Likely Colleges and How Many Colleges to Apply to

October issue includes:

The Importance of Likely Colleges – Students should apply only to colleges that they are willing to attend (and gladly!). Thus, you need to spend as much time researching the schools that are likely to admit you as you do on the schools that are likely to deny you.

Majoring in International Relations/ Political Science – Our increasingly global society provides numerous opportunities for international relations graduates. Political science studies equip students for leadership positions as well as graduate studies in areas such as law. Learn more about career options for these majors here.

The CSS Profile – About 400 colleges, universities and scholarship programs use both the FAFSA and an additional form, the CSS Profile, to gather more information in order to award their own institutional funds to deserving students. Check each college on your final list to see if the Profile will be required.

Volunteer Opportunities in a Pandemic – . A significant number of high school students enrich both their communities and their souls by volunteering. Today’s students are creative, care about the world, want to prepare for work that matters, embrace their entrepreneurial spirits, value collaboration and are very tech savvy. One of the ways in which they demonstrate their care for community, both local and global, is through community service and volunteer work. Here are some options to consider.

How Many Applications? – One question college advisors hear almost every week is “How many colleges should I apply to?” Find some guidelines in this article.

Read the full newsletter HERE

Social Media and College Applications

We can’t hide from it, social media is EVERYWHERE! We’ve all heard stories about how social media postings have resulted in athletes getting kicked off of sports teams for violations of athletic codes, and by this time we are aware that job seekers need to manage their online identities as well since social media has become an additional reference source. What about for College Admissions? Have you given that any thought? You should!

College Admissions Offices are social media savvy. According to Kaplan Test Prep’s most recent survey of college admissions officers reposted that the percentage of admissions officers who visit applicants’ social media pages to learn more about them has hit a record high of 40% — quadruple the percentage who did so in 2008.

Information that can negatively impact college-bound students is what you’d expect: references to drugs and alcohol, bullying, nudity, and accusations of plagiarism. So what can you do, other than make good choices and avoid situations that put you in a compromising position? Kaplan recommends:

How to Get Geared Up Before Heading Back to School

September is here, and we all know what that means: time to attend class, study, get good grades AND be involved on campus. Oh yeah, and I guess have a social life on the side. After a summer off, it might seem nearly impossible to stay afloat. That’s why now is more important than ever to prepare for the stressful semester ahead. Read on for some eye-opening insight on getting inspired, staying motivated and avoiding burnout.

What’s the Deal with Early Action?

Early Action, like Early Decision, is an accelerated college application process in which students typically must complete their applications in November. In most cases, students will then receive a decision from the college before the New Year. Some schools even have a second Early Action deadline that comes after the first but before the regular decision deadline.

If Early Decision is a 10 on the stress-o-meter, Early Action, which doesn’t have the added pressure of the required commitment, is around an 8. With Early Action, you won’t need to withdraw other applications if you get accepted. Also, if accepted, you can wait until May 1^st to respond.

The 5 Cardinal Sins of Essay Writing

If you’re starting papers with something along the lines of, “Throughout all of time and space and history…” – we need to talk.

Students stand out as mature writers among their peers when they demonstrate the ability to go beyond simply regurgitating classroom notes, textbook quotations, and stock phrases, and instead develop and refine their own original writing voices in grammatically-correct papers.

The following are five cardinal sins (as in, unforgivable) of essay writing. Avoid these to impress your professor, win over your teaching assistant, and make me shed tears of joy: