From Your Guidance and College Counseling Team!
Tuesday, November 24, 2015
Monday, November 16, 2015
Wednesday, November 11, 2015
Monday, November 9, 2015
The Eugene McDermott Scholars Program
Established by Mrs. Eugene McDermott in support of her husband's dream, the McDermott Scholars Program provides select UT Dallas students with a rigorous and personalized education as well as intensive extracurricular activities.
visit for more information: http://www.utdallas.edu/mcdermott/
McDermott Application Process
Student Applicants – steps to get started
- Make sure you meet the minimum qualifications.
- Review and note important dates and deadlines.
- Begin the application process by setting up an online account here.
- Input three recommenders - include name, recommender type, and email address.
- After logging into the online application, the recommendation link can be found on the left-side navigation labeled “McDermott Scholars Recommendations.”
- Three online recommendations must be submitted including one counselor and two other recommenders. See below for more recommendation information.
- Mail your transcript only if your counselor is unable to upload one via their online recommendation; the transcript will need to be sent to the McDermott Scholars office. See below for more transcript information.
- Complete and submit all parts of the McDermott student application.
- We encourage you to submit your student application even if all recommendations and transcript are not yet processed.
- Complete the UT Dallas application process before Tuesday, January 5, 2016.
- Note: The McDermott Scholars Program application and UT Dallas’ Office of Admission and Enrollment do not share transcripts or other documents. Each application process is independent from the other.
Wednesday, November 4, 2015
Weigh Passion, Practicality to Narrow Your
College Search
When choosing where you'll apply, it's
possible to find harmony between your head and your heart.
Humans love to view the world
in dichotomies, whether it's good vs. evil, head vs. heart or passion vs.
practicality. A dichotomy means "a division into two parts," and
it can be a powerful way to narrow a diverse set of possibilities down to
a choice between two options.
The passion vs. practicality
decision is especially evident in the college search. Students are often faced with
either going with their hearts and choosing the college and major that speak to
them, or making a calculation that will maximize earning power. But the
options don't have to be so stark.
When students are narrowing
their final list of potential schools, they should consider how each of those
schools appeals to both their passions and their practical side. If a certain
school appeals to one side more than the other, the student can delve deeper
into those factors when further researching the school. Ultimately, students
can make a more informed decision in the end if they equally weigh the two
sides of this dichotomy now, as they narrow the list of colleges where they'll
apply.
If a student neglects to
consider both passion and practicality fairly, the effects can be
disastrous. Consider my friend Henry, a passionate artist in high school who
pursued a degree in economics at a respectable business school within a large state university.
Henry, predictably, was bored
by the business school curriculum and graduated with a low-B average. He
struggled to secure a rewarding job and instead held several low-paying sales
positions while pursuing art on the side. Years later, Henry’s economics degree
helps him balance his checkbook, but little else.
The opposite side of the
debate is simple to recognize. Individuals who follow a passion
for arts could be saddled with $60,000 in student loan debt and a degree
in culinary arts or jewelry-making. Contrary to the advice of some, following
your passion does not always automatically result in a well-paying position
either.
When considering your ideal
college or university, include
options that excite you, such as schools with lively music scenes,
socially engaged student bodies or ones with study abroad programs in countries that interest you.
Productivity requires a passion for the work you do, and success in college
necessitates work.
Do not make the mistake of
believing that anything enjoyable is also impractical. There are legions of
artists who are fulfilled and financially secure as web designers or
marketing professionals, for instance.
Likewise, consider the
practical side of your college choices.
Write a list of limits based on your grades, financial situation and aspirations. Many schools offer generous
financial aid packages, and now most have electronic tools that can help predict your eligibility. Take, for
example, Baylor University's model.
Decide how much debt you are willing to amass and limit your choices accordingly. Including these factors does not mean you are shuttering your dreams. Rather, you are giving your dreams the chance to exist in reality after college.
Decide how much debt you are willing to amass and limit your choices accordingly. Including these factors does not mean you are shuttering your dreams. Rather, you are giving your dreams the chance to exist in reality after college.
Before you apply to
a long list of schools, check the criteria you have set against each institution
to see which fit, and which don't. The options that most closely fit all your
criteria – both the passion-based and the practical parts – should be the ones
to which you mostly strongly consider applying.
One excellent way to organize
your college search is to look for high-value bargains. For my undergraduate
education, I was accepted by a wide range of public and private schools. As
much as my heart led me to the cozy campus of the most expensive option, I
eventually settled on an honors program at an in-state university.
For the cost of in-state
tuition, I received the small class sizes of a private school, as well as
access to world-class student research opportunities that took me north of the
Arctic Circle and to the volcanic slopes of Mount St. Helens.
If I were advising my younger
self, I would have put affordability near the top of my list of criteria.
By the conclusion of my college search, when the realities of expenses had set
in, I had only one really affordable option on my list.
In other words, I had left
myself with no affordable plan B that met my other criteria. I was fortunate in
how the experience worked out, but I would advise students to have a short list
of schools that meet their practical needs – such as money or distance from
home – as well as the excellent schools that would require a miraculous
scholarship in order to become practical.
College, like life, is a
series of compromises. It may take some research to uncover the correct balance
of desire and practicality, but it is well worth the effort. Whatever you do,
do not allow yourself to narrow the world down to a simple choice between two
extremes.
Monday, November 2, 2015
New England Youth Leadership Conference
Upcoming Dates:
December 4-6
January 29-31
February 26-28
Conducted across the nation and sponsored by the Military Order of World Wars (MOWW), Youth Leadership Conferences (YLC) and the National Association of Secondary School Principals (NASSP) annually sanction the YLC curriculum. YLC classes are led by skilled instructors and supervised by well-qualified Team Leaders and Counselors. Classes are participatory. The New England Chapter of YLC is conducted at Norwich University, the nation’s first senior military college. During the weekend, participants are grouped into teams and involved in both classes and physical challenges, including:
- Intelligent Leadership
- Effective Communications
- Water Survival Skills
- Climbing Wall
- Leadership Reaction Course
- Our Constitution & The Bill of Rights
- The Citizen Soldier
- Free Enterprise & Personal Finance
- Cyber Security
- Honor & Ethics
http://bit.ly/NorwichYLCW
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