M.A. Counseling Newsletter
April 2020
In This Issue
- AP Testing Update
- "Meet" with a Counselor
- Social Media Accounts
- Remind Texts
- College Admission Standards Update
- Waitlisted or deferred? Next steps...
- Johns Hopkins Engineering Innovation 2020
"Truth and Trends in College Admission Testing" Webinar
Wellness Corner
AP Testing Update
"Meet" with a Counselor
Students are encouraged to sign up to meet with their counselor through their respective Google Calendars. Once they do, they will receive a Google Calendar confirmation sent to their school email with a link to a video meeting via Google Hangout/Meet.
Here are the Google Calendar links by counselor:
Social Media Accounts
- Instagram: ma_counselors
- Twitter: ma_counselors
- Facebook: MA_Counselors
Remind Texts
Mrs. Overton (Last Names A-K):
- 9th Grade: text @23overton to the number 81010
- 10th Grade: text @22overton to the number 81010
- 11th Grade: text @21overton to the number 81010
- 12th Grade: text @20overton to the number 81010
Mrs. Paton (Last Names: L-Z):
9th Grade: text @23paton to the number 81010
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10th Grade: text @22paton to the number 81010
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11th Grade: text @21paton to the number 81010
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12th Grade: text @20paton to the number 81010
College Admissions Standards Update
As a service to students and families, NACAC is providing an online tool as a central resource for information about changes in college admission events, deposit dates, and more as a result of the coronavirus outbreak.
The chart, found HERE, includes updates from colleges and universities worldwide. Select the “+” symbol next to any category to narrow the results. To view alphabetically by school, click on "Institutions" and then the school's name. This tool will update in real-time as we receive input from postsecondary institutions. To export a copy of these results, click on the three ellipses in the upper right corner of this downloadable version.
We hope this resource will make it easier for students and others to navigate the college admission process during this unprecedented time.
Waitlisted or deferred? Next steps...
So you’ve been waitlisted or deferred from one of your top college choices. Darn. But wait: all is not lost! You may have another chance to make your case.
In his latest blog post, the College Essay Guy covers the importance of a great letter of continued interest:
- What is a letter of continued interest (LOCI)?
- Should I send one to every school?
- What should I include in an LOCI?
- A great example letter
- Will a letter of continued interest really help?
- Where and to whom should I send my letter?
To learn more, click HERE.
Johns Hopkins Engineering Innovation 2020
Given the current COVID-19 situation, Johns Hopkins University has made the difficult decision to cancel all in-person classes through June 30th. Because of this, Engineering Innovation will not be offered this summer. This action was not taken lightly but was executed to ensure the health and safety of our students, staff, and their families.
Students who will have completed a year of both biology and a year of physics, prior to the start of the program, are encouraged to enroll in our fully online course for high school students, Biomedical Engineering Innovation (BMEI). Students who earn an A or B in the course will receive three (3) college credits from Johns Hopkins University.
BMEI introduces biomedical engineering to high school students by (1) modeling biological systems and designing experiments to test those models and (2) introducing engineering principles to solve design problems that are biological, physiological, and/or medical.
Academic pre-requisites are:
- Have As and Bs in their high school math and science classes
- Successfully completed Algebra II
- Successfully completed a course where the trigonometric functions are taught. To meet the trigonometry prerequisite students, must be able to use the trigonometric functions and be comfortable applying the laws of sines and cosines to non-right angle triangles.
- Successfully completed Physics and Biology
BMEI will be offered during the following sessions:
- Summer 2020 10-week (May 26 to July 31, 2020)
- Summer 2020 Term 1 (June 1 to July 3, 2020)
- Summer 2020 Term 2 (June 22 to July 31, 2020)
- Fall 2020 (August 31 to December 7, 2020)
You will find more information about this course on their website: https://ei.jhu.edu/biomed/.
"Truth and Trends in College Admission Testing" Webinar
DATE & TIME
Wednesday, April 15th, 7pm
LOCATION
Online
DESCRIPTION
This online presentation, featuring speaker Adam Ingersoll, is offered by the Minnesota Association of Independent Schools and attendance is highly recommended by your counselors. The information that will be shared is educational and the event is not a solicitation for the presenter’s services. Please join other families for a thoughtful and pragmatic discussion of college admission testing that will be useful to students and parents alike.
Hear the latest key insights on the following and more:
- SAT or ACT: Making your best choice
- Understanding PSAT scores and what they project
- Test scores’ role and weight in college admissions
- Why colleges’ testing policies vary so widely
- Debunking the most pervasive myths about testing
- The relevance of Subject Tests at competitive colleges
- Sane and successful calendaring of testing and test prep
To register, please click HERE.
Wellness Corner
M.A. Counseling Team and Services
WHO WE ARE:
Mike DiNardo, Vice Principal/Director of Counseling
Kristin Overton, College & Guidance Counselor (Last Names A-K) overtonkristin@minnehahaacademy.net
Christine Paton, College & Guidance Counselor (Last Names L-Z) patonchristine@minnehahaacademy.net
Wanda Monroe, Non-Public Counselor
monroewanda@minnehahaacademy.net
Diane Rahm, Counseling Office Assistant, Registrar
rahmdiane@minnehahaacademy.net
WHAT WE DO:
Academic Advising
- Guiding toward an appropriately challenging course load
- Additional support to teachers, parents, and students
Social-Emotional Counseling
- Safe, welcoming and confidential
- Addressing issues around anxiety, depression, and general well-being
- Peer and family relationship challenges
College and Career Readiness
- College fit
- Career/personality inventories
- Counselors visiting various colleges and universities throughout the U.S. to provide firsthand information