Taken from Kristina Dell's Daily Beast/Newsweek article on 4/4/11
OMG! More high school students this year are interested in writing and want to choose schools where they can do more of it, says Montesano. “We have more clients than ever who want to build up creative-writing portfolios,” he says, “so they’re looking at colleges like Sarah Lawrence for creative writing and Vassar and Occidental for screenwriting.” Many have spent the summer between their sophomore and junior years at writing workshops to hone their skills.
Apparently, the increased interest in writing has resulted in better college essays, at least for some schools. “I do think the writing skills have improved,” says Miller of Brown. “Or maybe it’s the editing skills,” he jokes.
Thursday, April 14, 2011
Applicants From Technology Havens Have the Admissions Edge
Taken from Kristina Dell's Daily Beast/Newsweek article on 4/4/11
Schools like to say geography doesn’t matter, but if you’re from a technology haven like Seattle, Palo Alto, or San Jose, you just might have a subtle advantage. “Good high schools in tech hubs are getting in more kids to top schools than they used to,” says Montesano of College Match, who cites liberal arts feeder schools like Lakeside School in Seattle and Katharine Branson School in Marin County as having that edge. Why the leg up? “It’s nothing more than colleges wanting kids whose families are tech people, especially if they work for blue-chip tech firms," he says. "Google is the future, and they want kids from those families.”
Schools like to say geography doesn’t matter, but if you’re from a technology haven like Seattle, Palo Alto, or San Jose, you just might have a subtle advantage. “Good high schools in tech hubs are getting in more kids to top schools than they used to,” says Montesano of College Match, who cites liberal arts feeder schools like Lakeside School in Seattle and Katharine Branson School in Marin County as having that edge. Why the leg up? “It’s nothing more than colleges wanting kids whose families are tech people, especially if they work for blue-chip tech firms," he says. "Google is the future, and they want kids from those families.”
Ivy League for Graduate School Is the New Goal
Taken from Kristina Dell's Daily Beast/Newsweek article on 4/4/11
Sure, almost any student would love to gain admission to an Ivy right off the bat, but many have become next to impossible to get into. “The super-reach schools are completely out of reach,” says Montesano of College Match. “You’re looking at a 6 percent admission rate for Harvard.”
So more families have started to take a long-term approach to the college admissions process. For many, the endgame isn’t college; it’s graduate school. Some are considering sending their kids to top-notch state schools to save tens of thousands of dollars with the idea that Stanford or Yale will make a great graduate school. Others are searching for programs that allow a student to go to school for six years and gain a B.A. plus a J.D. to save a year of time and tuition. Whitman, Hamilton, Occidental, and Bowdoin have such programs.
Sure, almost any student would love to gain admission to an Ivy right off the bat, but many have become next to impossible to get into. “The super-reach schools are completely out of reach,” says Montesano of College Match. “You’re looking at a 6 percent admission rate for Harvard.”
So more families have started to take a long-term approach to the college admissions process. For many, the endgame isn’t college; it’s graduate school. Some are considering sending their kids to top-notch state schools to save tens of thousands of dollars with the idea that Stanford or Yale will make a great graduate school. Others are searching for programs that allow a student to go to school for six years and gain a B.A. plus a J.D. to save a year of time and tuition. Whitman, Hamilton, Occidental, and Bowdoin have such programs.
Toughest Admission Year on Record!
This year may well go down as the most competitive in the history of admission at America's top colleges as Newsweek/ Daily Beast reporter Kristina Dell observed:
"The toughest college admissions year on record reached its apex this week as nervous seniors obsessively checked their email or a website to discover their fates. (Waiting for the fat or thin envelope? So 2005.) The hotter-than-ever Ivy League schools, which all had a record number of applicants this year, notified the lucky ones at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
It has been an especially stressful process this year. The weak economy and a wider acceptance of the common application—Columbia used it for the first time this year and had a 32 percent jump in applicants over last year—has meant the competition is steeper than ever. Over the past five years, applications to the eight Ivy League schools plus MIT and Stanford skyrocketed from just over 200,000 applications to almost 300,000 early and regular applications, for a total increase of more than 40 percent."
"The toughest college admissions year on record reached its apex this week as nervous seniors obsessively checked their email or a website to discover their fates. (Waiting for the fat or thin envelope? So 2005.) The hotter-than-ever Ivy League schools, which all had a record number of applicants this year, notified the lucky ones at 5 p.m. Wednesday.
It has been an especially stressful process this year. The weak economy and a wider acceptance of the common application—Columbia used it for the first time this year and had a 32 percent jump in applicants over last year—has meant the competition is steeper than ever. Over the past five years, applications to the eight Ivy League schools plus MIT and Stanford skyrocketed from just over 200,000 applications to almost 300,000 early and regular applications, for a total increase of more than 40 percent."
Tuesday, March 22, 2011
Learning Disabilities Help Improve College Admissions
Clients often ask, "Will my student's learning disability negatively impact their chance of admission?" The answer that I give is always, "No, in fact it will help your student gain admission".
LEARNING DISABILITIES AND COLLEGE ADMISSION
Colleges are looking for diversity and having a learning disability is a form of diversity. The way it works is that colleges will often look at an applicant's grades and test scores in a new light if presented with evidence of a learning disability. The learning disability may help put lower grades and class rankings or test scores like the SAT or ACT in a learning disability context. Say that a student ranked in the top half of their high school class is up against an applicant pool with a majority of students from the top 25% of their classes. Showcasing a learning disability can help bridge this significant gap in grades. A learning disabled student with an average GPA of 3.4 may be competitive against an applicant pool of that happens to include mostly students with GPA's around 3.7. Other factors such as academic activities and leadership also impact admission. For more information on these factors please review our case studies.
DOCUMENT THE LEARNING DISABILITY
The key here is documenting the disability in advance of college applications. High school students and their families should follow these steps if they suspect a learning disability:
1. Assess the specifics of the student's disability through testing with a qualified third party such as an educational psychologist or physician. Check with your high school for a referral to an educational psychologist, Many practitioners are also listed online; for example, Center for Developing Minds in Los Gatos, CA.
2. Establish a record of accommodations/ Individualized Education Program (IEP) with your high school; these may include timing and location of tests, presentation of materials, and other techniques and tools for improving understanding as outlined in the student's LD assessment.
Recommendation: assessments and IEP's should be kept current; re-assess LD's within three years of applying to colleges.
REVIEWING COLLEGE SUPPORT RESOURCES
Review each prospective college's academic support programs. Students with learning disabilities must familiarize themselves with their needed accommodations and ask for these accommodations from their colleges. Get in touch with each college's learning disabilities resource-- who will be more than likely located in the college's academic support services department.
Here are some steps to take while reviewing colleges:
1. Contact the college's academic support department. Ask to speak with a "learning disabilities specialist." Write down their name.
2. Ask the learning disabilities specialist if they have experience working with students having similar disabilities. If so, how many? What are usual accommodations given these students? Ask about specific software tools or processes used to help students with this particular disability.
3. Ask about the retention rate of LD students. How long does it take students using the program to complete their required courses? How involved is the LD resource in helping each student? What is the ratio of students with disabilities to LD specialists? What types of support does the institution offer faculty in terms of training in accommodating students with special needs? Is support in the program offered by interns, graduate students, peer tutors or trained professionals?
4. Review expected LD accommodations, based on IEP and LD assessment, with the learning disabilities specialist. Gauge learning disabilities specialist's resource's level of enthusiasm and/ or helpfulness.
5. Ask for the learning disabilities specialist's phone, email and mailing address.
PREPARE A LEARNING DISABILITIES STATEMENT FOR EACH COLLEGE APPLICATION
Application time! The process of college admission offers LD students an opportunity to set themselves apart from the competition by placing their academic performance in the context of their disability. Here are the steps for increasing the chances of admission to a college or university:After screening colleges for appropriate LD support, the application process is the next step. In the applications it is important to establish the student's learning disability.
Here are the key steps:
1. In college applications, give details of the learning disability under "Additional Information". Please specify the name of the learning disability and its effects on learning and grades and/or standardized testing.
2. Under "Additional Information" discuss grades and test scores and their impact from this disability.
3. In the next paragraph talk about ways that you have compensated for this disability; give examples. Also, discuss all accommodations granted to you in high school.
4. Conclude with a discussion of the how your grades and test scores have risen based on the accommodations you have received as well as your extra efforts to "compensate" for said disability.
Following up. It is important to stay in communication with each college's Academic Support Program. A learning disabilities "portfolio" should be readied including:
1. A recent assessment of the learning disability
2. IEP or record of accommodation at the high school
3. Notes or comments from high school counselor or LD resource specialist
Go ahead and forward this information to the selected college's learning support/LD specialist.
LEARNING DISABILITIES AND COLLEGE ADMISSION
Colleges are looking for diversity and having a learning disability is a form of diversity. The way it works is that colleges will often look at an applicant's grades and test scores in a new light if presented with evidence of a learning disability. The learning disability may help put lower grades and class rankings or test scores like the SAT or ACT in a learning disability context. Say that a student ranked in the top half of their high school class is up against an applicant pool with a majority of students from the top 25% of their classes. Showcasing a learning disability can help bridge this significant gap in grades. A learning disabled student with an average GPA of 3.4 may be competitive against an applicant pool of that happens to include mostly students with GPA's around 3.7. Other factors such as academic activities and leadership also impact admission. For more information on these factors please review our case studies.
DOCUMENT THE LEARNING DISABILITY
The key here is documenting the disability in advance of college applications. High school students and their families should follow these steps if they suspect a learning disability:
1. Assess the specifics of the student's disability through testing with a qualified third party such as an educational psychologist or physician. Check with your high school for a referral to an educational psychologist, Many practitioners are also listed online; for example, Center for Developing Minds in Los Gatos, CA.
2. Establish a record of accommodations/ Individualized Education Program (IEP) with your high school; these may include timing and location of tests, presentation of materials, and other techniques and tools for improving understanding as outlined in the student's LD assessment.
Recommendation: assessments and IEP's should be kept current; re-assess LD's within three years of applying to colleges.
REVIEWING COLLEGE SUPPORT RESOURCES
Review each prospective college's academic support programs. Students with learning disabilities must familiarize themselves with their needed accommodations and ask for these accommodations from their colleges. Get in touch with each college's learning disabilities resource-- who will be more than likely located in the college's academic support services department.
Here are some steps to take while reviewing colleges:
1. Contact the college's academic support department. Ask to speak with a "learning disabilities specialist." Write down their name.
2. Ask the learning disabilities specialist if they have experience working with students having similar disabilities. If so, how many? What are usual accommodations given these students? Ask about specific software tools or processes used to help students with this particular disability.
3. Ask about the retention rate of LD students. How long does it take students using the program to complete their required courses? How involved is the LD resource in helping each student? What is the ratio of students with disabilities to LD specialists? What types of support does the institution offer faculty in terms of training in accommodating students with special needs? Is support in the program offered by interns, graduate students, peer tutors or trained professionals?
4. Review expected LD accommodations, based on IEP and LD assessment, with the learning disabilities specialist. Gauge learning disabilities specialist's resource's level of enthusiasm and/ or helpfulness.
5. Ask for the learning disabilities specialist's phone, email and mailing address.
PREPARE A LEARNING DISABILITIES STATEMENT FOR EACH COLLEGE APPLICATION
Application time! The process of college admission offers LD students an opportunity to set themselves apart from the competition by placing their academic performance in the context of their disability. Here are the steps for increasing the chances of admission to a college or university:After screening colleges for appropriate LD support, the application process is the next step. In the applications it is important to establish the student's learning disability.
Here are the key steps:
1. In college applications, give details of the learning disability under "Additional Information". Please specify the name of the learning disability and its effects on learning and grades and/or standardized testing.
2. Under "Additional Information" discuss grades and test scores and their impact from this disability.
3. In the next paragraph talk about ways that you have compensated for this disability; give examples. Also, discuss all accommodations granted to you in high school.
4. Conclude with a discussion of the how your grades and test scores have risen based on the accommodations you have received as well as your extra efforts to "compensate" for said disability.
Following up. It is important to stay in communication with each college's Academic Support Program. A learning disabilities "portfolio" should be readied including:
1. A recent assessment of the learning disability
2. IEP or record of accommodation at the high school
3. Notes or comments from high school counselor or LD resource specialist
Go ahead and forward this information to the selected college's learning support/LD specialist.
Wednesday, March 16, 2011
College Match associate named to Top 100 Mentors List!
Co-author Ingrid Stabb named one of the Top 100 Desirable Mentors by GenJuice. More info: http://fb.me/TDoSpIZc
Tuesday, March 15, 2011
Jump Start College Admission: Take an Early Lead!
College admission insights for freshman, sophomores and juniors presented by two knowledgeable college admission experts, Jan Hale and David Montesano of College Match on Tuesday, March 22nd or Wednesday, March 23rd from 7:30 - 8:30 p.m. at the Lafayette Public Public Library in Lafayette, California. PARENTS AND HIGH SCHOOL FRESHMAN, SOPHOMORES AND JUNIORS ARE ESPECIALLY ENCOURAGED TO ATTEND. Hale and Montesano will demonstrate proven techniques that will help your student choose the best colleges and put their applications ahead of the pack. There is no fee to attend this event. Seating for this event is limited; please email your RSVP to david@collegematchus.com
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