Learn About Performing & Visual Arts College Fairs

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) offers a number of wonderful resources designed to support students and their families throughout the college admissions process. For example, the NACAC website contains lists of online materials for students with special needs, multicultural students, and athletes as well as information on financial aid or study skills development. NACAC also sponsors research, surveys, and studies related to college admissions or the concerns of college-bound students.

For the past year, NACAC has begun collaborating with experts to present a series of “webinars” targeted to students and their parents as well as to counselors or anyone with interest in college admissions. For those new to this technology, a webinar is a seminar conducted over the internet. A key feature is the ability to give, receive, and discuss information. This is as opposed to a webcast which does not permit interaction between presenter and audience. In other words, a webinar gives participants the opportunity to ask questions and participate in the presentation. It’s a very useful tool for simulating a classroom experience in the privacy of your home.

This month, NACAC is conducting a webinar on Performing and Visual Arts (PVA) College Fairs, scheduled for Tuesday, September 15, at 7:00 p.m. EDT. For students interested in the visual and performing arts, this is a wonderful no-miss opportunity. Here are some of the topics to be discussed:

• The basics of a PVA College Fair including areas of interest (disciplines), educational opportunities, admission and financial aid, portfolio days, audition and entrance requirements
• How attending a PVA Fair will help with the college search process
• Tips on preparing for the fair
  

The 60-minute program will be moderated by Mark Rasic, University of Southern California, and the presenters will be Paul Hilner, University of Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, Tommy Newton, Southern Methodist University Meadows School of Music, and Laura Young, UCLA School of the Arts and Architecture. It is recommended that participants use a PC with Windows Media Player (version 7 or higher), as the software is not compatible with MAC’s.

Registration information is available on the NACAC website. The program is free and open to the public. And if you can’t attend, the full presentation will be posted online shortly after the webinar airs.

A Tale of Two Presidents

More than forty years ago, another president visited another area high school. It was the spring of 1967, and the Vietnam War was raging. The weary man who stepped out of a helicopter parked in a field on the side of my high school bore no resemblance to the vigorous young African-American president whose storybook rise to power was due in part to the many accomplishments of the Great Society. Unlike the students at Wakefield High, the Crossland student body had no advance notice and there was no early press release signaling the message the president wanted to impart. We knew something was afoot when Secret Service agents appeared on the roof of the school and rumors flew about the importance of the guest we were about to receive.

President Lyndon Baines Johnson dedicated the Crossland Vocational Center, in Camp Springs MD, on April 27, 1967. I was a high school junior. While marking the 50th anniversary of the Smith-Hughes Act, a charter pledging federal support for vocational education, President Johnson noted the importance of providing opportunities such that “every young American shall obtain as much education as he wants and as much training as he can absorb and can use.” He outlined the historic struggle for public education and chastised what he saw as congressional efforts to turn back the clock on equal rights and federal aid to education. “Once we considered education a public expense; we know now that it is a public investment.” And standing before a large crowd of very subdued high school students, he reminded us that “…there is nothing more important to freedom in the world, to liberty in the world, to the dignity of man than education.”

Reshaping this theme for twenty-first century teenagers, President Obama made the same point at Wakefield High School. “What you make of your education will decide nothing less than the future of this country. What you’re learning in school today will determine whether we as a nation can meet our greatest challenges in the future.” He urged students to take advantage of the opportunities made possible by the educational pioneers of the last century and squarely returned responsibility to the young people who surrounded him in bleachers, “The story of America isn’t about people who quit when things got tough. It’s about people who kept going, who tried harder, who loved their country too much to do anything less than their best.”

Words are forgotten, but inspiration lives on. I may not have exactly remembered President Johnson’s remarks on that beautiful April morning, but I never forgot his visit or why he was there. Forty years from now, I am very certain that the students of Wakefield High will not only remember President Obama’s visit but will have also benefited from his insight on the importance of education. And that’s what we’re here for.

But Will Colleges Know?

Among the nagging questions surrounding the Score Choice™ reporting policy introduced this year by the College Board is the issue of whether or not colleges and universities will be able to “see” or otherwise divine if a student has invoked Score Choice privileges. Setting aside moral and ethical dilemmas posed by a student’s decision to follow or ignore a school’s stated policy, this can be a potentially troubling question for students and counselors.

Under the terms of the program, students have the option of using Score Choice for both the Reasoning and Subject tests. For Reasoning Tests (SAT I), students using Score Choice are offered the opportunity to send scores by “sittings” only. In other words, students may elect to send all scores from one or more sittings defined as a collection of 3 scores (M, CR, W) to a specific college or university. They may not generate their own personal “superscore” report drawing on scores from different sittings. If a student decides to opt out of Score Choice, all scores from all test dates are reported. In this instance, a college (or scholarship program) may select the best scores—Math, Verbal, or Writing—from among all sittings to use in their assessment of a student’s qualifications. Within the Subject Test subgroup, students can similarly elect to send whichever scores they wish to colleges requiring or requesting Subject Test results. Luckily, relatively few colleges require or recommend Subject Tests, and those that do are generally not fussy about use of Score Choice in the selection of scores to be sent from among the individual subject areas.

Although the College Board does provide some guidance in the form of “pop-ups” that appear when a student makes a report request, it is ultimately up to the applicant to be perfectly clear on school policies and do the right thing. Of course it would be helpful if all colleges and universities were clear about their policies on their websites. Unfortunately, that’s not always the case, so students must rely on the College Board to be correct in their interpretation and reporting of the rules.

Once a student requests (and pays for) a score report, the College Board sends scores in one of three ways to colleges, universities and other institutions: internet score delivery, CD-Rom, and/or paper. I am assured by the College Board that these reports contain no indication of whether or not a student has elected to use Score Choice either by direct statement or inference. A sample of the student score report is provided by the College Board on their website (note page 2 of the 16-page document) as is a neat little booklet for colleges to use in setting up their accounts. There really is no place for reporting on Score Choice within the data layout for the reports sent to colleges.

Take my experience as a cautionary tale: it took nearly 45 minutes to get through to the College Board on the counselor help line to ask my question.

Labor Day Blues

Today is Labor Day. For a large group of area seniors, Labor Day represents the last full day of freedom before the traditional start of school takes over their lives. The Fairfax County Public School (FCPS) system has long resisted the pull of pre-Labor Day starts and remains steadfast in its support of local country clubs and the Kings Dominion Amusement Park by providing high school-aged employees unfettered by the demands of homework or other related school activities. Unless participating in fall sports, FCPS students may work until the last day of summer or until the pool closes for the season. It’s an interesting tradeoff for losing a couple of weeks of Advanced Placement (AP) preparation to the competition.

But this year’s FCPS seniors face an even more interesting wrinkle in their march to graduation and beyond. As upperclassmen, they will spearhead the transition to the new FCPS grading policy and will consequently be the first to deal with problems growing out of the long-awaited revision in the system-wide grading scale. Starting this year, students no longer have to achieve 94 or better to earn an A. In addition, the policy around weighting honors and AP classes has been revised to benefit FCPS students taking those classes. Both changes should help students in college and especially scholarship competitions for the coming year.

It all sounds great except the transcripts for the class of 2010 will show three year’s worth of grades under the old policy and weighting under the new policy. The GPA’s provided to colleges will be based on a hybrid of the more rigorous grading scale and the helpful weighting system. Next year, the class of 2011 will be even more confused as their grades will reflect a complicated mix of both policies. Presumably colleges will be able to sort all this out. But is it is very important that individual high school profiles are carefully crafted with clear explanations of what is going on so as to avoid confusion and show seniors in the best possible light. I strongly recommend that parents and PTSA organizations ask to see the revised school profiles that will be sent to colleges. Some will be glossy and detailed; others will be simple xeroxed sheets. You might also want to see copies of profiles from neighboring schools or competing schools to judge how yours compares. Or, take a look at what the University of Michigan and Northwestern University recommend. Remember, these documents are attached to every transcript mailed to every school to which a student applies. For FCPS students, some explanation of the transition to the new grading scale needs to be provided.

Hopefully, the class of 2010 is taking the day off and relaxing before buckling down to the demands of senior year classes, college applications, a few remaining standardized tests, and the delicate balancing act a social life imposes on all of the preceding. If you happen to be near your computer getting ready for the start of school, I have a small gift for you. Take a few minutes to watch Do or Die: The College Admissions Process. The language may be a little rough, but you should get a big laugh out of the absurdities of senior year.

More College Tails

Pets in a college dorm are usually restricted to minor members of the fish family—something like Tyrone, my son’s sorry-looking beta, or an equally inoffensive ornamental goldfish. But even these come with a set of responsibilities like regular facilities cleaning and/or vacation pet sitting. And anything larger would appear to pose allergy and space issues not easily resolved in typical congregate housing arrangements.

So it came as a surprise when I learned while visiting Eckerd College, in St. Petersburg, Florida, pets are not only allowed, but welcomed in dorms. I’m told pet owners are happy with the policy, and others really enjoy the interaction. Eckerd has permitted pets in dorms for decades and has had as many as 40 dwelling in three residences. Pet housing is typically full, and students are clamoring for more. Obviously, there are rules, some of which have evolved as a result of specific incidents such as the one involving the over-sized boa, but complaints appear minimal and Eckerd isn't about to ask students to leave their furry friends at home.

But Eckerd isn’t alone in its pet policies. Schools worried about losing pet-loving students to off-campus apartments are increasingly loosening pet restrictions in university housing. In fact, the trend has resulted in a ranking of the top 10 pet-friendly colleges by Petside.com, which considered the kinds of pets permitted and the type of housing and number of units included. Points were also awarded based on school size, how long the school has had the policy in place, as well as prevailing rules concerning deposits or weight/breed restrictions. Here are the results:

1. Eckerd College, FL: Students are allowed to have cats and dogs (under 40 lbs.), as well as snakes and fish in 4 pet-friendly, air-conditioned dorm “clusters.”

2. Stephens College, MO: All students are required to live on campus but may have dogs, cats, hamsters, or guinea pigs on a pet floor for which they must apply in advance.

3. Washington & Jefferson College, PA: Cats, dogs (less than 40 lbs.), small birds, hamsters, gerbils, guinea pigs, turtles and fish are permitted as long as they have been owned by student families for at least a year and are registered as well as spayed or neutered.

4. Principia College, IL: Seven dorms and university apartments allow dogs, cats, rabbits, caged animals, and aquatic pets.

5. Cal Tech, CA: All dorms allow cats, as well as small caged and aquatic animals, but rabbits and dogs are not permitted.

6. University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign: Students staying in the Ashton Woods apartments may keep up to two “companion animals” such as dogs, cats, rabbits and fish.

7. University of Idaho: Cats and birds are permitted in all of the university’s 4 apartment-style housing buildings; fish are allowed in all dorms.

8. MIT, MA: Cats are allowed in 4 of the university’s dorms as long as owners have the written consent of their roommates, is approved by the dorm’s “Pet Chair," has all shots, is neutered, and is registered with the campus housing office.

9. State University of New York at Canton: Mohawk Hall allows a maximum of 48 pets, not including dogs or snakes.

10. Lehigh University, PA: One dog or cat is allowed to live in each fraternity and sorority house on campus.

College Is Going To the Dogs!

Canines all over town will want to sit up and take notice of reports coming out of the District’s newest degree-granting postsecondary institution. Beginning this fall, the Humane Society University (HSU) will offer undergraduate degrees and graduate certificates in Animal Studies, Animal Policy and Advocacy, and Humane Leadership. An affiliate of the Humane Society of the United States, HSU is licensed as a higher education degree-granting institution by the District of Columbia Education Licensure Commission and is applying for accreditation from the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. The HSUS is the first animal welfare organization in the nation to receive such authority and distinction.

Targeted to working adults and those wanting to complete bachelors’ degrees, HSU programs are designed to educate students to qualify them for employment with one of the more than 17,000 nonprofit organizations that protect, provide services to, or advocate for animals. For admission to the undergraduate program, students must have already earned junior status or completed at least 60 college credits including general education requirements at another accredited institution. Both online and classroom based courses are offered to students admitted to any one of the three undergraduate majors. In addition, library services are available through a partnership with American University and the Washington Research Library Consortium which includes Catholic University, Gallaudet University, George Mason University, George Washington, Georgetown, Marymount University, and the University of the District of Columbia.

Obviously, the University hopes to attract students interested in animals and animal advocacy. All degree programs are interdisciplinary and each major has a set of core course requirements, capstone and electives in the field of human-animal studies. “The programs are designed for students who seek to advance work on behalf of animals by gaining advanced skills and knowledge,” announced Robert Roop, Ph.D., president of Humane Society University. He adds, “The interdisciplinary curriculum is unmatched by any other licensed scholastic body in the world.” Applications are currently being accepted and registration is ongoing for classes starting October 24th.

Visitor Parking

I hate to hunt for parking, and I really hate to pay for parking when visiting a college campus. Call it a pet peeve, but if a school really wants to impress visitors and potential applicants, accommodations should be made to have convenient, adequate, and free parking. Sorry, it just should be so.

Sure I know that on some campuses, parking comes at a premium. Huge parking structures exist at both Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) and the University of California at San Diego (UCSD). The difference is that the VCU admissions office offers parking validation for visitors, and UCSD does not. Why? Possibly because UCSD feels no particular need to recruit applicants—they have more than enough. Or perhaps there’s a different explanation. While VCU also has plenty of applicants, the school comes from a tradition of southern hospitality and thoughtfulness toward guests. What might this say about campus character or personality? Similarly, the University of Colorado at Boulder shares a devilish parking system with the University of Denver (UD). The difference here is that UD emails parking passes to be placed on dashboards by visitors registering for information sessions or campus tours; UC Boulder lets you pay the fine.

In all fairness, most colleges provide parking for their visitors. To be on the safe side, however, I recommend making sure you understand the nature of the accommodations by searching the college website or calling the admissions office in advance of your visit to determine

• if visitor parking is available
• where the visitor parking is located
• if there is a charge for said parking and how much
• how to go about obtaining a parking pass
• the process for getting parking “validated”—if available
• if exact change is needed to escape the grip of the campus parking system
• when the work study student who mans the lot goes home (applies mainly to the University of Delaware)

Locally, George Mason University asks visitors to park in the structure nearest to the admissions office and will provide validation covering the full cost. Georgetown University and GW offer directions to nearby structures and coolly expect the visitor to cover the expense. The University of Maryland College Park and AU make available parking permits that are displayed on car dashboards. But the best welcome of all comes from the University of Mary Washington. Although parking is free on campus, it sometimes can be hard to find. So, UMW offers the opportunity to download passes allowing visitors to park in faculty spots. Now, that’s darn hospitable!