Weekly Wisdom

Synopsis:
Spring has sprung anew and, as one class receives letters of congratulation and/or disheartening news, it is time for two new classes to step up to the plate. Juniors and junior parents, your time is rapidly approaching. Some of you have already
started looking at colleges and taking SATs, and you have certainly been working on your grades and school activities. Sophomores and sophomore parents, you have big considerations in the coming months - what to do for summer, what classes to take as a junior, and what, if any, preparation to take in the coming months for the upcoming academic and testing year. So, welcome back. Enjoy.

Introduction:

Weekly Wisdom

One more last bit of advice about the college process.

By now, hopefully, many of you are celebrating admission to a great school which, we assure you, will give you four fantastic years (or five, or six, or seven…).

However, there are any number of considerations that now come up – housing, transportation at school, etc. Although it still seems years away what with grad night and prom and summer left to live, going to school will creep up on you. So start planning some of the basics now and do your research – that way you won’t be upset about choices you make hastily towards the end of the summer.

Upcoming Deadlines

ACT - June 11, 2005
Registration deadline: May 6, 2005
Late registration deadline: May 20, 2005

SAT and SAT II: May 7, 2005
Registration deadline: March 25th, 2005
Late deadline: April 6th, 2005

SAT and SAT II: June 4th, 2005
Registration deadline: Apr. 29, 2005
Late registration: May 11, 2005

Articles in the News

A number of articles this week. The first is a plain rebuttal to an article in the LA times regarding the UC schools accepting more “lower-scoring” students than in previous years. I like this response simply because it is straight and to the point. It is re-printed below.

"Many Factors Dictate University Admissions" April 4:

On behalf of the nation's guidance counselors and college admissions officers, we encourage you to broaden future analyses of admissions at the University of California or other colleges to include the full scope of admissions factors.
To reduce the admissions decision solely to standardized test scores is to ignore decades of admissions practice in determining the likelihood of success in postsecondary education.
Since 1993, when our association first began measuring admissions trends through annual surveys, a student's performance in rigorous academic curriculums has consistently been the No. 1 factor considered in the admissions decision and the leading indicator of success in higher education.
Standardized testing is an important factor, but not as important as a student's academic record in high school.
We believe there is too much at stake to reduce the basis for such a life-altering decision to a single imperfect indicator, no matter how convenient it might be.
David Hawkins
Director of Public Policy
National Assn. for College
Admission Counseling
Alexandria, Va.

Our second article has to do with the new scoring rubric on the SAT. As SAT experts, we can tell you that we don’t believe, given our extensive experience with the old test and lots of exposure to this new one, that the grading rubric will remain exactly the same. The writing test is highly coachable, but the removal of the analogies and shoring up of the math section have made the “old” part of the SAT harder. But take a look at the article. At the very least it doesn’t recommend “taking the score and dropping one third of it”. That is definitely not the way to go.

click here to view the article

Our third article is about finding schools. I think it is appropriate at this point because so many of you juniors and junior parents are probably frantically starting this search yourselves right now. Take a look at what this article has to say.

click here to view the article

Our final article is from Yale Daily News. Why would we include an article from Yale about how Yale’s admittance rate has gotten lower? Well, to show you that the obsession with getting into a good school doesn’t stop once you get in. It is part of the school’s reputation, and, to look at this posturing article, clearly quite an important one. I hear no mention of the outstanding academic education offered at Yale, nor about professors or opportunities. Apparently the admittance rate has eclipsed such banal things…

click here to view the article

Ask The Experts

asktheexperts@thepreptalk.com

Q: What, if any, recourse do I have if I get waitlisted at a school?

A: You must do what Americans do best: marketing!!! If colleges waitlisted you, they must have thought you were somewhat worthy, or else they would have rejected you. (Harsh, but true). How to improve your chances of getting in:

First, you need to establish yourself in their admissions office without too much pestering. This can be done by trying to show how passionate you are for the school. There are different ways to do this – but be creative. This is your last chance to stand out from the crowd, after all.

The admissions office people you speak to must be actual officers: not interns or students helping out. Try a regional representative. Try e-mailing. Look at the website. Find out who you need to be talking to.

Once you do this, keep on that person without annoying him and make sure to market yourself. Accomplishments, passion, awards, etc. Be different. Try to talk, e-mail, see, or snail mail things to this person about once a week or so, at most.

Another great tactic is to get another recommendation, especially from someone connected to or an alum of the school. Make sure he or she is a good writer!

The key here is, as I said before – do something different! Spots will open up from the waitlist –but not many, depending on the school. If you want to vault yourself to the top of the list, the people in the admissions office would like to see a REAL interest in attending the school. It makes their job harder if they offer you admissions off the waitlist and you say “no thanks, I’m already going over there to school.” Then they have to keep moving down, wasting time, and potentially, money. That’s what they are told not to do.

Application & Essay Tips

Featured College

Swarthmore College

If you're excited by the prospect of a small student body, an isolated
campus, and a rigorous academic program that attracts intellectually
voracious students, then Swarthmore could be the place for you. Located on a
nationally recognized arboretum fifteen minutes from Philadelphia,
Swarthmore is a small private college - just under 1,500 students - where
students can dedicate themselves to the pursuit of knowledge.

Everyone at Swarthmore - students and faculty alike - are dedicated to
academics. The workload is described as intense but manageable; if 500 pages
of reading and one or two ten-page papers a week sounds overwhelming, it
probably isn't the college for you.

Students take a well-rounded curriculum, with varied classes that are taught
by the professors, not graduate students filling in for them. There are lots
of required areas, but students also get to take classes in improvisational
dance or fiction writing. A low faculty-to-student ratio makes for close
relationships and plenty of personalized attention for students that want
it.
The relationships among students are close, too. The small student body is
conducive to lots of intimacy, and the college's Quaker tradition leads to
an accepting and tolerant atmosphere.
Tuition and fees push the cost to around $35,000, but don't let that
discourage you - Swarthmore has a truly need-blind admissions policy and
generous aid, even to international students. In the universe of small
northeastern private colleges, Swarthmore is a standout.

Vocab of The Week

This week, we will not be presenting vocabulary words because we are starting an entirely new newsletter to coincide with the release of our vocabulary CD, “Pop Vocab”.

This CD contains over 160 commonly used SAT words, along with definitions and funny sentences using popular culture to help kids remember the meanings of the words. Our writing team has four Emmy awards for comedy writing, and we are very excited about it.

You can buy the CD here, or you can check it out and listen to some samples at www.popvocab.com.

WE WARN YOU – this CD is fun to listen to (kids actually report to us they listen to the entire thing, a first for vocabulary CDs!) but sarcastic, and uses celebrities as the butt of jokes – so if you are a huge Britney Spears or Paris Hilton or Ben Affleck fan, well, you should probably get a life.

The CD is not recommended for kids under age 13, just like our popular culture shouldn’t be.