Eureka!

May 1—A.K.A. Candidate’s Reply Date for those of you who don’t know. All those seniors in high school out there who have been waiting for their turn to finalize college plans for the fall—your time is NOW. Make sure you deposit at only one college. Write every once else who accepted you and/or offered you scholarship money and say: “Thank you for your offer of admission/scholarship/financial aid (select all that apply). However, I will be attending another college in the fall.” This allows schools with wait lists and/or those who re-award scholarships to move down their lists. You saying no to a school might actually be the way that a wait listed student gets into his or her first-choice school!☺ If you are a senior, make like my friend Simba and hop to making that deposit.

By the way, this may surprise you. The colleges you say no to actually may send you zillion page questionnaires asking why you didn’t select them! How’s that for a switch? After you sweated whether you’d get in, they now want to know why they lost you as a student!

Next week—back to some more career information.

L8R,
Clyde

Career Information Smorgasbord . . .

Yep–career information is at your fingertips. The web is full of ways to find out about careers. But . . . did you realize there actually might be good career info in your house? In your school? In your community? Career information is all around you. It’s up to you to open your eyes and find it.

• Ask your parent(s) about their career choices. Can you spend a day job shadowing them? What do they like/dislike about their jobs/careers? What do they wish they had done differently?

• How about aunts, uncles, older siblings, grandparents, next-door neighbors? Could you ask them about their work settings? Max, now retired, lives next door to me. He spent his entire career in law enforcement. I have talked with him several times about all aspects of law enforcement as a way to get career choice. Ishmael is in training for the Iditarod. After talking with him, I’m sure I don’t want to do that—really hard work, cold. Give me the palm trees and the sunshine☺! Nala and Simba are already in training at Energizer Bunny School—they could be a good source of information. However, I really don’t have the ears for that job and I already now I have no musical talent (base drum not a good idea).

• Does your school host a Career Day or have video conferences regarding different careers? If it does either, do you know how to sign up for these experiences?

• Does your community have a formal job shadowing program? Mine does. It’s called STEP (Summer Training and Exploration Program), but you have to apply to be part of it. What are you waiting for? Get into your counselor’s office and see if there is a similar program in your city.

• Are there other ways to try out certain fields before you leave high school? When I went to the video conference on engineering, I found out that the university making the presentation hosts a summer program for rising juniors and seniors who think they might be interested in engineering. It’s called SITE (Student Introduction to Engineering) and it’s only a week in the summer.

My counselor says there are all sorts of short-term, summer programs for students to try out fields like architecture, medicine and business, etc. It’s up to you to see if these programs are hosted in your community and/or by colleges and universities in your area. What are you waiting for?


Woof,

Clyde

Accepted Student Visit Tips . . . more roses to smell, part 2

Note from Clyde: More tips from my friend who has just returned from a highly selective college for her accepted students visit . . .

7. Often accepted students weekends will have an activities fair. Make sure to stop by, even if it seems a little boring. It is a way to see what clubs or organizations you will be able to get involved with one you arrive on campus in the fall.

6. When on campus, do as the students do! Check out events happening on campus if you have the time; see what your options are outside of the classroom.

5. Introduce yourself to other accepted students; don't be shy. Many people that you meet at an accepted students weekend are potential classmates, roommates, or even best friends!

4. Visit a class that interests you. You don't need to take notes, but learning is what you are coming to college for after all . . .

3. You will be given the opportunity to meet many actual students during the weekend. Talk to them! Their advice could be very valuable for your decision making.

2. Ask questions that will actually affect your decision. You've already been accepted; this is your last chance to find out if the college is truly the best fit for you.

1. Have fun, be yourself, and keep an open mind! Although this is one of the more important decisions you will make in your life, there's no need to get too serious! You will only be able to gain insight from the accepted students weekend if you keep your mind open and truly imagine what it would be like to enroll as a freshman in the fall.

That’s a lot to digest. I think I’ll go find a palm tree and mull all of this information over.

Woof,

Clyde

Time to smell the roses...taking full advantage of the accepted student visit, part 1

Note from Clyde: One of my friends, a senior, just came back from her accepted student visit. I asked her for suggestions to give you and here are her comments:

For some, an accepted student weekend on a college campus may seem like a pointless venture, especially if you have already been through the traditional campus tour and student information session. However, an accepted student weekend can be extremely important for one simple reason: the campus is a vastly different place for the potential student than it is for the prospective applicant. Upon setting foot on campus, the accepted student encounters a peculiar sense of entitlement that is impossible for the pre-application process student to feel. While the entire application process has been about showing the college why it should choose a particular student, the accepted student weekend finally reverses the role, providing an opportunity for undecided high school seniors to be told why they should choose this college. While the accepted student weekend is extremely beneficial for an undecided student (or even a student who has made his or her decision but wants to learn more about the school), it is only a few days spent at an institution where the student may or may not be spending the next four years; you must try to reap the most from this limited time spent on campus.

Here are ten tips for making the most out of an accepted student visit:

10. Eat in the dining hall, if possible. College food can range from extremely enticing gourmet cuisine to unidentifiable mush. Whatever it is, it could make up many of your meals for the next four years!

9. Stay in a freshman residence hall if the option is available. Dorms can also range in quality, but no matter how large or small, or the location of the bathrooms, they will certainly be different from your bedroom at home and it is beneficial to get the experience of living in one.

8. Visit the library. While sometimes it is not shown on the campus tour, it is a place where you will be spending a lot of your time for the next four years, whether you like it or not.


Stay tuned for part two later this week. I feel the urge to go get a snack–did I mention I like food? I think a brownie is in order☺!

L8R,

Clyde

Congratulations . . .

Fireworks in your e-mail? Big, fat envelopes in the mailbox?
Congratulations . . . but . . . Your job isn't over!

* Once those envelopes roll in - they demand a response. Make a decision. Write every place that offered you a spot on a wait list and/or every place that offered you admissions and remove yourself from each place that isn't getting a yes from you (wait listed/accepted).

* Yep - it is spring . . . my paws simply want to walk in the sand and I want to soak up the rays. However . . . my brain can't stay at its spring break location and neither can yours. There is work to be done. Seniors have to finish the school year in a manner commensurate with the level of performance they had at the time they were conditionally accepted. You read that correctly. All acceptances are conditional - read the fine print. Get in trouble academically or in terms of behavior and you can find your admissions offer rescinded.

* Make sure your financial aid/scholarship papers are in order. If there are any last-minute scholarship opportunities out there - jump on them.

* Make sure your housing arrangements and meal plans for the fall are in order.

* Fill out the paperwork to send your final transcript to the college of your choice.

* Need a final transcript for the NCAA or a scholarship program? Your school can't send these if you don't request them.

* Sign up for and attend orientation sessions.

Many colleges now have special programs for accepted students - April events that let you see who else got in and what your classmates might be like (vs. the hoards of students and adults you toured campuses with earlier in the school year). If you can, take advantage of these programs at your top two choices before you have to submit a deposit by May 1. Later, I'll have some suggestions for these accepted student programs from one of my classmates soon.

Remember: you only deposit at once place . . . let me repeat that: you only deposit at one place.

Time for a nap.

Woof,

Clyde

Decisi☹ns, Decisions, Decisi☺ns . . . Rejected, Wait listed, Accepted . . .

It’s that time of the year . . . thin envelopes, fat envelopes, fireworks in the e-mail . . . notes about how large the applicant pool was, how amazing the applicants were, how hard it was to select . . . yeah . . . yeah . . . yeah . . .


If you are having trouble making sense of the admissions decisions, join a growing crowd. It is an irrational process. My counselor says it is further complicated by students who throw too many college application darts. At my school, by the middle of December 2009, each senior had, on average, applied to more than three and less than four colleges. Juniors out there–listen up!

When it is time for you to apply to colleges: Make a vertical list; select a reasonable number of places to apply to; make sure anywhere you apply is somewhere you’d be happy to attend.

Seniors, let’s talk about those decisions.


• Some students have known where they are going for months. Schools that offer rolling admissions and students who have them as first-choice colleges are simply waiting for the big package of enrollment materials to hit their mail box.

• While the media will center on the admission status at highly selective schools, remember that nearly 7 out of 10 college applications get a YES, we’d love to have you join us in the fall of 2010 reply.



• Rejected? Hey, did you know Warren Buffett, the Oracle of Omaha, one of the richest, smartest men in the world was rejected by Harvard? He attended the University of Nebraska. Dust yourself off. Select a college option. Apply yourself with vigor and do the best you can– in and out of the classroom!

• Wait listed? Repeat after me: Wait listed isn’t a NO! The first rule of wait lists is: remove yourself from the wait list if you are no longer interested in the school. Remaining on a wait list at a school you are no longer interested in–just to see if you can get in–is bad for everyone. The second rule of wait lists: stay on the wait list ONLY if the wait list school remains equal as a first choice. The third rule of wait lists: proceed deliberately but cautiously. Deposit by May 1 at the current best option. Banking on a wait list school to come through isn’t prudent. Having said that, if you want to remain on the wait list, it is critical to notify the college offering you the spot. Additionally, rack your brain–are there any achievements or awards, accomplishments or accolades which you have racked up since the seventh semester transcript was submitted? Climbed Mount Kilimanjaro blindfolded? Established an award-winning literary magazine? Been published in The New Yorker? Won the Intel Science Competition? Earned a qualifying score in the National Biology Olympiad? Making the honor roll isn’t what colleges are looking for–think bigger. Get statistics about the wait lists from previous years–number on, number admitted, procedure for selecting from the wait list.

• Accepted? Job isn’t over . . . stay tuned . . . I feel the urge for a snack.


L8R,

Clyde

Water is Waiting...Surf’s Up!!!!!!

No advice, no helpful tips and no reminders from me this week!!!!!!

I’ll make this short and sweet. The weather’s warm and the water’s calling my name.


It’s Spring Break, dude! Grab your sand bucket and go out and enjoy yourself!!

Be safe. Be smart. And I’ll catch you next week.

Woof,

Clyde