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Making a small college seem bigger

A number of small colleges are part of a consortium, allowing them to seem bigger because they can take advantage of shared resources like classes, clubs, libraries, dorms, cafeterias and cultural events at other schools in the consortium. Which resources are shared vary from school to school. Consortiums are most effective when the member colleges have calendars and class times that align and when the colleges are physically close.

For those of you who wouldn’t consider a small college, you might consider attending a small college in a consortium to get the feel of a medium or large college. Here are four consortiums to consider:

  1. Claremont McKenna colleges has 5 adjacent private undergraduate colleges in southern California
  2. Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges and to a lesser extent Swarthmore College (private colleges in Pennsylvania)
  3. Five College Consortium consisting of 4 small private colleges (Smith, Mount Holyoke, Amherst, and Hampshire Colleges) and 1 large public university (UMass Amherst) in western Massachusetts.
  4. Olin, Babson and Wellesley Colleges (3 private colleges in Massachusetts).

What is your experience with making a small college seem bigger through these or other consortiums?

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Four High School Graduation Gift Ideas

Are you wondering what to get a high school graduate as a graduation gift? Here are 4 practical gift ideas for a high school graduate who will be attending a residential college in the fall:

  1. College apparel (e.g., a hoodie) from the college they plan to attend in the Fall
  2. The book “The Naked Roommate: And 107 Other Issues You Might Run Into in College” by Harlan Cohen for advice about dealing with the day to day “surprises” they are likely to encounter at college.
  3. A gift certificate for a store like Bed, Bath and Beyond to purchase college dorm necessities like XL sheets, a shower tote, and shower shoes.
  4. A photography session to capture important events and people (e.g., high school graduation, graduation party, close relatives and friends). If you are looking for a central Jersey photographer, contact April Ludwig Photography at info@aprilludwig.com.
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Rich Educational Opportunities at College

Rich educational opportunities support student learning and development at college according to the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) at Indiana University for Postsecondary Research. NSSE suggests that students ask colleges the following questions to learn about the college’s rich educational opportunities:

  • “How many courses include community-based service-learning projects?
  • What types of honors courses, learning communities, and other distinctive programs are offered?
  • How many students get practical, real-world experience through internships or off-campus field experiences?
  • How many students study in other countries?
  • What co-curricular activities are most common (performing arts, athletics, fraternities and sororities, guest speakers, etc.)?”

Here are examples of rich educational opportunities at colleges and universities:

The College of New Jersey
  • 91 percent complete internships (American University).
  • All students study abroad (Goucher College).
  • More than seventy courses combine academics with service work in the community (George Washington University).
  • As an alternative to a major and a minor, students can do the Nexus program which builds opportunities for internships, off-campus research, and public presentations in addition to coursework. Participating students can select from one of nine pre-professional tracks (Mount Holyoke College).
  • Community service organization arranges for students to volunteer in about 600 placements (Smith College).
  • Students dorm their freshman year with those in their first year seminar class (The College of New Jersey).
  • Students complete an independent study project in the last two years of college (College of Wooster).
  • Students staff and manage nine campus businesses (University of Massachusetts – Amherst).
  • The Outside the Classroom curriculum is an optional co-curricular program that rounds out the college experience with activities in leadership development, sense of self, service to others, and art appreciation (University of Pittsburgh).
  • Students can spend a semester getting hands-on conservation education from the Smithsonian Institution, George Mason University, and wildlife protection agencies (George Mason University).
  • All students do independent research for three years in the January term and all complete a senior project or write a thesis that they defend before a faculty committee (New College of Florida).
New College of Florida

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Buyers and Sellers

In Jeff Selingo’s book, Who Gets In and Why A Year Inside College Admissions, he introduces the concept of “college buyers” and “college sellers.” In this blog post, I will focus on whether a private college is a college buyer or a college seller. 

College sellers are the colleges that receive tons of applications and have a high yield (i.e., a large percent of accepted students choose to attend). Because of the high demand for these colleges they don’t need to “buy” students by offering merit aid or tuition discounts. College sellers typically offer financial aid to students who have financial need and a very small percent (if any) of really exceptional students.

College buyers on the other hand, are not in such high demand. They often provide as good or better an education than the sellers, but they discount tuition and/or provide significant merit aid to many students in order to make sure that they have a full freshman class.

Whether a college is a “buyer” or a “seller” does NOT reflect whether students get a great education there.

If you don’t have financial need, but you want your student to get a good price for college, be sure your student includes buyers on their college list.

Jeff Selingo provides these rules of thumb to differentiate buyers and sellers:     

  1. Sellers typically admit less than 20% of applicants on average. Colleges as a whole accept 67%. 
  2. The yield at most seller colleges is nearly 45%, as compared to about 25% at most buyer colleges.
  3. On average, 7% of financial aid that sellers give is a merit-based discount vs. nearly 33% of financial aid that buyers give is a merit-based discount.

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Selecting high school classes

This time of year, many students are selecting their high school classes for the Fall. Here are three things to consider when picking classes. 

(1) Be aware that the preferred high school curriculum for applicants of selective colleges include:

·        4 years English

·        3 or 4 years Math

·        3 or 4 years of a lab Science including Chemistry or Physics

·        3 or 4 years Social Studies

·        3 or 4 years Foreign Language. 

(2) Take the most challenging classes (e.g., honors, AP, IB) your high school offers that you can handle without harming your grades, extracurricular involvement or your health. I believe a “B” in an AP class is better than an “A” in a standard class. If you don’t think you can get more than a “C” in the more challenging class, I would advise against it. Look at the difficulty of your entire schedule and be sure to consider how many challenging classes you can handle at one time. 

(3) Different classes expose you to possible college majors and careers. Think about whether you enjoy the class material, whether you excel in the subject and whether you want to learn more about the subject in high school and beyond. If you have an idea of your future college major or career, let that impact the classes you choose.  For example, if you are planning to study math, science or engineering, I would recommend that you take at least four years of Math and Science, including Calculus if your school offers it.

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7 Surprising College Application Essay Prompts

With the 2019-2020 application season winding down, here are seven surprising and thought-provoking college application essay or short answer prompts (in random order):

  1. “What is the most compelling thing you have ever read, and how has it changed you or inspired you to take action now, in the past, or in the future? This could be an entire book, a passage or chapter, a poem, an article, graffiti- anything written.” George Mason University Honors prompt 
  2.  “Seattle has a rich musical history and SU students love discovering new Seattle music. Tell us: what five songs would be the soundtrack to your perfect college experience? (two to three sentences for each song is appropriate)” Seattle University prompt
  3.  “At USC Viterbi, we endeavor to engineer a better world for all humanity. This vision goes hand-in-hand with the objectives of the National Academy of Engineering (NAE) and their 14 Grand Challenges. Engineers and Computer Scientists are challenged to solve these problems in order to improve life on the planet. Learn more about the NAE Grand Challenges at http://engineeringchallenges.org and tell us which challenge is most important to you, and why.” University of Southern California prompt
  4. “There are approximately 171,476 words in the English dictionary. Pick your favorite word and tell us why you picked it.” Brandeis University prompt
  5. “What historical moment or event do you wish you could have witnessed?” Stanford University prompt
  6. “Who does Sally sell her seashells to? How much wood can a woodchuck really chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood? Pick a favorite tongue twister (either originally in English or translated from another language) and consider a resolution to its conundrum using the method of your choice. Math, philosophy, linguistics… it’s all up to you (or your woodchuck).—Inspired by Blessing Nnate, Class of 2024” University of Chicago prompt 
  7. “Yale’s residential colleges regularly host conversations with guests representing a wide range of experiences and accomplishments. What person, past or present, would you invite to speak? What question would you ask?” Yale University prompt 

Which of these prompts do you think is the most challenging? The most creative?

What prompt did you encounter that you consider thought-provoking?

 

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Gratitude for U.S. College Education

With Thanksgiving approaching, here are three things I am grateful for regarding college education in the United States:

  1. There are colleges available in the United States for any high school graduate who would like to attend.
  2. There are so many different colleges that allow all kinds of students to find a college that meets their academic, social and financial needs.
  3. Students can be undecided about their major or change their mind about their major while in college.
These three things make the American college system unique.
What are you grateful for this Thanksgiving?

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Helping Your Children Practice Social Skills During the Pandemic

Thanks to Betty Bodenweiser of Foundation For Learning in Morristown, NJ for letting me share this article which appeared in her September 2020 newsletter.

Our children take away a lot of new information and life skills during the normal school year and through their after school activities. During these times when social distancing, remote learning, and other safety restrictions are in place, how do we help our children learn and practice the social skills they need?

1 – While Zoom and other apps are great for large group “visits,” more personal one-on-one play-dates will be more enjoyable and beneficial. Relationships with others are important to our children’s mental health, and the more personal the virtual visit can be, the more gratifying and enriching the experience. That’s not to say that larger Zoom visits aren’t helpful. Just make sure to schedule one-on-one dates as well. And to add more umph to those visits, plan an activity for the two friends to share while on-line together. Perhaps knitting, painting, or baking. Parents can provide materials or if needed, serve as project tutor during these daily or weekly activities. Your child will be getting good social skills practice during these virtual visits.

2 – Along those same lines, make connections with a study buddy – virtually. Yes, some parents will be forming in-person “pandemic pods”, and while this arrangement has its advantages, it also comes with potential health risks. Consider identifying a parent with a child in the same class and set up a time each day for the two children to practice their spelling, math facts, vocabulary words, study for tests, and anything else that may be assigned? Skype, FaceTime, Google Duo, there are all kinds of free and easy apps that can be used to make these virtual connections so that the two partners can easily “meet up”.

3 – Make video calls to loved ones. Not only will everyone benefit from the emotional connection made while virtually visiting with family and friends, but it will also be a great time to help your child practice picking up on social cues. Yes, it’s more challenging to pick up on tone of voice or subtle nuances in facial expressions or gestures while gazing at someone on a screen, but it’s still a great way for your young one to tune in to other people’s emotions or signs that they might be tired, etc. This is a valuable way for your child to learn how to recognize cues and respond appropriately.
Ideas for in-person opportunities:

1 – It’s always a good time for family game nights, and even more so now that many youth sports and recreation department and other programs are on-hold. Playing games as a family can help a child learn good sportsmanship and enhance rule-following skills. And a note to parents: make sure you model important behaviors while you play, and show your child how to both win and lose gracefully, to avoid criticizing, complaining, quitting, and to play to the end of the game when you then congratulate the winner. 

2 – Learning to work together is an important skill and one that is fairly easy to develop at home. Working together on various household tasks or projects encourages both collaboration and cooperation, so clean out the toy closet and donate the offerings to needy kids, plan a meal and cook it up together, or plant a garden! There are many things you can do around the house that will help your child to work with and support others.
And finally, two quick tips for parents:

1 – Make time to have a good chat with your child. Ask open-ended questions which will allow the conversation to flow and may very well lead to any anxious thoughts that your child may be having during this unusual pandemic life. Let him see you make good eye-contact, listen to what he has to say, model respectful disagreement and other aspects of conversation skills.

2 – Give honest and immediate feedback that will help your child to navigate social pitfalls, allowing him to build better social behavior. For example, if your child is wanting your attention but keeps interrupting a conversation that you are having with another person, stop and turn your attention to your child. Explain that he needs to wait his turn to speak and help him to understand different strategies to get your attention that would be more appropriate and polite.

These are extraordinary times we’re having during this pandemic. The world has turned upside down and social life as we know it has changed in many ways. Take comfort, knowing that children are generally resilient and able to adapt well in challenging circumstances. As parents, we can help them to learn and practice good social skills that they will need in life, even during this time of social distancing and distance learning.