College Counseling College Counseling - PowerPoint Presentation

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College CounselingSlide2

College Counseling

There

is nothing in the world that I find sexier than a Viking gas range oven. The mere sight of one is enough to make my knees wobble. Its full, luscious body oozes self-confidence. Flawless stainless steel planes mesmerize, almost too perfect to touch. Custom burner configuration completes the package, satisfying every need. But it doesn't stop there, I have a fierce, insatiable fetish for kitchen appliances. I don't limit myself to just ovens. Blenders, ice-cream makers, toasters, electric mixers...the possibilities are endless. Walking into a kitchen appliance store is not an experience I take lightly. It's intimate, not one that I would share with just anybody. How do I explain to someone the sheer perfection of a

KitchenAid

stand up mixer? Or the wonder that lies in a

CuisinArt

coffeemaker? I am probably among the minority when I say that stepping into Williams and Sonoma makes my cheeks flush, or that a nice espresso machine will turn my head before a supermodel. 

Now

, this obsession is perhaps a little strange. And I have, on more than one occasion, received dubious glares, and other stares of downright disapproval. My love of appliances estranges me, separating me from the mainstream who find appliances merely common household fixtures, or even superfluous luxuries. It's almost as if I have some contagious disease or hideous physical feature.

It’s

been called

“over

the top

,”

and even

“unhealthy.”

However, I believe my perspective is simply different. Beauty is relative, and my idea of beauty isn't limited to conventional standards. I don't just find aesthetic in a field of flowers or in a painting by Renoir; I discover it in the appliance section of a department store.    

I

could hide this fixation of mine, but I have never been a person that is able to compromise who I am to be accepted. When I walk into a particularly remarkable kitchen, I don't try to mask my excitement just because it might unnerve somebody. When I see a special appliance, I let myself experience the pleasure that it brings me, because this is who I am. Let the masses stare uncomfortably as I share a blissful moment with a

Krups

Digital Toaster, because my happiness is more important than their judgments about me. I have nothing to hide; I am proud to be a kitchen nerd.Slide3

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NOTES ON COLLEGE ADMISSION ESSAYS

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The College Admission Essay

The only required part of the application over which you have full control

Sometimes, the most exciting and revealing piece of the application

Can illustrate how you are a good match for a particular college or university

Shows your desire to learn and succeed within a college environment

Not graded by Olympic judges! College admission counselors don’t start with a “10” and deduct for every error

The essay is as much about an emotional connection as an intellectual one, and the best conclusion might be “I really like this person!”Slide5

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Getting Started

An Oral Draft:

Try out a topic on a friend in order to test your ideas and find your natural “voice”

Revise:

Try discussing your topic with a parent or teacher to find a slightly more formal tone and deliberate structure

Write:

Try a few different topics to see which feels most natural to you

Focus:

There is an understandable impulse to want to write about something big and important. But, almost always, “Yesterday” is a better focus than “Human History,” better than “The Universe.”Slide6

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Types of Questions

Defend a Belief or Value:

Make sure you feel strongly about your choice of the issue. Ask yourself about the issue, “So What?” Keep it on a personal level

Develop a Character Portrait:

Reveal what you value through describing how someone has influenced your life and thinking. You might begin by listing several values you hold. Then think of a person or character who embodies those values

Tell a Story:

But do more than entertainSlide7

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Common Essay Mistakes

Showcases your weaknesses

Contains errors in grammar, punctuation, and spelling

Is too long or too short (pay attention to requested length)

Does not answer the question

Uses too many “thesaurus” words

Feels “forced” (it’s important that you write what comes naturally to you—don’t write for the reader)

Trivializes the essay—such as writing about writing the essay

Inappropriate topic—too broad, impersonal, or shockingSlide8

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Elements of a Successful Essay

Thoughtful and organized—it flows naturally

Opening sentence is an attention grabber

Unique—this does NOT mean that it has to be about some incredible experience to be worth expressing. Wonderful essays are often about simple ideas or moments that were meaningful to the writer

The topic clearly interests the writer / reveals your passions

Shows rather than tells—you should give the readers such convincing evidence that they draw the conclusions that you would want them to draw

Makes a point and gets to the pointSlide9

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Elements of a Successful Essay

After writing your college admission essay, you should

feel certain:

“No one could have written this but me

!”Slide10

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Essay Checklist

Is the essay interesting to you?

Will it stand out because it shows who you really are?

Is it important to you?

Do you show how you think?

Do you illustrate the issue, story, or experience?

Is your presentation neat, logical, and clearly stated?

Is there a good transition between separate ideas?

Did you make a conclusion rather than ending with a summary?Slide11

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SAMPLE ESSAY # 1

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The

issue of global environmental citizenship is paramount to the well-being of modern society and an absolute desideratum of future generations. This is an issue of particular importance to me as an avid outdoorsman and an environmental science student. We have had an opportunity to study this issue in-depth, and the essentiality of this concept has become blatantly obvious.

The

concept of global environmental citizenship incorporates a salmagundi of ideas. Central to the concept is the idea of sustainable development. Sustainable development is a call for maintenance of consumption, industrial output, and waste and pollution at levels which will not compromise the opportunities of posterity, while maintaining economic growth and employment opportunities. This concept may seem quixotic and unattainable, but a coterie of scientists and

economists,

under the guidance of the United Nations, set forth a set of realistic proposals that would ensure maintained human progress without bankrupting the resources of future generations. Another of the myriad of ideas incorporated in global environmental citizenship is to stultify environmental racism. Environmental racism is the practice of exposing minorities and impoverished communities to an inequitable share of environmental

hazards. A

final central theme of global environmental citizenship is that the measures to achieve this concept must benefit everyone equally.

The

tools and ideas necessary to ensure our future and the future of our children are at hand. Steps must be taken to combat this perfidy of industry which has lulled much of society into desuetude. This can be accomplished through increased literacy, increased access to information, and increased political freedom. This process has also been encouraged by the spread of democracy and sharing of both information and power around the world. Slide13

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SAMPLE ESSAY # 2

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The

airport is filled with unspoken tension, flights delayed or cancelled, the potential disaster of plane crashes lurking. My brother Brian seems to sense this as we board the plane, or maybe he is aggravated by the engine’s roar as we walk down the long hallway to the door of the plane. Either way, he is nervous. I grip his hand to calm him down, then loosen my grip, remembering his dislike of human touch, so unnatural to me. Other people turn and stare at the grown man with the slow, loping gait, but he doesn’t notice. “I won’t have a seizure,” he says, but whether it is to reassure the rest of the world or himself I do not know, for he cannot tell me: Brian is a 29 year old autistic.

Autism

is a difficult disorder to define and

an even

more difficult disorder to understand. My mother remembers Brian at age one as a brighter than average youngster. At twenty-nine, my brother is considered to be fairly high functioning merely because he can speak. His withdrawal from human interaction became apparent before age three, and has never fully been reversed. Yet despite his dysfunction, Brian connects with me in a way no other human being can. From the moment I became aware of him as a tiny child, I found him the most fun of my older brothers and sister. He was not detached and adolescent like them, he was playful and easily amused like me.

It

was not until I was about four that I recognized that he had a problem, that his range of communication was inferior to mine. This was a difficult idea for me to accept that there were people in this world who had problems thinking and expressing themselves, people who would need caretakers the rest of their lives. I had to come to terms with the idea that I too was Brian’s caretaker, in the sense that I was mentally more capable and had to look out for him. I also had to learn that Brian had difficulty understanding change, that he would always treat me as the little sister I used to be instead of the person I was becoming.

Yet

having Brian for a brother has taught me some other things that have become second nature to me. Because of him, I try not to make judgments about others based on only their behavior. I try to find the good things in people that balance out their shortcomings. Most of all I have tried to reach Brian’s ideal of unconditional love, that love that he has for certain things that stay constant in his life, like train rides or McDonald’s or his family.

As

the plane turns down the runway to take off, Brian sits forward in his seat, clutching the armrests. My mother and I talk to him about different subjects to try to calm him down: the relatives we are going to visit, the things we are going to do, asking him if he wants a hug or a lifesaver to relax him. He answers “Yes,” to almost every question, even those he doesn’t know the answer to. The plane starts to speed up and I ask him to count to ten in Spanish with me. We count forwards, and then backwards, and then forwards again. Occasionally he is distracted by a noise and tenses, but I simply ask him what number comes next and he returns to counting. With rhythmic certainty we count upwards, slowly and surely in unison as we ascend into the sky

.Slide15

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SAMPLE ESSAY # 3

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Oh—the

precise clank of keys as I triumphantly approach my front door. With my keys in my pocket I am confident, fearless…capable of anything. I am guaranteed that door number one, apartment 1-D, shall be conquered to reveal my life on the other side. With my keys at my side, the world is within reach; my personal life is at my fingertips. My bed, my diary, my computer are all accessible with my keys. With my keys I can connect to my life again, create skillful masterpieces, write countless novels, and live up to everyone’s expectations.

My

heartbeat quickens as I dig into the bottom of my backpack. My palms begin to sweat. Where are they? I’ve forgotten them… again. I collapse, defeated against the heavy door, with the super “burglar-proof” lock that blocks the way to my success. I find myself alone in my dank, dimly-lit lobby, falling to the mercy of an eccentric neighbor who walks dogs for a living and offers me a “glass of juice or diet root-beer”… an offer I gently decline.

Without

my keys my identity wavers. I am no longer the daughter of two respectable human beings. Instead I assume the role of a starving run-away; a transient let into the warmth of the lobby by an unsuspecting share-holder and looked upon by fellow residents with disdain. In fact, I am a frantically lost teenage girl curled up next to the heater, scribbling her oh-so-important college essay in the back of her SAT II French prep test manual with a dying ball point pen. It is too often that I find myself in this predicament.

How

easily this world is defined by a small piece of notched metal. Greasy men with slicked-back hair, swivel keys attached to Ferrari key chains around their little fingers. Old ladies pull keys connected to neon retractable cords from the depths of the Mentos and dirty tissues found in their leather pocketbooks. Superintendents extract keys from giant metal rings attached to their belt loops, so swift to find the key they are looking for and not undone by the monumental responsibility resting on them. My mother keeps hers attached to the zipper of her red wallet, a nice home next to her alphabetized credit cards. No one seems overwhelmed by the consequences of keys—except me. My keys find a new location every day, and for me it is extremely difficult to keep up with them.

I

reach into my coat pocket, looking for

Altoids

I may have left there last winter. I pause as my fingertips brush a cold, hard surface. My heart soars—I am saved! In the deep recesses of gum wrappers and single ride metro cards I find my keys. I unlock the door, back in control, instantly resuming my identity and confidence. I have my world back—I throw my bag on the floor and fall into my chair. Suddenly I stop, catch sight of my precious keys tossed carelessly on my bed. I scoop them up without further hesitation and tuck them into the front pocket of my bag. I’m back, ready to conquer the world, or at least my homework. Slide17

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SAMPLE ESSAY # 4

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My

biggest problem is that I am a

ping-pong

ball. I have too many interests. My parents, of Irish Roman Catholic and Russian Jewish background, taught me the cult of the well-rounded person. I don’t say that I have never disliked a class or a teacher; I have . . . but a subject, never.

Things

used to seem so simple. I would first go to school, then to college, get my Ph.D., get a job, retire, have a good time and eventually die. But this nice little bubble in the back of my mind was shattered (do not pass go, do not collect $200) when I discovered that even a perfectionist workaholic like myself could not do everything. If I tried, no matter how hard, I might end up doing nothing at all.

I

had to make decisions about my future. I could not get by with a vague assumption that I was going to study the three-toed sloth or something. The pity of it is; I came up with two so very different favorites. The odds presently alternate between the sciences and the theatre. Ye Gods and little fishes. How did I ever come up with that pair? I do not know, but there is a correlation between the desire to puzzle out the world and the world unto itself, the play. I go round and round on the round-about between these two, when I am not being haunted by visions of Medieval literature, etcetera. After all, nothing can be discounted, where nothing is disliked.

Theatre

, which I discovered for myself (my mother used to say “I will always love you, even if you become an actress”), combines all disciplines to some extent, and is therefore a wonderful compromise.

The

solution to my dilemma, is very simple, and not a bit of help. Rather than flip a coin, I choose to make no choice, defer the decision, and opt for a college where I can get both disciplines.Slide19

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Sample Essay # 4 (Page Two)

FACTS

ABOUT ME NOT COVERED ELSEWHERE:

1

. I am dyslexic. (my spelling is horrendous)

2

. As a Theatre Arts Major for five years, I have worked in the following capacities, usually doing more than one job at a time: actress, member of costume and light crews, property mistress, head of scene shifting, head of sets, sound (taped music and effects), projections (slides and news panel/filmstrip), assistant director, house and production manager, and stage manager. I have worked on the design and research aspects of all of these areas. I have helped to teach Drama I, a course consisting of the improvisational Theatre Games of Viola

Spolin

, and beginning scene work. Although out of school hours are numerous, my academics are exactly the same as those of non-theater majors.

3

. I am a voracious reader.

4

. I would like an interview.Slide20

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Common Application

Next year’s essay prompts are already in!Slide21

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Common Application Essay Prompts

Some students have a background, identity, interest, or talent that is so meaningful they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story.

The lessons we take from failure can be fundamental to later success. Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you make the same decision again?

Describe a problem you’ve solved or a problem you’d like to solve. It can be an intellectual challenge, a research query, an ethical dilemma—anything that is of personal importance, no matter the scale. Explain its significance to you and what steps you took or could be taken to identify a solution.

Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family.Slide22

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THANK YOU

We hope this seminar was helpful!Slide23

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