Columbus NACAC Day 3!

For the closing day of NACAC I decided to go to two sessions: one about the national job outlook and one about the teenage brain.

The job outlook session was presented by the Department of Labor. While it was, admittedly, not the most lively of sessions, I did get to learn a lot about the careers that are projected to be growing rapidly in the coming years (along with those that are on the decline). Healthcare is the fastest growing sector and jobs in this field are the ones that are expanding at the fastest rates. This doesn't mean doctors though, it mostly means nurses (including nurse practitioners), home health aides, and other health support occupations. There are anticipated to be many job openings for people without formal education, but those jobs are expected to pay very very low wages. The earnings for a person with a bachelor's degree outpaces those without by more than double in terms of annual income. It is also projected that the sector of jobs with the most hiring will actually be careers that require a Master's degree - something to keep in mind for anyone concerned about the cost of college. One of the most useful things shared at the session was the website that will give state by state job predictions for different career paths. This can help show the landscape of how many openings there might be in New York in the next eight years.

http://www.projectionscentral.com/Projections/LongTerm

For a national look at job trends, you can also look at the Bureau of Labor Statistics job outlook

http://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/

The most interesting trivia is that the job with the fastest job growth in the nation is wind turbine technicians. It only represents about 4800 jobs nationally, but no other job is expanding more quickly.

The next session I went to was a talk by author and physician Dr. Frances Jensen. She presented a session called 'The Teenage (and Young Adult) Brain: Neuroscience You Can Use.' She shared that some of the behaviors that we marginalize (like risk taking and poor decision making) are actually neurologically appropriate behavior for teens. That isn't to say that unhealthy choices should be encouraged, but she encourages instead looking at it through a lens of normal human development. It turns out the brain is the last organ in the human body to fully develop. Research indicates that the brain is not fully connected and functioning until the mid to late twenties - far after college is complete. The parts to mature last are those connected with things like empathy, decision making, executive functioning, and impulse control (all located in the frontal lobe). The brain has connections within it called synapses and those synapses are insulated by a fatty substance called myelin. It takes years the the myelin to fully wrap around the connections and this it the reason teenagers can have a somewhat 'uneven' behavior and decision making. If this prognosis is feeling bleak though, it isn't. While these 'unfinished' teen brains might sometimes be thrill seeking or highly emotional, they are also at their peak in terms of learning new things, building new and strong connections faster, and being plastic. This means that the teenage years are actually a wonderful window within which one can build new (and very strong) habits. If teens can work on practicing positive behaviors, those behaviors can become second nature. 

In this same way, teens are also much more highly susceptible to addiction. Bad habits can become addiction in teens much faster and with much less exposure than adults. This is why exposure to drugs and alcohol during the teen years, while the brain is not yet fully mature, can lead to much more serious lingering issues (including not just addiction but also some mental illness.) Her comments on marijuana and alcohol were very interesting, but the one I found most enlightening is that marijuana has lingering results on synapses (aka brain connections) for about four days. So for a teen that is choosing to 'let loose' on the weekend can absolutely see lingering cognitive effects well into the school week. Her advice to help the teenage brain operate at peak function is to maximize quality sleep and minimize distraction (particularly from screens). 

Overall, I had a wonderful experience at NACAC. I got to visit three great (and very different) campuses, connect (and reconnect) with colleagues, and get essential updates on some of the things changing the most quickly within college admissions. I want to take this opportunity to thank the PTA for their generous support of my attending this conference (and the college office in general). Next year, Boston!

Columbus NACAC Day 2!

Today started bright and early with my first in-person meeting of the Coalition Counselor Committee. I shouldn't really call it a meeting, since it was more of a breakfast meet and greet, but it was the start of my day all the same. It was nice to finally put a face to the names on the emails that have come through my inbox during the past year. If nothing else, there certainly seemed to be less anxious buzz about the Coalition compared to last year. At ElRo, I've encouraged only students applying to the University of Florida to use the app this go around, but time will tell how the platform performs during this its first cycle.

My first session of the morning was the overview of Naviance. While they spent a little too much time talking about Naviance for elementary school (yes, that is apparently a thing), it was exciting to get a sneak peek at what is in store for the site. There look to be some pretty overdue cosmetic changes, along with other nice improvements like embedding net price estimates based on income band and letting students know about college open houses and local fairs. They are also working on some pretty powerful data analysis that will allow counselors to predict the relative 'risk' of a student's list (and thus know which students to reach out to first when it comes to troubleshooting).

Next Thursday evening, September 29, I will be sharing with students and families information about the 2017-2018 FAFSA. As such, I wanted to make sure to attend the Department of Educations FAFSA session at NACAC this year. I left the session feeling like the Dept of Ed actually has a pretty decent handle on this rollout and I hope, hope, hope I'm right! We got some nice resources to be able to share with students and I also got the impression that the new FAFSA will be far less complicated than it has ever been in the past. The key for any senior reading this post right now is that you should go ahead and get your FSA ID if you haven't already. Your FSA ID (one parent from the FAFSA will need one too) is your electronic signature and you'll need the ID before you can fully submit the FAFSA. Imagine how crowded that site is going to be on October 1 when the FAFSA goes live? Can you picture it? Ok, now go get your FSA ID right now. Here is the site: www.fsaid.ed.gov

My final session of the day was about working with students with learning disabilities. As we have more and more diverse learners at ElRo, I want to do my best to be prepared to work with them and serve their needs. The session covered a lot of ground but I'll leave a few of the more useful tips here:

• Students who have been previously evaluated with a WISC probably should request a new evaluation once they are 18 because the C in WISC stand for 'children' that tool is not going to serve a student in adulthood. 
• There is a big difference between a "support program" and a "students with disabilities tutoring center". Most colleges offer the latter, often in the form of peer tutors, but the ideal setting for a student with a learning difference is to have a professional special education in a formal support program. About 75 programs have been identified by the presenter and he directed us to the NACAC textbook to see that list. (*I had no idea there was something called a NACAC textbook!)
• A great way to help students focus (especially if they have ADHD) is to have them stand in a 'power pose' for two minutes (recommended pose: hands in fists overhead). This helps release testosterone and combat cortisol - an ideal combination prior to giving a presentation or taking a test. 

The final portion of the day is the annual Counselor College Fair. This is about as overwhelming as you might imagine, with every college present and every high school counselor going from table to table picking up material. It is certainly a nice time to reconnect (and see who has moved schools!) but it is exhausting.

Tomorrow is the final day of the conference and I look forward to a few more sessions before leaving Ohio!

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Columbus NACAC - Day 1

The NACAC conference is officially in session!

I spent the morning at a lecture sponsored by SMU where we got to hear from a wonderful SMU faculty member, Dr. Maria Dixon Hall. She spoke to us about a new initiative at SMU to try and shift the culture around race and culture on campus. The plan is to not just implement orientation trainings or hire faculty of color but to instead try to help all students increase their cultural intelligence. Her recommendations for how to do that in your every day life is to try and not just talk to a person from a different culture but to instead try and understand their culture through exposure. Perhaps her most interesting suggestion is to visit a grocery story -- a place to observe very nuanced cultural behaviors. It was a wonderful talk and a great way to start the day.

His head is a Buckeye! (Ohio State mascot, tree byproduct, and delicious peanut butter and chocolate treat)

For the afternoon, I checked off one more college visit by going to see The Ohio State University. As the third most affordable school in the Big 10 for out of state students, Ohio State should probably see more traffic from ElRo students than it does. In and out of state students are evaluated on the same 10 factors and preference is not given based on residency the way it might be at public land grant universities in other states. Letters of Recommendation are optional and OSU is on the Common App. Best of all, there is merit money available to students to the tune of full tuition. In order to qualify for merit aid, students must apply by no later than November 1. There are also some additional essays to complete in order to compete for some of these merit dollars. To learn more, look up the National Buckeye program and Morrill Scholarship on their website. Like other Big 10 schools, the benefits here include endless academic options, massive amounts of research, and serious school spirit.

The Oval

I also want to point out that when I try to explain to families that the cost of living in the Midwest will help pay back the cost of the plane ticket, here is what I mean:

This cost me $6.80. That salad had Kale and quinoa in it. KALE. Plus a drink and banana.

In an interesting stroke of luck, the Geology museum on campus has this gorgeous quartz found in the 1800s in Ellenville, NY -- home of the ElRo senior trip!

I finished out the day by attending the annual NYSACAC meeting and connecting with fellow New Yorkers here at the conference.

Tomorrow is always the hardest day with an early start and late finish, so I'm signing off for now.

OH-- IO!

Thanks Oberlin!

Today I had the opportunity to visit Oberlin College and I can now understand why we have had five ElRo students in the past four years enroll at this school.

Oberlin is a small liberal arts college with two divisions: the college and the music conservatory. It is known as a place that is progressive, open-minded, expressive, and creative. I think the thing I was most struck by was the people. The students seemed genuinely happy to be there and the environment was accepting and warm.

Unique elements of Oberlin include the fact that they have 3 required January Terms (J-Term for short) for all students where they undertake a project or internship. These can range from doing science research to writing a screenplay to exploring their career interest. Many peer institutions might feel isolated or exclusionary (with literal gates around campus), but not Oberlin. They pride themselves on being well integrated into the town of Oberlin. The conservatory at Oberlin is unique for its focus on undergraduate students (many conservatory programs allot huge portions of the resources to graduate students, but Oberlin hardly has any graduate students in music). About one third of conservatory students earn a double degree in the Liberal Arts. I should also add that it is very unique to see an Admissions staff with so many veteran members. Almost everyone in the office has been there more than 5 years, with many people there over 15 years. That is not the status quo and is a sign that people really believe in the mission and are treated well by the administration.

Oberlin was the first college to graduate a person of color and the first to award a degree to a woman in a co-ed setting. This is a place that wants to break barriers, tackle difficult questions, and honor their own moral and ethical code. I don't get the impression that this is a campus where students spend energy on surface things like clothing, hairstyles, and makeup. The 'come as you are' vibe is palpable. It is the kind of place that cares about the environment, LGBTQ+ rights, and equal pay. If those are not the kind of conversations you want to hear in the dining hall, this school should not be on your list.

ElRo takes Oberlin!

A highlight of the visit was getting to connect with Caley W. - ElRo Class of 2013. She is a student athlete (soccer) and said that she has loved her experience at Oberlin. She is a fourth year majoring in Economics and told me that she feels like Oberlin helped her grow more than she ever expected. I am so proud of her!

I'm now in Columbus, eager to reconnect with colleagues and attend sessions at NACAC!

Thanks Case Western Reserve University!

I'm in lovely Ohio this week to visit schools and attend that National NACAC Conference.

Today I got to visit Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, an exciting opportunity! As anyone can tell from Naviance, we have had a tough time at ElRo cracking the code of what students would fit best at this school. After spending the day there, I think I have a little bit of a better sense of who would be happiest there and what direction the college is moving in.

Frank Gehry designed the School of Management (aka Business)

CWRU evolved from two different schools (Case and Western Reserve) and has the reputation of being rather 'STEM-y.' But, they actually have four undergraduate colleges within the college: Engineering, Business, Nursing, and Arts and Science. I would categorize the school as pretty research-centric and the physical location being near four hospitals (including the world renowned Cleveland Clinic) only adds to the reasons it is a good fit for a student interested in science, pre-health, or both. What sets it apart? For one thing, the students were described as very focused. This is not an exploratory place for the liberal artist. This is for the student who already has a general direction. (It is ok if that direction is the humanities -- they have easy access to art museums, concert halls, and historical sites). 

think[box]

Materials at think[box]

A highlight of today was getting to see the think [box] a maker space on campus that is designed to be an incubation place for innovation. Students (and community members) can use the tools and materials there to create anything they can imagine. This includes things on 3-D printers, embroidery machines, woodwork, electrical circuits, and really anything you could think up.  This kind of creativity is encouraged and it was nice to see such a fully formed and well run place for people to try out their ideas and build truly anything they can think of.

Perhaps the most confusing aspect of Case Western is the notion that there is a single door entry point -- meaning that any student admitted to Case Western can major in anything Case Western offers. That means that students do not need to meet individual criteria in order to change majors once they are here. It means that if you get into Case Western, you have your choice of any of the programs offered (one exception being Music--an audition is required). This policy though isn't to be confused with the idea that Case Western doesn't pay attention to what academic course of study you list on your application. They are still a functioning school, after all, and they need their school to have balance. As one might expect, Engineering is the most popular area of interest and it is also one of the programs with the highest standards. Two thirds of students are majoring in a STEM field.

This school has seen a tremendous amount of growth in the past ten years. As in going from under 8,000 apps per year to over 23,000 apps per year. The acceptance rate last year was about 35%, so more people are getting denial letters than any other sort. They also used to be a school that pulled students mainly from the state of Ohio. Now only 22% of students come from the Buckeye state.

So why would CWRU be attractive to ElRo students? For one thing, they offer merit aid. And starting this year they plan to be need aware but meet 100% of demonstrated need for all admitted students. (Being need aware will most likely impact those on the margins --admissions wise-- the most). That means middle income students should be given a much more fair shake when it comes to financial aid packaging. Loans will be reasonable and students won't be gapped. Then when it comes to merit scholarships, even higher income homes can potentially see discounts in tuition. The location is also very very attractive. Coming from NYC, the Midwest can be a hard pill to swallow for some. But the flight here was under an hour and fifteen minutes! It sometimes takes me that long to commute to ElRo! With a little over 5,000 students in an urban area, Case Western offers the best of a lot of worlds. There is Greek life, but this isn't a party school. I think our students who find themselves looking at places like University of Rochester, University of Chicago, and Carnegie Mellon would also benefit from looking at Case Western.

I hope we can start hitting our stride with this school. Cleveland is a wonderful city and one that I think many ElRo students would be very happy with for their college experience. 

On to Oberlin tomorrow!