Ap(Parent)ly College Newsletter for Nov. 12

CHS Dates and Events

Counseling News


Ann Arbor Public School Happenings   

Area Happenings


826Michigan


Neutral Zone


Join Together

Contact Us

apPARENTly
Community Parent & Student News You Can Use


November 12, 2013

http://a2community.org


*Added since last edition


 
CHS News

CHS Counseling News:

Sophomores/Juniors

1. Nancy Thorp Poetry Contest for girls, sponsored by Hollins University, $200, expense-paid poetry festival, publicationwww.hollins.edu/poetrycontest deadline:11/15/2014

 

Sophomores:                                                                                                                       

*Telluride Association Sophomore Seminar (TASS), FREE 6-week scholarship program for top students, Counselor nomination  Deadline11/30/13  www.tellurideassociation.org


Juniors:                                                                               *1.

Telluride Association Summer Program for Juniors, FREE 6-week scholarship program for top students, Counselor nomination, Deadline12/2/13  www.tellurideassociation.org

*2. Know a Student Interested in a Career in Medicine? Save Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 7 p.m. for a program planned for high school students and their families at Beaumont Hospital, Royal Oak.
Students will get an insider's perspective about what it takes to succeed as a pre-med student in college. Plus, metro Detroit area physicians representing a range of specialties will offer tips on how to become a top candidate for medical school admission, and will answer questions.

Find more program details at:www.albion.edu/beaumont-premed.

Advance registration requested by Nov. 18, 2013. To register, call the Albion College Admission Office, 800/858-6770.

 
All Students


*1. WCC Winter 2014 registration is right around the corner. Below are key dates for Winter 2014 registration.
     Continuing and Readmit students      Wednesday, November 13

     New Students                                     Thursday, November 14

For your convenience, I have included a link to our dual enrollment packet which includes the admissions requirements.

http://www.wccnet.edu/academics/classes/dual-enrollment/media/documents/dual-enrollment-packet.pdf

Samantha Paducha. Interim Administrator K-12 Initiatives
Washtenaw Community College  734-973-3682


 
*2.  The  Washtenaw Learning Disabilities will be offering a wonderful program on ADHD given by Dr. Charles Krasnow on Tuesday, November 19th at the WISD. You can contact me atwldamkp@gmail.com if you have questions. Hope to see you there! Thanks for your support. Madelon Possley President, WLDA.
 

3. Marlboro College’s Beautiful Minds Scholarship (Minds.marlboro.edu)
2013 Prompt “Take a road less traveled. Make something that shares your journey.”
2013 Submission Deadline: Sunday, December 1, 2013 at 11:59pm

Eligibility: The challenge is open to all teens (14-19). You are welcome to work alone, but encouraged to work with up to two teammates.

What to Submit: 1) A record of your journey down any physical, imagined or metaphorical “road less traveled,” documented creatively in a digital format and 2) a cover letter that explains what you learned during the course of your journey.

How will we decide on the winners? Submissions will be judged by a panel of Marlboro College faculty, staff and students. Winning entries will have the following characteristics:

• High quality product (the “something that shares your journey”) that demonstrates effort and creativity
• Expression of original, critical and innovative thinking
• Demonstration of research and preparation

Winners will be notified January 15th. Top Prize $1000 and trip to Vermont!

4. Visiting colleges or want to? Amtrakfeatures 50% coupons for student and parents/guardians at:http://www.campusvisit.com/amtrak.htm

4. Greyhound offers 15% discount for students with their “Student Advantage Card.” Also gives up to 50% discount on stuff. http://www.studentadvantage.com/nextstep


+++++Colleges Visiting Community High 

11/11 Kettering University (MI) 11:15

11/13 Earlham College (IN)  11:15

11/14 Olivet College (MI) 11:15

11/21 Dickinson College (PA) 11:15 “Jewish Life on Campus”

 

College Programs

*Specs Howard School of Media Arts (MI)Senior Shadow day, Friday, 11/15 10:00AM(248) 358-9000

Western Michigan University Open House 11/15, 12/6

University of Michigan-Flint Open House 11/16 
*Saturdays at Sarah Lawrence College (NY) 11/16, 12/14  www.slc.edu

*School of the Art Institute of Chicago (SAIC) Ann Arbor Open House, Sunday, 11/17, 12-3:00PM, A2 City Club 1830 Washtenaw Ave.,saic.edu/ugevents

*Northwood University’s Day in the Life, 11/20, 8;30 AM (800) 622-9000

Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) Days (Atlanta, GA)  3/1, 4/12  scad.edu/scadday

Lawrence Technological University (MI) Blue Devil Days  12/7

Savannah College of Art & Design (SCAD) Days (Savannah), GA) 1/18, 2/15 4 /5   scad.edu/scadday

Aquinas College (MI) Nursing and Math 11/15, Leadership 12/6, Athletics 1/25  aquinas.edu/you

University of Michigan Taubman Architecture Open House, 11/22, 1-7PM. Register at:taubmancollege.umich.edu/arch-openhouse

College News

*They Loved Your G.P.A. Then They Saw Your Tweets.By NATASHA SINGER: The New York Times
At Bowdoin College in Brunswick, Me., admissions officers are still talking about the high school senior who attended a campus information session last year for prospective students. Throughout the presentation, she apparently posted disparaging comments on Twitter about her fellow attendees, repeatedly using a common expletive.
Perhaps she hadn’t realized that colleges keep track of their social media mentions.
“It was incredibly unusual and foolish of her to do that,” Scott A. Meiklejohn, Bowdoin’s dean of admissions and financial aid, told me last week. The college ultimately denied the student admission, he said, because her academic record wasn’t competitive. But had her credentials been better, those indiscreet posts could have scuttled her chances.
“We would have wondered about the judgment of someone who spends their time on their mobile phone and makes such awful remarks,” Mr. Meiklejohn said.
As certain high school seniors work meticulously this month to finish their early applications to colleges, some may not realize that comments they casually make online could negatively affect their prospects. In fact, new research from Kaplan Test Prep, the service owned by the Washington Post Company, suggests that online scrutiny of college hopefuls is growing.
Of 381 college admissions officers who answered a Kaplan telephone questionnaire this year, 31 percent said they had visited an applicant’s Facebook or other personal social media page to learn more about them — a five-percentage-point increase from last year. More crucially for those trying to get into college, 30 percent of the admissions officers said they had discovered information online that had negatively affected an applicant’s prospects.
“Students’ social media and digital footprint can sometimes play a role in the admissions process,” says Christine Brown, the executive director of K-12 and college prep programs at Kaplan Test Prep. “It’s something that is becoming more ubiquitous and less looked down upon.”
In the business realm, employers now vet the online reputations of job candidates as a matter of course. Given the impulsiveness of typical teenagers, however — not to mention the already fraught nature of college acceptances and rejections — the idea that admissions officers would covertly nose around the social media posts of prospective students seems more chilling.
There is some reason for concern. Ms. Brown says that most colleges don’t have formal policies about admissions officers supplementing students’ files with their own online research. If colleges find seemingly troubling material online, they may not necessarily notify the applicants involved.
“To me, it’s a huge problem,” said Bradley S. Shear, a lawyer specializing in social media law. For one thing, Mr. Shear told me, colleges might erroneously identify the account of a person with the same name as a prospective student — or even mistake an impostor’s account — as belonging to the applicant, potentially leading to unfair treatment. “Often,” he added, “false and misleading content online is taken as fact.”
These kinds of concerns prompted me last week to email 20 colleges and universities — small and large, private and public, East Coast and West Coast — to ask about their practices. Then I called admissions officials at 10 schools who agreed to interviews.
Each official told me that it was not routine practice at his or her institution for admissions officers to use Google searches on applicants or to peruse their social media posts. Most said their school received so many applications to review — with essays, recommendations and, often, supplemental portfolios — that staff members wouldn’t be able to do extra research online. A few also felt that online investigations might lead to unfair or inconsistent treatment.
“As students’ use of social media is growing, there’s a whole variety of ways that college admissions officers can use it,” Beth A. Wiser, the director of admissions at the University of Vermont, told me. “We have chosen to not use it as part of the process in making admissions decisions.”
Other admissions officials said they did not formally prohibit the practice. In fact, they said, admissions officers did look at online material about applicants on an ad hoc basis. Sometimes prospective students themselves ask an admissions office to look at blogs or videos they have posted; on other occasions, an admissions official might look up an obscure award or event mentioned by an applicant, for purposes of elucidation.
“Last year, we watched some animation videos and we followed media stories about an applicant who was involved in a political cause,” says Will Hummel, an admissions officer atPomona College in Claremont, Calif. But those were rare instances, he says, and the supplemental material didn’t significantly affect the students’ admissions prospects.
Admissions officials also said they had occasionally rejected applicants, or revoked their acceptances, because of online materials. Often, these officials said, a college may learn about a potential problem from an outside source, such as a high school counselor or a graduate, prompting it to look into the matter.
Last year, an undergraduate at Pitzer College in Claremont, Calif., who had befriended a prospective student on Facebook, notified the admissions office because he noticed that the applicant had posted offensive comments about one of his high school teachers.
“We thought, this is not the kind of person we want in our community,” Angel B. Perez, Pitzer’s dean of admission and financial aid, told me. With about 4,200 applications annually for a first-year class of 250 students, the school can afford to be selective. “We didn’t admit the student,” Mr. Perez said.
But colleges vary in their transparency. While Pitzer doesn’t contact students if their social media activities precluded admission to the school, Colgate University does notify students if they are eliminated from the applicant pool for any reason other than being uncompetitive candidates.
“We should be transparent with applicants,” says Gary L. Ross, Colgate’s dean of admission. He once called a student, to whom Colgate had already offered acceptance, to check whether an alcohol-related incident that was reported online was indeed true. (It was, and Colgate rescinded the offer of admission.)
“We will always ask if there is something we didn’t understand,” Mr. Ross said.
In an effort to help high school students avoid self-sabotage online, guidance counselors are tutoring them in scrubbing their digital identities. At Brookline High School in Massachusetts, juniors are taught to delete alcohol-related posts or photographs and to create socially acceptable email addresses. One junior’s original email address was “bleedingjesus,” said Lenny Libenzon, the school’s guidance department chairman. That changed.
“They imagine admissions officers are old professors,” he said. “But we tell them a lot of admissions officers are very young and technology-savvy.”
Likewise, high school students seem to be growing more shrewd, changing their searchable names on Facebook or untagging themselves in pictures to obscure their digital footprints during the college admission process.
“We know that some students maintain two Facebook accounts,” says Wes K. Waggoner, the dean of undergraduate admission at Southern Methodist University in Dallas.
For their part, high school seniors say that sanitizing social media accounts doesn’t seem qualitatively different than the efforts they already make to present the most appealing versions of themselves to colleges. While Megan Heck, 17, a senior at East Lansing High School in Michigan, told me that she was not amending any of her posts as she applied early to colleges this month, many of her peers around the country were.
“If you’ve got stuff online you don’t want colleges to see,” Ms. Heck said, “deleting it is kind of like joining two more clubs senior year to list on your application to try to make you seem more like the person they want at their schools.”

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*Time to Check on Your College Applications, by Patrick O’Connor


The first college application deadline has come and gone, and seniors are breathing a huge sigh of relief.  Most of the August challenges with College Application are long gone, and with more colleges asking for senior year grades, students are turning their attention back to the classroom—and rightly so.

It’s important to take a break when one comes your way, but you also want to make sure the work you’ve done is getting the consideration it deserves. Enjoy your time off, but pull yourself away from PlayStation 6 often enough to take these important actions:

Check your e-mail, especially your spam filter  Many colleges (not all) will send you a confirmation e-mail to let you know they have received your application.  This same e-mail might also list the parts of your application they haven’t received—this list can include your transcript, a letter of recommendation, or other information they need from you.

If a college says they are missing something,don’t panic.  A few documents get lost every year, and colleges understand this—that’s why they’re contacting you to ask for the information. There’s a very good chance you will still be considered for early admission if the documents are sent right away—but you only know that if you read your e-mail.  And while you’re there, be sure to check your spam filter; colleges often send e-mails in bulk, and that can signal your computer that the message is spam.  This can include e-mails letting you know you’ve been admitted—so check.

Something missing?  Call the college  If the college says your file is incomplete, the first thing to do is call the college. This may not make sense—after all, if they just e-mailed you, they just checked, right? 

Truth is, this electronic check may have occurred a few days before the e-mail was sent, and since bulk e-mails are sent overnight, the e-mail itself may be a day or two old.  That’s enough time for your missing items to have been found—so call the college, and know what you really need to re-send. If a teacher letter is missing, contact your teacher; if it’s your transcript, touch base with your counselor.  They know what to do.

Move to weekend writing  With your first few college apps done, now is the time to map out the rest of your college work.  Review the deadlines for the other colleges you’re applying to, then start work on the application with the earliest deadline.

Once that’s done, pull out a calendar, and see how many applications will get done if you complete one per weekend.  You really want to keep your weekdays focused on homework and school activities; this next seven weeks are important in your classes, and you want to make sure to have some fun, too.  A two hour block of time on Saturday should give you enough time to complete one app per weekend; if that’s not enough, add another two hour block Sunday.  Try not to schedule anything for Thanksgiving weekend—that’s family time, and a good chance to catch up if you’re behind—and avoid doing anything after Christmas, where online application centers are crazy busy, when access is tough to get.

Check the early deadlines  If you missed out on applying early to a dream school, double check their Web site.  Some colleges have moved their early deadlines to allow for students who had technological challenges getting things in on time.  If you have the desire, and your recommenders have the time, you may be able to apply early after all. 

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2013-14 Testing Dates and Deadlines


ACT
  The ACT Assessment Test assesses a high school student’s general educational development and their ability to complete college-level work. The multiple-choice tests cover four skill areas: English, Mathematics, Reading, and Science. The Writing Test, which is optional, measures skill in planning and writing a short essay. The ACT is generally taken by 11th Graders in the spring/summer of their Junior year of high school and by seniors retaking them to improve their scores. The ACT is also included as part of the Michigan Merit Examination (MME) and will be administered in school in March, 2012.http://www.actstudent.org

2013-14 Test Dates

Test Date                     Registration Deadline              (Late Fee Required)

December 14, 2013     November 8, 2013                November 9–22, 2013

February 8, 2014         January 10, 2014                   January 11–24, 2014

April 12, 2014             March 7, 2014                        March 8–21, 2014

June 14, 2014              May 9, 2014                          May 10–23, 2014

 

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SAT
  The SAT Reasoning Test is a measure of the critical thinking skills students need for academic success in college. The SAT is usually taken by 11th Graders in the spring of their Junior year in high school and retaken by seniors to improve their scores. Each section of the SAT is scored on a scale of 200-800, with two writing subscores for multiple-choice and the essay. 

Test Dates                   Registration Deadlines         Regular Late (a fee applies)

December 7, 2013       November 8, 2013                  November 22, 2013

January 25, 2014         December 27, 2013                January 10, 2014

March 8, 2014             February 7, 2014                     February 21, 2014

May 3, 2014                April 4, 2014                          April 18, 2014

June 7, 2014                May 9, 2014                            May 23, 2014

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Pioneer News from PI High (Pioneer High, that is)

For more information about Ann Arbor Pioneer, see:  http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/pioneer.home

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The Rat Rap (Huron High, that is!)

 “Official Site”:http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/huron.
 
 
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SkyHI (Skyline High, that is)
 
“Official Site:http://www.a2skyline.org/skyline.home/home
 ***********

Ann Arbor District Library

*TEST TAKING 101 WITH KAPLAN EXPERTS

Wednesday, November 13 | 7:00-8:00 PM | Pittsfield Branch | Grades 9-12

Approach the ACT or SAT test day with confidence!  A top Kaplan instructor will present strategies for preparing for the tests and guide you through some questions, demonstrating how to arrive at the correct answer.


Selective Service Information: For 17 and 18 year old men, federal law requires that you register with Selective Service within 30 days of your 18th birthday. When register, you stay eligible for federal student loans, federal job training and jobs. You may register athttp://www.sss.gov or at the post office.

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826 Michigan

We recently tallied up our 2012-13 facts and figures and came up with a number that knocked us flat: This past year, 826michigan's programs reached 2,701 students in Ypsilanti, Ann Arbor, and Detroit.

In the 2013-14 school year, we plan to take that number and send it through the roof with more programs in Detroit, with our brand-new tutoring lab at Beezy's Cafe on Washington Street, and (of course) with our classic field trips, creative writing workshops, and In-School Residencies.

But, as always, we need you. And this year we're asking for your help with our new fund,Ate 2 6. Ate 2 6 will support 826michigan's effort to provide healthy snacks for students in our after-school program (because everyone's brain works better with a little snack). A $10 donation to Ate 2 6 will fund one day of tutoring snacks; $40 sponsors one week.

Click here to learn more about Ate 2 6 and how you can donate to keep tutoring students full and focused.

 
 
 
 

TUTORING Drop-in tutoring does not need to be registered for, you just drop-in. Free tutoring is offered Mon. - Thurs. from 3:30 - 5:30 at 826's location of E. Liberty, behind the Robot Store. Student 8 - 18 maydrop in any time to get help with any subject. Students must show up to drop-in tutoring with homework or other assignments in hand. Drop-in tutoring encourages smiling, feeling good about oneself, grades going up, enthusiasm toward learning, and positivity. The intention of drop-in tutoring is to mentor, listen to, and help students with their homework needs.
Contact amy@826michigan.org
phone:734.761.3463
http://www.826michigan.org

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The Neutral Zone                                                                                      

*Poetry Night in Ann Arbor featuring Kim Addonizio and Aaron Samuels is happening onThursday, November 14, at 7 p.m. This year’s version of the Neutral Zone’s annual celebration of the literary arts features fabulous high school poets and dynamic U-M poets sharing the stage with Guggenheim and NEA Fellowship Winner, multiple Puschart Prize winner and National Book Award Finalist Kim Addonizio, and up and coming performance poetry superstar Aaron Samuels, who is touring his brand new book Yamulkes and Fitted Caps.  Poetry Night is sponsored by the Neutral Zone, the University of Michigan's U-Slam Poetry Slam and the Helen Zell Writer’s Program.

Admission is $5 in advance for students of any kind; $10 for general public; $7 and $12 at the door. 7 p.m. at the Lydia Mendelssohn Theater in the Michigan League, 911 N. University Ave., Ann Arbor.  For more information go to www.neutral-zone.org.  To reserve tickets at the advanced price contact Jeff Kass at 734-223-7443, or emaileyelev21@aol.com.

 

The Neutral Zone is a diverse, youth-driven teen center dedicated to promoting personal growth through artistic expression, community leadership and the exchange of ideas. Why would 3500 teens visit Neutral Zone in a month? Programs, programs, programs (and sometimes pizza – you just can’t go wrong with pizza!)

NZ Program Areas include:

Music & Technology
NZ holds weekend concerts and events for teens mostSaturday nights. Teens also create, record and promote their own musical projects using NZ’s equipment and expertise.

Education
 Neutral Zone works hard to level the playing field for all teens through free drop-in tutoring, one-on-one mentoring, and a college prep program featuring college visits, ACT/SAT preparation, coaching on applications, essay writing, and financial aid, and opportunities for scholarships.
Literary & Visual Arts.
Creative writers turn up the volume by writing original poetry and short stories, while photographers and videographers discover and explore their talents using state-of-the-art equipment in digital art classes.



Leadership
The Teen Advisory Council runs the show at Neutral Zone, while several different discussion groups offer young people an open, positive space to explore sensitive issues and just plain have fun together.
Drop-in
teens come to NZ daily to shoot pool, play ping pong, use the internet, do homework, grab something to eat, or just hang out with friends in a safe, supervised space. For gfrom Terreneral questions Contact, Lori Roddy, lori@neutral-zone.org, 734-214-9995




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Submissions:
Please submit your articles, news, or announcements  toboshoven@aaps.k12.mi.us. John B. Boshoven, Editor.

Attached: Please see info. about the AAPS Thrift Shop