College Counseling Archives

The Gap Year: An Alternative Path to College

March 17, 2022 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

Every year, more and more American students take a gap year as a transition into college. This concept is widely accepted in countries like England and Australia, and now Americans are embracing it too. College advisors, teachers, and even universities, notably Harvard and Princeton, are discussing the benefits of this option and encouraging students not to go to college right away!

The purpose of this blog post is to:
1) give you a better understanding of what a gap year is, its benefits and how it fits with college
2) the options available
3) how to make it meaningful. By the end, you should have a good sense of whether or not it may be the right path for you (or your child).

Let’s start by exploring the basics:

What Is A Gap Year?

It is any structured period of time that is intentionally taken away from formal education and/or employment to engage in a meaningful activity. Typically, this is done before proceeding to the next phase of life. So, the natural break between high school and college is a perfect time for a gap year!

The name is not what it seems as it is neither a GAP nor a YEAR. “Gap” implies emptiness and this is not a time to sit home on your couch playing video games. Rather, it is a fulfilling time to do something meaningful, structured, and constructive that is aligned with your strengths, values, and passions. This includes volunteering, interning, being immersed in a culture, developing a skill, taking non-academic courses, and more! The typical duration is nine months, the same as two semesters of college, though it can be as short as two months or as long as two years.

Who Takes A Gap Year?

It can benefit anyone but it might not be the right choice for everyone! This means that there is no right or wrong person to take a gap year. Academically high achieving students take gap years, and so do struggling students. Most students who take a gap year feel “burnt out” academically, are not sure what they want to study in college, need some time to mature, are not excited about their college options, and/or were granted spring admissions.

When it comes down to it, the ideal gap year student has an open mind, a willingness to step out of their comfort zone, and a desire to have a transformational experience.

Is A Gap Year Right For You (Or Your Child)?

Here are some questions to consider:

Do you feel burned out?
Are you feeling unprepared for college?
Do you want practical, real-world experience?
Are you unsure of what you’d like to study in college?
Do you want to pursue your passions and develop your strengths?

If you answered YES to one or more of the above, a gap year may be right for you.

By Deborah Friedman, Gap Year Coach

Building A Strong College Application

February 26, 2022 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

When it comes to building a strong college application, shifting policies have upended the college admissions process causing confusion and anxiety for many of our students and families. These changes also resulted in a swell of applications, making the competition for spots even more significant. During the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school years, many elite universities made SAT and ACT scores optional, and many but not all continued this policy for the 2022-2023 school year—while the University of California system remains intent on phasing them out entirely. Moreover, in January 2021, the College Board announced that it will no longer offer SAT subject tests or the optional SAT Essay. However, it’s unclear what testing policies will be in place for the 2023-2024 school year.

For high achieving students who attend a rigorous high school and plan to submit stellar test scores to differentiate themselves from the pack, they should stay the course and exceed admissions requirements. Submitting strong test scores remains strategically advantageous. But having the option allows students to think more creatively about their application package, and there are other ways to build or enhance a strong college application with or without standardized test scores.

First, lean into your AP exams. In its announcement of the policy change, the College Board indicated that the increasing popularity of AP exams has made their own subject tests extraneous. While APs have always been used as an indication of students’ ability to excel in demanding, college-level classes, going forward, high scores will be even more important in helping applicants show their strengths.

Aside from studying for your APs, use the time you would have spent preparing for other standardized tests to work on a self-directed project. Nobody enjoys spending their Saturday afternoons on timed practice tests or staying up late to drill flashcards. If you have an idea of what you’d rather be working on—whether it’s developing an app or directing a short film—put your energy into that. Being able to design and execute a complex project is a much better indication of whether a student will succeed in the open environment of a university than their ability to take a standardized test. More importantly, your choice of project tells the admissions committee who you are, which makes for a strong college application.

Independent projects will give admissions officers greater insight into your character, especially if you have an artistic inclination. Spend your senior year honing your talent by doing enrichment activities. Many of the extracurriculars students would normally participate in have not been possible, but you can always play the piano or sketch the view outside your window. Applications with fine art portfolios, concert footage, and short films—even to schools where the arts are not the focus—round out your application and distinguish you from other students. Creative projects also more directly reflect your personality, and they make for great material when it comes time to write your Common App essay and supplements.

If you’re not the artistic type, consider opportunities in science, math, engineering, or business. These can be more structured, like participating in online summer courses offered through universities, like Columbia’s SHAPE program, or more open-ended, like creating and managing an investment portfolio. Even without access to a laboratory, young scientists can collaborate with other students from not just their school, but around the world to develop and implement advanced research projects. Johns Hopkins has put together a very thorough list of high school science competitions that can help build a strong college application (especially if you win!)

Lastly, if you want to build a strong college application, consider volunteering. Many high school students are required to complete some kind of volunteer work in order to graduate. However, the reality is that these activities are often rushed, and admissions officers can spot the difference between box-ticking and genuine commitment. The point of volunteer work is to serve a community you’re a member of or help a cause you care about. Long-term work at local animal shelters and food pantries, or with national groups, like Habitat for Humanity, tell admissions officers not just how you like to spend your free time—but how you aim to make the world a better place. During the era of COVID, there are even more opportunities for young people to help and to gain experience in the medical professions.

For students who have always been excellent test-takers, all of these announcements may come as a shock, but for others, the new admissions policies will be a welcome change. Your grades and AP exam scores will take on greater importance, but you will also have more freedom in how you want to individualize and build a strong college application. Instead of focusing on extra tests, use this time to think about what you really want to do—in college and beyond—and then try doing it!

Written by Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed. and Board Certified Educational Planner, and Faya Hoffman, M.S. and Board Certified Educational Planner.

Admissions Consulting and School Planning

October 11, 2021 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

At My Learning Springboard, we believe that admissions consulting and school planning is a complex and highly reflective practice designed to help children and families find schools and learning communities in which they’ll thrive as well as optimize their experience within any school or program. To this end, we help families navigate myriad school-related decisions each school year.

Varying Reasons For School Planning

When it comes to making school transitions, families pursue our support with admissions consulting for many different reasons — voluntary and involuntary. Common reasons include:

Their child is ready to start preschool or kindergarten.
Their child is at the edge of a birthday cutoff that creates some decision-making.
Their child attends a school that ends after 5th, 8th, or 9th grade.
Their child has simply outgrown a school setting and prefers to pursue other options.
Their child needs a school placement due to the family’s relocation or the family’s interest in pursuing a US boarding school or college.
Their child’s school has initiated a counseling out process.
Their child needs a specialized school program to address learning challenges.
Their child needs a therapeutic school program to address emotional challenges and, possibly, learning challenges, too.
Their child is ready for college planning, or alternative programming, such as a gap year or post-graduate high school experience.
Their young adult needs supportive programming, such as a therapeutic wilderness program or a therapeutic college program.

Our ultimate goal with admissions consulting and school planning is to help identify and facilitate excellent and appropriate opportunities for each child or young adult by closely partnering with and advocating for our families. Together we put on our “future glasses” and imagine the feelings, accomplishments, and community that will be experienced at each of the schools or programs we explore.

Deep Knowledge of Schools and Programs

The best educational consultants and school planners have deep knowledge of schools and programs, which extends far beyond the facilities, statistics, and exmissions detail. It means having a deep understanding of the curriculum and programmatic choices; being informed about the level of academic rigor relative to other schools and programs; knowing the communication and planning approaches; being familiar with the available support and advisory services; and appreciating the unique community and vibe of each school. This deep knowledge is achieved by repeatedly visiting and observing classes at a wide range of schools and colleges, developing relationships with faculty and school leadership, and regularly reviewing class work, teacher feedback, and school documentation across grade levels, school divisions, and over time. Successful admissions consulting also requires a flexible yet streamlined process, managed by educational experts with outstanding project management skills, integrity and efficacy. For all of these reasons, we’ve found that we are best able to serve families with our team approach, which includes two Board Certified Educational Planners and Learning Specialists as well as a retired School Principal and Reading Specialist.

Open and Honest Communication

A huge part of our successful team effort is having open and honest communication with our families. In order to select a school environment in which a student will ultimately thrive, we need to talk openly and honestly with parents and students about their desires and needs. For example, if specialized instruction or accommodations are needed, we need to be able to discuss this up front, and consequently, we advise openly sharing this information with schools at the appropriate time. Schools want to be successful, which means accepting the students they know they can serve well. We must be able to talk honestly about the academic rigor and expectations of each school as well as the available supports. Though a student may have the transcript, test scores, and application package to “get in,” that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s the best long-term fit for that student. Through ongoing discussion and debriefing after school tours and interviews, we arrive at an informed, prioritized list of schools or programs that reflect both the student’s and parents’ feedback as well as other key stakeholders who may be involved, such as a psychologist.

Strategic Planning For A Future School Move

When planning for a transition of any kind, it’s preferable to start early. Ideally planning should start well in advance, so that a 4th grade family is planning for a 6th grade transition; a 7th grade family is planning for a 9th grade transition; and a 10th grade family is planning for the transition to college. We typically start Kindergarten Readiness the spring before the application season. Whether the student is applying to kindergarten or college, we begin with a family meeting to discuss hopes, expectations, questions, and timing. This approach allows for a slow and steady preparation process, which is the best way to create the most options. It’s easy to get caught up in the minutiae, frustration, or anxiety surrounding admissions. At My Learning Springboard, we choose to reframe the “task” as an opportunity, one that has the potential to provide invaluable growth for the student, as well as for the family as a whole.

Please contact us to discuss admissions consulting and school planning for your family in more detail. We provide hourly or comprehensive consultation for families applying to preschool through high school as well as college and graduate school counseling, gap year planning, and supportive pathways for young adults. Our expertise spans day schools and boarding schools, including mainstream, specialized, and therapeutic school settings. We look forward to partnering with you and your family as you navigate an upcoming school transition or seek to optimize your child’s experience within a school or program.

By Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed.
Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist
My Learning Springboard, Inc.

Why Consider Boarding Schools?

October 5, 2021 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

Boarding schools are an incredible option that not enough families are familiar with. Having grown up in the midwest, neither Faya nor I grew up in a boarding school culture. If referencing boarding programs, more often than not we would hear something like, “Oh, he was sent away to boarding,” implying that the student was a behavior problem. But moving to New York City greatly changed our perspective, and we’ve spent the last 10+ years immersing ourselves in boarding school programs across the United States as well as internationally. We’ve visited dozens of boarding schools to learn more, first hand, from students, faculty, school leadership, parents, and other educational professionals. Our school visits have ranged from the most competitive schools in the country to the premier specialized schools for students with learning disabilities to phenomenally successful therapeutic boarding schools and residential treatment centers providing a continuum of support. Now that I know what I know, I’m positive I would have benefitted from a boarding program! So what advantages do boarding schools offer?

Whether mainstream or specialized, boarding schools (and junior boarding schools) offer a completely integrated academic, athletic, artistic, and social experience designed specifically to meet the needs of adolescents and teenagers. Parents in New York City know all too well the challenges of schlepping students to/from school, to/from Roosevelt Island for athletics, to/from the dance studio or music classes, and to/from various appointments on one end of the city or the other. Our ambitious students regularly experience the serious time drain of managing all the logistics and transitions. At boarding schools, this time loss is better avoided. Everything happens on campus, or transportation is organized to compete against a nearby school. Many boarding schools have half-day Wednesdays to facilitate afternoon sports, which is offset by Saturday morning classes, followed by sports practices and competitions. Clubs and other extracurriculars are more easily managed after the school day and weekends. Study hall, advisory, and learning support with faculty is similarly managed within set hours. Homework conflict doesn’t really exist because all students have scheduled study hours. Technology use and access to wifi is also carefully managed so that all students in a particular grade level have the same parameters imposed, thus mitigating more serious issues with screen time, gaming, and video distractions. In this way, all students benefit from a structured, systematic approach that’s predictable, consistent, and supportive.

While prospective families worry about sustained time away from their children, our current and past families generally report enhanced relationships because of the boarding school calendar and structure. School breaks tend to be longer and usually come without intense homework expectations. Therefore, students are more present and available to engage in positive, constructive relationship building at home. Parents also have regular access to school faculty, learning management systems, campus events, and visitation. Moreover, our boarding school students benefit from incredible mentorship and guidance from advisors, dorm parents, classroom teachers, coaches, college counselors, and the school faculty at large. With this interlocking network of adult supports in place and collaboratively managing some of the most fraught work of raising a teenager, our boarding school parents experience less stress with their adolescents and teenagers.

When we visit boarding school campuses, we are very impressed by the overall level of engagement and genuine happiness among students and faculty. The facilities are usually pretty incredible, and students have much more time to dive deep with their coursework and independent study. There’s time for academic exploration, research, and trying new activities all while managing rigorous academics and an incredibly satisfying social experience. Specialized programs offer the pedagogical expertise, and/or clinical expertise, necessary to help each student succeed despite learning and/or emotional challenges, and again this support is fully integrated across campus.

For parents who are sure this option is NOT for their family, we strongly encourage them to visit at least one boarding school program as part of their school research, just for comparative purposes. There are so many ways to organize schooling, and boarding schools deserve serious consideration, especially in the New York City area where we’re limited by space, both in terms of facilities and the number of classroom seats. Adding boarding schools to the list creates many more great options. Faya and I are happy to help with this exploration as part of our admissions consulting support.

By Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed.
Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist
My Learning Springboard, Inc.

Taking Notes About College Visits

October 1, 2021 Brad Hoffman Leave a Comment

Type “college tour bingo” into Google Images, and up pop rows of gridded phrases such as “A capella groups!” “The library is open 24/7 during finals!” “Lots of students enter with undecided majors!” Jokes like these related to college visits are no surprise to anyone who’s toured a few colleges — the ubiquity of these phrases is the point.

But the cards highlight a more serious reality. Even as colleges strive to stand out from their rivals, once an applicant has toured a few campuses (virtually or in person), they can start sounding the same. And the colleges’ problem later becomes the applicant’s problem. If the schools sound the same during the tours and information sessions — while the applicant is on campus — they will be even harder to distinguish months after the visit, when the student is completing applications, and months after that, when the applicant is choosing where to enroll.

Our solution to this dilemma: take college visits notes.

We advise students to always bring two pens and a notebook on their campus visits. If it’s cold outside, bring a pencil too, as pens freeze easily. The notebook should be small enough to hold in one hand, to make it easy to write while walking. As for what to write down, students should record the names of any faculty or staff they meet. If they visit a dorm, they should jot down the name. If they sit in on a class — which we recommend — they should write down the course title and the professor. If the student asks a question during a tour or information session, they should take notes on the answer. Not only will the notes jog the student’s memory later, but the act of taking college visits notes keeps the student engaged in the moment. And we do specifically recommend that students use paper for campus visit notes. Taking notes on a phone looks a lot like texting, so an applicant working on their screen runs the risk of appearing disengaged and disrespectful.

We advise a bit more note taking as soon as the applicant leaves campus. On the visit, applicants take notes based on observation — who they meet, what they learn. Afterwards, it’s time to reflect. How does the applicant feel about the school? Why do they feel that way? What did they think of the academic programs they heard about? That class they observed? The chance to pursue their favorite extracurriculars? The general mood and vibe on campus? What do they not want to forget? Gut feeling: would they be happy here?

The reflection doesn’t have to take long. We recommend writing for 7 to 10 minutes, just long enough for the student to work out their initial impressions. They don’t need to compose paragraphs, or even complete sentences. A list is fine. And while writing by hand has cognitive benefits, they can write this part on their phones, if they like. They can also snap photos of their notebook pages, to store all of their notes from college visits together digitally.

Ultimately, of course, not all colleges are the same. Occasionally, applicants step onto a campus and immediately feel at home; that’s an experience they won’t forget. But students generally apply to several schools, and the entire concept of applying to college — and choosing one, the biggest decision of applicants’ lives so far — can be so intimidating that the details of the schools get flattened in the applicant’s memory. Taking notes about college visits helps to demystify and deescalate that process. The little notebook will help students’ applications go more smoothly, and it will make it easier for students to choose the right school in the end.

Then, with this informed decision made, they can begin preparing for the next “game.” We’re referring, of course, to “first-year orientation bingo.”

By Elizabeth Walters, MFA, and Faya Hoffman, College Counselor and Board Certified Educational Planner

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