3. The 11/12 Counselors
Name: Jennifer Melton
Home: Virginia
Home: Texas
Strength: Kindness
Strength: Spirituality
Name: Curt Nichols
Home:
Name: Lisa Ball
Name: David Birchenall
Home: New York
Home: Scotland
Strength: Honesty
Strength: Judgment
4. About Us
• Collectively we account for over forty years of experience as
college and university counselors.
• Our travels to visit universities span the globe, including extensive
travel in Australia, Canada, Hong Kong, Europe, the Middle East,
Singapore and the US.
• We are long-standing members and leaders of the National
Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), the
Overseas Association for College Admission Counseling (OACAC)
and the American School Counseling Association (ASCA).
• We regularly lead workshops on college and university admissions
topics for our peers.
5. The Bottom Line
We have:
• A strong, extensive network of professional relationships with the people
who will read your applications
• A vast working knowledge of tertiary education systems and their
admissions practices and procedures around the world
• The ability to quickly access the answers to your questions that we cannot
readily answer ourselves
6. Our Philosophy
We believe students must be experts on their colleges
We are encouraging, and we provide honest, data-driven counseling
We believe college admission is a match to be made, not a trophy to
be won
We seek to help find colleges that fit
We operate with integrity and confidentiality
7. Our Program To Help Students
Junior Year
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Initial Counselor-Student Meeting
Junior University Kick-Off
Parent Survey in Naviance
Second Counselor-Student
Meeting, Including Parents
• US Mock Admissions Session
• Application Essay Writing
• US College Essay Workshop
• UCAS Personal Statement
• Request Teacher
Recommendations
Senior Year
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Senior Profile
Senior Application Night
UCAS Application Meeting
CommonApp Workshops
Counselor-Student Meetings
Meetings with Parents, as
Requested
• Application Essay Writing
• US College Essay Workshop, Part 2
• UCAS Personal Statement, Part 2
• College Interview Workshops
9. Resources: Online & Books
Online
• ISM College Counseling Site
• Naviance
• University Sites
• Reviews
• Country/Region Specific Search
Engines
• Rankings – QS World Rankings,
Country Specific Rankings
Books
• Parent Transition Resources
• The Naked Roommate
• The Global Nomad’s Guide to University
Transition
• Letting Go
• Country Specific Guides
• US - College Board College Handbook
and Book of Majors, Fiske Guide to
Colleges
• UK - HEAP Guides
• Canada – MacLean’s
15. The Role of the Parent
• Communicate openly with your son/daughter
• Help create list of criteria to evaluate universities
• Be transparent about budget and finances now
• Prepare any necessary financial documents
• Help your son/daughter stay organized
• Help plan college visits
• Help your son/daughter balance being a teenager, student, and
university applicant
• This is your son’s or daughter’s process, and they learn a lot from
taking on this responsibility
16. Student Expectations
• LIKE each university to which you apply
• OWN the process!! Research, test registration, organization
• Be an EXPERT on each university
• Be ORGANIZED
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Know each deadline
Know test requirements
Know the ISM and application processes
Know essay requirements
Know username and passwords
• Initiate communication with your counselor regularly
• Communicate early with teachers about recommendations
• Continue communication with your parent
• Be respectful of counselor’s time
17. School Responsibilities
• Provide general guidance and counsel
• Manage sending of all school documentation
• Maintain records of what school documents were sent and when
• Provide workshops and information sessions related to the college
application process
• Coordinate teachers’ letters of recommendation
• Advocate for students during the admissions process
• Build relationships with universities
• Support students emotionally throughout the process
19. Selecting Universities
University Assessment
Personal Assessment
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Learning Style
Strengths/Weaknesses
Interests
Environmental Needs
Social Needs
• Characteristics
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Location
Size
Access to family or friends
Majors
Personality or Vibe
• Data
• Retention rate?
• % of international students?
• Career Office
• What is job placement?
• What services are offered to assist
students in finding internships/jobs?
20. Next Steps
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Academic performance
Engagement both inside and outside of the classroom
Conversations at home about expectations, limitations, financing, etc.
Student reflection on self
Identify priorities
Research universities
Junior Parent Survey in Naviance – Due January 10, 2014
Summer planning
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Bearcat Career Experience Program
University Visits
Summer Programs
Continue Researching Universities
Refine University List
Application Essays
Senior Profile in Naviance
21. Today’s Program
I. Opening and Welcome
II. Four 35-Minute Sessions on:
Applying to the U.S.
Applying to Canada
Applying to the U.K.
U.S. Financial Aid for U.S. Citizens
U.S. Financial Aid for Non-U.S. Citizens
Making Sense of Rankings
Naviance
Testing
What Parents Can Do Now
Continuing Music Studies at the University Level
Notas del editor
Resources: University Application Timeline Handout, Program for the afternoon, Naviance Parent Log-in InformationThank you for spending your Saturday afternoon with us. This can be both an exciting time and an anxious one for students and parents. Our goal tonight is to provide you with enough information so you can make more informed decisions. We’ll be talking about our university advising program here at ISM, our philosophy, and various resources to help you through this journey.Our focus today is on the SEARCH and not the specifics of how to complete an application. We will talk in-depth about those specifics at the beginning of the senior year.
Curt -Introduce Birch (and each of us really)-Years of experience-Map showing where we’ve visited (maybe where we have worked as well??) Helps to focus on our “international experience and knowledge…not just US centric-Professional Memberships (leadership roles within these?)-Give kudos to the school and the support they give usWe don’t have all the answers, but we have the resources to access those.
Wealth of opportunities, range of options This needs work!!Do we want to talk here about student and parent expectations after this? Or towards the end? Right now, I’ve got it towards the end.Do we want to include some general information about common myths? Rumor mill? Trends in admission (many universities becoming international and have partnerships around the world with other universities?) How to make a good decision? How to make a bad decision? I have something from ASD that we did related to this…
Now through graduation, student’s primary focus should be on academic coursework and remaining engaged in activities outside classroom. No matter where in the world a student applies, this will be THE MOST important factor in any admission decision. Today, you’ve been given a general timeline for the next 18 months. It includes programming and general ISM and country specific deadlines related to the application process.Junior Year - At this point, all 11th grade students should be scheduling their Initial Counselor-Student Meeting. In addition to the various workshops and presentations we offer, students should be researching universities, possible courses of study, and admission requirements. (Maybe a little comment here about how the US is more complex that any other country so while it may seem that we are biased, it’s just that the US system requires far more time, is a more varied and individual process, and has more components to the application itself. Refer to more in depth presentation focused on US at the end of the evening.)
LisaIn addition to scheduled workshops, counselor meetings and other sessions, what other help is available to you?
Keep in mind, students will tend to focus on online resources while parents may prefer actual printed books. There will be more online resources than printed books. Books:Counseling Center and HS Media Center have resources for university admissions. Typically, what is in the HSMC is available for checkout.Online:More websites for country specific information will be shared in break out sessions this afternoon. When in doubt, always refer to a specific university’s website for exact and correct information.Also find reviews of universities – always check out the reliability of the sourceUnigo, College Prowler2 online resources I want to highlight for you. NEXT SLIDE
New Resource for you!!Thrown away the old paper copy of the college guidebook and created this online version for you! You are the first group to benefit from this. Tabs on the side – navigate to timeline, country specific information, testing. Our goal is to have all of the college search information in one place for you. One-stop shoppingAs we unveil this – not all sections are complete. But the sections of most importance right now for grade 11 are ready. We will continue to tweak and add to it.
Today you received your log in information for Naviance: Family Connection. Many online resources are linked within Naviance. One of our Breakout Sessions today is devoted to Naviance. It really is an important resource.So for now, I just want to highlight a few things:Students have already been using Naviance in grades 9 and 10 for things like personality inventories and career exploration.Now – we will use it for the college application process:One of the things you will find helpful are the graphs detailing university acceptance history for ISM students based on IB results, GPA, and SAT/ACT scoresParents, you need to establish your login today if you have not already been using it. There is a parent survey in Naviance that we ask you complete by Jan. 10!NEXT SLIDE
To access the survey, …… (explain)As college counselors, we gather as much information as possible about the student as we work with you through this process. It helps us as we guide and make recommendations to you, but it also helps us when we write our counselor evaluations. You as parents are a great resource, and this survey gives you the opportunity to share things that we might not otherwise know.Please jot down a note to yourself that we need the survey by Jan. 10.
Birch
Balance between having discussion with student but also not letting this topic dominate every discussion you have. Maybe set a routine or a tradition of talking about this once per week at a scheduled time?
**Students who are most successful and least stressed are organized, begin early, meet and communicate with counselor. Student is in the driver’s seat.The student must take the lead and own this process. It’s a great time for them to increase responsibility as they prepare to transition to a life of independence at university in just 18 months.The kids who spend time in the counseling office are typically those who do this process well. Don’t hide and avoid us! We are much less likely to bite that way.
JEN
To Begin Process - Know Yourself and Know Your UniversityWe mentioned FIT earlier – here’s how you can evaluate if the school is a good fit for you!Personal Assessment: Where do you thrive? Learning: Lecture, discussion, hands on Interests – can you continue interests and hobbies at the univ? Will there be others there with similar interests? Environmental needs – weather? Social needs – are there people like you? Do you need lots of friends? A few good one? Active social life? Or more quiet? Begin in grade 9 – help students identify their learning styles, interests, etc through surveys in Naviance. If haven’t done those – not too late. See your counselor! University Assessment:Location – big city; small town; country; climateSize – campus but also classesFamilies are consumers in the processIn our upcoming sessions focusing on higher ed in different countries, each of those presentations will provide tools for researching schools specific to that country
Academic Performance – focus here; students apply in the beginning of grade 12, so universities will see only grades 9-11, and really grade 11 is the most important to themGr 11 – IB; more rigorous; how are you challenging yourself
Quick overview of today’s program – we hope by the end of today you have a general understanding of the college application process. And know what you and your student should be doing now. We also hope that this session triggers some questions in your mind that we can discuss in our future counselor-parent-student meetings.Not all sessions offered in every timeslotUse your program to see when the various sessions are offeredMuch is concentrated on the 3rd level – HSMC, Lofthouse. But some also in the LT and the AMR.Once you have attended all of the breakout sessions that are of interest to you, you are free to leave. There is no final full-group meeting after the 4 breakout sessions.
