News from Director of College Counseling Meg Ryan

May 12, 2010

Our seniors are finishing their second to last week here at Williams - before they head off on their respective senior projects for two weeks. We have a dynamic and exciting range of projects, some of which include: students who will be shadowing school teachers, health care professionals, and musicians; students who will be doing scientific experiements; a student who will be designing and creating her own graduation dress; a student who will be shadowing a VP at Bloomingdales; and a student who will be interning at the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform in Washington D.C.

We look forward to the presentations on these projects on June 7 at Williams between 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. Each presentation will last approximately ten minutes.

On a separate note, both seniors and their parents will be receiving an electronic survey from the College Counseling office; these surveys are designed to glean feedback about their College Counseling experience at Williams. We look forward to receiving responses.

April 27, 2010

On Monday evening, I attended the semi-annual meeting of Snowliners - a group of college counselors from independent peer schools in CT, RI and NY. The meeting was held at Westminster School and focused on college counseling practices, trends, outcomes and findings from this year.

One of the numerous topics discussed was the waitlist decision, a nebulous one at best. I quote a colleague's advice to her students regarding the waitlist: "Go where the love is!" We at Williams concur; it is essential to commit by May 1 both financially (with a housing deposit to guarantee your spot) and emotionally to a school that has admitted you.

I've directed readers to this blog before; The New York Times' The Choice has timely pieces about the nuances of this process (and posts contributions from well-known education reporters as well as from students and parents): http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/

April 21, 2010

Our seniors have had excellent outcomes in terms of college news; many of them have been invited into university Honors programs, and many are the recipients of merit scholarship money. We are proud to relay that our seniors have been offered over $3 million in merit money!

To date, seniors have been admitted into 128 different colleges and universities. The universal reply date to colleges is May 1; a number of our students are still visiting campuses for admitted students' days before making their final decision.

April 15, 2010

College Acceptances
As we celebrate the Class of 2010 acceptances, during this high season of college admissions decisions, we are mindful that there is much in the media about the decisions issued, the decision-making process, and the all-important factors of financial aid and merit money. Here are two timely pieces:

• The New York Times article on Wait Lists

• Wall Street Journal article on Financial Aid 101

April 7, 2010

AP Exam Registration
Preregistration for all students taking Advanced Placement exams in May was held Monday during ninth period; the makeup session will be Tuesday, April 13 during upper lunch in the Williams room.

Naviance Software
We have been meeting with juniors during lunch to give an overview (and in some cases, review) the features of Naviance's Family Connection that will be useful to them as they progress in their respective college searches. Family Connection enables students to build, track and edit lists of their prospective schools. It is web-based, so it links to the colleges' websites and indicates whether each school is a subscriber to the Common Application, as well as illustrates the schools' respective deadlines. Family Connection also enables students and parents to view scattergrams of historical admissions data of past Williams students; this gives current families empirical admissions data (i.e. a better sense of their chances of admission relative to other Williams students who have applied to the school(s) in question). It is an excellent organizational and research tool overall. Moreover, it offers students a personality profile that can identify and highlight their strengths and skills; in turn, it suggests career options and provides a listing of schools that offer majors that lead to suggested careers. We will be offering similiar workshops for parents of juniors on Tuesday, April 13 at 8:00 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.

Senior Projects
In other news, seniors have submitted their preliminary proposals for Senior Projects, to take place during the last two weeks of school. We are eager, as we are each year, to discover what seniors learn and do during their in-depth independent studies!

March 31, 2010

• With the bulk of regular decision college news issuing this week, it's a big one for seniors. Our students, like those at all schools, are experiencing the full variety of decisions: acceptances, denials, waitlists and acceptances for the spring 2011 semester. There is an excellent piece to combat deflated morale resulting from “rejection” in last week’s Wall Street Journal.

• I remind Upper School students and parents that there are myriad summer programs of all types (download PDF with list), and details (and in some cases, application forms) are in Mrs. Varley’s office.

• There are a number of upcoming spring college fairs, including the Providence National College fair (for a complete listing of national college fairs, go to: www.gotomyncf.com).  In addition, open houses and junior visit days on college campuses are excellent ways to glean important information about academics as well as the culture and “feel” of a school – please keep your eyes out for information about these on our college counseling bulletin board at school, as well as on colleges’ admissions websites.

• Lastly, a reminder that parents of juniors are invited to join us on Tuesday, April 13 either at 8:00 a.m. or at 3:30 p.m. in The Williams Room for an overview of the college counseling software tool, Naviance.

March 24, 2010

Associate Director of College Counseling Megan LaCour writes, "Making personal visits to colleges outside of our surrounding area is a goal of our College Counseling Department. I had the opportunity to visit a few colleges while in Florida over the March vacation. I toured Rollins College, Florida Southern College and University of Tampa. In addition to meeting with the admissions representatives at these schools, I had the chance to talk with current students about their experiences. I loved my time on each campus, each offering something unique to a prospective student."

March 1, 2010

Ms. Ryan joined Mr. Fader in Senior Seminar to review the information seniors were e-mailed in February about upcoming Senior Projects, including: calendar of events, handbook, and school supervisor form.

We are planning to host an ACT prep course here at Williams on five Saturdays (for four hours each) this spring for any interested juniors planning to take the June 12 ACT. This course will be offered through College Planning Partnerships (www.satprepct.com); interested students can receive and return registration forms from Ms. Ryan. The cost of this course is $495.

A reminder that we will be hosting informational sessions on the nuances of Naviance, our college counseling software tool, for both juniors and their parents in April.  Parents of juniors are invited to join Megan LaCour and me from 8-9 a.m. or 3:30-4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, April 13.  Juniors will join us for lunch the previous week for a similar session on Naviance’s features.

January 28,2010

A few odds and ends:

• FAFSA Reminder: Families of seniors please note that the priority FAFSA filing deadline for Connecticut residents is February 15 (http://www.fafsa.ed.gov/).
• SAT Reminder: Families of juniors please note that the deadline to register for the March 13, 2010 SAT is February 4, 2010.
• We are delighted to have begun meeting with juniors (while we continue to advise seniors); working with families at the very beginning of this process, as well as those deeply rooted in it (if not finished with it) is a fun and exciting juxtaposition for the College Counseling Office at this time of year. 
• The New York Times recently featured a piece by Jacques Steinberg on the surge of early application deadlines, something college counselors have noticed on the rise in the past few years. This piece highlights the institutional advantages in particular: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/26/education/26admit.html?hp

I look forward to the opportunity to visit two campuses in Boston in mid-February, and sharing the highlights with you!

January 12, 2010

The SAT prep class for juniors begins today during ninth period, to continue for eight consecutive weeks.

Additionally, parents of seniors may want to have their child stop into the College Counseling Office to pick up a Guide to Federal Student Aid for 2009-1010 along with a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) Worksheet if they plan to apply for federal funding.

January 5, 2010

At assembly today I announced that the College Night for juniors and their parents will be held on Thursday, January 21 at 7:00 p.m. in the PAC. All juniors should plan to attend; parents are strongly encouraged to attend. We will be hosting two admissions officers from different colleges to speak about various facets of the application and admissions process. After this date, juniors will meet with their college counselor on an individual, as-needed basis.

I also announced that the SAT prep class offered to juniors is free of charge, and will take place on Tuesdays during ninth period in the Williams room, beginning on January 12. Students should purchase The Official SAT Study Guide, 2nd Edition by the College Board and bring it to the first class.

December 17, 2009

We are busy in the college counseling office getting all remaining application packets that are due 1/1/10 out before break. 

Also this week, Megan LaCour attended a workshop for AP Coordinators at UConn Avery Point.

We have been having ongoing conversations with colleges and universities to which our seniors have applied, both to get a sense of how the applicant pool may be different this year (i.e. if it’s bigger or smaller), as well as to further advocate for our applicants.

We encourage sophomores and juniors to use their My College Quick Start accounts on the College Board website; this tool provides customized college suggestions based on individualized academic area of interest, geographic region, etc..

December 9, 2009

We are pleased to continue our annual SAT preparation class, which is offered to all juniors free of cost (with the exception of the book). The class is taught by Daryl Capuano of The Learning Consultants Group and will be held each Tuesday for eight weeks during ninth period beginning on January 12. The course ends just prior to the SAT administered on March 13. We will speak to juniors at the College Night on January 21 with recommendations about when to take the SAT; generally, we recommend that students take it in the spring of their junior year. We will provide individualized recommendations to each junior when we begin our one-on-one meetings with them in late January.

On Monday, I introduced our College Counseling software program, Naviance, to the faculty at our afternoon faculty meeting. This gave faculty a sense of how our students were requesting transcripts and building their college lists, as well as searching online for historical admissions data at Williams.  As teachers do not access Naviance directly, seniors are welcome to share their lists and Naviance information with their advisors if desired.

December 2, 2009

It remains an exciting time for seniors in the college counseling world.  Many are putting the finishing touches on their applications, and others – those who applied Early Action or Early Decision or Rolling Admissions – are beginning to get their decision letters from colleges.

Kimberly Esty, parent of Spencer ’11 and Frasier ’09, forwarded the link to this New York Times column, “How One College Evaluates a Transcript,” which elucidates and demystifies the college admissions process:

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/30/transcript/?hp

In other news, sophomores and juniors will be receiving their PSAT scores this Thursday, December 3, at the beginning of ninth period; their parents will receive a letter from the college counseling office on this topic early next week.

November 18, 2009

One of the exciting perks of being a college counselor is getting to visit college and university campuses when our schedules permit. This Friday I will be attending an area counselor brunch at Bryant University in Smithfield, RI, where I will spend time with students, faculty and staff, learn about new developments at the university, and take a campus tour. I am hoping to connect with Jaimie Wolman ’09 and Jared Levine ’09 while I'm there!

November 11, 2009

Our last college representative of the season visited on Monday, November 9. As application packets continue to get mailed to colleges and universities, our visiting college representatives head back to their respective offices to begin their seasonal reading: applications from seniors. 

I’ve come across two very different items in the media this week; the first is a documentary titled In 500 words or Less, one of the many multimedia chronicles of the college application process and all that surrounds it. (Please note that while I have seen the trailer at the following website, I have not yet seen the whole film): http://www.in500wordsorless.com/

On a somewhat controversial note, the November 5 Wall Street Journal published one author’s argument about why most colleges are more heavily populated with female students than male students. The piece argues that admissions criteria may not always be the same for both male students and female students.

November 3, 2009

November is upon us, and with it seniors are working on their college applications in earnest (many have already hit the “submit” button with feelings ranging from trepidation to elation). Those seniors still working on their applications have been advised by college counseling here at Williams on essay do’s and don’ts. For juniors and sophomores who are wondering what application essays ask and want to know, the November 2 issue of The Hartford Courant has an insightful piece worth taking to heart about the “Why University X” essay: http://www.courant.com/features/sns-200911020604mctnewsservbc-news2use-education-b,0,5386823.story

Also worth checking out is Sam Rosensohn’s "College 101" newspaper column, which offers great insight and information in this burgeoning college planning landscape: http://www.satprepct.com/component/content/article/10/57

October 28, 2009

• To date, 55% of the senior class’ college applications are early decision or early action; the remaining 45% are regular decision or rolling admission.
  
  
• The College Board’ has extended the deadline for registration for the December SAT. Details can be found at http://www.collegeboard.com/
  
  
• Some of the best reads in terms of admissions informational nuggets come in the form of blogs found on various admissions websites. Tufts has a great variety of blogs, including those of students, the Dean of Admissions, and a visiting college counselor who is on sabbatical from his regular job as Director of College Counseling at Concord Academy. You’ll find these blogs and others at http://deancoffin.wordpress.com/

October 20, 2009

• As the first quarter draws to a close, early applications already are carefully being proofread. 
• We hosted the College Financial Planning Seminar with Liz Hook of Connecticut College Monday, October 19, for parents of seniors.
• This Tuesday morning, October 20, I'm heading to Pomfret School for a semi-annual meeting of college counselors in Connecticut and New York. This is a great opportunity for me to step away from the details of our daily job (proofreading essays and applications, meeting with visiting college representatives, meeting with students, writing recommendations, etc.) and talk with colleagues about the bigger picture in college counseling and admissions.
• Please keep an eye out for information on upcoming SAT and ACT prep courses for our juniors; these will take place this coming winter.
• For parents looking for a general guide to the timeline of the college admissions process, I recommend Fiske Countdown to College: 41 To-Do Lists and a Plan for Every Year of High School.

October 13, 2009

We’ve packed quite a bit into a four-day week: 

• We will be administering the PSAT for all sophomores and juniors this Wednesday, October 14. 
• Our College Financial Planning Seminar will take place on Monday, October 19 for all parents of seniors (seniors are, of course, welcome to attend as well). This will be held at 6:00 p.m. in The Willams room and will be led by Liz Hook, associate director of Financial Aid Services at Connecticut College.
• We have close to 20 colleges and universities visiting us this week. Some juniors have expressed interest in attending the visits conducted by college representatives. Juniors are welcome to attend provided they have a study hall (or free period) at that time; they are not allowed to miss class for these meetings. In addition to being posted on Naviance, our visit schedule is posted in the main hallway on the College Counseling bulletin board.  Moreover, Ellen Kelly includes college visits for the next day in the Daily Bulletin, which is posted at school. 
• With a number of early applications of various sorts (Early Decision, Early Action, Rolling Admissions, etc.), Megan LaCour and I are spending the majority of our “free time” writing college recommendations!

October 6, 2009

"In addition to well over a dozen college admissions representatives coming to Williams this week, we have informed our seniors that there are also a couple of local college fairs that are open to the public this week:

• East Lyme High School, Tuesday, 10/6 6:30-8:30 p.m.
• Ledyard High School, Thursday, 10/8 6:30-8:00 p.m.

Both of these college fairs will have college admissions representatives from over 100 colleges and universities.

Megan LaCour and I lead our third week of Senior Seminar sessions with seniors during lunch; this week we will be discussing nuances of submitting the Common Application online.

Many families have been asking about scholarship opportunities; while notices of many of these specific scholarships arrive in our office during the winter months, it is not too soon to be looking at colleges’ websites to learn about what merit money and grants they offer. 

A general website that families may find useful is www.finaid.org, which reminds us that there are scams out there: a student should never have to pay an application fee to be considered for a scholarship."

September 30, 2009

"I’ve just returned from the 65th annual National Association for College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) conference in Baltimore. There were over 5,300 admissions and counseling professionals in attendance, and numerous educational sessions from which to choose. Though it comes at a particularly busy time of year, it was a great opportunity to connect with colleagues and broaden our perspective while focusing on important, student-centered issues.

As parents of seniors learned at College Night, we have a full schedule of college admissions officers visiting Williams; in October alone there are 50 on the schedule, with more still calling to schedule appointments. We urge students (and parents!) to use Naviance’s Family Connection to monitor the schedule so that seniors can participate in the college visits that are important to them. Additionally, parents can use this tool to view which transcript requests their children have made.

The PSATs will be held here at school for all sophomores and all juniors on Wednesday, October 14 at 8:00 a.m. Teachers are aware of this and know that these students will be missing morning classes.

A reminder for parents of seniors: we will be hosting a College Financial Planning Seminar in the Williams Room on Monday, October 19 at 6:00 p.m."

September 21, 2009

Reminder to Senior Parents: College Night for Seniors and their parents is on Tuesday, September 22 at 7:00 p.m.

Teacher Recommendations
On Friday, September 18, Jessica Ricker, associate director of admission at Connecticut College, came to Williams to speak to faculty about the role of teacher recommendations in the application review process.

As one who reads over 2,000 teacher recommendations annually, Jessica explained the additional context they can provide. She noted that these recommendations can illuminate how a student handles adversity, or if the student regularly wrestles with weighty ideas, and so on. While the counselor recommendation provides a full overall view about academic life, citizenship, civic engagement, etc.," she shared that, "the teacher recommendation can offer insight through personal anecdotes and provide specific examples." As she relayed, "Stories stay with me!”

College Search Tool
Integral to the college process at Williams this year is our software program, Naviance’s Family Connection. This web-based organizational tool is a way for students to generate lists of their prospective colleges. Family Connection provides all application deadlines, as well as links to the colleges’ websites. Moreover, seniors have learned how to make transcript requests through Family Connection, which is the official way to generate a transcript and other forms from our office to be sent to colleges.

Advice for Applicants
The following link provides wonderful tips for interviewing at colleges. The author, Ann Fleming Brown, is director of admissions at Union College and will be making her annual visit to Williams in October: http://www.union.edu/Admissions/visit/interviews/InterviewTips.php

Preparing Seniors
In other news, Megan LaCour and I have completed our first round of Senior Seminar (and have now met with the entire senior class); we look forward to our upcoming two more rounds of time with seniors in this casual lunch-time setting—a great opportunity for round-table discussion and Q & A about the logistics of the college admissions process.

September 15, 2009

• A college admission representative from Xavier University in Ohio visited this week, the first of many such visits from colleges and universities throughout the semester. A reminder that seniors interested in each visiting school are welcome to attend. Juniors who have a study hall at the scheduled visit time are also invited, but are not allowed to miss class to do so.

• Williams will be hosting a Financial Planning Seminar on October 19 for parents of seniors, to be conducted by Liz Hook, a financial aid officer at Connecticut College. This hour and a half will provide insight into financial forms such as the FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) and the CSS Profile.

• It’s very rewarding to have seen several recent Williams graduates return to Williams this past week and report that they arrived on their respective campuses well-prepared for the demands of collegiate work. This is testament to our faculty and our reading- and writing-intensive curriculum.

• We look forward to starting Senior Seminar this week. Our first topic will be the logistics behind the application process, such as which forms to give teachers who will be writing college recommendations as well as how to make official transcript requests.

September 9, 2009

"I will be writing each week to keep parents informed of news in College Counseling Office and in the greater college counseling landscape at large. To start, here is a recap of this summer's activities:

• Following the advice I give our students, I added three New York campuses to the roster of schools I have visited. I attended the information sessions and the tours at Columbia, Hamilton, and The New School.
• I co-hosted two essay writing workshops for our seniors in August (over half the class attended) along with English faculty Tom Kelly and John Becker and Associate Director of College Counseling Megan LaCour.
• Mrs. LaCour and I continued meetings with rising seniors throughout the summer.

Looking ahead to the busy season ahead, here is some of what is to come:

• More than fifty colleges and universities will be visiting Williams this fall 
• I will be heading to the 65th annual National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) meeting in late September.
• Megan LaCour and I will be hosting the College Night for Seniors (and parents of seniors) on Tuesday, September 22 at 7:00 p.m. in the Daren PAC.
• Megan LaCour and I also will be leading the first three rotations (or weeks) of Senior Seminar this fall and will be speaking to seniors about college application timelines, forms, procedures, deadlines for our office, etc.

The start of school fills us with excitement as we look forward to finding the best college matches for each member of the Class of 2010."