College Admissions Panel March 7, 2017 LHS Library Panel Members: Johanna Seltzer/Bates College Kim Donaldson, Colby College Mikayla Fitzmaurice/Thomas College Nikolas Ray, U of Maine Administrators Present: Katelin Paquette/Director of Student Services JoAnne Dowd/Assistant Principal Paquette: We held one of these meetings about three years ago when we were first transitioning to PBL, we as staff found it helpful, and the parents felt it helpful- How colleges view student applications-In the past we have had questions about the impact on opportunities after high school. Here is how we help students prepare for post-secondary: Also Doug Dumont/Aspirations coordinator 8th graders have career exploration with Billie Jo Brito at LMS continue on in 9th grade/FLEX class and Freshmen Seminar, career exploration, Naviance family connection, Focus on Freshmen days-career and personal exploration days-unique to each team- college trip, financial fitness day, etc. grade 10 all students go on college trips MELMAC grant career exploration through Naviance-ASVAB and PSAT(grade 10 or 11) grade 11- more focus on what you want you want to do after high school? LRTC/college/training program, etc. Spring of junior year/more focused conversations-what is your plan, what are your steps-spring of junior year and summer of senior year In the summer before senior year=college application workshops/working on essays Hit the ground running fall of senior year Everyone here leaves with a plan- four year, two year, one year, family business, we work with students to create goals for after high school Lots of supports/Aspirations lab Each panel member introduce talk a little bit about schools and what you are looking for; Then open up for questions Nick Ray-U of Maine/largest public university in the state/9,000 undergraduate/11,000 total students/most students from Maine, 100 academic programs/5 distinct colleges: D1 for athletics/200 student organizations/research leader in the state/ Joey Seltzer/Bates College- come visit the campus/backyard option/use as part of the college search process/great way to see a college campus/niche in local community/small classes/no major until end of sophomore year

60-70% study abroad/meet full financial need for all students 10% of students come from state of Maine Mikayla Fitzmorris from Thomas College/small private liberal arts and business school/variety of majors/business management/sports management/etc Accelerated programs/bachelors in 3 years/800 undergrad/1000 in total/70% from within Maine D3/strive for students to be prepared for a job after college/guaranteed job college Kim Donaldson/Colby/Waterville/similar profile to Bates/Colby offers over 50 majors/30 minors/double major/lots of interdisciplinary learning/study abroad/over 70% of students go abroad/global component/all students to have opportunities to travel abroad Research is a big factor at Colby/every student has the opportunity to get involved in research-not just for science majors Arts and humanities/new art museum/largest in Maine/new collection Working on fostering the arts Reaching out to the Waterville community to revamp main st/great things coming ahead Paquette: Part of what we are doing this spring is providing a series of parent meetings regarding proficiency based learning; hows and whys-what will it look like for my student Next year’s ninth graders will be graded on a 1-4 system/to meet proficiency Their transcripts will have 1-4 grades. Please talk about how you evaluate student applications-especially the transcripthow do you translate transcripts: Colby: we get a variety of transcripts/some schools don’t even have grades/narratives/we have to go through and figure it out/we get a good idea of how the student is taking advantage of the system and meeting requirements/we are putting students in the context of their own high school/we look at the context/there are varying degrees/we also connect with counselors/students are not being compared to students at another school/if you are competitive in your own high school/you will be competitive for Colby Thomas: each high school provides a school profile/we as counselors read them indepth and understand the grading system-every school’s transcript varies in one form or another-we take each student on a case by case basis- the transcript isn’t everything; there are letters of rec, looking at the student as a whole-activities, etc. also play a factor in the process Bates: not just about the grades-it is about the rigor of the courses-we want to see that students have pushed themselves as hard as they can/within reason-the fact that you have pushed yourself is the best preparation for college-statistics to prove that We read with a model-of territory-we know these schools inside and out-then we call the schools-people become experts on the territory-we will call the high school U of Maine-having a four year plan/meeting requirements/taking electives/but colleges want to see you take a strong senior year/best preparation for college/as a student to stay consistent/start on a positive note/and then elevate to a higher

level/we want to see you heading in a positive direction in order to be successful in the next step/we also look at letters, level or rigor/student essay/and also test scores/some put weight on that/as well as subject tests/multi layers as well- College admissions counselors have connections with high school counseling offices/we are comfortable picking up the phone/we have a close relationship with them/form a relationship with your counselor/develop the relationship over time/it is important to put the grades in a context “life happens” Paquette: Anything else to add- before I open up to questions- what should they be doing throughout high school to best prepare? Best prepare: Biggest regret is freshmen year/transition/focus has to be having a solid foundation as a freshmen/learning time management/academic component is stronger than middle school/it is a progression/manage yourself/your time/your activities/put the emphasis on school/academically/and with scholarships(U of Maine) As high school progresses/start to own your own stuff/slowly start to take the reigns/learn your own organizational style/what are your responsibilities/navigate a more adult relationship with your parents/to be able to discuss the college transition-also have fun in high school-enjoy the here and now-explore and figure out who you are and what you care about(Bates) Being a self advocate-advocate if you are struggling-get your grade up-more about learning the material, not just the grade-it is a lot to take on all the new responsibilities-enjoy the experience-mom and dad won’t be there in college(Thomas) Exploring your options, taking advantage of things out side your comfort zone-could lead you too a cool path-some fall into what they have been told-sometimes adventure in academics might be able to make connections and find cool information some were the most influential(Colby) Audience Questions: 1. Are there activities and organizations that a student should get involved with that would affect potential involvement? Ie during the summer? Volunteer? Church? Study? How much does involvement, or lack thereof, impact the decision? A. we do look at whether if students are involved in school/community, make sure to be passionate about club/activity, not just for transcript-be enthusiastic- it does impact, especially as a residential community, looking for community members, who care about things, being authentic with the extra-curriculars is more important than having some kind of formula-whatever you do, do it well-leadership-a lot of students

have to work-we realize that- jobs build good skills- do write down work and family responsibilities- work with guidance counselor to help describe that 2. How do you feel about the proficiency based learning? A. very cool how it works, students have reached the standard before moving on, students master a subject and can be confident going in to the next level- very easy to see the difference between the top students and the middle/low students schools will often still provide class rank 3. I stress out a lot about my grades-is a 3 bad? Is a 3 a 75? a. A 3 means you are proficient/you have done what we have asked you to do/a 3.5 and a little bit more/a 4 is a step beyond what the regular class is doing- 4. How is it looked at by the school? a. We look at it through the school profile- if we are in doubt we pick up the phone- 5. How many applications did you each have?/and how many staff members? a. Colby 9,500 and 10-12 counselors/about 1,000 per viewer b. Thomas; 5 counselors/each read 400-500 each c. 5,000 applications/16-17 readers/all read at least twice then committee d. U of M 14,000 10 readers/ and two person review 6. What % are non-typical, and would you consider PBL non-typical? a. 1 in 4 not 0-100-Colby b. majority on 0-100/but all kinds of scales c. Bates- don’t even notice/all are different-every school is a little different, even if it looks “normal” d. U of M-even the classes are named differently/ 7. What are your thoughts about class rank? a. Colby/yes and SAT yes-test flexible/not test optional b. Thomas: class rank/yes and test optional c. Bates: class rank/about a third has a rank/test optional d. U of Maine/more schools moving away from class rank/require testing 8. Are we getting rid of class rank? a. Proposal being worked on by a committee right now- we have also been working on potentially moving toward a Latin honors system-we

have been getting input from teachers, parents and students- we have met with student senate/and top ranked students-we find right now that students aren’t pushing themselves as much, b/c of class rank 9. Is it still clear which students are being successful? Not all bunched together? a. All schools feel that it is still easy to tell the students apart, we can see students within the sections-it is really about the course selection and what the students take advantage of 10. Any data to suggest that students who come from a PBL school do better than other schools? a. On par, the student has to perform in whatever system we have b. We should have more data soon as more and more schools in Maine are transitioning to PBL