NHS Conferences Won’t LEAD You Astray
From the windy city up north to the shimmering teal architecture of Phoenix, the National Honor Society is gearing up to put on three mind-bending LEAD conferences over the next two months. Sign up, and you’ll be fist-pumping with your intellectual equals and bookmarking the hottest textbooks in your favorite big-city locale. But most importantly, you’ll be supplementing your college application with notable experiences.
The Common Application – Far From Common
Here’s the dilemma: you’ve got eight schools to apply to, and all of them have different requirements. SAT scores here, a recommendation there—and something’s bound to get lost in the snail mail shuffle.
Well, there’s a modern-day solution for an age-old problem: The Common Application. Accepted and utilized by 390+ universities, the Common Application centralizes your application information used for college admissions.
Like EasyMac, the process is simple—just complete one application and select which schools receive the information (check out the video demo here). I should mention that the Common Application scores big in the bonus round: it gets you organized, and it frees up time for college search and visits. And, not to worry, member organizations give full consideration and fair treatment to all applicants who use it.
High Schoolers Game the Fickle Stock Market
In case you haven’t been paying attention to all things both fun and educational, the Stock Market Game—an stock investing simulation competition held in schools around the nation—ends today. Not to worry; there’s always next year. So soak up those tears with your shirtsleeve, and get interested: Stock Market Game FAQ.
Endorsed by the NYSE, the game gives students a chance to invest a hypothetical (and cold hard) $100,000 in a live-trading simulation. Do your research, and invest in common stocks and mutual funds found on any of the big ticker boards: NYSE and NASDAQ.
SAT vs. ACT
Ahh, life’s little quandaries: Should I order the Grand Slam Breakfast or the Moons over My Hammy? Should I give him the distance-keeping fist bump or the handshake-pull-and-hug? There are many big decisions one makes during this 80-year ride on the ol’ blue and green, but none is more voluminous and simultaneously ambiguous as which standardized test to take—the SAT or ACT.
Long ago, the issue was one of mere geography. Midwestern students took the ACT, coastal students the SAT. And just like that, things were settled.
Today, though, the decision is much more complex. There are more variables than a polynomial—and you better reduce the fraction and get it right. Your college application depends on it, and your future won’t forgive you for a screw-up.
Though both tests go by three-letter verbal acronyms, there is a great deal of variance between the two tests, and many students test significantly better on one other over the other. So which one is best for you?
DECA Puts on NY Conference for Students Interested in Marketing
In case you missed your last opportunity to take a bite out of the Big Apple, DECA (formerly known as Distributive Education Clubs of America) is throwing yet another three-day bash this coming weekend. It’ll be the second of three, and it’ll offer you the fleeting chance to get in on some of that NY attitude you’ve seen so much of on Law & Order.
DECA hosts three New York conferences a year—among various other conferences—which attract high school students interested in marketing, management, and entrepreneurship to the promise and shine of Liberty City. The weekend conference grants students an “insider’s perspective into marketing techniques used by businesses that are unique to the Big Apple.”
Happy Thanksgiving
From the MyFit Blog: Happy Thanksgiving. Or, as my sister says it, Happy Crunksgiving.
Many thanks for all your comments over the last few months. I appreciate all the dialogue. Here’s looking to a good and bountiful last month of the year.
If you’re traveling, we wish you safe travels. If you’re eating, stay away from Grandma’s casserole.
YO SAT Raps!
Uncross your arms, sit up in your chair, and welcome Charta Squad, the new-agey rappers who are spittin’ relaxation techniques for the SAT to the beats of pencil clicking on the desk and eraser bumping on the chalkboard.
A couple of weeks ago, the Charta Squad from Williamsburg Charter School (Brooklyn, NY) submitted the video to the hottest college spot on the interwebs: the National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC). From there, it’s become a viral sensation, one you want to catch. You’ll definitely want to watch. It is funbelievable.
“Relax” by Charta Squad
Too nerve-racked about taking a five-minute breather even some YouTube? Well, put down those vocab flashcards because once you hear Charta & Co rhyme “gesticulate” and “percolate,” you’ll realize this is a multi-tasking opportunity to simultaneously chill and brush up for the test in December.
Favorite lyrics: “But most of the questions don’t give me any trouble / I’m fillin’ out the answer sheet like my name was Mr. Bubble.” Now you can take that to the bank—the awesome bank.
What Happened When The Ivies Removed Early Admissions?
Harvard won. Well, let me back up for a second and give some background: for the past few years there’s been a general movement toward the idea that early admissions is a Bad Idea, because it disadvantages low-income students. If you’re admitted early under binding early decision, you’re committed to attend mostly regardless of the financial aid package offered — and the college’s definition of need is often rather different than the family’s. So, to undo this gross injustice early admissions had to be removed. That, and arguments that the entire process had simply gotten too complex and needed to have decades of accumulated cruft removed have successfully swayed Yale, Princeton, UVA, and Stanford among others away from binding early decision.
I Bombed the SAT
Often, I hear the term “bomb” used to describe something affectionately, e.g. “That’s the bomb,” or “I’m about to bomb it up.” However, come this time of the year—when falling leaves trade place for falling snow and your mom alters your Halloween costume into a makeshift Thanksgiving tablecloth—I hear the frantic mantra of a distressed senior: “I bombed the SAT. I’m toast.”
So what are your options? In fact, your options are that you have no options at all.
Hold on—don’t jolt yourself into an anxiety-ridden panic. Let the electricity run out of you. Breathe.
All I’m saying is that your next course of action is not optional, it’s mandated from powers far beyond this blog. Therefore, make yourself a checklist and do the following: retake the SAT, take the ACT, get a grip on yourself, and rock the rest of your application packet.
Early Admission-itis
When presented with many of life’s big questions, I often turn to my tried-and-true magic eight ball, a relic from the 70s that packs more knowledgeable responses than Ken Jennings in Double Jeopardy.
Lying on my couch in my leopard-print pajamas, I’ll shake the plastic orb, peer inquisitively through the blue-dye water, and pray for something more definitive than a “Better not tell you now.” The early admissions process, however, is no question for such immature playthings. This is serious stuff—the college biz—and I demand something more than what can be read off a floating prism.