Educational Avenues Blog-Ask Us About Schools

A Transfer Student with Learning Disabilities

2012-02-16T09:24:00.000-08:00

It’s not uncommon for college students with learningdisabilities to encounter obstacles in college. After receiving specialservices in high school, many sail off to college without considering that theymay still need learning support. Takethe case of a student I worked with some years ago. I’llcall her Chris. Her sister suffered fromjuvenile diabetes and Chris grew up with a keen interest in the immune system,diet therapy and health care. In highschool she took all the prerequisites to prepare herself for a major in thesciences, with the end goal being medical school. She started at a college withan excellent reputation, many serious students and very “hard tests”. Thepre-med students were particularly grade grubbing. At the end of first semestershe was devastated because her Chem 1 grade was C. In second semester she got a D. Her heart nearly stopped when she saw herofficial grade. She knew you can’t eventhink about applying to medical school if you have low grades, especially inChemistry, the Achilles heel of many would-be med school applicants. Subsequently she lost confidence in herability to learn and dropped out of school. When she came to my office shetalked haltingly, had lost weight and seemed very unsure of herself.

If you examined this student’s high school transcript andtest scores, they look perfectly fine, with a 3.85 out of 4 grade point averageand 20100 SATs. However, in high school herparents provided a substantial amount of support and one-on-one tutoring. Chris was seen for an educational evaluationin 10^th grade that pointed to ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and alearning disability called “executive function”. These learning discrepancies are life-longand do not disappear simply because a student heads off to college. As a brightand hard-working student, Chris was able to keep up with her work load in highschool. She had time to learn new material, digest it in a way, and overlearnit when particularly important. Teacher taught a module, gave a quiz eachweek and then a test after a few weeks. In college however, she had only two chances to build her grade: severalwritten papers and a final exam. These were higher challenges and she becameoverwhelmed by the sheer amount of college work and the incessant deadline-drivendemands on her available time.

Although she studied more than her suite mates she wasgetting poorer grades. She was having a tough time keeping up with all shereading, lab work and assignments. Sometimes she could not get started on a research paper that requiredseveral steps to get organized. She did not know what was happening to her. She started blaming herself. As her self-esteemsunk to new lows, as the dream of gaining acceptance to med school faded, shebegan to lose her appetite, sleep, and soon depression moved in.

Students who suffer from executive function become easilydistracted and disorganized. Thiscondition plays a critical role in memory and learning. When these students are interested in aparticular subject or project, they can succeed at high levels but not for longperiods of time. Let’s face it: everyonecan be interested in something they are crazy about. But a truer measure of beingable to sustain attention is whether a student can listen to a subject thatisn’t interesting.

When something isparticularly interesting to us, certain brain centers activate and enable us topay careful attention and learn easily. Although Chris thought that every course in pre-med would be simply fascinatingto her, in fact, she had to plow through very difficult material that quicklybecame too difficult and “boring” for her. There’s no doubt that she wanted to become a medical doctor and waswilling to work hard to get accepted to medical school. However, she needed the tools to organizeherself, become productive, and learn the material she was supposed to know todo well in exams. After assessing hereducational evaluation and cognitive profile, I referred Chris to a wonderfulprogram for college students that gave her the tools she needed to understandher learning style, to become a better learner, organize her work and bettermanage her time. She also took the MyersBriggs Type Indicator© which helped her appreciate her unique personalitypreferences and natural gifts. Eventually, she came to the realization that she would be happy enoughas a physician assistant (PA), and entered a special health sciences programthat prepared her for PA School.

As a transfer student, Chris no longer wanted theself-enclosed campus, away from home, where she could join a sorority, meet a largevariety of girls and guys, study a lot, and then take parties to the nextlevel. After two years in this mode shewas glad to find a college near her home town, see a counselor for herdepression, and enjoy on her mother’s home cooking at least once a week. One lesson Chris learned is to advocate for herself,wherever, she goes, in terms of what accommodations she needs in order to dowell in her courses. Provided students have a current psycho-educationalevaluation and self-identify their learning disability, colleges are mandatedby the American with Disabilities Act to provide services that level theplaying field.

C. Claire Law, M.S.offers expert admission advice to high school and college students. She is theauthor of “Find the Perfect College for You” , an IECA Professional andnationally Certified Educational Planner. She can be reached at claire@eduave.com

College Admissions: It’s All About ADD

2012-02-09T13:58:00.000-08:00

By Chip Law

It’s February and time for the annual pandemic of ADD!

Aha, if you are thinking this story is either wacko or justanother rant about Attention Deficit Disorder you are incorrect. This seasonalevent starts in late December and can last until April and in some cases eveninto the summer. This ADD has to do with college admissions and only studentstruly immune from this syndrome are those that have had the joy of receiving anoffer of admission from the college to which they applied via the EarlyDecision process.

The ADD in this case is Admitted, Deferred or Denied. For the rest of those susceptible to ADD, thesymptoms run the gamut: euphoria, confusion, indecision, depression, inertia,anxiety and many others. These terms are often taken as defining a student.Their young life’s “body of work” has gone into getting into that specialcollege or university that just calls their name. Even though the word admitted sounds like a terrific outcome,it can present problems albeit different than the noncommittal deferred or thefunereal tone of a denial. Let’s look at the components of ADD, see what theymight mean and how you, the student, can make the best of their impact.

Admitted

Okay, let’s say several colleges have said they see you as amatch for their college and they have made you an offer of admission. Wow, now you’vegot choices! How you approach the choices can make the A in ADD a positive ornot. The more intimately you get to know the colleges that accepted you, theeasier it will be to make a decision. You will need to revisit the campus and usethat opportunity to grill students and faculty with questions that you feel you MUSThave answered in order to make an informed decision. Stay overnight,use online forums and social media to get the pulse of the college and see ifit really meets your expectations both from a social and academic interestpoint of view.

Problem solved right? Not so fast my friend. Most familiesare bracing for the hard economic realities of today and college funding is animportant, if not the most important, factor in making a college selection. Thisis the time to look VERY carefully at the TOTAL cost of attendance at each collegethat’s offered you a place in their incoming class. Along with your parents andperhaps an external advisor, you need to understand the world of loans, work/study,and budgeting time and money. Once you understand the REAL cost of attendance,then you will be in a position to make a decision on which college will be thetotal best fit for you AND your parents.

Denied

This is rough. It is agonizing. It is a traumatic event. Itcan crush you and take away your motivation…the list of negative things couldgo on and on. A denial is nothing more than what it implies: the college didnot see you as a fit and it let you know so that you could move on to considerother possibilities. It is how YOU take the denial that is most important. Itis okay to cry, to grieve, to be angry, to think about telling the college howsorry they are going to be for not taking you and so on… You are now at apivotal point in your development of coping skills that will be a part of the formationof the future person you will become. Go through the Kubler-Ross psychologicalsteps of the loss: the first being-guess what? : Denial, then Anger (no problemthere right?), Bargaining (I’ll do ANYTHING to change this outcome), Depression(it's okay to feel bad, you’re human) and then most importantly Acceptance.

Acceptance (amazing how these college admission words keepcoming up!) of the result allows you to move on. Moving through the stagesquickly will get you focused in the right direction instead of playing the "Ifonly I": woulda, coulda, shoulda blame games. You can now look at your otherchoices and if you really look carefully you’ll find some wonderful things inthe college that DOES want you on their campus.

Deferred

This is the beast of ADD because it leaves you inlimbo. This is your absolute first choice in colleges. You compare yourself toothers that were admitted and don’t see how they could have been chosen overyou. You do the math based on what is the probability of getting in as anadmitted student if you were originally deferred. You feel panicky because youdo not have the path cleared for you like the admitted or denied student. Well, DON’Tlet paralysis creep into the picture. You must put a plan in place that dealswith the possible outcomes and you must do it right away.

First, let the college know that you still have a strongdesire to attend. You have established some level of email communicationwith the admissions officer that is responsible for your geography, right? Letthem know how you feel. If you get ANY good news, academic or otherwise,that might shed new light or reinforce a positive bit of information aboutyourself, make sure that the college is informed. To do this you can use youremail contact or if appropriate, your college counselor, but don’t be a pestand email every day. Once you have done these things you must move on to makeother plans. Be prepared to go through the same grief steps of those that weredenied and then generate and direct your enthusiasm on to your next college. Lighten up and make the best of a(not so really) bad situation. Doing nothing is NOT an option and fretting willonly take a toll on your mental and physical health. You must put yourself intoa position where you can envision a positive outcome NO MATTER what happens.

For behavioral ADD, people are now asked to use the acronym ADHD instead of ADD.So for this rendition of ADD let’s add the “H”. In this case, H stands for HOPE. Nothope like winning a lottery, but hope in terms of optimism, future promise, and thefilling of expectations. While the content of your ADD may be immutable, theway you hold and interpret and act on the context will define how you can handlethis form of ADD.

Thomas P. “Chip” Lawis an IECA Professional Member and an Educational Consultant. He helps studentsand parents find the best college match for them. He can be reached at 843-278-1271 or chip@eduave.com

Copyright 2012 Educational Avenues, Inc. All rights reserved.

The Feds put financial aid front and center with a new form for “Financial Aid Comparison Shopping ”

2012-01-30T16:05:00.000-08:00

Today’s Chronicle of Higher Education reportsthat the White House will soon require colleges to offer students and parentsa “standard” comparison shopping formthat will enable parents and students tocompare and contrast multiple awards from multiple colleges. This just afterthey just posted the Net Price Calculator is another template required of allcolleges. Since financial aid awards are part of the communication andmarketing stream of a college, every award can look different. This form willbe something akin to a “Financial Aid Shopping Sheet” that will help familiesbetter understand and evaluate what each college offers . (http://chronicle.com/article/President-Puts-College-Costs/130503)

It’s great to see the government aim for transparency,and now I'd like to see private colleges and those colleges that requireparents to fill out the CSS Profile disclose their criteria by which they awardtheir internal institutional aid. TheInstitutional Methodology (IM) is "private", which makes it hard forfamilies to gain an idea of whether a college awards aid only when there is a demonstrated federal need, orawards "pure" merit aid (in the form of scholarships or tuitiondiscounts), based on grades and test scores alone. Parents must ask this question outright.

So often when a parent appeals their financial aid awardthe standard reply is "you don't qualify for more" or "othersneed it more than you", but parents don't understand whether the collegeis referring to federal aid or institutional aid. Financial aid officers can certify parentsfor a larger Parent Loan for Undergraduate Students, because through PLUS theycan borrow up to the full cost of education. However, parents can take on onlyso much debt before it starts affecting their retirement. Colleges will likely need to loosen theirpurse in order to keep themselves competitive, desirable and affordable.

Over the last few decades, families have accumulatedlarge amounts of student debt, which some say is as large as the amount owed onmortgages. There has to be a limit tothe amount of self-help that parents take out. The President indicated thatmore Work Study dollars will be given to colleges, and here's our governmentgoing to the rescue. What will collegesthemselves do? Will they match an equal amount of funds to award on-campus jobsto students who don't qualify for federal work study?

Another issue that is bothersome is that both public andprivate colleges don’t post the upcoming academic year's cost of attendance.Try visiting any college website at this time. You will not find the exact costfor students who will enter college this fall 2012. Some families don't realizethat tuition and room-board increase on average from 4% to 8% every year. This increase often results in an awardletter with a bigger PLUS loan for parents, for each of the four years ofcollege.

Typically, colleges post their new cost of attendanceafter their governing board has met.Even when I call in late spring of the student's senior year thefinancial aid director is not sure of the bottom line cost of attendance (COA)for my student who will enroll in August of 2012. On average they are announceda month or two before new students enroll. Why should students send in theirdeposit to a college when they don’t really know the exact cost? I’ve heard parents say that when the totalcost is $58,000 a few thousand here or there doesn’t make a difference.However, for those parents who are budgeting every few hundred dollars, thismakes a huge difference.

In addition, this gives the perception that the college isless expensive than it actually is, because families calculate their futurecosts based on prior year's fees and estimates. It messes up the family's calculations and the Colleges’ own Net PriceCalculator the government requires them to make available on their website! http://nces.ed.gov/ipeds/resource/net_price_calculator.asp#NPCRequirement

In this economic climate when even the middle class feelsthe economic squeeze, parents need to know the true costs in order to plan theircollege payments. Public colleges are hampered by the fact that state budgets aredone so late and the budgets determine the cost of attendance. Thus it won’t be easy to extract thatinformation earlier in the year. Parents need to overstate costs of attendance intheir calculations. One easier thingcolleges could do though is quote realistic budgets for books andsupplies. We all know that $800 to $1200per academic year does not begin to cover the cost of textbooks. It's hard to convince first-year students tobe thrifty when all they can think of is personalizing their dorm room withtheir favorite rug, bed spread and curtains. However, if they want to be smart,they will buy used textbooks and shop for them online!

C. Claire Law, M.S. is anationally recognized IECA Educational Consultant . She’s the co-author of Findthe Perfect College for You, and finds colleges that match the studentacademically, socially and financially. She can be reached at Claire@eduave.com or www.eduave.com

Planned Parenthood: Is It a Plus for Financial Aid???

2011-11-20T06:50:00.001-08:00

Should you plan to have your children close together so thatyou will pay less for college? A fatherof three boys told me to tell parents to do just that! I’ve worked with this parent since 2004, whenhis eldest son was applying to college and was admitted to an eliteuniversity. This boy is now a young mandoing very well for himself. Then Ihelped his middle son who shopped around for various colleges and chose toattend the same elite university as hisolder brother. Now their baby is asenior in high school, an excellent soccer player, so good that everyone whosaw him play said for sure he would be recruited by myriad of colleges, butsince the student and parents haven’t heard a thing thus far, they called me ina panic.

Mr. Smith (not his real name) tells me he simply cannotafford to pay another $50K a year for four years to send his third son to the same universityor another private college. He thought his son would be recruited for soccer bya Division I college and would get free tuition. Coaches were interested in him since tenthgrade, but his academic performance is in the middle of the pack, and now thesecoaches can’t pull him through admission. The coach says: “I really want this student for my soccer team” but theadmission office says “You may need him but he’s not getting in here with thosegrades and test scores”. The coach thencalled the student and said if he were to apply early decision then he as thecoach would have a much greater pull with admission. So the boy did, and is nowin limbo, waiting to hear.

Mr. Smith was adamant about my warning young couples aboutthe costs of college: “If you have two kids in college at the same time, yourexpected contribution is half, so you pay about the same for two”. He felt penalized by the financial aidsystem for spacing the birth of his children four years apart. He says if he had known this was the case hemight have planned to have his children closer together!

Actually the federal methodology that supports the awardingof federal financial aid was designed to be fair for the vast majority of thepopulation, and if there are discrepancies or unusual situations then the financial aid administrators of a collegehave the power to tweak and change afinancial aid award. This father’s situation does not qualify as an unusualcircumstance.

This father makes his living by buying, renovating andrenting properties. He does not have a corporation or LLC thus his assetsinclude all of the properties he owns and rents. Colleges do not view hisrental properties as part of a business and therefore he does not qualify forany financial aid. In order to pay forcollege he will have to sell some property at a loss. His properties are hisretirement.

If this student is accepted at the college where the coachis rooting for him, then this student will be bound to attend. If he’s not accepted, we will be ready with a solid list of colleges that fithim. He now understands that the brandname of a college doesn't matter as much as finding a place where the student can fit in, behappy, and successful, for a price that his father can afford.

C. Claire Law, M.S. is President and co-founder of Educational Avenues. She is an IECA Professional and a nationallycertified educational planner who helps high school students find the perfect college for them and co-author of Find the Perfect College for You. She can be reached atClaire@eduave.com, tweet her @EduAvenues or check out the Educational Avenues website at www.eduave.com.

Is it ok to reveal your sexual orientation on a college essay?

2011-10-30T18:26:00.000-07:00

Recently a student wrote an essay about being gay. I don’tknow why students feel they have to reveal their innermost secrets to acollege, but many do. Colleges areinterested in getting to know how students think and what they value, but don’thave to be told absolutely everything, especially when a student is notcomfortable revealing him/herself. Thisboy revealed himself. He talked aboutthe stereotyped beliefs at the all-boys high school he attended, and how heraised awareness about homophobia by writing an article in the school magazine.He went on to talk about his coming out to family and friends, how he was ableto feel joy after revealing who he was, and this became a gift to himself. It was a well-written compelling essay.Should this student choose another topic for his college essay?

It depends. There is no universal answer, because collegesvary so much in their mission and in what values they try to impart on students.If you apply to a military academy, you would not reveal it, because themilitary treats everyone on the same level. No one gets preferential treatmenton the basis of their sexual, ethnic, religious or other preference. There, revealing a sexual orientation wouldbe a reason to exclude an applicant.

At a public or private liberal artscollege this topic would be more than acceptable. It would be totally fine. Through an essay a student who is self-aware,comfortable with his/her identity is likely to be an asset on campus as hedemonstrates leadership by increasing awareness about sexual orientations. An admission committee is likely to respectthis.

Today sexual preferences are not likely to limit the numberof colleges a student may find because campuses are more LGBT friendly thanever before. On the other hand, collegeis that setting where students can rub elbows with people of different beliefs,ideas and persuasions.

C. Claire Law, M.S. IECA is a Certified Educational Plannerwho has served students across the US and internationally since 1998. She canbe reached at 401-885-8611 or Claire@eduave.com or tweether @CollegeProz.

October is National Dyslexia Awareness Month

2011-10-08T16:38:00.000-07:00

How Well Can YOU Read?

Chances are pretty good that you have heard of dyslexia andthat you have the perception that people with this label will read the word dogas God, or the word rat as tar. Interestingly, dyslexia does not have anythingto do with one’s ability to see clearly and it is by no means that simple todescribe or recognize. Imagine being asked to read hieroglyphics fluently withno training. This is what the dyslexic has to deal with every day of his life.

The International Dyslexia Association (IDA) defines dyslexia as:

Dyslexia is a specific learning disability that isneurological in origin. It is characterized by difficulties with accurateand/or fluent word recognition and by poor spelling and decoding abilities.These difficulties typically result from a deficit in the phonological componentof language that is often unexpected in relation to other cognitive abilitiesand the provision of effective classroom instruction. Secondary consequencesmay include problems in reading comprehension and reduced reading experiencethat can impede the growth of vocabulary and background knowledge.

Here are some interesting factoids about dyslexia:

It affects nearly one out of 10 people
If you are dyslexic there is agood chance one of your parents or children have the trait
It is termed a language basedlearning disability
Dyslexia is identifiable with over90% accuracy, at ages 5 ½ to 6 ½ .
Many people with dyslexia cannotread at better than a third grade level and some college dyslexic graduatescannot read a single word
A dyslexic’s IQ has nothing to dowith his condition
Dyslexics are often singled out asacademic losers at a very early age by teachers, classmates and even theirparents
Many dyslexics experience low self-esteem,are often fatigued and may contemplate taking their own lives
A number of those that cannot reada single word are:

· Nobel prize winners

· Exceptional (and wealthy) entrepreneurs

· Award winning artists and sculptors

· College graduates with advanced degrees

You might be interested to know that reading is NOT anatural ability. It must be taught andthen fully assimilated in the brain. To a “normal” student, reading seems to bean step by step progression of proficiency. To the dyslexic student thedevelopment of reading skills is greatly impeded by the fact that the leftbrain connections that “light up” when one is learning to read are often dark.When this happens, the student begins to use the prefrontal cortex (which isnot fully developed until young adulthood) and consumes enormous amounts ofenergy in the process. So, not only do dyslexic students not comprehend what itis they are supposed to, they also create a brain frenzy that often leads tomild to severe ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder).

Last week I attended a local conference for members of theSouth Carolina chapter of the International Dyslexia Association. Theconference had one track that focused on the basics of learning to read and thevarious approaches to deal with non-verbal language disabilities The presenter,Dr. Margie Gillis E.D and head of Literacyhow, is a nationallyrecognized subject matter expert when it comes to reading and she exposed us tomany tools and techniques that are available to facilitate the development ofreading abilities. Her approach is a sensible consideration for all parents ofchildren for whom reading is problematic.

For me, the highlight of the day was having 15 conferenceattendees take part in a dyslexia simulation exercise. Do you want to feelconfused, frustrated, ashamed, abused, and truly dumb and picked upon? Thenthis exercise is right up your alley! I knew this was a simulation, but the tangibleimpact it had on me was enormous. While I can never know what it truly feelslike to be dyslexic, I certainly can now understand the negative and hostileworld within which a dyslexic individual must strive for “normalcy”. It is nowonder that reading failure is the most commonly shared characteristic amongjuvenile offenders, 60% of prison inmates are illiterate and over 27% ofchildren with learning disabilities drop out of high school. Illiteracy coststhe US $2 billion per year for students that must repeat a grade due to readingproblems and over $20 billion per year on a national basis to businesses and taxpayers.

So this month let’s honor those with dyslexia. Parents: forma support group, get help for your child if she has reading problems by havingher tested. Ask your local IDA* organizationfor a viewing of an incredible documentary on dyslexia and for a simulation kitthat will let participants feel what dyslexia is like. After exposure to theseresources I’m sure you will want to share the information with the community atlarge. Like many brain wiring issues dyslexia cannot be cured, but there areMANY ways to overcome its impact. In addition to honoring all of the incrediblysuccessful dyslexic achievers, there is also a reason to celebrate one’s own dyslexia:right brain thinkers are likely to be the leaders, innovators and mostprogressive individuals as our society continues to evolve.

*To get access to the kit and video in South Carolinacontact Liz Hall: EHLearning@aol.com orby phone at 843 856-8966.

The College Admission Game: What's the Ante?

2011-09-28T09:19:00.000-07:00

Like Poker, To Play the College Admission Game You Have to Have Jacks or Better

Yep, when you apply to a highly selective school it's a real crapshoot. So how can you improve your chances in this seemingly random lottery? Using a poker analogy, you must have Jacks or better to play the game, Here are some tips to "stack the deck in your favor".

1. At selective colleges, strength of secondary school curriculum and performance (GPA) within that context are the most important criteria for initial consideration. Additional differentiation can be seen in the Standardized test scores and class rank. Students applying to these schools have to have stellar grade and test scores. To achieve them they had to do their BEST at ALL times.

2. Excerpts from college admission officers selection attributes: "Our students have individual passions: things they really care about. They see themselves as playing a significant role in world and know how to accomplish this by making a contribution in their area of concentration using their passions as a driving force.

From a college admissions interview: "We ask about what current events you follow, favorite subjects, what you're involved in at school, what you want to do at our school, your family, who you look up to, in what area are the "king of trivia of", etc.

3. Select colleges have the cream of the crop applying to them (see # 1 above). Part of the ante to play in their league is to differentiate yourself and do so in a way that makes you unique and standout. Playing a sport, being on the newspaper/yearbook, playing an instrument are all nice and may be significant but they are really basic and only par for a course where birdies and eagles are expected. Competing on a school team that has a basis in intellect AND achieves higher level (state/national) recognition WILL stand out and be duly noted as a real positive on the student application. Participation in such areas indicates intellect, critical thinking, teamwork, competitiveness and problem solving skills. These attributes combined are highly valued by admission professionals. These activities can also help you have the ability to answer difficult essay or interview questions such as:

* "If there were five students competing for the same seat in a class, what would be your sales pitch to the professor for letting you take it?"
* Name a class you have taken that has changed the way you think.

4. The ability to read both in quantity and quality is an imperative to college performance. College students receive multiple reading assignments every week, each of which is usually associated with an accompanying written paper. Learning to read in volume with a high level of comprehension is the acquisition of a skill that will have a lifelong positive impact. Such reading will increase vocabulary, enable better scoring on standardized tests, and perhaps most importantly help you develop critical thinking and problem solving skills while stimulating intellectual curiosity. From another college interview application supplement:

* What book have you read recently that you would tout as a "must read" to your friends?

* What are your top five favorite books and why are they interesting to you.

5. Colleges look at how students spend their time. While not evaluating things such as playing video games, they are looking for meaningful pastimes that enrich the student's life and help them understand what they will be able to contribute on their campus. From a college brochure: "Students should strive to add things into their lives that will be meaningful to them. This requires effort and a self-starting mentality which will ultimately fully develop intellectual curiosity and the truly valuable attribute of seeking to be a lifelong learner."

6. Schools have two opinions of the concept of volunteerism/community service. The first is compulsory volunteer activity that must be completed as a requirement for graduation. This is seen as a given for all students regardless of selectivity. The second type of community service or volunteerism reflects a drive within the student. This activity demonstrates to the school that the student has matured to a level where their own self-interest is superseded by a real desire to help others over their own immediate needs. The select colleges expect that their student body will be cognizant of the needs of others and actively participate in areas to which they feel drawn.

A recent article and survey in the NY Times : "In the most positive light, such service teaches children and teenagers to look beyond themselves and understand the role they can play in their community and country. In the most negative light, it is one more activity to tick off en route to college."

A 2008 survey of admissions officers from the top 50 colleges and universities by the organization DoSomething.org, found that admissions officers consistently put a higher value on continuous volunteering over several years at a local place than a short-term stint overseas. In the survey, the admissions officers said they were confident they could discern when a student was being disingenuous about her commitment to community service. One noted that "insincerity seems likely when there is a laundry list of activities with minimal commitment."

7. College admissions personnel: We are looking for tomorrow's leaders. The fate of the world is literally in their hands. Students should actively seek any opportunity to take leadership during their secondary school years: captaincy of sports teams, student government, the lead in a school play or become known as a "go to" person that can resolve conflict. Not only will having these experiences help gain admission to a select college, they will provide a development and skill building cycle that will have a significant positive impact throughout the student's life.

8. Many students "hit the wall" at some point in their college career. Hitting the wall is finding that class work is overwhelming. Getting behind in a class can quickly lead to discouragement, and possibly failure. Students must develop the necessary skills that will minimize the chances of hitting the wall. In addition to the importance of reading discussed above, organization, time management and assignment completion planning skills are very important to keep a student from hitting the wall. It is critical that healthy habits are formed during the high school years and to be able to quickly correct a situation while at home where resources and assistance can be readily applied using parents, teachers or a tutor’s expertise.

Ask Us About Schools: If You Are Wait-Listed In College

2011-03-06T04:39:00.000-08:00

Ask Us About Schools: If You Are Wait-Listed In College

If You Are Wait-Listed In College

2011-03-05T03:45:00.000-08:00

Every year thousands of students who may have bypassed college planning get denied or wait-listed at our nation’s "Elite" colleges. These are good students who may be at the top 10% of their class and sport a solid number of extra-curricular activities. However, “Elite” colleges require more than the posted admission requirements. Those are only minimums. Students also need a solid “hook” or “tipping factor” that the college can use. It’s all about what you bring to the table of that college. If that table needs a side dish of asparagus or potatoes to complement the main meal, then a college looks for that “side dish”, even if you are a student who brings a batch of chocolate chips cookies. The April-cruel part is this: who could refuse a batch of chocolate chip cookies? Each student is valuable and brings to a college a unique set of personal characteristics and gifts beyond what they have achieved academically

As an English major in college, April for wait-listed and denied college applicants reminds me of T. S. Eliot’s cruelest month, “breeding lilacs out of the dead land and mixing memory and desire”. It’s a time of reckoning for students who applied to college based on desire rather than realistic expectation. For some students “winter kept them warm, covering the earth in forgetful snow, feeding a little life with dried tubers”. These tubers fed the hope that an idealized Ivy League or “Elite” college would say “Yes”. Unfortunately, hopes that were kept alive in winter may come crashing down in April, when these “Elite” colleges send out their letters. In April all colleges must get back to their applicants with a definitive answer, says the National Association for College Admission Counselors (NACAC). Don’t have a pity party if you are denied! Close the book on the “Elite” and move on to those “safe” colleges that accepted you.

This article is not for students who were admitted last November through early action or early decision or have already been accepted to their top choice college. This article is for those students who were denied by their first, second or even third choice “Elite” college. It’s for those who are wait listed at a college they want.

The good news is that students can find many colleges that fit their needs and personality preferences even if they don't get into those "Elite" colleges. In fact, the farther away they move from the Ivy League and "Elite" colleges the more likely they are to find a place at a dinner table that very much appreciates their contribution.

If you get wait listed and still love (or are obsessed by) that Ivy League or Elite college, then here are some tips about what to do:

1.If you have any new information to add to your file, such as a new and improved SAT score, a 5 in an AP exam or a much improved grade in an Honors Math class, send the transcript to your Ivy League or Elite college.

2.If the principal or head of your school graduated from the college that has wait listed you, and he respects your work and behavior, then ask him/her to write a recommendation on your behalf.

3.Even if your school principal did not graduate from the college that wait listed you but he/she knows you quite well and can add something new to your already submitted file, ask if he/she will write a recommendation for you.

4. Do reply immediately if you receive a questionnaire or card from this college asking if you still want to remain on their wait list,if you are absolutely positive you would attend even at this late date. You’d be surprised to know that after the first card is sent out, only 50% of wait listed applicants reply. This enables the college to cut their wait list in half. After the second card is mailed the college wait list is reduced again and only about a quarter of applicants remain on the wait-list.

5. This is when demonstrated interest counts. But you have to be honest with yourself and the college. It’s OK to have sent your commitment deposit to the college that already accepted you. However, don’t tell the college that has wait listed you “yes, yes, yes I’ll come if you accept me” and then back out. I have seen a student do this with a military academy. It was probably for the best because this student might have gotten into trouble with his indecision in a military setting.

6 At this point, do your calculations here, :) put your AP Statistics to good use: what is the probability that your name will rise to the top of the wait list?

7. Call the college and ask to speak with the admission counselor for your region. After re-stating your love for the college, ask how many students remain on the waiting list and what is your place on that wait list.

8. Build your relationship with your admission rep but refrain from calling or emailing every week. (don't be a pest! :) )

9. Be sure to always call yourself. Don’t let your parents call.

10. When the college asks how you will pay, be honest about your financial need.

11. Although colleges are likely to favor students who can pay fully and on their own if accepted, if you need financial aid in order to attend say so. Don’t play the bait and switch game with colleges.

12. If the Elite college says “If we admit you we have no financial aid” and you do need financial aid to pay for college, move on. This practice by colleges is called “admit-deny” and it results on wait-listed students with financial need paying much more for college than those already admitted.
13. Be prepared to wait until May and June to see if any spots open up. There is some fall-out of accepted students who may change their mind in the summer. It’s not over until it’s over.

14. Some colleges will have additional fall-out from September to December and may invite a wait listed student to enroll in January.

15. Other colleges may suggest a student do a “study-abroad semester” for the fall of freshman year.

16. Re-examine your reasons for wanting the “Elite” college. This book "Find the Perfect College For You" help you figure out how your MBTI® personality preferences fit in at Ivy League and other “Elite” colleges.

17. Don’t forget to deposit at a college that has accepted you. Do this before May 1st, NACAC’s “universal” commit date for students.

18. Do not double deposit just to keep your options open at two colleges. If colleges find out you may lose both acceptances. Besides, this is a good time to start adhering to an honor code that will serve you well in college and in life.

Summer Programs for Students-Already???

2010-03-01T19:31:00.000-08:00

It’s not summer yet, I can tell by looking outside at the temperature gauge and my wool sweaters that call my name each morning. However, my mailbox is filled with brochures about summer programs for school age kids. The usual suspects fill the box. For instance, I’ve received a brochure from Cornell that offers engineering sampler classes for those kids who don’t get their fill of math and science during the school year. Another is from the Junior Statesmen Foundation, a wonderful organization that appeals to students interested in the political process and civic work (www.jsa.org)

There are clear advantages for middle and high school students in taking summer classes. They get a taste for new ways of learning in a new setting while making friends with kids who come from all over the world.

Summer programs for gifted and talented students offer a way to connect bright kids to a similar peer group and further stimulate their learning. I remember one of my students said she felt ok for being smart within that group. She was invited to more summer programs for gifted kids, and these gave her the confidence to complete high school in flying colors even though she appeared “quirky” to others.

These programs are for those students who don’t suffer “test anxiety” and enjoy filling out those “bubbles” tests. One of my students was invited to the John Hopkins Center for their Talented Youth summer program (www.cty.jhu.edu) and the Duke University TIP program (www.tip.duke.edu) after he took the SAT in seventh grade and scored a 570 in Math. From taking the JHU summer program he realized he really liked not only the class but the university as well and he will apply there.

Some parents ask me whether it would be a good thing for their child to participate in gifted programs as a way to help with college admission. The answer is a bit long so bear with me while I explain the “it depends on the college”. Although elite colleges are aware of CTY and TIP programs, they don’t tend to view them as a blue-seal of approval or a feather in the applicant’s cap. First of all, courses completed in middle school cannot be included on a college application. If taken in high school, an elite admission person might think: “Yeah, I know you are bright but everyone who applies here is an outlier.” Or worse, “Yeah, I suspect you took this course just to beef up your college application”. I could be wrong there– because not every Ivy-League officer is that cynical. The point is that there’s no blanket rule when applying to the almighty Ivy-League colleges. There are indirect benefits such as when a student takes a summer course which sparks his interest which he then pursues it with deeper commitment and passion. Others who have benefited from these programs are home-schooled teens who are able to make friends among peers and get some additional enrichment.

Less selective colleges will be more inclined to value these summer programs and take them as an indication of the student’s intellectual curiosity. Let’s be honest, they add an interesting detail about a student. The bottom line is that these programs are worth it for the enrichment alone, because the right student benefits immensely both socially and academically. They return to school with added knowledge under their belt and do better in class. That positive experience itself helps their self-confidence during the college search.

A great resource that is often overlooked for summer programs are boarding schools. They offer a more relaxed, fun-filled way to learn and play. There are all-girls and all-boys boarding schools. Some of my students tried these programs in past summers and ended up enrolling there. Dora, my artsy and bright middle-school student went to an all-girls boarding school that had a summer art and equestrian program. She fell in love with their creative writing class among other things, and convinced her mother to let her enroll there. The money she spent on the summer program was pro-rated toward her yearly tuition and because the school got to know her and really wanted her, she received a sizeable scholarship which really helped her mom, a single parent.

Another student of mine went to a boarding school that focused on helping girls appreciate math and science. There she learned to use a graphing calculator and built up confidence that she could do math. She put her newly found skills to good use at her public high school in the fall. Some students are just perfect for summer programs that mix academics with fun!

For those kids who don’t want to touch books in the summer, I’ve discovered a great website that can help parents get started on summer planning (www.tipsontripsandcamps.com).

What Makes a College or University Unique?

2010-02-27T10:17:00.000-08:00

When a student and her family are searching for a post-secondary school that will be a “perfect” fit, they may see this as a daunting or even overwhelming task. How can they better the odds that the schools they consider will meet most of their needs? Will they be able to provide an environment where the student will have a chance to thrive in the midst of preparing for their career or post-graduate life?

While there is no easy answer, the process of school selection is quite definable, manageable and with enough advanced research and planning can be a wonderful experience for the entire family. The one MUST of this process is that it stem from the student point of view: what are her passions, what environment best suits her personality, what are her values? If these parameters are not brought into the selection process, there is a very HIGH probability that the student will not graduate in 4 years, will not enjoy the college experience, or not find anything that will facilitate their entry into the workplace upon graduation.

So put all of the above into the mixing bowl and add several additional key ingredients: student stats (GPA, ACT/SAT, rank, curriculum challenge, extracurricular involvement), their essay, their choice of large or small school, location, selectivity etc. When you stir this mixture you have the opportunity to then select several of the over 3500 colleges and universities where you can seek admission. Oh yeah, you then need to factor in that not so little consideration: the actual cost of attendance.

Okay it took a bit of preamble to address this topic of this post but here it is. While you should be prepared to do all of the above, it really helps to look a large variety of schools when you are trying to make a decision. Some you choose should be sure shots for admission, some should be possible and others a bit of a reach-visit as many as you possibly can. Make your visits with variety in mind; see a few large and small schools to get a feel for the campus and students that attend.

Here’s the deal, almost without exception each school you see (even though you have carefully narrowed down your choices) has some MAJOR uniqueness that will make it stand out. Whether it is faculty, specific majors, school spirit, the physical plant, student type or location there will always be something different about each institution.

Over the past few years, we at Educational Avenues have visited over 400 colleges. We use a practiced eye to look at each school as an entity unto itself: what student would fit there and who might have trouble? Is the faculty research oriented to the exclusion of student development? Are the students accepting or exclusionary? For some very good reasons, a number of these schools fall off our list of possible choices for the students we help in the school selection process. The rest have that uniqueness that will be an absolute match for one of our students. Give us a shout (chip@eduave.com or Claire@eduave.com) and we can share some of the ways we spot these characteristics as well discover the true hidden gems. We just completed a tour of 16 private colleges and universities in Florida and can give you an example of how each one has been able to be competitive as well in touch with what students of today require.

The Adolescent Brain

2010-01-06T11:30:00.000-08:00

“Adolescents are complicated critters”, said Dr. Jeff M.Georgi a well-known clinical specialist in addiction at Duke University’s department of psychiatry and surgery. I thought back to my own kids and the students I work with and nodded. He continued: “Their brains are biologically vulnerable and psychologically impacted by exposure to adverse social settings”.
Even though I have taken a number of physiological psychology courses, this workshop I attended at the recent IECA national conference, honed in on new research that links early nicotine use to a high probability of addiction. Dr. Georgi explained that the earlier kids start smoking, the more programmed for addiction their brain becomes. In other words, nicotine has a sticky way of priming the developing brain by getting into all the nooks and crannies, thus predisposing the brain to seek out substances that produce those feelings. Exposing a developing brain to nicotine primes it for addiction. No other substance has such a tragic effect.

During my clinical field experience, I attended Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, where people would smoke during the break and then return to the hall where they worked on their alcohol addiction. Their smoking addiction was not even addressed, and it was clear to me that while they could quit drinking using the 12-steps program among supportive peers, they were sucking on those cigarettes for dear life. Were they trying to give up alcohol when the nicotine addiction had started it all? If nicotine is the root of the addiction shouldn’t we all try to stop young people from starting and help those who are already addicted tackle the root cause of their illness? This thinking had never occurred to me prior to attending this workshop. Dr. Georgi’s research implies that if teens don’t start smoking, they are much less likely to succumb to addiction
Dr. Georgi pointed out what many adults know: teens are excitement seekers and boredom is deadly for them. Physiologically, if those places in the brain that make and retain memories (the amygdola and hippocampus) are not active, the frontal cortex, that performs many functions loosely called cognition, is also not active and kids experience boredom. Teens seek novelty because it results in an increase of dopamine, a substance that gives pleasure to the receptors in the brain. Bored teens are likely to take more risks to get out of their boredom and fulfill their biological mandate. In proper dosage, dopamine allows people to enjoy themselves, but too much causes over stimulation. Teens do not have fully gown neurons in the pre-frontal cortex until their twenties, so their judgment and planning ability is easily compromised. (The neurons in the brain are like a tree, the trunk and branches are called the axion and dendrites respectively). In kids these branches are not yet fully myelinated, or covered with a sheath or coating of myelin. If these “naked” or uncovered dendrites get coated with nicotine, they become programmed for addiction.

Teens absolutely need novelty and excitement, some of which is positive such as roller-coasting, white-water rafting and even skydiving can be relatively safe. However, a sky-dive does not last three hours or the diver would be dead. Too much stimulation is not good. Too much drive and shame toward perfectionism interferes with learning in school. We don’t learn when we are terrified or humiliated. According to Dr. Georgi, the same brain cells that benefit from novelty die with too much stimulation. For instance, when a child is subjected to a traumatic event, the hippocampus shuts down and does not remember, but the amygdola registers and stores the events subconsciously. This is important to know when helping teens who were traumatized, because the memories you make in adolescence are memories you keep. If adolescents don’t take advantage of their brain’s ability to learn during their teen years, their window narrows, the unused branches or dendrites get cut off. It’s why we want our teens to experience events that produce good memories, to have good relationships, and to experience emotional safety.
We want to challenge our teens socially, physically, emotionally and academically because purposeful attention helps maturation of the prefrontal lobe, that part of the brain that stores working memory and other functions needed for higher learning.

An overall recipe for teens’ health is seeing two parents who love each other. They need to see the commitment and courtesy between mom and dad. They need to see healthy role models: girls need to be exposed to strong women who have power and choose their relationships wisely. Boys need to identify with dads who love, respect and take care of their mate and the children. If mom or dad is drinking every night and s/he can’t help it, s/he sets the example for the children to follow. In our practice we refer teens to special programs where they learn to self-regulate and make better decisions for themselves. However, when they return to a family that has not changed, there’s a gravitational pull toward regression. Successful intervention requires significant time to solidify lasting change in both parents and teen.

There’s a myth about college students drinking, that they study hard, work hard and play hard. Research shows that binge drinking destroys the pre-frontal cortex, which moderates impulsivity among other functions. Impulsivity increases the risk for addiction. (UNC Researchers: Crews FT, Boettinger CA). Students may have studied in the library for 6 hours, if they then go out drinking they wipe out what much of what they just learned. However, it should be pointed out that college is not “Animal House” anymore. The majority of college students do not abuse alcohol. It’s important to dispel this myth so students will not expect themselves to drink once they enter college.

A recent article printed in the Chronicle of Higher Education indicates that a few college presidents at very elite colleges are considering lowering the drinking age, perhaps because they think their high-achieving students are mature and sensible enough to decide for themselves. Smoking which is even more pernicious a substance was not mentioned. It too should be made illegal to purchase before age 21. Dr. Georgi makes it clear that it makes no sense to lower the drinking age when an 18-year-old brain is still at the mid-point of development. An 18 year old is not capable of making the decisions that a 23-year-old can. Dr. Georgi concluded: “If we are going to do something stupid, let’s not do it in the face of this tidal wave of facts and information”.

C. Claire Law, M.S. IECA Certified Educational Planner, is the author of Find the Perfect College for You, based on matching a student’s MBTI® personality preference to the best-fit colleges. Claire is the founder and president of Edcational Avenues. She can be reached at claire@eduave.com
Bibliography: Synaptic Self: How Our Brains Become Who We Are by Joseph LeDoux Buzzed: The Straight Facts About the Most Used and Abused Drugs from Alcohol to Ecstasy (Third Edition) by Cynthia Kuhn, Scott Swartzwelder, and Wilkie Wilson

An IECA Conference: Perfecting Life-long Learning Skills and Passions

2009-12-04T17:45:00.000-08:00

We’ve been really busy over the last month. We attended our semi-annual IECA conference and boy was it jam-packed with incredible seminars, updates on schools, colleges and programs!

At the IECA conference, we shared information with our colleagues and Claire and Chip Law organized and presented information on College Financial Aid in a preconference workshop. We proved that we really know our stuff when it comes to understanding the difference between a college’s sticker price and the true net cost to families. This a major factor in determining affordability and its impact on college choice. Educational Avenues will be giving free seminars late this year and into 2010 to help families understand where their student can get in for an affordable price.

As an introduction to her upcoming book Find the Perfect College for You, Claire Law presented ways for her colleagues to determine their personality type and how personality type applies to the Educational Avenues process when helping students find their best college match.
Claire Law worked on the IECA conference committee and secured the appearance and introduced the conference keynote speaker, Nido Qubien, who is currently the president of High Point University and among many other notable things, is known internationally as one of the top speakers in the world, as well as a successful business executive and philanthropist. Qubien presented his formula for success to the IECA conference attendees.

As usual the conference provided us with incredible learning opportunities. Daniel Pink, author of A Whole New Mind gave us a very compelling argument about how our educational focus and training needs to change radically and quickly. Only those that embrace change, develop the cultivation of right brain skills which include creativity, innovation and critical thinking will have mastery over the exciting yet unknown opportunities and challenges we face in the future.
The conference concluded with an absolutely fascinating master class that covered the essence of addiction in a developing young adult. The material presented by Jeffrey Georgi, a clinical faculty member of the Duke Medical School and the Duke Addictions Program was both enlightening and frightening. We at Educational Avenues plan to help our families fully understand the nature of this disease by providing factual data, resources and advice on how the family system needs to become a stronghold of support for the prevention and/or treatment of this corrosive malady.

Respond to our blog or contact us by email if you want more info on these topics. Claire@eduave.com, chip@eduave.com or (843) 278-1271 or Skype us at Educational Avenues or Chip Law. Visit our website-www.eduave.com.

Language Based Learning Disabilities…Dyslexia?

2009-10-23T09:25:00.000-07:00

Did you know that October is dyslexia awareness month?

Did you know that very few people have a clear idea of what dyslexia might be?

Did you know that up to 20% of the total population has symptoms related to dyslexia?

Did you know that many of those people dealing with dyslexia have higher than average IQs?

Did you know that many dyslexics have superior skills in the arts?

Did you know that many famous and successful people have dyslexia?

(It should be noted that many in the field of dealing with learning differences now include dyslexia as part of a larger grouping –Language Based Learning Disabilities [LBLD]-the most common of which is dyslexia. For this post you’ll see the terms used interchangeably.)

Dyslexia is an enigmatic word and represents an equaling puzzling condition that many children and adults must face as they make their way through life. So what is dyslexia? Paraphrasing the definition of the International Dyslexia Association’s definition, it is a set of neurologically based difficulties that encompass word recognition, poor spelling and decoding of language, which occurs when reading material takes too long for the brain to properly retain meaning. Its main manifestation is the discovery that it impairs the ability to read both as a rote skill and more importantly the ability to comprehend reading material. Further, dyslexia can have significant impact on one’s ability to sequence things (think directions) or even distinguish left from right. This deficiency often leads to a condition known as poor executive function: poor organization, inability to find things, follow directions or meet deadlines. As can be imagined, this condition will make for a very difficult and stressful life and certainly can have very negative effect on the dyslexic’s life.

As noted above, dyslexia is neurologically based meaning that it will be a lifelong condition for those afflicted with it. This, however is not all gloom and doom. With proper cognitive training and rigorous practice, dyslexics can be productive students, strong learners and ultimately go on to lead successful and interesting lives. Early recognition of dyslexia is the best way to mitigate its impact on a young student. When a child is diagnosed as dyslexic (or having an LBLD) placing her in an intense program such as the Orton-Gillingham method of instruction will allow her to develop skills and strategies that will defeat the effects of dyslexia and arm her with tools to learn as well as those not afflicted with the disorder. Even those students or adults that are diagnosed later in life can be helped tremendously with a remediation regimen like Orton-Gillingham or other programs.

We deal with students that have a broad range of learning deficits. Those deficits that are language based can be very harmful to the person’s self esteem and ultimately their academic or professional development. Left alone, these problems can lead to behavioral issues including ODD, acting out and depression. We help recommend educational options for these students ranging from certified OG instructors providing one on one intensive support privately, to having the student attend a local school with a specialty addressing the needs of those with LBLD issues. In many cases sending the student to a private boarding school where the entire academic focus is on the remediation of the LBLD and preparing the student for college and their future career may be the best option. We also find that many of the educational institutions that provide these services for those with an LBLD provide phenomenal opportunities for their students to express themselves in areas where those with an LBLD often excel: drawing, painting, wood working, music, and theater for example. Achieving success in their areas of strength while also absorbing the lessons that will help them be able to handle their LBLD is a powerful combination that enables the student to be able to perform or surpass those students that do not have an LBLD.

Oh yeah some of those famous people that have had and overcome their LBLD (dyslexia):
· Tom Cruise
· Steve Jobs
· Cher
· Winston Churchhill
· Charles Schwab
· Thomas Edison
· George Patton
· Leonardo da Vinci
· Walt Disney

For more detailed info on dyslexia and other LBLDs here’s some great links:
· International dyslexia Association: http://www.interdys.org/
· National Center for Learning Disabilities: http://www.ncld.org/
· Schwab Learning: http://www.schwablearning.org/
· National Coalition for Parents Involvement in Education: http://www.ncpie.org/
· Academy of Orton-Gillingham Practitioners and Educators: http://www.ortonacademy.org/
· Council for Learning Disabilities: http://www.cldinternational.org/
· LD Online: http://www.ldonline.org/

These sites provide excellent information on LBLD symptoms, diagnosis and treatment options as well as a forum for support groups and real-time interactions with parents, educators and others directly concerned with LBLD issues.

May I carry your E-book?

2009-10-12T16:09:00.000-07:00

I recently got a chuckle out of a cartoon about a boy asking a girl if he can carry her E-book. A classic romantic notion catches up with the times. The next step in the relationship will be reading outdoors from a solar-powered Kindle™. Already some audio books can be downloaded as MP3s to listen to on an iPod or other device.

I still prefer the feel of a book in my hands but cannot deny that it’s faster to find a quote or reference online. During my visits to boarding schools and colleges I am noticing that some campuses have firmly embraced technology as an additional vehicle to deliver education while others are tepid in their approach and are more wedded to traditional methods.

Many books are already available as e-books and libraries are thinning out their collections of paper books and beefing up on electronic links to multiple libraries. It is possible for students to not use paper books if they have access to E-books, E-scholarly journals and proprietary or inter-library databases online.

I love the architecture of libraries that are often the iconic building on campus. However, what is the sense of having millions of square feet of space taken up with books when students are more comfortable searching online? Millennial students may be better served by having a dedicated study area where they can link up with the University of Oxford based in the UK or NASA’s Singularity University, as Cushing Academy in Massachusetts has done. The rationale there is to help students become more connected to the world at large and develop global perspectives. It’s ideal for the student who is innovative and likes change.

Davidson University in North Carolina on the other hand is meeting students’ needs in the library in a low-tech manner, by giving out carrels. These are like a shelf on wheels in a space that becomes the student’s for the entire year. As this library is changing from the Dewey catalog system to the Library of Congress, millennial students have their own space. Ironically, students are encouraged to text their librarian to get help with finding reference works, or follow her through a Twitter account to keep up with library announcements and events.

So are libraries as we knew them in years past becoming obsolete? Millennial students grew up with cell phones, text-messaging, iPods, Blackberries and iPhones, and have never seen a world without these. On a college tour students don’t seem to get that spark in their eye when guides reveal how many volumes their library houses. Today’s students seem more concerned about whether the college is wireless and has online information that can be easily scanned to gain instant access to the page they want. In this age of information overload, our students become master sifters of electronic information.

The trailblazers were students with learning disabilities, who used and benefited from assistive technology for years. And what works for students with learning disabilities works as well for students who don’t have them.

Have All the Books Gone to Ones and Zeros?

2009-09-24T10:25:00.000-07:00

"May I carry your e-book?"

I couldn't help but laugh at the cartoon from Parade Magazine in this week's Sunday paper where a boy asks a girl if he can carry her e-book reader. The implement looks compact and light-weight, and surely won’t cause the scoliosis that knapsacks do when young students overfill them with books and binders.

It reminded me of this prep school in Massachusetts that is doing away with its library, opting for e-books and online communities of libraries. It linked up with the University of Oxford based in the UK and Singularity University based on the NASA campus in California’ s Silicon Valley to provide online libraries and other resources for their high school students. The rationale is to help students become more connected to the world at large and develop global perspectives. It’s ideal for the student who is innovative and likes change.

Many books are already available as e-books and libraries are thinning out their collections of paper books and beefing up on electronic links to multiple libraries. It is possible for students to not use paper books if they have access to e-books, e-scholarly journals and other inter-library databases. Some audio books can be downloaded as MP3s to listen to on an iPod or other device.
So are libraries as we knew them in years past becoming obsolete? Millennial students grew up with cell phones, text-messaging, iPods, Blackberries and iPhones and have never seen a world without these.

Today’s students don’t seem to get that spark in their eye when tour guides reveal how many books their college library houses. I don’t see students shuffling through pages and pages to find references for a paper they are writing. Today’s students seem more concerned about whether the college is wireless and provides access to online information that can be easily scanned to the page they want. In this age of information overload, our students become master sifters of electronic information.

E-books and virtual libraries are here to stay. Already from their dorm room, students can check their library indexes, databases, scholarly journals and other e-catalogs. Often students can text a librarian to get help with finding reference works, likely to be online as well. Students can follow their favorite librarian through a Twitter account and keep up with library announcements and events.

College applications have gone electronic as well. As a former college admission director, when I was reading college applications, I was literally snowed under piles of paper documents. Any supplemental documents for student athletes or artists for example could get lost between the admission office and the department. Nowadays admission directors can review applications from their computer. They can view any additional music or art portfolio or athletic video. Students may list their Facebook or Twitter addresses and upload their music performances on free sites for the college to view, so it’ s less likely to get lost in cyberspace. Admission counselors tend to be young and easily relate to this kind of media and the informal speak that Millennial students use. Nevertheless, they still need to find their voice and mind their spelling.

As an educational consultant I’m skeptical of the benefits of online everything because college is not just about reading and writing but also about personal development that takes place when students connect in person with their professors and peers. What will happen to the old excuses for not getting one’s paper written? I can just hear it: "the dog ate my paper" now becomes "my e-book reader would not let me download"!

Technology moves on relentlessly and while these changes are here to stay, they can provide some wonderful benefits. For example, students with learning disabilities are able to better review their notes if a lecture is permanently available online. And what works for students with learning disabilities works as well for students who don’t have them.

What do you think about this inevitable trend? Let us know your thoughts...

Application to a Selective College: The Addendum-Friend or Foe

2009-09-04T11:09:00.000-07:00

So you’ve decided to apply to a fairly selective college or university. You’ve completed all the steps that you need in order to apply and are now in the final stages prior to hitting the submit button and getting this daunting process behind you is your top priority. In fact, you may have tried to submit your application and found that it could not be processed because you did not complete the particular school’s addendum.

So what is this beast and why is it of importance in some cases when you apply to a selective school? Well, in many cases it is not and the addendum simply asks for additional demographic or family information. For these addenda you simply fill them out as per directions and you then apply to that particular school. These selective schools use other factors than the addendum to differentiate admission offers.

Today we are also seeing selective schools looking for creative ways to shape their incoming classes. They are looking for diversity in such traditional areas as geography, ethnicity, and socioeconomic circumstances and they are also looking for real diversity in thought. One way to accomplish this goal is to challenge prospective students with addenda to the application that will demonstrate a student’s creativity as well as their problem solving and critical thinking abilities. The key here is that the student must respond to these addenda in a way that reflects their best in demonstrating these skills.

Let’s look at an example. Wake Forest recently went SAT/ACT optional. One the reasons for this was that they wanted to achieve some of the class-shaping/diversity goals described above. Wake was quite transparent and when it made this announcement it explained its new process for admission. One addition was the interview while another was a strong emphasis on the addendum. This addendum could have a powerful impact on an admissions decision. The questions are potential minefields or golden opportunities. The student completing the document must be in “I’ m applying to a very selective school mode” and answer each question with thoughtfulness, clarity and in some cases innovation and creativity. Some students may answer a question such as “What outrages you?” with “I hate it when I work in a team on some members do not do anything and I have to do their work”. This is not a good answer. In fact, it reflects an image of a whiner and of someone that is immature and self-centered. When one thinks about it, a proper response to this question (as expected by the admissions staff) might be to reflect on the situation in Darfur, or cruelty to animals or man’s destruction of the planet. If you look at each of the questions in Wake’s addendum you’ll find similar opportunities to shine or fail miserably.

Many other selective schools have these addenda. You must be careful and take a larger view when you fill them out. While you cannot have anyone other than yourself make these responses, you should strongly consider having parents, peers, or a guidance/counseling professional review your work. Putting in the extra thought and review can clearly make the difference between acceptance and rejection.

The College Application-Are you on the track or headed for derailment?

2009-08-29T03:23:00.000-07:00

Here we go again. The senior class is now in various stages of getting ready for applying to college. Perhaps you are assuming that you are ready to start applying to schools and filling out the application. This assumption is a pretty big one in that most or all of the bullet items below should be complete before you begin the actual application process:

· You’ve looked at yourself in an unvarnished way in terms of assessing where you stand with your grades, your class rank and the difficulty of your high school curriculum

· You’ve taken your standardized tests and understand what role they might play in your admission to a specific college and made plans to prep retake them if necessary

· You’ve confirmed with your school counselor that you have or will have the necessary requirements fulfilled by the time you graduate next year

· You are clear on who needs what by when from the guidance perspective. (they mail transcripts, updated grade reports, etc. to each of the schools that you choose for application)

· You’ve picked the teachers you think will give you the best recommendation and gotten their commitment to provide that recommendation by a predetermined time

· You’ve set expectations for the kind of school you want to attend: public vs. private, large vs. small, social vs. intellectual, liberal arts vs. pre-professional along with other considerations : financial, demographic and geographic preferences/necessities or school reputation

· You’ve given a lot of thought to what possible majors you might choose based upon your personal strengths and passion and then looked carefully via the Web to have a firsthand virtual “visit” to the school

· You’ve narrowed the school list to 6-8 choices with a variation in selectivity i.e., probable admission school vs. a possible vs. a high reach institution and visited the ones that interest you the most

· You’ve prepared your “brag” sheet or resume

· You’ve consulted with your parents and college counselor and obtained their input

So now if you’ve done all that you are pretty much ready to fill out the application to each of the schools to which you wish to apply. You may find the Common Application to be a wonderful tool if most of the schools on your list are private and of higher selectivity, The Common App allows you to apply to multiple schools using only one online effort for the main application. However, in order to differentiate applicants, many schools now make use of supplements (this will be discussed in a future post) which are separate addenda to the Common App, but can still be submitted online to that school along with the regular Common App. Unfortunately many smaller private schools and most public institutions have their own application and as such each app. must be filled out and submitted separately. Depending on how many schools you want to apply to, you can start to see that this activity can be tedious and eat up a lot of time. Patience and careful scrutiny of your work is still a must.

Perhaps the most vexing part of the application process is the writing section. Most schools have a short essay and then have a “personal statement”. We find this task to be most challenging to students because they are asked to write about themselves and to do it in a manner that will present a very clear picture of them to an admissions staff. It is critically important that you are able to show vs. tell about yourself in the essay. Doing a good job on this part of the application can be a key factor in the admission decision and is not to be taken lightly. While we recommend critical review of the essay by your parents, teachers or other respected adults; the essay must be written by you: trained admission personnel can easily spot a perfectly crafted essay created by a well intentioned parent or a writing professional. Be yourself, stay in character and show the reader what makes you tick. You want them to see you someone that they want on their campus next fall.

Most importantly if you haven’t completed most of the bulleted items above, you really need to get focused and moving on this now. Make a timeline, create a checklist and enlist the aid of a classmate to keep you accountable and on to ask. If you start now the train will never have a chance to come off the track.

Next post : The application supplement friend or foe?

College Rankings and the Prospective Student: Caveat Emptor

2009-08-24T05:04:00.000-07:00

Every year at this time parents anxiously await the results of the US News and World report annual rankings of colleges and universities. The rankings are compiled with an incredible amount of provable fact based statistics and are then coupled with soft data such as peer reviews of other institutions of higher learning, faculty ratings etc. . These rankings are often filled with controversy: some of which is “ranking envy”, while other concerns are related to the ways schools can and do things to game the system to improve their overall ranking.

So why all the hubbub?

Well, there are over 3500 four year schools and colleges in the US from which a student may choose to apply. The family needs some basis to narrow down that number and one of the ways to do it is to look at the rankings and then use the myriad of data available to try to figure out which school the student will have the best chance for admission. So the better the student performs, the target schools for the family will also rise relative to the rankings. Let’s say the list of schools that a student/family desires to attend/apply becomes defined by the rankings. They will need to sift through a complex matrix of data sets to determine their student’s chances for admission. Some of the criteria are hard facts (GPS, rank, SAT, rigor of curriculum) and there are additional criteria that look at soft (but highly important at some highly ranked schools) admission attributes including the personal statement/essay, recommendations and extracurricular activities.

So now the focus for college admission has been whittled down to a list of options based on ranking, and what might come next could be cost, or geography or the size of the school etc. So for data gathering and filtering, rankings can be a tremendous asset in college selection. However, this methodology of generating a college list is significantly flawed. Its basis is completely off the mark because it does not take into account the most important aspect of college consideration: what school is the best fit for my particular student?

Parents may feel proud that their child has been offered admission to a highly ranked school and the reasons are many: social status, living their dreams through their child’s accomplishments, assuming that attendance at a highly ranked school will automatically translate into a lucrative future, etc. As Lee Corso might say “Not so fast my friends…”

As educational consultants one of the most important services we provide is that we drive the college selection process based on the student’s passions and aspirations. We take all of the same data described above and (in our practice) use personality and career assessment tools to determine the best possible fit based on the student’s potential and not the possible parental infatuation with a school’s ranking.

Importantly, we have visited the schools on the list we generate, we’ve met with students, faculty and school administrators. We apply this knowledge in the context of the student’s personality type, career aspirations and his or her “numbers” and then choose the list of best fit schools. So while at times, a number of highly ranked schools appear on the list, there may be few or none on others. When you focus on the best fit for a student the US News rank of a school has little to no correlation with the actual match.

Rankings are a useful tool, but nothing replaces a thorough assessment of all the student’s attributes culminating in their school selection based on where they will thrive by optimizing their experiences at the school they attend to achieve their life goals and passions.

What do you think about the US News rankings?

The College Tour

2009-08-19T11:24:00.000-07:00

Well here we are about to start a new college year and while the trepidations of incoming freshmen are to be fully expected, the season also spawns another stressful activity for colleges: their prospective students for the next year are coming to visit.
This event is known as the college campus tour. It is usually given by a current student (who is often earning his or her keep in a work/study arrangement that compensates them for their efforts). Up until recently the tour was pretty much the same across any college campus: a scripted message filled with facts and visits to wherever the school thought it was important to go.

An article in the August 19th, 2009 issue of the New York Times by Jacques Steinberg illuminates the possibility of a new era in college touring. He cites Hendrix College as having their guides not recite facts but to tell stories that reflect well on their experience at the school. He cites that many other schools are revamping their tour process and that this effort has produced at least one high powered consulting firm (TargetX) that contracts with schools to retool, customize and train students and staff in the new way of touring. So the NEW tour will be lacking in hard facts and filled with “revealing’ anecdotes about the school from the perspective of the newly trained/focused student guides.

Since I tour as many as 60 colleges and universities in the course of year I’ll be watching closely to see if there are changes. One big one as suggested by Steinberg’s article is that tour guides are now being trained NOT to walk backward during the tour. This change is supposedly prompted by safety concerns it is also to serve as a means to differentiate the school’s touring style. Soooo…you have the schools getting all this advice regarding the reconfiguration of a vital part of their recruitment process and yet there seems to be little thought given to the “tourees”: students and parents. Families are paying for the tour in terms of their time and travel expenses to visit the school. There are MANY things they MUST see and evaluate during the tour. If this transformation becomes de rigor It is not clear how the family will access this information and experience if the school call the shots to serve their own interests
Without this crucial input I see this new evolution as having the potential to be loaded with messages that only benefit the school (jargon laced marketing hype) and providing a lucrative income for the private firms that are now capitalizing on a perceived area of vulnerability for the 3500 or so colleges and universities in the US.

What do you think?

The Government Takes On Outdoor Therapy Programs

2007-10-31T10:23:00.000-07:00

In mid October, the Government watchdog agency, the GAO, presented a report to a House Committee that enlightened the public with respect to the horrors that occur in outdoor "boot camps" which exist to "straighten out" troubled teens. The majority of the report compiled by Gregory Kutz of the GAO paints a very grim picture of these outdoor programs and their unregulated structures. According to the report these programs are inflicting an astonishing number and variety of abuses upon the youth that they are supposed to be serving. In fact, the majority of the report details in almost "CSI" fashion the gruesome details of 10 children that died during their "boot camp" experience.

The instances of abuse, negligence, lack of trained personnel and backup procedures were underscored multiple times in the report. These situations are horrific and it appears that if the government wished to stir up interest, fear and controversy in this area, they have accomplished their goal. Another followup to this study will be presented to the House Committee early next year.

While, the evidence of the tragic loss of the children presented in the report is not in debate, the GAO did not demonstrate a real understanding of the "special needs" industry and in fact discloses this in its report by saying that information was hard to obtain and was often confusing. This is where things can go wrong and the public may receive filtered or "crafted" information. Lets look at a few of the things that the report needs to better consider or clarify:

They took only three months (government standard compliance) to complete their findings and most of that time was spent looking for flaws/issues in the programs that had had deaths occur in private programs during the last 10 years. This left them little time to really look at the entire industry (public and private), learn its segments and most importantly differentiate therapeutic wilderness program from a boot camp. (In a recent interview on Fox News the GAO's Kutz admitted that most of the deaths occurred at boot camps.)

The concept of a traditional boot camp is to work with young adults that are physically and emotionally healthy in order to build their physical strength, discipline and character in ways so that we can have a properly trained and conditioned (the military for example). The boot camps cited in the report are NOT for the emotionally fragile or broken children and yet they use a physically demanding "punishment " model of correction.

We as educational consultants do not do any boot camp program placements because the youth we see have many difficult emotional issues that may require intense therapy and nurture. During the above mentioned Fox interview in which I also participated, I enumerated the ways that consultants place children in these programs. In addition to visiting the programs on site and getting answers to a large battery of questions (to insure child safety, staff qualifications /training, and many other considerations) we also talk with the children at the programs to find out exactly what is going on. We also look for the SPECIFIC needs a child may have and then recommend placement in a particular program that has been proven effective in working with this type of child.

Mr. Kutz and his team did not look very closely into the various programs that work with troubled teens and hence picked their own nomenclature for labeling the schools and programs. One area they chose as a label was boarding schools. While some therapeutic programs do describe themselves as emotional growth or therapeutic boarding schools, they are NOT and should not be confused with the 300 plus independent boarding schools that have absolutely no connection to these programs and are often considered paragons of educational excellence. Click here for a detailed look at the school and program segments.

Our goal as consultants that place young adults in these programs is to make sure that all of the "bad" programs are shut down quickly and that the means are put in place so that they can't just change states and create a new cycle of abuse. We also want to make sure that all of those that have a stake in this industry insure that proper licensing and operational models include every aspect of the physical and emotional health and well being of these teens and that this is THE top priority. What we don't want to see is oversight that becomes so expensive or bureaucratic that the majority of these programs that provide such incredible services to these children and their families have to close due choking or economically stifling impositions.