On UGA, Georgia Tech, and Bands From the 1990's

 

Has anyone from the Class of 2013 heard of this band?

 

On Tuesday, Mrs. Maglio and I attended a counselor breakfast with representatives from Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia. We learned some fun and important facts about each school, and appreciated their Southern hospitality in treating us to a lovely breakfast!

Georgia Tech

·         Forty percent of their states hail from out of state.

·         They were recently rated the second “greenest” campus in the US.

·        They have six different colleges to which you can apply and 12,000 undergraduates in total. Note than two-thirds of their undergraduates are in the School of Engineering.

·         They graduate the most female engineers in the country!

·        The factors that they consider when reviewing your application are your GPA, standardized test scores, extracurriculars and essay (NOT RECOMMENDATIONS!)

·        Their mid range test scores are 1960-2160 and they will superscore both your SAT and ACT. Actually, they used the word "superduperscore" (a new word in college admissions) to highlight the fact that they will combine SAT and ACT subscores if that helps a student in the process.

·        Last year they received 14,731 applications and aditted 54.5% of the applicants. Deadlines: Early Action by October 15^th or Regular Decision by January 10th.

 

 University of Georgia

·         They have 17 undergraduate schools and 170 different majors.

·         In total, they have 35,000 students of which 26,000 are undergraduates.

·        Don't panic about the size because the average class size is 39 students and 80 percent of classes have 40 or fewer students

·         Athens is a huge music town- the bands REM and the B-52s (do high school students know who these bands are?) got their start in Athens and they approximate that 1 out of every 5 students at UGA is in a band!

·         They have a new program called First Year Odyssey where all first year students take a small seminar class.

·        Factors for the Early Action review process are your GPA, academic rigor and standardized test scores (recommendations, essays, and activities are not considered for Early Action but students should still fill out the activity section of the application carefully because it will be reviewed for scholarship and honors consideration later).

·         Last year UGA received 18, 954 applications and accepted 10, 454 students. Deadlines: Early Action is October 15^th or Regular Decision is January 15th.

Published by: LG

Don't Forget to List College Recipients on Your SAT!

A VERY IMPORTANT REMINDER!

If you are taking the October 6th SAT or SAT II Subject Tests, please remember that you should list any college you are applying to in November on the recipient list of your October SAT registration. Now is a good time to go back into your SAT registration and confirm that you have listed the appropriate schools to receive your scores as soon as they are available. Please see your college counselor if you have any questions!

Published by: LG

Updates for the Week of 9/24

Quick IMPORTANT Reminders:

IT IS ESSENTIAL that you complete the following tasks as we are unable to send any electronic credentials, transcripts, etc. until you have done so. Please complete the following procedures ASAP.

1) If you have not already done so, create a Common Application username account here: https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/default.aspx

IMPORTANT TIP: Write down your username and password somewhere safe to eliminate confusion and frustration later on. In order for your school credentials to be matched with your application, you MUST enter your Common Application username and password correctly in Family Connection (step2 below).

2) Complete the following tasks in Family Connection.

·  Sign into Family Connection here: https://connection.naviance.com/family-connection/auth/login?hsid=visi

·  Go to Colleges

·  Select College I'm applying to

·  Complete the privacy waiver (if you have questions about which box to check, ASK us)

·  Enter your CommonApp.org username and password (be sure this information is correct!)

If you have forgotten your username and password for Family Connection, there is a link that you can access to reset your information. We are not able to access your password. If you have trouble, stop in next week and we can help you!

 

College Visits

To attend a college visit, please come get a pass from one of the college counselors. You will need to give the pass to your teacher at least one day before the visit in order to be excused. It is not enough to just sign up for the visit on Naviance- you must get a pass!

·         Monday, September 24^th

o   Georgetown University- 8:30 a.m.

o   St. Mary’s College of Maryland- 11:00 a.m.

 

·         Tuesday, September 25^th

o   Boston University- 9:30 a.m.

o   John Carroll University- 12:30 p.m.

 

·         Wednesday, September 26^th

o   Dartmouth College- 9:30 a.m.

o   Ursinus College- 11:00 a.m.

o   Kenyon College- 12:30 p.m.

 

·         Thursday, September 27^th

o   University of Notre Dame- 8:00 a.m.

 

·         Friday, September 28th

o   University of San Diego- 8:30 a.m.

o   Carnegie Mellon University- 9:30 a.m.

o   United States Air Force Academy- 12:55 p.m.

 

Naviance

Please check the Naviance/Family Connection website regularly. Sign in here: https://succeed.naviance.com/family-connection/auth/login/?hsid=visi

 Things you can do in Naviance

·  Review the college visit list (new colleges are added daily!)

·  Keep track of your  college list

·  Review scattergrams and the Visi admissions history at the schools on your list

·  Review scholarship data

Review all the information we have about local information sessions, open houses, and special campus visit programs

Standardized Testing Dates and Deadlines

·         October 27 ACT- Registration Deadline is September 21

·         November 3 SAT and Subject Tests- Registration Deadline is October 4

·         December 1 SAT and Subject Tests- Registration Deadline is November 1

·         December 8 ACT- Registration Deadline is November 2

Remember to put down Visitation’s school code, 090080, when you register for the SAT and ACT

Scholarships

·         AES Engineers Scholarship

o   Application Process- Students will submit an essay on one of the two topics that appear on the scholarship page of their website: http://www.aesengineers.com/scholarships.htm

o   They award $500 to the winner(s)

o   Deadline is October 5, 2012

·         Junior Achievement of Greater Washington Essay Competition

o   Application Process- Students have to write a 1,000-1,500 word essay on the topic “How can the country readily and realistically tackle growing income disparity?” Students are able to apply online at www.myJA.org/students/essay/

o   Three winners from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia will each receive a $10,000 scholarship. In addition, one grand prize winner selected from the District of Columbia, Maryland, or Virginia will receive a $20,000 scholarship.

o   Deadline is October 31, 2012

·         Thomas Wolfe Scholarship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

o   Application Process- Students must be applying Early Action to the university and further information including the application form can be found here: http://english.unc.edu/creative/tws

o   The award is full undergraduate support for student writers

o   Deadline is October 15, 2012

 

College Information Sessions in the DC Area

 

·         Washington University in St. Louis is hosting area information sessions.  The dates and locations are as follows:  Sunday, September 9 at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda, One Bethesda Metro Center from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Sunday, September 30 at the Courtyard by Marriott Tysons Corner, 1960-A Chain Bridge Road in McLean from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. and Sunday, Ocober 7th at the Hunt Valley Inn Baltimore, 245 Shawan Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.

·         The University of Notre Dame is hosting an information session on Thursday, September 27th at 7:00 p.m. at Bishop Ireton High School Band Room, 201 Cambridge Road in Alexandria, Virginia. They will also be hosting a meeting on Monday, October 1^st at 6:30 p.m. at Georgetown Prep in the Hanley Building, Multipurpose Room, 10900 Rockville Pike in North Bethesda, Maryland.

 

Published by: LG

 

 

 

Breakfast With Davidson, Swarthmore, Wesleyan, & Hopkins

Throughout the year colleges invite us to visit their campuses, join them for information breakfasts, and occasionally they even take us to a sporting event! We try to attend as many programs as we can, but it's very difficult at this of year when students are lining up outside our doors for advice. Last week, I made time to attend a counselor breakfast that featured the Deans of Admission from: Davidson, Johns Hopkins, Swarthmore and Wesleyan. They each presented for about 10 minutes about their respective universities and I learned some really fun facts!

Did you know that:

Davidson has something called the Cake Race? Every first year student goes on a two mile run around the campus and based on the order in which you finish the race, you get to choose a cake to win. Many people from campus and the local town bake these cakes so they can vary in how good they might be!

Wesleyan just bought a land bank, which is equal in size to their campus? Students are currently using the land as a farm and many students stayed on campus this past summer to help on the farm.

Swarthmore’s campus is a 425 acre arboretum? They also have a train station on campus, which divides their campus in half, and the train can take you right into Philadelphia.

Undergraduate students at Johns Hopkins are the largest source of free tutoring in Baltimore? Many students dedicate their free time to service in Baltimore, which is the second largest college town in the country.

I gathered a lot of insights about the admissions process as well as facts and figures from these schools as well, but I thought it would be more interesting to share some of the fun facts. See me if you have any questions!

Published by: LG

Show Me The Money!

I sincerely hope that the Class of 2013 is not too young to know which 1990's movie made the title of this post famous?! Hint: the movie had nothing to do with college admissions, but had some valuable life lessons nonetheless.

There was a nice piece in the New York Times recently about the latest trends in merit scholarship money. Check it out here.

And because I know we all like an actual List of Schools That Offer Generous Merit Aid:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2012/07/08/education/edlife/8edlife_chart.html?ref=edlife

Enjoy!

Published by TSM

News and Updates - Week of September 10th

You should have received an email last week full of reminders and updates. We will send these kinds of emails periodically throughout the fall and copy them here!

We hope that you all had a great first week of school! The college counselors will be coming by your English classes next week to go over reminders about the college application process.

College Visits

To attend a college visit, please come get a pass from one of the college counselors. You will need to give the pass to your teacher at least one day before the visit in order to be excused.

·         Monday, September 10^th

o   DeSales University- 9:30 a.m.

o   Washington and Lee University- 12:30 p.m.

o   University of Dayton- 1:30 p.m.

 

·         Tuesday, September 11^th

o   Denison University- 9:00 a.m.

 

·         Wednesday, September 12^th

o   Emory University- 8:30 a.m.

o   St. Louis University- 10:00 a.m.

 

·         Thursday, September 13^th

o   Mount Holyoke College- 11:30 a.m.

 

·         Friday, September 14^th

o   Elon University- 9:00 a.m.

o   United States Naval Academy- 12:30 p.m.

o   Colby College- 1:30 p.m.

 

Naviance

Please check the Naviance/Family Connection website regularly. Sign in here: https://succeed.naviance.com/family-connection/auth/login/?hsid=visi

 Things you can do in Naviance

·  Review the college visit list (new colleges are added daily!)

·  Keep track of your  college list

·  Review scattergrams and the Visi admissions history at the schools on your list

·  Review scholarship data

Review all the information we have about local information sessions, open houses, and special campus visit programs

Standardized Testing Dates and Deadlines

·         October 6 SAT and Subject Tests- Registration Deadline is September 7

·         October 27 ACT- Registration Deadline is September 21

·         November 3 SAT and Subject Tests- Registration Deadline is October 4

·         December 1 SAT and Subject Tests- Registration Deadline is November 1

·         December 8 ACT- Registration Deadline is November 2

Remember to put down Visitation’s school code, 090080, when you register for the SAT and ACT

Scholarships

·         AES Engineers Scholarship

o   Application Process- Students will submit an essay on one of the two topics that appear on the scholarship page of their website: http://www.aesengineers.com/scholarships.htm

o   They award $500 to the winner(s)

o   Deadline is October 5, 2012

·         Junior Achievement of Greater Washington Essay Competition

o   Application Process- Students have to write a 1,000-1,500 word essay on the topic “How can the country readily and realistically tackle growing income disparity?” Students are able to apply online at www.myJA.org/students/essay/

o   Three winners from the District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia will each receive a $10,000 scholarship. In addition, one grand prize winner selected from the District of Columbia, Maryland, or Virginia will receive a $20,000 scholarship.

o   Deadline is October 31, 2012

·         Thomas Wolfe Scholarship at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

o   Application Process- Students must be applying Early Action to the university and further information including the application form can be found here: http://english.unc.edu/creative/tws

o   The award is full undergraduate support for student writers

o   Deadline is October 15, 2012

 

College Information Sessions in the DC Area

 

·         Oxford University and the University of Edinburgh will be conducting an information session at the Washington International School on Thursday, September 20^th at 7:00 p.m. The program is open to anyone who is interested in learning more about the two institutions or studying in the UK in general. To RSVP, fill out the Booking Form on this website:  http://www.ox.ac.uk/ustour

·         Washington University in St. Louis is hosting area information sessions.  The dates and locations are as follows:  Sunday, September 9 at the Hyatt Regency Bethesda, One Bethesda Metro Center from 7:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.; Sunday, September 30 at the Courtyard by Marriott Tysons Corner, 1960-A Chain Bridge Road in McLean from 2:00 to 3:00 p.m. and Sunday, Ocober 7th at the Hunt Valley Inn Baltimore, 245 Shawan Road in Hunt Valley, Maryland from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m.

·         Yale University is hosting an information session at Walt Whitman High School Auditorium, 7100 Whittier Blvd. in Bethesday on Monday, September 10th at 7:00 p.m.  To register visit apps.admisions.yale.edu/events.

·         Yale University is hosting an information session at T.C. Williams - Minnie Howard Campus Auditorium, 3801 West Braddock Road in Alexandria on Wednesday, September 19th at 7:30 p.m.   To register visit apps.admisions.yale.edu/events.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter- @GVPSCollCounsel!

 

 

 

Something Better Than College Rankings

Like most college counselors, any discussion of the U.S. News and World Report Rankings makes me feel like this:

But I thoroughly look forward to the annual Almanac of Higher Education published around this time every year. The Almanac "gathers an assortment of key data about the most important trends in higher education" and I find it to be fascinating reading. Here are a just a few of the charts I found to be interesting this year:
Top Producers of U.S. Fulbright Students, 2011-12
Top Study-Abroad Destinations for U.S. Students 2009-10
Colleges That Charged $50,000 or More in 2011-2012

All right, that last one made me feel a little like the photograph above, but it's interesting reading nonetheless. And remember that many of the most expensive colleges in the country are all the most generous with need and/or merit based financial aid.

Published by: TSM

Mail Call - Late Summer Edition

We are making our way through LOTS of mail from colleges. Here are some highlights:

Ohio State University

• Is now on the semester system
• Will begin using the Common Application (plus supplement) this year!
• The deadline is February 1

Boston University

• Subject Tests are no longer required (happy dance)! Students must sumbit the SAT or ACT with writing.

University of San Diego

• Will no longer have an Early Action and Regular Decision deadline. USD now has a single 12/15 deadline.  Editorial comment: The counseling department is thrilled and wishes more colleges would do away with November deadlines!

Fordham University

• Class of 2016 Profile (as of 8/1/12)

34,005 applications
14,567 offers of admission
43% admit rate
1830-2050 middle 50% SAT score for admitted students
1868 class size
44% male 56 % female

Published by: TSM

Thinking about Villanova Nursing?

If you are considering a major in Nursing and Villanova is on your list, this post is for you!

Last week I received our annual admissions update from the Villanova Nursing program - here are some exerpts from their newsletter:

The College of Nursing continues to experience an increase in the quality of students applying to our program. For the fall 2012, we received the most competitive academic profiles to date, reflected in the students’ GPA and SAT/ACT scores. Approximately 760 applications were reviewed for an established target enrollment of 95 students. We welcomed 102 freshmen from seventeen states across the country including Iowa (new stateof origin.) We welcomed seven males to our freshmen class including our first male Presidential Scholar. The accepted nursing student profile: middle 50% GPA - 3.8-4.1 middle 50% SAT (CR/Math) - 1270-1365 and middle 50% ACT composite - 29-31.
The Connelly-DeLouvier International Scholars program continues to offer short and long-term educational opportunities within the nursing curriculum to qualified nursing students. Some of our sophomore, junior and senior students have had the opportunity to complete a portion of their academic experience in Manchester, England, the Dominican Republic, Peru, Nicaragua, Ireland and South Africa, as well as opportunities to work with midwives at an El Paso, Texas Birthing Center.

We cordially invite your students to attend our Undergraduate Open House on Sunday, September 30th from 1 - 4 pm to gain greater insight into our program and what it means to be a Villanova Nurse. Online registration is now available atwww.villanova.edu/nursing. We would appreciate if you would share this information, along with the enclosed flyer, with your students and encourage them to register early as space is limited.
 
We welcome your students to visit the College of Nursing for a personal information session.Please have them call 610-519-4900 to speak with Mrs. Holly Cicala to schedule an appointment or via email atholly.cicala@villanova.edu. They may also contact me directly at 610-519-4911 or via email atchrista.gardner@villanova.edu.  For more information about our academic programs, we invite you to peruse our College of Nursing website atwww.villanova.edu/nursing.

Published by: TSM