For the second year in a row, Ivy League Placement paired up with the I Have A Dream Foundation for a 3 day college application Boot Camp where I was able to work closely with each student to help them create and write their college essays.
The workshop began with an overview of what makes a college application essay stand out. We started with a review of three excellent college essays to prove that an outstanding college essay does not have to be about a spectacular event. In the process, each student learned how to develop a compelling college essay in which you paint a picture of who you are, how you view yourself in the world, where your gratitude is focused, and how you have matured and are now ready for college.
As the students began writing their outlines and long drafts, I brainstormed with them to transform their ideas into a winning format. One girl who has a strong relationship with her mother wrote in paragraph four that her mother was “her garden”. This is a beautiful image, so I recommended she move it to become her opening sentence to paint a picture for the reader with
“My mother is my garden and I am her lovely flower.” This opening sentence was so powerful, the rest of the essay was easy for her to develop.
The students finished with strong compelling essays highlighting their academic strengths, extra curricular participation and volunteer work. At the end of the workshop, the students were confident and proud their essays now contained the elements to grab and keep the attention of the reader.
The I Have a Dream Foundation began in 1981. As New York City businessman Eugene Lang prepared to address a group of 61 graduating sixth graders at his alma mater, East Harlem Elementary, he was told that only 25% of the students sitting before him would graduate from high school. The figure was so alarming that he was moved to make an astonishing offer: He would pay the college tuition of each and every student who graduated from high school. More than 90% of these students earned their high school diplomas or GED certificates; and 60% pursued the higher education promised that day. Since then, almost 200 "I Have A Dream" programs have operated in 27 states, Washington, D.C., and New Zealand, together serving over 15,000 Dreamers. "I Have A Dream" has also freely shared its model with other individuals, corporations, church and community groups, and government agencies to generate additional educational support programs that help many more children who lack a clear pathway to college. Ivy League Placement considers it an honor to contribute to this remarkable program.
Ivy League Placement Paired Up With The I Have A Dream Foundation For A College Application Boot Camp
Ivy League College Admissions Counselor, Lily Trayes, Works With Students In Tokyo
During a recent trip to Tokyo, I scheduled a meeting with the parents of 25 Tokyo high school students interested in Ivy League college admissions in the USA and to discuss what they should know about the Ivy League college application process.
It was a treat to be hosted in a luxurious private Tokyo home and to meet these wonderful women who are very much members of Tokyo’s elite.
I spoke for 30 minutes and then yielded to their questions. One mother admitted they had made a big mistake by taking their daughter to see a great number of colleges and universities when the girl was only in the ninth grade. She was disappointed that the trip accomplished nothing except turning the young student off to further suggestions from her parents. The mother now felt that relying on advice from a professional college admissions consultant appeared to be the most desirable course of action.
The mothers had the usual questions and concerns:
How important is using a private college counselor?
How will my child benefit and what results should we expect?
When should students start SAT tutoring?
How difficult is it to get into Ivy League universities?
How many colleges do most students apply to?
How do we know which colleges are the ones to apply to?
Following the meeting, the mothers were appreciative that I had set aside time for private consultations. Each 90 minute private consultation requires the attendance of the student and both parents so that all their questions and concerns can be answered and a game plan can be established.
Leaving Tokyo with several new families to help apply to USA colleges was very gratifying and I welcome them to my extended Ivy League Placement family of college students from all over the world. I look forward to seeing my Tokyo students again when they arrive in the USA to visit colleges and we begin our college counseling journey by attending prearranged college information sessions and tours.
How A Low College Freshman GPA Will Affect Your Academic and Career Future
Statistics show that college students earn their lowest grades in the Freshman year. It's important for you to know that those grades will be averaged into the final GPA before graduation from college, and the effect will be a GPA lower than the grades the student earned during years 2, 3, and 4. The final college GPA is critical in determining Graduate School acceptance and other future career opportunities.
Low Freshman Year GPA scores are usually caused by adjustment to the new environment:
Discovering a new campus and the surrounding areas
Associating with new and different personalities and maturity levels
Lots of “free” unstructured time resulting in poor time management
Adapting to college classes, procedures and expectations
Learning a “college language” that Freshman students are not “clued into”
Enormous academic competition from more aggressive students
Stress, worry. homesickness or loneliness
Peer pressure, money, status, friends, fraternity parties, etc.
Being one of the youngest members of campus community
Feeling “left out” and not knowing who to ask for advice
The Freshman year GPA will have a serious impact on your future. Controlling the outcome of the Freshman year GPA will put you on the road to success.
University life is a completely different world from the small nurturing environment that you experienced in high school. No one is there to wake you up, see that you study and do your laundry! Temptations abound, time slips away, academic expectations sneak up on students who have not been independent in high school, and professor’s expectations are completely different from the caring personal attention you received in high school.
Some students are now choosing to work with a “Personal Professor” before and during the first semester of college. In individual one-on-one meetings, your "Personal Professor" will prepare you for college life and teach you how to avoid the Freshman pitfalls.
I think working with a “Personal Professor” is an invaluable opportunity. Some students won’t need this, but your child may feel more secure going off to college, knowing that he or she has the advice and help of their own College Professor who is available to advise and recommend solutions whenever needed.
Please contact Lily Trayes for more information and a recommendation for securing a "Personal Professor".
