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We’re gearing up for another busy summer of College Application Crash Courses. A few weeks ago, we took some time to chat with some of last year’s Crash Course parents to hear what they had to say about their experience. Here’s a video of what they had to say:

Thanks to all of the parents who shared their experiences! And if you’re interested in learning more about the courses or enrolling for this summer, click here. But hurry! There are only a handful of spots left.

We hope everyone is enjoying this fantastic Spring weather – but we all know the truth: summer will be here soon. Before you get swallowed up in end of the school year activities and summer vacation planning – join us for a free college admissions information session! On Saturday, May 3rd, our president, Jessica Givens, will be delivering her engaging and informative presentation “Five Secrets to College Admissions Gold” at our office on West Gray.

Too many parents, students and counselors are operating with out-dated assumptions about what works and are blind-sided by often-avoidable rejection letters. Join us to learn about how to navigate the ever-changing college admissions process. This session is geared toward parents of students between eighth and eleventh grade but anyone is welcome.

Jessica Givens / All-in-One Academics

Five Secrets to College Admissions Gold

  Saturday, May 3rd from 12:00pm – 1:00pm

River Oaks Shopping Center, Second Floor

Juniors! Summer will be here before you know and you know what that means… it’s time to start your college applications! And also… finish them? Yes! Our College Application Crash Courses bring together a small group of motivated students for 5 days during the summer and together the group knocks out the major written components of their college applications including three essays and a resume. Additionally, for those taking the course in August, they’ll be able to fill out the actual application as well (we added classes in July due to demand but the application doesn’t come out until August 1!). Here are some additional details:

Interested? Then get a move on! Spots are filling up quickly. Click here to read more about what happens in class or to enroll. This is a fantastic way to get a huge head start on your applications leading to a significantly less stressful senior year for you and your entire family! Plus, it’s fun!

Our president, Jessica Givens, was recently featured as a College Coach on KHOU’s morning program, Great Day Houston. She was there on Monday, February 17th to help them kick off their college week. See the clip in full here:

Thanks so much for having Jessica on the show again – it is always a good time!

We wanted to share some information about a cool opportunity coming up at Episcopal High School on February 24th: the HoustonGap Year Fair. This event is open to anyone in the Houston area and is a great way to get more information about different programs, what to expect, and how to tell who might be a good fit to take a gap year. Some students just aren’t ready to head straight to college and a structured gap year can help them to mature, gain additional experience, and start college on the right foot a year later.

Here’s all the information about the fair:

Houston Gap Year Fair

Monday, February 24, 2014

6:30 to 8:30 p.m. 

*Speaker at 6 p.m in Anderson Lecture Hall.  

Traditional fair to follow in the Underwood Student Center

 Episcopal High School

4650 Bissonnet St., Bellaire, TX  77401

 A Gap Year is a period of time between completing high school and beginning college when a student steps outside the traditional classroom experience.  This is a time to explore the world, reflect on personal values and goals, and prepare to take the next step in life.

Please register at www.usagapyearfairs.org.

It’s already the end of October!  If you haven’t submitted your application essays yet, you may want to give them one last look-over with these three tips in mind:

Did you know that UT has set a goal to improve its rate of students who graduate in four years? By 2017, they are aiming to have 70% of students graduate in four years, up from just 53% today. While 53% may sound a little low, it’s actually the highest rate in the state of Texas, followed closely by Texas A&M at 50%. Why do they care about students graduating in four years? According to UT, they say it is cheaper, it decreases dropout rates, students enter the workforce sooner, it creates room for new students, and lessens the chance of loan debt. All good things! For more information about UT’s plan, check out this article: UT Strives to Improve Four-Year Graduation Rates.

So if we know that schools are looking to increase the number of students who graduate in four years… we know that they’ll be looking for prospective students to demonstrate the ability and drive to make that happen. A great way to show that you’ve got what it takes to graduate in four years is to register for concurrent enrollment while still in high school. Here’s a little information about how you can register to take classes at Houston Community College while you’re still in high school. Doing this benefits you in two ways –

1.  You demonstrate that you’re capable of college level work

Tomorrow is October 15th! That means the first wave of Early Action/Early Decision deadlines is upon us… though for some schools, they’ve extended their timelines. Citing issues with the Common Application, UNC Chapel Hill and Duke University both pushed back their 10/15 deadlines to 10/21 after students were unable to complete their applications.

In a response, the Common Application made a statement regarding the status of the cite over the busy Columbus Day weekend in a post  on a forum sponsored by the National Association of College Admission Counseling.

“The slowness is due to a spike in activity among recommenders, which is having an impact in system performance for all users. The result is a time-out issue, which presents itself to users as an unsuccessful login error. We first observed the issue around 9:00 AM ET. Troubleshooting allowed us to resolve the problem within about 30 minutes. Unfortunately, the issue cropped up again about 30 minutes later and continues to persist.”

For more information, check out this post from The Examiner – it has lots of details. The good news here is that it isn’t only the students being inconvenienced, the schools are too – and are dealing with it in a way to minimize stress on applicants. Hopefully the system will be up and running smoothly soon and until then – try to relax!

Here are two other schools with October 15 deadlines (that haven’t been changed, at least as of yet):

University of Georgia – Early Action – 10/15

University of South Carolina – Early Answer – 10/15

The next big wave of deadlines is November 1 so if that is a target date for any of your schools, get cranking!

Fall is the time of year where many students and their parents begin planning visits to prospective schools. While there is a wealth of information available online, sometimes there is no substitute for seeing a school in person and getting a feel for the campus and environment first-hand. We’ve pulled together some quick tips to keep in mind as you’re scheduling and making these important visits.

Go While School is in Session

While tempting to visit schools during a vacation, seeing a campus while they’re on break takes away the biggest part of what makes up a school – the students! Whether a big school or small, watching the way the student body carries itself and interacts will give you a good sense of how the school operates and if you see yourself fitting in with all these potential classmates. While you’ll still be able to see the physical campus during a break, you won’t get a full picture of what life is like unless you see the hustle and bustle of a thriving college community in the wild.

Take the Official Tour

Do some research ahead of time to find out what types of official visits are offered at the schools. If there are opportunities to register ahead of time, do it! You want to leave a record of your visit and registration in tours or prospective student events are a great way to do it. At many schools, visit data is recorded and admissions officers are able to access the information to verify that you have demonstrated interest in attending and have put forth the effort to show it.

Leave Some Time to Explore

The official tour is just that – official. Make sure that you’ve penciled in enough time to explore campus on our own – as well as the surrounding town or city. When they’re off campus, where do students go to study, have a snack, or play pickup basketball?  While you’re in school, you’ll be on campus quite a bit – but that doesn’t mean you won’t also be living in the city surrounding it – try to picture yourself there and see how it feels.

Experience Student Life

Eat on campus! And in a dining hall, if that is an option. Read through the student newspaper and take a look at what has been posted on bulletin boards. These are a little window into the inner workings of the school and its students and can give you an honest look at what’s going on.

Take Notes

Even if you’re only visiting a few schools, many experiences can start to blend together. Snap a few pics while on campus and in town and spend a few minutes after each visit to jot down some notes.  Even some generic categories like Love It / Hate It / Not Sure will be helpful. All of your notes and pictures will be invaluable when you’re trying to make a big decision down the road.

Of course, don’t put too much pressure on yourself to maximize this experience. You don’t want to waste it, but at the end of the day, you’ll have a “vibe” about each school – sometimes a gut feeling will show you the way!