Most of the juniors I am working with have entered the “blackout period,” the time of year when their top priorities are preparing for AP exams, prepping for SAT subject tests, and finishing their junior years with a strong performance.
I was really pleased to hear Tufts University’s announcement that they will be offering a funded gap year program for students. As someone who deferred college for a year to attend a Youth For Understanding (YFU) program in Belgium and benefitted enormously from the experience, I’ve never understood why more U.S. students don’t take gap years.
Colleges and universities generally don’t require students to take AP exams as part of the admissions process. AP exam results are mostly used to qualify students for placement or credit after a student has enrolled at his or her school of choice. While a score of 4 or 5 might earn placement or credit at many colleges and universities, there are a few schools that don’t give either no matter what a student scores. As a general rule, though, it’s not a bad idea if a student who feels she’s mastered the subject matter takes the exam as a way of possibly placing out of a few classes.
It’s that time of year again: waitlist season. If you’re currently waitlisted by an Ivy League school (i.e., a member of the most famous sports conference in the world), here are a few things to keep in mind:
College decision season has arrived and, unfortunately, not every student will be accepted to his or her top choice college. But just because you didn’t get into your first choice doesn’t mean you don’t have options. With the May 1 national response day a little over a month away, students still have time to make a decision. College Coach admissions expert Kyra Tyler spoke with USA Today College earlier this week and shared three alternatives for students who didn’t get into their top-choice college.
Last week we outlined the curricular structure of AP Capstone, a new diploma program from the College Board that will be adopted by a handful of schools nationwide in fall 2014. In today’s blog, we discuss the impact this new program may have on your child’s high school plan and college applications.
Lost in all the craziness of the announced changes to the new SAT is important curricular news from the same organization. In fall 2014, College Board will add AP Capstone, a new diploma program designed to engage students in scholarly rigor through two year-long courses: AP Seminar and AP Research.
A recent article from WBUR Boston described the terrible tragedy of three Newton South High School students who recently committed suicide. Newton South High School is known as an excellent school with a high-achieving student body and a very rigorous curriculum. The article, written by a Newton parent who is also a professor of psychology, asked what high school administrators and faculty could do to address the enormous stress of the student experience.
Whether you hear about it though gossip around the high school or an article in the local paper, each spring there are whispers about the superstar student who made a mistake and learned that all the great colleges he got into have rescinded their offers of admission. More than a decade of hard work gets no reward, and the student is left feeling devastating regret. In truth, it happens every year at schools around the country, and for many different reasons. The valedictorian who was too busy to write her essays downloads a sample essay for one of her applications, and the Ivy that accepted her finds out. The spring break party that got out of hand results in 10 arrests for underage drinking, and now all the students involved have records. The top student with a spotless academic record tries to cut corners and is caught cheating on an exam. It is inevitable that teenagers with underdeveloped frontal lobes will have a tendency to make dumb decisions at some point in high school.
College Coach experts, all former senior admissions and financial aid officers, are available to work privately with your student to achieve admissions success.
