5 Ways to Stay on Track in Summer
April 18th, 2016It’s mid-April already, and we’re all counting down to summer! Quite a few of our students have summer plans solidified but some are still considering options. Can summer experiences affect school and college applications? Maybe. They can reflect initiative, curiosity, willingness to engage in new experiences … or they can show lack of same.
Exciting and productive summer experiences can be expensive if done through a program, but families wishing to save funds for school and college tuition can help their children find equally valuable experiences close to home. Community service in a developing nation is a fantastic experience, for example, but so is helping in a deep way where need exists nearby. Each student will have different options, and the key is making the most of them.
We like the College Board’s simple slide show with ideas about how to spend the summer: https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/get-started/outside-the-classroom/5-ways-to-stay-on-track-in-summer. Please let us know if you do, too.
Tagged: Applications, College, Summer
Selingo: Sprinters, Wanderers, Stragglers
April 11th, 2016Times have changed and for many, the launch into adulthood is taking much longer than it used to. In the early 1900’s teenagers fresh from high school could receive and maintain a solid long-term job, leading to adult responsibilities right away. Now, with a bachelor’s degree becoming the new normal, students go straight to college, graduate and – sometimes too late – realize that the job market is highly competitive.
These days, a student’s level of success isn’t measured by the degree he or she holds, but how effectively those four college years are used to get ahead.
Author Jeffrey Selingo separates young adults into three groups: sprinters, wanderers and stragglers. This incredible article takes a deep look into the choices of three young adults during this important time to reveal how their decisions affect their long term goals.
Published April 5, 2016
Written by: Jeffrey J. Selingo
At the age of 18, G. Stanley Hall left his home in the tiny village of Ashfield, Mass., for Williams College, just 35 miles away, with a goal to “do something and be something in the world.” His mother wanted him to become a minister, but the young Stanley wasn’t sure about that plan. He saw a four-year degree as a chance to explore.
Though Hall excelled at Williams, his parents, who were farmers, considered his undergraduate years a bit erratic. He didn’t think he had the requirements for a pastor, but nonetheless enrolled in Union Theological Seminary in New York after graduation. The big city was intoxicating, and living there persuaded him to abandon his religious studies. After securing a loan, he set off for Germany to study philosophy, travel and visit the theaters, bars and dance halls of Berlin.
Read more at The New York Times >>Tagged: Career, Choices, College, Personal characteristics
Good advice for introverts
April 4th, 2016Did you know that your personality type may play a part in your learning style?
If you are an extrovert you may enjoy class discussions and participating in group projects, whereas an introvert may struggle with those aspects of a traditional classroom setting. However, being an introvert means much more and has many positive characteristics that can be a benefit in school and a future career path. It is most important to know and understand yourself and those around you in order to be the best you can be and to work well with others. Tom Lovett, headmaster at St. Johnsbury Academy in Vermont, wrote an interesting article giving his personal story of how he uses his personality type as an asset and how you can do the same.
Addendum: a very good book on the topic of introverts’ strengths is Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can’t Stop Talking, by Susan Cain.
Article posted March 11, 2016
Written by: Tom Lovett
I am an introvert. So are at least one-third of those reading this right now, if we are to believe the research. Until very recently, I have scored very high on the introversion scale in every personality test I have ever taken. A couple of years ago, I scored closer to the extroverted range, probably because of spending over a decade doing alumni events and meeting new people around the world. At my core, however, I am an introvert. What does that mean?
First of all it means that I gather energy while I’m alone and I spend it when I am with others. To prepare for my day, I need to spend at least an hour alone each morning, and I recharge by spending an hour alone at the end of each day.
Read more at St. Johnsbury Academy >>Tagged: Personal characteristics
Disappointing Admission Decisions Can’t Forecast Your Future
March 28th, 2016Are you nursing metaphorical wounds at the moment, inflicted by a college that denied admission? If so, you’re not alone. Many share and understand your sorrow, this advisor included. Applying to college is a big deal, and even with advance knowledge of a competitive situation we all hope against hope that the dial will spin, and then open the right door.
Please don’t become mired in disappointment. It’s important to move on and make the best of options available to you.
It’s not so easy, you think, even as parents, teachers – and, yes, your trusted college advisor – tell you that you’re still capable of greatness. That all of your amazing qualities remain wholly intact. That your talents will take you far, and when coupled with a strong work ethic will lead to options aplenty down the road.
But, you say, we’re not the ones experiencing what you are at this moment in time. You’re right. We’ve all been there, however.
Every one of us has received a disappointing college or graduate school or employment decision at some point. It’s a little like a friendship or romance that doesn’t work out: painful, but in the end we realize that we still occupy a valuable place in this world. Somehow, after a bit of grieving, we all survive.
Yet that college notification still feels deeply personal, doesn’t it? Well, here’s help. As if on cue, knowing that this is the season for applicants to U.S. colleges and universities to experience disappointment, J.K. Rowling has done something wonderful. We’re not talking about a new book. We’re talking about the way in which she’s sharing a difficult part of her past with the world. Follow the article link to see what we mean, and let us know if your outlook improves.
If J.K. Rowling could find success after experiencing so much disappointment, you can, too.
Article published March 26, 2016
Written by: BBC News
JK Rowling has shared two rejection letters she received for her first novel writing as Robert Galbraith. The author was trying to find a publisher for The Cuckoo’s Calling, which was eventually released in 2013. Rowling posted the rejections on Twitter, saying she was doing so to encourage other aspiring writers.
Read more at BBC >>Tagged: Admission decision, Applications, College
