Can campus tours be vacation opportunities?
October 10th, 2016Fall has arrived in Kentucky and here at the ShropEd office, we consider this college and boarding school touring season. Choosing the university or school you attend is one of the largest investment decisions you will make during your lifetime (not only on financial terms) so we believe it is important to take a close look at your options. This is usually a beautiful time to visit campuses; not only are the leaves changing colors, but school spirit is in full bloom during football season and classes are in session so you can get a feel for what your school or college experience will be like.
While you may think that looking through brochures and “googling” the school of your choice is just as good as seeing it in person, there really is nothing like first-hand experience. The article we’ve posted today, written by Elaine Glusac for The New York Times, shares ways to make college visits more enjoyable for parents and kids.
We love Glusac’s list and suggestions for making these trips into more of a vacation for everyone. Although written with college in mind, this article is equally applicable to families visiting boarding schools.
Article below published September 22, 2016
Written by: Elaine Glusac
At Amherst College in Amherst, Mass., my family, including our son, prospective applicant Seth, enjoyed the natural history museum and spied on swim team practice. At Colby College in Waterville, Me., we appreciated the colonial architecture and the modern art collection. At the University of Chicago, we loved the Hogwarts-like reading room and the pierogi truck.
So it goes with college campus visits, a mix of research and entertainment through which high schoolers shop for their academic future.
Read more at The New York Times >>Tagged: Boarding school, Campus visits, College
The true meaning of demonstrated interest
October 3rd, 2016In late September, I took part in the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s annual conference. There, I brushed shoulders with about 6500 close friends and colleagues from around the U.S. and around the world. Hot topics in the world of college admission counseling? Equity and access top the list, as well they should. Some are still trying to digest changes to the SAT; others are trying to wrap their arms around a new application format called the Coalition application (which I’m not yet recommending for use, as there are too many first-year hiccups possible).
Here’s something else that’s on college advisors’ minds: the concept of demonstrated interest. Shrop Ed advisees hear about this a lot, as we urge students to visit campuses, find genuine ways to connect with admission counselors, respond to email sent by colleges of interest, and write their applications with serious intent. There’s a new dimension being added to some colleges’ applications – a sort of visual resume online, called ZeeMee. More and more colleges are asking students for a link to their ZeeMee page, and construing lack of a ZeeMee link as tepid interest.
Sometimes it’s hard to understand what colleges mean by demonstrated interest. Today, we link to an article addressing this beautifully, written by W. Kent Barnds, Executive Vice President, Augustana College, and published on the Huffington Post site. (Barnds’s article doesn’t cover the ZeeMee phenomenon, however – perhaps we’ll focus a future blog post on that.)
Article below published on Huffington Post, August 4, 2016
Written by: W. Kent Barnds
While reviewing publications from a colleague’s son’s college search, I noticed a handful of colleges referred to “demonstrated interest” in the visit section. I realized it’s likely that most students and families have no clue what that entails. If I didn’t work in college admissions, I know I’d be asking, What is demonstrated interest and how do I demonstrate it? And, does demonstrated interest make any difference at all? These questions deserve some explanation.
School counselors and policymakers tend to think demonstrated interest provides some students (those in the know or those who are affluent) with an advantage in the college search and selection process. There may be some truth to that, but I believe demonstrated interest has evolved well beyond activities like visiting campus or participating in an admissions interview. In fact, technology and engagement have probably made some of the traditional measures less relevant than they once were, which I think levels the playing field.
Read more at Huffington Post >>Tagged: Campus visits, Demonstrated interest
Are dual-enrollment programs overpromising?
September 26th, 2016There are so many positives when high school students look into dual-enrollment programs. Dual-enrollment courses may save you thousands of dollars on tuition, look great on your college application, and help you prepare for college. However, there is a downside to all of these positives that we believe is important to look into before jumping on the dual-enrollment bandwagon: not all colleges award credit for these courses.
It is key to check with the schools to which you are applying to determine whether they will accept your dual-enrollment credits; some will not accept them at all. Other colleges will accept these credits but will not allow them to go towards your major course of study, in turn making students and parents disappointed.
Dual-enrollment programs are still a work in progress and therefore each college and university has its own set of requirements. Catherine Gewertz, author of the article posted below from Education Week, brings up many critical factors to consider when deciding whether to participate in a dual-enrollment program.
Article below published September 6, 2016
Written by: Catherine Gewertz
The popularity of dual-enrollment programs has soared nationally as high school students clamor to try college-level work. But the movement is dogged by questions about one of its key selling points: that students can get a jump-start on college by transferring those credits.
Take the case of Sabrina Villanueva. As an ambitious high school student in Dallas, she earned 12 credits at a local community college by taking speech, government, psychology, and sociology. Because the courses were part of a dual-enrollment partnership, they counted toward her high school graduation requirements, too.
Read more at Education Week >>Tagged: Choices, College, High school
College tour fail: Why can’t admissions offices tell it like it is?
September 19th, 2016The article we’ve posted today is written by a student (editor’s clarification: not a Shrop Ed advisee), Simon Kuh, who’s been touring colleges, and it’s wonderfully incisive. When I sat on college admission committees and led information sessions for visitors, I truly thought that what we were discussing was unique. When I left college admissions and became an independent college advisor, I learned how very wrong I was. We simply didn’t get it! Kuh has put his finger on the pulse of a very real problem for colleges: they’re asking families to make enormous investments, and in many cases failing to make the campus visit experiences reflect what’s truly distinctive about each of their institutions.
This is why we provide students with our favorite campus visit guide, filled with great questions to ask, and why we recommend adding unstructured time for further exploration of each campus. It’s still important to participate in the official tour and information session – students might learn something useful and they’ll be demonstrating interest to the college. But all campus visitors should ask plenty of questions to shape this experience to their own needs.
Article below published September 7, 2016
Written by: Simon Kuh
I traveled across 12 states, from Georgia to Rhode Island, touring colleges this summer, a ritual thousands of families take part in every year. I listened while admissions officials repeated the dos and don’ts of the application process: Don’t send 20 recommendation letters when only two are required, meet the deadlines, don’t email random questions to demonstrate your interest. Asking about the weather in a particular college town, for example, doesn’t qualify as a necessary or thoughtful query. (As one admissions officer said, “Do I look like the weather channel?”) I appreciated all their useful advice, and I’d like to return the favor with some of my own.
I went on my tour to get a sense of each college’s personality, to experience in person what I couldn’t by reading brochures. I wanted to feel a connection with a school. Yet I came away without a clear favorite since no school combined a great information session and a great tour. This led me to an unexpected conclusion: You never get both.
Read more at LA Times >>Tagged: Campus visits, College
