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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

The Discrimination In College Admissions Nobody Is Talking About
Forbes  - Sep 19, 2016
Jodi Balfe, Amalia Halikias, and Lanya Olmstead share something in common. They are all Ivy League graduates. They are all half Asian. And they all opted to identify as the other half of their ethnicity when applying to college–white..
Fancy Dorms Aren’t The Main Reason Tuition Is Skyrocketing
FiveThirtyEight.comg  - Sep 13, 2016
In 2000, Temple University was primarily a commuter school. On-campus dorms could house fewer than 4,000 students out of a total student body of more than 30,000. Most facilities were badly outdated..
How College Aid Is Like A Bad Coupon
NPR.org  - Sep 19, 2016
Ian grew up in Milwaukee, in an African-American family with five kids where the annual income was just $25,000. He was involved in sports and after-school activities, and spent a year working after high school to save up for college..
The mindboggling barriers that colleges create — and that end up hurting their own students
Hechinger Report  - Sep 19, 2016
As a student at a Massachusetts private college learns midway through a semester that his financial aid is less than he expected. Since he can’t afford the difference, the college embargoes his transcript for that term and his grades from the previous two years —...
Free College Is Not a Fantasy
The Atlantic  - Sep 15, 2016
KNOXVILLE, Tenn.—The idea of free college is garnering more attention as presidential hopeful Hillary Clinton works the crowd-pleasing concept into her campaign stump speeches. It was a tenet of Bernie Sanders’s attempt to secure the Democratic nomination.. ...
How Big Data Transformed Applying to College
Slate Magazine - Sep 15, 2016
It’s September, so if there’s a high-school senior in your life, you’re getting down to work on college admissions. A generation ago, that meant visiting a few campuses, ponying up application fees, and filling out forms. That seems quaint now ...
Colleges pledge to give applicants with criminal records a fair shot
CNN/Money - Sep 15, 2016
The Obama administration announced earlier this week that 61 colleges and universities, including the University of Maryland, Arizona State University and New York University, have signed onto its Fair Chance for Higher Education pledge. These schools join 25 other colleges that signed on earlier in the summer. ...
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College Admissions Process/Strategies

Survey Of Colleges Reveals Surprising Results About Admission Factors
Forbes  - Sep 15, 2016
Debate always swirls around what factors are most important in the college admission process, especially when hyper-competitive institutions are concerned. Of course grades and scores top the list, but the relative strengths of other factors have fluctuated over the years in ways that can make it harder. ...
The College Application Advice I Wish Someone Had Given Me
Huffington Post  - Sep 17, 2016
So your high school senior is in the throes of preparing his college applications. He’s retaking the SATs for the umpteenth time, hoping to squeeze out a few extra points there. He’s collapsing under the weight of the multiple AP classes that he felt compelled to take. ...
5 Majors You Need to Choose Before You Apply
GoLocalProv College Admissions  - Sep 19, 2016
While many students will apply to colleges with a major designation of “undecided”, there are pitfalls to doing that. In larger universities, it can be VERY difficult to switch from the colleges of arts and sciences into the business or engineering college. . ...
Choose a Safety School Wisely
US News  - Sep 19, 2016
Your safety school should be the college or university on your short list that serves as a backup if your target and reach schools do not work out in your favor. It is still a safety school, though, so your choice hardly matters – right? ...
Pros, Cons of High School Jobs for College Applications
US News  - Sep 13, 2016
An after-school job at the mall or a coffee shop is a pivotal part of the high school experience for some teens. But some families may wonder how these opportunities affect college admissions....
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Essay

‘Why This School?’ Should Be The First Admissions Essay You Write
Huffington Post  - Sep 16, 2016
It is time to write your college admissions essays. You have spent some time thinking about your main essay, the one that will tell an admissions team your story and give them a sense of your character and interests....
Why the student college application essay is often ‘a con job’
Washington Post  - Sep 21, 2016
The best college admissions essays, it is often said, give admissions officers a glimpse into who the applicant is and what he/she values. Really now? (Not the ones written by the applicant’s parents. Not the ones in which students pretend to care about something they don’t.)...
Sure Signs of an Outsourced College Essay
Wall Street Journal  - Sep 16, 2016
Between now and Thanksgiving, high-school seniors face the daunting task of writing riveting, revelatory personal essays that will make college admissions officers look more favorably on their applications.....
Archives - Essays
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Campus Visits

Commentary: Some helpful tips for college visits
The State Journal-Register - Sep 19, 2016
lerting all those who are looking at going to college. This time of year maybe stressful, but there are many tips that will help anyone when they are looking to visit a college. First off, visit the campus. It doesn’t really matter how many schools you are looking at. For your top schools, ..
9 Things to Do at a Potential College's Overnight Stay
Her Campus - Sep 18, 2016
Taking part in a “Sleeping Bag Weekend" -- an overnight stay at a potential college, often with a current student -- is a beyond-amazing way to see if a school is the right fit for you. Make sure you know what to look for and the questions to ask to make the most of your time on campus.. ..
Archives - Campus Visits and Interviews
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Students with Disabilities

Eligible but got nothing: Hundreds of thousands of people with disabilities blocked from college aid
Hechinger Report  - Sep 20, 2016
QUEENS, N.Y. — Wendy Thompson always knew she wanted her son to go to college, but she didn’t realize so many people would disagree. Her son was born with cerebral palsy, a disease that confines him to a wheelchair but has little impact on his academic abilities. He graduated from high school with a Regents diploma in 2013...
Here's How Schools Can Support Students' Mental Health
NPR.org  - Sep 20, 2016
About one in five children in the United States shows signs of a mental health disorder — anything from ADHD to eating disorders to suicide. And yet, as we've been reporting this month, many schools aren't prepared to work with these students. Often, there's been too little training in recognizing the problems, ..
Archives - Disabilities
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Rankings

2017 US News College Rankings: Do colleges still care?
The Christian Science Monitor - Sep 13, 2016
US News and World Report has been ranking colleges for more than 30 years. But after decades of competition, criticism, and debate, do the rankings still matter to the students colleges hope to attract?. ..
Why College Rankings Are a Joke
New York Times  - Sep 18, 2016
Shortly before the newest U.S. News & World Report college rankings came out last week, I got a fresh glimpse of how ridiculous they can be — and of why panicked high school seniors and their status-conscious parents should not spend the next months obsessing over them.. ..
Here are RateMyProfessors.com's top universities, professors based on student reviews
USA Today - College  - Sep 15, 2016
Having the right professor could potentially make or break your academic experience, not to mention your grade. So before solidifying academic schedules, college students tend to shop around to find who the best professors at their university really are. ..
Archives - Rankings

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Counselors

The Undervaluing of School Counselors
The Atlantic  - Sep 16, 2016
Teenagers make bad choices. Honestly, who doesn’t? For adolescents, however, who are armed with new responsibilities, opportunities, and bodies they are almost inevitably unprepared to deal with, the wrong decision can have serious, life-altering effects. For low-income adolescents who lack the safety net that comes with privilege, the wrong decisions can be catastrophic.. ...
The Guidance Counselor You Barely Know
Lifezette  - Sep 19, 2016
Edmission is launching a new web application for its online personalized college admission planning service, serving students and parents who cannot afford or don’t want to pay for the expensive private college counseling.. ...
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Parents

Stay healthy on campus
Tribune News Service - Sep 18, 2016
They’re gone. All summer long you worried about their dorm room, what classes they’d take, how they’d adjust socially, if they will run out of money, if they will be homesick, etc. Guess what? They’re fine!...
Schools And Mental Health: When The Parent Has To Take Charge
NPR.org - Ed - Sep 18, 2016
In the waning days of summer vacation, Sydney and Laney are enjoying their final moments of freedom flipping over a high bar at a playground close by their house in Spartanburg, S.C....
Archives - Parents
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SAT & ACTs

Despite warnings, College Board redesigned SAT in way that may hurt neediest students
Reuters - Sep 21, 2016
Part Six: Internal documents show the makers of the new SAT knew the test was overloaded with wordy math problems – a hurdle that could reinforce race and income disparities. The College Board went ahead with the exam anyway.. ..
Should You Take the ACT, SAT or Both?
Her Campus - Sep 13, 2016
Being accepted into college is one of the happiest moments in your life. However, what some people may not see behind the tears of joy associated with receiving your college acceptance letter is the numerous hours you spent studying for the SAT or ACT ––or maybe even both. ..
Record number of colleges now have ACT/SAT ‘optional’ or ‘flexible’ admissions policies
Washington Post - Sep 20, 2016
A new analysis of college admissions policies found that half of the top 100 national liberal arts colleges on the U.S. News & World Report rankings now have test-optional or test-flexible policies. In addition, a record number of more than 870 colleges and universities now report having changed their admissions policies on requiring the ACT.. ..
Archives - SATs & ACTs
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FinAid/Scholarships

Realities of National Merit Scholarships
The College Solution Blog - Sep 18, 2016
This is the time of year when parents of teenagers, who are excellent test takers, start thinking about National Merit Scholarships. Next month, high school juniors will be taking the PSAT, which is a requirement to qualify for National Merit honors.. ..
At Last, Your Financial Aid Ordeal Has Gotten Easier
New York Times  - Sep 18, 2016
Applying for financial aid and choosing a college in the United States is still much too complicated, but some long-overdue reforms are finally underway, and in the nick of time... ..
Colleges That Claim to Meet Full Financial Need
US News  - Sep 19, 2016
For most parents, paying for college isn’t easy; but some schools offer enough institutional dollars to students to offset expensive sticker prices.....
Check Out What to Expect During a Scholarship Interview
US News  - Sep 15, 2016
After you've applied for a scholarship, the selection committee may want to learn more about you through a scholarship interview. Most of the time, scholarship providers clearly state in the application that they hold interviews as a part of the scholarship process, so usually this won't come as a surprise....
Archives - FinAid/Scholarships
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Career and Technical Education

CTE Bill Hits Road Bump Over Restrictions on Education Secretary’s Authority
Education World  - Sep 20, 2016
The federal agency announced a set of online resources for students affected by the abrupt closure of ITT Technical Institutes..Chairman of the Senate education committee and one of the main architects behind the Every Student Succeeds Act, Lamar Alexander, has continually expressed his disappointment with the involvement of the federal government in implementing the new education legislation. ..
Education Department beefs up effort to help ITT Tech students
Washington Post  - Sep 19, 2016
The federal agency announced a set of online resources for students affected by the abrupt closure of ITT Technical Institutes.. ..
Archives - Career & Technical Education
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Northeast

UMaine System to Seek Increase in State Funding
Maine Public Radio - Sep 17, 2016
BANGOR, Maine - The University of Maine System's Board of Trustees plans to ask lawmakers for a 12 percent increase in state funding over the current budget cycle. Dan Demeritt, communications director for the UMaine System, said the trustees decided to seek the increase over a three-year period,. ..
UNH to spend thrifty librarian's money on a $1 million football scoreboard
The Christian Science Monitor - Sep 17, 2016
Thrifty librarian Robert Morin made headlines after he donated his $4 million estate to his alma mater and employer, the University of New Hampshire. Now, the university faces criticism for deciding to use $1 million of his donation to buy an electronic football scoreboard.. ..
This District May Close All Of Its High Schools; It's About Much More Than Money
The Christian Science Monitor - Sep 11, 2016
In northwest Pennsylvania, along the edge of Lake Erie, you'll find the city of Erie. There, the superintendent of the more than 12,000-student district has forwarded a plan that's causing a stir — calling for leaders to consider shutting down all of the district's high schools and sending students to the wealthier, whiter, suburban districts... ..
Education Reform Works in Massachusetts. Will Voters Care?
New York Magazine - Sep 19, 2016
Charter schools have existed for just 25 years, and their quality varies. On the whole, charters are more effective in urban areas than are traditional neighborhood schools, but only about equally effective elsewhere.. ..
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Teen Depression

Better, cost-effective depression treatment for teens identified
ScienceDaily - Sep 20, 2016
Depression can create a huge cost burden on patients and institutions, and for teenagers that includes issues like missed school and the costs of healthcare for families. A new study identifies a cost-effective treatment that yields promising results for depressed teens.. ..
Prioritizing Free Play May Reduce Teenage Anxiety And Depression
Huffington Post - Sep 20, 2016
I remember the car ride home when my parents found out my brother skipped school for the first time. We turned the corner and crossed the train tracks as they calmly told him not to do it again. They weren't mad. There was no punishment. I couldn't believe it... ..
 
 
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Contents

Big Pic
Process
Essay
Visits
ADHD
Rankings
Counsel
Parents
SATs & ACTs
FinAid
CTEd
Northeast
Depression

Sponsors

Hollins</a
Dedham Savings
Dean_College
TeenLife
Bay_State_College
CPA
St_Vincent
WIT

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