High School Counselor Week

Keep calm, because what’s important—the school’s name, or yours?
Detroit Free Press – March 8, 2020
Dear (Anxious) High School Seniors…March is when colleges notify prospective students, which means a lot of nail-biting and panicked tweets. It also leaves some of you feeling like your lives hang in the balance. They do not…

‘How do we rebuild trust?’ A year after admissions scandal, presidents say college must change
USA Today – March 9, 2020
Six leaders of elite colleges tell USA TODAY the Varsity Blues scandal caused them to question the fairness of college admissions.

DeVos: Here’s Why We Want To End Student Loan Forgiveness Program
Forbes – March 7, 2020
Why end public service student loan forgiveness?

Planning for the Pandemic
Post – March 11, 2020
Counselors’ Corner with Patrick O’Connor Ph.D.

Update on how the Coronavirus is impacting college campuses
Tribune News Service – March 11, 2020
College Admissions Strategies with Lee Bierer 

Essay-optional colleges
Post – March 4, 2020
The Explorations Blog with Nancy Griesemer

College Counselors and their Magic Powers
ACCIS AdmitAll Blog – February 14, 2020
When I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, I knew several people who made a good living as witches and tarot card readers. Oddly, we had similar gripes about our day jobs

A High-Poverty High School in Tennessee Is Using National Student Clearinghouse Data to Fuel a Revolution in Smart College Counseling
The 74 – March 8, 2020
Inside a small, cluttered office at the high-poverty Howard School here, college counselor Nicholas Siler wields a powerful software tool that greatly boosts the odds the students he counsels will successfully complete college.

Register For Our College Signing Day Webinar
NACAC Admitted Blog – March 9, 2020
Decision Day is fast approaching. May 1 is the deadline for students to accept an offer of admission at many institutions. To help counselors and college advisers prepare, NACAC is partnering with Reach Higher and the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) to offer a College Signing Day webinar.

Accepted or Rejected Let’s All Be Supportive During Decision Month
Palo Alto Online (CA) – March 4, 2020
This post is for both students and parents. For the student: this is going to be a tough month…

Parent Survival Guide: Helping your child prep for the SAT and ACT
WCSC-5 (SC) – March 9, 2020
If you have a child in high school you probably had the talk about going to college. If you have started the conversation, another important one to have is preparing for the SAT and ACT college admissions exams.

10 Tips for an Effective College Visit
U.S. News & World Report – March 11, 2020
Experiencing the feel of a college can go a long way in helping an applicant find the right fit by offering a valuable glimpse into student life and campus facilities.

What It Means to Be Waitlisted
ThoughtCo. – March 5, 2020
It’s important to understand what it means when you’ve been placed on a college waitlist. Like thousands of students across the country, you haven’t been accepted or rejected, and the resulting limbo can be frustrating. You’ll make better decisions if you have a clear picture of how waitlists work and what your options are.

Ask the Dean Live Event Recap
College Confidential – March 6, 2020
Answers to a variety of questions from the community about college admissions.

Tech Ed Students Getting Shortchanged Compared With Academic Peers
Forbes – March 4, 2020
Students on technical education courses receive almost a fifth less funding than their peers on more academic pathways. And a truncated period of study and narrow curriculum may be depriving students of valuable skills, according to a new report.

OnlineCollegePlan Ranks Highest Paying Trade Jobs
Yahoo! Finance – March 4, 2020
This ranking features a list of different skilled trades that offer the highest salaries out of all trade school jobs. Some of them may surprise you!

5 Myths About Athletic Scholarships
U.S. News & World Report – March 9, 2020
Despite misconceptions, athletes in sports ranging from golf to water polo can earn athletic scholarships for college.

Be wary of businesses promising to deliver financial aid for college
The Joplin Globe (MO) – March 4, 2020
Companies may offer to assist in finding aid, but BBB advises students to be wary of websites, seminars or other schemes that promise to find scholarships, grants or financial aid packages for a fee.

Financial Aid Checklist for College Visits
SouthernMinn.com – March 6, 2020
College is the biggest purchase in most students’ young lives, and the biggest purchase some will ever make, other than a house. Campus visits are a great way to get a first-hand feel for a school — and do some bargaining. Scholarship America recommends the following tips to negotiate for the best financial aid offer:

How to Prepare Yourself for Taking Out Student Loans
The Motley Fool – March 5, 2020
The best time to get your financial ducks in a row is months (or years) before you plan to enroll. Do not commit yourself to a student loan until you’ve asked yourself the following questions.