Back to School College Checklist for Seniors

I hope parents and seniors alike are heading into the new school year with energy and enthusiasm!  These next few months until the finish line for college applications in January will require many tasks.  Here are some important items to add to your  senior’s to-do list for the fall:

      1)    Make an appointment with your college counselor and/or guidance counselor.  Counselors will be preparing an important document this fall—the Secondary School Report (SSR)—which puts the academic and extra-curricular activities a student completes in context of the whole school community. It also evaluates the student's achievements and personality.  The better you know your counselor, the better the counselor can tailor this report to your strengths.

      2)    Ask 2 teachers in academic subjects (not electives) to write recommendation letters.

      3)    Register for any SAT or ACT tests you intend to take or re-take this fall.

      4)    Finalize your college list. Ideally, it should contain 8-10 schools.  Multiple UCs or CSUs can count as one if you wish.  Make sure your list contains a balance of safety, target, and reach schools.  To narrow down choices, try this method from Mamlet and Vandevelde’s guide College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step:

Choose one safety college on your list where you definitely plan to apply, most likely will be accepted, and would attend. Label this college “College A.”  Then compare it to every other school on your list asking yourself, “Would I prefer to attend this college or College A?”  Anytime the answer is “College A” you can take the other college off your list.

5) Focus on performing well in your classes this semester. Make school a priority over extra curricular activities and sports (not always easy to do).

“Testing” a new relationship with your high school senior—toward adult autonomy

Forget re-taking SAT and ACT tests in the fall . . . I’ve realized I need to focus more on another “test” instead—using the college search process as a way of encouraging my daughter’s evolving independence.

We’ve been fortunate this summer. Our daughter Lily has been out of town on an internship for several weeks so she’s naturally taken on more responsibility for beginning her college applications. Besides, I can’t nag very effectively over Skype. Still, I do anticipate some tension in the fall as Lily’s timetable for completing the application process may be different from what I expect.

Having observed family members and my own advisees navigate the path toward young adult autonomy, I decided to put together some tips for families who want to encourage their teen’s independence without sacrificing a successful college search:

1) Set up a family meeting to discuss what parts of the application process are your son/daughter’s responsibility and which aspects you will help with. Included in this discussion might be dates or deadlines, how and when to talk about the college search and completing applications and even how to talk to “nosey” adults, who ask intrusive questions about college lists and test scores.

2) Let your teen manage the responsibility of making counselor appointments, submitting scores,asking for recommendations, and communicating with colleges. You may be crossing your fingers that he/she actually follows through on these tasks, but don’t do the task for him/her.  Ask questions instead of giving directives.

3) Consider “outsourcing” some of the process to other adults in areas where there might be considerable tension (like the college list or essay content) or in areas where others might have more expertise (financial aid and scholarships, for instance).

We hired an independent advisor for Lily who is helping her make decisions about which colleges to apply to, which tests to take and when, and the content of her essays. It has been difficult for me to give up the role of college advisor, especially with essays, but I finally realized that a good relationship with my daughter is more valuable than having my “say” about the topics she chooses to write about.

Other family members have “outsourced” college tours; my sister and brother each took their nieces and nephews to see different campuses, and Lily’s grandparents took her to see schools in southern California.

4) Set time and place boundaries around college discussions so that they don’t take up all the family time and energy these next few months. Different family members have other priorities and interests so be sure not to neglect these. Family meal times in particular might be healthier as college-free zones.

5) Be sure to plan occasions and outings just for fun this fall. Savor this last year you have with your teen living at home. The time is already zipping by too quickly. . .


I look forward to learning your ideas for encouraging a better relationship with your high school senior.

August 1 Common Application Launches for the 2013-14 year!

Thursday, August 1 is a big day: The Common Application Website opens for registration and private colleges begin to post their supplementary essay questions.  It’s a good idea to go ahead and register on the site as soon as possible on or after this day. 

Watch a demo video that explains how to register for the Common Application. 

During the next several months your high school senior will be required to keep several different passwords to access applications and websites.  You’ll want to keep all these passwords in a safe yet accessible place, perhaps a password protected file on your home computer, or you might even record each password in a small address book.

August is also a good time to begin drafting college application essays, particularly the Common Application Essay and the University of California prompts. 

I’m offering several Peninsula Young Writers College Essay Writing Workshops in the upcoming weeks on the dates below.  If these dates don’t work for your senior’s calendar, I’m happy to schedule another workshop at a mutually convenient date for four or more students:

Thursday, August 1, 7-9:30 pm

Wednesday, August 21, 7-9:30 pm

Tuesday, September 10, 7-9:30 pm

Saturday, September 21, 10 am – 12:30 pm

Tuesday, October 1, 7-9:30 pm

Find more details about the workshops and individual consultations on the Peninsula Young Writers' Website.

Enjoy the remaining weeks of summer!

Urban Campuses

Our family just spent a week in New York City and we had the opportunity to visit both NYU and Columbia—where we also attended an information session and college tour.  Walking through these campuses reminded me of some of the benefits and drawbacks of attending an urban university. 

I was a graduate student at Columbia in the ancient 1980s and while the neighborhood has certainly improved since then, I was reminded of how I sometimes felt “lonely in a crowd” while living in a big city.  Undergraduates and graduates have different experiences, especially socially, but I do believe students who want to attend urban schools need to be aware of salient features of urban college life.

NYU occupies a good chunk of the Greenwich Village neighborhood of lower Manhattan.  University buildings are marked by large purple flags and they are generally within close walking proximity of one
another.  There is no true “campus” at NYU, however.  Washington Square Park really functions as its hub.  The whole area is rich in culture and history, particularly of the arts and politics.  There are great coffee shops, funky art and apparel shops, and clubs and cafes where students abound.  At the Visitor’s Center we found a plethora of publications describing the universities programs in the humanities, sciences, business, and health and human services.  NYU has also developed innovative study abroad programs in Europe, Latin America, Australia and Israel and two other  “campuses” or “global academic centers” in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai.  Walking around the Village we felt an exciting vibe, but it was not primarily due to the students themselves or anything directly related to undergraduate life.

Columbia, in contrast, owns a large acreage in the Upper West Side area of Manhattan, a neighborhood called Morningside Heights.  There is a gate to enter the campus on Broadway and a true quad inside containing most of the academic buildings, Butler Library, and the freshman dormitories.  Yes, the campus is condensed and miniature compared to sprawling campuses like Stanford or Duke, but there is an identifiable center or home for undergraduate life.  During the tour, our guide Andrew explained that the university is also currently building a second campus to house more of the graduate programs elsewhere so that undergraduates will dominate the Morningside Campus even more in subsequent years. 

Like all tour guides, he praised his own college’s curriculum, particularly Columbia’s famous “core,” but he also emphasized the opportunities he has to obtain real-life work experience in NYC while

completing his undergraduate coursework.  He doesn’t have to take time off toe seek an internship elsewhere because the city is literally at his doorstep.

So it seems to me that urban schools have the advantage of not being too separate from “real” life—and the disadvantage, too.  Many students may prefer to have their undergraduate years a bit “apart” from the hustle and bustle of our commercial world.  An on-campus life may allow more time for conversations about courses and common experiences, for interaction with faculty, for building friendships with fellow students without the distraction of broader social and economic opportunity.  Of course there is no right and wrong here, only preference.   For myself, I’m glad I attended an undergraduate institution that had a strong campus identity.  I was ready for the big city a few years later.  Other students have already outgrown their suburban lifestyles and are eager for the chance to explore both a new campus and a new city. 

I hope that this month many of you are completing campus tours and your high school seniors are beginning to finalize their college lists.  When you’re ready, check out the Peninsula Young Writers College Essay Workshops I have lined up August through early October.  I’m happy to add another workshop to the calendar if three or more friends want to schedule one together.

Another Summer College Activity: Campus Tours

Last week on the way back from a hiking trip in the mountains, my husband and I took a pit stop in Davis and visited the University of California campus there.  We happened to arrive at the same time as a huge group of incoming freshmen attending a summer orientation, but that was no problem—the friendly staff at the visitor center handed us a map and brochure and sent us on a self-guided tour.

It turned out to be a great way to orient ourselves around the different areas in Davis and a chance to pause in places we wanted to investigate further.  Plus, UC campuses are quite lively in the summer; there are plenty of graduate students and students working on campus so almost all the buildings were accessible and full of people.

 
Davis is a large, spread out campus in the Central Valley.  Luckily, we arrived on a very rare summer rainy day, so we remained cool.  It’s not beautiful, but a lot of renovation is currently being done.  Also, a new art museum is under construction.  The most impressive building we saw is the Mondavi Performing Arts Center.  Also new and well designed are the Business and Law Schools.

As at other large campuses, the best way to get around is by bicycle.  No cars are allowed in the campus interior; instead there are bike lanes and bike roundabouts.  Over 40,000 bikes are on campus!  I overhead a student tour guide telling the incoming freshmen how to avoid a mud "skunk stripe" on their backs--be sure to have a fender on your bicycle!

A lovely, restful spot for escapes from the school hubub or to find solitude is the Arboretum by Putah Creek. 

Shields Library, the main library on campus is impressive. It holds over 3 million volumes.  We walked through the ground floor and noticed plenty of areas to study, as well as a shady courtyard in the center of the building.

There doesn't seem to be one main "quad" or gathering places for students; instead there are different "districts" for the sciences, agriculture, the arts.  Clearly, sciences are strong here—there are many labs and updated buildings.  The music, theatre and dance area by contrast looks shabby and of an earlier era. 

We had a serendipitous encounter at the "Food Science Sensory Facility," a lab where a researcher employs graduate students to test consumer products like body wash and cornbread.  The researcher was so friendly; she showed us around and invited us to taste the flavored nuts she and the students are

selling to help local farmers.

Student activities include sports outings such as kayaking and climbing, a large and modern fitness center, and two Cohos or student run coffee houses/ food centers.  The students also run the campus bus system, which serves the whole city of Davis.  Students are drivers, mechanics and supervisors.  What impressive initiatives!

Davis is not just a school for “aggies” either. Many different students with different interests and politics would feel comfortable here.  The majority group of students is Asian (40%) followed by Caucasian (33%) and Hispanic (16%). 

Also offered are different Honors programs that are well worth applying for as they allow greater student-faculty contact, research opportunities, and priority registration.

All in all it was an interesting and informative tour.  The only change I would make next time would be to approach some current students at the Coho or in the library and ask them what they like and dislike about their school.

So on your way to or from a driving vacation this summer, consider stopping in at one of the UC or CSU campuses.  You may end up adding one to your college list you hadn’t considered before.

*July special for all PYW College Search Blog readers:

Refer a friend to a Peninsula Young Writers College Essay Workshop and receive a $25 discount on your own registration!