Class of 2017, College Essays Await!
May 31st, 2016The Common Application and the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success have both released their essay topics for next year. Now is when the fun starts! Brainstorming, daydreaming, identifying the best parts of who you are to share through your prose with admission committees can be a wonderful exercise. Become a playwright or a screenwriter; think of vibrant details that can come alive through story-telling, giving readers a wonderful sense of your voice and personality.
We’re often conflicted about offering examples of essays past, as it’s so important that students’ essays be authentic and very much their own. Some colleges, however, have done us the favor of posting “essays that worked” so new applicants can have some useful context.
- Here’s Connecticut College’s link to essays that worked: https://www.conncoll.edu/admission/apply/essays-that-worked/
- And here’s a similar link shared by Johns Hopkins University: https://apply.jhu.edu/apply/essays-that-worked/
Whether or not you’re applying to either college, the sites are well worth exploring as they offer excellent tips and examples.
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On a more concrete level, here’s what you need to know about the Common Application and Coalition essays.
The Common App has been around for a long time and has over 600 college and university members at this time. Their essay topics sometimes change from year to year but for the 2016-2017 year they will offer the same five questions as last year. You’ll choose one essay prompt out of the five given, with a recommended 650 word limit. To find the essay prompts for the Common App, follow the link below.
Read more at Common Application>>
The Class of 2017 will be the first to have the option of applying through the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success if they wish. This application currently serves about 90 college and university members, many of which overlap with the Common Application membership. The Coalition’s essay prompts have themes similar to those from the Common App, with the exception of the last, “topic of your choice.” As with the Common App, applicants will choose one of the five essay prompts, each with a recommended word limit of 550 words. To find the essay prompts for the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success, follow the link below.
Read more at Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success>>
We look forward to brainstorming with our Comprehensive advisees who are rising seniors, and reading everyone’s essays when ready for review in the months to come. Summer is a great time for many things, including tackling college essays and applications.
Tagged: Applications, College, Essays
Steps for Smooth Summer Transition
May 23rd, 2016Congratulations once again to those who are graduating and made a commitment to the college of their choice! Not only is it time to celebrate but also time to consider the next steps involved in transitioning to life on a college campus. Money magazine has come up with a checklist to ensure that you and your parents are prepared for what lies ahead. This checklist is a great way to stay on top of tasks that might fall to the wayside during summer vacation.
Our students heading off to boarding school in the fall will find that many of these suggestions apply to them, as well.
We look forward to hearing whether you find this article helpful. What would you add to the checklist?
Article published April 26, 2016
Written by: Kim Clark
You’ve decided on a college, settled on a financial aid package, and sent your deposit in. Maybe you even posted a picture of yourself in school garb for the White House’s College Signing Day festivities. Whew! Time to relax and celebrate the fact that you’re finally done with all those complicated forms, right?
Sure, take a little time to celebrate. But you’re nowhere near done with college forms or chores. In fact, graduating seniors have to do a surprising amount of paperwork in May and June to ensure, for example, that they have a dorm room to move into in the fall, health insurance that can be used on campus, and seats in the classes they want.
Read more at Money Magazine >>Tagged: Boarding school, College, Summer
All Colleges Change Lives
May 16th, 2016Graduation nears, and Shrop Ed’s high school seniors are celebrating! Because we’re often asked where our students enroll, this feels like the right time to share the list of admission offers our students received for fall of 2016:
Barnard C.* U. of Kentucky* Smith C.
Boston C. Lewis & Clark C. Southern Methodist U.
Brandeis U. Macalester C. Stanford U.*
Carleton C. Miami U. (OH)* St. Edwards U.
Case Western Reserve U. U. of Michigan U. of Tampa*
Centre C. U. of Mississippi U. of Texas
Champlain C.* U. of Nebraska-Lincoln* Texas Christian U.*
U. of Chicago Northeastern U. Tufts U.*
Clark U. Occidental C. U. of Utah
Clarkson U. U. of Pennsylvania* U. of Vermont*
Colby U. Princeton U.* U. of Virginia
U. of Colorado Reed C. Washington and Lee U.
Columbia U. Rensselaer Washington U.
U. of Denver* Rice U. Wellesley C.
Emory U. U. of Rochester Wesleyan C.*
Georgetown U. Rochester Institute of Tech. Worcester Polytechnic I.
Harvard U. Rose-Hulman Institute of Tech. Xavier U.
Harvey Mudd C.* U. of San Diego Yale U.*
Asterisks indicate matriculation choices; in some cases, more than one of our students will enter in the fall.
I love this list! Why? Because it reflects a wide range of campus environments, selectivity and student bodies, encompassing state flagships and Ivies, liberal arts colleges and institutes of technology. Each student applied to a carefully considered group of schools reflecting ideal matches for him/her.
The national press makes much of students who receive multiple offers from the nation’s best-known colleges. Certainly we jump for joy, too, when our students receive such news. Yet colleges in that small subset are right for very few. We feel equal joy for our students who look in other directions and find less renowned colleges just right for their interests and goals, places where they’ll succeed, thrive, establish an excellent foundation for whatever comes later in life. Wouldn’t it be nice if the press celebrated these students and their colleges in the same way!
Several weeks ago, the Washington Post published an article written by a New Hampshire college advisor about the kinds of college choices he’d like to see celebrated in the press. We’re grateful to the Shrop Ed parent who brought it to our attention and hope you’ll follow this link for some interesting reading.
Article published April 26, 2016
Written by: Valerie Strauss
Last month, Brennan Barnard, a college counselor at a private school in New Hampshire, wrote a piece on how the college admissions process for many students had become something akin to The Hunger Games. He wrote:
“In an ideal world, college preparatory education would encourage students who crave knowledge, seek community engagement, desire connection and live their values. We say we want our children to feel secure, be inspired and take risks with their curiosity. The reality of “The Hunger Games” comes closer to the truth, where students battle to survive in application pools seeming to demand perfection.”
Read more at The Washington Post >>Tagged: College, Graduation
Tuning in to Students’ Dreams
May 9th, 2016Bill Fitzsimmons, dean of admission at Harvard, delivered a lively talk to a group of educational consultants at the IECA conference in Boston last week. Fitzsimmons’s focus on providing access to the world’s most talented students, regardless of economic circumstance, is something I’ve long known and appreciated. His insight about students’ and parents’ dreams is also legendary, and his tale of a parent of a student who applied to Harvard several years ago is worth sharing.
The student was not admitted, and the parent could not accept the decision. Many letters and phone calls ensued – always from the parent to the admission office, never from the student. For quite some time, this parent’s efforts were ceaseless. Then, a pause. Three and a half years later, the parent called again … to say that the student was nearing graduation at her alternate college choice. Upon reflection, the parent had come to realize that this college was indeed the better match for her daughter. Harvard had been the parent’s dream, it turns out, and not the child’s. So often, the pressure that children feel has to do with our own aspirations, doesn’t it?
Last week’s conference also included workshops on boarding school admission, new financial aid application procedures for colleges, international student recruitment issues, applications and auditions to theater programs, and the new Coalition application. Ahead of the conference, school and college visits in the area set the stage wonderfully as I saw students learning, growing, happy at schools that are right for them. I especially enjoyed visiting with a student who has found a great fit at my own alma mater, Tufts.
Each experience at this conference reminded me to listen carefully to my advisees, to help and encourage them as they clarify and pursue their personal goals. Much is changing in college and boarding school admission. And much is changing in today’s world that our students experience. Students remain students, however, and their successes, struggles and dreams will always be at the center of our work at Shrop Ed.
Tagged: Admission decision, Applications, Boarding school, College, Ivy league
