College Bound

We’re ba…aaack!  And so are you!   Students, teachers and counselors are back to school.  Our school calendar summer is over, even if the season is still with us…and the college admissions process starts anew!

We’ll be posting a new Roundup every week or two this year to curate all the best info we’ve sought out from sources all over the Internet.

Here’s what we found recently for you…

College Admissions Highlights

We’ll start off this week’s lineup with the ever helpful checklists from the NYT’s “The Choice” blog.   There is invaluable advice in these checklists each month, given by college admissions experts from all over the country.  In “Counselor’s Calendar | September Checklist for Juniors“, by Jody Sanford Sweeney, you’ll find and awesome list of must-do tasks for juniors, along with many links to the websites that you’ll need to get to in order to research and register.  In “Counselor’s Calendar | September Checklist for Seniors“, by Webster T. Trenchard, you’ll find great advice for high school seniors, and also a way to keep it cool on the home front!

“College Admissions: 5 Majors You Need to Choose Before You Apply“, by Cristiana Quinn for GoLocalProv.com, gives students and parents a heads up on the planning needed for five specific majors.  Ms. Quinn also touches on why it may be a good idea to select a major before applying to colleges.  While we know this is not possible for many students, she makes a couple of good points in favor of trying to plan in advance – and certainly if you are thinking about Architecture, Health Sciences, Engineering, BFAs, or Business degress.

In “12 Things Students Should Never Do on Social Media“, by Stephanie Buck for the Mashable blog, you’ll discover a complete list of things you definitely shouldn’t do on social media.  While some are obvious, there are other subtle things you (or your child, or clients) may be doing – and according to the article you need to stop doing them now!  Social media can both hurt and help students in the college admissions process.  Learn to use social media for GOOD, and you’ll have an excellent entry on your college admission resume and applications.

If you are plugged-in, daring, inventive and want an edge by using social media for success in the college admissions process check out bragTAG’s High School Resume on Facebook!

“The Benefits of Academic Mentoring: Inspiring Teens’ Emotional, Social, and Academic Success“, by Kimberly Spector Wolf for the TeenLife blog, provides info on an area of help in the college admissions process that can make a big difference in a students academic performance.  We think this is an awesome way for students to get the help they need in so many areas of their teenage lives – tutoring, advice and counseling from young adults.  Read this article for more information on how to go about arranging an academic mentor.

#bragtaggable

Each post , we’ll bring you a story about a student that has done something great, fantastic, #bragtaggable!

In “How Tragedy Bred an Award-Winning Student Scientist“, by Rachel Davis, for the GOOD.is blog, you’ll read about both Rachel’s family tragedy and how it spurred her to learn about and study Materials Research Science and its’ application to fire retardant fabrics.  Rachel also serves as a volunteer firefighter in her hometown and can be changed into her gear and ready to help fight fires within minutes!  Check out the article for more info in this phenomenal young lady, and her path to becoming a finalist in the nations most prestigious pre-college science competition!

Author: John Incantalupo is co-founder of bragTAGmedia, bringing you bragTAG, the High School Resume on Facebook. You can check out more of the bragTAG team’s advice on social media and college admissions at the bragTAG Page on Facebook.

We’re back!

For high school seniors and juniors (and even sophomores and freshmen), the college admissions train is arriving at your station!  We know it sounds corny – but hop on board that train, we can tell you from our own experiences that it will take you to exciting and wonderful places!

Here are some recent finds that we truly hope will be helpful in your college admissions quest…

This Week’s College Admissions Highlights

“6 Things Seniors Need to Do Right Now“, by Cristiana Quinn for GoLocal Worcester, gives you the most important items seniors and parents need to work on – right away!  Ms. Quinn offers excellent actionable advice to students and parents in her articles – if you (or your child!) are getting started in your senior year, get in gear with these very important college admissions tasks!

“‘Tell Me About Yourself’ – A Simple Interview Question?“, by Allen Grove for About.com, helps students conquer this standard interview technique.  The article is also full of links to other resources on college interviews, and as usual with Mr. Grove’s posts, is an invaluable “go to” place for excellent college admissions advice.

“Create Great Scholarship Applications With These 6 Answers“, by Matt Konrad (for The Scholarship Coach) for US News Education, is a step-by-step guide to scholarship success.  We think it is a great idea to be preparing for scholarship applications while going through the college application process, as they very closely mirror each other – why duplicate your work?

#bragtaggable

Each week, we’ll include an example of acts, plans, experiments and awards, by and for high school students (and middle school too!), which would look awesome on a high school or college admissions resume…we call this #bragtaggable – which is a hashtag we’ve been using on our Twitter feed from time to time to highlight awesome young students.

“Thanks to Student Activism, Los Angeles Schools Have Banned Styrofoam” by Liz Dwyer for the GOOD.is blog, is an article about a 2 1/2 year struggle by then middle school children (must be in high school now!) to effect change in their school district.  As a result of their tenacity, organizational skills and smarts, they have caused the entire Los Angeles Unified School District to replace styrofoam cafeteria trays with biodegradable pressed paper and microfiber trays – in 900 schools!  For anyone that believes change is not possible, this is a story to read!  So get your bragTAG on, and make a difference – who knows, someday a college may  be reading about it on your admissions application!

Do you have a story that you’d like us to consider for our #bragtaggable section?  Email us over a link to info@bragtagmedia.com and we’ll be sure to review it for inclusion!

As always we wish you Happy Trails!

Author: John Incantalupo is co-founder of bragTAG, the High School Resume on Facebook. You can check out more of the bragTAG team’s advice on social media and college admissions at the bragTAG Page on Facebook.

Although we’re almost halfway through August, there’s still time to get those college admissions tasks completed before school starts!  Visits, essays, applications, letters of recomendation – the tasks start adding up fast…but if you can get a jump on one or two of them, you’ll be ahead of the pack and ready to roll!

Luckily, there’s much good advice being published on a daily basis online – here’s what we’ve noticed this week…

This Week’s College Admissions Highlights

“Getting Others to Sing Your Praises in College Application Recommendations“, by Marjorie Hansen Shaevitz for the Huffington Post blog gives a very detailed look at how to get awesome letters of recommendation for college admissions. These often overlooked recommendations are very important to college admissions officers – read this article for more advice and strategy!

“Prepare Now for that College Application Essay“, by Madeleine Parish for the Darien Patch, informs us of the importance of another very important college admissions task – and how to go about getting it done right!  From “selecting a topic” to “writing the draft”, the steps a student has to take in getting a great admissions essay done are many, check out this article for some awesome advice in getting through this important college admissions task.

“United States Military Academies“, by Allen Grove at About.com, contains links to each military academy, with information on requirements, SAT/ACT score ranges, enrollment and gender breakdowns and more.  In our experience, many parents are fascinated by the allure of the free college educations offered at these institutions – arm yourself with the info you’ll need to determine if you’ll be eligible for acceptance, and what your chances may be, if you are interested in going this route!

“Counselor’s Calendar | August Checklist for Rising Seniors“, by Chris Teare, and “Counselor’s Calendar | August Checklist for Rising Juniors“, by Sarah Graham, both for the NYT’s The Choice blog, are MUST READS for respective Seniors and Juniors and their parents!  The authors offer up great advice and plotted courses for students to follow in what can often be a confusing college admissions process.  Follow these checklists, and you’ll be way ahead of the pack!

Happy Trails to those of you about to rock!  We salute you!

Author: John Incantalupo is co-founder of bragTAG, the High School Resume on Facebook. You can check out more of the bragTAG team’s advice on social media and college admissions at the bragTAG Page on Facebook.

As we enter the “Dog Days of Summer” here in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeast, the college admissions seasons heats up with the Common App going live online, and students starting to draft their very first college applications and essays!

There have been many articles around the Internet surfacing as the summer just starts to fade, as the days get just a little shorter and September looms large in the near distance!

Here’s what we found…

This Week’s College Admissions Highlights

“Five Reasons Why You Should Set Aside Your Surfboard and Write Your Common Application Essay Now“, by Robert S. Schwartz for the Huffington Post College blog, is a plea to students to get hopping on their draft essays – not to wait until October or December when parents are agitated and time is running out!  Good advice – read the article for more!

“A YouTube Introduction to College, by Just Clicking Play“, by Ariha Setalvad and Tanya Abrams for the NYT’s The Choice, introduces students and parents to the ways they can research and “visit” colleges – right on YouTube.  The authors explain how to look for college admissions advice directly from the colleges, as well as attend an online class and other ways to use YouTube to begin your college search.  Happy viewing!

“Extracurricular High School Records Can Dazzle College Admissions“, on CollegeBasics.com, walks the reader through all the ways “getting involved” in high school can help in the college admissions process.  Great article with awesome info!  Many of our readers know this is a topic near and dear to our hearts here at the Roundup…and here’s why…

If you are plugged-in, daring, inventive and want an edge by using social media in the college admissions process check out bragTAG’s High School Resume on Facebook!

In “A Word On College Opportunities“, first generation New Jersey (yay!) high school student Elaine Vilorio, for the Huffington Post Teen blog, shares her views on the US, higher education and what attending college is like for young people today. There is something for everyone in this must-read article!  Thanks for sharing Elaine!

Have a great week – as always the Roundup crew wishes you Happy Trails!

Author: John Incantalupo is co-founder of bragTAG, the High School Resume on Facebook. You can check out more of the bragTAG team’s advice on social media and college admissions at the bragTAG Page on Facebook.

The Roundup Team is away on vacation this week, and will return next Saturday morning with more informative and actionable college admissions curated content from around the Internet.

This is the last time we’re spending together with our daughter, Sabina, before she starts her college freshman year in just 3weeks, and our 16 year old daughter is along as well! We are all enjoying the beach, the surf, and the sights here on Cape Cod, Massachusetts, AND the much needed rest from the daily routine.

Have you been able to get away this summer? Any college visits? Share with our readers in the comment section below – and as always Happy Trails!