WACAC’s Government Relations Committee has long lobbied for increased access to high quality college counseling resources for all students in California and Nevada. This was, once again, a featured talking point at WACAC’s 11th Annual Legislative Conference in...
When I first began working as a college counselor, comprehending the universe of schools available to students was mind numbing. There are 2,600 four-year colleges in the United States--a mish mash of public, private, religious, and secular schools--each with its own...
Colleges seek students who are a great match. With online applications, colleges have more and more applicants and, thus, need ways to differentiate amongst them. As a result, an increasing number of schools are using demonstrated interest as a factor in the...
February/March is "prime time" for helping high school juniors pick their senior year schedules. Colleges are looking for academically committed and passionate students. The senior year schedule should take the shape of a peak, not a plateau or downhill slope, when...
Over the next few Thursdays, Rebecca Joseph will provide weekly college readiness tips for those counselors working with high school juniors. There is so much high school counselors can do now to help juniors, so that they finish their high school experience right and...
I don’t know about you, but financial aid is one subject that always makes me nervous. I have attended workshops, read books and viewed tutorials, but in no way do I consider myself an expert when it comes to people’s money. I do, however, feel a responsibility to...
I’ve always been a bit of a nerd about the law. It started my sophomore year of high school, when my honors history teacher witnessed me arguing with a fellow classmate. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in a meeting for the high school mock trial team. I loved it...
Dear WACAC Members, This marks our 60th post since the WACAC Communications Committee first launched WACAConversations in July. I am amazed by all that the committee has accomplished in such a short amount of time. In addition to launching this blog, we got Facebook...
It was raining in Los Angeles on the morning of December 7th. This phenomenon alone was enough to make the day upsetting. When you add in the fact that I was up at 6:30am to take a 5 hour standardized test, you know things have gone haywire. At first, my decision to...
Every year, before we begin file review, our office goes through a few days of training. There is always a portion dedicated to standardized tests--to go over what they measure and how we should and should not use them in the application review process. Our Dean...