://www.pratt.edu/admissions/visiting-pratt/visit-undergrad/meet-with-counselor/

Science Essay Competition!

The Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science is sponsoring an international science essay competition for high school students. I am writing to ask your help in sharing this information with students in your schools who may be interested in participating.

By providing an interdisciplinary forum for sharing undergraduate research, the Dartmouth Undergraduate Journal of Science highlights the important and exciting work being done by Dartmouth students and faculty. Through the international science essay competition, the undergraduate editorial board seeks to include a broader array of voices in exploring the recent effects and future promise of science in our society. A complete explanation of the contest, along with rules for participation, can be found online.

Thank you in advance for sharing this with your students and best wishes for the new school year.

Paul Sunde

Director of Admissions and Interim Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid

Tips for Writing a Great College Essay

Tip 1. College essays are fourth in importance behind grades, test scores, and the rigor of completed coursework in many admissions office decisions (NACAC, 2012). Don't waste this powerful opportunity to share your voice and express who you really are to colleges. Great life stories make you jump off the page and into your match colleges.

Tip 2. Develop an overall strategic essay writing plan. College essays should work together to help you communicate key qualities and stories not available anywhere else in your application.

Tip 3. Read the prompts all the way through. Each prompt may have different questions or probes. Make sure you are prepared to answer all parts of the prompts. Some answers may be implied, but must be clearly evident to a reader.

Tip 4. Plan to share positive messages and powerful outcomes. You can start with life or family challenges. You can describe obstacles or failures you have overcome. You can reflect on your growth and development, including accomplishments and service. College admissions officers do not read minds, so tell them your powerful life stories and demonstrate the personal qualities you hope to bring to their campus communities.

Tip 6. Follow Dr. Joseph's Into, Through, and Beyond approach. Lead the reader INTO your story with a powerful beginning—a story, an experience. Take them THROUGH your story with the context and keys parts of your story. Make sure the reader understands your initiative, leadership, development, and continuity. End with the BEYOND message about how this story has affected who you are now and who you want to be in college and potentially after college. The beyond can be implied in many pieces that are so strong that

moralizing at the end is not necessary.

Tip 7. Use active writing: avoid passive sentences and incorporate power verbs. Show when possible; tell when summarizing.

Tip 8. Most importantly, make yourself come alive throughout this process. Write about yourself as passionately and powerfully as possible. Be proud of your life and accomplishments. Sell yourself!!!

Take from Communicating Your Story:

Writing Powerful College Application Essays

                                                            Rebecca Joseph

Welcome back to another year at Grand and Warren! Be sure to visit our Guidance and College Counseling page http://www.spprep.org/GuidanceCollegeCounseling for guidance counselor details and contact information.

Here's to a great year!

~ your Guidance and College Counseling Team