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This weekly email searches main media outlets finding stories that may be of interest to high school counselors, college admission officers and related organizations, with links to the original stories. It is published by de facto, inc., publishers of other e-newsletters.
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Big Picture

Should high school freshmen start applying to colleges?
CBS News - Oct 13, 2015
If you think the college application is stressful enough now, dozens of the country's most elite colleges and universities want teenagers to start earnestly focusing on applications as early as freshman year....
Why 'need-blind' is the wrong goal for college admissions
Washington Post  - Oct 12, 2015
Colleges soon must stop asking prospective students where else they are applying on admissions applications, according to new ethical guidelines approved late last week....
High-Stress High School
The Atlantic - Oct 9, 2015
Kids who go to elite private high schools enjoy lots of advantages. They have access to the most challenging academic classes at reputable institutions, with staffs that are well-equipped to help them prepare for college. Parents pay an average of $10,000 per year to ensure their kids this privilege...
Underserved and overburdened, transfer students face an uphill battle to earn their degrees
Hechinger Report  - Oct 8, 2015
Alicea Thomas works at a Starbucks and dreams of a career in talk radio or public relations. At age 23, she wants to get a bachelor’s degree at Arizona State University, having previously attended a California public university and a community college.....
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College Admissions Process/Strategies

College Applicant Cheat Sheet: 15 Must-Reads For Getting Into The Right College
Forbes - Oct 12, 2015
For many families, there are few more stressful times than those months leading up to a teenagers application and ultimate enrollment in college. From creating an appropriate college list to navigating the Common Application and filling out dreaded financial aid forms, like FAFSA....
What Rising College Application Volume Means for the Class of 2020
US News - Oct 9, 2015
?College application volume has been rapidly increasing. In the past, applying to six or seven colleges might have been considered more than sufficient. Now that number has become not just commonplace, but in many cases, lower than the norm. Some students even apply to 15 or more institutions.....
College Admissions: School Specific Research
GoLocalPDX College Admissions  - Oct 7, 2015
f you are a junior, at this point in time you might have a list of 20–30 colleges that seem interesting based on general criteria like size, location, and available programs. How do you do research to narrow that list? mistakes are rampant, and many students are clueless when it comes to writing a non-academic paper.y...
College admissions officers talk about top priorities
Burlington County Times  - Oct 11, 2015
Nori Horvitz knows it takes more than good grades to get into college. The 17-year-old Moorestown High School senior said her class is packed with “overachievers” who are delving into multiple clubs, ....
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Recommendation Letters

3 Student Tips for Getting Great College Recommendation Letters
US News - Oct 12, 2015
Asking for a recommendation letter can be an intimidating task for many college applicants. Students might wonder how to ask for letters, how many letters they'll need or if they'll need different letters for each college. ...
Archives - Recommendation Letters
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Essays

Getting In: The College Essay
Slate.com - Oct 9, 2015
The personal statement might be only 650 words, but these paragraphs have the power to make a student stand out to the admissions office, or get lost in the pack...
5 things to know about writing a great college essay
Charlotte Observer - Oct 9, 2015
As I read student essay after student essay this fall, I often find myself asking, in not such a polite tone, “What were they thinking?” Grammar and usage mistakes are rampant, and many students are clueless when it comes to writing a non-academic paper.y...
The Essay Questions Colleges Should Be Asking -- But Aren't
Huffington Post - Oct 13, 2015
Friends whose son started on his college applications this week were bemoaning the process to us, knowing we have lived through it ourselves. It's been a while since our sons applied and I was curious to know if the essay topics had improved in the interim....
Archives - Essays
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Visiting/Fairs

Visiting Colleges? Here's A How To …
Daily North Shore - Oct 8, 2015
For students and parents alike, the quest to find the perfect college often starts with a fall campus visit. When setting up those college tours, it’s important for students to know what they want to find out before setting foot on campus.....
An Adventure in Cartography: Approaching College Visits as a Pair of Explorers
Patheos - Oct 12, 2015
Malia Obama is reported to have visited a friend at Brown University this weekend. Its at least the second time she has been to campus and Brown is supposedly among her top choices for college next fall. .....
Oxford University admissions interview questions – and answers – revealed
The Guardian - Oct 12, 2015
Should there be a cap on bankers’ bonuses? Can archaeology prove or disprove the Bible? These are the types of topics that would-be Oxford students could find themselves pondering at an interview to study at the famous university. .....

Archives - Visiting/Interviews
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Counselors

HSCW Counselors' Corners
Post - Oct 15, 2015
Giving Junior Families the College Help They Need
This time of year is every counselor’s nightmare. You just get finished administering the PSAT (which, with some of its changes, was not an easy task), and suddenly, your office is flooded with questions from juniors and junior parents: “When should I take the SAT? More

6 Ways to Build A Better Relationship With Your Guidance Counselor
Her Campus  - Oct 7, 2015
Although you may have only briefly met your guidance counselor (also called school counselors) as an underclassman during mandatory meetings and schedule sign-offs (and that one time freshman year you ran into her office crying your eyes out—it’s happened to the best of us), maintaining a strong relationship with your guidance counselor during senior year is one of the most important thing..
School counselors play critical role in college attendance
Education Drive - Oct 12, 2015
Schools are facing increasing scrutiny and pressure to ensure that students are ready for college and that they attend — and those efforts are bringing more attention to school counselors, who can play a key role....
School counselors' influence grows
District Administration  - Oct 7, 2015
Partnerships, training and dedicated centers help students seek college and careers. When Cory Notestine moved to Alamosa, a southern Colorado town founded by the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad, he saw many barriers standing in the way of student success...
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Parents

Parents, pick your college prep battles
Huffington Post - Oct 13, 2015
Many a home with a college-bound teen can seem more like a battleground for different points of view. That’s because parents and their children are at different life stages and with dissimilar experiences...
Survey: Most Freshmen Are Not Emotionally Prepared for College
NBC News - Oct 13, 2015
High school students spend years taking classes that will help them tackle the rigors of college courses. But according to a new national survey, most freshmen were unprepared for campus life in one important way: emotionally...
Helicopter Parents Learn College Is Time For A Landing
NBC News - Oct 13, 2015
Freshman year is a time of transition—and one of the biggest transitions has to do with the parent-child relationship. What might have been seen as responsible parenting during the K-12 days, including making sure a child gets to class on time, ..
Parents, Rejoice! Teen Moodiness Fades with Age
Discovery - Oct 14, 2015
Parents of teenagers, does your son or daughter brush you off at the simplest question? Does your child throw a tantrum over what most ordinary adults would consider a minor setback? Does your teenager change his or her hairstyle/wardrobe/sense of identity every six months or so? Is he or she “in love” ..
Don't Panic: It's Never too Late to Start College Financial Planning
TeenLife Blog - Oct 8, 2015
If you’re like most of us, life catches up with you. Before you know it, your student is choosing a college, which means you have to think about paying for it. Unfortunately, too many parents, including me, wait until our kids are in high school to ask the question: How are we going to pay for college? ..
Archives - Parents
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SAT & ACTs

A Close Look at the New SAT
The College Solution Blog  - Oct 7 2015
By our appraisal, the revised SAT is superior in most every way to the current SAT. It is a more rigorous test, and it is more aligned with college-level thinking, reading, and writing...
Does the PSAT Really Matter?
Forbes  - Oct 7 2015
Every October, in classrooms and cafeterias all across the country, high school juniors and precocious sophomores gather to take the PSAT. Short for “preliminary SAT,” the PSAT is an abbreviated version of the infamous SAT...
College Corner: New And Improved PSAT Test
Cape News  - Oct 7 2015
One of the first steps on the journey toward attending college is taking the PSAT (Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test). All juniors (sophomores now take it in the spring) who are thinking of attending a four-year college should sign up for the test...
Archives - SATs & ACTs
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FinAid/Scholarships

3 Changes to the FAFSA for College Students to Understand
US News & World Report  - Oct 13, 2015
Some important changes are coming to the Free Application for Federal Student Aid next year, but Joseph Orsolini, a college financial aid adviser in the Chicago area, hasn't fielded many questions from parents....
5 College Financing Updates All Students and Parents Should Know About
NerdWallet  - Oct 8, 2015
It’s college application season, and the reality of how much that degree will cost is hitting families across the country — even those who have been preparing for years. But changes to how families fill out the FAFSA, along with new ways to decide what colleges they can afford, might help make the process a little easier...
Insider Tips on Financial Aid Refunds
Huffington Post  - Oct 13, 2015
If you are one of the millions of college students who receive a financial aid refund from your college or university each semester, you may be wondering what these funds are for. Simply put, a financial aid refund (sometimes referred to as a "credit balance")...
Navigating college financial aid options pays off
Trib Live  - Oct 10, 2015
When Joyce Montag began visiting colleges with her daughter Angela, she was stunned by the costs and what the family would be asked to contribute. Her daughter's preferred school, ....
3 Weird and Unusual College Scholarships
US News  - Oct 1, 2015
What is your idea of weird? Most of you reading this blog will likely find the following scholarships a bit odd – but hopefully a great deal of help as well.....
Archives - FinAid
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South

Florida governor calls for “Career in a Year” initiative for technical colleges
Florida Times Union - Oct 12, 2015
TALLAHASSEE | Saying he wants to spend $20 million to help technical schools respond quickly to employer needs, Gov. Rick Scott on Monday began what is likely to be a stream of announcements about his upcoming budget proposal......
Texas figuring out how to handle campus carry law
CNN - Oct 9, 2015
Austin, Texas (CNN)One of the most prominent opponents of the "campus carry" bill that passed in Texas this year was University of Texas System Chancellor William McRaven, a former Navy SEALs admiral responsible for directing the raid that killed Osama bin Laden.....
Texas Schools Now Clock Student Attendance in Minutes, Not Days
KERA News - Oct 12, 2015
This year, Texas public schools won’t measure instructional time by days, but they’ll do it by minutes. In the past, Texas public schools years were required to be provide 180 days of instruction.....
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Teen Drinking

How Letting Teens Drink at Home Affects Them Later in Life
Yahoo News - Oct 13, 2015
When it comes to allowing teenagers to have alcohol at home, parents tend to fall into two camps: They either forbid underage drinking, or they permit their teens to have some alcohol at home — whether just for special occasions or, more often...
Alcohol can rewire the teenage brain
Science News for Students - Oct 5, 2015
Alcohol is a drug. And every day, more than 4,750 American kids aged 15 and younger take their first full drink of this drug. That’s according to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA. ...
 
 
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Contents

Big Pic
Process
LOR
Essay
Visits
Counsel
Parents
SATs & ACTs
FinAid
South
Drinking

Sponsors

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