It was a travel-filled week as the Amazon AWS EdStart Builders’ Workshop in Palo Alto kicked off just as the Super ACAC conference in Arizona wrapped up. After such a terrific few days with fellow counselors and college admissions teams, meeting such innovative members of the EdStart Program got me thinking about new creative solutions to help counselors and students through the college process. There is so much happening on the technical side that can support our planned Corsava features, I cannot wait! Discussing trends in admissions, meeting with potential partners, and learning about technical innovations to support our new applications combined to make the jump to summer and lead into fall all the more inspiring.
My Alaska flight just hit 10,000 feet, the throngs of people that constitute O’Hare on a late Friday afternoon are behind me, and I am excited to be heading for an 80-degree and sunny (surprise!) weekend back home in Seattle. The IECA conference was valuable, Chicago was at its best, and I am excited thinking about what’s ahead for Corsava after getting such great feedback from so many users. The cards made it into the College Essay Guy’s popular (and fast!) “60 College Application Tips in 60 Minutes” session, and it always makes my day to hear user stories about the impact the cards have had on so many students.
At Corsava, we help students discover, embrace, and communicate their emotional preferences in a gamified way as they explore 138 aspects of the college experience across six broader categories. Since September 1, 2019, we’ve collected over 1.7 million Corsava student college attribute preferences. This series explores how those preferences have changed over the course of time.
In this installment, we'll focus on movement in our Top 20 Must Have and Would Be Nice cards.
From devoted camp counselor to NACAC delegate, this truly creative and committed counselor knows that what worked to inspire campers can also be a great tool to motivate her students to think about their future…..scavenger hunts! We had the pleasure of talking with Emily Dobson last week and learning more about the games she develops to work in concert with Corsava, and what an inspiration it was! We always learn something new when connecting with our users, and this interview was no exception.
Lately, I have been reviewing a lot of reports regarding the rise of high school students’ level of stress and anxiety. College students too are experiencing similar levels of anxiety about their future and pivoting their academic and career plans. At Corsava, we have been able to quantify (in real-time) our students’ level of anxiety and frustration as they go through the process of building their college lists. Since September 1, 2019, we’ve collected over 1.7 million Corsava student college attribute preferences. By selecting what is important, students give more thought to their choices (often in partnership with their counselor), adding intentionality to the process.
When Sydney was eight, she was determined to convince her parents to foster a child so that she could have an older sibling. Rather than just push, she did the math...if just one-quarter of the country could foster one child, no child would be left without the support they deserve. She researched the options, laid out a plan, and learned what it would take to make fostering a reality for her family, framing her determination to become a family lawyer. Nothing Sydney does is halfway.
It’s hard to believe nine months have passed since Walter and I first met in person (remember in-person meetings?!) at NACAC 2019 in Louisville. Leading up to NACAC, we had calls discussing how to best integrate Corsava into his existing counseling tools, so it was great to meet face-to-face and have a chance to catch up on a broader range of topics - like how things were going for both his school counseling and his work as an independent educational consultant. I always enjoy catching up with Walter as he is always thinking of new ways to make the college admissions process more impactful for his students.
I recently finished a video call with a high school junior, here in Seattle. I asked her how she was doing now that the shelter in place directive is our reality. A few minutes into the call, it became clear that she needed more than guidance regarding her college search. She needed reassurance, support, and a few action items to help her move forward with her college plans—from home. With no online classes right now, and no options for retaking standardized tests in the near future, the uncertainty of her next steps felt overwhelming. After years of hard work, combined with intense athletic training with an eye towards the recruiting process, her gears have suddenly shifted from overdrive to neutral. What to do now?
With so many students around the world facing similar challenges, I want to share what I shared with this student, as well as a few other helpful resources. Take away what you can, even if it is just focusing on one thing at a time. We’ll get through this together!
Stay informed.
Check the Admissions page of any colleges you are interested in to see how this year’s testing environment has changed their requirements and deadlines.
The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) has created a site to search for up-to-date information on everything from deposit deadlines to admissions events for individual colleges.
Follow your colleges on social media. It is a great way to get up-to-date information and learn more about what their priorities are, how they are handling the current situation, and what their places are for the future.
On a recent webinar, one admissions director summarized the situation in admissions like this:
You are going to see a lot of grace, a lot of flexibility, a lot of understanding
Applications are reviewed by real people who are going through this same turmoil now will be sensitive to the disruptions you’ve experienced
All students are in the same position, and some students won’t even have grades for 2nd semester or 4th quarter, but colleges will likely assume that the grades a student would have earned during the pandemic would be similar to what they previously earned in those courses
Colleges will take a close look at the grades a student had before the pandemic
It is likely that more colleges will take a more holistic approach to admissions
Get connected.
Fill out the short contact form on the Admissions page for any colleges you are interested in. Admissions teams put a lot more value on students who actually go to their admissions website and complete that contact form. This will also get you on the college’s mailing list, ensuring you get invited to online events hosted by the college and receive updates on financial aid and scholarship deadlines as well as changing testing requirements. I guarantee you will know a lot more about all of your colleges by the time you have to make a final decision just by taking this simple step.
One college admissions dean suggested students follow Instagram sites for student organizations that are of interest.
Take a virtual tour.
With students stuck at home trying to decipher their options, many colleges are updating their websites to include virtual tours. I highly recommend checking out individual college websites first for their tours, and then using the following options to get updates from current (albeit @home now) students, faculty, and more:
https://www.youtube.com (for an unedited look at your colleges)
https://www.campusreel.org/ (I really like some of the student interviews)
Take an online course.
Interested in learning something new and eager to continue building your activities for upcoming college applications? What better way to expand your knowledge than to explore some of the many (and growing daily) online courses available? I am not talking about earning college credit or grades, although some paid courses are out there that include these options. I am talking about studying any topic of interest to you. From learning a new coding language to digging deep into an area of history that always interested you to experimenting with a new artistic medium, the possibilities are nearly endless. My favorite poker playing students wants to explore game theory and another student, who was just accepted into a business real estate-focused college program, told me he is going to start studying for his real estate license. Remember that colleges are cutting students a lot of slack right now, but this is one way to demonstrate how your love of learning was taken to a whole new level during a very challenging time.
Here are some online course options to explore:
Check out the free course “Understanding College and College Life,” a collaboration between Coursera and the University of Washington. What a great way to get psyched for this exciting next phase of life!
Harvard online courses in Social Sciences
Other online learning resources:
OpenCulture for ebooks and audiobooks
The Facebook group Amazing Educational Resources has assembled a good list of resources that companies are now allowing everyone to use for free.
Georgia Tech, ASU and your local community colleges also offer options that might help you get ready for college. I have heard from some of my students that they will be getting a head start on everything from calculus, to organic chemistry and accounting.
Volunteer virtually.
Many nonprofit organizations are reeling from cutbacks in fundraising activities and lack of people and resources to keep them going. Reach out to any organizations you’ve volunteered with previously and see if there are ways to help them virtually. Or connect with a new organization that needs your help right now. Be creative and start researching ways to help locally and internationally by Googling “Virtual Volunteering”, the options out there are growing daily.
One counselor recommended doing “remote science” through the projects listed on Citizen Science. Their searchable database of projects students can help with includes everything from uploading photos of ladybugs to transcribing and exploring women’s suffrage history through the lives of those who fought for the right to vote 100 years ago. You might learn something new too (see #4)!
Create structure.
From Khan Academy, how could we not love these daily schedules for students of all ages? Families are craving some routine, and these adaptable schedules are an awesome start.
Talk to your students.
Here’s a great article exploring ways to talk to students about their anxiety levels right now.
Find support and community.
I love the posts on Grown and Flown, whose founders have assembled a world class team of experts to provide timely updates and trustworthy support for families with teenagers. Spend some time connecting and learning from experts and other parents, a little bit of support might be just what the doctor ordered.
Get on the same page
As the founder of Corsava, I want to share a free resource that allows students to discover what matters most to them as they start the college process. By helping students discover aspects of college they may have never considered, yet are key to college success, everyone can share a summary report and open lies of communication early as to what is important. This is a great way to use time at home to share a parent’s own experience, if applicable, while also learning what is important to the student. Students can invite parents to play their own game while sharing information and building ratings of aspects of college that are important to them.
Bonus - high school counselors are eligible for free Corsava for Counselors accounts. Share this form with counselors you might know who would benefit from helping their students with their college search remotely.
Find your zen
And leave it to Sal Khan to create a terrific meditation video playlist. In the videos, Sal introduces simple meditation techniques to help “calm your mind, relax, and focus.” We could all use a little more calm these days!
Lastly, I want to share a photo I took on my daily run past University of Washington’s Rowing Center. It is quiet now, but we are all looking forward to returning students and activity!
As I sit in my very quiet office this rainy Seattle afternoon, reflection drives my thoughts. While ups and downs come with the start-up territory, my reflections gravitate toward the ups, in particular what our growing team has been able to accomplish for counselors, students, and their families over this last year. I have learned so much hearing from you and discovering ways we can make your life easier, more fun, and less stressful while providing targeted solutions to help you make a difference. Thank you for joining us on our journey!
Inspiration Drove Innovation in 2019
Over the last year, your feedback has inspired us in countless ways, helping us think outside the box when it comes to the college-search process. Here are just a few highlights from 2019:
With over 3.2 million student preferences and over 120,000 ratings powering our college lists, we launched a beta version of college recommendations based on student card sorts in the Café.
A new Help Center was built for you to easily access tips and spark your ideas.
Being part of the University of Washington Human-Centered Design and Engineering Department Usability Study gave our team new ways of thinking about how to make the student experience even better.
Our acceptance as a member of the AWS EdStart Program widened our capacity for innovation as we have been able to access the latest development tools and connect with amazing partners.
Sharing our vision and opening up the discussion on what matters most to college success in EdSurge allowed us to reflect on our goals and connect with many more innovators who will help bring you better tools in the future.
Becoming a partner with GuidedPath came hand-in-hand with some great videos to help you maximize all of the features of Corsava.
Giving a session Looking Beyond The Rankings: Exploring Emotional Preferences To Find The Right College Fit at the SuperACAC conference with my co-presenters Adam Miller (Whitman College), Christine Bowman (Colleges That Change Lives and Southwestern University) and Kathleen W. Odell (Design Tech High School) gave us all an opportunity to brainstorm and share better ways to help students and counselors find a great college fit.
Talking to many of Corsava’s high school and IEC users at NACAC brought new insights for future features and kept us focused on how to fill the big gap in helping students think about college fit in a whole new way.
But most of all, it is knowing that we have helped over 20,000 students, attending more than 3,800 high schools around the world, discover what matters most to them as they start their college searches. This is the ultimate driver for us at Corsava. My original vision of taking the hardcopy cards and putting them in the hands of students, no matter where they are, is becoming a reality.
I am reminded that each day we can work to make changes for the better, for those around us and for ourselves, with each of our actions bringing the possibility of positive change. In the case of Corsava, we will do our utmost to build more powerful ways to help students understand what matters to them, help families feel less stressed and overwhelmed, and help counselors maximize their impact.
I predict that 2020 is going to be a great year and the start of an even better decade.
It was a travel-filled week as the Amazon AWS EdStart Builders’ Workshop in Palo Alto kicked off just as the Super ACAC conference in Arizona wrapped up. After such a terrific few days with fellow counselors and college admissions teams, meeting such innovative members of the EdStart Program got me thinking about new creative solutions to help counselors and students through the college process. There is so much happening on the technical side that can support our planned Corsava features, I cannot wait! Discussing trends in admissions, meeting with potential partners, and learning about technical innovations to support our new applications combined to make the jump to summer and lead into fall all the more inspiring.
My Alaska flight just hit 10,000 feet, the throngs of people that constitute O’Hare on a late Friday afternoon are behind me, and I am excited to be heading for an 80-degree and sunny (surprise!) weekend back home in Seattle. The IECA conference was valuable, Chicago was at its best, and I am excited thinking about what’s ahead for Corsava after getting such great feedback from so many users. The cards made it into the College Essay Guy’s popular (and fast!) “60 College Application Tips in 60 Minutes” session, and it always makes my day to hear user stories about the impact the cards have had on so many students.
First and foremost, we are excited to share our new logo with you! It was fun to go through the design process, thinking about what makes our applications unique, while keeping in mind the cards that serve as the foundation of Corsava. I like the way it feels—very active and suggestive of a student making choices when considering their college options. We are looking forward to building new features for you and your students, and this logo has just the right positive attitude to help us do that.
The checker took the last few items out of my cart and pushed them towards the bagger, who carefully placed them in my bags and asked me if I wanted him to take my groceries to my car. Our local grocery store is one of the few remaining that offers that personal touch, and I always enjoy the time walking out to the car chatting with the high school students they hire. I was getting ready to ask my usual “where do you go to high school and how do you like it” question when the young man preempted me and asked what I had on tap for the rest of the day.
Doesn’t this image of my new puppy Petra just say it all!? A friend was walking down the hall and couldn’t resist taking this shot and sharing it with me. I just love the college counseling looming over Petra. Her attitude is contagious, and I try to channel her laid-back attitude on a daily basis. Besides making me laugh, it got me thinking about the whole college journey.
The counselor stories below, following on the heels of my previous Stories blog, have a common theme running through them–the power of personal connection. As life continues to speed up, f2f (as our team of developers likes to say) communication still has a valuable and powerful role in all of our lives, particularly those entering adulthood who have never experienced life without a smartphone.
As we approach the end of 2018, reflection comes naturally as we think about all that the past year has brought. I'm sure everyone is looking forward to a break from the hectic life of college admissions and all the accompanying stress it brings to our families. While our students race towards the finish line, we can take a breather as we reflect on how we supported our students in their goals, how we can make it even better, or in many cases, how we can avoid the subject entirely!
It is rankings season, and in typical fashion, those using a mix of variables to build an algorithm to compile an ordered list of colleges offer a popular way for students and families to evaluate and narrow their overwhelming choices. Following closely on the heels of these listings are press releases from colleges extolling the virtues of categories they excel in or moved up in, followed closely by articles bashing the rankings.
There is something about September. To me, it outshines New Year’s when it comes to new beginnings and fresh starts. Here in Seattle, our fire-impacted brown August skies have returned to crisp blue, kids are excited to get back to school, and parents are ready for some more structure in their lives. Maybe it’s memories of back-to-school excitement, blank notebooks, new books, and enthusiastic teachers that translate into more grown-up inspiration. September just exudes that “get into high gear” mode as I consider new possibilities and innovative ways to approach my work.
As we get ready to launch new features in the coming weeks, I can’t help but think back to my original intent in creating Corsava. My goal has always been to help students everywhere think in new and impactful ways as they consider their options after high school. I never want to lose sight of the fact that as counselors we are here for students—to help them discover what is important to them as they consider their options, and balance this with the other facets of the process that will play a part in their final decision.
Google's launch of its college search tool and University of Chicago's announcement that it was going test optional made for quite a week in college admissions. I found it ironic that Google placed scores front and center, yet Chicago decided they weren't that helpful. I laud Chicago's decision, but I'm also grateful that we can now quickly access this consistent data.
