Thursday, May 14, 2015

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.

Fort Worth - TCU Campus - Frog Fountain
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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.

Wednesday, May 6, 2015

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!!