Spots Still Open in WPU's Nursing Program

William Paterson in New Jersey is extending their application program to their highly regarded nursing program for current high school seniors. WPU has just announced they have extended their deadline until July 1^st. So if there are any seniors who have still yet to decide on their future school and are interested in nursing, think about William Paterson as a possible landing spot! The criteria to possibly become an accepted student are as follows:

·         Minimum cumulative GPA of 3.0

·         1050 SAT score (CR & Math) with at least a 500 CR score

·         2 Lab sciences with grades of B or better

If you are interested in this opportunity, please stop by your college counselor’s office for more information and don’t forget to visit the WPU website.

Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

Summer Checklist for Rising Seniors

Although the 2011-2012 school year has been long, leading students to be tired and looking forward to summer break…rising seniors will be in a very important time of their college search process. For rising seniors, summer is not a time to just sit on your couch, watching ESPN and forgetting everything from a few months ago, which includes information from junior group guidance! The free time students have in the summer is a great opportunity to prepare for the application process and to present yourself in the best way possible to prospective colleges and universities. I can promise you that the first semester of senior year will be a very busy one with coursework, sports, clubs, and the application process. Time will fly-by and it would benefit all students to get a majority of the college work done in advance. Take a moment to look over a few of the areas in which you can work on during the summer time to give you advantage once autumn arrives:

·         Prepare for Testing/Review Testing Requirements- Many students will be happy with their SAT/ACT test scores from junior year and will not take these tests in the fall. However, a good amount of students may still need to increase their scores. So use the summer time to enroll in SAT or ACT prep classes or study on your own. Also, if students plan on applying to highly competitive colleges, make sure you are on top of all testing requirements. If a school requires SAT subject tests, make sure you register for one of the testing dates in the fall.

·          Continue to Visit Campuses- Although it usually is more beneficial to visit colleges while they are in session, this cannot always be done during the school-year. It is much better to visit a college during the summer than to never see the school. A BIG factor to deciding on which college to attend should be the overall fit and gut feeling you get while on the school’s campus. Students can get a ton of information online about schools, but there is no substitute for visiting schools to gain that invaluable “feel” for the campus.

·         Build up Your Resume- High testing scores and a high cumulative GPA are great and will be very helpful when applying to schools. However, for many schools this will not be enough. Schools want students who are well-rounded and more than just academics. They want students that are involved in other activities, sports, clubs, jobs, or do something to set themselves apart. It will be important to manage your time and responsibility in college, and admissions counselors want to see that you already have experience with this. If you do not have much to show to colleges, use the summer as a time to get involved with other opportunities other than high school classes. Some summer opportunities you may want to think about are: jobs, summer enrichment programs, pre-college summer programs, volunteering, or even some type of research! There are a multitude of ways you can benefit yourself and society, which may also improve your chances of getting accepted into school.

·         Think about Your Future- This can be a very scary thought for high school students. I often will get blank stares or confused looks when I ask my students to think about a career they could see themselves in, or where they see themselves in six years. Although this may be hard, it is important! Start researching jobs online, talking to friends and family, or try some old fashioned personal reflection and introspection. Whatever works best for you, just do something and think about what you could see yourself doing for a career and which college majors may be a good fit for you.

·         Work on Your Essay- The college essay is an integral piece to the college application process. This is not something students want to leave to the last minute to complete. Students should take time to reflect, compose, and review their college essay. This is a great opportunity for students to show who they truly are and why they belong in a school’s community. The essay often will be the deciding factor for a student being accepted or denied. Although college applications cannot be completed yet, the CommonApplication can be viewed online, by clicking on the link. Students can review the essay topics for next year and start working on them. Please, do not rush the essay, and use your free time in the summer to make the essay as good as it can be!

Joseph D. Korfmacher, MA

May 1st Deposits!

April is going fast and May 1^st will be here sooner than you can write a $500 check! Speaking of checks, most colleges have a May 1^st deadline for sending in your deposit (usually about $500). This deposit needs to be in by the deadline to ensure you have a spot in next year’s freshmen class. When doing this, carefully look over and complete any paperwork that needs to be sent in to the colleges with the deposit. DO NOT assume that everything is automatic. If you plan on living in the dorms, make sure you acknowledge that somewhere in the paperwork.

            For students who have been put on the waitlist, also known as purgatory, to one of your top choices, it is understandably a stressful time. Most colleges do not accept students off of the waitlist until well after May 1^st, sometimes deep into the summer. Although it is not a great situation, students want to make sure they have a spot at some college. So even if you are a student who is still holding out for your top school where you were waitlisted, pick your top choice from one of the schools you were accepted into and send your deposit there. Never assume you will be accepted off of the waitlist! As many of you will find out, the deposits for colleges are almost always non-refundable. Meaning, if you do eventually get accepted off of the waitlist after May 1^st, and do choose to attend the school, you will be out of the $500 you sent in to one of your other choices. There is no way around this, and can be a tough decision, but it is better to know this before. Good luck with final decisions, and parents…get used to writing those big checks for the foreseeable future!

Joseph Korfmacher, MA

Juniors-Make sure you register for SAT/ACT

This is just a quick reminder that the May 5^th SAT registration deadline is quickly approaching. The regular deadline is Friday, April 6^th. All juniors should take at least one SAT or ACT before the summer break, however it is strongly recommended to take two of these tests before the start of senior year. Also, students who are planning on applying to more selective colleges and universities should look into SAT Subject tests. There are a multitude of tests to take, but they are not all offered each testing date. The SAT subject tests offered for the upcoming May date are: Spanish, French, Math 1, Math 2, U.S. History, Physics, Chemistry, Biology E/M, and Literature. For the June SAT date all of these subjects will be offered in addition to Modern Hebrew, Latin, German, and World History.

It is very important that students do not wait until their senior year to take either the SAT or ACT for the first time. Although this can be done, senior year can be extremely busy and preparing and sitting for the standardized tests is not something you want to just try to “fit in” during your senior year. Also many early action/early decision/priority deadlines are in November and early December of senior year. This will not give students planning on applying early, enough time to receive SAT scores. So do yourself a favor and if you have not done so already, go online and register for the SAT and/or ACT. If you believe you may qualify for a fee waiver, please do not hesitate to contact your school counselor.

To register for the SAT, please click here.

To register for the ACT, please click here.

-Mr. Joseph Korfmacher, MA

Spring Suggestions for Seniors

Here are a few reminders for seniors and their parents in the never ending month of March:

1)      Be patient and try to stay calm as those regular decision e-mails of notification begin to roll in. Many have just been sent out and others will be sent out at the beginning of April. Because of the amount of applications, this process sometimes is delayed a few days…try not to freak out…the undergraduate admissions office has not forgotten about you and they are not trying to play a trick on you. You will have an answer soon enough, so try to relax and keep yourself busy, maybe even with your senior year course work?! This leads me to reminder number 2…

2)         You have heard these two words for three and a half years now, but I will tell you again… 'Avoid Senioritis’. We understand that most students have heard a positive answer from at least a few of their schools, and that the weather is unusually warm and inviting to do anything but high school homework right now. However, you must try to muster-up the strength to keep taking a serious approach to your studies and keeping your grades where they have been. As a counselor, I understand the importance of down-time, fun, and relaxation, and I am not saying you shouldn’t relax and be excited about the next step in your life. However, there needs to be a balance, and the commitment to your high school work must continue until graduation. Although it is rare, if there is a drastic decline to your senior year grades, schools reserve the right to rescind your acceptance. Also, it would be a shame to waste 3 ½ years of hard work, which has gotten your cumulative GPA to where it is, with one bad semester. Finish what you started and end on a high note! I can assure you that you will have a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction if you give it your best effort throughout your four years of high school.

3)      Make sure you follow-up with deferrals and once you select a school to attend, notify the other schools of your decision. If you have been deferred from a school or placed on the waiting list and you are still interested in that school, make sure the colleges are aware of your continued interest and update them with any new accomplishments on your part. As talented as college admission counselors are, they are not mind readers. If the school is still high on your list, send admissions an e-mail explaining your high interest in their school. Also, once a decision is made on your part on which school you will attend, and out of courtesy, notify the other schools that you no longer need to be considered for admission or that you will not be attending their institution in the coming fall.

4)      Be excited for all of your acceptances, but be aware that your peers may not have heard great news from some of their choices. It is great to celebrate getting into your colleges, just be mindful of others during this process, and be supportive of your friends, whether they were accepted or not from their schools. Also, be mindful that a “safety” school for you may be a “reach” school for your friend. Try not to compare colleges, but celebrate all acceptances!

5)      Keep your counselors informed about decisions and show your gratitude to your teachers, who wrote letters of recommendation. Your counselor has been working very hard with you throughout this entire college process, and we truly do want to hear about the responses from all schools. Just keep us updated either by stopping by the office or sending an e-mail…it’s that easy! Also, teachers are not required to write you a letter of recommendation and they certainly do not get paid to do so! Take a few minutes out of your day to write a short ‘thank-you’ note to the teachers who spent some of their free time writing a recommendation letter. This is the right thing to do and teachers will surely be appreciative of the notes!!

6)      Keep searching for community/organizational scholarships. More and more scholarships will continue to pop up, and make sure you keep your radar on, so when they do appear, you can apply to them. Even if the scholarship is for $1,000, it is worth it to take the time to apply and give yourself a chance of receiving some extra money towards your education.

7)      And the final suggestion for students at the end of their senior year in high school is to spend time with family and enjoy these last few months at home. Most students will be going away for school and the time spent with parents and siblings will drastically decrease. College is an amazing experience, but life will certainly be different. Enjoy these last few months at home, and make time for your parents and siblings, making sure you are grateful for everything they have done for you up to this point.

SAT/ACT Reminders

This is a reminder to all that there are just three more sittings for the SATs and only two more for the ACTs for this academic year. For juniors it is extremely important to take at least one of these standardized admissions tests before the summer break. However, it is recommended to take the tests twice if you can. There are many reasons for this including ‘score choice’. For both the SAT and ACT the student can decide which test date(s) to send to the colleges. So if a student doesn’t do well on one sitting, the schools never need to hear about it. Also, for the SAT, most colleges will superscore the overall score for the three sections (Math, Critical Reading, and Writing). So if you do better on the math section for the March test and better on the critical reading section for the May test, go ahead and send both test dates, and the colleges will combine the highest scores.

Additionally, just like most other things in life, the more you do it, the better the results. Often, students will perform better the second or third time they take the SAT or ACT. You do not want to be in the position where you have to rely on one test! A final reason it is important to take these tests more than once before summer break is because many students are involved in test preparation right now. You are learning tricks and strategies to the tests, so why not take back-to-back tests when the information is fresh in your minds? If you study and prep for the May test, and then wait until the October test during your senior year, you may be at a disadvantage, since it is likely all of that information you learned in the spring has gone out the window! Please contact your counselor with any questions on preparing for the SAT/ACT or registering for these tests.

As a reminder the next three SAT dates are: March 10^th, May 5^th, and June 2^nd.

As a reminder the next two ACT dates are:   April 14^th and June 9^th.

*Please be advised that although the regular registration deadline has passed for the March 10^th SAT, there is still time to register under the late registration. The deadline for this late registration is February 24^th and there is an additional fee for this on top of the SAT fee.*