Up next? Sophomore Visits
Sophomores! You’ve made it through the winter of your discontent and it’s finally your turn! You will begin hearing shortly from Ms. Dowd–our scheduler extraordinaire–who will write out a pink pass and message you in Schoology to let you know when your appointment is scheduled. Please make every effort to keep your meeting, or come in to reschedule for a time that works best for you.
Students interested in selective colleges should be in touch with their counselor ASAP to identify as such. The process forward for you is the most involved, so we prefer to schedule you first to maximize your time actually working on your plan.
If you have no clue what you want to be when you grow up, we STRONGLY encourage you to complete two assessments in your Naviance account (AchieveWorks Personality and Career Interest Profiler) before your meeting. This will provide us with information that will help us help you determine your pathway forward. Even if you do have a plan, it’s not a bad idea to run it through its paces and see how it holds up.
chills.campus.visits on IG
Members of CHILLS nation took to the road (and the skies) over April break to check out colleges and universities. Lots of new posts with photos and impressions! We bet you’ll learn something new!
https://www.instagram.com/chills.campus.visits/
CHRHS alum is Washington County Community College Student of the Year
We’re so proud to recognize Appleton native Brandon Vinal CHRHS 2012, recently named WCCC Student of the Year! He enrolled in WCCC after serving as an MP in the United States Marines for several years, and has proven to be an incredible leader in the WCCC community, both in the classrooms and on the campus. Congratulations Brandon, and thank you for your service!
https://www.wccc.me.edu/press_release/brandon-vinal-announced-as-wccc-2023-student-of-the-year/
MELMAC Lanyard Project (AND Scavenger Hunt!)
Shall we play a game? If you have been paying (very close) attention to staff members’ attire of late, you may have noticed the proliferation of college lanyards adorning the necks of our staff. This is not just happenstance. As a portion of our MELMAC Booster grant, we are purchasing lanyards for staff to display their alma mater or another school/program that is meaningful to them, in hopes that it will start some dialog with students who notice and inquire. There are a TON of Black Bears–far and away the most for any one school–but you can find others if you look.
To kick start this initiative, we have created a scavenger hunt (click the link to access) with some awesome swag that Ms. Dowd has gathered for prizes–some really great stuff! Grab some friends and help each other out. Aaannnnd… GO! And by all means, ask a staff member about their lanyard and why it’s significant!
Workforce Development Program of the Week
Speaking of WCCC, check out how many WFD (Workforce Development) options there are!
https://www.wccc.me.edu/professional-development/
Pro Tip
If you aspire to a selective college, one of the very few things that you have any true control over is where the college is relative to where you live. Students that are unremarkable at a college in the Northeast (because there are so many similar student profiles) might really stand out in the Midwest, where New Englanders tend to be a rare breed. It may kick you out of your comfort zone to consider going that far away, but it may also be the tipping point that gets you into a really great school. Just look at all those locations in the middle!
*Either that or move to the Dakotas or Wyoming–these are the states that colleges seldom get kids from. Wake Forest shares their stats during info sessions, students from 48 of the 50 states. Who’s left out? North Dakota and Wyoming. Ask an admissions rep and see if this holds true on the next campus visit you take.
#knowthestatewhereyoumatriculate
It’s OK that you don’t read The Boston Globe to stay abreast of what’s happening in America’s College Town, because we do. We think that this recent article about small colleges on the brink of fiscal collapse is an important–and perhaps overlooked–factor in deciding where to go to school.
“Honestly, it’s the hunger games,” said Madeleine Rhyneer, who leads the enrollment practice at consulting firm EAB. “There are fewer students going to college and there are more or less the same number of colleges in the country, so there will be winners [and] there will be losers.”
In Massachusetts, 15 private colleges with at least 250 enrolled students posted double-digit declines in population over a 10-year academic period beginning in 2011, according to the most recent data from the US Department of Education. Those include Suffolk University, American International College, Fisher College, Lesley University, Assumption University, and Hampshire.
Students whose college closes while they are still enrolled see their degree completion rate cut in half. If you’re thinking about small colleges in the Northeast, it might behoove you to read the article if you have a Globe reading friend… And definitely do your homework before you put down your deposit–you want to make sure that your school will still be operating until you earn your degree.
“Lottery” colleges as an ACTUAL Lottery?
Here’s a thought provoking piece that asks the question, “What if lottery schools were actually run as a lottery?” It is common for magnet and charter high schools to hold lotteries with the intent of ensuring that each student gets the same shot as everyone else; is it time perhaps for colleges to follow suit? Selective colleges often comment in their admissions year reflections that they turn away as many (or more) qualified candidates as they accept. Would a lottery of students that meet some specified set of criteria be more fair? It’s an interesting thought to ponder.
Kindness Counts
Just when you think that the college admissions process has gone completely off the rails, along comes Dartmouth to remind us that kindness matters.
“Coffin also notes that he and his admissions colleagues kept a keen eye and ear out for evidence of kindness and empathy as they read this year’s applications, including as articulated in recommendations from counselors, teachers, and peers.
“Kindness is one of those qualities that make organizations, campuses, and communities gel,” he says. “We were looking for people who will look out for each other. In the digital world we’re in, sometimes kindness can slip away. Seeing representations of collaboration, of good citizenship, of an openness to people who don’t think, look, or believe the same way you might is valuable as a community like the Class of 2027 begins to come together.”
It’s refreshing to learn that being kind is still valued in the “real world.”