Thanks TCU and Trinity University!

This morning I attended a breakfast hosted by TCU and Trinity University, two colleges located in Texas. I am always eager to expand my knowledge of new regions of the country and it was great to get to hear a little bit about these two schools. Let me start by also reminding New Yorkers that a common concern that some parents/students have when I try to talk about leaving the Northeast is that there is a fear that they don't want to go to a part of the country that isn't open-minded/liberal/diverse/you get the idea. Yet, the irony is that in stereotyping the non-coastal parts of the US as backwards or prejudiced or too full of people that don't think like me you are perpetuating the issue of using preconceived notions as grounds for making decisions (which, let me remind you, is what you said you didn't like about these so called close-minded places). I'm not suggesting that there aren't real differences in society based on regional location, only that citing intolerance for other viewpoints as your reason for being intolerant of other viewpoints is circular logic.

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TCU stands for Texas Christian University. Yep, the word Christian is right in the name. But before you start making those judgements we just talked about, know that not everyone on campus is from Texas, not everyone on campus is Christian, and not everyone on campus is religious. At breakfast we learned the topic of religion usually comes up when students are commenting on one of two things: 1) The school not being Christian enough or 2) The school being too Christian. In other words, there are all types of people on campus who are able to find their niche, completely separate from the religious affiliation. (For anyone curious though, there is no required religious participation and more than just Christianity is welcomed on campus, they have a Hillel people!) Over 40% of the 8,500+ students come from outside of the state. Located in Ft. Worth, TCU is in a city and with that comes things like internship opportunities at major companies. With approximately 25% of the student body made up of students of color, they are doing the same as (if not better than) schools in the Northeast with diversity enrollment, so say goodbye to your fear of the student body being homogeneous.  Full price tuition is about $50,000 per year but merit scholarships are a very real possibility (the traditional range for merit awards begins with an SAT score of 1850+, aka half of the ElRo class) - easily bringing the cost down to more like $30,000 with their Dean's scholarship.

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Trinity University is located in San Antonio - another blue dot in the sea of red you might be imagining when you think of Texas. Despite the name, Trinity University is no longer religiously affiliated and hasn't been for more than 60 years. A small college (2,200 undergrads) the campus has about one third of the students coming from outside of Texas. It is a welcoming place, as evidenced by the fact that they made headlines five years ago when a transgender student rushed a sorority. (On the topic of Greek life, all chapters are local as opposed to national and less than 20% of the students participate in Greek life). Similar to TCU, most ElRo students would be pleasantly surprised to see the potential merit package they might get from Trinity. The college is transparent about the fact that a 90+ GPA and 1220+ SAT (on the first two sections) can mean a possible scholarship of $12,000-$15,000 per year - and there is even a more modest scholarship range for students slightly below this threshold.

These two schools might not be right for everyone, but I do encourage all students to push their comfort zones and look outside the box to find hidden gems tucked all around this great nation. Don't be afraid to try something new. Schools like these are thirsty for New Yorkers to join their ranks, give them a chance to show you what they can offer.

Admission Accomplished 2015!

Last Friday, the senior class gathered to celebrate their college admission accomplishments and announce where they plan to enroll in our annual Admission Accomplished event. It was a morning full of positive buzz and energy and I share the excitement with our students!

We did things a little differently this year, allowing students to submit a personalized picture for a slide show that is now running in the lobby on our new digital screen (posted outside the Principal's office where the old bulletin board used to be). For the past few years, we had done a paper map posted on the bulletin board with students writing their name on a 8.5in x 2 in slip of paper to share with the community where students planned to enroll. This year, with the removal of the bulletin board, the DOE's change with the cell phone policy, and the school's BYOD internet initiative, we took a risk and tried this new version to allow for increased student creativity and ownership of this event that simultaneously embraces technology in our every changing world. Students submitted a wide variety of slides and I've had a great time looking at how many different ways students opted to share their decisions. The old paper map has been replaced with digital slides with dots indicating on a map where students plan to enroll. There is also a paper list divided by geographical region that is up next to the screen for those who don't want to wait for the slideshow to run its course. The paper map version of Admission Accomplished always posed a challenge for regions with high concentrations of students, where stickers would cover up entire cities (or states) making it very hard to decipher the locations they were trying to represent. The idea with the slides was to give every student an equitable chance to share their enrollment choice (and use a little creativity along the way). I know change can be hard, but I thank those students who were upset with the change for coming to talk to me about it directly. Coping with change is a really important life skill for college (and beyond)!

As with every year, some students opt not to participate in the public announcement of where they are going to attend school in the fall. There are many reasons why a person might opt out and I respect their decision. I never force anyone to broadcast their enrollment choice. However, I know how curious everyone is to hear where the Class of 2015 has been admitted and where they are going so please enjoy the list below that lists all the colleges where this class was admitted.

College names in bold indicate that at least one student plans to enroll there next fall.

Adelphi University

Alfred University

Allegheny College

American University

Arcadia University

Babson College

Bard College

Baruch College of the CUNY

Bates College

Binghamton University

Borough of Manhattan Community College of the CUNY

Boston College

Boston University

Brandeis University

Brooklyn College of the CUNY

Bryant University

Bryn Mawr College

Bucknell University

California State University, Fresno

California State University, Long Beach

California State University, Sacramento

Champlain College

Chapman University

City College of New York CUNY

Clark University

Clarkson University

College of Staten Island

Columbia University

Cornell University

CUNY - New York City Technical College

CUNY-Macaulay Honors College

DePauw University

Dickinson College

Drew University

Drexel University

Earlham College

Eckerd College

Elon University

Emerson College

Emory University

Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts

Fairfield University

Fairleigh Dickinson University

Florida Institute of Technology

Florida State University

Fordham University

Franklin University Switzerland

George Mason University

Georgia Institute of Technology

Goucher College

Grinnell College

Guttman Community College

Hamilton College - NY

Hampshire College

Hunter College of the CUNY

Indiana University at Bloomington

Iowa State University

Ithaca College

James Madison University

John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the CUNY

Johns Hopkins University

Johnson & Wales University

Juniata College

Kenyon College

Lafayette College

Lehigh University

Lehman College of the CUNY

Lewis & Clark College

Loyola University Chicago

Lynn University

Manhattan College

Maryland Institute College of Art

Miami University, Oxford

Michigan State University

Monmouth University

Mount Holyoke College

Muhlenberg College

New York City College of Technology

New York Institute of Technology - Manhattan

New York Institute of Technology - Old Westbury

New York University

North Carolina State University

Northeastern University

Northwestern University

Oberlin College

Occidental College

Pace University, New York City

Paul Smith's College

Pennsylvania State University, Erie: The Behrend College

Pennsylvania State University, University Park

Purchase College State University of New York

Purdue University

Queens College of the CUNY

Quinnipiac University

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Rice University

Ringling College of Art and Design

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rutgers University-New Brunswick

Saint Louis University

San Francisco State University

Savannah College of Art and Design

School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Shenandoah University

Sheridan College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning

Siena College

Simmons College

Skidmore College

Smith College

St. John's University - Queens Campus

State University of New York at Albany

State University of New York at New Paltz

Stevens Institute of Technology

Stony Brook University

SUNY College at Brockport

SUNY College at Cortland

SUNY College at Geneseo

SUNY College at Oneonta

SUNY College at Potsdam

SUNY Fredonia

SUNY Oswego

SUNY Polytechnic Institute

Swarthmore College

Syracuse University

Temple University

The College of Wooster

The George Washington University

The Lee Strasberg Theatre and Film Institute

The Ohio State University

The University of Alabama

The University of Arizona

The University of Iowa

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

The University of Scranton

The University of Tampa

Towson University

Tufts University

Tulane University

Union College

University at Buffalo The State University of New York

University of California, Davis

University of California, Irvine

University of California, Los Angeles

University of California, San Diego

University of California, Santa Barbara

University of California, Santa Cruz

University of Chicago

University of Colorado at Boulder

University of Connecticut

University of Delaware

University of Hartford

University of Hawaii at Hilo

University of Illinois at Chicago

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Kentucky

University of Maine

University of Maryland, Baltimore County

University of Maryland, College Park

University of Massachusetts, Amherst

University of Miami

University of Michigan

University of Minnesota, Twin Cities

University of New England

University of New Hampshire

University of New Haven

University of North Carolina at Wilmington

University of Pennsylvania

University of Pittsburgh

University of Puget Sound

University of Rhode Island

University of Richmond

University of Rochester

University of San Francisco

University of South Florida, Tampa

University of Southern California

University of St. Andrews

University of Vermont

University of Wisconsin, Madison

Vassar College

Villanova University

Virginia Tech

Warren Wilson College

Waseda University- Japan

Washington University in St. Louis

Wellesley College

West Virginia University

Wheaton College MA

York College of the CUNY Here here for the Class of 2015!!