We are happy to support the wonderful programs in our great local high schools. This fall, find us in the Guyer High School Theater program. And make sure you go see Mary Poppins!
“Are you ready to go?” When this question is asked in my house, I have to go through a mental checklist. Keys? Check. Purse? Check. Sunglasses? The list goes on and on depending on where I am heading. I like to be overly prepared, so that means most of the time I show up looking like Mary Poppins, but hey, I’m ready for just about anything. What about you? Have you gone through a metaphorical college readiness checklist? I’m not talking about your test scores, GPA, and extracurricular activities. Of course those are all critical components, but I’m talking college ready, not just college eligible. College readiness is so much more than the knowledge accumulated in the classroom. For many students, going to college means living on your own for the first time and facing head on all of the freedom and responsibility that comes with it. Here are a few of those readiness skills that you should make sure you have packed in your bag before heading out the door. Get Yourself Out of Bed in the Morning How you start your morning sets the tone for your day. Do you set your own alarm and get yourself up and moving? If not, now is a great time to start. When you are away at college, not to mention the working world, it is up to you to get yourself out of bed. Resist the temptation of the snooze button for the eighth time and have a productive morning. Plan for Success I’m a huge fan of using a planner. Whether you go digital or prefer good old pen and paper, keep track of your academic and social commitments. It’s easy to get distracted or procrastinate without a plan, which can lead to things piling up. Your time is valuable, so plan how you will use it. Play Nice with Others From roommates to classmates, collaborative communication is invaluable. How do you interact and engage with others? You may be a natural born leader, which is awesome, but keep in mind that everyone you work with brings their own set of strengths to the table. You can never go wrong by treating people with kindness and respect. Self-Advocate When it comes to interacting with teachers and professors, a little communication goes a long way. If you have questions or do not understand the material, ask! Don’t wait until the end of the semester and then ask, “How do I raise my grade?” Instead, keep open communication with your teachers throughout and don’t be afraid to seek help. Spend Quality Time with People I had a great conversation recently about this idea of valuing time as a resource in the same way that we view monetary resources. The truth is, our time is such a valuable resource and we tend to spend it on the things that matter most to us. Before you pack your bags and move into the next phase of life, I encourage you to spend some quality time with family and loved ones. Sometimes, we need to disconnect from our devices and reconnect with the people who mean the most to us. Now, are you ready to go? Have questions? Want more information on being college ready? Email Emily Paulson: emily@guruacademicadvising.com College visits can be one of the most helpful ways to find out if a school is right for you. Often times, these trips mean driving for hours or taking a plane, getting a hotel, renting a car. These things add up, so it makes sense to carefully plan your trip ahead of time. For a school you are serious about (or think you are serious about) it's never a good idea just to show up on campus. Instead, plan at least two weeks in advance and make sure the school knows you are coming. Not only will you get a better visit, but the school will know you were there which is important for demonstrating interest. Read on, aspiring Aggies!
Address: Office of Admissions, 750 Agronomy Road, Suite 1601, 0200 TAMU, College Station, TX 77843-0200 Phone: (979) 845-1060 Recommendations: 1. Take an official tour a. Can schedule online: http://campustours.tamu.edu 2. Sit in on a class, departmental information session, housing seminar, etc. a. Departmental seminars and housing tours can be scheduled using the regular tour link. Information on all options here: http://visit.tamu.edu/visitor-center/visits.html b. Arrange a possible class visit through admissions: admissions@tamu.edu 3. Contact members of the department of your intended major prior to your visit to see if any have a couple minutes to meet with you while you are on campus or any recommendations for you to check out while you are there. 4. Check out the student newspaper a. Online here http://www.thebatt.com 5. Go to the bookstore and get a pendant/sweatshirt/etc: http://tamu.bncollege.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/BNCBLocationAndContactView?catalogId=10001&langId=-1&storeId=17552 7. Events calendar – See what’s happening on campus: http://calendar.tamu.edu 8. Eat in the dining hall on campus: http://www.dineoncampus.com/tamu/ 9. Record your reflections in a journal (sounds cheesy but will be helpful to you in a couple months) 10. Take pictures, if possible 11. While on campus, chat with current students (or these can be good to ask your admissions officer, if he/she is an alum). Good questions to ask: a. Why did you decide to attend Texas A&M? b. What other schools were you considering? c. What have you most enjoyed about your time here so far? d. Is there anything you don’t like about the school? Happy visiting! We recently had the pleasure to make the acquaintance of Allison Venuto, scholastic organizing extraordinaire. She uses her skills to help students work more efficiently and build the tools they'll need to thrive in high school, college, and beyond. She was kind enough to lend us her words of wisdom. Check out what she has to say below! Her contact information is at the bottom of the post so you can learn more about her there. Mornings at the pool followed by lazy, long afternoons watching “Gilligan's Island” reruns were the best of summer days for me. I worked hard during the year, so I took this time to relax and enjoy myself. Some (my mother) may argue that I took this relaxation a little too seriously. Your student probably doesn’t even want to hear the word school! I know! However, increasingly, studies show that these dog days of summer can lead to a decrease in the retention of the previous year’s learning achievements. There are a few (hopefully painless) strategies that you can help students develop during the summer that can can lead to a more successful school year.
Happy summer! Allison Venuto, who never leaves the house without sunscreen, owns Ducks in a Row Personal Organizing wherein she works with clients on space and scholastic organizing. Please contact her with questions at allison@ducksinarowdallas.com.
This one took me a lifetime to learn, and it's still hard for me sometimes because instinctively I am hyper competitive. We are talking "I'll study up if I know we are playing Bananagrams on Friday night" type of competitive. If you would have said something like this to me just a year ago I'd have smiled politely but thought to myself you need to go grab your ticket back to the land of unicorns, rainbows, and bedazzled cell phones with big bunny ears, because you are not living in reality with the rest of us.
But hear me out: we are truly all in this together. Each of us goes through the ebbs and flows of life. When you are flowing, why not lift someone else up there with you? We gain far more from working with each other, supporting each other, and even, at times, challenging one another to think critically through collaboration than we do through competition. There do not need to be winners and losers in life. And the way to make that happen is to work together. That's my challenge to you for now, and I know it's a tough one! Keep on rocking with your awesome selves. We are pleased to announce that this summer we will be offering several college application bootcamps for rising seniors (class of 2016). Details are still coming together, but we would love your feedback to help us plan. If you have (or are) a rising senior, take this short survey. This will also let you put down your information to reserve a spot because space will be limited for lots of individual support! Survey link: http://goo.gl/forms/wo3bkTzm2X School is out (or nearly out for some of you -- sorry! Keep studying!), so is it time to click the brain off and the new "Summer Jam" playlist on? Not completely, but there's a happy medium here. Let's talk about that. Everyone needs a break, and provided you've worked hard this academic year, you should take a little respite (see how I snuck in that SAT vocabulary?! Clever, huh?) to recharge your jets. Burnout is real thing, and one you really want to avoid (junior year is classic burnout time, which is dangerous as junior year is the year eyed most closely by your list of desired colleges for application). Because of this, we don't recommend cramming your summer full of nonstop intense activities like volunteering in South Africa in June, attending Calculus summer camp in July, then rounding things off by winning the national golf championship in August, all while taking an online SAT prep course. You need some down time, and you should use this opportunity to take it. On the other hand, sitting on the couch watching MTV's "Awkward" for three months isn't exactly fueling your intellectual, spiritual, and cultural well-being. Somewhere in the middle of these two summertime extremes is the perfect zone in which to find yourself. Here are some questions to help you figure out how to spend the next three months both challenging yourself to grow and recharging in preparation for next year's adventures: 1. What do you enjoy doing most? During the school year, it can be hard to find the time to do the things you love to do. Summer is a perfect chance to pursue things you love simply because you love them. Don't choose activities based on what you think will look best to colleges someday. Instead, choose to unabashedly pursue your passions to their full potential. Colleges actually love to see you doing this; your passions are what make you YOU, and that's what colleges want to see. Love cooking but can't fit a class into your AP-packed schedule during the school year? Do it in summer. Got an itch to satisfy your creative potential by learning to use that nice camera your Dad has in the closet? Teach yourself this summer (there are awesome blogs out there for this!). Do what you love, and don't feel like you are wasting your time doing it if you enjoy it. That's what summer is for (at least, while you are a teenager that's what summer is for. Once you get to be old like me, summer is like the other three seasons, only hotter). 2. How can you give back? Summer is a perfect opportunity to volunteer. There are too many volunteer opportunities out there to name, so when deciding where to volunteer, think first about what you can offer, next about what you enjoy doing most, and then about whom you can be of service to. Search local volunteer opportunities through your city or online. However, don't be afraid to contact an organization, non-profit, or business to see if they could use your help. Often times they can work with you to find a way to utilize your skills, even though they may not advertise the volunteer opportunity elsewhere. In other words, don't be afraid to talk to people to create the opportunity you want to pursue. Colleges consider it a big plus to see you spending your spare time bettering not only yourself, but the community in which you live. There is much to learn from volunteering, and you might be surprised by how helping others recharges your own batteries and fuels your soul (cheesy, I know, but true!). 3. How can you keep your brain running? This is important, but it doesn't have to be the main event of your summer. Keeping yourself in the habit of using your brain is a good thing. You can do anything from practicing a vocabulary list, to reading ahead with your lit class book list, to spending a week studying physics at a university camp. These are all great options and not so intense as to put you into burnout mode. Choose one or two academically oriented things to do this summer and that should suffice. The key to your perfect summer is to blend these three pieces in a way that works best for you. Do the things you love (travel, write poetry, build a fort), find a way to help others, and keep your brain active. The last piece of advice we have is, if you are going to be traveling, see if there's some time to tour colleges along the way. Even if you aren't interested in the school in the city where you're staying, you can still learn a lot about the options available to you in higher education by learning about that university. As always, we can help by answering your questions, talking to you about options best suited for you as an individual, and most everything else related to college planning. Call or email with questions! |
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We are a full-service academic advising and college planning team. We started up shop in 2013 because we are passionate about helping students pursue opportunities for elite higher education. Need help? Want to know more? (972) 755-9507 Archives
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