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30 Minutes of Personalized Admissions Advice are Just a Click Away

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Get the expertise you want – in a flash!

Students and parents – no matter their background or starting level of familiarity with the world of American higher education – deserve personalized college guidance as they navigate the increasingly Byzantine transition from high school to what comes next.

Starting in 2020, when students and parents have post-secondary- and college admissions-related questions, CollegeMeister Craig Meister has expert answers – almost instantaneously.

For the first time ever, Craig Meister, who, over the past fifteen years has become one of the world’s most trusted sources of expert and unfiltered undergraduate admissions guidance, is offering families the chance to purchase just 30 minutes of personalized college admissions coaching at a time, which lowers the price point for his personalized college admissions coaching and brings it within reach of more families than ever before.

“The fact is, the retail price of higher education in the United States today is completely obscene. Yet, knowledge is power – and I want to empower more students with the knowledge that they need to find and get into right-fit return-on-investment-friendly colleges and universities.” announced Meister.

As the price of a college education has risen, so have the hourly rates of the world’s top college admissions consultants – when such consultants offer an hourly rate at all.

“Unfortunately, many college admissions consultants don’t even work with families unless they can pay up front for a comprehensive consulting package running into the thousands or tens of thousands of dollars. While, unlike most consultants, I always offered price transparency and hourly pricing on my website, my smallest service offering was one hour…” continued Meister. “By offering 30-minute CollegeMeister on Call coaching sessions, a greater swath of socioeconomically diverse families will for the first time have access to personalized college admissions coaching that they can depend on.”

Investing in expert personalized college admissions coaching when a student is in high school gives a family the information that it needs when it needs it in order set up their student to transition into a post-secondary environment that is as attractive for its educational efficacy as it is for its likelihood to be deemed a financial and experiential asset for the duration of the student’s life.

“Students who are willing – and able – to collaborate with an admissions expert early and often during their high school careers are more likely to find themselves in a right-fit return-on-investment-friendly college or university, and CollegeMeister on Call 30-minute coaching sessions will enable more students to achieve just that!” added Meister.

With 30 minutes of Craig’s undivided attention, students and parents are encouraged to ask him any college admissions questions that are on their minds. Craig’s concise, direct, and expert answers to students’ and parents’ questions will allow families to immediately make the right moves regarding academics, testing, extracurricular activities, and/or college applications in order to meet with future college admissions success.

After engaging with Craig Meister for 30 minutes, families have flexibility regarding when or if to reengage with CollegeMeister for the duration of a student’s college admissions process; there is no commitment to continue working with Craig Meister after a family’s first CollegeMeister on Call session. Even so, in the past, ninety-six percent of first-time clients have continued to work with Craig for the duration of a student’s college admissions process – and that was before ongoing 30-minute sessions were offered (previously, the majority of those families that did not continue working with Craig cited cost as the only reason they were unable to continue).

“I’m at a stage in my career where I rather help a greater diversity of students in a targeted manner than help several dozen students annually with everything. I believe in access for all; in 2020, both with new free YouTube content and 30-minute CollegeMeister on Call sessions, I’ll be able to help more students than ever before. That’s my new year’s resolution.” concluded Meister.

What are you waiting for? In 2020 get the expert college admissions advice that you need when you need it. Connect with CollegeMeister on Call today!

Penn Receives Far Fewer Early Decision Applications in 2019

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Penn’s Early Decision acceptance rate rose to 19.7% in 2019

The University of Pennsylvania only received 6,088 Early Decision (ED) applications for its Class of 2024 — down from 7,109 just last fall — a more than 14% drop from last year’s number of ED applications. This news was first reported in The Daily Pennsylvanian, Penn’s student newspaper, on November 13, 2019; yet, adjusted numbers were released from Penn’s admissions office on December 16, 2019 (see below). Before the sudden drop this year, the number of ED applicants to Penn had been rising for years.

While some may argue that an uptick in fires in California or the lack of a recent SAT score re-centering are to blame, one actual reason for the sudden drop in Penn’s ED application numbers is likely Penn’s choice to break its long-time one 650-word supplemental essay question into two shorter essays (still totaling 650 words in all) this application cycle. Enough students make application choices based on perceived effort to complete Common App supplements alone; therefore, seeing two distinct essay prompts scared off up to 1,000 high school seniors – who clearly were not all that invested in applying to Penn to begin with – from applying to Penn Early Decision this fall.

Just goes to show, many students are not as focused on perceived college fit as they are on perceived college application fit.

Penn’s Former Supplemental Essay Question:

How will you explore your intellectual and academic interests at the University of Pennsylvania? Please answer this question given the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying. (400-650 words)

Penn’s Current Supplemental Essay Questions:

How did you discover your intellectual and academic interests, and how will you explore them at the University of Pennsylvania? Please respond considering the specific undergraduate school you have selected. (300-450 words)

At Penn, learning and growth happen outside of the classrooms, too. How will you explore the community at Penn? Consider how this community will help shape your perspective and identity, and how your identity and perspective will help shape this community. (150-200 words)

As one can see above, the change in Penn’s supplemental writing requirement was implemented in such a way as to provide two direct – and more specific – leading questions to Penn applicants in order to give Penn’s admissions team members the information that they really always wanted but were clearly not getting enough of by using Penn’s old 650-word essay prompt alone. Sadly, too few students must have been capable of organizing their thoughts clearly and articulately in the old 650-word responses. But even fewer were even willing to try answering two questions on Penn’s supplement this admissions cycle. Thus, by creating more concrete language in two prompts, Penn upset the equilibrium of its apple cart.

December 16, 2019 Update: Tonight, Penn put out the following information:

On Monday, December 16th at 7:00 p.m. ET, the University of Pennsylvania will announce admission decisions for Early Decision applicants to the Class of 2024, the institution’s 268th class.

The University of Pennsylvania received 6,453 applications under the first-choice Early Decision Program for the entering class of 2024. From this group of highly talented and compelling students from around the globe, 1,269 students were offered admission, approximately 53% of the expected enrolling class in the fall of 2020.

Nationally, 46 states, Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico are represented in the class with the highest concentration of admitted students from Pennsylvania (189), New York (162), California (136), New Jersey (132), Florida (51) and Texas (45). Fifty-nine students reside in the city of Philadelphia.

13% of the class are international students based on their citizenship, hailing from 50 countries from Argentina to Zimbabwe.

54% percent of the admitted students are female, 52% of the U.S. Citizens/Permanent Residents self-reported as a member of a minority group, and 10% are first-generation college students. 24% of the admitted students had a parent or grandparent attend Penn in prior generations. 13% are estimated to qualify for a Federal Pell Grant.

Admitted students have pursued a most demanding secondary school curriculum in a range of educational settings. Their middle 50% testing ranges are 1450-1550 on the SAT and 33-35 on the ACT.

So, either Penn’s student newspaper was completely in error in what it reported (only 6,088 ED applicants) or Penn somehow found 365 additional ED applications after November 13 (twelve days after its ED deadline). Were all of them QuestBridge students? If not, where did the other applications come from?

Even taking Penn’s latest news release at face value, Penn experienced at minimum a nine percent drop in ED applications in 2019 compared to 2018. Accepting Penn’s latest numbers also means that Penn’s ED acceptance rate for Fall 2019 rose to 19.7% after hitting 18.5% in 2018 when Penn accepted 1,279 ED applicants. Penn has now accepted over half of its Class of 2024, which Penn expects to total 2,400 students, via Early Decision.

Penn’s higher ED acceptance rate this fall tracks with softer demand at various Ivies. For more information on that, click here.

Best College Acceptance Gifts for the Class of 2020

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After applying Rolling on August 18, 2019, my first student in the Class of 2020 received on September 6, 2019 an offer of Fall 2020 admission to her first choice university. Thus, around these parts at least, Rolling Admission, Priority Admission, Early Decision, and Early Action Acceptance Season officially began two months ago!

With the bulk of Early Decision and Early Action notifications set to be released in December, now is the time to determine what you will buy your special someone (maybe even yourself) who hopefully will be getting into college real soon (if he or she hasn’t gotten in already). While most Early Decision and Early Action acceptance notifications coincide with the height of Christmas-Hanukah shopping season, this year, to mark getting into college, you really don’t want to give simply a fruitcake or a Rudolph sweater. You want to make your gift college acceptance-centric.

So, go on and surprise your special someone or treat yourself with gifts that mark the occasion of getting into college and celebrate college life in general by browsing through the 2019-2020 College Acceptance Gift Collection presented by Admissions.Blog.

A bit of a back-story: for nearly a decade I sent acceptance gifts to my students accepted Early Decision and Early Action at their first-choice colleges, and these gifts’ massive popularity got many people both near and far asking, “Where did you think of that?” or, “That’s the perfect gift for my future Terrapin (or Gator, or Bruin, etc.), how can I get my hands on more just like it?” So, several years back, I decided to open up Admissions.Blog’s online gift shop designed specifically for your future or current college student.

Gifts detailed in the gift collection run the gamut from college apparel to dorm safety products. No matter your budget or needs, we’ve got the perfect college-themed gifts that are fun and practical.

So, what are you waiting for? Start Shopping below!

Congratulations on getting into college Rolling, Priority, ED, or EA!

Represent with or Protect your Tech with College Pride!
Skinit makes some of my favorite phone cases and laptop, AirPod, PlayStation, and Xbox skins around. What’s great is that on some of these items you can not just find styles that match your personality; you can also find designs that flaunt your college colors. Below are some examples of some of my favorite skins or cases.

In the same vain, it’s also important not to misplace your technology and charge your gadgets regularly. I love this all-in-one bamboo charging station by NEXGADGET because it’s compact, which is perfect for a dorm room and it’s also quite stylish.

Protect Yourself!
Sad to say, college dorm showers are gross! Showaflaps make my favorite antibicrobial flip flops for your (hopefully) daily showers while on campus.

At many college campuses it also gets quite cold in the winter; therefore, how about some house boots to keep your feet nice and warm during your first winter on campus? Hanes makes my favorites in this category, and their unisex bad boys double as awesome dorm room slippers. Added bonus: no-slip!

Keep the Peace in Your Dorm Room
They say that good fences make good neighbors. In the context of a dorm room, good room dividers make good roommates. Sometimes we all need a bit of our own space, and MyGift makes my favorite dorm room divider because it can also double as a chalk board.

Look Good On Campus
While it makes the most sense to dress for success during the school day and while in class, once nighttime rolls around, strip down to a graphic tee that showcases your sense of humor. My favorite pop-culture inspired, random, college-themed, and all around fun t-shirt designs that are sure to grab the attention of fellow travelers in your dorm, at the library, or in the dining hall are below.





Look Good In Bed
Get your head out of the gutter! When it’s time to go to sleep or simply nap, there is no need to do so in a drab quilt. You should be able to snuggle up in your college colors, and Dormitory101 makes the very best double-layered, double-sided blankets made from the softest material you’ve ever felt – and they’re easy to take care of. No pilling. No extra care instructions. Just the comfiest, coziest fleece that will last years after graduation.

Congratulations on getting into college/university!

Parents, congrats – your child is going to college!

Students, great job! Now, let’s party!

Let's Party Gif

ACT to allow section-specific retesting starting in 2020

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ACT, Inc. is dramatically reforming and enhancing the ACT® test with options that keep students’ interests in mind. Beginning with the September 2020 national ACT test date, ACT test takers will have more options when taking the ACT:

  • ACT Section Retest—Students who have already completed a full ACT test can choose to retake one or more sections (English, math, reading, science, or writing) without having to retake the entire test.
  • Superscore reporting—To support the growing trend of students taking the ACT test multiple times, score reports will now include a calculated ACT Superscore, along with an ACT Composite score.
  • Faster results with online testing—Students will be able to choose to take the ACT online at a test center on national ACT test dates and get their multiple-choice test results as early as two business days after taking the test

These new options, according to ACT, Inc., will offer students, “more choices, a better experience, and greater confidence that their ACT test scores best reflect their hard work, overall academic achievement, and potential for success throughout their lives.” I tend to agree. Students being able to choose to retake only the sections in which they want to improve their scores (after initially taking the full ACT test) is a wonderful, student-centered approach. ACT, Inc. should be applauded for this reform.

Faster score reports means that students will be able to make decisive plans for college sooner, and superscoring will help students demonstrate to colleges and universities their best achievement in each subject. The ACT is already the preferred choice for many test-takers, despite College Board efforts in recent years to win test-takers back with yet another re-centering of scores. The newly announced changes by ACT will make ACT even more popular starting in September 2020. At a time when more colleges are going test-optional, it’s not surprising that the testing agencies – ACT, Inc. and College Board – will feel ongoing pressure to make their tests student-friendly.

Learn more about the changes here.

College Application Completion Playlist: Top 20+ Tracks to Get Inspiration to Get Into College

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Picture it. You are all alone in your bedroom at 11:47 p.m. on a Tuesday night.

By day you are an overloaded high school senior year who feels dominated by IB or AP course assignments, juggling the responsibilities that come with leading four time-sucking extracurricular activities, and cramming to get an 800 on your fourth SAT Subject Test.

Unlike your classmates who could best be described as one or more of the following —

  • Ivy League legacies
  • Recruitable athletes
  • Paying unscrupulous New York, LA, or Palm Beach consultants to write their applications for them
  • Paying dastardly ‘doctors’ to write faux concussion, migraine, or Crohn’s Disease sick notes for them in order to secure very real SAT or ACT extended time testing accommodations
  • Underrepresented minorities who, ironically, also happen to be children of doctors, lawyers, bankers, bureaucrats, or other assorted white collar professionals
  • Full-pay international students
  • Completely disinterested in college (and, as a result, probably far smarter than you give them credit for)

— you are going to have to actually earn your way into an Ivy on your own! So, you find yourself staring at your computer screen at nearly midnight and into the abyss that is the Common Application filled with various application supplements that you have yet to complete.

By night, you must shift into truly high gear. You need inspiration. You are tapped out from doing summersaults throughout high school but you can’t afford to get tired now when there are so few spots at America’s ‘top’ colleges for students who actually have to earn their way into them on their own – with their own wits and moxie. Your fate will depend on your wisdom and your will – and whether or not a lot of legacies et al. are applying to your first choice college this year.

You have to work for at least two more hours to draft essays if your final essay drafts will ever be of the quality that they need to be to get you in. You turn to YouTube for a song or a soundtrack to pump you up; yet, most of the tracks that pop up aren’t capable of taking you to the level that you need to be at in order to pump out what you need to pump out tonight – and every night – between now and November 1, the date when you aim to submit all of your college applications to your one Early Decision, five Early Action, two Priority, and two Rolling admission colleges.

You turn to Google to find inspiration and you type in, “College Application Completion Playlists” or “Motivational Songs” or “EDM Motivation” or some other search query that gets you to this blessed page where you find yourself right now.

Lucky you.

Without further ado, here they are – the top 20+ tracks to have playing in the background as you complete your college applications, especially the essays, if you are serious about doing all that you can do to get in by virtue of your work ethic alone:

21. T-Pain – Best Love Song ft. Chris Brown

You really do need to consider your college application supplemental essays as individualized ‘love songs’ to each college on your list. If you write a generic love note or song to a potential love interest, he or she is not going to take your seriously, and the same goes with colleges getting a generic supplement from you. This track underscores the point that you are in the love song writing business until you are finished each and every app that has supplemental writing.

20. Johnny Nash – I Can See Clearly Now

That feeling you get either when your writer’s block clears or you realize the sun is rising and school starts in two hours.

19. Alex Gaudino feat. Crystal Waters – Destination Calabria

Because, let’s face it, even if you put in 200% effort over the coming nights, the “destination [is] unknown” and you very well may end up at Michigan or Wisconsin.

18. Ida Corr vs Fedde Le Grand Let Me Think About It (Extended)

What the heck is your favorite word and why? Come on UVA! “Let me think about it.”

17. Better Off Alone

No. You won’t be better off alone. The very thought of a gap year “alone” scares/inspires you to complete a better application during the dead of night. Plus, you can’t afford a gap year to find yourself like Malia or your lax-playing buddies.

16. Gina G Ooh Aah Just A Little Bit

This one’s good because it reminds you that one day this will all be over. You can do it! “Just a little bit” more.

15. Viola Wills – If You Could Read My Mind

Why can’t the admissions officers “just read my mind” instead of forcing me to communicate well in 650 words or fewer? After all, you’ve likely endured an extremely poor education in English throughout your K-12 career due to too many English teachers being focused on serving up critical theory rather than traditional literary analysis, strong writing instruction, or any sort of celebration of the best works of Western Civilization. By the way, there are a lot of versions of this song, but we chose this one because Viola Wills put her soul into it – just like you will need to put your soul into your apps.

14. Lighthouse Family – High

“When you are close to tears remember, someday it will all be over, one day we’re going to get so high!” Enough said, but don’t do drugs, even if it’s legal.

13. Don’t Stop Believin’

Don’t stop believin’ that you will get in…unless you are honest and of Asian heritage, in which case, just stop believing because the Ivies value ‘diversity,’ which is code for ‘they have more Asians than they currently wish to accept.’ Your only hope is the Supreme Court.

12. The Jacksons – Can You Feel It [Audio HQ] HD

Can you feel the acceptance notifications coming your way?

11. Cass Elliot – Make Your Own Kind of Music (HQ)

Because, really, you do need to be true to who you are and utterly unique if you are going to have any chance of getting into Harvard, Princeton, or Yale without any of the characteristics mentioned in that bulleted list above.

10. One Day More! – Les Misérables – 10th Anniversary Concert

Only play this one on October 31 – or the day before you know you will be finished your dastardly applications once and for all.

9. Michael Ball, Alfie Boe – He Lives In You (From “The Lion King” / Lyric Video)

Indeed, you must, “have faith” and “he does live in you!” You need to draw on generations of your ancestors to find strength. After all, if they could get through famines, wars, living without an iPhone, you can complete a few college applications.

8. Avicii – Levels

You need a good feeling or two right about now.

7. Jason Derulo – “Want To Want Me” (Official Video)

“It’s too hard to sleep…” Please, Columbia and Brown, I just “want you to want me”…despite you preferring well-connected social justice activists and loaded legacies…or better yet, those who check both of those boxes. :-/

6. Deorro x Chris Brown – Five More Hours (Official Video)

Whether you are up against the deadline on November 1 with just five more hours to go or “you are just getting started,” this one works.

5. P!nk – So What (Official Music Video)

“So, what?” Even if I have to go to Emory, “I’m still a rockstar!”

4. Bob Seger – Hollywood Nights (Lyrics)

At least you can comfort yourself knowing that you are not Aunt Becky or a Desperate Housewife out in “Hollywood” bribing the powers that be at USC for the honor of living in Compton for four years.

3. Let It Be (Remastered 2009)

Try your best and all, but maybe it’s time to just “let it be” and settle for Barrett Honors College at ASU?

2. Eric Prydz – Call On Me (Official Music Video) [HD]

You can always “call on me,” Craig Meister, the CollegeMeister, the best and most refreshingly honest college admissions consultant on the planet. Cue this EDM classic.

1. Kygo & Whitney Houston – Higher Love (Official Video)

Okay, it’s a complete visual knockoff of Eric Prydz’s song above, but the vocals are pure – early Whitney Houston – and the accompaniment is rock solid and by Kygo. And it’s 2019, so it’s current combined with classic. Not to mention the lyrics are perfect for ascending to the ‘higher’ level that you to need to reach in order to at least get into Cornell or Dartmouth.

P.S.: As you wait for your admissions decisions, or as an alternate to some of the options above, how about playing a one-hour constant loop of “High Hopes” by Panic! At The Disco?

P.P.S.: Do realize that the above list is completely subjective and somewhat satirical – just like the crazy college admissions process at America’s most selective colleges; therefore, I apologize in advance if your favorite songs didn’t make the cut, if you don’t get in where you want, and/or if you are offended. Life’s unfair like that. Just remember that if you don’t get in, you need to sing this one last song out loud whenever your friends – and frienemies – get into their top choices:

You will survive!

How did Ivanka Trump get into Wharton?

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Recently, Tucker Carlson of Fox News asked on his evening program, “How did (CNN host and child of a former Democrat Governor) Chris Cuomo get into Yale?”

The answer to this question is important for all Americans to know for the reasons Tucker Carlson explains in his monologue.

Yet, just as important, if not more important, would be for Americans to get answers to the following two related questions:

  1. How did Ivanka Trump (who is obviously the most powerful woman in America right now by virtue of her personal and professional proximity to President Trump) get into Penn’s Wharton School of Business in 2002 – as a transfer student no less?
  2. Would Ivanka still have gotten into Wharton with the same qualifications if she had submitted her transfer application after her father made his famous escalator speech announcing his run for president in 2015?

As thousands of rising high school seniors around the world embark on completing their college applications for “selective” American colleges over the weeks ahead, the answers to the above two questions would be clarifying and important for these young people to know.

Update: The powers-that-be at Penn changed their admissions policy just a couple of weeks after this post was published. The change, had it been implemented in years/decades prior, would have meant that Donald Trump and Ivanka Trump both would have been denied admission to Penn. Learn more here. 

Ivanka Trump and family pose between Locust Walk and Jon M. Huntsman Hall on Penn’s campus in May 2004

Parents: Don’t Become Aunt Becky During Your Child’s College Admissions Process

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At the root of so many parents’ anxieties about their children going through the college admissions process is not dread over the eventual act of sending their children off to live on their own. Instead, what inspires some parents to cheat on behalf of their children is some parents’ frightful realization that their the children will actually earn what’s coming to them. This is another way of saying that maybe, just maybe, the children won’t get into a colleges the parents want them to get into unless the parents insert themselves into the process in order to “augment” the college applications of their children in some way, shape, or form.

With that in mind, parents, as we head into summer, and your rising seniors enter into the climatic months of the college application process, please watch the video below. I hope it saves you from the perils of not embracing whatever outcome may await your child in the college admissions process based on what your child – the student – is willing and able to put into the process without breaking any rules, cutting corners, and/or taking advantage of any unethical “application supplementation.”

 

To receive additional sage, and quite humorous, advice from the perspective of educator Gerry Brooks, click here.

Best Summer Programs in Europe for High School Students

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High school students in Barcelona with Columbia University

For many high school students, summer is a time to disconnect from school year stress. For many parents of high school students, summer is a time fraught with anxiety over whether their teens are “making the most” of their time away from school. How sad! Whether your are a student or a parent, please don’t sweat summer.

Even if you are a student or parent who has no money to your name, there are plenty of ways high school students can stay active and engaged over the summer while developing their interests and building important life skills.

Yet, if you do have some dollars to spare, there are some wonderfully enriching summer programs for high school students out there – and I mean way out there – in Europe. My five favorites are detailed below.

These programs will give curious, adventurous, intellectual, and inquisitive high school students the chance to burst out of the often-banal high school classroom and into the “old world” in order to engage in an amazing experiential learning opportunity that will be both perspective-expanding and a chance to take a deep dive into preexisting interests. This is so important because no matter what a student does over the summer, it should present value added to both the student and to colleges the student may want to apply to later.

Before we start the countdown, an important disclaimer: exploring pre-existing interests deeply over the summer in Europe seems like a win-win to me; however, the following list won’t be for everyone, and it shouldn’t be. The most important thing for students and parents to remember is that students should pursue their passions deeply over the summer. If they can’t afford to take part in the programs below, that’s fine! They still should develop skills and knowledge over the summer that can only come through some sort of immersive summer experience. Again, I detail some closer to home and dirt-cheap options here.

But, without further ado, for the purposes of why we are here today, let’s hop on the plane to Europe!

#5. TASIS: The American School in Switzerland Summer Programs

Student taking part in TASIS summer program in Lugano, Switzerland

In 1956, M. Crist Fleming founded The American School in Switzerland, the first American boarding school in Europe, in order to apply the American independent school tradition to Europe. All these years later, the school has grown leaps and bounds, and other TASIS schools operate in England and Puerto Rico. TASIS’ summer course options in Switzerland really wow me.

Students pick one class from a diversity of options, which means that a diversity of students will be intermingling on this lovely southern Swiss campus for the duration of your stay. Class options offered in 2019 include English as an Additional Language (EAL), EAL Academic Writing (1st session only), Intensive Italian (1st session only), Intensive French, International Baccalaureate Preparation Course (2nd session only), Fine Art Portfolio (new for 2019, 1st session only), Lean Startup Masterclass (1st session only), Musical Theater, Digital Photography, Architecture & Design (1st session only), and Fashion & Textile Design (2nd session only). My favorite option, however, is La Cucina Italiana: Italian Cooking (2nd session only), in which students learn to cook authentic Italian food after choosing ingredients at local Italian markets, touring Italian cheese and meat factories, practicing knife skills, and learning how to perfectly balance spices.

Why I love this program: As a former “undecided” student as I began my college career, TASIS’ diverse offerings speak to the undecided teen in all of us, and the overall program certainlys attract a diverse mix of summer students from all over the world. Students need more opportunities to simply try something new and meet peers with diverse interests, and TASIS’ Switzerland summer program certainly allows for that in a location that can’t be beat. If you can’t get inspired to learn more about yourself and the world around you while on TASIS’ Lugano campus, you can’t get inspired anywhere. Another upshot of this program is that all high school students, no matter their grade level, are able to take part.

Who it’s perfect for: Students taking part in this program should have the desire to immerse themselves in one course and maybe one sport (sports cost extra but include Milan Academy Scuola Calcio, Olimpia Milano Basketball, and Crossfit) in the unsurpassed setting that is Lugano, Switzerland, which is also a wonderful jumping off point for educational European excursions near and far. Students who are undecided on their path in college and beyond will find something to try at TASIS over the summer and have the chance to do so in an environment that seems almost too perfect and made for life-long memories. Students whose interests align with one of the course offerings are in the unique position to build upon this preexisting interest in the company of peers who may have very different academic and personal interests but who share an interest in spending time in the pre-Alps over the summer.

Cost (in 2019): Payment is quoted in Swiss Francs, but for 2019 the exchange rate with the dollar is roughly 1:1; therefore, depending on the session, standard costs range from $6,700 to $8,200, and participants should expect costly add-ons including flights and special bonus programming.

Learn More: Click here.

Alternative worth considering: TASIS also has intriguing summer options for high school students in England, France (see more below), and possibly in the future again in Puerto Rico (recent hurricanes have led to the suspension of those summer programs for the time being).

#4. University of Notre Dame: Pre-College Program in Ireland

High school students taking part in Notre Dame’s pre-college program

It shouldn’t be so surprising that the Fighting Irish run a summer travel tour seminar worth one college credit for rising high school seniors in Ireland. Notre Dame’s Pre-College Program in Ireland allows rising high school seniors to explore “bustling Dublin,” “bucolic Connemara,” edgy Belfast, and so much more during a twelve-day jaunt through the Emerald Isle.

“Guided by Notre Dame faculty and local scholars, students will embark on an exploration of Irish culture, history, and landscape through what Notre Dame’s O’Connell House calls ‘learning through the soles of your feet.'”

Why I love this program: It’s pretty immersive in terms of ground covered and it’s pretty cool that students live and learn at the Kylemore Abbey Global Center, which is right next to a castle, during the last leg of the program.

Who it’s perfect for: Students taking part in this program should have demonstrated academic achievement in high school and some sort of preexisting interest in Ireland, Irish Heritage, Irish History, Catholicism, Protestantism, place-based learning, European culture and/or History, 20th Century History, European History, the British Isles, castles, and/or the Northern Ireland Peace Process in order to get the most out of this experience and in order to have it align with other activities they’ve pursued in the past.

Cost (in 2019): $7,075 (including application fee cost; does not include cost of passport)

Learn More: Overview and More Details

Alternative worth considering: Notre Dame also has a summer program for rising high school seniors in Rome.

#3. The New School: Parsons Paris Pre-College Studies

Sunset in Paris, France

If you are an artist, there are few better places to visit for inspiration than Paris, France. Did you know that Parsons School of Design, part of The New School in New York City, has a campus in Paris where rising high school juniors and seniors – they must be sixteen by the time the program begins – have a variety of summer art course options from which to choose? The immersive courses of study at Parsons Paris last just over three weeks in July and cover topics ranging from “Explorations in Drawing,” “Fashion Design Process,” and “Fashion Photography: History and Process” to “Graphic Design Workshop,” “Introduction to Design and Management,” and “Fashion Illustration.”

Why I love this program: This program is for serious artists; each class meets daily from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., so it’s for those who are energized by developing their craft. All Parsons Paris Summer Intensive Studies courses are not only educational in their own right; each course counts for three college credits and may also be used by students to develop a portfolio for their upcoming college admissions process. Students also have the chance to take part in excursions, including crepe tastings.

Who it’s perfect for: Students taking part in this program should have demonstrated artistic achievement in high school and some sort of preexisting interest in Art generally or specifically fashion, fashion merchandising, drawing, graphic design, photography, and/or art history in order to get the most out of this experience and in order to have it align with other activities they’ve pursued in the past.

Cost (in 2019): $7,650 (including application fee cost; does not include cost of flights or passport, but does include Metro pass for getting around Paris)

Learn More: Overview and More Details

Alternatives worth considering: If you don’t need to be in France, but want a lot of what Parsons Paris’ summer courses offer, Parsons also has a pre-college/intensive summer programs for high school students at its main campus in New York City. Meanwhile, if you would love to spend several weeks intensely pursuing your passion for art in France but don’t need to be in cosmopolitan Paris, TASIS (mentioned more above) has an intimate one-of-a-kind at program in the south of France called Les Taipes, which accepts an extremely limited number of students each summer.

#2. Columbia University: Summer Immersion in Barcelona

Students exploring Barcelona, Catalonia

While this three-week Columbia University pre-college program run in partnership with the venerable University of Barcelona won’t earn you any official college credits (only a Columbia University Statement of Completion and evaluation letters from University of Barcelona teachers), it will still immerse you into a kaleidoscope of knowledge pertaining to Barcelona, Spain, and Europe and allow you to gather this knowledge in the company of earnest and thoughtful peers as eager as you hopefully are (if you choose to apply) to explore Barcelona and its slice of European culture. All student participants take all four of the following courses:

~Barcelona in Historical Context: Roman Origins to the Spanish Civil War
~Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain, and the European Union
~Modern Architecture, Urban Development, Art, and Design in Barcelona
~Spanish Language Workshop

This ain’t no teen tour; open to rising high school juniors, rising high school seniors, and rising college freshmen, all those attending will take part in rigorous study while doing some serious place-based learning. Students live at the University of Barcelona’s modern Sant Jordi residence hall, which is located in Sarrià and only one block from Avenida Diagonal, a major thoroughfare that runs right through the city.

Why I love this program: Side trips to Figueres and Tarragona are nice, as are the variety of extracurricular activities available to students in and around Barcelona, but the biggest reason I promote this program is because my students who have taken part in it all come back appreciably more thoughtful, worldly, and mature individuals.

Who it’s perfect for: Students taking part in this program should have demonstrated academic achievement in high school and some sort of preexisting interest in Europe, European History, Spain, Spanish History, Catalonia, Catalonian History, Latin cultures/heritage, Mediterranean History, the European Union, Architecture, Urban Design/Development/Planning, Art, and/or Spanish language  in order to get the most out of this experience and in order to have it align with other activities they’ve pursued in the past.

Cost (in 2019): $11,208 (this does not cover flights or passport, but does cover the application fee); and Columbia recommends that students bring $900 in spending money to boot!

Learn More: Click here.

Alternatives worth considering: Brown University offers short “On-Location” pre-college programs for high school students in Segovia, Spain and Rome, Italy.

#1. University of Dallas: Study Abroad for High School Students in Rome

University of Dallas summer high school students on a excursion to Capri

Simply put, the most college-esqe of the courses you will find available to high school students in Europe over the summer are offered by none other than University of Dallas (go figure!). No matter which of the three course options you complete, you will earn three college credits, and the course content is pitch-perfect to study while in Rome. Italian cooking (see TASIS above) is fun, if not a bit trite and short on academic heft; nobody who takes one of UD’s courses can be accused of being unoriginal or an academic push-over.

Why I love this program: I love Italy, I love Rome, and I’m all about ROI (return on investment). If you are interested in the content of one of these courses, this pre-college program represents a really great deal and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to study on location – though the formal campus is just outside of town – with passionate University of Dallas professors doing what they love. The three course options are “Shakespeare In Italy” (did you know a full third of his plays were based in Italy? It wasn’t by accident), “Latin in Rome” (learn about Roman history, politics, art, and architecture while engaged in advanced study of Latin and the people who spoke it), and “Rome and the Catholic Church” (again, this is not fluff course by any means, as it “explores the truth, goodness, and beauty of Catholicism as manifested in great theological texts, lives of saints, artistic masterpieces, historical landmarks, and miracles connected with the Eternal City”).

Who it’s perfect for: Students taking part in this program should have demonstrated academic achievement in high school and notable preexisting interest in at least one of the subjects covered in one of the courses on offer in order to get the most out of this experience and in order to have it align with other activities they’ve pursued in the past.

Cost (in 2019): $3,500-$3,900 depending on exact course (there is no application fee, participants will need to budget roughly $2,000 more for a round-trip flight, and a bit more for a passport if not already in possession of one)

Learn More: Click here.

Alternative worth considering: As I mentioned, I love Italy. I love it so much that I decided to move my annual summer college application completion colloquium for rising seniors to Italy a few years ago. Known as Bellagio Apps, this program, which takes place in northern Italy, will help you craft amazing applications to the colleges on your list – all before the first day of senior year. Luckily, you don’t have to choose between Bellagio Apps and any of the other options mentioned above because Bellagio Apps doesn’t start until August, while the programs mentioned above take place in June and/or July.

Yet, it’s also important to note that you can’t put Bellagio Apps on your extracurricular resume like you can put any of the other programs mentioned above. I mention Bellagio Apps here because there’s really nothing else on Earth like it and because if you’ve gotten this far into this article, you probably love Italy just as much as I do. Bellagio, on the shores of Lake Como, is about as close to a hybrid of Italy and heaven as one could imagine, so if you want to ensure that all you have accomplished during your high school years is conveyed in a manner most likely to get you into the colleges on your list and you could use some time in a stunning European locale, consider Bellagio Apps this summer.

Summer internships for high school students

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While colleges increasingly emphasize the value of “experiential” or “hands-on” learning within their own communities, high school students are discovering real benefits in setting aside time during their high school careers for internships or other out-of-classroom experiences. In fact, they are finding that internships provide amazing opportunities to gain significant work experience while exploring long-term career options.

But these opportunities don’t magically appear. You have to plan ahead and do a little networking.

And now is a good time to begin nailing-down plans for next summer.

Although college students usually stand at the head of the line for internships, businesses and nonprofit organizations are increasingly holding positions open for students currently in high school or those transitioning to college. But make no mistake—these positions are getting increasingly competitive. And many application deadlines are coming significantly earlier than in past years.

It may take advance planning and persistence, but opportunities are out there.

Why intern?

Going through the internship application process teaches much-needed job search and employment skills. Preparing a résumé, asking for recommendations, landing an interview, and understanding what it means to be a responsible employee are all skills that give high school students an edge in college and beyond.

And it’s no secret that internships strengthen college applications, as these opportunities introduce students to career fields or potential majors and reinforce valuable research or lab skills.

An internship helps students understand how professional organizations function in the real world. While learning and working, interns have the opportunity to refine career goals. In fact, a summer internship can serve as a “trial period” to test ideas about professions and industries without making any long-term commitments.

If you’re especially lucky, these kinds of opportunities can also lead to award-winning science fair projects, journal articles, or patents.

Where are the internships?

Local businesses and organizations sometimes have formal internship programs designed specifically for high school students. But for the most part, these programs do not offer housing and are usually limited to students able to commute or living in the immediate area.

For example, here is a sample of the many organizations making internships available to high school students in the Washington, DC area:

For a great list of opportunities outside of the DC area, check the webpages maintained by the Rochester Institute of Technology. Scroll down for high school students and note that while the dates may not be updated the links are).

Be aware that some internship opportunities are “salaried” positions, some have stipends, and some are strictly volunteer. Again, they are generally highly competitive and some deadlines may already be past. So make note for next year.

Also, many organizations don’t advertise the availability of summer internships. This is when you have to do a little investigative work on the internet and through other kinds of public job listings. Use your networks—parents, relatives, family friends, teachers—anyone who may have contacts in businesses or organizations of interest to you.

At the end of the day, internships are great ways to get to know yourself a little better while building skills that will make you competitive for the future.

12 Reasons Scattergrams Lull Students Into a False Sense of Security

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Scattergrams, the ubiquitous x/y axis graphs that have caught on like wildfire over the last twenty years because of their inclusion in Naviance Student, the online college counseling tool used by thousands of American high schools, purport to show a student’s chances of admission at different colleges and universities by plotting previous students from a particular high school on an x/y axis graph based on such students’ GPAs on one axis and their test scores (ACT or SAT) on the other.

Below is an example of a scattergram for a particular high school showing current students (and parents) at that high school how alumni from that high school fared when applying to University of Maryland College Park from 2010 through 2014.

Note that the below scattergram plots the SAT on the x-axis using the old 2400 SAT scale; however, the SAT is now scored out of 1600. Similarly, the high school in question clearly plots GPA based on a 4.0 scale, but some schools’ scattergrams will have very different numbers of the y-axis because scattergrams can have any sort of GPA scale on them (100, 20, 6, etc.) depending on a school’s grading scale.

The typical student seeing the above scattergram assumes, if he or she has a 3.6 GPA and an SAT score of 1860 he or she is definitely going to get into University of Maryland College Park. Most of the rest of students with that combination of grades and scores would assume, after seeing the above scattergram, that Maryland is at least a huge safety college for them. After all, all students from this high school in the past few years who land in that GPA/score range got into Maryland, as illustrated by all of those green squares.

STOP RIGHT THERE!

The problem is a student with this GPA/score combination could easily get rejected from University of Maryland College Park for any number of reasons that a scattergram will not be able to display. The most common reasons scattergrams lull students into a false sense of security are as follows:

  1. Many selective colleges get more selective every passing year, rendering antiquated past years’ admissions statistics.
  2. Scattergrams don’t show the quality of past applicants’ extracurricular resumes.
  3. Scattergrams don’t show the quality of past applicants’ essay writing skills.
  4. Scattergrams don’t show past applicants’ demographics (rich, middle-class, poor, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, International, etc.). College admissions officers for American colleges – especially selective institutions – often care quite a lot about their applicants’ demographics.
  5. Scattergrams don’t show incredibly important (again, in the eyes of college admissions officers) background information about past applicants’ beyond their demographics. Here we are talking about characteristics like an applicant’s legacy status (Did a past applicant’s mom or dad attend the same college?), athletic prowess (Was a past applicant a highly-sought athletic recruit?), and/or his or her parents’/grandparents’ proclivity for giving money to the college on the scattergram in question.
  6. Most high schools set their scattergrams to hide from current students/parents whether or not past applicants to the college in question applied Rolling Decision, Early Decision, Early Action, Priority Admission, and/or Regular Decision. That’s important information! This is because colleges that offer different admissions plans/deadlines often have very different standards for each such plan/deadline. You can also forget about a scattergram showing whether a past applicant applied for and/or was accepted to the college for fall, spring, or winter term (if such varied options exist at the college in question).
  7. Scattergrams don’t show the quality of past applicants’ teacher and counselor recommendation letters/evaluations.
  8. Scattergrams likely don’t account for whether or not past applicants submitted their ACT scores, SAT scores, both, or neither (in the case of test-optional colleges) to the colleges’ scattergrams on which they are plotted.
  9. Unless the scattergram’s GPA axis is a weighted GPA, the GPA axis is not capable of communicating to students and parents the past applicants’ curricular rigor.
  10. Scattergrams don’t show past applicants’ grade trends in high school (colleges care so much about this).
  11. Scattergrams show past applicants’ final GPAs in high school, not their GPAs when they applied to college (usually in the beginning of a student’s senior year). Senior slumps in the final months of past applicants’ senior years often slightly (and sometimes greatly) deflate their final GPAs relative to what their GPAs were in October of their senior years.
  12. Directors of college counseling (the leaders of college counseling offices) can be applicants’ best advocates or worst enemies depending on whether or not these directors have written a strong and compelling high school profile and done everything else they can do to encourage particular colleges to accept their students. Scattergrams don’t note when certain directors’ regimes began and ended; therefore, in a field where many directors of college counseling only stay in their roles for a few years before moving on, a five- or ten-year scattergram could be capturing admissions statistics for students applying from a particular high school under very different college counseling regimes. Some directors write bang-up high school profiles (which are sent to all colleges to which students apply in a particular admissions cycle) and some don’t. Sadly, at some schools, the high school profile is written and designed by the communications team and/or individuals in the admissions, advancement, development, head of school, principal, and or central office! The further removed from college counseling the writers of the high school profile are the more likely the profile will not provide college admissions officers the information they are looking for in a high school profile. Meanwhile, some directors of college counseling make calls for their students or their colleagues’ students, others simply don’t. Some are on a first-name basis with Ivy League admissions officers, some don’t know any. Some act as PR agents for their students, others are real in their recommendation letters, which leads to such letters carrying more weight with admissions officers than those that only share glowing reviews. Scattergrams lull students and parents into thinking (just like point #1 above) that each student plotted on the scattergram had the same college counseling team behind him or her and faced the same college admissions rates from year to year. The fact is, high schools change and colleges change, and as a result, scattergrams fail at capturing subtle or quite large subjective changes to students’ chances from year to year based on how high schools and colleges change.

In summary, so much of what colleges will ultimately base their admissions decisions on is NOT captured in scattergrams; therefore, don’t use them as the end all be all when it comes to determining whether a particular college on your list is a Safety, Possible, or Reach. Any college counselor, student, or parent who tells you otherwise has no idea what he or she is talking about.

I frequently get irate parents telling me that I am too pessimistic about their student’s chances at a particular college or university based on what the family sees on a particular college’s scattergram on Naviance Student. I remind them that I often know the back story on each applicant on the scattergram and/or that there are at lease twelve reasons why the scattergram is only part of the story – especially at the country’s most selective colleges and universities. Sadly, this does not often calm the parents down, and as a result, a few parents hold months-long bouts of resentment towards me – usually until all admissions decisions are released in April, at which point reality sets in – for good or ill. With that said, I am happy when I have a student get into a college that I classified as a Reach that the parents and student thought I should have classified as a Possible or a Safety. It’s my job to help turn all colleges on a student’s list into offers of admission; yet, I need the student’s cooperation and effort if I can make this happen. Sometimes that happens, and sometimes it doesn’t.

Scattergrams are trustworthier for colleges that primarily base their admissions decisions on applicants’ grades and scores only. Theses types of colleges are usually those that accept over 50 of applicants and/or large state universities that ask for the perfunctory essay and extracurricular list but which don’t have the actual manpower to review these subjective aspects of students’ applications. Such colleges usually simply default to determining whether or not to accept a student based on his or her scores and grades. Yet, even in such cases, a student who is quite deficient or exceptionally strong in one or more of the twelve areas listed above could easily become an exception to the rule that the scattergram seems to convey.

Bottom line: strong college counselors always explain this important, complex, and as you can now see, somewhat time-consuming information to students and parents. Such college counselors tend to lean towards being more conservative with their Safety, Possible, and Reach classifications for colleges on their students’ lists than those college counselors who take a relatively two-dimensional approach (x,y axis, anyone?) to college acceptance/rejection prognostication. If you are a student or parent going through the college application process now or in the future, please remember to be skeptical of scattergrams. Though they have valuable data on them, scattergrams only capture some objective data, and they certainly don’t capture the subjective strengths or weaknesses of past college applicants or their college applications.

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