College Made Clear

The Jon Acuff recommendations continue…this gift makes a great graduation gift!

Your New Playlist Your New Playlist

Great advice for recent college grads.

"All It Takes Is A Goal: ATG 176: 7 Things They Won’t Let Me Say In A Graduation Commencement" with the Playapod app. https://tmsoft.io/7JcAv

Good advice, but not just for the Ivies. These are good things to keep in mind for wherever a student is applying.

5 Pitfalls To Avoid If You Want To Get Into The Ivy League Understanding common pitfalls will help students to take advantage of their high school experience and avoid mistakes that many Ivy League hopefuls commonly make.

The news you've been waiting for! The prompts are here: https://www.commonapp.org/blog/common-app-announces-2024-2025-common-app-essay-prompts

Which one will you choose?

This just in from the University of Washington!

The new FAFSA, which is supposed to be easier, has had so many glitches that universities are extending their student reply deadlines so that students can better understand what a college will actually charge them.

UC and CSU extend May 1 deadline to accept admission offers for fall 2024, citing FAFSA delays The two university systems will extend their May 1 deadline for students to accept admission offers, citing delays in financial aid applications known as FAFSA.

I am conflicted, but not surprised, at this news. Test optional is a middle ground that confuses students - "should I send my scores or not? Are they good enough?" Schools should either say "no test scores" or do as Dartmouth and MIT have done and require them. The tests come with inherent problems and in my opinion, colleges can make good decisions without them, but this is where we are.

College to reinstate standardized test requirement for Class of 2029 The decision was made based on the findings of a Dartmouth-based research group, which showed that test scores provide the admissions committee with important information about applicants.

Such a smart and helpful take on how college admissions decisions really works (and some fun insight into college football, too!). Rick Clark of Georgia Tech Office of Undergraduate Admission always nails it!

The Committees and Decisions of College Admission… And College Football This weekend Florida State beat Louisville in the ACC Championship and capped off an undefeated football season at 13-0. Translation for non-sports fans: they beat everyone they played. They practi…

It might surprise you that at colleges today, many students don't feel they have the right to free speech. Unfortunately, students can experience retaliation in environments meant to be safe places to express and explore a variety of viewpoints. FIRE (Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression) has published rankings of US institutions of higher learning based on the voices of 45,000 students at over 200 colleges. The rankings might surprise you. If free speech is important to you as you consider college, this is a great resource to consult.

2022-2023 College Free Speech Rankings The 2022 College Free Speech Rankings are based on the voices of 45,000 currently enrolled students at over 200 colleges.

Interested in music therapy? Check out this unique and community-minded program at the University of Tulsa, where students live within a senior living community.

2 TU students learn life lessons while living in Senior community "When I go to school during the day, I'm hanging with 18 to 20-year-olds, and then I come home, and everyone is like 40 years older," Roberts said.

Thrilled to see this kind of initiative and empathy in this much-maligned generation.

At one Woodbury school, teens saw the achievement gap and stepped up to tutor their peers The Close the Gap club at East Ridge High School draws up to 40 students each Tuesday after school.

So excited to share my experience as an independent educational consultant with the Careers class at East Ridge High School.

The SAT Is Making a Comeback. Here's a Look at the Numbers and What They Tell Us More colleges have made the test optional, but students are still taking the SAT in droves.

Interesting new research on the SAT. My recommendation? Students should take both the ACT and SAT, then pursue whichever one feels more comfortable and provides a higher score. Then, submit scores to colleges based on whether the score supports the student's overall application.

The SAT Is Making a Comeback. Here's a Look at the Numbers and What They Tell Us More colleges have made the test optional, but students are still taking the SAT in droves.

Fascinating visual on changes over the last ten years in college major. Sad to see education and other liberal arts falling further behind more lucrative categories like computer science and business.

Ranked: Most Popular U.S. Undergraduate Degrees (2011‒2021) Health, computer science, and engineering college departments have seen a surge of completed undergraduate degrees in the decade since 2011.

An interesting take on why college is so expensive. Good points, but the producers miss a big contributor, which is that brand name matters in the college search, which drives prices up. What's your take?

Why Is College So Expensive? How degree inflation, a lack of transparency, and government subsidies drove up the cost of college.

A voice that hasn’t been heard yet in the affirmative action/legacy admissions debate.

Legacy for You, but Not for Me Hate the establishment if you want to. But don’t get rid of it the minute that Black and Latino people become members.

The academic community struggles with how to handle AI in the classroom. Bottom line: students are using, to learn and to cheat.

Paper exams, chatbot bans: Colleges seek to 'ChatGPT-proof' assignments ChatGPT and other artificial intelligence chatbots have become the go-to source for cheating in college.

Parents of new college students, this is a great read about what you might expect after you do the college drop off.

OK parents of brand new college students, there is a thing that might happen and I need us to be prepared.

Roughly 8 ½ out of 10 of us will get a phone call from a super miserable college kid.

Like, flat out miserable. They will be friendless, homesick, overwhelmed by the work, unsure of their every decision and will be quite certain things will never get better.

Every molecule in your body will scream, “Baby don’t worry! Mama’s here! I AM COMING TO SAVE YOU FROM THIS CRUEL COLD WORLD AND ALSO I WILL BAKE YOU COOKIES AND WHEN CAN I BOOK YOUR FLIGHT HOME?”

You must under no circumstances do the very thing you feel you need to do in your soul...rescue them.

Your child is on the Hot Mess Express and it is a ride they have to take to get to This-New-Place-Feels-Like-Home Junction.
Do not pull them off the train. Also do not get on with them and lament that yes everything is horrible because that is a straight shot to Sad Sack City.

Instead, you need to run alongside that train waving your hat saying things like, “You’ve got this it’ll all be OK!”, “It'll be a short ride and you’ll be so happy when you get there!” or “Keep your dorm room open so people can see you are home!” or “Look straight ahead so you don’t get train sick!”

That is it.

Listen to them. Validate their feelings because the adjustment can be hard and long and feel not so great. It’s OK for them to struggle and they might just need to talk about how crappy it all is.

But they also need us to believe in them. They won’t always believe they can do it so we need to step it up and tell them they indeed can.

Remind them they are a gift from God to the world and that they’ve had friends before and they will again and their little brother still thinks they’re the coolest.

And I know what you are thinking, What if they are not OK? What if this all is a disaster and the right thing to do is to bring them home?

I hear you, and on the off chance that is the case you need them to tell you when that time is. And it isn’t on weekend two when they still don’t have a friend. It isn’t even on weekend four when they are still sitting in their dorm room.

A good rule is to make them stay put for at least six to eight weeks, especially if they are having a hard time.

Yes this will basically feel like forever to both you and your miserable child.

But something happens around the 6-week mark.
They make friends, or at least one friend.
They connect with a professor.
They break down and join something, anything.
They realize they know the way to all their classes and have a new favorite coffee at the coffee shop.
Someone invites them to a party and they go and it isn’t a nightmare.
The cafeteria staff starts to recognize them and lets them know when they’re going to make more potstickers.
And they have made connections all on their own.

Of course the conversations you have had and the bazillion prayers you have prayed have helped but basically they own this.
They have carved out a new home without anyone else and it will feel amazing.

Do not steal this from them.
Sit with them, coach them, pray for them, but make them stay on that train.

It will be one of the hardest things you have ever done.

I know, I have done it once and I have four more in line to allow me to experience this joy of parenting again, and again, and again and again. Unless they choose to just stay with me forever which at least one of them still promises to do.
Surround yourself with support because you will need it too. You will see pictures online and think all the other kids in the land are happy but yours. But if you ask a parent or two you may find they are right there with you. At least 8 1/2 of them.
We’ve got this friends and so do they. ❤️

Amy

{Edited to add: Of course If your student is struggling with mental health issues help them connect with support on their campus and then know when to fold them. You know your child best and you’ll want to watch for all the red flags. But most of our kids just need time.}

Follow Amy Betters-Midtvedt

Good info for parents of new college students. Hang in there!

How to Say Goodbye to Your College Kids Every goodbye to one of our college kids has been different. Sometimes I get sad and sometimes I simply can’t wait to get their junk out of the house.

Moving in has started!

This is a great guide to all things college and food, as students head off/back to college! Good to see that at my alma mater, Georgetown, the Tombs is still considered a must do.

The Eater College Dining Plan From Roll Tide to Rock Chalk, Eater celebrates the greatest food on and off campuses around the country.

I suggest all my students to have a resume but often students have trouble getting started. Here's a new AI-driven option:

AI-Powered Resume Maker and CV Builder Let AI do the writing for you and download a perfect resume in just minutes – for free, no sign-up required!

Would you hire a consultant to help your daughter through sorority rush?

Parents Hire $4,000 Sorority Consultants to Help Daughters Dress and Impress During Rush Getting into sororities is nearly as tough as entry to top universities. “Be trendy but not too trendy, modest but not too modest, fit in but be unique.”

While many colleges don't require the SAT or ACT for admissions, good scores can augment a student's application, so I recommend students test and then decide whether to include their scores. Applerouth is a trusted test prep partner with College Made Clear and is offering small group prep sessions now.

Registration - OneCanoe Research shows that students master skills faster and retain them longer when they are actively involved in the learning process. Taught by expert tutors and capped at an 8 student maximum, our small classes are designed to stimulate student engagement. Each class includes three full-length, proctor...

Are you the parent of a new college student? This is a must-read about important topics to discuss before your students leaves home.

And if you have questions about paying for college, I partner with some fantastic people and am happy to refer you. Contact me and let's get those questions answered!

Last-minute financial guidance for parents of new college students If your child is starting their first year of college soon, the first bill from the school may be on its way. That not-so-small detail can get lost in the excitement of high school graduation and college orientation.

In today's college admissions news, legacy consideration takes another hit.

Wesleyan University ending legacy admissions after Supreme Court ruling Wesleyan University announced Wednesday it will end its legacy admissions after the Supreme Court ruled last month to curtail the use of affirmative action in the college admission process. “An ap…

All the feels!

Moms, These Are the Pictures You Should Take at High School Graduation—Your Teen Mag One of the best parts of my son’s high school graduation was unexpected. And I think we as parents should adopt this tradition.

Do you know a teen who could benefit from this? It includes the best insights from Dr. Santos' popular course at Yale called "Psychology and the Good Life." And it's free. (P.S. - There is also a version for adults.)

The Science of Well-Being for Teens Offered by Yale University. A recent survey found that 37% of teens say they have poor mental health. This 6-week course aims to curb this ... Enroll for free.

From the mind of Rick Clark at Georgia Tech, some thoughts on what to do if your senior makes a big mistake between now and graduation. My favorite line: holistic review=human review.

College Admission and Discipline Review It is Spring Break week for many school systems across the country. I know this because my family headed south on I-75 this Saturday morning. Within about 3 miles on the highway we hit stop-and-go …