Reflection is a skill. It is also a practice and tool that has fallen out of practice. This is especially true for teens in the United States. Great, now I sound like Socrates!
“The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise.”
The College Application Personal Statement. How hard can it be? Given a rather open-ended prompt, just combine 650 words of highly illuminating and vulnerable statements to provide unmistakable evidence of your maturity, reflection and potential for college. Okay, maybe it isn’t that easy. However, this daunting task can be made even more difficult – and stressful – if students have the well-meaning guidance of too many cooks in the kitchen. Read more
I just returned from the fine state of Oregon, where I sat for the National Certified Educational Planner exam in Portland. This exam was the last step to become one of only 200 college consultants in the United States who have been certified by the American Institute of Certified Educational Planners. Read more
A recent Forbes article discussed one of the common mysteries found in many college applications – the “optional” option. Some colleges provide an Optional Essay. A number of schools offer Optional Short Answer prompts. And a few universities – like Yale – take a completely different approach, providing students an open-ended option – “Write about something you would like us to know about you that you have not conveyed elsewhere in your application.” Read more
Dear Parents,
When your child goes to college, he or she will encounter a whole new world of challenges. Some situations will involve academics and others will include new social adventures, but all of these experiences will introduce new kinds of psychological stress. By far, isolation is the most common, significant and often unexpected stress that new college students associate with increased anxiety and poor academic performance. Read more
I just returned from a few days touring schools in Nashville: Vanderbilt, Tennessee State, Belmont and Lipscomb. A few things you immediately notice as you arrive in Music Town USA are: both kinds of music – Country and Western – are played incessantly, air conditioning is a religion, and Nashvillians are very polite. While most schools were just finishing classes and finals were well under way, this provided a fantastic opportunity to talk with decompressing students and gather their best recommendations for the most important college things: best libraries to study, programs of note, realities of financial aid and as always… where to find great ice cream and grilled cheese sandwiches.
Vanderbilt and Belmont represent two very beautiful campuses and students will quickly tell you that the schools are “bubbles” in a city. Students don’t have to leave campus but can easily head downtown, which is only a bus and a walk away. And if you are headed off campus, make sure to stop at Jeni’s Ice Cream — Buttermint Chocolate Fleck. That flavor alone should be considered a national treasure.
I don’t eat fast food. But I can’t live without pizza.
– Trevor Donovan
While there are innumerable ways to approach college visits – including investigating specific areas of interest, like programs of distinction and financial aid availability – I usually incorporate a culturally disarming focus point to guide my “tour experience” and ultimately open the most insightful conversations with students. Food. More specifically, the holy trinity of college cuisine: ice cream, grilled cheese and pizza. Read more
Art without engineering is dreaming. Engineering without art is calculating.
– Steven Roberts
“I want to be an engineer.” As an educator, scientist and most recently as an educational and college consultant, I have heard this steadfast phrase repeated by misguided teenagers more times over the last two decades than you can possibly imagine. In that time I have untangled this resounding statement with students, and a consistent pattern has emerged. Read more
I just got back from sunny – and green – California after touring Santa Clara University, San Jose State University, Carnage Mellon – at NASA Ames, and Singularity University. While each of these schools is steeped in unique opportunities, I may have found Nirvana. College Cuisine Nirvana…
For those who have come to understand my somewhat unorthodox approach to school visits (read as: talk/listen to any student in earshot, visit professors and admissions reps, walk the campus… and find gelato, good gelato) my search for the ultimate campus food provider may have come to an end. Just off the Santa Clara campus is Mission City Creamery. While they have amazing and unique ice cream (Honey Lavender, Caramelized Banana!) produced from milk selflessly provided by local cows at Strauss Creamery, that’s not what set a radically new gastronomic high bar. They also have extraordinary grilled cheese sandwiches. Yes, one-stop shopping. Ice Cream and Grilled Cheese under one roof.
Be prepared for the line out the door and don’t forget to take a walk all the way around the beautiful Santa Clara campus. You will need it!
The reality of making a four-year commitment to a university has never been more… intimidating. The costs and long-term obligations associated with college are not to be taken lightly and many students are not ready to dive into four years of intense – and specific – academic studies. In many cases teens have not come to terms with the college muse…yet.