All posts by Mary Stegmeir

Admitted writer/editor Mary Stegmeir welcomes additional comments and story ideas at mstegmeir@nacacnet.org.
College Admission, College Readiness, NACAC News

#NACACreads Author: Applying to College Teaches Teens Crucial Skills

nacacreadsvideoimageuse#NACACreads author Julie Lythcott-Haims knows it’s tough for parents to turn over the reins, especially when it comes time for their child to apply to colleges.

But if teens aren’t able to complete the application process independently, they are more likely to falter once they arrive on campus, she notes in How to Raise an Adult. Counselors and admission professionals from across the country will discuss her book on May 17 during a #NACACreads Twitter chat.

Continue reading #NACACreads Author: Applying to College Teaches Teens Crucial Skills →

College Admission, College Completion, Transfer

Honor Society for Community College Students Hopes to Expand its Reach

iStock
iStock

An honor society for community college students wants to recruit more members, and organization leaders say the move has the potential to bolster US degree completion rates.

Members of Phi Theta Kappa (PTK) are far more likely than their peers to earn a two- or four-year degree, data show.

But currently, only 11 percent of students eligible for membership join the honor society, according to a recent article published in Community College Week (CCW).

Continue reading Honor Society for Community College Students Hopes to Expand its Reach →

Access, College Admission, NACAC News

#NACACreads: Learn More about the Students Featured in ‘Hold Fast to Dreams’

hold_fast_to_dreams_pb_350For many participants in last month’s #NACACreads chat, the highlight of the evening was hearing from Michael Forbes and Abigail Benavente — two of the 10 students featured in Hold Fast to Dreams.

Admitted asked author Joshua Steckel for updates about the rest of the young people profiled in his award-winning book examining college access and success.

Now in their late-20s, all the students are upwardly mobile and engaging in fulfilling work, said Steckel, who co-wrote Hold Fast to Dreams with Beth Zasloff.

Continue reading #NACACreads: Learn More about the Students Featured in ‘Hold Fast to Dreams’ →

College Admission, NACAC News

#NACACreads Author: Access and Success for Low-Income Students Starts with Understanding

hold_fast_to_dreams_pb_350It takes more than generous financial aid packages to get first-generation students to and through college.

Make no mistake: Monetary support is crucial. But college counselors on both sides of the desk also need to understand the structural inequalities that define the lives of many low-income teens.

That was the message author and public school counselor Joshua Steckel shared with participants during Wednesday’s online #NACACreads chat. His book, Hold Fast to Dreams: A College Guidance Counselor, His Students, and the Vision of a Life Beyond Poverty, follows 10 young people from New York City as they apply to colleges and go on to pursue higher education.

Continue reading #NACACreads Author: Access and Success for Low-Income Students Starts with Understanding →

Access, College Admission, College Readiness, NACAC News

#NACACreads Author: ‘Quality School Counseling Shouldn’t be a Luxury’

steckel475#NACACreads author Joshua Steckel sought a job in New York City’s public school system nine years ago because he wanted to help low-income teens access higher education.

In Hold Fast to Dreams Steckel and co-author Beth Zasloff seek to further that work, this time by spotlighting the barriers first-generation and minority students face in the college admission process.

Continue reading #NACACreads Author: ‘Quality School Counseling Shouldn’t be a Luxury’ →

College Admission, NACAC News

#NACACreads: Frank Bruni Urges New Approach to College Admission

whereyoullgoLife isn’t scripted, and neither is success.

Yet, increasingly, students and families engaged in the college admission process fall prey to the idea that only a certain set of elite colleges can provide the necessary education and experiences, New York Times columnist Frank Bruni told #NACACreads participants Monday night.

The result? Undue stress, regimented resume-building, and an unsettling shift in values. It’s a trend Bruni wants to see changed.

“Success isn’t where you got IN,” he noted during the Twitter chat. “It’s what you do with it.”

Continue reading #NACACreads: Frank Bruni Urges New Approach to College Admission →

College Admission, College Readiness, NACAC News

#NACACreads Chat: Rewarding Creativity on College Apps Would Have Trickle-Down Effect

oneworldschoolhouseColleges that accept video essays or provide other avenues for students to express themselves in the admission process may be on to something.

That was the assessment made Wednesday by participants in the inaugural #NACACreads Twitter chat.

The issue was raised during a discussion of Sal Khan’s The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined. In the book, Khan — founder of the online learning platform, Khan Academy — notes that “today’s world needs a workforce of creative, curious and self-directed lifelong learners.”

Continue reading #NACACreads Chat: Rewarding Creativity on College Apps Would Have Trickle-Down Effect →

Access, College Admission

Minnesota’s Camp College Promotes Access

Students discuss college choices with a counselor at Minnesota's Camp College. (MACAC photo)
Students discuss college choices with a counselor at Minnesota’s Camp College. (MACAC photo)

College is possible.

That’s the message a group of rising seniors from Minnesota heard Monday during the state’s inaugural Camp College. The two-day event, which continues today, is part of a larger push by NACAC affiliates to help first-generation and other underserved students learn more about the higher education options available to them.

Continue reading Minnesota’s Camp College Promotes Access →

College Admission, International Education

Gaokao Scores Accepted at US University Under Pilot Program

iStock

Chinese students who performed well on their country’s national college placement exam will be able to apply for admission to the University of San Francisco (CA) later this month.

The pilot program seeks to attract high-performing students who, for myriad reasons, decide they no longer wish to pursue postsecondary education in their home country.

Continue reading Gaokao Scores Accepted at US University Under Pilot Program →