Hi seniors,

I’m sure you’ve heard of the recent events about college admissions in the news and I want you to know that you all have been on my mind whenever I think about what has happened. Another counselor shared this article with me this morning and I thought it needed to be shared with you all too, especially as college application decisions are continuing to roll in. I hope you know your worth has ALWAYS been about more than the school you attend, the classes you take, or the grades you get. I hope your time here has shaped you and helped you grow. And no matter where you’ll be in the fall, I hope you know none of that growth or time has been in vain. I also hope you are able to enjoy the growth for the journey that it’s been and that you can be excited about beginning to become the person you were meant to be someday.

And be reminded that your merits, great and small, have been your own. That’s something to be proud of. So in case nobody has told you lately, I am SO proud of you. ALL of you. 

Give this a read, and have a great spring break! 

​http://www.chicagotribune.com/lifestyles/stevens/ct-life-stevens-tuesday-college-acceptance-doesnt-define-you-0312-story.html

Oh, and for any underclassmen reading this, know that it was meant for you also. Keep this in mind as you navigate course selections and build your own college list. Your time here has always been about more than that. I hope you can use that perspective to empower yourselves in the future. It belongs to you too!

So tomorrow is going to be a big day in the counseling hallway for mid-year reports! I know many seniors are anxious about making sure these reports are sent to the right schools, so I wanted to share some information on how seniors can be sure they are getting what they need. 

The first thing to know is....why is this taking so long?
That's a fair question because it does seem to take a long time. But it's important for students and families to understand that the school district controls the grading process. Students take exams, then teachers have a week to grade them and another week to enter grades, and winter break is not included in this time. Then, the district pulls this data from ALL schools and has to upload that into the system. All schools means all elementary, middle, and high school in the district, plus all charter schools, K-8 schools, career centers, and vocational programs. Our district serves over 200,000 students, so this takes time. 
And while report cards were released a while back, your grades didn't "roll into grade history" until Monday February 5th, 2018. Class rank freezes Friday February 9th. So we have spent this week checking for errors before everything gets finalized. And since 2/9 is the date for everything to freeze, we have chosen to wait until this date to send mid-year reports because it ensures that we are sending the most accurate information. 

Next...What IS a mid-year report anyway? 
In short, schools want mid-year grades of seniors to make sure nothing has changed significantly from when you first applied. Usually, it's just a transcript. But sometimes there's a "cover sheet" counselors fill out that highlights some of the data, like updated GPA and class rank. Mid-year reports are important to colleges because they want to make sure you didn't suddenly start to have a major dip in grades. If there are any concerns, colleges **may** rescind an offer of acceptance. This is rare, but it happens. 

Finally...what's the student's role here?
First, confirm whether or not you need mid-year information sent, and how it's getting there. Usually, it will be sent in the same manner your application and initial transcripts were sent. For that purpose, we recommend sorting your checklist by application type. I can break that down for you here:

Common App: They use an open system. That means your counselor can see EVERY school you applied to, and that EVERY document a counselor uploads for you (including a letter of recommendation or initial secondary school report) is available to EVERY school. Your counselor can upload a mid-year report one time, and then any school who wants it can have it. The student's job: If you have already spoken to your counselor at some point this year about your Common App documents (you know your counselor already submitted a letter of rec and/or the SSR), you probably don't need to do anything here. We know it's there and as long as you're showing up on our account, we'll handle it. They are electronic and FREE!

Coalition App: Their system is a bit more  school specific. Counselors can't see everything you're doing on Coalition. We can only see what you are requesting for us. If you apply for 5 schools but only 2 need mid-year reports, you must request a mid-year report within each of those applications. The counselor can then see a request for mid-year grades and can see the 2 schools it's going to. We upload a transcript one time, and both schools can access it. But if you applied via Coalition to other schools, they can't see the mid-year transcript that was posted unless you use the same process and request it. The student's job: Make sure you requested mid-year grades for the schools you need them for. That should handle it. But if you're unsure, all you need to do is confirm with your counselor that their account shows the schools you need it to show. Also electronic and free. 

Other school specific platforms. MIT and Georgetown come to mind here, as they have their own websites for submitting SSRs and counselor letters. Counselors have separate logins for these sites and can view all of their own students from one screen and use that platform to upload for all students. Since these are school-specific platforms, obviously only those schools see what is sent here.  The student's job: Make sure the link was e-mailed to your counselor. Also electronic and free. 

NON-approved platforms: This would be sites that use DocuFide or SendEDU. We are not allowed to send electronic transcripts on these sites. We also cannot fax them. You need a paper copy sent in the mail. For that, see below. 

Once again, Georgia Tech shares wonderful insights. Check out their latest post that discusses the questions many students find themselves asking when thinking about getting into college:

http://pwp.gatech.edu/admission-blog/2017/08/25/straight-talk/

Furthermore, Dr. Clark linked to another great read:

http://mcc.gse.harvard.edu/files/gse-mcc/files/20160120_mcc_ttt_execsummary_interactive.pdf?m=1453303460

Check them out! Hope you enjoy!

I recently saw this article on Twitter and thought it was worth sharing. The title of the article is Why Your High School Study Habits May Not Work In College but I think this article could just as easily be called "Why Your Middle School Study Habits May Not Work in IB."

So often, we see students transition into the IB program and struggle initially simply because they lack the study skills to be successful. They lack them not because of low intelligence or low ability; They lack them because they simply have never needed them before. As counselors, we see this much more often than one would think. There seems to be some proverbial wall that most bright students hit once their natural talent can't get them straight A's anymore and the effort has to kick in. This wall is often so overwhelming to many students because they are intimidated by hard work. That's not to say that with hard work will come with countless late nights and loads of stress. Those things might occur, but aren't the everyday norm, and can usually be overcome once students understand the value of the work they're putting in. Most are smart enough to figure out what needs to be done once they simply accept that the change is imminent. 

I hope you find the linked article encouraging. If you have questions, see your counselor or your teachers for help on developing these skills. We're here for you!

Have you been rejected from one or more colleges recently? Here is some insight on the College Admissions process, in the form of a mishmash of e-mails I have sent parents recently...

Growing Pains
If I can offer any comfort, this seems to be a theme this year among many schools. Personally, I have definitely contacted more schools this year about application decisions than ever before. The biggest reason I've heard is that, nationally, many schools are seeing a huge increase in highly qualified early decision applications. Georgia Tech specifically mentioned their application pool increased 5x this year for some reason, lowering their admit rate from 50% to 30% and echoed that it seemed to be a trend among many schools this year. So it's not necessarily that our students weren't qualified, but that they simply found themselves in an immensely bigger pond than anyone could have ever anticipated. And the people I have spoken to aren't really sure what the reason is for the increase, or whether or not the trend will continue. 

Nonetheless, these results have caused many teachers and all of our counselors to seriously re-evaluate our approach to college counseling. One trend that has seemed to slowly arise is that students are being selected more and more by subjective traits, like personality, fit, drive, and how "compelling" their application is.In future blogs, I hope to begin to share some of that information, but to keep this brief for now, I'll just say that we as a school are exploring new ways to not only encourage students to display these traits, but come up with ways for us counselors and teachers to showcase these traits in our students.

And not to keep pushing Georgia Tech, but their Admissions director keeps a fantastic blog that really sheds a lot of light on the whole process. I found this post particularly interesting, especially the part about being competitive vs being compelling. I know that probably offers little help or comfort now, but hopefully offers some of the answers you're looking for:
http://pwp.gatech.edu/admission-blog/2016/01/14/holistic-admission-the-struggle-is-real-part-2-of-3/

So what can be done now?
For starters, it probably wouldn't hurt for any student to call and/or re-apply. Colleges DO take that kind of thing into consideration. Basically, as I understand it, the thought is that if a student cares enough to call and re-apply, they are probably likely to possess the drive needed to be successful and that plays into their considerations for admission.

My advice is that the STUDENT themselves call, as it displays the most maturity and makes the biggest statement. A parent may also call if the student is adamant and unwilling, but colleges have told me it makes a bigger statement when they hear from the student themselves.

I know that students may feel shy and even a bit helpless. But all that any student would have to do is ask #1, if they can learn about the weaknesses in their application and #2, ask about the re-application/reconsideration process. (But yes, many colleges do share what was missing). It probably also wouldn't hurt to mention a family connection if one exists because that sometimes helps too.

​And I understand concerns about students getting one's hopes up again only to be disappointed. Only you as a family can decide if calling is worth the emotional risk. But from my perspective, making contact will absolutely NOT hurt a student's chances of getting in, and can only help. 

Further thoughts
Coming soon, this blog hopes to share more of the insight gathered from colleges, dispel myths, bring light to common problems, and inspire all students to be that compelling applicant that colleges are looking for. 

Recently, we came across a blog written by the director of admissions at Georgia Tech.

It's an excellent read. If you have questions about the application and admission process to ANY school, you'll likely gain some great insight here.

http://pwp.gatech.edu/admission-blog/2016/01/14/holistic-admission-the-struggle-is-real-part-2-of-3/

Enjoy!

​~Mrs. Smith

Matt Schlosser graduated from the SCHS IB Program in 2015 and was accepted to Wake Forest University. He was recently featured on their website that gives the public a glance at their class of 2019 student profile. Check it out! We are very proud of him.


http://news.wfu.edu/profile/meet-matthew-schlosser/