A Students Guide to the College Application Process

Getting into college is no easy task. It doesnt matter where youre applying, what your grades are, or what youre looking to study, its one of the harder accomplishments to take on. But every year, students get into schools and set off on a four-year adventure that eventually starts their adult lives. Bryce Crawford is no different. This senior, who is headed off to Yale in the fall, spent endless hours crafting applications to a number of different schools. He wrote an open letter to the juniors about to take on the task of applying to college, and heres what he wrote: â€Å"Dear Juniors, Every year students enduring the front half of their senior year of high school experience dread as they enter the infamous college admissions process. I certainly wasn’t looking forward to spending hundreds of dollars on applications, writing tens of thousands of words aobut myself, and laboring for dozens of hours to make it all happen. When entering the process it’s not entirely uncommon for students to question their own worth - Have I worked hard enough to get into the school of my dreams? Am I smart enough? Am I good enough? What if every school rejects me? What do my parents and peers expect from me? These questions and more plague the minds of stressed-out, self-conscious, and under-rested teenagers. I applied to 9 schools - I was accepted to 4, waitlisted at 3, and rejected from 2. I wrote a little over 20,000 words in admissions essay, and spent quite a bit of my free-time during the second quarter of my senior year getting it all done. I was a good student, but I wasn’t a perfect student by any means. My transcript consisted mostly of As with a few Bs here and there, I was ranked 58 of 739 in my class on my six semester rank, and I wasn’t heavily involved in any sports or other strictly athletic activities. I was hesitant to apply to Yale because I never thought I would get accepted. I wasn’t ranked as one of the top 10 kids in my class and my SAT score was 100 points below their 50th percentile, so it seemed like I would be throwing $100 down the drain all for a rejection. After learning Yale was a Common App school and hosted ROTC I felt a little better about applying simply because I wouldn’t have to start the application from scratch and if I received an ROTC scholarship I could transfer it to Yale. I treated the Yale application no different than I treated any of my other applications. I’m not extremely analytic when it comes to my writing so I just wrote about what came to my mind first. I didnt look up any fancy vocabulary words to throw in my essays and I didn’t count the number of simple, compound, complex, and compound-complex sentences to make sure they were evenly distributed. I just wrote - the same way I’m writing to you now. When asked what inspires me I was honest: I talked about superheroes. When I mentioned my goals for society I talked about the impact watching â€Å"Bill Nye the Science Guy† had on me as a kid. Nothing was forced and nothing was unnecessary. Imagine my surprise when I was accepted to Yale! I couldn’t believe it. I’m extremely excited to be starting college at Yale this fall on an ROTC scholarship. If I had to give advice to the people who are entering the college admissions process, I’d say just be yourself and be honest. It’s unhealthy to research the average psychological profile of an admissions officer in hopes of engineering an essay that has a high likelihood of resonating with them. I’m willing to bet that the applications that are genuine and truthful are much more refreshing for the people that read them than applications that are too extravagant or planned-out. Put effort into writing your essays, but realize that you don’t need to write about the time you rescued a family from a burning building in order to make an effective essay. Instead, try taking the admissions officers on a journey showing dat-to-day life through your eyes. All you need to write about is the trut h. If my experience has taught me anything it’s that there is a light at the end of the dark scary tunnel that is college admissions. I don’t want to leave you with the misconception that the light represents admission to an Ivy League school - because it doesn’t. The light represents your bright future. If you’re planning to attend college then you will become part of an elite group throughout history that has had the privilege of higher education, and you likely live in one of the most well-developed countries in the world. Rest assured that you can and will be accepted to a college, and that in a matter of months this whole process will be over. There is a decision waiting for you at the end of that tunnel, but that decision is your own. You get to choose what you make of your education wherever you end up attending. I have friends attending all sorts of schools ranging from community college to UT Austin, Texas AM, Trinity University, St. Mary’s University, and many more. They didn’t find peace necessarily because they went to one college and not the other, they found peace because after months of biting their nails waiting for an answer they finally found finality in the decision. The answer they found should serve as a beacon of hope that the next amazing parts of their life are going to happen. Don’t stress yourself out about getting into this or that college, instead try to remain excited by the idea that you don’t know what college you’ll be attending. Every rejection you get just nudges you towards your mysterious future university, a university where you might discover a new passion or meet the future mother/father of your children. Your life is like a book being read to you, so embrace the foreshadowing that admissions decisions provide as you brace yourself for the next chapter.† If youre just getting started on the application process, make sure to search our database of admitted students to find schools that fit you. See essays, stats, and advice from thousands of students at colleges across the US and see where you fit in. Talk one-on-one with a mentor to get personalized advice on your process.

Developing Teacher Portfolios

Developing Teacher Portfolios A teaching portfolio is an essential item for all educators. Every student teacher has to create one, and continually update it throughout their career. Whether you just finished college or are a seasoned veteran in the education field, learning how to perfect your teaching portfolio will help you advance in your career. What is it? A professional portfolio for educators showcases a collection of the best examples of your work, classroom experiences, skills and achievements. It’s a way to introduce yourself to your prospective employers beyond a resume. While a resume provides information about relevant work experience, a portfolio illustrates these examples of your qualifications. It is a valuable tool to bring to interviews and to track your professional growth. What to Include Creating your portfolio is an ongoing process. As you gain more experience, you add or take away items in your portfolio. Making a professional portfolio takes time and experience. Finding and identifying the perfect items to showcase your experience, skills and qualities are essential. The most effective portfolios contain the following items: Title pageTable of contentsPhilosophyResumeDegrees/Certificates/AwardsPhotosLetters of recommendationStudents’ work/AssessmentPlanningResearch papersCommunicationProfessional Development When searching for these items, collect your most recent examples. Ask yourself, â€Å"Which items really display my talent as a teacher?† Look for pieces that showcase your strong leadership skills, and that demonstrate your experience. If you add photos of students make sure you get signed permission to use them. If you are worried that you don’t have enough elements, remember that quality is more important than quantity. Sample Sections Here are some ideas of the types of artifacts you should be searching for when gathering your elements for your portfolio: Philosophy - Educational philosophy, classroom management plan, guideline of your discipline techniques.Degrees/Certificates/Awards - Copy of your degree(s), teacher license, awards of honor.Photos - Students, you with the students, classroom, bulletin boards, projects.Letters of Recommendation - Supervisor, teachers, parents, students, former employer.Students’ Work /Assessment - Worksheets, projects, assessment rubrics.Planning - Themed units, curriculum, lesson plans, field trips, activities.Research Papers - ThesisCommunication - Welcome letters, progress reports, parent conferences, notes to parents.Professional Development - Conferences, Meetings, publications, memberships. Sorting and Assembling Once you have gathered all of your artifacts, then it is time to sort through them. An easy way to do this is by arranging them into categories. Use the above bullet list as a guide to help you sort your items. This will help you filter out the old and irrelevant pieces. Depending upon the job requirements, use only the pieces that demonstrate the skills needed for the particular job you are applying for. Supplies Needed: Sheet protectorsDividersBinderCard-stock or sturdy paperColored paperResume paperGlue stick Now comes the fun part: Assembling the portfolio. Your portfolio should look clean, organized and professional. Place the contents into sheet protectors and group relevant items together using dividers. Print out your resume on resume paper and use colored paper for dividers or to place photographs on. You can even add borders to photos to make them more visually appealing. If your portfolio looks professional and doesn’t look like a scrapbook, prospective employers will see you put forth a lot of effort. Using Your Portfolio Now that you have gathered, sorted, and assembled your portfolio, it is time to use it. Use the following steps to help you utilize your portfolio while in an interview: Learn what is in it. Familiarize yourself with each page so when you are in an interview and asked a question, you can turn to a page and show them a tangible example.Know how to use it. Don’t go to your portfolio to answer every question, just use it to answer a specific question or explain an artifact.Do not force it. When the interview starts, do not hand the portfolio over to the interviewer, wait until it is a relevant time to use it.Leave artifacts out. Once you have taken items out to showcase your qualifications, leave them out. It would be very distracting to the interviewer if you are rummaging through papers. Take out each item as needed, and leave them visible until the interview is over. Perfecting a professional teaching portfolio can be an overwhelming task. It takes time and hard work, but it is an excellent resource to have. It’s a valuable tool to take to interviews and a great way to document your professional growth.