High School Counselor Week

Weekly stories, facts, trends, and other information from around the country

 

January 30, 2020

Big Picture

The Easiest Reform for College Admissions
The Atlantic – January 29, 2020
In the world of college admissions, few choices about how to weigh applicants are simple. But Johns Hopkins University just presented the higher-education world with at least one easy decision: Legacy admissions need to go.

Will you still need a college education in 2040?
Fast Company – January 29, 2020
We talked to six professionals whose work involves predicting the nature of education and upskilling and what the workforce is likely to demand from employees. They all shared the consensus that change is the only certainty.

60 miles from college: Lack of education, a way out of poverty, could ‘kill rural America’
USA Today – January 25, 2020
More than 5 million Americans live in education deserts, lacking any college within a 30-minute drive. Few students go away to college, and poverty persists.

Columns and Blogs

On Grief and Grieving
Post – January 29, 2020
Counselors’ Corner with Patrick O’Connor Ph.D.

10 Commandments of the college admissions process – Part 2
Tribune News Service – January 29, 2020
College Admissions Strategies with Lee Bierer 

Evaluating a Financial Aid Letter: What’s Usually Missing
Post – January 13, 2020
The College Solution Blog with Lynn O’Shaughnessy

Counselors

School Counselors Overcome Unexpected Challenges
Forbes – January 29, 2020
I am often asked why I became a school counselor. I always loved school, was a passionate and caring person by nature and wanted to help people. I saw a future where …

School Counselors: Building Better Humans And Creating Positive Change
Forbes – January 28, 2020
Author Neil Postman said, ‘Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see.’ This quote perhaps best explains my purpose as a school counselor and inspires all that I do.

Top 30 Online Masters Programs in Educational Counseling
Online College Plan – January 23, 2020
Online masters in school counseling vary considerably from school to school. We’ve sorted through multitudes of schools to narrow down the options.

Parents

8 Facebook Pages And Groups To Help With College Prep
Parenting for College – January 29, 2020
Have you ever had a question about college prep and there was no one to ask? Do you wonder what other parents have done in your situation? Is there a question about paying for college that you simply can’t find the answer to?

Growing Student Debt Burden for Parents
Inside Higher Ed – January 28, 2020
With federal Parent PLUS loans now accounting for a quarter of borrowing for undergraduates, new data reinforce concern about parents’ ability to repay the loans.

Video

Mean Girls Mathletes National School Counseling Week Rap
ASCA – January 27, 2020
The Mathletes from “Mean Girls” on Broadway share a special performance in honor of National School Counseling Week.

Admissions Process & Strategy

Preparing Prospective College Students for the Interview
Ladue News (MO) – January 23, 2020
Many students have experience giving scripted presentations. But an interview is not scripted, and many teens have not been interviewed before, especially face-to-face by a stranger whose opinion can affect the next four years of their lives.

The Common App 2020-2021 Essay Prompts
Common App – January 25, 2020
First-year essay prompts will remain the same for 2020-2021 based on feedback from a survey. Over the course of three weeks in December, over 10,000 people—two-thirds of them students—shared their thoughts. Here’s what we learned:

Career & Technical Education

GPP’s REAL Skills Day helps prepare at-risk students for life after high school
The Daily Tribune News (GA) – January 24, 2020
Great Promise Partnership, a public-private partnership that empowers and equips at-risk students to complete high school while gaining real-world job skills and experience…

Online education company K12 Inc. acquires coding school Galvanize
GeekWire – January 27, 2020
K12 traditionally focused on educational programs from elementary through high school. But, company executives said, the technological revolution of the last few decades has created huge demand…

Financial Aid/Scholarships

Financial aid award letters: What to know and how to compare
Fox Business – January 25, 2020
Interpreting a financial aid award letter requires a basic understanding of these terms:

5 ways to pay for college without student loans
Fox Business – January 23, 2020
There are ways to pay for higher education without borrowing, which is great news considering a recent survey found that obtaining student loans was the biggest regret among college graduates.

8 Tips for Winning College Scholarships
International College Counselors Blog – January 24, 2020
Can you make a short movie on the dangers of distracted driving? Are you a leader? Are you tall? There is a scholarship for you! Even if your grades aren’t stellar.

Student Voices

College Compass: The journey to the GED
The Pitt News – January 24, 2020
The author is a student at the University of Pittsburgh
For some time, I was ashamed to say that I did not graduate high school. It took me a long time to admit to any of my fellow Pitt students that…

Opinion: Ban the use of high-end calculators that give students ‘the edge’ on the SAT
Los Angeles Times – January 27, 2020
The author is a high school junior in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
As colleges across the country debate whether to require standardized tests…there is a built-in bias in SAT test-taking that seemingly no one is talking about. CAS calculators (prohibited on the ACT) have the potential to…

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Inside The Admissions Office

Junior Tips Part I: Start Here
Tulane University Admission Blog
January 28, 2020

For most high school juniors across the country and around the world, January signifies two things: the beginning of the second semester and the unofficial start of The Process…Here are five big-picture questions to start asking yourself.

More and Less
Georgia Tech Admission Blog
January 23, 2020

Mores and Less’ I’m hopeful to see from high schools students (in or near the college admission experience in 2020)

Disabilities

Listen to ‘Find Your Path: A Roadmap for Choosing a College, a Career, or Something Different’
ADDitude (LISTEN or download podcast) – January 23, 2020
Tune in to hear Rick Fiery discuss post-high school options for teens with ADHD, and how to increase the likelihood of college success. Includes links to related webinar and slide presentation

Why Attendance Policies Hurt Disabled and Chronically Ill Students
The Mighty – January 23, 2020
Missing class because of your disability is frustrating, not the ‘day off’ that many people, including instructors, seem to think it is.

SAT, ACT & AP

3 Myths About Guessing on the ACT, SAT
U.S. News & World Report – January 13, 2020
Guessing is a viable testing strategy that can help you score higher on these standardized tests.

College Connection: Tips if choosing the ACT over the SAT
My Central Jersey – January 24, 2020
It’s important for students to realize all colleges accept either SAT or ACT scores on college applications, and no college requires both. So, it’s best for students to choose one test, and then carefully prepare.

Caltech Drops SAT Subject Tests
Inside Higher Ed – January 27, 2020
Caltech announced Thursday that it is eliminating the SAT Subject Test scores as a requirement for admissions. It is among the very few institutions that requires subject tests from all applicants.

High school GPA 5 times more likely to predict college success than ACT scores
Education Dive – January 29, 2020
The GPA correlation is consistent regardless of which school the student attended, according to the study. Conversely, there was no correlation between ACT score and college graduation rate at some schools, and …