High School Counselor Week
Weekly stories, facts, trends, and other information from around the country
April 4, 2019
Auctioning Off College Admissions Spots
Inside Higher Ed – Apr 1, 2019
LinkedIn post by employee of Harvard Management Company infuriates many — and is removed. But is it a sign of the times that people are saying auctions might be fairer than current system?
Why Harvard, Yale And Stanford May Not Be The ‘Best’ Colleges
NPR.org – Mar 29, 2019
If you’re naming top colleges, you might not think of the City University of New York right away. It’s not selective — it serves what one former official called “the top 100 percent.” It also has a pretty low graduation
The Implicit Punishment of Daring to Go to College When Poor
New York Times – Mar31, 2019
A documentary to be screened on Capitol Hill next month, in which I am featured, chronicles the experience of low-income students navigating college admissions.
Obfuscating Net Price
Inside Higher Ed-Mar 28, 2019
When it last overhauled the Higher Education Act in 2008, Congress required that colleges make disclosures on their websites about the actual net price students would pay if they enrolled on campus. But many four-year institutions are failing to meet these federal standards more than a decade later.
What to do When a College Says No
Post – Apr 3, 2019
Counselors’ Corner with Patrick O’Connor Ph.D
Rookie parent mistakes on campus visits
Tribune News Service – Apr 3, 2019
College Admissions Strategies with Lee Bierer
College Admission Scandal: Symptom of a Larger Problem
Post – Mar 20, 2019
The College Solution Blog with Lynn O’Shaughnessy
Independent Educational Consultants who are qualified, ethical and a credit to the profession
Post – Mar 27, 2019
The Explorations Blog with Nancy Griesemer
OPINION: We must close college counseling’s equity gap
Hechinger Report – Apr 2, 2019
Ask people of color if they are surprised by the alleged college admissions bribery case in the news, and they will likely laugh out loud.
Inside the legitimate business of college consulting
The Denver Channel-Mar 28, 2019
DENVER — The college consulting industry feels the admissions scandal has given people misconceptions about their business.
College corner: Scandal highlights need for ethical advisers
Davis Enterprise-Mar 28, 2019
I hesitate to add to the pile of words spilled on the college admissions scandal, but as a professional college advisor, I believe I must add some perspective.
‘A lot of stressors on kids these days’: Sonoma County school counselors on alert following Parkland teen suicides
Sonoma Index-Tribune-Apr 1, 2019
School counselors across Sonoma County are on alert, checking in on students and watching for red flags following the recent apparent suicides of two Parkland, Florida teens
The 1 thing the parents in the college-admissions bribery scandal got right
MarketWatch-Apr 1, 2019
The well-heeled parents who bribed their undeserving children’s way into some of the nation’s top universities—15 of whom appeared in a federal courthouse in Boston Friday—got a heck of a lot wrong.
When mother doesn’t know best: The ferocity of overparenting in the midst of the college cheating scandal
Good Morning America – Mar 29, 2019
In the case of modern parenting, a helicopter mom will hover while lawnmower parents will unapologetically intervene. But in the extreme case of the recent college cheating scandal
‘Safe’ teen drinking? Here’s why parents shouldn’t facilitate it
Grand Forks Herald-Apr 1, 2019
Referred to by social scientists as “harm reduction,” this strategy is more than just ineffective, say experts. It’s actually helping to fuel an epidemic of teenage binge drinking.
Anxious about debt, Generation Z makes college choice a financial one
PBS Newshour – Mar 28, 2019
The amount of student loan debt Americans hold is at a record high, and much of it is shouldered by Millennials–people in their late 20s and 30s.
The case against the college waitlist
Quartz – Mar 11, 2019
Colleges’ use of the waitlist has increased in recent years (paywall), even as the number of students who get off the waitlist and into their dream schools has
You’ve been wait-listed to college. Now what?
CBS News – Mar 29, 2019
Ivy League schools released their admissions decisions Thursday, and other elite institutions are set to notify students of their decisions on April 1 — on the heels of a college admissions scandal that has rocked higher education.
Maximize Your Chances of Getting off the Waitlist at Your Dream College
KUSI Newsroom – Apr 1, 2019
SAN DIEGO (KUSI) – College acceptances and denials are rolling in and college admissions expert, Dr. Helen Griffith joined Good Morning San Diego to talk about how to help increase a student’s chances of moving from the waitlist to the admit list.
Waitlisted At Your Dream School? Here’s What To Do Next
Yahoo Finance – Mar 28, 2019
Tips for getting off the college waitlist. Yahoo Finance’s Zack Guzman & Kristin Myers, along with ‘Everyday Millionaires’ author Chris Hogan discuss…
Families Rely on ‘Net Price Calculators’ to Estimate the Actual Cost of College. A New Study Shows How Misleading They Can Be
Money Magazine – Mar 29, 2019
Figuring out the true price of college before you enroll can be confusing—and one of the best tools to help you do so could be flawed, according to a new study.
Choosing a College: Tips for Parents
Azusa Pacific University – Mar 30, 2019
The excitement of opening those college acceptance letters can quickly be followed by a sense of anxiety. How does a student choose a college that will best support who they are and especially
The most consequential, and least informed, decision that college students make
Washington Post – Mar 29, 2019
When you pick a college major, you’re (theoretically) setting the trajectory of your entire career. Yet this life-altering decision can be altered by something as trivial as what time of day you took the class
The ‘Other’ College Scandal: Grade Inflation Has Turned Transcripts into Monopoly Money
Forbes – Mar 30, 2019
The blockbuster college admissions scandal continues to make headlines: The rich and powerful are being charged with engaging in fraudulent practices…
Test prep to get into vocational education? Yup, it’s a thing
Hechinger Report – Apr 2, 2019
New Jersey’s county-run career and technical high schools are helping to revive vocational education — but critics say some cherry-pick the best and the brightest
Is There a Mismatch Between Career-Tech Ed and Good Jobs?
Education Week – Apr 3, 2019
Though celebrated as a way to funnel young people into good jobs without the debt of a bachelor’s degree, career technical education is not matching students with jobs that pay well and are most plentiful, a report says.
When to Expect Your Financial Aid Award Letter
US News & World Report – Apr 3, 2019
Students hoping to get help paying for college should expect to receive their financial aid award letter after submitting the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, or FAFSA
Understanding Your Financial Aid Award Letter
Forbes – Apr 2, 2019
Second only to anxiously waiting for an admissions decision to your top college, deciphering the numbers sent by the financial aid department can easily be the most stressful time of your senior year.
Everything You Need to Know About the Pell Grant
US News & World Report – Mar 30, 2019
As families weigh the affordability of colleges, they should be aware that the Pell Grant is the first form of aid a student with exceptional financial need can expect to receive.
How to Avoid Scholarship Scams
US News & World Report – Apr 1, 2019
AS COLLEGE COSTS RISE, scholarship scams employed by predatory companies continue to target prospective students and their families.
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The kids talked about shootings, college costs, depression. Were the adults listening?
Washington Post – Apr 1, 2019
It’s still hard for McKenzie Turner to talk about that day. She was walking home from middle school three years ago with her best friend, who couldn’t wait to tell his dad that he’d aced a math test. He bolted away from McKenzie so he could share the news.
Children at Risk of Depression and ADHD More Likely To Be Bullied
Newsweek – Apr 3, 2019
Children at risk of developing mental health disorders such as depression and ADHD are more likely to be bullied, according to scientists.
Prepare for AP Exam Season With This One-Month Study Plan
US News & World Report – Apr 1, 2019
YOU PROBABLY KNOW IT IS best to plan ahead to study for AP exams, which are scheduled for early to mid-May, over a series of months. However, not all students prepare this far in advance for their AP exams,…
New Push for Test Optional
Inside Higher Ed-Apr 1, 2019
More colleges are ending requirements that applicants submit SAT or ACT. It’s not the admissions scandal, but about diversity concerns and may be…
The cost of taking the SAT and ACT, explained
Vox-Mar 28, 2019
It costs a lot of money to get into college. There’s the cost of high school extracurriculars and test prep, all the things that are supposed to give a student a better…
How to Get Your Teen’s SAT or ACT Fees Subsidized
Lifehacker- Apr 2, 2019
Add in the fact that many college counselors recommend taking the test multiple times to use the best scores, and the numbers can get out of hand very quickly.
Abuse of ‘extended time’ on SAT and ACT outrages learning disability community
Washington Post – Mar 29, 2019
For Noah Coates, the SAT and ACT were grueling, multiday marathons. The Baltimore County student took each exam in a private room, with twice the normal time, because he has dyslexia and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Why students with learning disabilities need accommodations on standardized tests and hate that some parents lied about it
Philly.com – Mar 31, 2019
Things got better after he was diagnosed with dyslexia in third grade and began getting support. Despite his diagnosis, Marsh couldn’t get all the accommodations he sought when it came time for him to take his college entrance exam, the SAT.
The questions you should really ask on college tours
Slate Magazine-Mar 28, 2019
It’s spring, the season when parents and their high-schoolers are preparing road trips and spring break flights to college towns for the familiar ritual…
Study: College visits motivate students to take advanced high school courses
Education Dive – Apr 2, 2019
Visiting a college campus can sometimes impact students’ views on higher education, but it can also affect a student’s decisions in high school, according to a working paper out of the University of Arkansas’s College of Education and Health Professions.
Make the most of a college visit
Sioux City Journal-Mar 30, 2019
College visits help you discover a school’s culture, campus, and the surrounding community while learning about the admissions and financial aid processes.
Admissions, Athletics and the Academic Index
Inside Higher Ed – Apr 3, 2019
To understand how the recent scam departed from conventional procedures for monitoring the role of athletics in admissions, it’s worth examining the Ivy League conference, writes John R. Thelin