Over the past two years, the Indiana affiliate's Government Relations Committee (GRC) has undergone a metamorphosis. As co-chair, the author has had the opportunity to witness the once largely inactive committee grow by 250 percent. The affiliate has embraced storytelling as an important advocacy tool. In this article, the author shares a couple…

The coronavirus pandemic has upended schooling and students' college admission journeys. Schools transitioned to remote learning, extracurricular activities vanished into thin air, and in-person visits to colleges were abandoned. The SAT and ACT calendars for the late spring were wiped out and subsequent plans for at-home testing were abandoned.…

Just outside New York City, school counselors at Hunterdon Central Regional High School (New Jersey) were at lunch discussing the students who would graduate from their sprawling suburban school in spring 2017. Their thoughts echoed those from a variety of people who have worked with these seniors. The 2017 graduates are confident, but need…

Independent educational consultants (IECs) are rapidly becoming a regular part of the college search and admission process as students search for the right fit. Although the cost of going to college has risen sharply in recent years, the cost of hiring a consultant hasn't gone up nearly so quickly. Families are beginning to see consulting as…

The interwoven issues of trauma and safety have swept through college campuses over the last decade, and they've arrived at doors of admission offices, encouraging officials to think more carefully about those concerns and take a closer look at how they handle them. Experts recommend in this atmosphere that admission offices discuss these topics…

Dual enrollment programs offer a wide range of students many advantages, and many families would say cost savings is at the top of the list. There is a huge cost savings to students and families, students have the opportunity to experience college in high school, and it shortens their path to their degree. Students, particularly those who are…

Young females have "arrived" in regard to graduating from high school and attending and graduating from college. More females are currently earning PhD's than their male counterparts. Female students have been encouraged and nurtured to become a confident, task-oriented, organized group of achievers who are applying to college in record numbers.…

My research shows that college-eligible undocumented students exhibit high levels of academic achievement, civic engagement and resilience. Many overcome academic and socio-emotional barriers through social and moral support from family, peers, school agents and academic programs. As a result of the state residency tuition eligibility across the…

AVID (Advancement Via Individual Determination) is a nationally recognized program that was created in San Diego, California in 1980, and is designed to give high school students who ordinarily would not participate in rigorous, academic, college-preparatory classes the opportunity and support necessary to succeed in these higher-level classes.…

The girls of girls' schools, the author believes, are a kind of Platonic Form of American girl, an ideal to which most of the rest of society, of the country's meritocratic system, aspires for their daughters, a reflection of one's deepest values. She believes girls all over the country, in all high schools, want The Dream. They want to achieve…

This article discusses game design concepts suggested to foster engagement while considering the needs of underserved high school students preparing for the college admission process. The contextual nature of college counseling efforts in urban secondary school settings provides a backdrop for consideration of the manner in which game design and…

While admission to a community college is simple--"apply and you're in!"--the institution itself is quite complex. Community colleges serve several purposes: transfer, vocational, recreational, and remedial. Community colleges see students through many lenses. Can we bring clarity and focus to the picture of the community college student? What…

Asperger's syndrome (AS) is a neurological disorder included in the spectrum of autism disorders. Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are said to exhibit characteristics that fall into a "triad of deficits" that include (a) communication, (b) socialization, and (c) interests and activities. For children and adolescents with Asperger's…

College counselors regard themselves as teachers and educators, but they are something else as well. They are links between the location of childhood and the larger, more risky terrain of first adulthood. College counselors prepare students for an actual, not merely figurative, journey, the prospect of which fill students and their parents with…

Discusses how the process of educating parents about the college admission process has evolved during the last 30 years. Observations of how this process has changed are divided into three historical periods: the Dark Ages, the Renaissance, and the Modern Era. Concludes that the college counseling process has become easier in the Modern Age in…