College Counseling Corner: November 5, 2021
Greetings, families! My name is Frank and I’m the Director of College Counseling at Brooklyn Friends. I look forward to sharing weekly updates and musing with you regarding college admissions. My hope is to share information that is pertinent and relevant to all members of our community.
While my work with students and families officially begins during the spring of the junior year, I welcome any opportunity to connect with students or families at any point. You may reach me at fcabrera@brooklynfriends.org.
Earlier this week, I shared three virtual events that are taking place in the coming weeks. While these events are open to all, they are most pertinent to students and families in grades 9-11. In case you missed it, here they are:
Saturday, November 13, 2021, 9:00 AM – 3:15 PM
Independent School Equity & Access Conference and College Fair. Hosted by the Westtown School.
Since 2005, Westtown has hosted the biennial access, equity, and inclusion program called the Independent School Multicultural Conference and College Fair on its campus. Westtown has taken the best of its in-person program to create a virtual program as well as change its name to reflect the mission of the event. We are excited to announce that Westtown Independent School Equity & Access Conference and College Fair will partner with StriveScan to host a variety of panel presentations, student-led discussions, and a virtual college fair!
Monday, November 15, 2021, 7:00 PM – 8:30 PM
“College Admission Testing: Finding a New Normal.” Hosted by BFS College Counseling and Adam Ingersoll, Compass Education Group
Are you interested in learning practical, usable information about standardized testing and college admissions?
Colleges’ admission testing policies have been evolving rapidly throughout the pandemic. Hear from Adam Ingersoll of Compass Education Group in a live webinar as he leads a thoughtful and pragmatic discussion of college admission testing as the higher education world finds a new normal.
We will share insight on how students are handling the uncertainties — if/when to test, if/when to submit scores — as they cope with a changing landscape of admission testing requirements and best practices.
Other topics include:
- SAT or ACT: Making your best choice
- The role and weight of ACT/SAT and AP Exam scores
- Understanding PSAT scores and what they project
- Parsing nuanced testing policies at selective colleges
- Debunking pervasive myths about testing and admission
- Sane and successful calendaring of testing and test prep
Wednesday, December 1, 2021, 7:00 PM
Understanding Athletic Recruiting. Hosted by Revolution Prep
Our friends at Revolution Prep are excited to offer Brooklyn Friends School families this webinar about understanding the athletic recruiting process. Two experts in college athletic recruiting will host this event.
In this webinar, students and parents will examine recruiting from an educational standpoint to learn how counselors can “coach” them on how to ask the right questions, self-recruit to achieve their athletic goals, and avoid the “Here’s How to Win a Scholarship” distractions from popular media and for-profit recruiting services. We will include the latest trends in athletic recruiting, including specialization, early commitments, the rise of club sports, the nuances of NESCAC and Ivy league recruiting, the accelerated timeline, and the impact of the pandemic on recruiting from both the coaches’ and students’ perspectives.
DID YOU KNOW? Arizona State University has the largest undergraduate population in the United States. As of Fall 2020, there were 63,124 undergraduates enrolled. That’s about 375% larger than our Upper School population!