July 10th, 2017
Summer is in full swing and for many of you, July and August are packed full of events. However, there may be some wiggle room left to add purposeful activities to the calendar. We want to share a classic list of summer do’s and don’ts for prospective college students from US News. This article is a good reminder that college admission officers like to see students using their time and energy constructively. If you follow your passions and invest yourself in things that you love, that commitment will help you grow and develop personally and have the added benefit of shining through on your college applications.
Article published by US News on June 6, 2011
Written by: Peter Van Buskirk
In the coming weeks, thousands of young people will find their daily routines changing as the academic year comes to a close. Some will go to the beach. Many will sleep until noon. Others will jet off to parts unknown for new, exotic adventures. And, at some point in the weeks that follow, most will find themselves on a college campus or two.
The choices students make as they embrace the summer months can impact their personal growth while providing important clues to college admissions officers about the character and convictions of the candidates they are considering. If you are a rising high school senior, how will you spend your summer months? The following do’s and don’ts provide guidance in making good and productive choices.
Read more at US News >> Tagged: Choices, Opportunity, Personal characteristics, Summer
June 27th, 2017
Harvard University revoked admission offers to ten incoming first-year students in mid-April, after University officials were notified of admitted students posting offensive memes in a private group chat on Facebook. The images posted in this group were highly inappropriate, mocking sexual assault, the Holocaust, child abuse and jokes related to race and ethnicity. You may have read about this in the national press already.
In the past we’ve posted about colleges and universities using social media as an additional way to evaluate applicants. Not only is it important to maintain a positive social media presence but it is a good reminder that even things discussed in “private” on the internet can become public. We hope our students do not need this reminder because they live lives that respect others as well as themselves. The students whose acceptances to Harvard were revoked have learned a difficult lesson: poor judgment and thoughtless actions have real consequences.
Let’s all live each day as an embodiment of the person we aspire to be and the person we hope to share with others.
Article published below by The Washington Post on June 5, 2017
Written by: Samantha Schmidt
The Facebook messaging group was at one point titled “Harvard memes for horny bourgeois teens.”
It began when about 100 members of Harvard College’s incoming freshman class contacted each other through the university’s official Class of 2021 Facebook group. They created a messaging group where students could share memes about popular culture — a growing trend on the Internet among students at elite colleges.
But then, the exchanges took a dark turn, according to an article published in the Harvard Crimson on Sunday. Some of the group’s members decided to form an offshoot group in which students could share obscene, “R-rated” memes, a student told the Crimson. The founders of the messaging group demanded that students post provocative memes in the main group chat to gain admittance to the smaller group.
Read more at Washington Post >> Tagged: Choices, College, Ivy league, Personal characteristics, Social media
June 12th, 2017
Leadership: this word generates so much attention in the college admissions world. It puts pressure on young people to believe they must hold a top officer position in order to be considered a leader prior to applying for college.
But what exactly is leadership? In the Huffington Post article we share with you today, it is defined in more ways than one and may have you thinking outside the box while completing the leadership section of your college application. This article is full of direct quotes from admissions officers at several universities who give us perfect examples of what leadership means to them.
Article published below by The Huffington Post on February 20, 2017
Written by: Brennan Barnard
“The college invasion.” This is how my high school seniors describe the scene on our campus each fall. Admission visitors—like extraterrestrials—arrive in their rental cars with big smiles and stories of bright new worlds. Their message is always the same—“take me to your leaders.”
College admission officers spend weeks on end traveling the world, recruiting tomorrow’s leaders. But what exactly are they searching for? How do they define a leader? Who will they choose to take back with them? What qualities will these individuals embody? How will they be identified, wooed and culled? These are the questions silently percolating in young minds as they listen to these visitors describe fascinating futures filled with exploration and engagement.
Read more at Huffington Post >> Tagged: Applications, Choices, College, Personal characteristics
May 15th, 2017
Social media can be used as a great tool to network and gain more information when determining whether a college is the right fit for you. Be aware, though, that this can work in your favor or against you, as many colleges are also using social media to determine whether you are the right fit for them.
Your social media presence may have a much greater impact than you think when applying to college. This is why it is important to make sure that what you reveal about yourself on social media is a good representation of who you really are.
The US News article posted below is a helpful tool to gauge what might be a deterrent for some schools and, conversely, what might be viewed as beneficial for a prospective student.
Written by: Darian Somers (published by US News on February 10, 2017)
Your first impression on a college admissions officer involves more than just an essay, a transcript and some test scores.
According to new data, colleges and universities pay attention to what prospective students post on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
In a Kaplan Test Prep survey of more than 350 college admissions officers in the U.S., 35 percent of officers polled reported having looked at applicants’ social media accounts to learn more about them.
Read more at US News >> Tagged: Applications, Choices, College, Personal characteristics, Social media
