Keep Calm and Carry On Applying to College

Colleges aren't asking 17-year-olds to do anything 17-year-olds are not 
capable of doing. College Admission is on the Siena College blog talking maintaining calm in the face of college admission -- Quick Tips for Staying Calm During the College Application Process. Check it out for more advice, support, and quick tips! 

De-stress the College Application Process!

You know how you don’t really remember the pain of childbirth? You won’t remember the stress of the college application process once it’s over, either. Honestly. Though just as we continue to share the blow-by-blow of our delivery room action as we bond with other mothers, we find ourselves trading stories of the trials and triumphs of the college application process, too.

Christine VanDeVelde is guest blogging at UniversityParent with advice about how you can find yourself a year from now with fewer trials and more triumph in the telling. It’s easier than you think. Check out De-Stress The College Application Process and learn more about the "college diet," broccoli talk, and how to win by expecting the best.

What's really important junior year?

Get the lowdown on grades, extracurriculars and more in our conversation with Teen Life, Dealing with Junior Year StressJunior year is important but, more significantly, it feels important because there is so much going on. Students are juggling a lot -- testing, extracurriculars, campus visits, researching colleges.  But, despite what you hear, applying to college is not rocket science. There is no secret. It doesn't require an advanced degree. Colleges aren't asking 17-year-olds to do anything that 17-year-olds aren't capable of doing.  Applying to college is like any large project, you just need to break it down into smaller manageable parts. Keep that in mind as you start this process.

Available now! A Completely Revised and Updated College Admission

College Admission: From Application to Acceptance Step by Step has been completely revised and updated for changes to the Common Application, testing, the essay, financial aid and more, including information for transfer students and  undocumented students, and timelines for the college application process. Look for the red banner! You can find it here.
 

Bill Gates Has Always Been the Wealthiest Man: Beloit's Mindset List!

They've grown up with "selfies," same-sex marriage, Facebook "likes," and Harry Potter. That's right. The Mindset List for the Class of 2018 has arrived!

Beloit College has released the Mindset List with 51 more observations about the cultural reference points of fall’s entering class of freshmen. Since 1998, the Wisconsin college has marked the beginning of a new academic year with publication of this list of cultural touchstones for the incoming class. The brainchild of Beloit’s former Public Affairs Director Ron Nief and Keefer Professor of the Humanities Tom McBride, the Mindset List was originally created as a reminder to faculty to be aware of dated references. But it has taken on a life of its own. In fact, for the last few classes of incoming freshmen, there has always been a Mindset List!

Enjoy! And for more fun, visit their website here.

Our Updated Guide to The Application Form is Available Now!

The Common Application goes live next week -- on Friday, August 1! So we're bringing you a real-time digital supplement to College Admission: From Application to Acceptance, Step by Step -- our completely revised and updated guide to The Application Form .

It's a complete guide to filling out the college application, which serves as the cornerstone of a student's admission file, including:

College Admission in the Washington Post

College Admission is featured in "A Summer Reading List from College Admission Counselors" in Valerie Strauss' Washington Post Answer Sheet blog. Thank you to Kenyon College Dean Jennifer Delahunty for recommending our book! This is a great list overall, assembled by Brennan Barnard, director of college counseling of The Derryfield School in Manchester, New Hampshire with suggestions for parents and students, as well as some all-around fun summer reading such as Claude Steele's “Whistling Vivaldi," recommended by: Susan Weingartner, Director of College Counseling at Chicago's Francis W.

School's Out for Summer!

Here comes the sun... It's summertime! And College Admission is going on vacation, along with you. We'll still be hanging around Twitter and Facebook and playing on Tumblr, so please check in from time to time. And don't forget to take advantage of the wealth of information about applying already on the site -- from essays and testing to extracurriculars and researching college lists.

We'll be back in September… In the meantime, enjoy the lazy days of summer. I know we will.

 

Writing Your High School Story: College Admission Advice for 9th and 10th Graders

Speak up in class, learn a system of note-taking, be kind, don't worry about testing until 11th grade, and read, read, read... Mark Moody, Co-Director of College Counseling at Colorado Academy, joins us again with advice for 9th and 10th graders about how to write a high school story that will have a happy ending. 

 

You’ve made it to the end of another school year! Before you totally shift out of school mode and into your summer adventures, it’s a good time to take a minute to reflect on your school journey as it’s shaping up. Do you feel confident, not so great, or indifferent to your academic record and extracurricular life so far? Now that you have the lay of the high school landscape, you have the tools to directly shape your response to that question for next year and the years after.