12/11/12

Announcements Due: Community Service Logs Colleges of the Day Game (you can help decide which one) Essay Do’s and Don’ts Time to work on essays (or if you’re done with

essays, complete Dream College Worksheet)

Apply Texas Essays due Thursday: 1 page, single-spaced, on either Topic A or C

Consider doing a community service activity over winter break!

What: 30 volunteers needed to help local artist George Sabra construct a sculpture out of recycled materials

Where: Splash Exhibit Building, Barton Springs Rd

When: Saturday, Dec 15th, 9 am-1 pm Finished sculpture will be unveiled at

Auditorium Shores on New Year’s Eve!

What: Wrap donated gifts as part of a fundraiser for SPCA (animal shelter)

Where: Galleria Mall or Lakeline Mall When: Now through December 24th (go to

link on website to sign up for a date)

Edinburg, TX ~5 hrs south of Austin 16,630 undergrads $6,124 tuition 82% of financial need

met on average 74% retention 42% graduate within 6

years 22:1 student to faculty

ratio

Pop majors: Business, health professions, biology, psych, security and protective services

ACT Middle 50%: 18-22 68% acceptance High rate of job

acceptances after college According to US gov, 2nd

most affordable college with more than 5,000 students

Fairfax, VA Public university 20,782 undergrads $27,764 tuition 73% of financial need

met on average 87% retention 64% graduate within 6

years 16:1 student to faculty

ratio

Pop majors: Business, social sciences, health professions, English, psych

ACT mid-50%: 23-28 53% acceptance #3 Lots of Race/Class

Interaction A Best Southeastern

School

College admissions counselors Your bottom line for this essay should be why

your experience made you a better candidate for college

Colleges want to see that you will contribute to their culture and thrive.

Don’t write about topics that talk about something bad/harmful that you did, no matter how much you learned from it

Anything you did that was illegal

If you had an eating disorder, depression, etc.

If someone in your family did something that was illegal, and it affected you

If you helped a friend through an eating disorder, depression, etc.

ESSAY TOPICS TO AVOID: ACCEPTABLE ESSAY TOPICS:

Approach with delicacy:

If you have been a victim of abuse

If your family has a history of alcohol/drug abuse

Don’t merely talk about how your obstacle/experience affected your life. You really want to convince the review committee that you overcame your challenges, and that it made you a better person, and ultimately, more ready for a college experience

Cliché means “stereotype”: it is an overfamiliar expression whose use has become indiscriminate.

You are tempted toward them because you have repeatedly heard the exact same set of words elsewhere, but that is not a good basis for self-expression.

They are always to be avoided!

point of no return too good to be true in the heat of the moment to have in store for to string along by any means necessary from the ground up seal his fate

What: expressions characteristic of informal conversation

Similar to slang, but not quite as informal

I told him straight up I can see where she is coming from The city was a wannabe Paris He had one kid She told y’all that was a mistake