Getting a head start on college application essays this summer can help ease the stress of a busy fall semester senior year. The Common Application essay topics are available here, and several schools have started releasing their supplemental essay questions. Here are links to some of the available supplemental essay questions for 2015-2016:
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We are excited to announce that Annie Vinik has joined Vinik Educational Placement Services. Annie arrives with thirteen years of experience in higher education, and will be doing both college and graduate school counseling. For the last ten years, she has been an associate director of academic advising at the George Washington University's Elliott School of International Affairs where she has helped students map out their academic plans, from orientation through graduation and beyond. To read a little more about Annie, check out her bio on our website.
Today I spent the morning touring the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), an excellent mid-sized public university located about 15 minutes from downtown Baltimore. UMBC offers Division I Athletics, and prides itself on opportunities for research, community service, and internships. The Shriver Center exists to help students integrate classroom and applied learning, and community service is even noted on students' UMBC transcripts. The school is well known for STEM education, but also boasts a brand new Performing Arts and Humanities building. If you have a chance, check out the president's TED talk on UMBC's innovative Meyerhoff Scholars program!
Thinking about a gap year? USA Gap Year Fairs will be visiting this area in February, and the fair provides a great opportunity to learn more about gap years and meet representatives from different programs. The fairs will be held on: Thursday, February 19th from 6pm-8:30pm at Wootton High School in Rockville, MD Saturday, February 21st from 1pm-3:30pm at Georgetown Day School in Washington, DC Tuesday, February 24th from 7pm-9:30pm at George Marshall High School in Fairfax, VA For more information and to register, please visit the following links: http://usagapyearfairs.org/fair/rockville-md/ http://usagapyearfairs.org/fair/washington-dc/ http://usagapyearfairs.org/fair/fairfax-va/ To read more about gap years, check out Laura Hosid's Q&A in the Washington Post, A Primer on Gap Years. A recent study suggests that employers do not think college students are graduating with the skills necessary to succeed in the business world. The findings focus on skills like critical thinking, analytical reasoning, and communication skills -- ones that many employers prioritize over actual subject matter knowledge, which can become quickly outdated. Will these findings motivate more colleges to create programs blending STEM and the humanities? Will we start to see more new programs in entrepreneurship and business skills that can supplement a liberal arts education? For more details on the recent study, check out the following articles:
If you are a high school sophomore, you may have heard that big changes are coming to the SAT next year. The College Board recently released some sample questions, and all signs point to a very different test compared to the current SAT. What does this mean for you? If you plan to take the ACT, no problem. But if you prefer the current SAT, you may want to consider finishing your testing early -- by January of your Junior year, before the new test is unveiled. This means thinking about test prep by this coming summer if you want to give yourself the option to take the test multiple times in the fall. We would suggest taking a practice ACT and SAT sometime this summer to determine which test is right for you. For more details about the new SAT test, check out the following article by Jed Applerouth of Applerouth Tutoring Services: A Harder SAT: College Board release foreshadows the most challenging test to date. Ever think about going to school in Texas? Here is what it takes to get into the University of Texas - Austin from out-of-state. UT-Austin has about 40,000 undergraduates - 95% from Texas and 100% Longhorn fans! At a school this large, you can study anything from Geoscience to Information Studies. And the campus is only blocks from downtown Austin, a city known for live music, great food, and eclectic shops!
Recently, I had the opportunity to share a breakfast conversation with Donald R. Eastman, the President of Eckerd College, and John Sullivan, the school's Vice President for Enrollment Management. The two administrators spent a good deal of time talking about the kinds of kids who thrive at Eckerd -- independent-minded students (think purple hair) who are not afraid to step outside of the box. I especially appreciated President Eastman's thoughtful comments about the value of a liberal arts education. While he made clear that Eckerd does all it can to help students prepare for the professional world, he also emphasized the essential value of the liberal arts in teaching students how to read and write critically and to think for themselves -- skills that all employers value. Kudos to President Eastman. "They Loved Your G.P.A. Then They Saw Your Tweets." -- This New York Times article received a lot of attention when it was published during the 2013-2014 admissions cycle. While most schools do not routinely check applicants' social media sites, 31% of surveyed admissions officers admitted to visiting an applicant's Facebook page or other social media page to learn more about them. Whether you are applying to colleges or applying to jobs, the message is clear -- do not post incriminating pictures on Facebook, angry rants on Twitter, or anything else that can be found online and might raise questions about your judgment! The University of South Carolina is a state school full of spirit and located in the state capital, Columbia, SC. The campus has about 23,000 undergraduate students, with 65% from in-state, and offers 96 majors in 15 different schools. Here are some interesting facts I learned on my visit:
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