2018-Jr-Spring-Parent-Night-handout

• Size: define small, medium, large; majors, programs, research, access to professors, school size and class size • Liberal arts, polytechnic, research, undergrad only, specific academ

Parent College Orientation

• What is a college application “package” ?

• Timeline

• Deadline types

• The college search

• SAT/ACT testing

• Activities & community service

• College visits & conferences

• Financial aid overview

• Develop list of “colleges I’m thinking about”

• SAT/ACT Testing Work on college apps, especially essays

“Early” Apps Due – including financial aid

• “Regular” Apps Due – including financial aid

• Early app decisions arrive Receive college decisions & financial aid awards National Decision Day

Types of Admission Deadlines

Non-binding Not committed to attending Can apply to multiple early.

Applications decided upon as received until college fills all spaces

Earlier app is advantageous.

Early app with a fine arts or music supplement

Early Action I & II

Admission Decision Types

More about Deadlines & Applications

No limit to number of “Rolling” or “Regular” deadline applications you

may submit even if applying EA/ED to other schools

Only 13% of 4-year colleges accept fewer than ½ of their applicants

 87% accept over 50% of their applicants

Every year colleges change deadlines & types of deadlines they

accept Verify current deadlines on colleges’ websites.

The College Search - some questions to ponder

• Location: part of the country, size of surrounding city, demographics of

area, town, suburb, access to activities?

• Size: define small, medium, large; majors, programs, research, access

to professors, school size and class size

• Liberal arts, polytechnic, research, undergrad only, specific

academic programs, Historically Black College or University (HBCU)

• Selectivity

• Religious affiliation, Greek life, Athletics

Different Types of 4-year Colleges/Universities

Public Universities

• Funded in part by state government State residents’ tuition rates are lower than non-residents

• Often contain several smaller “colleges,” such as engineering, which have additional admission requirements

• Class sizes, for at least the first few years, are generally quite large

• Courses might be taught by graduate Teaching Assistants, not professors

• Examples: UW, WSU, Western Washington University, UC Berkeley

Liberal Arts Colleges

• Core requirements include areas such as literature, history, languages, mathematics and life sciences

• Class sizes generally much smaller than public universities

• Nearly all courses are taught by professors

Private, non-religiously affiliated

• Some liberal arts colleges which were started by a religious group no longer have a religious affiliation

• Examples: Whitman, University of Puget Sound, Claremont Colleges, Washington University in St Louis

Private, Religiously Affiliated

• Jesuit Universities: 28 colleges/universities affiliated with the Catholic Jesuits

• No religious affiliation required attend, but an emphasis on giving back to one’s community as an educated person

• Generally a requirement that students take classes in philosophy or theology, not necessarily Christian theology

• Examples: Georgetown, Gonzaga, Santa Clara, Seattle University, University of Portland, Loyola Marymount

• Christian College Consortium: strong Christian focus with required Christianity courses

• Examples: Seattle Pacific University, George Fox, Wheaton

• Council for Christian Colleges & Universities: strong evangelical Christian focus with required Christianity courses

• Examples: Asuza Pacific, Baylor, Biola

• Lutheran Colleges: Christian Affiliation, required to study religion, but similar to Jesuit colleges with no religious affiliation required

• Examples: Pacific Lutheran University, Gettysburg College, Trinity Lutheran

Historically Black Colleges or Universities (HBCU)

• 101 public and private institutions established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the intention of primarily serving the African-American community but today are open to students of all backgrounds

• Often provide an empowering, supportive, and safe space for students of color

• Examples: Howard, Spelman, Morehouse, Clark-Atlanta, Tuskegee, Xavier

Different Types of 4-year Colleges/Universities

Even More Types of Four-Year Schools…

• Drexel University

• Northeastern University

• Georgia Tech University

• Purdue University

Out of the Country

• Canada is a great place to be!

• Germany has one

of the lowest college tuitions in the world!

About 25,000 undergraduates About 2,600 undergraduates

17:1 student to faculty ratio, some classes 200+ 11:1 student to faculty ratio Average class size: 19

130 majors available 50 majors available; 1,200 courses per year

Some classes taught by graduate students All classes are taught by professors

General Education Requirements (7 classes):

1 Arts and Literature

7 Social and Behavioral Sciences

Core Requirements (12 classes) Include:

• Seminar in Scholarly Inquiry

• Five Approaches to Knowing

UC Berkeley University of Puget Sound

(Public) (Private, Liberal Arts)

An example of a public and a private college

Small vs Large are relative terms

Learning Differences

All colleges must provide basic supports and often your

accommodations are “transferable”

Some West Coast Colleges with special programs to consider:

•University of Arizona (public) - Strategic Alternative Learning Techniques (SALT)

•University of Denver (private) - Learning Effectiveness Program (LEP)

College List: Creating Options

Likely/Match

Reasonably certain to be admitted GPA & test scores in line with average admitted student.

Confident/Safety

Almost sure to be admitted

GPA & test scores significantly

higher than their average student

Tuition expense within means.

“Lottery” Reach School

Highly selective schools cannot possibly admit all whose academic profile meets their criteria.

Reach

Your academic profile at

mid/lower end of admitted

students.

College List: Creating Options

Consider a Mix of:

• Public, Private

• Large, Medium, Small

• Urban, Rural, Suburban

• In-state, West-coast, East-coast, etc.

• Confident, Likely, Reach, Lottery Reach

Admission Stats (a random snapshot)*

University Average high

school GPA *

“Middle 50%” SAT (out of 1600)

% Accepted

# of Undergrads

What is “the middle 50”?

Vanderbilt example:

Our class of 2014 ACT mid-50% is 30-34

Of our 1600 freshmen:

• 800 have scores that fall at or between a 30 and 34

• 400 students scored either a 35 or 36 on the exam

• 400 scored 29 or below

Admit rates generally represent “middle 50”

25% of admitted students have “lower” stats and

25% have “higher” stats.

This can influence your college search…

• Some majors are very competitive, e.g only 1/3 of students who want to major in Computer Science at UW will be admitted

to the major.

• Some departments/courses also use a “competitive curve” Considering a STEM major?

Some examples…

University of Washington: Architecture, Biochemistry, Business, Chemistry, Computer Science,

Construction Management, Informatics, Music disciplines, Neurobiology

Western Washington: Distinguished Scholars: Bio, Business/Economics, Chemistry, Computer Science, Marine Science, Mathematics

USC: Arts, Technology & Business Innovation, Architecture, Art & Design, Business, Cinema, Dance, Drama, Engineering, Journalism, Medicine, Public Policy

Direct to College or Direct to Major programs are options at increasing number

of schools Research on your part is

warranted!

“Direct Admit” Programs

College Campus Visits

If visiting colleges during school vacations, schedule well in

advance to ensure space

Take notes, pictures Easy to forget!

Go local! Visit local small and large colleges and universities in our area to get a flavor

Some schools offer on-campus interviews and class observations

Note that you can be heavily influenced by personality of student tour guide

Try to take note of aspects you like and don’t like.

• Be prepared to answer ‘What are you looking for in a

college experience’ and how you think college ‘x’ might

Sign up for College Emails

Consider creating a new (and appropriate) email for colleges

OPEN your mail – they know if you do

“Opt-in” on AP and PSAT ‘demographic’ forms for college email

Visit websites of colleges that interest you and sign up to receive email

• They will know you are interested

• You will hear if they visit your area

Is My Academic Profile a Match?

Naviance Scattergrams!

Click on graph to see how your academic profile matches past applicants

Is My Academic Profile a Match?

This student was admitted

Compare either SAT or ACT via pull down menu

3.98 GPA and SAT score of 1360 out

of 1600

Elements of a College Application

Letters of Recommendation

1 Counselor Letter

• Required for most private and some public schools

• Many schools, including Issaquah High, require info and optionally accept

“parent brag letter” DO THIS You have lots to brag about

• IHS link: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B1xuoTlAEYEXTU1odGhXTjR6Tkk/view

1-2 Teacher Letters

• Required for most private schools

• 1 Humanities teacher (History/English) & 1 Science or Math teacher

• Teachers often have their own forms, deadlines and even quotas

• Ask early (Junior Spring); ask in person and in writing; ask politely

• Keep your teachers up to date about your due dates & college list

Some schools accept extra letters of recommendation

SAT/ACT test scores

• How many times should you take them?

• How are they used by schools?

• When do you send them to schools?

• What is “superscoring”

SAT Subject Tests

• MOST students DO NOT take or submit Subject Tests

• Some colleges require or “recommend”

• If required, often want math & science subject tests

• Some recommend subject test in your field of interest

• Students have been admitted to schools “strongly recommending”

subject tests without having taken them

• The best time to take a subject test might be in June (following that

subject’s AP exam)

 No clear answer You must research.

https://www.compassprep.com/subject-test-requirements-and-recommendations/

More SAT/ACT Info

ALWAYS take SAT

and/or ACT test with

writing - it gives you

future options

Khan Academy/SAT Partnership for Test Prep

www.KhanAcademy.org/sat

• Link PSAT scores to Khan

• Get personalized study plan

• As achieve mastery, questions

get harder

• Teens who practiced at least 20

hours using Khan Academy saw,

on average, a 115-point gain

• It’s FREE

SAT Practice Exams free & scored via phone app

• 8 full length real SAT tests.

• Download & test

• Use phone app to score exam!

practice/full-length-practice-tests

• Most applications require at least one 500-650

word essay in response to a prompt

• ‘Marketing tool’

• Share personal voice

• Demonstrate strong writing skills

• Show maturity, intellectual curiosity & other attributes of successful college students

• Share things not obvious in other parts of your application

“The Essay”

• New, and difficult, writing for students

• Often junior English classes write a version

• Most students should write a fresh version in

Aug/Sep – they have matured since Spring

• Dangerous to read prompts and start chatting with your student before THEY have a chance to think for themselves.

“The Essay”

So how do you actually apply to college??

Individual School’s Apps

▪ (e.g Western, WSU,

▪ Most private schools (600)

▪ Enter info once, sent to all

College Bootcamp

4 Day Summer Workshop, and 2 Saturday Drop-in workshops

Mon, Aug 13-Thu, Aug 16 optional drop-in workshop on Friday

2 Session Times to choose from Either 9:00-1:00 OR 2:00-6:00

College Application Bootcamp $175 Four-day application workshop to work on College Applications

• Public School Applications

• Private School Applications

• Common Application & Coalition Application

• College Confident, Likely, Reach, Lottery Reach list refinement

• The College Essay

• Guidance and individual editing for each student

• IS Staff Melinda Breeze, Jill Follett, Sally Fouché, Charise Hallberg

The bulk of our time will be on brainstorming, writing and editing student’s main and

supplemental essays

Parenting Thoughts

Consider when to begin, and when to continue, “college talk” Help your kids dream…… with a backup plan

Help them feel good about the “package” they present

Admire their hard work!

Provide cookies, love, a workshop environment

They go to college, not you, so they should apply, not you ☺ Consider what you want to keep private

Rejection isn’t the worst thing… it can be good practice for life.

“Sometimes you have to go through it to get to it”