‘Tis The Summer Before College – 7 Tips To Get You Ready
June 16, 2011
Congratulation
s! You just received your high school diploma! It’s time to celebrate! For many recent grads, this is exactly how you should be feeling right now. Soak it in and enjoy your accomplishment!
By the time the calendar turns to July, however, you should be starting to prepare for your next milestone: being a College Freshman. Time to become physically, mentally and emotionally ready to go from being a high school senior to starting over at a new school, in possibly a new state, with new people all around. Feel overwhelmed? Here are seven tips to help you get ready for this exciting time:
- Get a check-up. Most colleges require a physical before enrolling, so take care of this requirement. Ask your doctor if you should be taking any vitamins or other medicines while you’re away at college. Make sure you stock up on them, or at least have a prescription to be filled while you’re on campus. While you’re at it, get checked by your family dentist and eye doctor too! One other item: find out what your health insurance coverage is, and put the membership card(s) in your wallet.
- Buy some new clothes. Nothing makes you feel more confident than showing up for class in a new outfit. Check out your wardrobe and purchase new items at your favorite stores – which may not be located in your college town.
- Go on facebook and “meet” your new roommate. Most colleges will let you know sooner rather than later who your freshman roommate is going to be. Go online and meet them well in advance of move in day! This way, you’ll feel more confident and hopefully already have a friend on campus, even if you’re the only one from your high school attending that college.
- Think ahead about your dorm room. Scope out comforters, sheets, pillows and lamps. Absolutely can’t live without that shaving cream or shampoo? Prefer a certain notebook, pen or highlighter? Is your computer “college ready”? Try to think ahead and purchase all the necessities that you want to have with you on campus. After all, mom and dad won’t be there to give you the comforts of home.
- Money, money, money. This one may take some pre-planning. You need to consider how you are going to be financially fit while away from your regular ATM machine. Check to see if your bank has a branch on or near your campus. If not, see what banks do and be prepared to open up an account there when you arrive. Talk with your parents about getting a credit or debit card, and find out your spending limits. Set up a budget. You are going to be venturing forth as an independent young adult, so you need to get your financial house in order!
- Fill out the forms. Your college will be sending you a lot of forms to fill out, including your course selections. Take your time with these, but do return them on time. Also, when you’re looking over all of this material, mark down the date for orientation – when your real adventure begins!
- Do your homework. Yes, some college courses assign homework before class even starts! If you’re one of these lucky students, be sure to arrive on campus with all of your work completed!
We hope these tips will enable you to feel confident as you leave high school behind, and begin your exciting journey in college!
As always, we welcome your feedback and ideas. Please submit a comment below, send us an email or give us a call at 973-243-1212.
Summer Schedule Starts Saturday
June 9, 2011
Starting Saturday, June 11th, Top-Tier’s office hours are going to their summer schedule. We will now be in the office Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 4-7 pm. However, as you know, we are available at other times by appointment – and you can always get us by phone (973.243.1212) or email (info@Top-TierTutoring.com).
Enjoy the hot weather, stay cool and if you’re a “rising senior” – start your college apps NOW!
Common Application Essay Limits Word Count
June 5, 2011
The College Board (“the Board”) has determined to reinstate a prior word limit on the Common Application (“Common App”) essay, after several years of experimenting with having no upper limit. Beginning on August 1st of 2011 (the opening of the Common App window), the maximum word count will be changed to 500. The 250 word minimum remains unchanged.
The impetus for this change appears to have arisen as a result of complaints coming from college admissions officers. As a consequence of lengthy, rambling and unfocussed essays that were submitted, Common App member colleges and universities have repeatedly pressed the Board to reconsider capping the length of the Common App essay. Therefore, as if the college application process is not already stressful enough, students must now face the added challenge of having to distinguish themselves from their peers through a more restricted platform with which to express their thoughts.
Undoubtedly, many students will hail this decision as lightening their college application burden. However, such a view is imprudent in that it stems from a dearth of guidance and a regrettably common lack of aptitude in developing composition creatively, coherently and concisely among high school students. High schoolers cheering the limitation are, perhaps, the very ones requiring the most flexibility. Without the cap, those students maintaining written competency would generally be capable of communicating effectively and succinctly, making a maximum word count irrelevant. On the other hand, applicants whose areas of strength reside more within the realms of math, science or the arts, might be hard-pressed to adequately convey a flavor of who they are by using the medium of writing.
This change to the Common App essay is notable, given that our society is moving toward shorter forms of communication. For example, microblogging sites such as Twitter only allow 140 characters per tweet, or approximately 28 words. To put this new requirement in common parlance, college applicants may be able to include the equivalent of 23 tweets in their Common App essay.
Ultimately, this discussion is an academic one, as a decision has been made that appears unopen for debate. All 2011 applicants must prepare to submit thoughtful essays, where every word is carefully weighed and considered, owing to the constraint of brevity that is now being imposed upon them. One cannot help but wonder what outcome may have ensued, had the Board submitted this anticipated adjustment directly to the public (e.g., counselors, teachers, parents, students, etc.), as a proposal for consideration, even a mere 2 or 3 years prior to actually instituting the change. At the risk of sounding naïve, is it too farfetched to believe that an announced, upcoming reduction in word count might possibly have prompted at least some faculties to increase their emphases on writing skills preemptively? Alas, we’ll never know.
Working closely with a college applicant on his or her Common App essay, college counselors must ensure that it pithily provides a snapshot of the student’s individuality to admissions officers. This blog post comprises 500 words.
