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Florida Bright Futures Scholarship – Apply Now

December 9th, 2009

Hi Seniors,

The Florida Bright Futures Scholarship program is currently accepting applications. As a reminder the Bright Futures program offers three levels of scholarship awards- the Florida Academic Scholars award, the Florida Medallion Scholars award and the Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars award. Basic requirements and dollar amounts for each of these awards can be found here.

To apply for a Bright Futures Scholarship, you must submit a completed (error free) Initial Student Florida Financial Aid Application during your last year in high school (after December 1 and prior to graduation). YOU MUST APPLY DURING YOUR LAST YEAR IN HIGH SCHOOL- BEFORE GRADUATION- or you will forfeit all future eligibility for a Bright Future Scholarship.

To apply on line, visit www.FloridaStudentFinancialAid.org , select “State Grants, Scholarships & Applications” and click “Apply Here.” Then you can click “Initial State Student Application” to go directly to the application.

The application gives the Florida Department of Education permission to evaluate your high school transcript and test scores for eligibility for state scholarships and grans, including a Bright Futures Scholarship. You may apply prior to meeting all requirements.

NOTE- YOU SHOULD APPLY for a Bright Futures Scholarship even if you are considering not going to college, are planning to go out of state, are taking a few years off, or are enlisting in the military. Eligible students have up to three years from high school graduation to begin using the scholarship.

To qualify for a Bright Futures Scholarship, you must earn the minimum required test score for the award for which you wish to qualify. It may make sense to re-take your SAT or ACT just to reach the minimum.

The college advisors at International College Counselors are available to help you. Please contact us with any questions you may have.

International College Counselors
Main office: 954.253.5719

International College Counselors provides expert college counseling on undergraduate and graduate college admissions, financial aid, tuition, essays, and college applications. Mandee Heller Adler, college admissions consultant and Founder of International College Counselors tailors her college counseling and college coaching services to address the goals, needs, and dreams of each student. Our college advising company works with domestic and international students. Let us help you make the best decisions in choosing, getting into, and paying for college.

Tags: bright futures scholarship, college advisor miami, college advisor NYC, college counselor miami, college counselor NYC, international college counselors, mandee heller adler
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Signs, Symptoms, and Dangers of Senioritis

December 7th, 2009

Symptoms: Laziness. Skipping classes. Failing to study hard for tests or to write coherent papers. Disinterest in school-related academics and activities.

Diagnosis: Senioritis

Prescription: Graduation

Avoid the epidemic. Don’t catch senioritis. Slacking off in your senior year may seem like something you feel you deserve, but chances are you’ll do yourself more harm than good.

One, you’ll miss out on a half-year worth of learning. This will leave you less prepared for college.

Two, college admissions officers really do pay attention to what you’ve accomplished in your senior year. They look at your grades and your activities and, in some cases, your more recent Facebook postings.

The temptation to blow off school and all the work involved is especially strong when students have already have been accepted into college.

But, did you notice if your college application package included a form called the mid-year grade report? Your counselor will fill it out and send it off to your college when the time comes and it will become part of your full admissions evaluation.

Colleges do have the right to block your admission and students do get booted. Read your college acceptance letters carefully. Many times colleges include clear warnings to students, informing them that admission is contingent on successful performance throughout senior year.

The number of students who get their acceptance offers withdrawn is small as the drop usually needs to be significant before colleges go that far. However, colleges can and do punish in other ways. A student may receive a harsh letter warning them to get it together. Or he or she may need to explain, in a letter or a phone call, what happened with their academic performance. A drop in performance can also result in consequences such as getting dropped from an honors program or having your admissions postponed. These situations are not as rare as you may think.

Generally, the more selective the college, the more weight is put on what you do in your last semester.

Don’t plan on doing anything really stupid either no matter where you plan to go to college. Colleges regularly rescind admissions offers from students who get arrested or suspended from school for unlawful or prohibited activities like drinking.

The International College Counselor recommendation is to take preventative care. Senioritis may not be curable but it is treatable: Stay active. Stay involved. Stay focused. Stay on your regular schedules. Take a college course to get yourself more prepared for college. The credit may even count at your school and that’s one less class you’ll need to take.

You have a whole summer to goof off if that’s what you want to do in between shopping for new towels

The college advisors at International College Counselors are available to help you. Please contact us with any questions you may have.

International College Counselors Main office: 954.253.5719

Tags: college advisor miami, college advisor NYC, college counselor miami, college counselor NYC, international college counselors, mandee heller adler, senioritis
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Community Service Projects that Make an Impact!

November 16th, 2009

One thing that should definitely become a part of the college-bound high school student’s experience: community service.

Students can find volunteer opportunities through clubs, school, religious institutions, family, friends, or on their own.

There are many reasons to do volunteer work.

1. It’s a requirement for certain scholarships. Engaging in community service projects may also help you earn high school credit and graduation recognition.
2. Colleges have come to expect it.
3. Volunteer work is great for college essays

However: Not all volunteer work is considered equal.

You can work 100-200-1300 hours a year. However, the quantity of volunteering hours is only one important factor to colleges. They also want to know WHY you volunteered, HOW you chose the assignment, and HOW you handled your responsibilities.

Hours are important for you to show a pattern of consistency. (On the application you must write hours per week/ weeks per year) And it is important to be consistent. It’s better to be really involved in one or two volunteer activities than just do a few hours here and there or spend your time on lots of little meaningless projects and quit numerous positions.

The ultimate goal is for you to become part of something important and show that you made an impact.

The person who will get the most attention from the colleges is not the one that claims, “I volunteered 400 hours in one year.” What will get the college admissions officer’s attention is, “I volunteered at a inner city school where I started a therapeutic art program for low-income children, raised funds to support it, recruited and trained more volunteers, got the art supplies donated, and gained the project community recognition in the local paper.”

In other words, what is most critical is that you found a passion, stuck with it, and made an impact. This requires consistency and commitment.

Best of the best is if you earn a position of leadership with a title. Perhaps you can appear in your local or school paper- or, even a national publication (it has been done).

You get bonus points from colleges for choosing a volunteer opportunity that is consistent with your educational or career goals. If you’re interested in going to medical school, volunteer in a hospital or with children with disabilities. If you want to be a lawyer, try working on an environmental campaign. If you have good PR skills, consider organizing fundraisers for good causes. If you like to cook, work at a soup kitchen. Find something you enjoy doing and you’ll have no trouble earning the hours.

Of course, the worst, worst is doing no volunteer work at all.

Tags: college advisor miami, college advisor NYC, college counselor miami, college counselor NYC, community service, international college counselors, mandee heller adler
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Know Your SAT & ACT Reporting Rights

November 4th, 2009

As many seniors will currently attest, some schools are reporting, on the high school transcript, all college entrance scores provided by the testing agency, namely the College Board (SAT) and the American College Testing (ACT) programs.

Prior to sending their transcripts, students should look into whether their school is doing this. At most schools, students do have the opportunity to decide if their scores will be recorded on the transcript. This will be done on an all or none basis.

If students do nothing, and your school has the capability to include scores, all scores (SAT, SAT Subject and ACT tests) will be reported. If a student’s choice is to not have their scores recorded on their transcript, they can take advantage of the College Board Score Choice option, or even choose to send no scores.

Regardless of which option the student chooses, he/she must understand that all schools and some scholarships require official score reports from the testing agency. In this case, the official score must be sent from the College Board or the American College Testing program.

The college advisors at International College Counselors are available to help you. Please contact us with any questions you may have.

International College Counselors Main office: 954.253.5719

Mandee Heller Adler mandee@internationalcollegecounselors.com
Barry Liebowitz barry@internationalcollegecounselors.com
Kate McKenna kate@internationalcollegecounselors.com

Tags: Add new tag, college advisor miami, college advisor NYC, college counselor NYC, international college advisor, international college counselors, mandee heller adler
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Before You Go to College get a Job

October 29th, 2009

Even the College Board says that a “cutting-edge internship or a job that requires responsibility and leadership” can look as good on your college applications as attending Harvard summer school. Our expert college advisors say the same thing at International College Counselors.

The trend in the past couple of years for competitive college-bound students was doing volunteer work, the more exotic the better. But then, taking two weeks out of the summer to help malaria victims in East Africa started to become the norm on college applications.

Admission officers looked for something new to set students apart from one another. The result: many college applications now ask for your “paid employment” experiences.

Interesting as well, admissions officers at several elite schools say they are giving more credit to students who have real-world jobs and less to students who have taken on “meaningful” activities that say resume padding louder than passion. (For community service to really count you need to show a solid pattern of volunteer activity)

Admissions officers recognize that jobs can benefit students in college. In a job, young people can: increase their real-world problem solving skills, build a sense of responsibility, learn to take orders, experience working with others from diverse backgrounds, and gain valuable experience in handling boredom.

Having a job can help students in other ways as well. Besides looking good on your application, we all know that the best way to know if you really want a job is by trying it. Having a job can help you narrow down your interests and help you discover what you like to do and what you don’t.

Take a job as a salesperson, and maybe you’ll find that you hate nothing more than having to deal with people. Work in an office and perhaps you’ll discover nothing but drudgery. Working with an architect or at a television station might strip away the glamorous façade of the career and show you what the day to day can really be like.

Now is the time to start thinking about the future, not just college, but beyond. As importantly as where do you want to go, you need to answer the questions of what do you want to do? If you fall in love with agricultural science or primatology (look that SAT word up) going to Harvard is not going to help you.
Check in with us for opportunities – or tips and suggestions on how you can create your own opportunities.

The college advisors at International College Counselors are available to help you. Please contact us with any questions you may have.

International College Counselors

Main office: 954.253.5719

Mandee Heller Adler

mandee@internationalcollegecounselors.com

Barry Liebowitz

barry@internationalcollegecounselors.com

Kate McKenna

kate@internationalcollegecounselors.com

Tags: broward college advisor, college advisor miami, college counselor miami, international college counselors, mandee heller adler
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Florida Bright Futures Scholarship – Important Updates

October 21st, 2009

Parents with students who are hoping to apply for the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship need to be aware of the changes made to the program, says Miami college counselor Mandee Heller Adler of International College Counselors.

You can see some of the 2009 Legislative updates as well as information on further changes at
http://www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/ssfad/PDF/2009_BF_SummerNotice.pdf

We have also listed a few of them below to give you an idea of what you can expect.

For parents new to this, the Florida Bright Futures Scholarship Program was created by the Florida Legislature in 1997 to reward students for their academic achievements during high school by providing funding to attend postsecondary education in Florida.

The following are some of the more major changes, cut and pasted from the site:
2009-10 Awards

Bright Futures recipients will receive a fixed cost per credit hour award based on:
·award level [Florida Academic Scholar (FAS), Academic Top Scholars (ATS), Florida Medallion Scholar (FMS), or Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholar (GSV)]
·institution type (4-year, 2-year, or Vocational/Technical), and
·credit type (semester, quarter, or clock hour).

See the award amounts on the Bright Futures Web site at
www.FloridaStudentFinancialAid.org/ssfad/bf/newsrenew.htm

Florida Academic Scholars (FAS) Expense Allowance is No Longer Available
·The FAS college-related expense allowance is no longer available. The Florida Legislature amended Section 1009.534(2), Florida Statutes, by removing this provision of the FAS award.

Repayment for Courses funded by Bright Futures that are Dropped/Withdrawn
·Students will be required to repay the cost of any course dropped or withdrawn unless an exception is recommended by the financial aid office at their home postsecondary institution. An exception will be based on a verifiable illness or emergency beyond the student’s control.

·Repayment for the cost of dropped or withdrawn courses is required to renew a Bright Futures award for a subsequent academic year.

Florida Gold Seal Vocational Scholars (GSV) Remain GSV
·The Legislature removed the provision which allowed GSV recipients to renew as Florida Medallion Scholars.
·GSV students may receive funding for up to 90 semester hours.

Renewal Criteria
·As of the 2009-10 academic year, Bright Futures recipients are required to meet new minimum credit hour requirements to renew their award each year. The Florida Legislature now requires full-time students to earn at least 24 semester hours, or the equivalent in quarter or clock hours, to renew their award (prorated for part-time students) at the end of the spring term.

The Bright Futures Initial Eligibility brochure for 2010 high school graduates can be printed as a 2-page booklet. For your convenience, we have placed booklet printing instructions on our Web site. The brochure is accessible at: www.floridastudentfinancialaid.org/SSFAD/bf/ under Brochures/Posters

The instructions to print Bright Futures and all State Programs brochures booklets are available at
https://www.floridastudentfinancialaidsg.org/pdf/Bookletprinting.pdf
You must have Adobe Reader to print as a booklet.

Apply for the International College Counselors scholarship at www.internationalcollegecounselors.com We’re awarding 4 scholarships worth $250 each.

The college advisors at International College Counselors are available to help you. Please contact us with any questions you may have.

International College Counselors provides expert college counseling on undergraduate and graduate college admissions, financial aid, tuition, essays, and college applications. Mandee Heller Adler, college admissions consultant and Founder of International College Counselors tailors her college counseling and college coaching services to address the goals, needs, and dreamsof each student. Our college advising company works with domestic and international students. Let us help you make the best decisions in choosing, getting into, and paying for college.

International College Counselors
Main Office
Mandee Heller Adler (954) 253-5719
Barry N. Liebowitz (954) 658-4570
mandee@internationalcollegecounselors.com
barry@internationalcollegecounselors.com

International College Counselors
European Office
Kate McKenna
Dialing from the USA call: 011 + 359 + 88-810-9427
Dialing from Europe call: 00 + 359 +88-810-9427
kate@internationalcollegecounselors.com

Tags: bright futures scholarship, college advisor miami, college advisor NYC, college counselor miami, college counselor NYC, international college counselors, mandee heller adler
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Homework for Mom and Dad

September 30th, 2009

You’re not free and clear yet, mom and dad! College crunch time also includes you. Don’t forget to fill out any appropriate financial aid forms before the financial aid deadlines.

Don’t miss out on valuable financial aid money, and please don’t rely on your children to fill in the forms. Very few will understand all the financial jargon and will need your guidance.

Making mistakes on your financial aid forms like FAFSA could delay your application and quite possibly make you lose out on some financial aid. And, you know, If you receive federal financial aid because your FAFSA contained incorrect information, you have to repay it.

The best way to complete financial aid forms is early. Do them online if possible, many websites (like FAFSA) are designed to catch errors.

Our expert college counselors say, you can’t go wrong if you:

1. Very carefully read the directions and the questions.
2. Clearly, accurately, and completely fill in every field.
3. Meet the deadlines.

Here is a link to some information on common mistakes parents make when filling out financial aid forms from the National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators.
http://www.nasfaa.org/publications/2009/rntips021209.html

The biggest mistake, however, is not applying!

Although our expert college counselors at International College Counselors do not provide financial aid support, we can help you find some help from a reputable financial planner.
Remember, the longer you wait, the harder it will be.

International College Counselors

Mandee Heller Adler
mandee@internationalcollegecounselors.com

Barry Liebowitz
barry@internationalcollegecounselors.com

If you have any other college admissions questions for a college counselor, we’d be happy to answer them.

Tags: Add new tag, college advisor miami, college advisor NYC, college counselor miami, college counselor NYC, expert college counselor, FAFSA, financial aid help, international college counselors, mandee heller adler
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2010 INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE COUNSELORS SCHOLARSHIP

September 14th, 2009

From the Miami college counselors at International College Counselors:

2010 INTERNATIONAL COLLEGE COUNSELORS SCHOLARSHIP

All students in 9th through 11th grade are eligible to participate. An essay is required that answers the question:

What makes a good college education?

There will be five scholarship award winners. Three winners will be chosen from within Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County. One winner will be selected from the U.S. – outside Dade, Broward and Palm Beach County. An additional winner will be selected from outside the U.S. who wishes to attend college in the U.S. All five winners will receive a $250 scholarship provided by International College Counselors.

Learn more about this scholarship at http://www.InternationalCollegeCounselors.com.

The goal of the International College Counselors High School Scholarship is to increase awareness of the value of higher education among high school students.

Essay Length: 500 Words or less

Essay Deadline: February 27, 2010

All submissions must be accompanied by a completed Official Student Registration Form and official rules are available at www.internationalcollegecounelors.com

ABOUT US:
International College Counselors provides expert college counseling on undergraduate and graduate college admissions, financial aid, tuition, essays, and college applications. Mandee Heller Adler, college admissions consultant and Founder of International College Counselors tailors her college counseling and college coaching services to address the goals, needs, and dreams of each student. Our college advising company works with domestic and international students. Let us help you make the best decisions in choosing, getting into, and paying for college.

International College Counselors
Main Office
Mandee Heller Adler (954) 253-5719
Barry N. Liebowitz (954) 658-4570
mandee@internationalcollegecounselors.com
barry@internationalcollegecounselors.com

Tags: college advisor miami, college advisor NYC, college counselor miami, college counselor NYC, freshman scholarship, international college counselors, junior scholarship, mandee heller adler, scholarship, sophomore scholarship
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College Fairs

September 5th, 2009

National college fairs span the US from coast to coast and visit every major metropolitan area across the country. You won’t find any Ferris wheels or cotton candy at these events but you will find them to be outstanding opportunities to learn about a wide variety of schools. At a college fair you can attend helpful seminars, meet school representatives, and collect information on:
• Admission requirements

• Financial aid

• College majors and courses

• Admission requirements

• Life on campus

Fairs can also help you cross some colleges off your list and discover new ones to add. Some college fairs are even attended by actual admissions officers – who you can talk to! You can also pick up a lot of pens, bags and other giveaway items.

Our International College Counselors college counselors have cut and pasted the Spring 2010 National College Fairs Schedule below. Events are held from Honolulu to NYC to Miami. College counselors or your high school counselors are also great resources for other fairs that may be coming to your area too.

These below are all free and open to the public. Note that this is an incomplete list of college fairs, there are many more. International students and those who are unable to travel to the college fair locations should consider attending virtual college fairs. One of the most popular hosts for this is College Week Live.

Spring 2010 National College Fairs Schedule

City

Date & Time

Location

Atlanta

Sunday, January 24 12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Georgia International Convention Center

College Park, GA

Pittsburgh

Thursday, February 4  9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. 6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. Friday, February 5 9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

David L. Lawrence Convention Center

Pittsburgh, PA

Miami

Sunday, February 21

12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Doubletree Miami Mart/Airport Hotel & Exhibition Center  Miami, FL

Louisville

Saturday, February 27

1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Kentucky Int’l Convention Center Louisville, KY

Tampa

Sunday, February 28

12:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.

Tampa Convention Center

Tampa, FL

Springfield

Sunday, March 7

12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Monday, March 8

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Eastern States Exposition (The Big E)

West Springfield, MA

Rochester

Wednesday, March 17

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Rochester Riverside Convention Center Rochester, NY

Charlotte

Sunday, March 21

12:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

The Park (formerly the Charlotte Merchandise Mart)

Charlotte, NC

Syracuse

Sunday, March 21

1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Monday, March 22

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Onondaga County Convention Center, at Oncenter

Syracuse, NY

Buffalo

Tuesday, March 23

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Wednesday, March 24

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Buffalo Niagara Convention Center Buffalo, NY

Greater Memphis

Wednesday, March 24

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Agricenter International

Memphis, TN

Hartford

Thursday, April 8

9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Friday, April 9

9:00 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

Connecticut Expo Center

Hartford, CT

Houston

Sunday, April 11

1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

George R. Brown Convention Center

Houston, TX

Austin

Tuesday, April 13

9:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Austin Convention Center

Austin, TX

West Michigan

Tuesday, April 13

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

DeVos Place

Grand Rapids, MI

Montgomery County

Wednesday, April 14

9:45 a.m. – 12:45 a.m.

6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 15

9:45 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.

Montgomery County Agricultural Center

Gaithersburg, MD

Metro Detroit

Thursday, April 15

8:30 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Burton Manor Banquet and Conference Center

Livonia, MI

Prince George’s County

Friday, April 16 9:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Saturday, April 17 9:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Prince George’s Sports and Learning Complex

Landover, MD

San Francisco

Saturday, April 17

1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Concourse Exhibition Center San Francisco, CA

San Diego

Tuesday, April 20

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

San Diego Convention Center San Diego, CA

Honolulu

Thursday, April 22

8:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m.

5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

Hawaii Convention Center

Honolulu, HI

Inland Empire

Thursday, April 22

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.

National Orange Show Events Center

San Bernardino, CA

Providence

Saturday, April 24

1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Rhode Island Convention Center

Providence, RI

Nashville

Sunday, April 25

1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Nashville Convention Center

Nashville, TN

New York

Sunday, April 25

11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Jacob K. Javits Convention Center

New York, NY

Orange County

Sunday, April 25

1:30 p.m. – 4:30 p.m.

Anaheim Convention Center

Anaheim, CA

Boston

Tuesday, April 27

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 28

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

World Trade Center

Boston, MA

Greater Los Angeles

Tuesday, April 27

6:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

Wednesday, April 28

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Pasadena Convention Center

Pasadena, CA

New Jersey

Wednesday, April 28

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

6:00 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Thursday, April 29

9:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

New Jersey Convention and Exposition Center

Edison, NJ

Ventura/Tri-County

Thursday, April 29

5:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.

Seaside Park

Ventura, CA

Cleveland

Sunday, May 2

1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.

Wolstein Center

Cleveland, OH

From NYC to Miami, college counselors at International College Counselors are available to help you. Please contact one of our college counselors with any questions you may have.

International College Counselors also wants to announce the addition of the newest member of our team, Kate McKenna. Kate serves as Director of International Operations for International College Counselors, LLC and is based in Europe.

International College Counselors

Main office: 954.253.5719

Mandee Heller Adler

mandee@internationalcollegecounselors.com

Barry Liebowitz

barry@internationalcollegecounselors.com

Kate McKenna

Kate@internationalcollegecounselors.com

Tags: college advisor miami, college advisor NYC, college counselor broward, college counselor miami, college fair, international college counselors, mandee heller adler
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Starting the School Year Right

August 25th, 2009

Advice from an expert college advisor

For anxious new freshman or confident seniors, heading back to school signals a time of transition: new classes, new teachers, new opportunities. For all grades too, this is a time to prepare for college by making the most of this year.

To help start the school year right, our college counselors at International College Counselors made a general September checklist.

• Consider your courses and teachers and decide if you’re happy with your choices. Ask yourself if you’re sufficiently challenged or overwhelmed, and if you should switch some classes. It’s important to take challenging courses, but it’s equally important that you do well in them.

• Build your vocabulary. READ. READ. READ. The PSAT and SAT both count on your having a good vocabulary. It is much easier to build this slowly and naturally than to try and cram it in before a test. If you see or hear words you don’t know or can’t grasp the meaning from the context, jot them down and then, use a dictionary or www.dictionary.com to learn the word’s definition.

• Take a good look at what your high school offers like clubs, activities, sports, and classes. The beginning of the school year is the best time to make some decisions about what interests you. Did you like what you were doing last year or do you want to make a change? For freshmen, this is a chance to try something completely new. Once you decide what you want to try, find out how you can get involved in those specific organizations. And remember, to try something new. You may never know if you’ll like something until you try it and you can always change.

• Start looking into scholarships and consider which ones you will apply for. There are many freshmen are eligible for as well as sophomores, juniors and seniors. Write down the deadlines and stay on top of them.
Stay tuned, in our next blog we’re going to reveal the International College Counselors scholarship. We’re awarding 4 scholarships worth $250 each.

The college advisors at International College Counselors are available to help you. Please contact us with any questions you may have.

International College Counselors
Main office: 954.253.5719

Mandee Heller Adler
mandee@internationalcollegecounselors.com

Barry Liebowitz
barry@internationalcollegecounselors.com

Tags: college advisor miami, college advisor NYC, college counselor miami, college counselor NYC, expert college advisor, expert college counselor, international college counselors, mandee heller adler
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