Weekly Wisdom

Synopsis:
Differences between private and public school applications, private school essays, list of schools that don’t need SAT/ACT scores for applications, GraduationWatch.org, articles about the New SAT, junior – planning your timetable, and a look at Northwestern University.

Introduction:

Sorry we’ve been gone so long, but as many of you know, it’s college application and final testing time, so we’ve been busier than we would have thought. Now that the UC applications are over, it’s time to start focusing on private school apps and talk to you juniors about how to plan out the rest of your junior year. We’ll look at a couple of very interesting articles on the NEW SAT, answer a question posed to us by a student about essays, and take a look at Northwestern University.

Weekly Wisdom

Private school applications are a bit of a different animal than the UC application.

As you begin to go through them remember the differences between the types of schools. Large, state schools are institutions that usually have legal requirements and charter specs to uphold in terms of student body (in state, out of state, etc).

Private schools usually are not burdened with such things. They can look more in depth at each applicant, which means that your essays, extra-curriculars, and letters of recommendation may very well be pored over in a way that larger public schools just can’t afford to do.

So, though this will make some of you more nervous, the truth is that this is a blessing. Schools will try to evaluate you more as a complete person, not just the sum of your grades and test scores.

Don’t worry – this is generally a good thing. Just let it sink in as you tweak your essays and send out those letter requests that these ones will really be read.

Upcoming Deadlines

December 20th - dealine for January 22nd SAT

Articles in the News

There have been a spate of articles (expect even more – hundreds – in the coming months) about the NEW SAT. Here are a couple of the most interesting, plus a web site that lists all of the schools in the country that admit students without SAT or ACT scores. We also have a link to a very interesting website which allows you to see the graduation rates of most every school you can imagine. Take a look at it and see how surprised you are by the results. Have fun.

Article #1 is about whether the changes in the NEW SAT will have any effect at all on the process as a whole, educational curriculums, or admission to college. It is by a group called FairTest, advocates of the elimination of standardized testing like the SAT. They can get a little extreme, but they make very good points.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

Article #2 is about the College Board’s efforts to keep FairTest bottled up about the trends in SAT scores. Mainly an interesting article because it shows the lengths to which the College Board is willing to go to keep the SAT viable.

CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE

The third site is a list of colleges and universities that do not consider SAT or ACT scores when considering admission. This is a great list to have for reference.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE LIST

The fourth site is the fun graduation watch tool. Check it out and look at some schools – graduation rates can tell you a lot about not only what happens at the school, but about which students the school is admitting. Although it’s a backwards-looking tool, it can reveal things you might not otherwise have realized. See if you are surprised. I suggest starting with a school you know, such as UCLA.

CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE SITE

Ask The Experts

asktheexperts@thepreptalk.com

I’ve already re-written my UC essays 500 times. Should I tweak it again for private schools that ask things like, “Why [our school]?”

A: Yes, absolutely.

While generic essays (like those that the UCs ask for) are good jumping off points, it is not okay to simply recycle the essay if it “kind of” fits the prompt from a different school. Schools that ask specific questions want specific answers. It just makes you look foolish to plug in an answer to the question “Why Vanderbilt?” with an essay that talks about your most meaningful activity. Make sure you tweak and/or edit your essays to fit prompts. You may even need to re-write one, occasionally.

Application & Essay Tips

Apply on-line! There are so many advantages to applying on-line it’s hard to list all of them. But, the three biggest are easy enough, so here goes.

First, you won’t have to go through the hassle of mailing the application itself with the proof of mailing and what not.

Second, you can keep all of your application work in one place, safely and securely on the school server, and work on it in many sessions, saving your work as you go. No worries about losing things.

Finally, the on-line checklists provided by the school will help to insure that you do not forget any part of your application process. Start early. Apply on-line. Step into the 21st century.

Featured College

Northwestern University

With a beautiful, forested campus next to Lake Michigan and a breathtaking
view of downtown Chicago, Northwestern University is home to almost 8,000
intelligent, hard-working undergraduates. Besides challenging academics,
this "Ivy of the Midwest" is known for a hard-partying Greek system, plenty
of socializing, and Big 10 athletics.

Students choose to enroll in one of seven undergraduate schools: Arts &
Sciences, Engineering, Journalism, Speech, Music, Education, or Theology.
Freshmen are encouraged to come to Northwestern with a major in mind,
because it can be difficult to start in Arts & Sciences and transfer to one
of the other schools.

If you're goal-oriented and can handle the high workload of the quarter-term
system, you might might be a candidate to enjoy Northwestern's quality
faculty - including John Cusack's voice coach - and diverse student body.
But bring a parka.

Vocab of The Week

Debonair (adj): Suave; sophisticated.
Bernie Mac's performance in Ocean's Twelve is overshadowed by that of the
debonair George Clooney.

Emetic (adj): Causing vomiting.

Justin Timberlake thought it quite unfair when a reviewer described his most recent album as emetic.

Desultory (adj): Moving or jumping from one thing to another; disconnected.

Britney Spears was happy to appear at her alma mater, but many in the
audience considered her speech desultory.

Canard (noun): A deliberately misleading story; a hoax.
When asked when she had undergone breast enhancement surgery, Lindsay Lohan condemned the story as a canard.

Doleful (adj): Full of grief; sad.
Asked what was troubling her, Oprah Winfrey attributed her doleful
expression to indigestion.