Search Results for “Gen Z” – Page 3

Choosing Classes With An Eye Towards College

Posted on 4 Apr 201813 Apr 2022 by Trevor Creeden

This month each student in grades 8, 9, 10 and 11 will receive a course selection form to select which courses they would like to take for the 2018-2019 academic year. Here are a few things to pay attention to when selecting courses.

When in doubt, err on the side of rigor

The degree to which you expose yourself to rigor or challenge in the high school classroom speaks volumes with regard to the likelihood that you can perform well in college level courses. As a result, admission officers are watching to see how you use the curriculum available to you to see how you “step it up” each year. Each year of high school should reflect advancement through progressively rigorous coursework in each core subject area (English, math, science, history and world language). Know your capacity to do the work. In contemplating rigor in course options, it is easy to assume that taking the highest level will be most impressive to colleges. While there is some truth in that assessment, you need to be able to function at a high level in the course. Barely passing an inordinately “hard” course produces the double whammy of a low grade in that course and the ripple effect of lower grades in other courses as you spend a large amount of time making it through the “hard” course. The bottom line: While it is important to stretch yourself, don’t over-reach in taking courses for the purpose of impressing admission officers. Your previous teacher’s recommendation is a great way to go if you are unsure.

Breadth matters

In other words, keep your bases covered. In each year of high school, you should take courses in the five core discipline areas: English, math, science, history and world language. Do this regardless of your career interests. Why? Admission officers, especially at highly selective colleges, want to see that you have developed skills of critical thinking and analysis across disciplines. Having such an experience gives them greater confidence that you will be able to handle credit requirements and cross-disciplinary courses you are likely to encounter in college.

Substitute value for value.

It is not uncommon for students entering the junior or senior year to rationalize course selections (e.g. “I don’t like Spanish…” “I want to double up in sciences…”). Generally speaking, dropping a course in one discipline for a course in another is acceptable if you are substituting value for value. This typically means that taking a core subject course in replace of another core subject course is fine. If there are additional AP electives available, you can also take one of these in replace of a course subject course. For example, dropping an Honors or AP Spanish in order to take AP Psychology or two math or history courses is acceptable. On the other hand, dropping it for an art class (if you are not pursuing art in college) or because you want a study hall would be a bad move within the context of competition at selective colleges. You need to also consider what you may be pursuing as a major in college. If it is math and/or science oriented then you should continue to pursue the most rigorous courses in math and science.

Don’t settle for “good enough.”

It is common for students to chart their progress through high school by working only to the level of their graduation requirements or to the course “requirements” posted by colleges. The problem is that selective colleges want to see what you will do when you have seemingly satisfied your “requirements”—when you don’t think you have to do anything else. Be careful, then, not to settle for the minimum or that which is “good enough”. If you want to increase your range of options as a college applicant, push past that which is good enough to that which will make you a better candidate. A common question from students regarding course selection sounds like this: “Is it better for me to take an easier course where I know I can get an “A” or should I take a harder course where I’ll probably get a lower grade?” The best way to answer this question is to take the harder class and get an “A”. God expects the best from us using the knowledge, gifts and abilities He has given us. In my mind, when you assume you will get a lower grade in a course, you are not only selling yourself short but also not trusting in Him to bring out the best in you. You know what you are capable of and what would be a wise choice of courses to take, but sometimes you will surprise yourself when you put your total trust in Him and work to the potential He’s given you.

Financial Aid/Scholarships

How To Negotiate Your College Tuition

Posted on 28 Feb 201827 Feb 2022 by Trevor Creeden

Seniors will receive the remainder of their admission decisions by the end of this month (March). Included in these admissions decisions will be financial aid award letters that will let parents and students know how much they are responsible to pay after scholarships, grants and loans are factored in. This bottom line number of what you are responsible to pay most likely will factor into which college you choose to attend. Can you negotiate this amount? This answer is “yes” for most colleges. Colleges that tend not to be willing to negotiate are in-state public universities since you are already paying in-state tuition. Most colleges, however, are businesses and since you are their customer, there may be some wiggle room to negotiate your college tuition.

There are two criteria that can determine whether you should appeal your financial aid package.

If your family’s financial picture has changed since you submitted your FAFSA (e.g. a parent lost his/her job, a family member became ill). This could constitute as a change in status and would definitely give you reason to appeal.
The college really wants you. You can definitively say to one or two colleges, ‘Here are the other offers I’m considering. Would you consider increasing your reward/matching?’ Students should not do this for every college, but make a concerted effort with your top choice.

“Do Not Jump The Gun”

“[College] is the biggest financial decision of your life. You can start “negotiating” your tuition as soon as you get your acceptance letters and your award packages. We really recommend that you do not jump the gun and immediately commit to a school because then you’ve really lost your negotiating power,” says NextGenVest founder and CEO Kelly Peeler.

She emphasizes that the best way to correspond with a financial aid office is via email, and the content should be detailed and specific, explaining how you would add value to the college and why that college is a good match for you. Students should follow up if the school doesn’t respond within 10 days.

While there’s no guarantee that you’ll get more money from a school, students and families often don’t know that a university actually has more resources than it offers.

“Financial aid is a pie — it’s not limitless and there’s a finite amount of resources,” said Peeler. “You have to be proactive, you always have to ask. In any given semester a university might under allocate the amount of financial aid that they might initially give out.”

I understand that deciding where to attend can be difficult and stressful but keep in mind that God already knows and has a plan to use you for his glory wherever you will be attending. I think it is wise to be good stewards of the resources he has provided for us and our decision of where to attend should reflect this. The age old saying, “it never hurts to ask” applies here because if they say “no”, you can take solace in the fact that you tried.

College Admissions

College Admissions Trends for 2018

Posted on 3 Sep 20173 Oct 2017 by Trevor Creeden

Below is an article from Synocate pointing out a couple of trends that you may see in the world of college admissions in 2018. I do agree with each of these trends taking place this admissions cycle as well.

Trend 1: Top 10 schools will have admissions rates fall even faster than last year

Looking at the trend at the Top 20 schools over the past 20 years, college acceptance rates have dropped tremendously. I predict that this will trend will continue at the Top 10 schools at an accelerating pace, at the Top 100 schools at the same pace, and at the rest of the approximately 4,000 universities in the United States at a slower pace.

College admissions is a rapidly changing landscape. Every year, universities make changes to their requirements, more students apply, and the process becomes more complicated. However, college is a gateway to tremendous personal and professional growth and it is an important time. We at Synocate (synocate.com) have helped thousands of students in California and across the world through the admissions process, which further adds to our ability to see how students, especially Indian and Asian students, are affected by changes in the admissions process.

Looking across the United States, the average acceptance rate to college is about 66%. Colleges want students and need to increase their enrollment. The problem is that students want to attend the top 100 colleges far more than other colleges. Because these colleges are often located in environments where expansion is hard (for example, Columbia in the New York City), expansion is tough. Further, this trend of dropping acceptance rates helps the university brand.

In order to counteract this megatrend for the next admissions cycle, I recommend students who are aiming for Top 50 schools, which includes all Ivy Leagues, and schools like Emory, Georgetown, Stanford, MIT, and others, to apply to more schools. This is advice for students with A’s and B’s who are hoping to get into a Top 50 school.

Trend 2: Early Action and Early Decision will become even more important

You can apply to college in the United States at many points in time. The major types of deadlines are rolling, early action, restrictive early action, Early Decision I, Early Decision II, and regular decision. I will describe each, but the major trend occurring is that top colleges are accepting more and more of their students earlier in the admissions process.

We believe all students aiming for a Top 50 school (students with A’s and B’s) should be applying early action or early decision to at least one school. This has many benefits – if we get accepted we can cut down our list of other schools, it gives us peace of mind, and it generally increases our chances.

How early is early? The earliest deadlines are rolling where students can submit their applications as soon as the portal opens. This trend is especially popular for schools that are ranked lower and for graduate programs. For Early Action and Early Decision I schools, the deadline is November 1 generally. Regular decision is generally around January 1.

At many top 50 schools, over 50% of the class is filled up in the early rounds. This figure is rising. Colleges can predict if students attend if they must attend after accepting. Colleges can calculate how much tuition they will generate and increase their yield rates, the percentage of students who accept an offer if given. If students are required to accept, as they have to in the Early Decision process, the yield rate for those students is 100%. So theoretically, if a college accepts all students in the early decision process, their yield rate would be 100%.

The colleges with the highest yield rates generally are the most prestigious or sought after – Harvard and Stanford have yields in the mid 80s right now. US News and several other ranking services use yield to rank colleges. These rankings are very important to colleges, and therefore, they focus on yield. Make sure you apply somewhere early.

These two trends will continue in this admissions cycle because they are drawn by a variety of factors – more students applying, yield rates, college rankings, and the influx of international students. The best thing you can do is read as much as you can about the process to stay up to date.

Getting Ready To Apply To College

Getting Ready to Apply To College- Part 3 (The SAT and ACT)

Posted on 11 May 20171 Jun 2023 by Trevor Creeden

This is part three of a six-part series titled “Getting Read to Apply to College” for juniors who are preparing to apply to college in a few months. For this post I will be focusing on the SAT and ACT. I am not going to go into details about the test’s themselves, talk about which one is best to take or any test-taking strategies. We are in a very different world now with most colleges being “test optional” for admissions which means that you don’t have to submit a test score when applying to that school. More than half of seniors applying to college today, decide not to send colleges their test scores. At this point, I still recommend to my juniors that they should have taken one of each test and then they should take the one they did better on again in June. The reason I recommend this strategy is because I have found that most students will perform better on either the SAT or ACT. What do I consider to be “better”? If you scored 50 points better in comparison on the SAT than the ACT or two points on your composite score better in comparison on the ACT than the SAT. The best comparison charts I have found are at http://www.compassprep.com/comparing-act-and-new-sat-scores/. I do not recommend that students sign up to take the writing section of the ACT. Why? Because the SAT doesn’t have a writing section anymore and colleges will not look at your score for admissions purposes. The 2nd time you take whatever test you did better on should be when you put in the most preparation. You could pay for a course, tutor, etc. or whatever you think is necessary to score your best on the test. Some students can prepare on their own because they are more disciplined to put in the time.

So you take the SAT or ACT for the 2nd time and get your score, now what do you do? This is what I would like to focus on for the rest of this post. Below are my recommendations to rising seniors when it comes to the SAT or ACT.

Should I take the test a 3rd time? Pre-covid, 80% of seniors took the SAT or ACT a third time. Post-covid, in the test-optional world we are in now, less than 30% of seniors take the test a 3rd time. Why? Because after you have taken one of each, prepare and then take the test a 2nd time, your score is pretty much what it’s going to be. Unless you think you could prepare differently or more (because maybe you didn’t prep much at all for your 2nd test), I wouldn’t recommend taking it a 3rd time. The only big reason you may want to take a 3rd test in your senior year, is because you know the college you are applying to heavily values or requires a strong score.
If a college is test-optional, how do I know whether to send or not send them my best score? Each college is going to provide their mid-50% ranges for the SAT and ACT for students that were admitted and enrolled at their school for the previous year. These are the numbers to go by when determining whether to submit your score(s). If you are below the mean (average) of the mid-50%, DO NOT SUBMIT YOUR SCORE(S). You can find the mid-50% score range information for colleges at collegescorecard.ed.gov, collegedata.com or the most accurate place to find updated test scores in is a colleges website or Common Data Set.
Should I always send my score(s) if I’m above the mean score that a college posts? If you have achieved very well in the classroom (4.5 GPA or better) and taken pretty rigorous courses (mostly honors and AP), then you may not want to send your SAT or ACT score(s) to colleges you apply to, even if you are above the mean that they post. You should be in the top 25th percentile of a colleges test score range if you have very strong grades and courses, in order to be comfortable sending your scores to a competitive admissions college.
How do the colleges I apply to get my scores? You need to send your best score to each college that you apply to through collegeboard.org (SAT) or actstudent.org (ACT). Most colleges will not accept a score that is on the transcript as official. A handful do but you would need to let me know if you are applying to a school that does. Both testing agencies allow you to send your score(s) to up to four colleges for free if you enter these schools into the “send scores” option when registering for the test. The college(s) will then get your score when you get them online so you do not have the option of knowing what your score was beforehand. It does cost $11-$12 to send your score to a college after you know what your score is. I tell my students never to send your first score on a test to a college but if you want to save money, and the school you are applying to isn’t a reach school, it isn’t a bad idea to send your 2nd score to a college beforehand because it could save you $50 in the end. Your 2nd score should be your better score anyway.
Should I self-report my score on an application? My answer to this question is always no. So many times students have let colleges know of scores they didn’t want to officially send them because when completing the application they just filled in the space when it asked them to self-report their scores and they then gave the college every score they ever had. When it asks you in an application if you would like to self-report your scores, say “no” and send them the official score that you want them to see through collegeboard.org or actstudent.org. For both tests, you have the option of “score choice” so you only need to send them your best score. There are a few of the most competitive colleges that require you to send all of your scores but this is rare.
Please do not delay in getting colleges your scores. From my experience, the one thing that holds up colleges from reviewing a students application is that they haven’t received the students scores. Either a student (or parent) forgets to send them and then they end up paying a lot of money to rush them to the colleges. The student or parents forget that it is their responsibility to send the colleges their score(s) from collegeboard.org or actstudent.org. I had a student once not be considered for early action because his scores got to the school too late. He had everything else in except his scores. Please do not let this happen to you. Have a plan when you will send your scores in to the colleges you are applying to and stick with it.
Remember that a test score does not define you and move on. Students (and parents) can get hung up on “wanting” a certain score or thinking that their future depends on an SAT or ACT score. Now that most colleges are test optional, an admissions officer will say, “if you don’t think your score is an accurate reflection of your ability and we can get a stronger sense of who you are as a student from your courses and grades, then DON’T SEND US YOUR SCORE”! I would prefer that you focus on the aspects of the application that you can control. Can you show any more interest that that you haven’t yet? Have you updated your resume, visit if they haven’t yet, ask to interview, e-mail or call and ask any questions to the admissions counselor who is going to read their application, etc.? These are things they can still control and can really help them get admitted. I typically do not recommend taking the test a 4th and 5th time because data shows that scores will not go up anymore at this point and may even go down.

Getting Ready To Apply To College

Getting Ready To Apply To College- Part 1 (Course Selection)

Posted on 17 Apr 20171 Jun 2023 by Trevor Creeden

I will be writing on as aspect of the college application process that current juniors need to be paying attention to before they begin applying to college in the fall. The topics that I will be addressing are Course Selection (Part 1), The Application (Part 2), The SAT/ACT (Part 3), The Essay (Part 4), Teacher Recommendations (Part 5), The College Interview (Part 6).

Part 1- Course Selection

It is that time of year here at DC when students are given their course selection forms for next academic year. As juniors, the courses you take in your senior year are VERY important to colleges. Here are a some things to pay attention to when selecting courses.

When in doubt, err on the side of rigor. The degree to which you expose yourself to rigor in the high school classroom speaks volumes with regard to the likelihood that you can perform well in college level courses. As a result, admission officers are watching to see how you use the curriculum available to you to “step up” each year. Each year of high school should reflect advancement through progressively rigorous coursework in each discipline.
Know your capacity to do the work. In contemplating rigor in course options, it is easy to get drawn into the presumptive logic that taking the highest level will be most impressive to colleges. While there is some truth in that assessment, you need to be able to function at a high level in the course. Barely passing a “hard” course produces the double whammy of a low grade in that course and the ripple effect of lower grades in other courses as you spend a disproportionate amount of time making it through the hard course. The bottom line: While it is important to stretch yourself, don’t over-reach in taking courses for the purpose of impressing admission officers. You will need to send your senior mid-year grades (7th semester transcript) to at least half or more of the colleges you apply to so having them see that you couldn’t keep up and be successful in the courses you chose to take senior year doesn’t look good either.
Breadth matters. In other words, keep your bases covered. In each year of high school, you should take courses in the five core discipline areas: math, science, history, foreign language and English. Do this regardless of your career interests. Why? Admission officers, especially at selective colleges, want to see that you have developed skills of critical thinking and analysis across disciplines. Having such an experience gives them greater confidence that you will be able to handle distribution requirements and cross-disciplinary courses you are likely to encounter in college.
Substitute value for value. It is not uncommon for students entering the Junior or Senior year to rationalize course selections (e.g. “I don’t like Spanish…” “I want to double up in sciences…”). Generally speaking, dropping a course in one discipline for a course in another is acceptable if you are substituting value for value. This will typically have an impact in admissions decisions at more competitive admission colleges (30% acceptance rate or less). For example, not taking a science is acceptable if you plan on taking an additional math or history course. On the other hand, dropping it to take an elective or more art would be a bad move within the context of completion at selective institutions. You need to be careful on where you are applying to college though because some competitive admission colleges may want you to continue to take courses in all of the core disciplines no matter what major you are pursuing.
Don’t settle for “good enough.” It is common for students to chart their progress through high school by working only to the level of their graduation requirements or to the course “requirements” posted by colleges. The problem is that selective colleges want to see what you will do when you have seemingly satisfied your “requirements”—when you don’t think you have to do anything else. Be careful, then, not to settle for the minimum or that which is good enough. If you want to increase your range of options as a college applicant, push past that which is good enough to that which will make you a better candidate. A common question from students regarding course selections sounds like this: “Is it better for me to take an easier course where I know I can get an “A” or should I take a harder course where I’ll probably get a lower grade?” The best way to answer this question is to take the harder class and get an “A”. God expects the best from us using the knowledge, gifts and abilities He has given us. In my mind, when you assume you will get a lower grade in a course, you are not only selling yourself short but you are also not trusting in Him to bring out the best in you. You know what you are capable of and what would be a wise choice of courses to take, but sometimes you will surprise yourself when you put your total trust in Him.

Below are a few FAQ’s that I get when it comes to course selection:

1) Do I have to take all honors and AP classes to get into a “good” college? This is a loaded question because the answer is based on how you define “good” college. There are so many great colleges in the United States at which students from DC would succeed and thrive, but it takes time to research and learn about these schools. A number of people think that there are only 30 “good” colleges in the country because of what they hear, read online, see in various rankings or perceive from past experience. Degree of competitiveness is only one aspect of fit, and does not necessarily determine the type of job you will get after you graduate. The goal for any senior is to go to a college that fits their personality, preferences, goals, major aspirations and budget. Now that we somewhat have defined a “good” college, let me answer the other part of this question regarding taking all honors or AP classes. Colleges want to see a student take the course that will appropriately challenge them. If you are going to get a C in a course, it is probably going to benefit you to take the course you will most likely get an A or B in. Colleges do care about course rigor and whether or not you are taking the most appropriately challenging courses.

2) Will taking one more year (typically level III or IV) of World Language look good to colleges?

This really depends on the college(s) you are applying to and the major you may pursue. As a baseline, colleges like to see students who continue to challenge themselves in the “core” classes (English, math, science, history and world language). However, there are opportunities as you get to junior and senior year, to take more “core” classes in subjects that you enjoy more and/or are more successful in. Taking an additional math, science or history class and not taking an additional year of world language is fine. If you are pursuing a major in the arts, taking more art or Theatre would be fine. Not taking a world language, however, and adding art or another easier elective, or just a study hall would not look good to colleges because they see that you are not challenging yourself academically at all when you do this.

3) How many AP classes should I take?

Take the AP courses you will succeed in without them affecting your health and compromising your extracurricular activities. If you are not getting enough sleep (you may need more than someone else and studies continue to say that you should get 8 hours of sleep a night), getting sick and missing school or just are not your usual self, it may be time to seriously think about dropping down a level in one or more core courses. I also do not recommend dropping an extracurricular activity (the play, a sport, Hi-Q, Yearbook, Robotics, etc.) because you need more time to do your AP course work. Extracurricular activities are important outlets for you to expend energy, grow in relationships with others and continue to succeed in something God has given you a gift to do. Additionally, colleges really like to see that you are involved and growing in the areas you enjoy and succeed at after school hours.

4) Do I have to take all the courses I am recommended for?

The recommendations that you are given on your course selection form are made separately by your current teachers. Even though you may be recommended to take all AP and Honors courses, you need to evaluate whether it wise for you to do so (please see the answer to question #2). You and your parents know you the best. Please do not think that if you opt out of taking an honors or AP class, you are limiting your options when it comes to college (please see answer to question #1). Some students are capable of taking on more than others but it’s about finding that balance so that you are succeeding in your classes and succeeding in the areas God has gifted you in and you are passionate about.

5) If I am good at math and may major in something math related in college, should I take a summer math course to get ahead in my math track if I am not on the highest math track?

You should take math classes that you will be successful in. I would not recommend pushing yourself to accelerate your math track if you would only experience frustration and discouragement because you can’t keep up with the pace or fully understand the material in the math class that you are in. Part of what math class you should take will be associated with what college(s) you will apply to. You may need to ask a college admissions counselor at a college that if you major in “X”, what math class do students who apply with that major typically complete their senior year of high school? You can still pursue a math related major in college if you finish high school taking AP Calculus AB or Calculus Honors. Some have even taken Precalculus Honors their senior year and have been very successful in their math classes in college. Colleges won’t like to see students press to take more math, if the grades they receive in the math classes junior and senior year aren’t as good as grades they received in their 9th and 10th grade math classes.