Mr. K's College Knowledge

Seniors & Families, It is almost October 1st...and as a college counselor, that only means one thing. No not football, apple picking, or the leaves changing...it means deadlines! We have been talking about college admissions and the application process for close to a year now...and now the first deadlines are around the corner...we can see them, and for some, that can make us very nervous! But no need to worry, you got this!  You have your list of colleges, you are working through the applications, you are ready to send your SAT/ACT scores, and you talked to your teacher months ago in order for her to commit to writing your letter...right? Many already have a teacher committed to writing a letter, others are just learning they need a teacher recommendation letter as they are reading this. If you fall in the latter category, don't freak out, but right now is the time to find a teacher and ask (beg) for a letter.  You may be asking yourself, why do colleges need lett...

The Common Application is new and there have been problems. This is no surprise. Hopefully, these following trips can help over the course of the next few weeks when many students are submitting their applications.  Early Decision agreements and outside recommenders: If you are applying to a school via early decision, you, a parent, and your counselor must approve this through signing an electronic document. This is done through the ‘assign recommenders’ section of the member school part of the CA. You will indicate that you are applying ED to one school, and then you will invite a parent. Make sure you accurately input their name and their email address. Then when you are done, you must assign the parent. Both of these steps must be done in order for the ED agreement to be sent. As long as you do your part on the CA and indicate on Naviance that you applying ED, your counselor will be able to submit his portion of the agreement. For additional outside recommenders, the s...

This information should be helpful for all students, especially seniors in the middle of the application process. Almost all colleges will require at least one teacher recommendation, as a crucial part of the application process. When deciding on which teacher to ask, remember these important tips: Stick to a junior or senior year teacher …possibly a sophomore year teacher. Students have changed from freshmen year and admissions counselors want to see the type of person and student they will be receiving and the more recent the evaluation the better! Ask a teacher who really know you. Don’t just ask the teacher that you received an ‘A’ in, but the teacher that you were able to connect to. It’s OK if this class  wasn't  the highest grade you received, but if the teacher can talk about your learning style, participation, work ethic, ability to work with others, leadership, and other important qualities in a way that really brings you to life, will lead to the most effe...