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Finding the right pre-college summer program

April 1, 2013 by Leave a Comment

What comes to mind when you think of summer? Summer job? Fun in the sun? Travel? How about college preparation? And did you know that colleges will take note of how you have used your summers as an indication of your educational preparation?

Working at a summer job can certainly help you save money for college and provide adult mentors, but think about investing some time at a summer program on a college campus. Many are free or low cost, with scholarship options. The right choice can help you learn what it’s like to be in college, where your career interests can lead you, and how to connect with more people who can help you in the college process.
Find a program that fits your academic area of interest or just narrow down the list of things that seem of interest.
  • Many colleges and universities host summer programs for high school students. Finding a program on a college campus will expose you to the college experience and help orient you for college life.
  • Ask your local college or university about the programs they offer. Or, if you know what college you might want to attend after high school, look there.
  • Many programs are associated with some type of cost, so be mindful of that. If cost is a concern, ask the program if they have financial aid or fee waivers. And also be aware that there are free summer programs out there.
  • Registration deadlines are extremely important. Some programs accept every student who applies, and some are very selective. The best way to ensure your selection is to apply early. Make sure all necessary documentation is in your application so that it can be processed and so that you can be considered for the program of your choice.

What are you hoping to get out of your pre-college program?

This is a basic one, but it’s absolutely crucial to answer before you can really narrow down any of your choices from a college summer programs search. It’s important to determine if what you’re looking for is an experience of life on your own, or academic opportunities, or an experience of a new location, or anything else. You can read more about pre-college summer programs.

Answering this question is not going to mean that you shouldn’t look at the other traits or qualities of potential pre-college programs. But it does mean that in your search for college summer programs, you’ll have an idea of what the most important criterion is for you. If you want to go to a new place, a new location, somewhere you’ve never been before, then you’ll know not to pick some place to which you’ve traveled previously. If you want to know what life is like on your own, then you’ll know not to pick some place very close to home. If you want to go somewhere to further your own academic interests, then you’ll know to be certain that the program you choose is providing courses or academic opportunities in your subject.

What’s the duration of the pre-college program?

Another simple one, right? Well, maybe not. See, there are going to be all manner of pre-college programs available to you to choose from, and the duration of those programs is going to change your own experience. If you’re there for 3 weeks, that’s going to be entirely different from being there for 12 weeks. What’s more, if you’re at any one of the college summer programs that interest you for a relatively short amount of time, then it may be possible for you to attend more than one of those college summer programs to get an even more varied experience.

Chances are, this question is going to be most important in light of the prior question. If you’re looking into pre-college programs for an experience of life on your own, then you may want a longer program, to get your feet under you and really get a taste for that flavor of life. If you want to see some new places, or experience what life is like across different college campuses, then chances are you’ll want to go to a number of different college summer programs if you can. If you want academic opportunities, then a single, longer program which has excellent offerings may be right for you.

Regardless, though, the length of the pre-college programs you’re looking at is going to have a significant impact on whether or not you feel they’re right for you.

What’s the cost of these pre-college programs?

Chances are that if you’re a student, then you’re not going to be paying for your pre-college programs yourself, straight out of your own pocket. There’ll be exceptions of course, and for those students who are paying for any pre-college programs, the cost is going to be even more important. But even if your parents are willing to pay for the college summer programs you might choose to attend, or if you managed to get some kind of scholarship, the cost is still going to be very important to your overall choices.

You’re going to want to know the costs of living in the area, the costs of food, and the costs of anything else you might choose to do, be that traveling, participating in activities, or anything. Keep in mind that some cities will host college summer programs with significantly greater expenses than might others. Rural college summer programs especially should have a low cost.

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How important are college rankings?

March 24, 2013 by Leave a Comment

As the days of winter fade, many students will dig out one or more of the college rankings publications they acquired last autumn and pore over them again looking for “the revelation.” This reliably consistent tradition was the topic of a recent commentary called, “College Rankings Fail”, that appeared in the University of Maryland’s independent student newspaper. The student author, Marc Priester, took direct aim at college rankings as a whole. As he pointed out,

“Our current obsessions with prestige and rankings border on fetishism…. There is a sad waltz between college rankings and how we value education. It compels individuals to irrationally worship universities, leading to the foolish economic decision to attend exorbitantly priced colleges because of the ‘promise’ [: the promise of the upper middle class, the pipe-dream future we’ve been fed since before we could even spell ‘Harvard’].”

Mr. Priester further attributes blame to the media, with whom students and parents have become willing partners. While I would not use the term “fetishism”, I do credit Mr. Priester for his astute recognition of college rankings as authoritative. And, although the remainder of Mr. Priester’s quote is consistent with the spirit of his message, I feel it does divert attention from the overarching point he was making; i.e., that college rankings are inherently misleading and as such can lead to poor decision making.

A case in point is the media frenzy initiated each year by the various college rankings publication releases, with the U.S. News and World Report Best Colleges issue being the most recognizable. College administrators and admissions officers criticize and debate U.S. News for attempting to do the impossible: determine unequivocally who is Number One, or Number Ten, or Number 75. Unfortunately, some students and parents miss these criticisms.

Kiplinger recently released Best Values in Public Colleges for 2013, and the corresponding, Best Values in Private Colleges for 2013. The rankings publication claims that its methodology measures “value,” but that term is just as subjective as the term “best” used by US News. Each student has a unique system of values, which cannot be standardized.

There is one factor in Kiplinger’s ranking formula that could easily be misinterpreted. In acknowledging that an institution that graduates its students within the traditional 4-year timeframe saves them tuition dollars, the reality is that there are numerous legitimate factors that delay graduation for many students beyond the four years after which they began their studies. Georgia Tech, for instance, has a 4-year graduation rate of only 31 percent. What Kiplinger fails to note is that a significant portion of the Georgia Tech student body is enrolled in the co-op program where full-time study and full-time placement at a paying internship occur in alternating semesters. The end result is graduation delayed into a fifth or even a sixth year, but with considerably more real-life experience than most programs offer. In this context, Georgia Tech’s 4-year graduation rate clearly misrepresents the quality of its overall academic experience.

The all-encompassing point being made here is that “value,” in economic terms, is just one of the many dimensions of the college selection process. Where students choose to prepare for their future and how much their family is willing to pay for it is a complex, at times an intensely emotional, and let us not forget, singularly courageous decision.

Joseph Prieto, National Association for College Admissions Counseling

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Chyten’s Summer Boot Camp dates announced

February 14, 2013 by 2 Comments

Chyten is offering special, one-week Summer Boot Camps to prepare students for the SAT and ACT. Twenty-five hours of instruction, a full-length practice test and diagnostic report, and all books and materials are included in this special summer offering.

Boot Camps are perfect for busy students and athletes, delivering all of Chyten’s key strategies in a short, intense timeframe, and offering a highly effective method for students to prepare for their fall exams:

CLASS TYPE DATES TIME
SAT CLASS July 15 – 19 9:00 – 2:00
SAT CLASS July 22 – 26 9:00 – 2:00
SAT CLASS July 29 – August 2 9:00 – 2:00
SAT CLASS August 5 – 9 9:00 – 2:00
SAT CLASS August 12 – 16 9:00 – 2:00

 

CLASS TYPE DATES TIME
ACT CLASS July 22 – 26 2:30 – 7:30
ACT CLASS August 5 – 9 2:30 – 7:30
Students who attend our boot camps will be exposed to all of Chyten’s revolutionary strategies, including the Zig-Zag Method for Critical Reading; the Grammar Simplification Strategy; the Adaptable Essay; and Chyten’s Mathematics Strategies, including numerical and visual approximation and backwards solving!

Summer boot camp tuition is $985. The classes meet here at our center, and tuition includes registration, books, and all materials!

A complete listing of Chyten’s upcoming SAT and ACT classes is located here! Call 505-2495 to register.

 

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Does Your Child Need Tutoring?

November 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

As a parent, it can be difficult to know when you should intervene when a child is struggling with a subject. Especially if your child is on a college track, though, it pays to make sure that grades stay high throughout a student’s school career.

Low Grades

Were grades this semester not up to par? Do not wait until they get worse. Help your student by taking action early when you first see signs of slipping ; a professional Chyten tutor with personalized attention might make the difference in the second half of the school year.

Your Student Works Hard, But Struggles

Some students may be working very hard, but ineffectively. A professional Chyten tutor may be the key to making the material more understandable, relevant, and even fun. Remember, Chyten tutors are experts in their field of expertise, and are often able to relate the work that students are doing to real-life examples.

Discouragement, or Low Self Confidence

Does your student give up easily, find it difficult to finish homework, or make excuses to not turn in assignments on time? Personalized attention from an expert at Chyten can help turn results around, while building confidence.

Your Student Is Simply Capable of Better Grades

This is a situation that many parents find their children in. They are getting a B, when they have A ability. A Chyten tutor can provide the extra boost that a student needs, clarifying concepts and making the difference between a ‘good’ grade and an ‘outstanding’ grade. Many parents, as a matter of fact, choose to supplement the instruction that their children receive in school with year-round enrichment at Chyten. This ensures that they are grasping the material, fully understanding that framework that they will build onto with more difficult work later on in their school careers.

Test Results Do Not Reflect True Ability

Standardized testing can be a major source of anxiety among students.  Learning to effectively take a standardized test is important, since standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT are a key part of the college application process. Confidence is a key! Taking practice exams, under simulated test conditions, with the proven techniques offered by Chyten can calm test anxiety.

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Changes to the Common App for 2013 Announced

October 17, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The Common Application,which is a universal form that allows students to apply to multiple colleges and universities, will be implementing some surprising new changes to the essay rules. The Chronicle of Higher Education reports that the Common App will be going web-only in 2013, and also will eliminate the “topic of your choice” essay option. Students will be forced to choose a prompt from the ones presented on the form, and these four or five topics will change from year to year.

The new form will debut on Aug. 1, 2013.

The new Common App will also be a stickler for essay lengths. The 250-word minimum word count will be enforced, and students who exceed the 500-word maximum will receive an error message.

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The Three Biggest College Admissions Lies

September 28, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Steve Cohen, The Daily Beast

Do SAT scores matter anymore? Will asking for financial aid hurt your chances? And does everyone get a fair shot? As application season kicks into high gear, some hard truths about getting in this year.

“The check is in the mail. I gave at the office. And …”

There are too many bad jokes that begin “The three biggest lies are …” What’s happening in college admissions, however, is no joke. Three big lies are gaining traction with families as they embark on this year’s tougher-than-ever college-admissions sweepstakes. Believing some of these lies will cost families money. Others can make the difference between an acceptance and a rejection.

Lie No. 1: Standardized Tests Are Less Important

Colleges today are relying on standardized test scores when making admissions decisions to a far larger degree than they have in years. One reason is that the number of applications at most top colleges is soaring. That’s not because there are more 18-year-olds graduating from high school. It is because more kids are applying to more colleges. And with little increase in the size of their admissions staffs, schools are using SAT and ACT scores to make a fast, easy cut of the applicant pool.

Of course, no college is going to admit this. Colleges love a big applicant pool, not just to craft a more attractive class but to show the ranking services just how selective they are. (In the perverse rankings world, more rejections equal a higher ranking.) Instead, colleges are using several forms of numbers subterfuge to obfuscate what is really going on.

The SAT Range: Almost every college publishes the range of SAT scores that kids in the last entering class achieved. The schools call this the 25th to 75th percentile range. In other words, 50 percent of last year’s entering class had scores within this range.

So if a kid sees a school’s 25th–75th range as 1280 to 1430, the student might reasonably think that their 1300 SAT score gives them a fair shot at admission. Wrong. In reality, the bottom 25 percent, below 1280, is reserved for the school’s “special interests”: athletes, students of color, development (big donors). For example, Vanderbilt reports its 25th–75th SAT range as 1380 to 1550. In reality, most of its admittees had SAT scores above 1500.

Test Optional Doesn’t Always Mean Test Optional: A number of very good colleges have a “test optional” policy. For kids who have good grades but test-anxiety, that can be a real blessing. Are test-optional colleges adopting a kindler, gentler approach to admissions? No, they’re chasing rankings. Think about it. When a school declares SAT scores optional, which students report their scores? Only students with high test scores. This boosts the average SAT scores at the college, and the school moves up a rung on the rankings ladder.

The Magic 700: At the very selective colleges and universities, if you don’t have a 700/700 score, you’re just not getting in—unless you have a very special hook. The 680/690 kid is a dime a dozen.

Cheating Goes Both Ways: In the past year, headlines have screamed about cheating scandals not just at Long Island high schools and at New York City’s Stuyvesant High School but at colleges. Both Claremont-McKenna and Emory admitted to playing with test scores in order to make them look better in the rankings.

Standardized test scores are just as important on the money side.

“It’s pretty simple,” says Ian Welham, a college-funding specialist with Complete College Planning Solutions in Springfield, N.J. “If you want more money, increase your test scores. Regardless of what the college tour guide or the glitzy brochure says, the kid with the 800 in math will get the money over the kid with straight A’s.”

Lie No. 2: Asking for Financial Aid Won’t Affect the Admissions Decision

Ah, for the good old days—the days before the Great Recession. Back then, when a college said it was “need blind,” it probably was need blind. That meant admissions decisions were made without the admissions staff knowing whether the kid was applying for financial aid.

Today, more and more college admissions officers want, and need, to know whether the kid can pay full freight. And if there is a choice between two virtually identical applicants, one who needs financial aid and one who doesn’t, the fat envelope is going to go to the kid who can pay full tuition.

Some very good schools, such as Wesleyan, are coming forward and acknowledging that they can’t afford to be 100 percent need-blind. Similarly, some of the most selective colleges are quietly moving away from their “no loans” financial aid policy. Pre-2007 many of the nation’s wealthiest and most selective colleges said they would eliminate loans from the financial-aid packages they gave students. Today there is a family-income level that must be met before a no-loan financial aid package is offered.

Cornell University recently announced that no-loan financial aid would be available only to families earning less than $60,000 a year. Similarly, Dartmouth and Williams announced that their no-loan policy would be limited to students at the lowest end of the income-distribution scale.

There is good news, however, for families who can afford to pay full tuition, and especially out-of-state tuitions. Acceptance rates at top state universities for out-of-state applicants reached an all-time high last year. And the number of foreign students accepted at many colleges has doubled or tripled in the last four years.

But not all well-heeled parents are willing to write the big checks. Welham, the college-funding adviser, reports a trend he’s seeing among his clients. “There used to be a certain percentage of parents who told us, ‘I want my kid to get into the best name school, I don’t care what it costs.’ Now, take a family with three to four kids. Even upper-income families are balking at paying $750,000 to $1 million for college. Instead, they’re telling us, ‘Show us some options where we don’t pay sticker price.’”

Lie No. 3: It’s a Level Playing Field

Let’s go back to the foreign-student situation. It should be no surprise that many foreign students applying to American colleges have very high SAT scores. Colleges love that. Unfortunately, a shockingly large number of Chinese applicants also lie about their English abilities and academic transcripts. And colleges are pretending they don’t know this. That combination of high scores and full tuition is simply too enticing to ignore.

The worst-kept secret of college admissions is that colleges are looking for the well-rounded class, not the well-rounded kid. They want some real scholars for every department, some superb athletes, some great musicians and actors, a few rich kids whose parents can build a library wing, and some legacies to keep the alumni happy. The applicant who is attractive but not really special in any one category is going to have a much tougher time getting in.

And while early decision really does improve one’s chances, there are caveats. Many of the early-decision slots are reserved for kids the school wants for athletic or other recruiting purposes. Second, the early-decision applicant pool typically has higher grades and SAT scores than the regular pool. There is a self-limiting element to who is applying early. So if a school is a “reach” for a student, the student should not apply early. His odds of getting rejected are greater. The early decision-applicant pool is simply better credentialed.

A last truism: it is often said that there is a college for everyone. That is certainly true. What is more elusive, but equally true, is there is a right-fit college for everyone. But most kids and their parents never find that school because they are too caught up in trying to get into the “best” school rather than the right school.

Instead of relying on magazine rankings, which reflect the subjectivity of the editors couched in often-meaningless statistical inputs or is based a single visit to a college that can be colored by a backward-walking student tour guide, students really should do smarter research. It takes a bit more effort, but kids should sit in on a college class. They should spend a night on campus. Sure, it’s tough and expensive to arrange such trips. But it is a hell of a lot cheaper than a poor fit.

To read the full article at the Daily Beast, please click here.

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How to Find College Scholarships

August 15, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Last year, graduates who took out loans left college with an average of $24,000 in debt. (New York Times, 4/2011)

If you have a high school Senior, you are probably consumed with college applications and college visits. Now is the best time to start thinking about scholarships. Knowing where to look is half the battle.

Never pay for scholarship information!

Websites like College Board or Fastweb.com are great places to start. Fastweb actually matches your to relevant scholarships that meet your requirements either based on your major, your interests, your extra-curricular activities or how much money you might be looking for.

Look locally!

There are some scholarships available in your own community. Check out local Kiwanis or Rotary Clubs, churches and synagogues. Ask your school counselor, too, as they might have been informed of scholarships available in the business community. Don’t forget to get those SAT and ACT scores up! Many state schools offer scholarships to students with strong college admissions tests and GPAs.

Talk to the college of your choice.

Colleges will usually provide a list of scholarships they offer. Don’t get hung up on the amount of money being offered. Even small amounts add up!

Meet with a college counselor at Chyten.

At Chyten, in addition to helping with all of your application and essay needs, we also offer services to help meet all of your financial concerns about attending college.

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New NCAA Academic Eligiblity Standards Coming

May 8, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Academic change is coming to college sports. And if you ask me, it’s the good kind of change.

Starting in 2016, the toughest initial-eligibility requirements ever for student-athletes will be hitting a college campus near you, ESPN’s Mitch Sherman writes. Under the 2016 mandate, incoming freshmen will have to graduate from high school with 16 core classes passed, 10 of which must be completed by the start of their senior year. They must pass those core classes within four years and their minimum GPA must by 2.3.

The current mandate requires incoming freshmen to pass the 16 core classes, but 10 don’t have to be completed before their senior year and the 16 don’t have to be finished within four years. The minimum GPA is also 2.0 matched with an ACT or SAT score on a sliding scale.

A survey conducted by the NCAA indicated that approximately 40 percent of all freshmen football players that enrolled at Division I schools last fall would have failed to meet the 2016 requirements. Under the new rule, that 40 percent would receive an academic redshirt, which means those players would still receive their scholarships and could practice with their teams, but they wouldn’t be able to play in games during the season.

Academic redshirt players wouldn’t lose a year of eligibility.

Some might think that this new rule could be asking too much from high schools and it could put a limit on recruiting for college coaches, but that’s just silly. This rule is being put in place to make sure that student-athletes are better prepared academically for college. Asking kids to hit the books harder and study a little longer is far from a crime and chances are the higher standards will encourage schools to take the academic side of high school sports life more seriously.

This isn’t the first time we’ve heard of upping the academic requirements for incoming student-athletes. At last summer’s SEC media days, SEC commissioner Mike Slive discussed increasing the GPA requirements for incoming freshmen from 2.0 to 2.5 in 16 core classes and the restoration of partial qualifiers. Like the new mandate, athletes who meet the old criteria but fall short of the new standards would keep their scholarships and practice, but couldn’t play during their first year. Partial qualifiers lose a year of eligibility.

Would this require students and schools to work harder? Absolutely. Is it worth it? Absolutely, because it really isn’t too much to ask of anyone involved. It’s merely helping the educational process.

There are too many instances of players arriving on campus unprepared for the academic side of college athletics. Although football might be the first reason someone is at a university, we often forget that these individuals are students first, even though that part of “student-athlete” gets lost more and more these days.

This obviously won’t come without some struggle on the part of many aspiring high school athletes, but it’s certainly worth the fight.

By Edward Aschoff | ESPN.com

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Test Dates For 2012-2013 Announced

May 5, 2012 by Leave a Comment

The ACT has announced their testing dates for the 2012-2013 school year. They are as follows:

  • September 8, 2012
  • October 27, 2012
  • December 8, 2012
  • February 9, 2013
  • April 13, 2013
  • June 8, 2013

SAT dates have been tentatively announced, by the College Board, for the following dates:

  • October 6, 2012
  • November 3, 2012
  • December 1, 2012
  • January 26, 2013
  • March 9, 2013
  • May 4, 2013
  • June 1, 2013

Click here for a full list, including registration dates for the SAT and ACT, as well as PSAT testing dates.

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5 Reasons to Call Chyten

February 20, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Chyten offers the best teachers, the best strategies, and the best results

Chyten designs highly individualized, effective plans for each of our students, rich in unique strategies, and implements them with care and expertise. Our goal is to only tutor your student in the areas that need attention, maximizing cost effectiveness and maintaining student motivation. We provide services in a professional, positive and comfortable setting.

Chyten offers a state of the art classroom for small group classes

Chyten of Asheville offers classes for the ACT, SAT, PSAT, AP, and Effective Writing, along with advanced mathematics topics. Our classroom was designed by a National Board Certified teacher, incorporating eInstruction student response systems and digital presentations to appeal to visual learners. Our instructor receives constant feedback on student comprehension, enabling instant customization of the lesson to maximize effectiveness. No one else in the business does this!

Chyten offers academic pre-learning

Using APEX Learning curriculum, our tutors work with your child to familiarize and teach them material that they will be encountering in their upcoming school courses. This represents a proven advantage for students, enabling them to enter classrooms with background knowledge and a skill base to bypass their peers and boost their confidence in challenging areas. APEX can also be used for course recovery!

Subject tutoring builds academic success

Many students work with tutors weekly to maintain their high grades throughout the school year, working on course homework and school projects with an expert in the field. At Chyten, we typically focus on moving your child up by two levels, which in most cases means that a C student can be making A’s.

Chyten opens the doors to high achievement

We promote new possibilities by helping students raise test scores and grades. We build better futures by unlocking doors to success. Most importantly, we provide students with the skills and strategies they need to feel more confident inside and outside the classroom!

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