College Counseling – College Mindset

Hindsight is 2020: College Counseling Lessons from the Year that Changed EVERYTHING

Article originally appeared on Applerouth.com/blog

As I sat at my desk on Friday, March 13, 2020, I had many questions about the impending quarantine. Utterly blind to the imminent rollercoaster ride, none of us knew we were slowly climbing the hill towards an upcoming free fall and wild curves.

Month after month, the changes kept coming. We leaned with every turn, held onto the short reprieves to adjust before the next curve hit, making it challenging to keep up and provide reliable advice to our students. With each change, I saw the admission process through a new lens and adjusted my perspective. I am now using the lessons I learned in 2020 to sharpen my college counseling skills in 2021.

Give students more information about holistic application review.

In 2020, students became more aware of the term “holistic review.” With a growing test-optional movement and now the elimination of the SAT Subject Tests, students have more control over who sees their scores and who doesn’t. My goal as a counselor is to explain all of the opportunities students have to present themselves to colleges, including their personal and academic profiles. Moving forward, this will need to be a more in-depth, intentional conversation.

Encourage students to be open to the uncomfortable.

2020 turned the “traditional” college experience upside down, and colleges need to know how students face challenges and shift gears. Seeking resources and problem-solving skills are also essential to a student’s success on a college campus. Students also need to find new ways to connect and be engaged, especially when an experience is not “in-person.” Asking the question, how do you become a member of a community if that community is not outside your door? Finally, as campuses are reckoning with their racial histories and dialogue about discrimination, introspection is critical. Teaching students to use inquiry and reflection to look at their own biases and expectations will be essential in 2021.

Teach students to be better storytellers.

With the importance of holistic review and the need to see that students are comfortable with the uncomfortable, students must become better storytellers. Through their essays, students need to provide details of their experiences and the context of their opportunities. Colleges recognize that students have factors affecting their lives, like personal circumstances, financial concerns, and family responsibilities, but students have to tell their stories to provide the context.

Have a backup plan for your backup plan.

One consistent piece of the college application process in 2020 is that you cannot make predictions. While I have always been conservative when making students’ college lists, 2020 taught me that you still need a backup plan to your backup plan. With the number of deferrals resulting from early applications, I found myself reviewing students’ college lists – double-checking that we had considered and discussed every option.

Fine-tune knowledge about financial aid.

Access and financial aid will still be top concerns moving forward. Colleges are in precarious financial positions, so only time will tell how that will affect financial aid offers. With significant changes coming to the FAFSA, I will focus on attending webinars and increasing my knowledge of the financial aid process. First-generation and low-income students need more support and information as the college application, and financial aid processes evolve.

Overall, 2020 reminded us college is still a place of learning and exchanging ideas, which does not have to happen in-person to be effective. Still, the community element, learning how to be a human being, is difficult to provide through a screen. Colleges are also places where racial inequities and the effects of a global pandemic are colliding. Throw in government instability and national debates about leadership – and you still have one heck of a roller coaster ride. While 2020 brought changes and lessons, 2021 will be the year to reflect and react. Students and counselors need to lean into the curves and push back on them to keep upright and moving forward.

Katherine Price

Hats Off To the Class of 2020

Last week, I finally mailed my senior gifts. I could send the gifts straight from Amazon and cash in on the free shipping, but I am a bit old fashioned. I think there is something special about receiving a wrapped gift. Something personalized and significant. More important than the present, I send each student a hand-written note. When they text me to say, “Hey thanks for the gift,” they always say more about the card.

I want them to know how proud of them I am. I did not focus on the fact that the entire second semester of senior year was canceled. The Class of 2020 did not need reminders that they didn’t have prom or graduation. They didn’t need to know that their first semester (or year) of college is not going to be what they envisioned.

No. My students needed to hear who they are beyond all of the “challenges” and “uncertainty.” I told one how I was proud that she went beyond her comfort zone to explore career options (and it led to some fantastic connections). Or how one student repeatedly used her voice to fight for social justice (we need more people like her in the world).

I told them how they taught me about light pollution, the importance of creativity in video games, and how an old car can be rebuilt again and again (with lots of determination).

I admired how they overcame challenges, such as dyslexia, being the only girl on a football team, moving to a foreign country, dealing with heart arrhythmia, or conquering ski mountaineering at an international level.

They showed me the importance of caring for others by helping friends through tough times or standing up for people when society categorized them as “different.” One fought for a mentor who was being deported. Another showed compassion as she taught a student struggling with learning differences how to write sentences.

One showed me the significance of questioning something she always believed so she could learn and grow. Another had the brightest smile, and I always picture it when I am feeling doubtful. And one showed me the significance of “releasing control and trusting the outcome.”

The College Mindset Class of 2020 received 110 college acceptances after submitted 164 applications. Collectively, they received 45 scholarship offers totaling over $2.7 million.

They reside in 4 states, and one student worked with me from her home in the Netherlands.

The colleges and universities below are so lucky to have these students for the next four years.

Arizona State University

Colorado College

California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo

Furman University

Miami University, Ohio

Northwestern University

Purdue University

University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, San Diego

University of Colorado, Boulder

University of Texas, Austin

University of Vermont

University of Wyoming

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

While they did not throw their graduation caps into the air in the traditional sense, they have proved that they are worth celebrating beyond the usual pomp and circumstance. I believe that nothing will hold these students back. They will be the future problem-solvers, negotiators, and peace-makers our world needs.

I am so honored to have played a small role in helping them plan their future. The lessons they taught me will stay with me always.

5 Things to Know About the Coalition Application

When the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success was announced in the fall of 2015, questions soon followed. While the main premise of the new platform is to increase access for low-income and first-generation students by providing free tools for the college search and application process, some educators are concerned that the online tools will feed the college admissions frenzy by stipulating additional application requirements for students to obsess over. Meanwhile, the 91 colleges and universities that are backing the new platform claim the tools will “streamline” the college process and encourage disadvantaged students to consider schools they previously may have overlooked.

No matter which side you stand on, the Coalition is becoming a part of the admissions maze. The new “Locker” platform is set to launch in April, and the application is slated to be available in July.

Recently, Nancy Griesemer of the DC College Admissions Examiner posted several updates on the Coalition, based on her conversation with the new interim director, Colin Melinda Johnson. Griesemer provides information on the online tools offered by the platform and updates on the timeline and testing. While aspects of the Coalition tools are still developing, here are the top 5 things students need to know about the new platform and application:

1. Who are the members of the Coalition? The Coalition member list is up to over 90 schools. All of the members must offer an “affordable education.” Public schools must provide low-cost, in-state tuition and private schools must be able to meet 100% of demonstrated financial need (for admitted domestic students). Members must also have a 70% or above graduation rate over 6 years.

2. Who can use the Coalition tools? While the Coalition is geared towards disadvantaged students, any student can apply to a member institution through the Coalition Application. In fact, three Coalition members, University of Florida, University of Maryland College Park and University of Washington, have announced that they will exclusively use the Coalition platform, so all students applying to those schools will need to use the Coalition Application. The reality is that all students may find it helpful to use the Coalition’s virtual Locker to collect materials whether they plan on applying to a Coalition institution or not.

3. Will all member schools be accepting the Coalition Application for the class of 2017? No. While official announcements have not been made, some members will opt to defer using the Coalition Application for current juniors. These schools may be choosing not to participate in the first year of the Coalition Application in order to have more time to develop their individual application requirements (e.g., essay prompts, video submission questions, etc.).

4. What will the application look like? The application requirements and structure of the Coalition Application remains one of the unknowns about the Coalition. As Griesemer notes in her article, member institutions will have the opportunity to customize their application requirements – for example; some may require students to submit a graded assignment in instead of a college essay. Others may opt for additional supplemental essays to obtain more personal insights into who the applicant is and how he or she will contribute to the college community. Students may also be allowed to submit videos or a detailed resume of accomplishments. It is still unknown if there will be a shared personal statement element (like what is offered by the Common Application), but Griesemer noted that some application requirements will be “similar.” Will this create more work for students? Possibly. But it could also provide students with additional opportunities to present themselves to colleges in a more personalized way.

5. Should students use the Coalition Application or the Common Application? Students should first take a look at their list and determine their application options. While the Coalition site explicitly states that member institutions will not “prefer one application system over the other,” students may want to contact colleges offering multiple platforms to ask how materials from each option will be reviewed. Students also need to look at the requirements for both platforms and decide which one will give them the best opportunity to tell colleges what they want them to know. Students should not look at the platforms and decide which one will be “less work.” Instead, they need to examine how they want to present themselves to colleges and which application platform will give them the best method to meet their goals.

As educators, mentors, teachers, counselors, parents and guardians, it is important that we provide students with information (as we receive it) so they can determine the best way to move forward with their college process. There are still many unknowns regarding the Coalition, but students need guidance, not opinions, to determine which platform to use to apply to the colleges on their list. Teaching students how to make well-informed decisions and examine what is in their best interest is a life lesson that will serve them well in the college process and beyond.