How to Get Juniors on the Right Path to College

By: Patrick O'Connor Ph.D

Fall of junior year is a crucial time in the college selection process.  Junior parents see senior parents in hysterics, so they go home and ask their student about their college plans.  When the junior understandably says “I don’t have one”, the parent gets anxious, which now makes the junior anxious—and since you’re in crunch time helping seniors apply to college, neither one knows what to do, and you just don’t have time to talk.

So what can you do to help them out?  Get them talking to each other.

College admissions officers will tell you the key to a smooth college process lies with clear, frequent communication between parents and students.  That doesn’t happen when a parent asks Bobby about the PSAT just as he’s heading out to the gameFriday night, and it really doesn’t happen when Simone comes home and says “There’s a college fair across town tonight, Can we go?” 

The way to avoid this chaos is to plan ahead.  Parents and their student agree on a regularly scheduled weekly meeting where all they will talk about, for 20 minutes or so, is college.  Usually held on the weekend, it’s scheduled at a time when everyone can focus on college issues, and where no question is a bad one.  Parents can ask about testing, visiting college campuses, and ideas about majors; students can ask about going to campus with friends, a summer program they’d like to attend, or if they really have to apply to the college Mom and Dad attended.  Everyone asks questions, everyone gets answers; if some questions need research, homework is assigned, and the answers are shared at next week’s meeting…

…because that’s the next time college gets discussed. The weekly meeting is an opportunity for students to take ownership of the college selection process, something colleges say is a key to a successful transition to the independence students need once they start going to college.  By starting the 20 minute meetings in the fall of the junior year, parents are giving their junior time to grow in the role; if the student forgets to ask their counselor about the local college fair, they get a second chance to ask the following week.  That will come in handy when the less-forgiving application deadlines roll around senior year – the student has had a year to learn the importance of following through with timely college information.

The 20 meeting meetings are held every week school is in session, from the start of junior year to the middle of senior year, once financial aid applications are submitted.  Parents may wonder just what they’ll talk about for all those weeks, so it’s helpful to put together a schedule of topics for them and publish it on your Web site, through your parent newsletter, or even through social media.  College visits, college fairs, testing, college searches, kinds of colleges, kinds of application deadlines, senior year schedule, college essays, college applications, transcripts, summer programs, community service, and paying for college, make it easy to develop topics and questions for parents and students to consider—and just think of all the questions you won’t have to answer, when parents and students discover the answers together.

It’s too easy for anxious students and worried parents to stop talking to each other out of frustration or embarrassment. You don’t always have to be there to keep the conversation going, as long as the opportunity exists for them to keep the conversation going on their own.  The 20 minute meeting is one of those simple solutions that works—it’s a college game-changer.

How Much College Help Can You Really Give?

By:  Patrick O'Connor Ph.D

This is the time of year that truly tries a high school counselor’s soul.  Sure, it’s busy, but when isn’t it busy in a high school counseling office?  We may have to deal with college applications and testing now, but financial aid will come next, and just when the college application process is dying down, we’ll get to pick up the scheduling responsibilities we have as part of those “other duties as assigned.”

So the break-neck speed of our work isn’t killing us; frankly, it’s the kids.  Consider these real-life situations, taken from conversations I’ve had with colleagues throughout the country:

• Since August, a school’s newsletter has reminded students they must send ACT and SAT scores to the college, and it will take 2-3 weeks for the college to receive them- yet, a student comes to the counseling office the day before the application is due, asking the counselor to send test scores.
• A student e-mails a counselor for an appointment, telling the counselor with joy that her application for State U is almost ready to be sent.  The student is referring to the application that was due in the college counseling office three weeks ago.
• A student tells a counselor the student will be applying Early Decision to a college, and wants to know if the counselor can read their essays that were due three days ago.  Students have been told essay review takes a week; the student wants them back the next day—and the e-mail is being sent on Sunday.

The good news in each of these cases is that the student is applying to college.  This is very important to remember; there are many students who look at the myriad applications, deadlines, and requirements, and say “Forget it.”

On the other hand, this set of “almost forgot to apply” students create their own challenges, since a lack of help from the counselor suggests a lack of interest from the counselor.  That isn’t the case, but “you missed my deadline” is of little help to many students, and almost all of their parents, when an application isn’t submitted on time.

Amid the flurry of activity, it’s easy for counselors to hope there’s a magic switch to flip that will make these last-minute problems go away.  If you’re looking for ways to make sure more students get the message about the importance of deadlines, answer these questions:

• How do you let students and parents know about application deadlines?  E-mail? Newsletter?  Text Message?  Posters?
• What resources exist to spread the word that you aren’t using now?  PTA meetings? Back-to-School Night? Sporting Events? Teachers?
• Do students and parents understand why you have to know about an application well before the college wants it submitted?  Is there a better way to tell that story?
• If you have a “tell us first” deadline, is it as late as it can be?  Are there logistical tweaks to be made that can get transcripts and counselor letters out sooner?
• If something’s going to be late, are there some colleges that will give you the benefit of the doubt?

These are all key ideas to consider in trying to help students be timely—but remember, all you can do is help.  If a thorough review of your policies and communication approaches leave you with the conclusion that you really have done everything you can, chances are you really have.  Feedback from parents and students may help you see something you’re missing, but when all the analysis is over, there are some kids that are just late—who will need some careful guidance developing Plan B. 

The College Application Mistake That Can Really Hurt You

By: Patrick O'Connor Ph. D

I always encourage seniors to relax a little.   I'm still sticking to that, but it seems there is one part

of the application that could benefit from a little more, shall we say, focus.

Most students complete a college application in the order it's written: giving their name and address, listing their awards and test scores, embracing the large essay that outlines their life (or wrestling with that essay, which is a special kind of embrace) and completely overlooking that dinky little essay that comes near the end.

With many colleges, that dinky little essay asks a question like, "What specific programs or qualities attract you to our college, and lead you to believe your college goals will be attained if you are admitted? (150 words)"

In other words, it's great you want to go to college. Why here?

After laboring through the larger, more personal essay, students come across this question, see the word limit, think about how great it will be to go to bed once this app is submitted, then write down something about how cool the campus is and how the football team is awesome. Finis.

Yes, you are indeed finished. So, so finished.

This response is overlooking three important rules about applying to college:

1. Colleges never ask for information they don't find useful. If a college really didn't care about what you see in their school, they wouldn't ask -- yet you just answered the question as if it didn't matter. Colleges know it matters to them, and now that they've read your hasty answer, it's clear it doesn't matter to you. Big oops here.

2. Every essay is a chance to go the extra mile. A successful college application always -- always -- stands out in a good way from the thousands of other apps the college received. This essay gives you the chance to do some solid research on the school that goes beyond a cursory look at the website, and move your application to the top of the heap. Did you manage to do that with the 30 seconds it took to come up with your answer?

3. This is one more chance to bring them into your world. The first rule of good application essay writing is, "don't tell them, show them." Most students do this with 500-word essays, creating introductions and narratives that take the admissions officer out of their office and into your life. But these same students get to this shorter essay and write geometric proofs:

"I want to be a political scientist."
"Southeastern Michigan U has a good political science program."
"Therefore, SMU is for me."

This may work at Euclid State, but for the rest of the college world, the same rules apply to short and long essays. Start by showing them your world, then show them how their school and your world would work wonderfully together. Use your impressions from when you visited campus, talk about the programs you feel set them apart from other schools and show them what you'll do with these opportunities that will help the college and you. Don't get overly dramatic and promise to win a Nobel before you graduate: Describe what you see when you see yourself on their campus, and you're just about there.

It isn't easy to write big in a small space, but when it's done well, it's memorable. The Ten Commandments weigh in at under 100 words, and they're still getting some serious attention; you get 50 more words, and only have to have a fraction of their impact.

So pick up the pen and begin again. Why there?

Didn’t Apply in July? It’s All Good

By: Patrick O'Connor  Ph.D

The college application season got off to an unexpectedly rocky start this year when a number of colleges decided they didn’t want to wait until September to start recruiting students. Instead, these colleges sent notices to juniors as early as July, encouraging them to apply as soon as possible—and in many cases, students applying in the summer would eligible for special scholarships as a reward for their timely behavior.

This approach may have played well with college presidents and boards, but the lack of advanced notice left a very sour taste in the mouths of many:

·         School counselors were unable to advise students on how to approach these applications, or to discuss if these colleges were right for some students who received the invitation.

·         Many high schools were left scrambling for resources to send transcripts, since many school personnel who handle records are off in the summer months.

·         Uninformed students returned for the first day of high school only to discover some of their friends had already started—or, in some cases, finished—the college application process, getting an upper hand at some of the same colleges uninformed students were interested in.

Some say colleges moved up the application opportunity to get the attention of students who wouldn’t otherwise notice the college in the usual deluge of fall college mail. Others suggest colleges are working off of the long understood notion that students are more likely to attend a college if it’s one of the first ones to offer them admission—and the best way to move up the clock to Yes is by moving up the clock that let them apply.

Given the inconsistent awareness of these summer opportunities, students now applying to these schools are asking themselves a simple question—is it too late to apply, even though it’s October?

The answer is a resounding no, thanks to the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Colleges who are members of NACAC must comply with a code known as the Statement of Principles of Good Practice, and when it comes to summer applications, the mandatory section of this code couldn’t be clearer:

All postsecondary members agree they will:

Not establish any application deadlines for first-year candidates for fall admission prior to October 15 and will give equal consideration to all applications received by that date.

Just to drive the point home, NACAC members approved a clarification of this requirements when they met last month in Indianapollis:

Colleges and universities may welcome the initiation of applications from first-year students prior to the notification date and earliest deadlines. Any incentives offered, including but not limited to application fee waivers, essay waivers, scholarships, housing, etc., must be honored at least through October 15.

Among other things, this requirement means that any student applying to one of these colleges in the next two weeks:

·         Has to be judged by the same academic standards for admission as any student who applied in July

·         Is eligible for the same scholarships or other bonuses offered to early applicants

·         Can’t be told they won’t be considered for admission to special programs because all of the seats were taken by July applicants

Any student who feels they may not be given these equal opportunities because other students applied this summer should discuss the issue with the college’s admission office.  If they don’t agree, contact the NACAC member near you who oversees NACAC’s principles of good practice.

It’s chillier in most places now that it was in July, but that doesn’t mean a college gets to leave you out in the cold.

Parents Mean Well-- and Yet...

By: Patrick O'Connor Ph.D

“Mr. Osborn?”

“Yes.”

“This is Wanda Axelrod, Jimmy’s mother?”

“Jimmy’s--?”

“He’s applying to your college, and when I told his counselor Jimmy had a few questions, the counselor told Jimmy to call the college admissions office, so of course I wanted to talk to you.”

“I’m sorry.  Jimmy had some questions, so you—?”

“Yes.  Now, Jimmy’s counselor told us you superscore on the ACT, and we just wanted to make sure that was true.”

“Why, yes.  Counselors are really very reliable with that information.”

“That’s exactly what our SAT tutor said, but I just wanted to make sure.  Now, when listing extracurricular activities, should we list them in chronological order, or in order of importance?”

“Order of importance.  We think that shows us some of the intangible qualities of student.”

“That’s what I told Jimmy after we typed them into the online application, but he insisted that I check with you.”

“He did?”

“I told him, ‘Jimmy, you may have only changed planes in Ukraine, but colleges like to see students familiar with other nations, and that’s why I put that experience at the top of the extracurricular list.’”

“Ma’am, changing planes isn’t exactly—“

“This was after we spent two weeks at the Sanskrit writing seminar.  Jimmy had such a good time—I’m so glad we found out about it through the magazine at the beauty salon.”

“Your son goes to a—?”

“Now, you mentioned intangible qualities. Let’s talk more about those, since we have a list of those we’ve been working on since sixth grade.  Jimmy has extensive leadership experience as CEO of his own lawn maintenance company for the past seven years.”

“He owns a lawn maintenance company?”

“No.  He just runs it.”

“I see.  How many employees?”

“Just one.”

“Other than himself?”

“Why, no.  Is that important?”

“You could say that.”

“He’s up to five lawns this year.  Of course, he had to quit piano to make more time for lawn cutting, but I told him that leadership was something colleges like.”

“How long had he played piano?”

“Since he was three.  He was state champion at the Junior level three years straight, and had a good shot at the Senior division crown.  But we gave that up.”

“Did he like it?”

“Giving it up?”

“No.  Playing the piano. Did he like it?”

“Oh heavens yes.  He would spend hours at the piano, playing Bach from memory, composing his own songs.  It was beautiful while it lasted.”

“And now he’s mowing lawns instead?”

“Mr. Osborn, we know the value of being a small business operator in the college application process.”

“Of course.  What other intangible qualities--?”

“Well, he did display selflessness when I took him to the soup kitchen.”

“As a volunteer?  That’s great.  How many hours did he work there?”

“One. But we really grew through that experience.”

“Anything else?”

“Independence, since we’re now cleaning our own room.  Organization, when he cleaned the garage.  And adventure of course, when he had to change planes in Ukraine.”

“Mrs. Axelrod, how about initiative?”

“Initiative?”

“Yes.  You know, setting up his own appointments with his college counselor, finding his own summer programs to attend, showing leadership and selflessness by staying with the piano to offer free recitals to local retirement villages and free lessons to local children, calling the college of his choice by himself to ask his own questions—that kind of thing.”

“That—that doesn’t appear to be on our list.”

“Right.”

“I suppose that means his life is over.”

“I somehow get the impression that once he’s in college, his life will just begin.”

Public Opinion About College Has Changed. Yours Shouldn’t.

By: Patrick O'Connor Ph.D

It was only a matter of time.

A recent article in The Washington Post reports that most Americans do not believe a college education is very important.  The PDK- Gallup Poll indicates only 44 percent of Americans now feel a college education matters, down from 79 percent just four years ago.  In other words, students who are now college seniors started life after high school with a country that largely thought they were doing something noble by going to college, but now, not so much.

The article goes on to indicate a generally less supportive tone of education in general (greater disapproval for Common Core, a belief new teachers should spend a full year with an experienced teacher), but both the article and the poll overlook an important question—why has public support for college dropped so much so quickly?  Some of the possible reasons are important for school counselors to consider, as they continue to advise students on postsecondary plans that will shape their careers, their lives, and their lifestyles:

Four year college degrees were oversold for years.  

The Great Recession left many students of middle class families scrambling for new career options, as the factories that offered good union wages for high school graduates downsized or went out of business in droves.  Looking at the high wages earned by workers with a Bachelors Degree, desperate families and policy makers placed an emphasis on going to college that was based more on the needs of the country than the needs of the individual student.  Much of that bad advice has led to high dropout rates—clearly not what was hoped for.

New college graduates can’t find jobs in their field.  It wasn’t just the factories downsizing in 2007, as the white collar managers of those plants and their suppliers also lost their jobs.  This led to a decrease in entry level jobs for those just completing colleges, driving many of them to become the best educated baristas around.  It isn’t hard to understand why an average high school student would look at that and decide college isn’t for them—especially since…

The cost of college skyrocketed.  College tuition has been on a steep upward climb for years, but every price hike in the last few years has received greater attention, once cumulative debt for college students surpassed the hefty watermark of $1 billion.  A high priced product (college) that could no longer promise high benefits (a good job) is a strong reason for consumers (students) to look elsewhere to spend their postsecondary dollars—like community colleges and training programs, where some technology jobs start graduates out at the very reasonable rate of $40,000 per year.

Four year colleges may be looking at some kind of correction, but counselors will have to keep a close eye on the “college isn’t worth it” movement to make sure students don’t overlook all college has to offer.  This can best be done by remembering the mistake society made in deciding that college was the “one size fits all” solution to the Great Recession.  It wasn’t—just as putting every student through technical training isn’t the answer to the challenges we’re facing now.

A carefully designed college counseling curriculum will help students understand the different kinds of colleges and the purpose each kind has—as well as key factors in deciding if college is for you.  It’s long past time for students and counselors to let public sentiment decide our students’ futures.  We know better, and it’s our job to teach our students better, no matter which way the winds of public opinion blow. 

College Counselor to Parents: Relax

By: Patrick O'Connor Ph.D

It must be September, because the parents of high school seniors are panicked about college. As a high school counselor, I did everything but give away free gas to get parents to visit me in the spring, but usually to no avail. Now, I'm buying my groceries in the next county because so many parents want to solve their senior's college woes in Aisle 6 of the corner supermarket.

The stress of applying to college is not lost on me. But unlike running from a burning building or scoring a Harry Potter book at midnight, stress doesn't help the college selection process. If you feel you're behind, the best thing to do is forget about the stress and start talking to two important college experts.

The first expert is your high school senior, the person who will be going to college. You may have missed the February college night for juniors and the college fair last May, but chances are your child has picked up more than enough information to bring you up to speed – plus, they know what they're looking for in a college.

Of course, this might not be easy. Teenagers often seem feisty, uncommunicative, and embarrassed by your every move. Ask them about college plans, and you may as well be doing the Macarena at the bus stop. You need an approach that shows respect for them as independent people, interest in their opinions, and an understanding of their values.

So go buy a pizza.

Sitting down with a pizza creates a common interest (food), a relaxed atmosphere, and something to do in the event of an awkward silence. In the middle of their second slice, tell them you want to help them apply to college, but you don't want to hassle them. As a result, you'll sit down once a week for 20 minutes to talk about college, and unless they bring it up some other time, that will be it.

The 20-minute weekly meeting is the only time you nudge them about application deadlines (NOT on Friday night as they're heading to the game), and ask how college plans are going. In return, they use the meeting to ask if you wrote the check for the application to State U., or why you asked that embarrassing question when you visited a college last week. You get the information you need, they don't feel you're invading their turf, and everyone gets a snack. Voilà!

After about two or three of these meetings, you're ready to meet the second expert, your child's school counselor. If you haven't met the counselor before, don't worry; the goal here is to make sure everyone knows how to help your child find a college that's right. Since most school counselors have far too many students, the challenge is to reach that goal in a short period of time – about 18 minutes. But since you've found a way to talk with your senior about college and not look like a dork, you can do anything.

When the meeting comes, you and your child greet the counselor and you ask these questions:

1. What should my child focus on as a student this year? The counselor can talk about your child's schedule, what teachers think of your child, and what they think your child should do to grow as a person – it's wide open.

2. Can we tell you a little about our child that we think would help you with their college plans? This is a forced question few counselors say no to, and they shouldn't. If you talk about your concerns and interests for just a few minutes (practice at home), the counselor can ask questions, and really get to know what you're thinking about for your child's life after high school.

3. Does my child have a realistic list of colleges? Your child should drop a copy of this list off to the counselor three days before the meeting – that way, the counselor can prepare a solid answer.

4. What are the deadlines for submitting applications to you? This is probably in the school's college handbook or website, but ask (and write down the answer) so everyone knows the deadlines.

5. What's the best way to get in touch with you? Most counselors are either e-mail or phone people, so here's their chance to share their preference, and your chance to further respect their time. Two big no-nos here for parents are asking "quick questions" if you see the counselor at a school function (or the supermarket) and dropping in at the counselor's office without an appointment. Counselors want the chance to serve you well; give them that chance, and send the quick questions in via the counselor's preferred way.

Feeling bad about getting a late start on college won't help your child. Instead, use that energy to consult with two local college experts, and the rush will make you want to do the Macarena.

Just not in front of the children.