MARET

APPLICATIONS GETTING STARTED CHOICES MAKING AID FINANCIAL

HANDBOOK COLLEGE COLLEGE    COMPLETING  TESTING   RESOURCES MORE AND ... 3 5 2 4 4 4 9 9 8 8 11 11 21 21 27 13 16 16 15 25 12 14 24 18 Inside Back Cover Inside Front Cover Inside Front Cover ...... College Counseling Contacts...... College Counseling Where to Begin...... the College Search...... Important Things to Think about in ...... How Colleges Make Their Decisions Online Programs...... and Prep Courses, Tutors, ...... Advice and Tips Testing College Application Options...... Contents of a Completed Application ...... Admission Essays and Personal Statements Understanding the Academic Record vs. ACT...... SAT College Interviews...... Major Forms of Financial Aid...... Standardized Testing Calendar...... in the College Process Our Values College Acceptances...... References and Resources Financial Aid

Independent Counselors...... The College Search...... The College Application...... a Gap Year Taking A Note to Parents and Guardians...... A Note to Parents Visiting Colleges...... Visiting Academic Record Athletics and Recruitment...... TABLE OF CONTENTS OF TABLE he Maret College Counseling Office is excited to embark upon the college search Office is excited to embark he Maret College Counseling secondary opportunities. before anything else. This process is a chance for students to explore, engage, and learn. before anything else. This process is a chance for students to explore, engage, both students and parents/guardians to keep an open mind—do not dismiss a college both students and parents/guardians professionals that is committed to maintaining high ethical standards among those professionals that is committed to maintaining [email protected] parents/guardians, and students is of the utmost importance. We hope for open, honest the utmost importance. We parents/guardians, and students is of [email protected] [email protected] Sincerely, dialogue throughout the process. In maintaining this communication, we encourage dialogue throughout the process. In maintaining college. As members, we are bound to counsel and represent our students honestly college. As members, we are bound to involved in the college search and admissions process, as well as in the transition to involved in the college search and admissions important time for you. For students, this is a period of self-discovery, reflection, you. For students, this is a period of important time for are eager to partner with our students and their families their needs and interest. We open communication between counselors, this process is about the student. Thus, and accurately. We take our roles seriously and always put our students’ best interests take our roles seriously and We and accurately. an informed consumer of information about colleges, universities, and other post- an informed consumer of information and application process with you and your family. We recognize that this is an recognize that We with you and your family. and application process be. For families, this is a who they are and who they want to and thinking about important information, setting. This handbook contains advice, adventures in a new college search, application, to complete as you go through the and activities for you carefully, as there are sections on just about every and admissions processes. Examine it aspect of this journey. it is important for experience; however, and offer advice based on our collective or idea simply because you have not heard of it. Rather, consider all options and be heard of it. Rather, or idea simply because you have not [email protected] major transition, as the student leaves home, perhaps for the first time, to pursue new the student leaves home, perhaps for major transition, as Remember, are in control of this process. Remember, they that, ultimately, students to acknowledge (NACAC), a member-directed organization of college counseling and admissions (NACAC), a member-directed 2018–2019 MARET COLLEGE COUNSELING OFFICE COUNSELING COLLEGE MARET 2018–2019 Maret is a member of the National Association of College Admissions Counseling Maret is a member of the National Association Mr. Alexander (Allie) Levey, Director of College Counseling Mr. Associate Director of College Counseling Ms. Dorie Ravick, College Counselor Ms. Claire Pettengill, Assistant College Counseling Administrative Ms. Krsna Jackson, Through honest self-reflection, students are able to identify institutions that will meet Through honest self-reflection, students We are honored to be a part of the journey. We The Maret College Counseling Office T

OUR VALUES IN THE COLLEGE PROCESS AND GUARDIANS TO PARENTS CALENDAR

JUNIOR YEAR SENIOR YEAR

BEGIN COLLEGE SEARCH PROCESS: APPLY, DECIDE, AND QUESTION, EXPLORE, INVESTIGATE. FINISH HIGH SCHOOL WITH PRIDE IN YOURSELF. OCTOBER MARCH AUGUST Each family’s dynamic is different, and how you negotiate this process is, in part, • Begin developing your “long • Access and rollover your • Take the PSAT/NMSQT. list” of college choices and based on the relationships you have developed with your child. This is a process that • Attend college fairs and local Common Application, if contacting them to request (Available prepares students for independence, but it can be challenging for everyone involved. It is information sessions. appropriate. good that parents/guardians and students work together, but be aware that what students information. August 1) NOVEMBER • If possible, visit colleges want changes, and often. A family conversation clarifying roles and expectations in the • Keep your grades up. Make during spring break. SEPTEMBER process is a good starting point. • Review your transcript with adjustments if your progress APRIL reports are not up to par. your college counselor to • Select senior year courses • Attend Junior Parent’s ensure it is accurate. Knowing when to help and when to back off can be difficult for some parents and and be sure to continue to College Night at Maret • Meet with your college guardians, but this is only natural, as we know they only want the best for their students. challenge yourself. (parents/guardians). counselor to review your list Middlebury College created a list of 10 suggestions for parents and guardians, some of • Attend area college fairs to of colleges. which note symptoms of over-involvement: DECEMBER get more information on • If applying for Financial • Receive results of PSAT/ possibilities. Aid, check to see if any NMSQT. MAY of your schools require 1. Remember that this process is not about you. Children need to make their own • Review your scores and • Take appropriate Advanced the College Scholarship consult with college observations and decisions. Placement exams. Ask your Service Profile and complete counselors or your advisor counselors and teachers it before the respective to determine how you might 2. Support and encouragement are more appropriate than pressure and unsolicited about this. deadlines; request an FSA • Write thank- improve. This is excellent • Decide which teachers ID in order to complete the you notes to advice. preparation for the SAT or to ask to write your Free Application for Federal teachers, ACT. recommendation letters. Student Aid (FAFSA). coaches, etc., • Begin to think about 3. Do not use the words “we” or “our” when referring to your child’s application • Submit the Teacher • Meet with college who wrote colleges that you’d like to process. Recommendation Request representatives that visit recommendations for you. explore. Form to the teachers Maret. • Register for February or DECEMBER you have asked to write • Attend regional college 4. Help them prepare, but let them perform. For example, during a college visit, step April ACT if appropriate • Submit all remaining recommendation letters for fairs, receptions, and college back and let your child drive the experience. This is good practice for the next phase and be sure to have the applications for initial you in person, and enter that nights, etc. scores sent to Maret. review to the College of his or her life. information on Naviance. • Begin researching summer OCTOBER Counseling Office. JUNE 5. Encourage your child to make his or her own college appointments, phone calls, academic experiences, • Narrow your College volunteer work, • Attend College Application Application List and update JANUARY, FEBRUARY, and emails. When a family arrives at an admissions office, it is important that the employment, etc. Workshop at Maret. your list on Naviance MARCH, APRIL student approach the front desk, not the adults. Having control over the details gives • Continue researching • If you are thinking about • Continue scholarship search JANUARY colleges and requesting applying Early Decision/ and complete applications. children a sense of ownership—they will learn to appreciate all the steps it takes to • Attend College Counseling information. Early Action, schedule an • Plan campus visits for make big things happen if they do them. Evening with Deans & • Plan summer and/or fall appointment with your colleges you haven’t seen or Directors at Maret (families). college visits. college counselor. would like to see again. • Complete the Rising Senior 6. Allow your child to ask the questions. Children have their own set of issues that are • Narrow your College • Relax and wait for decisions. Personal Inventory. JULY/AUGUST important to them. Application List to four– • Encourage your parents • Continue refining college BEFORE MAY 1 eight schools and update to complete their Parent list. • Decide on the one college your list on Naviance 7. Prepare your child for disappointment. For many students, this is the first time they Questionnaire. • Keep up with required and that you will attend. Send • Begin preparing backup could face bad news. Remind them that they will • Review SAT and ACT test recommended summer in your tuition deposit. applications. (ED/EA dates, consider which tests reading. Inform the other colleges be happy at many schools and that admissions applicants) decisions do not reflect their worth as people or to take when, and register. • Begin compiling a reading that accepted you that you list of all books read in high • Complete the FAFSA FEBRUARY have selected another college. your worth as parents. school; your college may ASKING YOUR • Schedule an individual NOVEMBER Please do not double-deposit. request one. college conference. • Continue completing • Begin working on a draft of MAY 8. Never complete any portion of the college • Attend the Junior Families applications. STUDENT how a college essay or personal • Take Advanced Placement application for your child. Many colleges view Capital Case Studies • Submit all completed statement. Exams. this as a violation of their honor policy. program. applications to your college • Register with NCAA they want you • Register for the March SAT, counselor at least two weeks JUNE Eligibility Center, if if appropriate. before the due date for • Congratulations! Shop for 9. Do not let stereotypes or outdated information appropriate (available July 1). • Register for the April or review. college, read for pleasure, to be involved • Begin scholarship search. you have steer your child away from schools in June ACT and/or the May • Make sure first quarter grades enjoy your summer, and get which s/he might otherwise have an interest. or June SAT Reasoning Test, are strong. If not, work to get ready for a great experience! is a good semester grades up. Times have changed and so have colleges—your if appropriate. You will be missed! 2 perspective on a particular school may not be starting point. 3 accurate. THE COLLEGE SEARCH intellectual, social, and personal growth? How open • What do students on this campus consider fun? are conversations about race and equity? About gender and sexuality? Do students from seemingly different • How extensive are career services at this school? Do backgrounds interact with one another organically, or most graduates get jobs shortly after graduation? How do students appear to stick with those who seem like many students go on to graduate or attend professional themselves? schools after graduation? What industries and professions do graduates seem attracted to? • How diverse is the faculty? Are there women WHERE TO • Faculty involvement, research opportunities, class size, and individuals of color in important faculty and • Do many students receive financial aid at this school? If diversity of the student population, and subjective administrative positions? If not, what does this say not, is it apparent? BEGIN factors like campus architecture and aesthetics about the academic culture of the institution? Are affinity groups and organizations active on the campus? • Are fraternities and sororities popular on campus? Will TO BEGIN THE COLLEGE You might also consider whether a school is coeducational my social life be dependent on Greek life? Are the SEARCH PROCESS, CONSIDER or has a religious affiliation, its cost and the availability • How large are the majority of classes at this school? fraternities and/or sororities focused more on social THE FOLLOWING: of financial aid, and whether the school caters more to Are most under 25? Over 100? What sort of classroom activities or engaged in service? Is the Greek system undergraduate or graduate students. Do your best to environment would be ideal for me as a learner? What residential? • Why are you going to college? separate facts—that is, what you know to be true about kind of academic support can I expect if I encounter the colleges you are exploring—from hearsay, rankings, challenges? • What percentage of students study abroad? Is doing so • What do you expect from a and promotional materials. At the end of the day, YOU easy for all majors? college community? are going to be attending the college you choose, so make • Is the curriculum structured so that I will be required sure you have done your homework about the schools to to take classes from a broad range of disciplines? If so, • How’s the food? Is housing guaranteed? Comfortable? • What are your areas of academic which you are applying and that you are confident you what are the requirements and do I like them? interest? would be happy at any of them. • If the curriculum is open, with little or no core • What atmosphere will be best for requirements, who is there to advise me and help me HOW COLLEGES MAKE the way you learn? Do you thrive think hard about the academic choices I am making? on competition, or are you more IMPORTANT THINGS TO THEIR DECISIONS comfortable learning in a more • Can I be undecided about what I want to study when collaborative atmosphere? THINK ABOUT IN THE I apply? No one can predict with 100% certainty what admissions decision they will receive from each college or university; • Are you really going to college because your parents COLLEGE SEARCH • What percentage of students graduate in four years? therefore, the Maret college counseling team works closely expect it or because you cannot conceive of an with each student to ensure that they build a college alternative? Each student is unique, and thus each student’s college • Are classes taught primarily by full-time faculty list that is 1) manageable, and 2) represents a range of search should be unique. There is not a one-size-fits-all members, adjunct faculty, or graduate students? admissibility. Today, colleges often receive applications Thinking about these questions will help you select a approach. Each student has different interests, talents, from many, many more academically qualified candidates school that will best fit your needs. Colleges will ask goals, and dreams they hope to pursue and cultivate. • How engaged do professors appear to be in their than they can accept. similar questions in essays on your applications or during Below are some questions to help you think about each students’ lives outside the classroom? admissions interviews. college you may be considering beyond reputation and Statistically, in a recent class nationwide, there were prestige. Before you begin to question colleges, however, • Can I do research with faculty members or on my own roughly 150,000 students in the top 10% of their high SECOND, THINK ABOUT THE TYPE OF COLLEGE YOU it is important to question yourself. Why are you going at this college? How are such projects funded? school classes, with roughly 18,000 valedictorians. WANT TO ATTEND. to college? How do you learn best? Who are you now, Together, the fifty most selective colleges in the country and who do you hope to be as a result of your college • Who is visiting the campus to speak, perform, exhibit, have room for fewer than 55,000 students in any given There are over 2,000 accredited colleges in the United experience? or recruit? year. At several of the most popular colleges, applications States, each different. Some Maret students even look outnumbered places in the freshman class by over 13-to-1. abroad. You should consider the following factors: Remember: it is what you do in your four years of college Therefore, by practical necessity, students must think of and how you grow there that truly matter most. not only which school is their top choice, but also which • Size: small (2,500 or under), medium (2,500 to 8,000), REMEMBER: There others of several colleges and universities they would be or large (over 8,000) • What types of students are happiest at this college? Are happy to attend. Again, DO NOT BELIEVE that only they collaborative? Competitive? Politically active? are plenty of colleges one college exists where you will be happy and thrive. • Location: urban, a suburb near a city, a college town, or Athletic? Outdoorsy? From far away or closer to the Many colleges will give you the opportunities you want a rural area school? out there. Do not believe and need to succeed in life. that only one college or only a • Area of the country: the Northeast, Southeast, Midwest, • Who is most successful academically at this college? handful of colleges exists where There are many factors that colleges consider when or West Coast selecting a freshman class. Academically, they want • Is the student body racially, culturally, politically, you will be happy and thrive. to make certain that, based on past achievement and • Academic programs: liberal arts and sciences, socially, and economically diverse? If so, how Many colleges will give you the demonstrated potential, an applicant will be able to engineering, architecture, nursing, business and important is this to me? If the student body is not achieve academic success at their school. They are also accounting, fine or performing arts, and technical arts diverse, why? How will diversity play a role in my opportunities you want and looking for individuals who will be engaged in the 4 need to succeed, so explore! 5 THE COLLEGE SEARCH

college’s campus community outside the classroom. Colleges consider the highest scores a student has achieved teachers, and, sometimes, fellow students or your parents. when considering their application for admission. Test These recommendations are confidential, but they are Most colleges also understand that students learn a lot dates and registration deadlines are always available online reviewed by Head of School Marjo Talbott and all of from each other and each other’s life experiences, and through each testing organization’s website or in the the college counselors before being submitted. We find thus seek to enroll students from a wide array of ethnic, College Counseling Office. A more detailed explanation of that providing and receiving constructive feedback about cultural, racial, geographic, and economic backgrounds. each test is available further in this handbook. In addition, each of our letters is helpful to us as recommendation While colleges may differ considerably in who they are some students who have taken Advanced Placement writers and, more important, to our students. The School/ looking for in any given year, we are certain that the Exams (APs) may submit their scores for consideration in Counselor Recommendation, in a sense, codifies many of following list of factors will help you understand what is the admissions process, although no college or university the different parts of your application, and so we work most critical in the eyes of an admissions officer. requires them as part of their admissions process. extremely hard to craft letters for each student that are original (like you!), detailed, and honest. To help us write ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT TEACHER RECOMMENDATIONS the school recommendation, students MUST complete OVER THE FOUR YEARS OF HIGH SCHOOL and return the personal inventory to their college Most colleges require at least one letter of counselor no later than the last day of school their junior This is, without a doubt, the most important part of any recommendation from a teacher who has taught you year. The personal inventory will be available in spring of student’s application for admission. It includes your in a core academic course (mathematics, social studies, your junior year. grades/grade point average, rigor/strength of academic English, lab science, or world languages). Many schools program, breadth of curriculum, and academic standing now require two teacher recommendations, but regardless ESSAYS YOU WRITE FOR at Maret relative to your peers. Colleges are interested to of the number required, it is important for students to YOUR ADMISSIONS APPLICATION recruited athletes, talented artists, actors, scientists, see that students have challenged themselves by taking a speak with their college counselor about whom they are musicians, students who are the first generation of their full range of academic courses each year of high school. considering asking to write on their behalf. Colleges rely The main essay of your application is the most personal family to go to college, or members of ethnic groups Although improved grades during the first half of the on your classroom teachers for frank, honest assessments part of your application, as it provides you an opportunity under-represented on campus may be given additional senior year are helpful, they do not erase a poor record of who you are as a student in their discipline. They are to share something that is important to you and explain consideration by a particular school, depending on its for the first three years. Colleges also consider a student’s looking for evidence of intellectual curiosity, creativity, why it is important to you. Admissions officers will use it priorities in any given year. standing relative to their Maret peers. While Maret does engagement, commitment, and respect. So it is up to you to determine not only how well you write, but also how not officially rank students, admissions officers know to decide who can best present your strengths as a student. you think. Before you write your essay, it is important to This status does not make up for a mediocre academic Maret well and are able to distinguish students from one Some schools may require letters of recommendation consider what matters to you as a person. Try to discuss record, but it can help a student stand out a bit more. another, academically speaking, based on past experience. from teachers of specific disciplines (for example, many what is less evident from other parts of your application The fact that you attend Maret lets colleges know you are engineering schools/programs require a letter from an in your essay so that admissions officers see a new side PERSONAL INTERVIEWS well-prepared, but it does not guarantee you a place at the advanced mathematics teacher and a lab science teacher), of you. What you write here can help them understand college of your choice. and prefer that letters come from teachers who have who you are as a person, what you value, and who you The importance of an interview varies considerably from taught you in tenth through twelfth grades. Many schools might be on their campus as a student, roommate, and school to school. However, we strongly recommend an SCORES FROM STANDARDIZED TESTING accept supplemental letters of recommendation from community member. The essay is also a place to share interview whenever possible. Please see the section on people who know you outside of school, but they will a little bit about your personality—if you are a funny interviews for more details. Students must submit scores from either the SAT or ACT not substitute for a required academic teacher letter of person, it is okay to write with a humorous tone; if you to most American colleges and universities as part of recommendation from Maret. It is VERY IMPORTANT are not funny, this isn’t the place to try to be. What is most DEMONSTRATED INTEREST their application. Many of the most selective colleges and to remember that many teachers at Maret are writing for important about the essay is that it is authentically you. It universities also require students to submit scores from multiple students, so giving your teachers ample time is great to have your college counselor, parents, English As more and more students apply to more and more two SAT Subject Tests. These tests are typically taken to write on your behalf is not only appreciated, but also teacher, or even friends offer feedback and advice about colleges, it has become more difficult for schools to in the latter half of the junior year and in the senior year. critical. In addition, keep in mind that your best teacher your essay, but make sure that your final draft reads like predict their yield (that is, the percentage of accepted recommendation may come from a teacher of a class in you. Particular schools may also require supplemental students who will matriculate). Thus, in an effort to more which you did not necessarily achieve your highest grade: essays—these are also very important, so do not to neglect accurately predict yield, some colleges and universities many times, who you are as a student in a class is just as them. consider an applicants’ interest in them when making important (if not more important) than the grade you admissions decisions. One can demonstrate interest by WHEN CONSIDERING A received. Most important, less is more. Submitting several EXTRACURRICULAR ACTIVITIES meeting with college representative when they visit Maret letters that provide similar information about you will not or the DC area, visiting a school’s campus, interviewing, COLLEGE, be honest with enhance your application. The emphasis here is on your level of engagement and applying Early Decision or Early Action, responding impact in the activities you choose, not simply the or reading through emails a school may send you, or yourself about your academic SCHOOL/COUNSELOR RECOMMENDATION quantity of your involvements or titles held. Genuine corresponding with an admissions officer. The “why achievements, work ethic, love of contributions to an activity, team, or organization (in or us” essay is also an important way colleges determine This letter of recommendation addresses your intellectual out of school) matter to colleges, although they will not your level of interest. The extent to which this interest learning, and willingness to push yourself, and personal character, as well as your activities at and make up for a mediocre academic record. matters varies from school to school, but thoughtfully and and the likelihood that you may (or contributions to Maret and other communities. It also respectfully demonstrating your interest in a college can may not) be competitive, academically provides any additional information we feel is important SPECIAL STATUS only help in the admissions process. to share about you as an individual. To prepare, your speaking, in their applicant pool. counselor reviews all of the teacher and advisor comments Students who are connected to particular priorities of a from your time in the Upper School; they also share their college may be given extra consideration in the admissions own observations of you, as well as those of coaches, process. For example, sons and daughters of alumni, 6 7 3. ROLLING ADMISSIONS APPLICATION College Counseling Office to ensure confidentiality. APPLICATION THE COLLEGE If you are not applying to a school electronically, you A rolling admissions application option is most commonly MUST provide your teachers with stamped envelopes, found at larger, public colleges and universities, and addressed to each college or university. some smaller colleges. Applications at rolling schools are considered in groups based on the dates they are 5. Standardized Testing Results, sent by the Educational completed. In other words, once an application and all Testing Service (ETS) or the ACT. It is your required credentials are received, a decision will be made responsibility to request that these scores be sent by December (only a few weeks prior to most RD deadlines), on the application, usually within 4–6 weeks. In general, the testing agency in order for a college to consider COLLEGE we insist you have other applications ready to go, just in IT IS TO YOUR ADVANTAGE TO APPLY AS EARLY them official. Maret DOES NOT SEND YOUR SAT, case you are not admitted early. It can also be difficult AS YOU CAN TO THESE SCHOOLS because the later SAT II, OR ACT SCORES FOR YOU. Be sure to APPLICATION psychologically to be turned down by your first-choice one applies, the fewer spots remain in the admitted class. allow enough time for scores to reach the colleges by school, especially early on in the process, since a negative It is also advantageous to apply earlier to rolling schools the application deadline. Note that there are fees for OPTIONS decision may not be immediately offset by positive ones because you are notified earlier, which may ease some of sending your scores, which can add up depending upon until later in RD. the stress that can come later in applying to many schools the number of schools to which you are sending them during the RD round. and when you request they be sent. A FINAL WORD ON EARLY DECISION: many Each college has its own students and parents believe that applying ED to a 4. REGULAR DECISION APPLICATION 6. Midyear Report (MYR), which consists of your application procedure. All selective school may increase the student’s chances transcript, updated with midyear grades from your acceptances are conditional upon of being admitted. While admission rates tend to be The majority of applicants to any particular selective senior year, as well as any pertinent updates that may the “successful completion of your higher in the ED round, this DOES NOT mean that the college or university use the Regular Decision application. be needed (e.g., disciplinary information for incidences senior year.” It is important to chances of admission to a particular institution for any Deadlines are relatively standard (usually January 1 or 15), that occur in the senior year, serious illness, etc.). Like know that “successful” is defined by given student applying to that school are higher. Here as are the notification dates (April 1 or just prior). Offers the SSR, the MYR is confidential. Again, if you are each individual college, not by you or are some words of wisdom from Columbia University’s of need-based financial aid are typically mailed/posted not applying to a school electronically, you MUST let Maret. Most colleges have a Regular Admissions FAQ: electronically along with the offer of admission. Some your counselor know and provide him or her with any Decision application option and an schools offer only an RD option but have deadlines earlier necessary forms. early option. Although a larger percentage of the Early Decision in the fall (usually in November); these include any public applicant pool is admitted than the Regular colleges or universities in California and Florida. 7. Application Fee, which is usually payable online, and 1. EARLY DECISION APPLICATION Decision pool, that higher acceptance rate reflects must be received in order for a school to process and the remarkable strength of a self-selected group review your application. Colleges do not charge a fee This type of application is offered by many schools. A of applicants. A candidate to whom we otherwise to make money, but rather to pay for the technology student may choose to apply to only ONE school Early would not offer admission is not going to be CONTENTS OF A needed to process the thousands of applications they Decision (ED). The application deadline is earlier than accepted because he or she applied under the Early receive. Some schools do not charge a fee to apply Regular Decision (RD), usually November 1 or 15, Decision program. COMPLETED COLLEGE if you do so electronically or if you use a special although some schools use a second Early Decision (ED application type, so ask your counselor if they know II) round with an application deadline around January 1. 2. EARLY ACTION APPLICATION APPLICATION of any free or reduced-fee applications for a specific Under an ED plan, the student MUST sign an agreement school to which you want to apply. Application fees stating that, if admitted, they will enroll at that school; This option is offered by many schools, too, and has a 1. Your application, including your essay/personal usually range from $35 to $80 and can add up—another they also MUST agree to withdraw all other applications deadline similar to ED, but it differs from ED in that there statement and any additional short answer or essay reason to be thoughtful about where you are applying. upon notification of their ED acceptance. Schools may is NO commitment on the part of the student to attend, responses to college-specific questions. If these fees create a hardship for your family, please let accept or deny your application; alternatively, they may if admitted. Usually, you may apply to multiple schools your counselor know so that we can request fee waivers defer making a final decision on your application, meaning that offer Early Action (EA), but some schools will only 2. Secondary School Report (SSR) and Counselor for you. they will consider your application again in the RD round. allow a student to apply to one school (theirs) under this Recommendation, which includes the SSR form, your Again, if you apply ED to a school and are admitted, option—this type of EA plan is known as Single Choice transcript, the Maret curricular and school profile, and you are committed to enroll at that school; you and Early Action (SCEA) or Restrictive Early Action (REA). your counselor’s letter of recommendation. The SSR is your college counselor have an obligation to notify any The decisions a student can receive under EA are the same confidential, though we strive to always put our most APPLICATION ESSAYS AND other schools to which you have applied that you have as in ED (admit, deny, defer). However, if admitted to a positive impressions of our students forward. If you been accepted elsewhere under an ED agreement. The school under any EA plan, a student may still apply to are not applying to a school electronically, you MUST PERSONAL STATEMENTS advantage of ED is that if you get in, the college process other colleges under RD. There are several advantages to let your counselor know and provide them with any is over for you, and you are letting the school know you applying EA: oftentimes, the college feels you are more necessary forms. In the fall of their senior year, Maret students spend love it. interested or committed to going there if you apply EA; countless hours brainstorming, outlining, writing, editing, you can apply EA to a school and get an earlier decision 3. Supporting or Supplementary Materials, such as your and polishing their application essays and personal IT IS IMPORTANT TO NOTE that if financial from them, which may ease the stress of applying to many best analytical paper, photographs, a portfolio or a statements with their college counselors. The essays are an considerations are a large determining factor in your more colleges moving forward into the RD round; you creative piece, an interview, or athletic tape, as may be opportunity for the applicant to go beyond the objective college choice, ED may not be for you since you will may apply to multiple schools EA (as long as none of required or invited by a school. numbers and information (curriculum, grades, test scores) not be able to compare financial aid packages from other them use SCEA/REA); and you can compare financial aid and help admissions officers understand what is important schools. Because most ED decisions are released in mid- offers. 4. Teacher Recommendations, which are sent by the to her or him. Doing so gives insight into the applicant’s personality, character, perspectives, and values. The essay 8 9 THE COLLEGE APPLICATION

As with any essay, you should have a plan or outline ACADEMIC RECORD From the before you write. Be intentional about how you lay out your work and thoughts. While not an academic piece, JOHNS HOPKINS your essay should show off your writing skills. UNIVERSITY HERE ARE SOME OTHER POINTERS: undergraduate 1. DO NOT WAIT UNTIL THE LAST MINUTE TO UNDERSTANDING THE students do not earn extra GPA points WRITE. You will likely need to write several drafts by taking an advanced or accelerated admission website: for each essay, personal statement, or short answer ACADEMIC RECORD course. response each application requires. So plan ahead and “Essays that worked” are distinct give yourself plenty of time for multiple drafts. In UNDOUBTEDLY, THE MOST IMPORTANT If you are curious about how to calculate fact, you can get started with your college counselor in PART OF ANY COLLEGE APPLICATION IS THE your cumulative Maret GPA, we have and unique to the individual August, before the school year begins in earnest. ACADEMIC TRANSCRIPT. included a guide below based on our writer; however, each of them grading system. We share this formula with 2. Make sure the essay is your story, in your voice. Each student at Maret has a transcript (a sample admissions officers so that they understand assisted the admissions reader in While it is fine to have your college counselor, an is below), which contains the name of each how we calculated your Maret GPA. Each learning more about the student English teacher, or your parents take a look at your course taken each year of high school; the course taken has a credit value: most yearlong beyond the transcripts and activity essays and provide feedback or advice, your pieces number of credits earned for each class; and the academic and art classes are worth one credit; should sound like you—a high school senior. In other grade earned in each class. The Maret transcript some, however, are worth half of one credit. To sheets. The most important thing words, make sure that the essays are your work, not also includes a cumulative Maret grade point calculate your Maret GPA, multiply the credit to remember is to be original and someone else’s work. Your written voice should average (GPA), which represents the student’s value of a course by the GPA points assigned to represent your personality: if you are a funny person, grade average over the course of their high your letter grade in that course. Then, add up all creative as you share your own chances are your essay will be funny; if you are an school years. This Maret GPA only includes the points and divide the sum by the total number story with us.” extremely intellectual person, your pieces may take that coursework completed at Maret and includes of credits. This will give you your cumulative tone. Let your personality shine through, and don’t try every course taken for a grade at Maret. Maret GPA. to make the essay anything else. It is important to note that admissions officers GPA GRADE EQUIVALENTS (QUALITY POINTS) 3. Do not write about something or in a way that typically do not compare students to each other is where students can stand out from the pack, so it should you think the colleges want. Admissions officers if they are attending dissimilar high schools. A = 4.00 A- = 3.67 B+ = 3.33 be tackled thoughtfully, authentically, and with time to are very smart folks—they know when your writing Since high schools vary greatly in terms of rigor, B = 3.00 B- = 2.67 C+ = 2.33 rework and edit. is not yours, and they know when you are not being opportunities, and curricula, students are first C = 2.00 C- = 1.67 D+ = 1.33 authentic. Again, write about what matters to you and looked at within the context of their own high D = 1.00 D- = 0.67 F = 0.00 While there is no magic topic or subject you can or should why, not about what you think they want to hear. school. This GPA is unweighted, meaning that discuss, it is important to keep in mind that you have a relatively short amount of space (under 650 words) to 4. Though the colleges you apply to may have similarities, ACADEMIC TRANSCRIPT SAMPLE make your point. Thus, as a writer you must get in, make make sure that the supplement for each school is your point, and get out. Some students find word limits unique. Every school has something unique about it. Tadpole, Frog CEEB Code: 090115 Accredited by the Association of Independent Maryland & D.C.Schools 3000 Cathedral Ave NW Passing Grade:D- challenging, but you do not have an alternative. Therefore, Know what it is. Waslhington, DC 20008 choosing something to write about that you know well MARET Parents/Guardians: Mr. & Ms. Maret Frog -.;os..:;fR.E VIVERE T'f'I IJ:AR.". ,IS TO 1 \'t and that captures what is important to you is critical. 5. Answer the question being asked. You can be as creative as you want to be in your essays and talk about Date of Birth: 9/18/1999

WHEN BRAINSTORMING ABOUT THINGS YOU’D LIKE whatever you want to talk about, but make sure your TO CONVEY TO AN ADMISSIONS COMMITTEE, THINK response replies to the essay prompt’s question. Grade 12: 2017-2018 Grade 11:2016-2017

ABOUT THE FOLLOWING: Subj[ects: Grade Credits Subjects: Grade Credits World Literature Style & Literature A- 1.00 6. START EARLY. Yes, we said this already, but we want Civil Liberties Global zation and the Modern World A- 1.00 1. What do you truly care about in life? What do you to make sure you remember it. Calcrulus Advanced Precalculus B- 1.00 Advanced Physics (AB) Advanced Biology B+ 1.00 value about the people in your life and the experiences Survey of Hispanic Literature Spanish 4 A- 1.00 you have had? 7. Pay attention to word or character limits. Most often Concert Choir Advanced Clay A- 1.00 Physical Education p 0.00 your essay and supplements must fit into a text box that 2. Why do you truly care about these people and will not allow you to go over the maximum allowed. Grade 10: 2015-2016 Grade 9: 2014-2015 experiences? Subjiects: Grade Credits Subjects: Grade Credits English 10 A- 1.00 Elements of Literature B+ 1.00 3. What concrete details can you discuss to convey what US History A- 1.00 Shaping of the Modern World B+ 1.00 Algebra 2 & Trigonometry A- 1.00 Geometry B+ 1.00 matters to you and why? Chem Study B 1.00 Biology B 1.00 Spanish 3 A- 1.00 Spanish 2 A- 1.00 Concert Choir A 1.00 Clay Core A- 0.50 4. Does your topic and how you plan to discuss it reveal Physical Education p 0.00 Woodley Singers A 0.50 something unique about you? Physical Education p 0.00 10 11 Cumulative GPA: 3.49

15

of selective colleges and universities require. Students specific discipline’s foundational material or provide higher TESTING STANDARDIZED receive sub-scores for each section of the test and a course placement in college. Students should check-in with composite score, which is an average of the sub-scores; their teachers about possibly taking one or more AP Exams, each subject area is scored from 1 to 36 points, with the but should not feel any pressure to take one. AP exam median composite score being a 21. The writing score is scores of 4 or 5 are included on the Maret transcript. not included in the calculation of the composite score but is reported. Many colleges that require SAT Subject Tests waive them if a student is submitting the ACT as their primary standardized test, but you are responsible for SAT VS. ACT Most colleges to respond critically in writing to a specific prompt. verifying which test scores your schools require. and universities require The reading section has five passages based in different Students have a choice of which standardized testing applicants to submit results disciplines, and students are asked to answer questions STUDENTS are responsible for registering themselves for they can take and report to colleges and universities. We from standardized testing as about what they read. The math sections (there are two) the ACT and for reporting their scores. Please visitwww. encourage you to speak with the College Counseling part of the admissions process. include questions that cover algebra, geometry, data actstudent.org for more information. Office if you have questions about which test to take. Following are the types of analysis, and advanced math topics; testers may use a Many students experiment with both before making a standardized tests typically calculator on one of the math sections only. The writing AP EXAMS (ADVANCED PLACEMENT EXAMINATIONS) decision. The vast majority of Maret students will take the taken in high school. However, section tests students’ knowledge of writing style, though PSAT twice (once in the tenth grade, once in the eleventh there are a growing number of there are also questions on grammar usage and mechanics Advanced Placement Exams were originally designed to grade)—a great practice run for the SAT. The College schools that no longer require (though far fewer than the older version of the SAT). give college credit for college level work done in high Counseling Office also offers a practice ACT exam to standardized testing as part of Testers receive two scores ranging from 200 to 800 points: school, though today many colleges no longer offer credit juniors in the fall, and encourages all juniors to try to take their admissions process. A list of one for math and one for evidence-based reading and for high scores. AP Exam scores are not required in the it before making a choice of which test to take. Ultimately, these schools can be found on the writing. The essay is scored separately, and colleges also admission process at any American college or university, the choice is yours. To help you learn more about each test, National Center for Fair and Open receive the separate essay score; many colleges do not but they may be if you are considering schools abroad. If a we have put together the following comparison chart for Testing’s website, www.fairtest.org. require the essay portion of the SAT. student does well on an AP Exam, we encourage students your consideration. to report a strong score as it can suggest mastery of a PSAT (PRELIMINARY SCHOLASTIC STUDENTS are responsible for registering themselves for APTITUDE TEST) the SAT. Please visit www.sat.collegeboard.org for more information. SAT ACT The PSAT is administered in the tenth and eleventh grades and simulates the multiple-choice SAT SUBJECT TESTS TEST LENGTH 3 hours (without essay) or 2 hours 55 minutes (without essay) or sections of the SAT (described below). The PSAT consists 3 hours 50 minutes with optional essay 3 hours 35 minutes (with essay) of four timed, multiple-choice sections that test students’ The SAT Subject Tests are hour-long, multiple-choice critical thinking skills and knowledge in three different exams that test your knowledge of a specific subject SCORING Highest combined score: 1600 (800 Highest composite score: 36 areas: reading, math, and writing and language. Students area. Students who have done advanced coursework on each of two sections, reported (36 on each of four sections, reported receive two overall scores (one for math and one for in a particular subject area here at Maret or who have individually; a composite is not individually; composite is an average of evidence-based reading and writing), as well as a percentile demonstrated advanced proficiency in a subject area are calculated) the four sections) rank that compares them to others in their grade level encouraged to take Subject Tests in areas they consider nationally. The two scores are added together to give a their strengths. Though most colleges do not require ESSAY Optional; recommended Writing section/essay is optional (but student a Selectivity Index, which is used by the eleventh Subject Tests, a strong score or two can supplement an required by most colleges); always grade administration to enter the student in the National application. Students should consult with their teachers administered as the last part of the exam Merit Scholarship competition. Scores from the PSAT about taking a Subject Test in a particular subject area. are NOT reported to colleges. The major function of this STUDENTS are responsible for registering themselves for SECTIONS 4 required, with 1 each of Reading, 4 required, with 1 each of: English, Math, test is to prepare sophomores and juniors for the SAT by the Subject Tests and for reporting their scores. Please visit Math (calculator), Writing and Language, Science Reasoning, Reading; Writing is familiarizing them with the types of questions asked and www.sat.collegeboard.org/about-tests/sat-subject-tests for Math (no calculator); Essay is optional; optional; 215 questions in total by providing diagnostic feedback. There is little correlation more information. 154 questions in total between the sophomore PSAT and the SATs, unless a student scores very, very well. There is, however, much ACT (AMERICAN COLLEGE TESTING PROGRAM EXAM) WRONG ANSWERS Do not count against your score Do not count against your score more correlation between the junior year PSAT and SAT. The PSAT is offered only once a year (in October) and is The ACT is the other primary standardized test used in Tested in context, so as to test inferential Emphasized less; more grammar, administered by the College Counseling Office. college admissions. Originally, it was the primary test for VOCABULARY reasoning rather than memorized punctuation, and syntax is tested students in the Midwest (the ACT is based in Iowa City, definitions SAT (SCHOLASTIC APTITUDE TEST) Iowa), but now students from all across the country (and even abroad) are familiar with the ACT and choose to take QUESTION TYPES Critical Reading: multiple choice English: multiple choice The SAT is one of the two major standardized tests used it over the SAT. According to the ACT, their test measures Writing and Language: multiple choice Math: multiple choice by colleges in the admissions process. Like the PSAT, it general educational development and knowledge, rather Math: multiple choice and student- Science Reasoning: multiple choice contains multiple sections that test two different areas: than reasoning skills. The test contains four sections: generated responses Reading: multiple choice|Writing: essay math and evidence-based reading and writing. There is English, Math, Science Reasoning, and Reading; there is Essay: critical analysis of argument also an optional essay section, where students are asked an optional writing test as well, which the vast majority 12 13 STANDARDIZED TESTING

college counseling team before investing in any expensive part of their college application. Test preparation should preparation. NOT interfere with a student’s academic progress in their Maret curricular work. Additionally, families should not STUDENTS HAVE A FEW NOTES ON TEST PREP COURSES AND TUTORING feel pressured to invest more time and money into test preparation than they are comfortable with. There are A CHOICE of which In a research report done by the National Association plenty of free or inexpensive ways to prepare that can help of College Admissions Counseling titled Preparation for improve students’ scores. standardized test College Admission Exams (NACAC, 2009), researchers they can take and concluded the following about SAT and ACT preparation courses and tutoring: TESTING ADVICE AND TIPS report to colleges and 1. All students should be encouraged to prepare before We encourage taking admission tests, but the potential benefits of We want all juniors to take both the SAT and Subject universities. test preparation must be balanced against financial and Tests (if appropriate) or the ACT this year and to have the you to speak with the College opportunity cost. opportunity to retake the SAT or ACT if their results are Counseling Office if you have lower than they would like. Since colleges will consider 2. Because empirical evidence suggests that the average the highest scores of each section of the SAT over multiple questions about which test to take; effects of commercial coaching programs are small, administrations, or your highest ACT, it is usually to your many students experiment with students should be counseled to consider less costly advantage to take the test more than once. Keep in mind, both before making a decision. forms of test preparation. High school students and however, that most schools now require that you submit their families should be counseled to be wary of scores from ALL administrations of the test you take. coaching rip-offs. Taking the test more than three times is usually seen as extraneous. It is also important to remember that both tests Currently, Capital Educators provides test preparation have been designed so that a typical student will do their services for Maret students, beginning in the spring of your best in the fall of their senior year of high school. However, PREP COURSES, TUTORS, junior year. However, families may pursue whichever test given our understanding of the Maret curriculum, we feel prep option best suits your budget, schedule, or learning our students are best suited to test for the first time in the AND ONLINE PROGRAMS style. Should your family wish to invest in a course or latter half of the junior year. tutor, we will be happy to provide you with advice and The SAT and ACT measure the reading, writing, and counsel. We encourage all students to take advantage of JUNIOR YEAR: WHEN AND WHICH TEST? mathematical skills a student has accrued over his or her Khan Academy’s FREE online SAT preparation (www. lifetime. If you have not done a lot of reading in general, khanacademy.org) if they are taking the SAT. Khan • Take the PSAT and practice ACT in October; compare cramming will not help much. However, many students Academy partnered with the College Board to design this your scores, consult with the College Counseling Office • Have the correct admission ticket, photo identification, can benefit from SAT or ACT preparation courses, free online program, and we believe it is one of the best about which test to take if you are unclear about which calculator, and #2 pencils; you should refer to the tutoring, or online programs, which familiarize them with preparation opportunities out there. Students preparing you prefer based on your experience and performance websites of both testing agencies for rules and the type of questions they will be asked and ease some of for the ACT may also qualify for free preparation help with each. regulations regarding these. their fears about the tests. SAT or ACT classes can narrow through Kaplan. However, it is important to remember down math content, boost your vocabulary, give you a that a student’s academic work is the most important • All juniors should register for the SAT in March or the SENIOR YEAR chance to practice strategies, ACT in either February or April make you comfortable • We urge all seniors to retake the SAT and Subject Tests with the test, and provide • The SAT Subject Tests may be taken in May or June or the ACT during their senior year unless previous a structure for study. But of the junior year. Many juniors decide to take these scores are exemplary; the SAT in October and Subject SAT and ACT courses are in June because they have finished their courses Tests in November, or the September, October, or expensive. Fortunately, there THE REAL CONSUMER QUESTION is completely and find that studying for their final exams November ACT are usually the most popular test dates. are practice SAT and ACT and AP Exams (where applicable) helps them study for Register early to ensure you have a spot reserved for questions available for free not whether for some people coaching the Subject Tests. Several Subject Tests are only offered your preferred testing location. online, as well as full-length but whether the in June, so check the College Board’s website for details. practice exams. Practicing may result in higher scores, • Have your scores sent directly from the College Board using these free resources expenditures by many, and it involves millions of dollars, will MAKE SURE TO: or the ACT to the colleges to which you are applying. can help you prepare for make a significant difference in their educational outcomes If you are applying Early Decision or Early Action, you these tests. Practice should be • Register in advance. must check with your schools to see which is the latest done under timed conditions to be worth it. Various studies of test preparation reveal that test date they will consider. Note too, that this often so that you get used to the the gains from test preparation courses are quite modest. • Get a good night’s sleep the evening before the test/s. means you will have to submit your scores before seeing proper pacing of each test. them, as doing so will delay their delivery. How you prepare for the — Fred Hargadon, • Get to the correct test center in plenty of time—about SAT or ACT is a personal Former Dean of Admissions at Swarthmore 20 minutes before the official start time. choice, but we encourage College and Princeton University you to speak with the 14 and former Head of the College Board 15 1. Come to the interview prepared. Take time beforehand 7. Be you. DO NOT try to be someone you think they VISITING COLLEGES to think about what is valuable to you in your college want. Authenticity is important to admissions officers, search and prepare questions that will help you learn who can sniff out artifice from a mile away. Believe us: what each college offers to help you maximize your you are great, so be confident and earnest. Try to be experience. A college journal is a handy tool for this. calm and enjoy the person with whom you are talking. Be sincere, show some humility, and, most important, 2. Know the college. Do not ask questions that can readily be honest. be answered by a quick perusal of the college’s website or a college guide. Rather, ask questions about what 8. DO NOT TAKE OUT OR USE YOUR CELL you have already learned about the school. For example, PHONE. It is rude and suggests you are disinterested. Visiting college fall visits to participate in organized visit programs that instead of asking how many geographical areas students campuses in person can maximize your campus visit experience. come from, ask what effect that distribution has on the 9. Possible interviewer's questions: be one of the most helpful campus atmosphere. Instead of asking whether they • What books have you read lately? Is there one that activities of your college Prior to visiting colleges, call, research the schools’ have a psychology department, ask whether it has an really impacted you? Why? search. Starting in your websites, or email to learn about campus visits. Most experimental or clinical emphasis, or whether research junior year, we encourage schools will offer a group information session and opportunities are available, and what specific research • What are your favorite courses and why? you to find time to take a tour, sometimes several times each day. These are good students participated in last year. If a senior thesis is • What did you do last summer? quick visit to some of our opportunities to learn more about academic and social required, ask for examples of several recent titles. local colleges: the University of life at these schools, as well as to get valuable information • What do you expect to gain from a college education? Maryland, George Washington about the admissions process at each. Before you go, read 3. Ask honest, thoughtful questions whose answers you • What academic areas are you most interested in? University, Georgetown up on the school to make sure you are reasonably well really want to know. Don’t ask questions simply to ask University, Howard University, informed about it so that you can make the most of your questions. It is impossible for you to know everything • What extracurricular activities do you like most? Why? American University, Catholic visit by asking pointed, thoughtful questions of your about a school, so think hard about why you are • How would you describe yourself to someone who University, Goucher College, St. tour guides and admissions officers (who usually lead the interested in the school and how it might fit your needs did not know you? Mary’s College of Maryland, George group information sessions). as a student. This should help you come up with at least Mason University, and the University two or three questions about academics alone. • How have you spent your free time? of Mary Washington are all within a Visiting classes, the school bookstore, and the library, and • Why are you thinking about going to college? 70-mile radius of Maret. These initial talking to as many students as possible are good ways 4. Know your strengths and weaknesses. Be prepared tours will give you an idea of different of finding out about the academic atmosphere of the to elaborate on the former and explain the latter. • Who are your heroes? types of colleges and universities. There school. It is also a good idea to have a meal in one of the Talking about either will not necessarily help, but • Who has been your favorite teacher and why? are several small liberal arts colleges, including Haverford, dining halls, just to see what the food is like (this will be acknowledging that you are self-aware and can maturely Swarthmore, Bryn Mawr, Dickinson, and Franklin and important to your daily life on campus). Spending a night articulate your interests, talents, achievements, and areas • How have you changed throughout high school? Marshall, as well as larger schools, like the University on campus is also possible at many schools and can give in need of improvement will leave a positive impression. • Where do you see yourself in 10 years? of Virginia, the University of Pennsylvania, and West you a good idea about what life is like after dark at each. Virginia University, within a 2–3 hour drive. Using these 5. Anticipate the questions you might be asked (some • What kind of learner are you? more local schools to get a sense of how life is like at are listed below). Again, be thoughtful about how you • What do you like the most about your high school? different types of institutions will help you frame your might respond and why you might answer them in a The least? college search moving forward. COLLEGE INTERVIEWS particular way. • How do you see yourself contributing to life outside Once you have some idea of what type(s) of school you The importance of an interview varies considerably from 6. Answer the why. “What size is your senior class?" the classroom in college? might like to see outside of the immediate area, consider college to college. Some schools require interviews; most requires a short, straightforward answer, but “What is • Talk about a project, classroom assignment, or planning a college trip. Many students have found that do not; and still others view having an optional interview your favorite course?” not only should be answered experience that led to an “aha!” moment. the spring vacation of their junior year and the following as an indication of your interest. Some schools consider with “20th Century Europe” or “Advanced Chemistry,” summer are good times to get an overview of many interviews as informational for the applicant, while others but an explanation of why it is your favorite class. • If you could change one thing about your high colleges. use the interview to evaluate and distinguish among Open-ended questions require you to elaborate. Always school experience, what would it be and why would candidates. No matter how a college considers interviews, answer the why behind the questions you are asked. you change it? Although the summer provides time to visit, few students a good one can only help you and provide an opportunity • Do you feel that your high school transcript truly may be on campus, and the campus will possibly feel to communicate what is unique about yourself. reflects your abilities? If not, why? different than it would during the spring or fall semester. There are no specific times set aside by Maret for seniors Most interviewers—whether admissions officers, current MANY STUDENTS HAVE • What is your biggest weakness? What is your to visit colleges in the fall, but you will be able to make students, or alumni—will try to create a friendly, relaxed greatest strength? plans to visit colleges during the first semester. Teachers atmosphere so that you can respond comfortably and FOUND that the spring • If you could change something about yourself, what will try to understand when you miss school to visit honestly. They will not only ask you questions, they will would it be? colleges, but you will be responsible for making up expect you to ask questions of them. So prepare for your vacation of their junior any missed assignments according to your teachers’ interview ahead of time. Here are some suggestions: • If you could travel anywhere in the world, where instruction. As you plan, it is important to minimize year and the following would you go, and why? missed class time as much as possible and perhaps use summer are good times to get an • Do you have any interesting or unique hobbies? 16 overview of many colleges. 17 calls you. Rather, see this initial conversation as an RECRUITMENT ATHLETICS & opportunity to learn more about the athletics program at the school, your sport at the school, and the coach. If you like what you hear, you may want to schedule an unofficial visit to the school (meaning you pay the expenses for it).

If you interest a coach, they will likely want to see you playing. Every year, Maret coaches host dozens of college coaches on our campus. Meeting coaches while they are Many students who • Attend showcases and tournaments outside of school. here and having the chance to play in front of them is have enjoyed playing sports This is where college scouts check out who is coming helpful. So, too, is having coaches see you playing outside during their high school years up. If you are not competing well at these events, of Maret. Be sure to ask your Maret and non-Maret want to continue playing and chances are you will not be on a coach’s radar. coaches if and when college recruiters are visiting. competing in college. College athletics are a great way to meet HOW RECRUITMENT WORKS THE NCAA ELIGIBILITY CENTER new people, provide structure to your day, represent your Although college coaches pound the pavement to discover NCAA Division I and Division II schools offer athletics school, and stay in shape. But new talent every year around the country, most student scholarships. If you are interested in playing at an NCAA the recruitment process and how athletes are discovered by college coaches because they Division I or Division II school, you MUST be vetted by it influences college admissions are proactive in reaching out to the coaches. The NCAA the NCAA’s National Clearinghouse. The Clearinghouse can be complex. Below is helpful limits how often and when college coaches can contact determines your academic eligibility to play an information for you and your family prospective student athletes—in fact, coaches cannot talk interscholastic sport at the Division I and II levels. If you While all NCAA Division I and II schools must abide by if you are considering playing a to you until your junior year. However, if they don’t want to be recruited to play at a Division I or II school the NCAA’s eligibility standards, many leagues within varsity sport in college. know about you, they likely won’t talk to you in your and receive a scholarship, you must meet the NCAA’s the divisions (like the Ivy League and Patriot League) junior year. eligibility requirements. have their own minimum eligibility requirements that far FIGURING OUT IF YOU CAN PLAY exceed the NCAA’s. So how can you get on a coach’s radar? One of the For both Division I and II schools, students’ MUST As much as you love a sport and are easiest ways is to fill out a prospective athlete inquiry have earned credits in a range of core academic areas. NATIONAL LETTER OF INTENT committed to it, your ability to play in college will be form. These are found on a college’s website, typically The NCAA Clearinghouse updates approved courses determined by a wide range of factors. Even if a student under the athletics section. You will be asked to provide for credit each year for every accredited high school, For a student to officially be offered an athletic has the ability and skill to play at an elite level, sometimes contact information, as well as both academic and including Maret. The required earned credits follow: scholarship by a coach and school, the student, a parent they are not recruited to play because the schools they are athletic information (e.g., your height, weight, position or legal guardian, and the college’s director of athletics interested in do not have a need for them at the time. So, played, regional or national ranking, club team coach, DIVISIONS I AND II—16 CORE COURSES: must sign a National Letter of Intent (NLI). The NLI is in order to figure out if you can play a sport in college, it school coach, etc.) for the coaching staff to review. Some a contract between the student and institution which is is a good idea to do the following: prospective athlete forms may also require a resumé • 4 years of English administered by the NCAA on behalf of the Collegiate of your athletic career or a film of you playing. Your • 3 years of mathematics at Algebra I and higher Commissioners Association. It is important to note that • Check-in with your Maret coach/es and club coach/ Maret coaches can help you fill out the questionnaires, • 2 years of natural and/or physical science, including the NLI is not an offer of admission to the college. Only a es prior to your senior year and let them know you as well as help you put together a film or reel of you 1 year of laboratory work signed letter by the college’s dean of admission offering might be interested in playing sports in college. They playing. For coaches of individual sports, such as tennis, • 1 year of additional English, mathematics, or natural/ acceptance to the college is an offer of admission. In fact, can likely give you great advice on how and where swimming and diving, physical science the NLI states: to improve your game and athleticism, help you put fencing, wrestling, or • 2 years of social science together an athletics resumé,introduce you to the gymnastics, a regional • 4 years of additional courses from any area above, This NLI shall be declared null and void if the National Collegiate Athletic Association’s (NCAA’s) or national ranking, or One of the easiest ways foreign language, or non-doctrinal religion or institution named in this document notifies me in rules and regulations for recruitment, and put you placements and times to get on a coach’s philosophy writing that I have been denied admission or, by in touch with students who have been through the at competitive meets radar is to the opening day of classes in the fall, has failed recruitment process before. will be necessary. To determine eligibility, the NCAA Clearinghouse uses to provide me with a written notice of admission, a sliding scale of grade point average (GPA) in core provided I have submitted a complete admission • Learn about the NCAA’s eligibility rules. The NCAA If you hear back fill out a academic requirement courses and SAT or ACT scores application…If I am eligible for admission, but is the governing body of college athletics at all levels, from coaches, keep (the sum of each of the sections, minus the writing the institution named in this document defers my from the biggest and highest (Division I) to the smallest in mind that they are PROSPECTIVE section). The minimum GPA is a 2.30 to be eligible to play admission to a subsequent term, the NLI will be (Division III). To be able to play at a Division I or II likely talking to many in Division I and 2.00 in Division II. It is important to declared null and void. school, you must meet certain academic eligibility other students like ATHLETE note, however, that on or after August 1, 2018, the NCAA requirements. Knowing these requirements early will you. Do not assume is changing its eligibility requirements for Division II In other words, even if you sign a National Letter of help you understand if you are academically eligible to that you will have a INQUIRY FORM. student athletes. The NCAA Quick Reference Guide Intent, it does not mean you are heading to College X. play at these schools. coach’s support in the is a great resource for those beginning the recruitment Only when College X’s dean of admission sends you an admissions process process: http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/eligibility_center/Quick_ acceptance letter can you be 100% sure you are on your simply because s/he Reference_Sheet.pdf. way to College X. 18 19 ATHLETICS AND RECRUITMENT

NCAA DIVISION III FINANCIAL AID

While NCAA Division I and II athletics are the largest and most organized sports programs and offer athletic scholarships, most smaller colleges participate at the NCAA Division III level.

The most well known of these schools tend to be liberal arts colleges, though not exclusively, and compete mostly in regional Because college costs keep rising, more and more number of children in the conferences with limited travel required. families are concerned about how they are going to afford family who will be in college, Unlike Division I and II schools, colleges that the expense. Fortunately, colleges and universities are all of the family’s income, participate in NCAA Division III athletics offering more and more financial aid to students and savings and assets, the age of do not and cannot offer athletic scholarships. their families than ever before. In particular, many of the parents/guardians (relative to Thus, they are regulated much less by the NCAA. most selective and priciest schools in the country have retirement), and tax liability. made aid available to families of varying income levels. Both organizations will send Division III schools do offer a high level of competition, • SCIAC (The Southern California Intercollegiate Many middle-income families who think they will not the results of their analysis to despite what you may have heard, but they do not invest Athletic Conference), which includes: California qualify for need-based financial aid may be surprised with your prospective colleges and in athletics financially the way most Division I and II Institute of Technology, California Lutheran the generous financial aid packages they receive. Some you. Each college, however, may institutions do. University, Chapman University, Claremont colleges practice need-blind admissions, which means look differently at what the Federal McKenna-Harvey Mudd-Scripps Colleges, Occidental that a family’s ability to pay for college will not affect the Government and the CSS have Moreover, they do not have a common eligibility process College, Pomona-Pitzer Colleges, University of student’s admission decision. Some schools, however, are decided about your need. like most Division I and II schools. Instead, many of the Redlands, and Whittier College need-aware or need-sensitive, meaning that they do take over 400 Division III schools in the United States belong into account a family’s ability to pay or need level when to a conference that has its own rules about admission, • NWC (The Northwest Conference), which includes: making the final decision on a student’s application for so it is important for you to understand these if you are Lewis & Clark College, University of Puget Sound, admission. It is thus important to understand a college’s MAJOR FORMS OF interested in playing at a Division III school. Whitman College, and Willamette University financial aid policies before applying if you think financial aid will be a determining factor in your decision to attend FINANCIAL AID The more commonly known Division III athletic • Centennial Conference, which includes: Bryn a particular institution. conferences are: Mawr College, Dickinson College, Franklin and PELL GRANTS Marshall College, Gettysburg College, Johns Hopkins WHAT IS FINANCIAL AID? • NESCAC (The New England Small Colleges Athletic University, McDaniel College, Muhlenberg College, These are federal entitlement grants offered only to Conference), which includes: Amherst College, Bates Swarthmore College, Ursinus College, and Washington Financial aid refers to a wide spectrum of funding sources students whose family incomes qualify them for other College, Bowdoin College, Colby College, Connecticut College available to students and their families to help reduce the federal programs such as free lunch subsidies. Family College, Hamilton College, Middlebury College, cost of attendance at a particular college. It is important incomes of Pell Grant recipients are typically within the Trinity College (CT), Tufts University, Wesleyan • UAA (The University Athletic Conference), which to understand that every college and university has its own bottom quintile of incomes nationally (roughly $30,000/ University, and Williams College includes: Brandeis University, Carnegie Mellon unique way of determining your family’s financial need. year for a family of four). Size of family is taken into University, Case Western Reserve University, Emory Financial aid comes in two forms: need-based and merit- account. The maximum amount of a Pell Grant is $5,815/ University, New York University, University of based. year. Like all grants, these do not have to be repaid. Chicago, University of Rochester, and Washington For a student to officially be offered University in St. Louis Need-Based Financial Aid is aid provided to families FEDERAL SUPPLEMENTAL EDUCATIONAL an athletic scholarship by a coach and of students who demonstrate they are unable to pay for OPPORTUNITY GRANTS (FSEOG) • Liberty League, which includes: Bard College, the entire cost of attendance at a particular college. Who school, the student, a parent Clarkson University, Hobart and William Smith determines need, or the amount a family can afford These grants have similar income requirements as the Colleges, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Skidmore to pay? Ultimately, the colleges themselves make this Pell Grant and are awarded to students at the college or legal guardian, and College, St. Lawrence University, Union College, and decision. However, they depend upon two organizations they are attending, rather than directly from the federal Vassar College to give them guidelines for determining eligibility. Some government. Schools have limited FSEOG funding and the college’s director colleges depend only on the federal Department of award these grants to their students with the greatest Education, which asks students and their families to demonstrated need who also qualify for a Pell Grant. The of athletics must sign a complete the Free Application for Federal Aid (FAFSA) FSEOG does not have to be repaid. beginning in October. The FAFSA is required by ALL NATIONAL LETTER OF COLLEGES. Some colleges also ask for a more detailed COLLEGE-SPECIFIC NEED-BASED GRANTS AND assessment of a family’s finances, known as the College SCHOLARSHIPS INTENT (NLI). Scholarship Service’s CSS PROFILE. Both the CSS and Federal Government determine a family’s Estimated These are awards that come directly from the college, Family Contribution (EFC) based on a complex formula usually given to students who demonstrate financial that takes into consideration the size of your family, the need. They differ from college to college. Most colleges 20 21 FINANCIAL AID

and universities have their own financial aid budgets (this common misconception that DC TAG is equivalent to a A SPECIAL NOTE ABOUT LOANS is usually one of the largest line items in any college’s COLLEGES AND student receiving in-state tuition rates. This is not the case: annual budget) and distribute their grants and scholarships DC TAG is a fixed amount of aid and oftentimes does not While borrowing is not ideal, the reality is that most directly from their own offices of financial aid. These UNIVERSITIES ARE make up the difference between in-state and out-of-state American college students today borrow to pay for at grants and scholarships are free money; they do not need costs. least some of their college educations. These loans can to be paid back to the college. OFFERING MORE AND help students build their credit and often give them a PRIVATE SCHOLARSHIPS sense of financial responsibility for the first time. We COLLEGE-SPECIFIC MERIT-BASED SCHOLARSHIPS MORE financial aid highly recommend, however, that students not borrow Each year, different community organizations, more over the four years that they are in college than As opposed to need-based awards, merit scholarships, to students and their foundations, professional associations, fraternities they think they will be making in their first job after which only some schools give, are awarded to students and sororities, religious institutions, and civic groups graduation. Most federal loans have income-dependent who meet criteria for academic, artistic, personal, or families than ever offer millions of dollars to students through their own repayment options or, if fixed, have to be repaid over 15 athletic excellence, regardless of the family’s financial . In particular, many of scholarship programs. Please speak with your college years, making the burden of, say, a $30,000 total note, need. Some colleges require an additional application before counselor in the fall of your senior year about exploring manageable. Borrowing more than that over the four for their merit scholarships, while others only require an the most selective and priciest these possibilities. years, however, is not advised. It is important too, to think application for admission. These awards are funded by schools in the country have made beyond the undergraduate years. If you are considering special endowments at the college and do not have to be PRIVATE LOANS pursuing graduate work that will require loans as well, it is paid back. aid available to families of varying important to keep undergraduate loan debt manageable. income levels. Some major and local banks offer student loans. Let the FEDERAL DIRECT LOANS buyer beware: some of these products are attractive and ADDITIONAL TIPS have advantageous interest rates and repayment options. If you complete and submit a FAFSA to the Department Others, however, have variable or very high interest rates. • Talk to each other early about finances for college. of Education, you qualify for a Direct Loan, regardless of your family’s financial situation. Direct Loans (formerly • Do not be scared of sticker prices, calling financial called Stafford Loans) are the most common student loan all loans, must be paid back. Unlike the student loans aid offices, or asking a college for more aid than they and are used by millions of college students. noted above, repayment for PLUS loans begins before the initially offer. student has graduated. Students can borrow a maximum of $5,500 to $12,000/ • Use calculators provided on college websites to get an year through the Direct Loan program, depending on FEDERAL WORK STUDY estimate of their cost for your family. These are free to their year in college and other factors. These loans use and usually quite accurate since they are college- typically have very attractive interest rates and may be Funding is available from the federal government to specific. subsidized by the federal government, meaning that they subsidize campus job salaries for students with financial do not accrue interest until graduation; or the loans are need through the Federal Work Study Program. Students • Do your taxes early, if possible, as the FAFSA unsubsidized, meaning that they begin to accrue interest who qualify for Federal Work Study are typically becomes available January 1 and is usually due to most once they are dispersed to your college. Either way, Direct guaranteed a part-time job at their college and must work colleges by March 1. Loans do not go into repayment until you have graduated to earn this aid. Students will receive a paycheck to help from college. If you leave college, you will have to start offset expenses, but it is important to note that the amount • Organize yourself so that you know each college’s repaying them. Like any loan, Direct Loans must be repaid. of Work Study awarded is not deducted from the tuition financial aid deadlines and documentation requirements. bill. FEDERAL PERKINS LOANS • Educate yourself about how each college determines STATE OR LOCAL FUNDING need and eligibility for aid. These are loans available to students with exceptionally high financial need. Typically, the college is the lender, Maryland, Virginia, and DC each offer different funding • Come to Maret’s Financial Aid Workshop, which is in though the funding comes from the federal government. sources and options for their residents—from grants and December and for parents and guardians of seniors. The interest rate for the Perkins Loan is 5%; funding scholarships to loans and savings plans. The most common depends on your family’s need level and how much other form of state support is in-state tuition at public colleges • Remember that we can help you. financial aid you are receiving. These must also be repaid. and universities, which makes the total cost of attendance at these schools far lower than at private institutions and • Learn more at these websites: FEDERAL PLUS LOANS out-of-state public institutions. Residents of the District Federal Student Aid (studentaid.ed.gov) of Columbia, who do not have a comprehensive four-year US Department of Education guide to federal financial The PLUS Loan, or Parent Loan for Undergraduate public university system, may benefit from DC TAG, the aid Students, is a loan for parents, who may borrow up to District’s Tuition Assistance Grant. This grant provides the total cost of attendance, minus any other financial aid residents of DC with up to $10,000 to attend most Fastweb (fastweb.com) amounts, for each dependent child who is enrolled in an pubic universities around the country; $2,500 to attend A free scholarship search service accredited college or university at least half-time. There a Historically Black College or University; or $2,500 to are many different repayment options, but borrowers attend a private Washington, DC college or university. FinAid (finaid.org) typically must not have an adverse credit history to Please note: DC TAG funding is contingent upon board The SmartStudent™ Guide to Financial Aid qualify. These loans are in the parents’ names and, like funding and is not guaranteed each year. Also, it is a 22 23 COUNSELORS INDEPENDENT TAKING A GAP YEAR

Every year, a number We encourage all students to apply and commit to a Some families wonder if they should hire the services “Our neighbors hired a of Maret seniors consider a college or university before embarking on a Gap Year. of an outside educational consultant or independent private ‘tutor’ so we think we Gap Year after high school. Colleges generally are happy to defer admission and college counselor. While we understand that our should, too,” “If I don’t hire Instead of matriculating in the permit committed students to take a Gap Year, as long as students and families encounter external pressures in someone, my child will not fall after graduation at a college they have a well-considered plan for the year. the college search process and that special needs may get into the best schools s/he or university, they spend a year arise for individual students, we do not believe that the can,” and, finally, “More help is exploring special interests, often Maret’s college counseling team will be happy to assist vast majority of Maret students need such services. Our always better.” outside an academic setting. This any student considering a Gap Year to think carefully professional experience in college admissions and college option is becoming increasingly about some reasons for doing so, to discuss pros and counseling, in addition to our knowledge of Maret’s To be frank, comprehensive, popular as students and their cons, and to suggest resources to help students develop a unique curriculum and academic philosophies, ensures one-on-one college counseling families realize the benefits of concrete plan for the year. Some resources for exploring that our students receive personalized, appropriate, and resources that personalize the students taking some time to Gap Year possibilities can be found at the American Gap accurate advice and information that is customized to college process is included in the explore, mature, and grow before Association (www.americangap.org). In addition, there is them. While there are many professional and skilled tuition you pay. We have three committing themselves to four years usually a Gap Year Fair in February in the DC area (for independent consultants, they are generally available college counselors in addition to of expensive higher education. the past several years it has been held at Georgetown Day to help students who do not have access to one-on-one a head of school and assistant head School). college counseling resources like we have at Maret. Thus, of school who offer an extra line of We encourage all Maret students to please carefully consider the following before deciding to support and who are dedicated to explore the possibility of a Gap Year. pay for additional services for your student. working with your student throughout Maret graduates who have taken Gap the college search and application Years have found them to be very rewarding. Experiences The field of independent counseling came into existence as process. We provide focused, individualized attention as such as working on a goat farm, learning to raise heritage a result of inadequate counseling resources at public high well as group presentations and workshops to parents, crops in Italy, interning on Capitol Hill or for a business, schools. There was, and is, a clear need for many students guardians, and students. Because our student-to-counselor volunteering to help support endangered mammals in and their families to find information about the college ratio is so low, we are able to meet one-on-one with each South Africa, taking a film course in New York City, process outside some public high schools, especially in student on multiple occasions during the junior and senior and participating in international horse shows are just a areas where student-to-counselor ratios can be almost years, while providing assistance to families with students few of the opportunities that have attracted recent Maret 250:1 or greater. But, for others, independent counseling in ninth and tenth grade. We have extensive knowledge graduates during their Gap Years. has developed into a perceived necessary commodity. Even of the college admissions process at hundreds of colleges through the student-to-counselor ratio at Maret is about and universities nationally and internationally, as well Some families wonder if taking a Gap Year might offer 27:1 and our students have extraordinary college choices as extensive experience working with students who have students a chance to make themselves more appealing each year, we sometimes hear some version of: “If I don’t special circumstances: those who are looking for schools to colleges, potentially ameliorating a less-than-stellar hire an outside counselor, I am not supporting my child,” that work well with students with learning differences, academic record. It is important to remember that the high those who want to be school transcript—the record of courses taken and grades recruited to play a sport, or earned in high school—remains the single most important those who want to pursue factor considered by admissions officers during the college the visual and/or performing process. Students should not expect their ability to get into TRULY, THE MARET COLLEGE arts in college. a particular college to be substantially enhanced by the Gap Year experience. COUNSELING TEAM is your student’s Truly, the Maret college counseling team is your On the other hand, students may well discover that their primary and best-resourced advocate student’s primary and best- attitude towards and motivation to succeed in college resourced advocate in the increases as a result of time away from school. More in the college process. We operate in ways that college process. We operate mature and experienced, they will be better aware of why in ways that independent they are in school and more prepared to make the most of independent counselors cannot, and our job is to support counselors cannot, and our college. your student throughout his or her college search and job is to support your application process. student throughout his or her college search and application process. Time 24 25 INDEPENDENT COUNSELORS

Employing an independent counselor will not hurt our feelings, nor will it cause us to work with your student RESOURCES REFERENCES & any differently. If you do employ an outside counselor, WE BELIEVE that please let us know so that we can understand where you and your child are receiving information. We do not want college admission children to feel uncomfortable if they receive conflicting information, nor do we want them to feel they cannot is not a contest to be share with us that they are working with an independent counselor. However, we also do not want students to start won or a consumer this process earlier than necessary and thereby feel that college preparation is an activity in and of itself, rather There are literally hundreds of college guides and SPECIALIZED GUIDES FOR commodity to be than the natural next step in their educational path. In the websites available to help you and your family negotiate STUDENTS AND THEIR it is a process end, we truly care about your child. We want the best for the college search and admissions process. Unfortunately, FAMILIES bought: all our students and hope that the college process will not not all of them are good. Some are edited and republished through which students will dominate their memories of high school. each year, while others merely have a new year slapped • The Multicultural Student’s learn more about themselves on them and are marked up a few dollars. As we have Guide to Colleges, The We believe that college admission is not a contest to mentioned, it is important for you to be an informed Noonday Press. Thorough and grow. be won or a consumer commodity to be bought: it is a consumer of information about colleges. How guide about multicultural process through which students will learn more about information is presented, who is presenting it, and what life and diversity at over 150 themselves and grow. No college counselor anywhere their intentions are may not always be clear. Thus, it is colleges and universities. can guarantee a specific outcome, but the Maret college important to try your best to distinguish factual, objective counseling team can promise you that we will provide you information from opinions and hearsay or outdated • The K&W Guide to Colleges spent with an independent counselor is time that your and your child with the best information and attention perspectives. Below are several great guides, books, and for Students with Learning student is not meeting with us, meaning less time for us to possible through the time working with us. As with all websites to help you learn more about different colleges Disabilities, Random House, Inc. get to know him or her well and cultivate a relationship. things at Maret, the college process is an educational and the admissions process. Guide to domestic colleges and Independent counseling takes up time that your student journey: one which, with the help of our college universities that provide services for could use to study, to participate in an activity s/he loves, counselors, will teach our students how to do research, GENERAL GUIDES ABOUT VARIOUS SELECT COLLEGES students with learning disabilities. or to spend more time with you, family, and friends. make wise choices, think critically, and realize a well- Discusses services, academic life, and deserved sense of pride and accomplishment when they • Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools You Should campus life. As an office, we will keep you and your student informed are offered admission and select where they will enroll Know About Even if You’re Not a Straight-A Student. about due dates, and we will meet and communicate after Maret. Lauren Pope. Penguin Press. Pope highlights 40 lesser- • Princeton Review Student Athlete’s Guide to College, regularly and as often as you would like. However, our known colleges that tap into students’ potential to help Princeton Review/Random House. Basic overview philosophy is to empower students to advocate for and RESOURCES them reach the academic achievement of which they are guide for students interested in varsity college athletics. organize themselves. We want our students to develop capable. We’d love for every parent to read this book, if decision-making skills and will thus not nag them National Association of College Admission Counseling possible. These schools offer a CTCL specific college • The Advocate College Guide for LGBT Students, Shane or complete work for them. We recognize that true (www.nacacnet.org) fair and have a shared website: www.ctcl.org L. Windmeyer. Companion guide to colleges for LGBT procrastinators or students with severe organizational students, featuring students’ and college administrators’ struggles may need help with motivation and organization Independent Educational Consultants Association • The Fiske Guide to Colleges, Edward Fiske. views on LGBT life and issues on college campuses. at home, and thus working with an independent college (www.iecaonline.com) Sourcebooks, Inc. Great narratives about the academic counselor may feel necessary. But providing more support and social experiences on hundreds of nationally • On Your Own: A College Readiness Guide for Teens may not actually motivate your student to engage in American School Counselor Association recognized colleges and universities and a few Canadian with ADHD/LD, Patricia O. Quinn, Theresa Laurie the work of the college process, so we encourage you to (www.schoolcounselor.org) and British institutions. Maitland, and Bryan Ische. Guide to help teens prepare carefully review the resources and recommendations of for college life. Offers self-assessments on problem- the Independent Educational Consultants Association • Barron’s Profiles of American Colleges, Barron’s solving skills and decision making; communication; and (ICEA) before you sign a contract with someone outside Educational Series, Inc. General guide with basics about identifying academic and social needs. Maret. hundreds of domestic colleges and universities. • College Guide for Performing Arts Majors: The Real- • The Insider’s Guide to the Colleges: Students on World Admission Guide for Dance, Music, and Theater Campus Tell You What You Really Want to Know, Majors, Carole J. Everett/Peterson’s Guides. Guide to Yale Daily News Staff. Current students voice their colleges and universities offering visual and performing perspectives on the more than 300 colleges and arts majors. universities they attend. • Cool Colleges: For the Hyper-Intelligent, Self-Directed, Late Blooming, and Just Plain Different, Donald Asher. Ten Speed Press. Highlights great colleges and universities for very intelligent students who have hit their academic stride later in their high school careers.

26 27 REFERENCES AND RESOURCES

FINANCIAL AID • College Unranked: Ending the College Admissions Frenzy, Lloyd Thacker. Harvard University Press. COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES • The College Board College Cost and Financial Written by the executive director of The Education Aid Handbook, The College Board. General, Conservancy, a 30-year veteran of college admissions, (Three or more students accepted over a five-year period) comprehensive guide to college financial aid. this book explores the importance of educational and personal values in the college process. • Paying for College Without Going Broke, Kalman American University Harvard University Rose-Hulman Institute University of Delaware Chany/Princeton Review. Strategic guide to applying • The Gatekeepers, Jacques Steinberg. Viking Press. Amherst College Harvey Mudd College of Technology University of Denver for need-based financial aid. Interesting look at selective college admissions from Bard College Haverford College Santa Clara University University of Glasgow inside the Wesleyan University admissions office, Barnard College Hobart and William Smith Savannah College of University of Illinois at • The College Money Handbook, Peterson’s/Thompson written by a New York Times journalist. Art and Design Bates College Colleges Urbana-Champaign Learning, Inc. Scripps College • Harvard Schmarvard: Getting Beyond the Ivy League Beloit College Hofstra University University of Kansas Seton Hill University • www.finaid.org—comprehensive­ guide to need-based to the College That is Best for You, Jay Matthews. Boston College Howard University University of Maryland, Indiana University at Sewanee: The University Baltimore County and merit-based aid Three Rivers Press. Written by a Harvard alum, this Boston University of the South book looks at the importance of taking advantage of Bloomington University of Maryland, Bowdoin College Skidmore College College Park • www.scholarships.com—scholarship database resources at the college you attend to grow and succeed, Kenyon College Brandeis University rather than resting on your college’s name and prestige. Lafayette College Smith College University of Massachusetts, Brown University Amherst • www.fastweb.com—scholarship database The focus is on helping you find a college that fits your Lake Forest College Southern Methodist Bryn Mawr College University University of Miami individual needs, rather than prestige. Lehigh University Bucknell University Spelman College University of Michigan • www.studentaid.ed.gov—Federal financial aid site Lewis & Clark College • Looking Beyond the Ivy League: Finding the College Carleton College St. John's University– University of North Carolina Macalester College GREAT READINGS FOR PARENTS AND GUARDIANS That’s Right For You, Loren Pope. Penguin Books. Carnegie Mellon University Queens Campus at Wilmington From the author of The Colleges That Change Lives, Maryland Institute College St. Lawrence University University of Pennsylvania Case Western Reserve of Art • Where You Go Is Not Who You Will Be: An Antidote the ultimate guide to identifying the right college for University St. Mary's College of Maryland University of Pittsburgh to the College Admissions Mania, Frank Bruni. Grand you. Massachusetts Institute of Clark University Technology St. Olaf College University of Puget Sound Central Publishing. (We love this one and recommend Colby College McDaniel College Stanford University University of Redlands it to all students and their parents/guardians.) WEBSITES Colgate University McGill University Swarthmore College University of Richmond Syracuse University University of Rochester • The Launching Years: Strategies for Parenting from College websites are one of the most useful sources of College of Charleston Miami University, Oxford Senior Year to College Life, Laura S. Kastner and information available. Through them, you often can take College of the Holy Cross Michigan State University Temple University University of San Francisco Jennifer Wyatt. Three Rivers Press. Advice for parents/ a virtual tour of the campus, email specific departments or College of William and Mary Middlebury College The Catholic University University of Southern of America California guardians regarding the transition to college. administrators to answer questions, view the entire course Colorado College Morehouse College The College of Wooster University of St Andrews catalog and examine curricular information, and learn Columbia University Mount Holyoke College • The Naked Roommate: For Parents Only: A Parent’s about student life. Though the colleges typically paint The George Washington University of Toronto Connecticut College Muhlenberg College Guide to the New College Experience: Calling, Not University Undergraduate Only themselves in the best possible light on their own websites, Cornell University Calling, Packing, Preparing, Problems, Roommates…, you can still get a clear sense of what the institution values. New York University The New School–All University of Vermont Dartmouth College Harlan Cohen. Helpful, witty guide to college life for Northeastern University Divisions University of Virginia Davidson College parents in the modern age. COLLEGE FAIRS, LOCAL INFORMATION SESSIONS, Northwestern University The University of Alabama University of Wisconsin, AND COLLEGE VISITS TO MARET Denison University Oberlin College of Arts The University of Edinburgh Madison • Letting Go: A Parent’s Guide to Understanding the DePaul University and Sciences The University of North Ursinus College College Years (3rd Edition), Karen Levin Coburn and These are hosted throughout the year. The Washington Dickinson College Occidental College Carolina at Chapel Hill Vanderbilt University Madge Lawrence Treeger. Harper Collins. Insight and Area Independent Schools College Fair, co-hosted Drew University Ohio Wesleyan University Trinity College Vassar College support for parents and guardians on separating from by several independent schools in the area, is held in Drexel University Old Dominion University Trinity University Villanova University their students who are leaving home for college. late April for juniors and their families. Attending this Duke University Pitzer College Tufts University event is a good way to get information on many schools Washington and Jefferson Pomona College Tulane University College • Getting In Without Freaking Out: The Official College quickly and to have some of your questions answered by Eckerd College Admissions Guide for Overwhelmed Parents, Arlene representatives from over 150 colleges and universities Elon University Princeton University Union College (New York) Washington College Matthews. Three Rivers Press. from around the country. In addition, the College Emory University Purdue University University of Aberdeen Washington University in St. Louis Counseling Office hosts over 100 college representatives Fordham University Reed College University of California, Davis Wellesley College GREAT MISCELLANEOUS READINGS in the fall to meet with interested students. A list of Franklin & Marshall College Rensselaer Polytechnic University of California, San Wesleyan University college visits is updated on the Maret school calendar. Georgetown University Institute Less Stress, More Success Diego Wheaton College MA • , Marilee Jones and Kenneth Gettysburg College Rhode Island School Ainsburg. American Academy of Pediatrics. From the MARET COLLEGE COUNSELING OFFICE of Design University of California, Santa Whitman College Goucher College Cruz former dean of admissions at MIT and a pediatrician, a Rhodes College Williams College Grinnell College University of Chicago great resource for help with managing your student’s Remember, we know a lot about colleges. You can always Rice University Yale University Hamilton College–NY stress and anxiety surrounding the college application talk to any of our college counselors about the colleges Roanoke College University of Colorado and admissions process. you are exploring. Hampton University at Boulder (matriculations in bold) 28 3000 Cathedral Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20008-3498 www.maret.org