NOT JUST FUN IN THE SUN 

PART TWO

I always suggest that the seniors whom I help with the college application process write their application essays during the summer.  Senior year is far too busy to think that you can really devote a lot of time and attention to so vital a part of the college application at the beginning of the fall semester.   The more competitive the college, the earlier the application deadline.  You really only have a few weeks to get it all done.  Whatever headway you can make during the summer, the easier you'll make it on yourself.  It is already August 4 and for most, school starts in a little over a month.  So here's the plan:

• You should have narrowed down your list of colleges by now.  Familiarize yourself with each school's application which can be found online.  Complete as many parts as you can now - personal information, coursework completed, activity sheets, etc.  Choose the essay topic about which you want to write and do so!
• Hopefully you've secured your recommendations.  Touch base with those from whom you plan to get letters of recommendation and let them know their deadline.  Give them copies of any forms they need to use. 
• Find out which of your college choices accept the Common Application.  The more that do, the easier your task becomes, as you only have to submit the one application.  Go to commonapp.org and complete as  many of the sections as you can.  Scroll down to the "What's (app)ening" page and then to the "Common App Ready" section.  You will find the essay prompts for 2016-17 which are the same as they were for 2015-16.  The site says that more than 800,000 students submitted the Common App in 2015  and it gives the percentage of how many students chose to write on each essay prompt.  Choosing a topic that's less frequently selected may give you points for individuality.  If many students choose a certain subject, choosing a different one may be refreshing to a bleary eyed admissions counselor who's stuck reading them!  You can also find out if your college choices have other requirements and what the deadlines are for those pieces.

As to the actual writing of the essay, there used to be an excellent free website that was very helpful - englishclub.com.  Unfortunately, it has since changed and is now largely geared to teaching English as a Second Language.  There is a site which (Surprise!) is not free which the New York Times touts as, "the world's premier college application essay editing service".  At EssayEdge.com, a Peterson's service, they offer a course that contains six lessons:

1. Tackling the Question
2. Brainstorming a Topic
3. Structure and Outline
4. Style and Tone
5. Intros and Conclusions
6. Editing and Revising

The site does offer a lot of valuable free information.  On their site map there are many articles which may be of help.  You can find a section with ideas as to how to approach each of the essay topics and samples as well.  

You have roughly four weeks to write a killer essay that will ideally help an admissions counselor envision the person behind the application.  You can actually do a lot of this while sunbathing so there are no excuses!  One important tip - read your work aloud - to yourself or someone else.  It really helps you proof read and correct your work.  (I would hope that you've learned this tip already, but they don't make us old, ahem, former English teachers like they used to!)

NOT JUST FUN IN THE SUN

I haven't published a post in quite a while but I think there are a few things that rising seniors need to remember.  Once the school year starts with its full complement of courses, many of which should be rigorous, and activities, the post secondary planning process can really suffer.  I advise that you do as much as you can during the summer to make your senior year less hectic.  Many of the ideas presented here have been covered in other posts which can be found in the blog archive.

1.  Prior to selecting colleges to which to apply, check out the physical safety of the campus and surrounding areas.  You can do this by using the website, www.neighborhoodscout.com.   (May 11, 2011)  You could and should visit the college's security department and ask questions about campus safety.   However, as employees of the college, the people with whom you speak may downplay any incidents or safety issues.  The local police department or precinct may be helpful as well but someone may not be available to meet with you when you visit.

2.  The other important issue you need to address when selecting a school is the individual intellectual freedom it affords students. (May 25, 2011)  A very good site where you can check the record of a specific school is theFIRE.org.

3.  College Campus Tours and Visits (April 27, 2011)

• Bring an unofficial transcript.
• Notify any college rep whom you may have met at a college fair, etc. of the date of your visit.
• Meet with someone in admissions and email that person after your visit and again after you have sent in your application.  Establish a relationship.
• Pick up a recent school paper during your visit.
• Bring a checklist of questions you may have.  Many examples can be found online.  One important question is, "How are dormitory accommodations and roommates decided?".  Find out if assignments after freshman year are made on a lottery or point system.  The lottery system is lazy, while the point system rewards students who work hard.

The next post will give information and ideas about writing the college application essay.  That is something that definitely can be done or at least begun during the summer.

Site Review

Quite a few readers of my blog have asked me why I don't try to publish a book with all of this information.  I think that that would be counter productive, as the information needs to be frequently updated to be current.  The uselessness of using a handbook format was brought home recently when I checked a website to which I frequently refer and was unable to access it.  A lot of formerly free sites now limit content and require paid subscriptions.  As this is the case, I decided to publish a post that lists some of the sites I like and use the most and provide information as to changes to them.  Within this post I'll only write about websites to which changes have occurred. If it's not listed here, the site is pretty much as it's been described in previous posts, notably those of Tuesday, December 14, 2010 and that of Tuesday, May 1, 2012.

• Frequent readers of my blog know how often I refer to articles in The Wall Street Journal.  Sad to say, wsj.com seems to have reserved a lot more of its content to subscribers only.  If you're not a subscriber, you often get just a brief synopsis.  Likewise, searching wsjclassroom.com takes you to a page where you can sign up for a 30 day trial.  After the trial period, you need to become a paid subscriber.
• www.college.gov, which was administered by the Federal Department of Education, has been incorporated into the new StudentAid.gov website.  Links are provided to College Navigator, the Federal Student Aid Facebook page, FAFSA on Twitter, and the Federal Student Aid YouTube channel.
• www.rcan.org/schools/links.html was a good site administered by the Archdiocese of Newark, NJ.  It provided links to multiple useful websites such as the Library of Congress, College Board, et.al.  "As of March 9, 2015, this is a new website" and no longer provides this service.
• englishclub.com was a great site where you were able to get valuable help with writing your college application essay.   Now, disappointingly, it no longer provides this assistance, as it now deals with helping people teach and learn English.  It specifically provides ESL (English as a Second Language) instruction.
• Grockit.com is still a site that provides preparation for the SAT, GRE, et.al.  However, users must pay a fee after a free 50 question trial.
• StudentAid.com was the site for a service offered for a fee by Prudential Financial through which they provided college cost and planning reports.  It's no longer available.
• www.smartmoney.com also no longer seems in effect. 

I've checked most of the other sites I've mentioned in my posts and they are still in existence and provide useful information.  Some have even gotten a lot better these past few years, notably www.unigo.com, Zinch.com and a personal favorite - careercornerstone.org.

To Waive or Not to Waive

Those of you who are using the Common Application to apply to colleges may be confused as to whether or not you must waive your right to access recommendations and other information contained in your application.  Please use the following link to view a detailed explanation of the process.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-dTI2wJ_JA
As you can see, you must sign the FERPA waiver in order for your high school and teachers to release information about you to your prospective college.  However, you do not need to waive your right to access the materials and recommendations they send.

Some students feel that failure to waive that right may be frowned upon by college admissions officers - that it may imply collusion on your part regarding what your recommenders write.  If that were the case, why wouldn't the colleges suspect your grades as well.  The letter of recommendation is just that - a recommendation.  It is not an evaluation or a progress report.  Ergo, the teacher who agrees to write one has agreed to highlight your attributes, like the letters of reference of old which many travelers carried to vouch for their character in parts unknown.

If you choose to waive that right, confident in the fact that you have chosen your recommenders wisely, you should at least get a copy of the letters.  When you succeed in gaining admission to the college of your choice, you can use the letter to win an off-campus job in a town where you are most likely unknown and too new to get the backing of your current professors.  It just may make the difference as to whether you or your legion of competitors get that barista job!

Alert

I haven't posted a blog in quite a while since there was not much news to report.  How many times can I write about how cautious you need to be when choosing a college in which to invest?  This economy makes the investment all the riskier if you consider how the course of study you choose will affect your financial situation.  Will it "make you" with a well paying and rewarding career or "break you" with a seemingly insurmountable debt and little job security?  I wanted to blog today to alert you that this year's Money Magazine article on the best colleges is available and can be found online for free at the following site:

http://www.nola.com/education/index.ssf/2014/07/money_magazine_ranks_the_top_u.html

As I have reported in the past, the study is well designed and definitely worth a look to see how graduates' salaries compare with the cost/debt at specific colleges.

Enjoy the rest of the summer!

Charting Your Own Course(s)

There is a fairly recent trend that is gaining traction - the Gap Year.  Unlike what you may hope, it is not a year that you spend shopping at the GAP on an unlimited gift card.  It is, "a period of time between completing high school and beginning college when a student steps outside the traditional classroom experience".  I personally knew a very wealthy man who insisted each of his four children spend a year after high school in gainful employment/exploration before he would finance their college degrees, if they decided to pursue them.  This was decades before the idea had a name or plethora of websites from which to get information and guidance.

Andrew Kelly, Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute speaks about three alternatives to college in a short informative video which can be found at:
http://townhall.com/video/aei-three-alternatives-to-attending-college-n1817964  
There are many programs out there that can help a student pursue these alternatives or narrow the field as to possible career avenues.  Juniata College in Huntington, Pennsylvania has offered a more individually tailored program for years.  It is called the "Program of Emphasis" where "students are afforded the option to create their own major" and can  "explore many possibilities that would otherwise be restricted by a designated major".  While an interesting concept, it may be more beneficial to someone who already has a course of study in mind.  Plus, the annual tuition, room and board at Juniata runs upward of 40K!  There are many Gap Year Fairs much like the traditional College Fairs.  A schedule  of these events, along with links to helpful sites that give more information and insight into this growing trend, can be found at:
http://www.usagapyearfairs.org

I found a very interesting program run by UnCollege, founded by Dale Stephens, about which I've written before.  ("Just Say, 'No' "? - Wednesday, March 13, 2013).  There is a fee but also an admissions process and it appears pretty selective.  They advertise the program as follows:
   
     It's a year-long program where fellows will be learning,
     living abroad, and pursuing work that matters.  Most Gap
     Year Programs are loose conduits from high school to
     college.  Here, we teach you everything you need to know,
     from traveling to building work you care about.  We
     provide the skills, the resources, and the access.  All you
     need to do is show up, and bring your best.  We'll do the rest.

If I met the age requirement (18-28), I might apply myself!
http://www.uncollege.org/gapyear

Re-programming

                         Michelle Obama's going on:  'Everbody must have college'-
                         Why?  Why?  What is the reason why everyone has to go
                         to college?  Especially when college is so utterly
                         meaningless right now, it has no core curriculum and
                         people end up saddled with huge debts.

So opines the feminist cultural critic, Camille Paglia, in a recent interview in the Wall Street Journal.
(Saturday/Sunday, December 28-29, 2013)  She goes on to state that the widespread emphasis on college is "social snobbery on the part of a lot of upper-middle-class families who want the sticker in the window".  I'm happy to say that I share many of these views with Ms. Paglia, whom I admire, and have expressed them frequently in this blog.

As Glenn Harlan Reynolds, law professor at the University of Tennessee states in his new book, The New School:  How the Information Age Will Save American Education From Itself

                        America's higher education problem calls for both
                        wiser choices by families and better value from
                        schools.  For some students, this will mean choosing
                        a major carefully (opting for a more practical area of
                        study, like engineering over humanities), going to a
                        less expensive community college or skipping college
                        altogether to learn a trade.
 ("Degrees of Value:  Making College Pay Off", Wall Street Journal, Saturday-Sunday, January 4-5, 2014)

The community college system has, in many regions, changed its model from a freshman program of unrelated courses to a more defined program wherein students' choices are limited to courses which will lead to a specific degree.  Many times the program is designed to award certificates attesting to acquisition of employable skills along the way.  Davis Jenkins, a senior research associate with the Community College Research Center at Columbia University states, "There's more attention to making the path through education to careers clearer, because people cannot afford to spend time earning unnecessary credits."  (Wall Street Journal, Saturday-Sunday, December 14-15, 2013)
Mr. Reynolds agrees:

                       Today's emphasis on measuring college education in terms
                       of future earnings and employability may strike some as
                       philistine but most students have little choice.  When you
                       could pay your way through college by waiting tables, the
                       idea that you should 'study what interests you' was more viable
                       than it is today, when the cost of a four-year degree often
                       runs to six figures.  For an 18-year-old, investing such a sum
                       in education without a payoff makes no more sense than
                       buying a Ferrari on credit.

An interesting graphic from the Reynolds article highlights the following statistics:

71%   College graduates in the class of 2012 who had student loan debt

$29,400   Average student debt per borrower

6%  Annual increase in student debt at graduation from 2008 to 2012
       As University of Michigan economics finance professor, Mark Perry, has calculated,
       tuition for all universities, public and private, increased from 1978 to 2011
       at an annual rate of 7.45%.  By comparison, health-care costs increased
       by only 5.8% and housing, notwithstanding the bubble, increased
       at 4.3%.  Family incomes, on the other hand, barely kept up
       with the consumer-price index, which grew at an annual rate of 3.8%.
       (WSJ, January 4-5, 2014)      

41%  College graduates who say their jobs don't require a college degree     

I had contemplated not continuing my blog in 2014.  Most of my "tips" regarding career exploration and planning were posted in the first year or two. (Yes, I began this blog four years ago this August.)  Lately, I've been using my posts to draw attention to articles and books which may be of interest to students and parents looking for guidance.  If you follow the suggestions I've made in archived posts, you should be finding these things out for yourself.   Then I came upon the Paglia and Reynolds articles. They are just so worthwhile I needed to bring them to your attention and urge you to read them for yourselves.  In the future I will post when something similar occurs.  I won't be able to let you know specifics as to when that will be, as I have in the past.  I may write weekly, monthly or not at all.  I apologize for any inconvenience but I want to enjoy this experience and not make it a chore.  As I've said often, most of this can be done on your own.  I, most likely, will check in - or butt in, depending on your opinion of my posts - from time to time to keep you abreast of things.

                                                      HAPPY 2014 !