Pardon the summer interruption!

SENIORS!!!

The Common App is now open for Fall 2018 business!
If you have not started populating the Common App, now is a great time to start filling in its many boxes. Do it during summer down time and save yourself hours of busy work when school gets back into full swing. If you have already started (hurray!), then know that all your information has been saved and transferred to the new academic year.

A timely article to help you with your personal essay
Summer is also the time to start working on your personal essay. But that's often easier said than done. Do you feel dread at the prospect of lauding yourself in the first person? Welcome to the rite of passage for thousands of college-bound seniors across the country. The good news is that you don’t have to try to brag about yourself in a less-than-obnoxious fashion. Instead, tell a personal story that is meaningful to you. Brennan Barnard just published "The Perfectionist's Guide to the College Essay" in Forbes two days ago.

Barnard's advice will sound uncannily familiar to those of you who attended the Navigating College Admissions mini-course last spring. For other resources, remember you can access a wealth of sample essays and helpful articles in the footer of your Naviance Student account.

JUNIORS & SENIORS!!!

The Colleges that Change Lives Fair is coming to town!

And you should go!

Sunday, August 19, 2018
11:00 AM
Lincolnshire Marriott Resort
Salons A-H
10 Marriott Drive
Lincolnshire, IL  60069

5:00 PM
DoubleTree Suites by Hilton Chicago – Downers Grove
Maple, Oak, Sycamore, Cypress, Elm, and Hawthorne Rooms
2111 Butterfield Rd
Downers Grove, IL  60515

Each session features a 30-minute information session followed immediately by a college fair lasting approximately 1.5 hours. The programs are identical and offered to the public free of charge.

NOTE: This fair includes the 40+ schools that make of the consortium of Colleges that Change Lives. These small liberal arts colleges are known for having excellent, often rigorous, undergraduate programs with great post-graduation outcomes. They are also known for admitting students with both A and B averages and "outside the box" individual strengths and learning styles. I know from that many of you also already have many of these schools on your own application radar. This is a great opportunity to meet admissions representatives, ask the questions that are vital to you, and perhaps learn about schools that will surprise you.  

Roycemore graduates also tend to gravitate to many of CTCL schools:

CTCL acceptances 2014-18 (* now attending)

Allegheny College*
Beloit College*
Centre College*
Clark University
College of Wooster*
Cornell College*
Denison University
Eckerd College
Evergreen State University*
Goucher College
Hendrix College*
Hope College
Kalamazoo College
Knox College*
Lawrence University*
Marlboro College*
New College of Florida
Ohio Wesleyan University*
St. Olaf College
University of Puget Sound*
Whitman College
Willamette University
 
A SECOND NOTE: One the best books for learning about college admissions and about these schools in particular is Loren Pope’s Colleges that Change Lives. You may also want to check it out.

SENIORS, JUNIORS, and interested SOPHOMORES!!!

College Representative Visits!!!
Soon, Naviance Student will have a growing list of college visits to Roycemore right on your personal home page. You will be able to see dates and times and to RSVP to attend. These visits are usually made by the very people who read applications from Roycemore students. Meeting them in person, asking vital questions to your search, and showing “demonstrated interest” can be a significant factor in the answer you receive later. The message here: ATTEND these visits. Come with curiosity and questions!

Among those we have on the Fall calendar so far:

Bryant University
DePaul University*
Fairfield University
Grinnell College*
Hamilton College*
St. Edward’s University (Austin TX)*
Suffolk University
University of San Francisco
University of Oklahoma
University of Wisconsin - Whitewater
You’ll recognize many of these names because many have accepted Roycemore students, and in some cases (noted with an asterisk*), we have Roycemore alumni attending these schools.

If you do not know your Naviance Student login information, please reach out with an email and I’ll be happy to help: [email protected]. ​

Upcoming Standardized Tests
ACT:      
Test Date: September 8        Registration:     August 10  
Test Date: October 27       Registration:     September 28

SAT:    
Test Date:     August 25      Late Registration:     August 7
Test Date:     October 6      Registration:             September 7  

Seniors!!!  If you want to aim for a higher score before an Early Decision or Early Action deadline (usually around November 1), you will need to make sure you take one of these tests in order to see your score before you submit it. 

Juniors!!! Please remember that you’ll want to have taken some combination of two of the SAT and/or ACT before the school year ends. Waiting till summer or fall can add to the workload and stress of culling a strong application. As your college counselor, I know you’ll have bigger--and far more delicious--fish to fry in mid-July. Hey, that rhymed!