Welcome back to our monthly newsletter about what students should be working on this month, important news in higher education, and other resources we feel are important to share. Enjoy!
Earn high grades: We cannot stress enough how important your GPA and grades are in the college application process. Junior year grades are the last set of grades most colleges will see in the college application process, and you want to be sure to finish the year strong. Study hard, meet your assignment deadlines, and allow school to be the top priority.
Register/prepare for standardized tests (ACT, SAT, AP, IB): April is a great time to be studying for AP and IB testing. Students should also continue preparing for the SAT or ACT. Remember to sign up for exams early and keep your eye out for emails about materials needed to complete the registration process! Even though many schools will remain test-optional, we strongly encourage all students to take the ACT and/or SAT at least once in order to keep all admission and scholarship doors open. This blog can help you understand college testing policies. You can register for the ACT HERE and the SAT HERE. If you are interested in utilizing our self-paced test-prep software, please reach out to discuss how to enroll in this a la carte service.
If committing to test prep feels daunting, but you know you could use some support in preparing for the exam, check out these 3-hour SAT crash courses! They’re $85 each, and you can get 10% off if you take both (math and English)
Request letters of recommendation: You don’t need to start requesting letters until after spring break, but since you’ll be asking your junior-year teachers for recommendations, now is a good time to ensure your teachers know who you are. Ask questions and participate in class, hone your study skills to perform well in your courses, and start considering which teachers may know you best. Some colleges specify which subject areas a teacher letter of recommendation can come from, others will allow you to choose. As you’re building your college list, start taking note of this requirement so your decision can be easy and more informed at the end of the school year. Here’s some advice on how to request letters.
Continue formulating your College List: The College List is the list of schools to which a student plans to apply. We anticipate students having a fairly finalized college list by June, when we begin the essay writing process. As a reminder, there are over 4,000 colleges in the USA alone, and most students will apply to somewhere between 8 and 12 of them. Students who work with Virtual College Counselors are expected to build a balanced college list, including likely, target, and reach schools. Regardless of which category each school falls into, every school on a student’s list should be one they would be excited to attend. Lastly, much like College Fit, it is normal and healthy for the College List to develop and change over time (just like a student). If you need more information about how to research colleges to build a balanced list, check out our blog!
Prepare for essay writing: For students who will be working with Virtual College Counselors, we will be tackling the brainstorming and outlining process together so that when you go to write your first draft, you already have a foundation to build upon. Remember, these essays are unlike any you’ve had to write previously, and you can select your topic and structure. We anticipate this process to be fun, engaging, and not nearly as cumbersome or stressful as your typical English writing assignments. For those of you who aren’t working with us on this piece of the process, we’ve put together a slew of resources including brainstorming activities, do’s and don’ts, and everything you might need to navigate college essays.
Manage waitlist decisions: If you’ve been waitlisted at one or more schools that are still of interest to you, be sure to follow each school’s instructions for staying on the waitlist. Some schools may go to the waitlist as early as this month, and some may wait until after the fall term starts (most will go to the waitlist over the course of May-June). Our recommendation is to set an internal deadline of when you would need to hear back in order to make the switch; end of June works well because then there is still time to figure out dorm/roommate options, course registration, and orientation.
Finalize documents and forms: Once you make your official decision about where you will attend college next year, it’s important to complete any remaining forms required by the school, including the housing deposit and roommate survey (wherever applicable). If you are planning to take a gap year, be sure to request your deferral and follow the school’s instructions about what documentation they may require to approve the deferral. Also, be sure to get (in writing) whether or not your merit aid award will be deferred!
Digitize your college admission & financial aid offer letters: Please remember to send us PDFs or screenshots of your college admissions notifications and financial aid offer letters as you receive them. Students are encouraged to upload these digital documents to their Virtual College Counselors Work Folder in Google Drive. We strongly recommend submitting your financial aid offer letters to TuitionFit, a free database where you can compare your offer with others, to help in the appeals process if you need more aid. If you are planning to appeal your financial aid offer, here is some advice on how to do so.
Plan to visit top choice colleges: Once you’ve narrowed down your top few choices, if you haven’t had a chance to yet, it’s time to plan a visit to the campuses. Getting a chance to explore the campus, try their food, and ask questions in person can help students determine which school may be the best fit for them. Often, these final college visits help make the decision process easier. Here are some tips on how to plan your college visits.
Keep us updated: It likely goes without saying, but we want to keep hearing from you about all decisions: enrollment decisions, waitlist movement, and everything in between. We are so proud of the work seniors have put into this process! Here is some advice to understand college decisions and next steps.
Thank your school counselor and recommenders: Please don’t forget to thank your school counselor and the adults in your life who wrote you letters of recommendation and supported you on this journey. School counselors and teachers spend their free time after school, on weekends, and during vacations writing your letters of recommendation, so a handwritten thank you note and a small gift as a token of your appreciation are always welcome!
Important documents: Many students and families don’t think about this, but when a student turns 18 and/or heads off to college, there are some important documents to consider having in place, including a Medical Power of Attorney. Some schools may also require specific documentation for vaccines in order to be eligible to live in the dorms. Each school will have different requirements, so be sure to check your portal for more information!
Engage in meaningful extracurricular activities, especially over the summer: Freshman and sophomore years are when students can build strong foundations for their application narratives by pursuing extracurriculars of interest. This can include sports, school clubs, learning an instrument, working, volunteering, and any other activity that enables personal development and growth.
Develop your study skills: Study skills are critical to hone in the early years of high school. Consider how you learn best, how you perform on different kinds of exams, and any opportunities for growth you can identify. Now is the time to start creating systems and habits that maximize your academic performance.
Consider touring local colleges: It’s never too early to start touring colleges! Visiting college campuses and attending their information sessions and campus tours can be a great way to get inspired and begin to identify what you may be looking for in a college experience.
Maintain good grades (and ask for help when needed): Prioritizing doing well academically in the first couple years of high school will best set students up for academic success later on. GPAs are, by definition, grade point averages, so if your grades begin to slip in the early years of high school, it will become increasingly challenging to improve your GPA over time. If you’re struggling in a class, remember you can always ask for help!
At the end of March, Jess spent a couple of days on Capitol Hill lobbying for critical higher education legislation around college cost transparency:
The Understanding the True Cost of College Act: This bill will require schools to utilize a standardized financial aid offer letter and remove the word “award” from the document (because $60k in loans isn’t really an award). This will enable students to more easily compare college costs and financial aid with a more informed understanding of the aid being offered. As it stands, according to a 2022 GAO report, over 30% of colleges actually list loans as grants in their letters.
The College Transparency Act: In the same vein of keeping students informed about the enormous investment they are making when choosing to attend a college, this bill will ensure greater transparency regarding student outcomes at postsecondary institutions while securely protecting the privacy of individual students. The modernization of the reporting system is critical as the costs of college continue to rise.
How a Small North Carolina College Became a Magnet for Wealthy Students After the March Madness Wisconsin upset, High Point University continues to build their reputation, and thus an increase in applications. It’s impossible to deny that the campus is stunning, their take on education is uniquely life skills-driven, and that they’re channeling their endowment funds to all the right places (building graduate schools and programs, offering early assurance degrees, funding professors in residence, and then some). You can read more about our visits to the institution here.
This 14-Year-Old Is Using Origami to Imagine Emergency Shelters That Are Sturdy, Cost-Efficient and Easy to Deploy “For a total of more than 250 hours, Wu had diligently designed, folded and tested copious variations of the technique—a series of tessellating parallelograms that can fold or unfold in one fell swoop—to find one that could be used to build deployable shelters for emergency situations like natural disasters.” This is what we mean when we talk about meaningful engagement: a 14-year-old noticed a problem in the world that he’d like to solve, and then went about solving it!
Most College Kids Skip This 1 Simple Habit. An Expert Says It Can Help Land a Dream Job Building meaningful connections on campus (and in life in general!) is a critical skill for future career success. Harlan Cohen, author of The Naked Roommate, offers grounded and tangible advice in this article, in his books, and on social media. We highly recommend parents join his Best First Year community!
Labor Market Outcomes of College Graduates by Major This is more of a resource than an article, but if you’re interested in the most recent data about unemployment rates, whether graduate school is important or necessary in your chosen field, and median wages, check it out!
Pell Grant Facing $11.5B Shortfall, CBO Says “Last year, analysts projected a significant long-term budget shortfall for the Pell Grant program—the first in more than a decade—sending shock waves through Congress. And while the Legislature tried to address it with a $10.5 billion Band-Aid, the Congressional Budget Office’s latest projection shows that even such an emergency action won’t be enough to prevent devastating deficits for the long-standing financial aid program that helps low-income students pay for college.”
One of the nicest compliments we receive is when a family we’ve worked with tells their friends, family, colleagues, neighbors, and acquaintances about us. The college search and application process can feel incredibly overwhelming and confusing, and many families don’t even realize that personal guidance is available until they’re already experiencing looming deadlines, essays, and decision paralysis. Having someone to help students stay organized and on task, meet deadlines, reflect on their strengths, and build a thoughtful and informed college list can make the whole experience far less stressful for students and parents.
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Forward this newsletter to someone with a high school student
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Virtual College Counselors believes every student and family should have access to expert advice on the college search and application journey, regardless of any financial or time constraints. By signing up for our newsletter, in addition to monthly college search and application updates, you will also receive a Free College Search Starter Kit containing the following guides:
- The College Application Timeline
- Discovering College Fit
- College Essay Tips
- Common College Essay Pitfalls
- Introduction to Financial Aid 101
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