College Planning for the Week of 12/14

College of the Week - St. Lawrence University, a private, coeducational liberal arts college of approximately 2,100 students, is located in northern New York State, approximately 1 1/4 hours from Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. Known for an innovative first-year program and opportunities to study abroad, students also select St. Lawrence because of its student-centeredness, choice of over 30 majors, and pre-professional courses. Students are strongly encouraged to participate in a large variety of athletics, extracurricular activities, and community service.

Did you know? What's the difference between a college and a university? The lines are a bit blurry between the two. In general, a university is a collection of schools or "colleges" operating under a single administrative umbrella. For instance, DePaul University has nine colleges: Arts and Science, Education, Computing and Digital Media, Commerce, Communications, Music, Theatre, Law, and the School for New Learning. At a college, these distinctions would likely be departmental and the overriding focus would be on undergraduates.

Colleges using Harry Potter to market themselves? Check out this funny article (Taking the Magic Out of College), written for the New York Times by a high school senior, for a glimpse into Harry's impact on higher education.

Quote of the Week - Jordan and I were talking about her applications and I asked her to confirm which UC campuses she had applied to (Berkeley, Davis, Irvine, Los Angeles, Merced, Riverside, San Diego, Santa Cruz or Santa Barbara). She replied, "UCLA and one of the Santas". Clearly she has the holidays on her mind!

Seniors - Checklist for each application: Make sure that......

• You meet all deadlines - send applications as soon as they are finished!
• Someone else has reviewed your application - a good thing to ask parents to do.
  
• You have printed and saved a copy of the application.
  
• You paid the application fee or applied for a fee waiver.
• You have asked the College Board or the ACT to send your official test scores to your colleges. You must do this - I cannot do it for you and a college will not read your application until they receive your scores officially from the testing agency.
  
• You've asked me to send any required transcripts, teacher recommendations or Secondary School Report (counselor recommendation).
• You have sent any additional documentation such as writing samples and resumes to the college
• You are checking your email and the student portal accounts for UC and CSU applications to see the status of your application and information about other things that might be required.
  

My Schedule this Week - I will be on campus on Monday from 10:00-6:00, Wednesday 9:00-2:00 and Thursday 11-2:00.

Susan