Ram Yeleswarapu: Good morning everyone, we're just hanging tight for a few more minutes while everyone else is joining in. Please feel free to sign on, make sure your audio settings are correct. And we'll join very shortly. Thank you.
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Ram Yeleswarapu: Good morning everyone. This is ROM. I'm a youth committee member at the Hindu temple and Bridgewater, thank you all for logging in this morning.
Ram Yeleswarapu: And I know that the process of folks coming online will continue for a while, but we will get started. Where are the top of the are and we will get started. So a couple of things before we I had it. After Dr may very quickly.
Ram Yeleswarapu: This is a session that we're conducting on college selection and planning.
Ram Yeleswarapu: And several of you had kind of questions you had a choice of topics that you kind of shared with us. We have all of that data aggregated by
Ram Yeleswarapu: The levels of interest in each topic. So thank you for so far for signing up we have had 250 registrations for this session.
Ram Yeleswarapu: The breakout is among ninth 10th, 11th and 12th graders with the top statistics belonging to the 10th and 11th graders for 11th graders, for obvious reasons.
Ram Yeleswarapu: But once again, thank you for signing up and a couple of quick things.
Ram Yeleswarapu: You know, housekeeping, as has been announced earlier this is an hour long session. Dr. May will be the only speaker. Once I finish this. I'll hand off to Dr. May.
Ram Yeleswarapu: For the rest of the time. And please ensure that you are on mute during this entire session. Also, please do not turn on the video and
Ram Yeleswarapu: One other thing we had also shared a link to a forum where you can type of questions.
Ram Yeleswarapu: That form is actually enabled now. So, as Dr. May starts off and talks to the various topics you will certainly not have an opportunity to present your pose your questions during this session, however.
Ram Yeleswarapu: The farm has been enabled so that you can actually go online, click on that link and enter your questions and those questions will be compiled by us subsequently
Ram Yeleswarapu: And we will either do an email Q AMP a response or if the questions are overwhelming and we're able to classify them, we will actually request operator host a session just for Q AMP a
Ram Yeleswarapu: So no questions, once again, to be asked on this session, but please go ahead and click on the online form that we provided for the question. Okay. And we will follow back with answers.
Ram Yeleswarapu: That said, very quickly, I would like to introduce our speaker speaker, Dr. May, and we are thankful to her. She has done these sessions for several times.
Ram Yeleswarapu: For our youth and we are thankful again to her for agreeing to do this session.
Ram Yeleswarapu: And she's a college graduate school and career counselor. She's got a doctorate in curriculum and teaching with the highest honors from the Teachers College, Columbia University Master of Arts from Columbia.
Ram Yeleswarapu: In childhood special education and a master of education and learning disabilities.
Ram Yeleswarapu: She's certainly been counseling and coaching several youngsters for a long, long time.
Ram Yeleswarapu: So the very interesting facet. Is she wants to keep it conversational. She always picks and chooses case studies or use cases that you can always tap into her examples.
Ram Yeleswarapu: The key thing for you all is while this is not a session where you can ask questions we will certainly send out an email, giving Dr me his contact information.
Ram Yeleswarapu: Or email will be shared with you all feel free to contact her after the session and get in touch with her for any of your requirements.
Ram Yeleswarapu: Are lastly this session is being recorded and so we will also make available link to this recording for subsequent review for each of you with those words let me invite Dr me to actually take over and conduct the session for us over to you, Dr. Me. Thank you.
Mae Sakharov: You're welcome. How do I make do I hit this picture to get it larger.
Ram Yeleswarapu: Comes across pretty well.
Mae Sakharov: And I'm not quite sure how to do this right now, but here.
Ram Yeleswarapu: No, it looks good. It looks good.
Mae Sakharov: You may proceed. Okay. Okay. Great. Okay. I actually have been a college counselor, since the 1980s.
Mae Sakharov: And I've worked with many, many children different children. Some children that were academically inclined other children that were very creative. Some children that had learning differences other children that were
Mae Sakharov: doing just fine in school and we're headed off to becoming very productive adults. Everybody's different.
Mae Sakharov: One of the first questions that was given to me and I'm a professor, too. So I'm going to treat this as if I'm teaching my college class.
Mae Sakharov: Was how do you prepare for college. Well, the general answer is you prepare for college. By doing well in high school. And that's really the truth.
Mae Sakharov: The thing is, it's very important every high school is different and every high school has its own curriculum, but yet there's certain standards that have to be met to succeed in college and one that's really overlooked is how to develop study skills.
Mae Sakharov: There used to be a class that has since been cut were children learn how to take notes. They learned how to study on their own without their parents hovering over them without having tutors in every class.
Mae Sakharov: They learn how to be self sufficient learners. Of course they can ask for suggestions. But the most important thing in preparing for college. Is that a student learns how to learn
Mae Sakharov: And how to learn takes a long time. Sometimes English teachers will approach that when they teach you a student had to take notes.
Mae Sakharov: Had to understand word there derivations to understand how to break down math problems. These are all skills that really helped one prepare for college and if not given in a school
Mae Sakharov: Because they're always so many other things that have to be done. And so much time is wasted in schools, it's very important that
Mae Sakharov: Students to be successful and prepare for college. Learn how to study. Now the other thing that's very important is also to know what your school offers schools all school districts all have different
Mae Sakharov: Offerings they have different amount of AP classes they allow AP classes to be taught in 12th grade some permitted ninth grade. Some schools don't have AP classes they consider every class in AP or IB classes. There are some schools that
Mae Sakharov: Have one or two classes. It's very, very
Mae Sakharov: Dependent on the school district and so apparent.
Mae Sakharov: And students really should make if they can in ninth grade make a whole listing of classes that they think will be beneficial to their particular student going forward. Now it's it's possible.
Mae Sakharov: Scheduling one permit that. But in general, most students need to have at least four years of a foreign language. And that's something that
Mae Sakharov: Kids often say, I don't want to have a foreign language or somebody for years of math. The other area. People often say is, why do I need social studies, but you need the four years.
Mae Sakharov: And then the other thing is that their kids that I've worked with kids that are artists and they should start in ninth grade developing their portfolio save everything
Mae Sakharov: Same thing with kids that are in sports they parent, a parent will come to me and say, well, my son might be or daughter might be recruited for sport and they have a whole port, a whole
Mae Sakharov: Loose leaf or a file filled with what they do, so that later on. That becomes part of their resume, it becomes part of their
Mae Sakharov: Records. So in preparing for college. The most important thing really is to first of all do well in high school. Now there are many kids that don't that have problems with growing up there a little immature.
Mae Sakharov: They maybe have a teacher that they don't get along with one time they change schools, that's fine too but what one wants to see is that there's a progression or getting
Mae Sakharov: At that they realize and do better. It's much for a child that does poorly or doesn't do so well in ninth grade, but then you see them going up in their grades as they learn how to study that's fine.
Mae Sakharov: The most important thing is really to recognize who the student is and how they can best in a little bit. Another word market themselves.
Mae Sakharov: And they're also their kids that I work with. In recent years, they've had series of concussions or illnesses. I've had kids that have had been out of school for cancers, or other other kinds of
Mae Sakharov: Conditions. These things happen and and what's most pivotal is that the person has self motivation and a desire to go forward.
Mae Sakharov: And and that they're realistic as well. Preparing for college should not be what you do in high school.
Mae Sakharov: It should evolve, because it when kids start thinking about college all the time. And a lot of times, kids in the last I think since about 2008
Mae Sakharov: Kids have started thinking, where am I going to go to college, where am I going to go to college. How am I going to be able to do it at college is so expensive. I can understand that and people don't want to graduate and have no work which has happened to many kids, but on the other hand,
Mae Sakharov: They should learn in a structured way so that when they're ready to go on, they can achieve without being
Mae Sakharov: totally burned out, because we see so many kids that are full of anxiety and the anxiety is not is not healthy. You kids that are on medication and they they really fall apart. Unfortunately, so so encouraging good study habits and taking
Mae Sakharov: As best you can. The challenge in courses and not letting the courses run away with you when you need help. Go sit speak to the teacher.
Mae Sakharov: A very important thing and preparing for college is not to think of your teachers as an enemy if you fail. I mean, someone will say, oh, it's the teachers fault. That's all the time, the teachers will talk to that teacher, a student as a student going early
Mae Sakharov: See if you can make time now. Sometimes that doesn't work, but it's very important not to allow your
Mae Sakharov: Students emotions to run away with them because they're always going to be situations that are not particularly advantageous and in terms of preparing for college. College is not a panacea, you take
Mae Sakharov: Courses that you might find the professor that might you might find the classes are too large, you might find
Mae Sakharov: You don't have the same you don't. The way the teacher teaches doesn't work with your learning style, but you have to learn, you have to adjust and you have to hang tough.
Mae Sakharov: And the most successful students are the students that asked the strong questions and then also reach out for help. No one is going to know
Mae Sakharov: That you need something of if a kid needs something if they're sitting in their bedroom playing a video game or if they have their head down somewhere, you have to be proactive.
Mae Sakharov: And it's the same thing in terms of preparing for specifically in preparing for college. That's a long term process colleges are all different. And you have to
Mae Sakharov: And
Mae Sakharov: scholarships are few and far between. And so one has to also look at what they can afford what's available and know that
Mae Sakharov: What you bring to a situation is what you get out of it. And so there are many colleges that will help many students and will offer them an opportunity to succeed that kids succeed in every environment.
Mae Sakharov: When they have to study skills when they are mature enough to buckle down and do well, and when they asked for help. And so, in looking at colleges, it's, it's important to be curious and also not get carried away with
Mae Sakharov: Ratings which might not be accurate. You know when you dig deeper into the ratings. They don't really talk about departments. They basically
Mae Sakharov: And a lot of them have been known to be bogus. In fact, some college stepped out of ratings and what is the rating mean
Mae Sakharov: It doesn't mean anything. It's how somebody is going to do in a specific situation. So in terms of
Mae Sakharov: Looking at colleges, what I've done for many years. As I said, I read about the college's I say who the professors are, who the who, when they went to school.
Mae Sakharov: Where they went to school. What they published and it's really important to find a compatible place where a student will find their people.
Mae Sakharov: I was talking to a young man, the other day, who's applying for college and his most difficulty with go. But, and this the student is a very social. Kind of a kid. Very, very academic speaks several languages and is really has a lot going for him has taken some courses at colleges and
Mae Sakharov: Really knows himself. Well, now there are two colleges. He's looking at, and one of them is a really fine wonderful school
Mae Sakharov: But it's known for having kids that are more introverted and who are less likely to reach out. Well, this kid is garrulous and he's full of energy. And then the other setting would not be happy for him and those qualities that he has
Mae Sakharov: Would not drive there. And so it's really important to understand who the school serves will this person be happy. Is it a diverse environment, what
Mae Sakharov: What is, what is the curriculum, it's, it's a process. And there are lots of ways of doing that. The college websites are wonderful places and so
Mae Sakharov: Preparing for colleges is a study. It's a study of what a college offers if a child if a student is interested in and and there are many different things. So the student is interested in engineering.
Mae Sakharov: Most us a high schools don't offer engineering a pre engineering courses.
Mae Sakharov: Good thing to do was to go to a summer program that has an engineering program because they don't know what engineering is
Mae Sakharov: And if that is unaffordable see if one can do a shadowing at an engineering office or have speak to a parent who's an engineer. And because kids.
Mae Sakharov: They only know what they think they know and they think about going to be a mechanical engineer or I do robotics. So I want to build or I'm going to do.
Mae Sakharov: What else am I going to do. Let's see. I'm going to do, electrical, but there are many, many, many, many fields and engineering. So
Mae Sakharov: I what I do with my students if I'm doing that kind of career PrEP is that we'd look at what they are.
Mae Sakharov: And you can do that by looking at the different engineering programs that are offered in schools. Like, for example, one of my students several years ago.
Mae Sakharov: Is an engineering at university, Michigan, and she was interested in neurology.
Mae Sakharov: her and she wanted to combine neurology with engineering and this Neural Engineering, not many places, but we found it. And so it's an important thing to we've looking for colleges with the range of what's offered within a discipline.
Mae Sakharov: Math data analysis. What is data analysis. What is actuarial science.
Mae Sakharov: What do you do to become that this is all career preparation and these are things that you're not going to get in high school. So they either come by.
Mae Sakharov: Going to a summer program if that's it. And I'm not even sure that that's the right thing to do when I say summer program every single College offers on site summer programs. And so to high schools.
Mae Sakharov: Now, some of them are one week. Some of them are four weeks. Their scholarships available these programs and these programs, most of them you can sign up for in January of the year before. Now this year. Everything is online because of covert and some courses have been canceled.
Mae Sakharov: And it's a good thing to do, actually. Usually people go after 10th grade or perhaps 11th grade and they can be from one week to eight weeks and and this the
Mae Sakharov: At most programs are not they're expensive. Not necessarily so hard to get into because they're caught. They're pretty costly and some do have scholarships, and they also
Mae Sakharov: If you're interested in in a particular college by going to a summer program that's a way to prepare to as you can see if you like it now. They're also
Mae Sakharov: A way to find out about careers. Like, for example, I know that most of you live in New Jersey and your state colleges has some amazing programs for kids that are really very keen in math.
Mae Sakharov: And can do wellness. Some of these programs require a test to get into because you have to be very advanced. But these are all good things and they're all preparation for college because as long as you don't put stress on it and it becomes something interesting. If you
Mae Sakharov: You want to find out. Like, for example, what, what's the first year like it certain colleges. If you go to a technical school do and you're studying.
Mae Sakharov: A particular subject. Do they introduce you to different disciplines within it. If you're a business major.
Mae Sakharov: People think they want to do, finance, because that's what they know and do they know what finances what finance leads to so prepare for college.
Mae Sakharov: And buyers. A lot of it involves a lot of conversation. The same with science speak in effect because somebody who is interested in science doesn't know.
Mae Sakharov: The range biology is broad and I think it's a great thing to do, just, you know, in your own home to talk about what you can study with biology and also psychology. People want to be psychologist, what's biocide
Mae Sakharov: And what can you do with computers in psychology. There's so many different ways of preparing for college and also doing career PrEP. And the other thing is there's always a lot of stigma, people say, oh, in preparing for college. You can't be humanity student yet.
Mae Sakharov: From my experience, Humanities students sometimes end up really thriving because they have a wonderful educational background, they can read, they can think and thinking skill.
Mae Sakharov: I honestly thinking is one of the best skills you can develop if you're going to go somewhere far and live. And so the the liberal arts education at
Mae Sakharov: At some very challenging schools and state colleges can be excellent preparation. It really depends on
Mae Sakharov: The particular student and what their interests are and not forcing them into a direction where they're not going to succeed.
Mae Sakharov: Now, the other thing is that I've worked with many kids that are also interested in art and theater and music and that
Mae Sakharov: That means developing portfolios and quite frankly when it's some of the hardest programs to get into a writing programs there screenwriting programs, their programs for creative writing and you
Mae Sakharov: Gosh, the students that prepare for those programs have portfolios that are like 30 or 40 pages and if they're so competitive so competitive. The same with any film program, you really have to start saving things and
Mae Sakharov: Making your own films. People who in creative arts. That's how they prepare for college, they make films they really
Mae Sakharov: Get involved as a kid, it can be in their own house that they're doing things and another and preparing for college, something that's often overlooked this work.
Mae Sakharov: Kids are so busy getting ready for things that are so fed and so spoiled that they don't have jobs and having a job really develops discipline. I don't be a job that the parent
Mae Sakharov: Develops if possible, which is again hard during cold it
Mae Sakharov: But they have a job, a workshop that they've kept for four years. Huge or a business. They started being dog walking be in mowing lawns, be it collecting woodpiles or actually working, you know, actually working in an office there. There are people who work in an office.
Mae Sakharov: Great things. The same with preparing for college with internships if kids can get into hospitals now.
Mae Sakharov: And and more than just transporting doing things their
Mae Sakharov: Kids that I've worked with actual, actual with doctors and somebody last year saw a baby being born. Now, people asked about code, this is, this is really, really hard.
Mae Sakharov: Because kids that are in 11th and 12th grade the 12th graders don't know whether they're what's going to happen with their college at all, lots of kids accepted a school. And then they said,
Mae Sakharov: Maybe they're not going to go because too far away. Maybe they're going to take a gap year maybe go to a community college i by about July 1 most colleges and the next few days will be telling students what what's going to happen. It's very, very tense time and I honestly
Mae Sakharov: Don't know the answer, because there's so many different answers. Their kids that have been
Mae Sakharov: I'm sure many of you have read about that are play. There are a division one athletes that have been sent home because they develop coven when they come home. They're bringing the virus with them. Who knows who they live with.
Mae Sakharov: Very challenging and professors, the many professors who have an age where they have to be a hyper capital and for the juniors, it's really tough because the juniors
Mae Sakharov: Many of them signed up for the march si, si, si T and the test was canceled. They have another test coming up some kids took all their tests they can visit schools they're doing
Mae Sakharov: Zoom meetings or they're doing virtual tours, which are not very good. What I'm having my kids do is join the mailing list from all
Mae Sakharov: The colleges, they're interested in and try to get in touch with the local representatives, the local representatives are people who are assigned to your district and if in fact they're in office.
Mae Sakharov: I would suggest mailing emailing them and saying, My name is so and so, send a copy of your resume and talk to them about
Mae Sakharov: What to Do you know what to do. It's very, very complicated. I think that kids applying the juniors applying for college down have to do clean strong applications.
Mae Sakharov: I've been talking really really in touch with my kids to make sure that they feel secure because a lot of anxiety their dreams are being shattered.
Mae Sakharov: They and parents don't want to pay you know a fortune to have to be online and online learning can be wonderful, but it also takes special
Mae Sakharov: talents to be able to capture people catch your students, and many of professors are not used to teaching online and really are unaccustomed to technology. It's very, very complicated and I think
Mae Sakharov: We probably have about 18 months from what I've read of this situation. So it's possible. The class of 2021 will be able to go on campus, but I really
Mae Sakharov: There's no guarantees and so the best way that students who are applying for college now is is really to make sure their resume reflects them.
Mae Sakharov: That their common application. The either common application coalition application is very clean and neat.
Mae Sakharov: That they really don't rush it when they're doing it. For example, putting in their activities. Make sure that the activities are clearly articulated and that when they write up their own personal statement which was another question the personal statement is the so called college essay
Mae Sakharov: And that is not meant to be a regurgitation of a resume that's meant to be a story, something about that tells you something about the applicant that isn't really seen on a resume.
Mae Sakharov: And because there's plenty of time in the activities and also in college supplements to talk about achievements or resume type of why you want to go to specific school
Mae Sakharov: So the essays. This year I think will be important, but I with coven it's really, really hard to say what's going to happen and and some
Mae Sakharov: Right now the schools. I've talked to some kids are given the option of saying home. Others are going to schools where there be a singles or one one or two people in the dorm, it's not
Mae Sakharov: It's nothing. Nothing is final, because nothing so little is known about the virus and its, its ramifications. I've been also for some kids. I've been a suggesting you know
Mae Sakharov: People wanted to fly far and wide for college, maybe that's not such a good thing. Now, maybe it's, it's important to be closer to home so that
Mae Sakharov: Families can be in touch in case there's any kind of emergency, if in fact they can be in touch because some of the schools that are thinking of opening or having
Mae Sakharov: An infirmary on campus. Very, very complicated. And I think that the most important thing I think is to prop up the kids because they really, you know, this is a lifelong dream for families and then everything to be so.
Mae Sakharov: Chat radically changed is is really
Mae Sakharov: Incomprehensible
Mae Sakharov: Okay, how to build a strong target list of colleges. Well, that, to do that, the build a strong target list is really reading about the colleges and knowing the departments that they have and being flexible.
Mae Sakharov: A strong target list includes
Mae Sakharov: Some state schools. It includes some private schools. You don't want to have 18 or 20 schools because it is no way you can learn about the schools.
Mae Sakharov: And it also includes developing relationships with the schools and going to visit them now since people can't visit it means contacting schools, making yourself known
Mae Sakharov: As best you can. If you don't visit the schools that looks like you're not interested in. You're just picking something off of
Mae Sakharov: A book.
Mae Sakharov: So important to see a campus. If you can, and look at the cafeteria, they used to say the cafeteria and library, the most important places. Yeah, it's it's really crucial to go visit a school
Mae Sakharov: See what the environment is some schools have sleep overs and to have a have a sleep over. It's a great thing. You have to reserve it in advance and go on line and look at it and
Mae Sakharov: If you're interested in particular school. It's good to go to the summer program there, if possible, you just don't want to do random a good target list is a target list where you know your schools where you have a range of schools and where your open
Mae Sakharov: I am
Mae Sakharov: And also financially this year. Somebody lost a job and someone didn't early decision school
Mae Sakharov: And they simply couldn't afford it. So they had to rename the early decision, which is finding and they're going to a school where they were offered a huge scholarship
Mae Sakharov: Now it's it's really crucial. I mean, people get all crazy about reputations, but that it's the reputation of a school doesn't mean anything. If a student is going to be a number there and not going to have attention.
Mae Sakharov: You want a student to be in a place where they're going to be recognized and where they'll have a chance to build up a portfolio of experiences which will
Mae Sakharov: Give them the tools and foundation that they need to succeed in life. And that doesn't mean I mean this whole thing with Ivy League schools.
Mae Sakharov: Is nuts because there's hardly any places, maybe 5% and so if somebody comes to me and they have nine Ivy League schools on their list and
Mae Sakharov: They won't budge. I know that they're going to be disappointed. Most people usually a student who's an IV, and I know who an Ivy League candidate is who's an ideal candidate might get into if they're lucky or one and this is a candidate. So when somebody
Mae Sakharov: And and are they going to do well there. Some people do some drop out. But the fact of the matter is that I don't know where this Ivy League schools were only the first
Mae Sakharov: Some of the earliest schools certainly Stanford is an Ivy League.
Mae Sakharov: University of Chicago isn't an Ivy League school, nor is Northwestern. You know, or Wellesley so so it's all, it's all relative. You want to find a wonderful schools where the curriculum is rich and
Mae Sakharov: We're the student can thrive.
Mae Sakharov: I had
Mae Sakharov: An experience with a parent. This year, who was so
Mae Sakharov: keen about that and her daughter was in a very rare area where there are not many kids musical comedy.
Mae Sakharov: And this mother who came in with a list of schools that you would never think of. And it turns out that one of her the schools that the girl was accepted to
Mae Sakharov: Has the best, you know, a wonderful, wonderful musical comedy program where and that's what she wanted. So you really got to research programs and research.
Mae Sakharov: Where and now and and then again if you don't know specifically what an interest is than a liberal arts background is wonderful because you learn how to thank you get interest introduced the connection to this and this different disciplines great books. And the other thing is that
Mae Sakharov: To build a good target list. You want to look at it. This is a non covert days. You want to look at other parts of the country. They're amazing schools in Ohio Wisconsin and
Mae Sakharov: Minnesota. A Gosh. They're fabulous and in fact there's a whole cluster schools.
Mae Sakharov: Which they call ideally better in that area or or many Ivy, like the mini Ivy's. They're great. The same with dance out there. Wonderful. Wonderful.
Mae Sakharov: Schools and so don't be in a little box thinking your target list should be nine Ivy League schools and then you include Carnegie Mellon or whatever, you know, be flexible about finding
Mae Sakharov: A range of schools and always make sure that you have, have your state schools because you're safe schools and be happy with the new shoe, the state schools are great because you want to make sure that your is happy with your
Mae Sakharov: Excuse my dog years happy with your
Mae Sakharov: School. There are so called safety, nothing is safety in the world, but your so called safety school says you are with your reach schools, that's a really important thing to do.
Mae Sakharov: How to Avoid anxiety in the process. How to Avoid anxiety in the process is
Mae Sakharov: By
Mae Sakharov: Loving a steady really um kids that love to study asked questions and also when their parents are realistic.
Mae Sakharov: When a parent knows that it's not where you go to school, but your level of self confidence curiosity and initiative of what takes you far
Mae Sakharov: And where they don't put inordinate pressure on a student is where the anxiety is diminished and also if you teach a child not to fall into the prey of having their classmates.
Mae Sakharov: Create an atmosphere that's tense or teacher, it can happen in schools do it happens often with classmates were there mean kids that hide from what
Mae Sakharov: Who like to make others nervous. I think it's a good idea to tell kids don't. Let's not talk about colleges. Let's make this an apple discussion not talk about it with your friends or other people. Let's just keep it quiet. It's something that
Mae Sakharov: It's between us and please don't
Mae Sakharov: Don't share with friends and the bear helpful because you avoid anxiety by not throwing yourself into a situation which exacerbates anxiety. It's like common sense. And so basically one of the best ways to avoid anxiety is to not permit it. And you also can make it kind of a game.
Mae Sakharov: When a student. If a student is given a strong foundation and they're curious about learning and they know that going to college isn't the be all end all of life, their life is just beginning. And they're healthy.
Mae Sakharov: It makes a huge difference.
Mae Sakharov: And that's up to families to really engender that kind of environment by really appreciating the individuality of each student and finding out things that are special about them and nurturing those qualities
Mae Sakharov: Into tremendous help if the student has self confidence and from the time new young have a realistic perspective if they know they've done their best there's strong
Mae Sakharov: Worker. They know that sometimes you get what you want. Sometimes you don't life is like that you're not always going to be pandered you're not always going to be getting your way to engender those qualities really diminishes some anxiety and also
Mae Sakharov: Sometimes it's really good for somebody to have a mentor or somebody who's an older person who's been through it to talk to and have that person really help.
Mae Sakharov: Or maybe it can be a sibling because anxiety really gets in the way. And also, it really is is a big problem during the college admissions process with shouldn't have a kid that starts out so strong and then when they the amount of work.
Mae Sakharov: Can be prodigious unless you do everything in a very organized way.
Mae Sakharov: For example, once you do have a target list of schools you make up a spreadsheet with what they cost what the population breakdown is have all that information available have individual files made up for each college
Mae Sakharov: Each file should include supplemental essays that you can open up your common application early it's available.
Mae Sakharov: From the time a child enters High School.
Mae Sakharov: stay on top of things. And that really helps organization is a very important thing. Be very organized so then you can do everything in steps you develop your target list.
Mae Sakharov: in 11th grade visit colleges, starting in 10th grade can take make a second visit have your target list pretty firm by 11th grade. If you can, and then towards the end of 11th grade or you start to
Mae Sakharov: Write your essays.
Mae Sakharov: Another thing is a lot of essays are done in school and that that's something I personally. This is my personal opinion or against, I'd rather have kids be reading school and writing because personal statements. Sometimes a private and also because
Mae Sakharov: They're different than high school writing, it's a it's something that also takes time away from learning and studies skills which I started with. So I think that
Mae Sakharov: It's very important to be very organized in the college process and that relieves anxiety and also keeping it to yourself is a really important thing with
Mae Sakharov: Preparing for college.
Mae Sakharov: Extracurricular activities.
Mae Sakharov: Should include work it and it's not the amount of activities. It's the consistency of activities and it and the interest if you have a whole
Mae Sakharov: laundry list of activities that you just did in the 12th grade. I mean, that's what is that doesn't, it's not meaningful and if you have community service. But the community service. I've seen a lot of people who do
Mae Sakharov: community service projects in India, but they should be doing the community service project and Trenton, because
Mae Sakharov: It's just done all the time. You want to see something that's real. For example, somebody volunteered at a Veterans home and they did this since sixth grade somebody else's playing music to seniors, but they've done this for years. Somebody else
Mae Sakharov: Is
Mae Sakharov: Working in a communal a food garden these things, what you want to see with extracurriculars are that they're very consistent and that they are something that somebody really really likes
Mae Sakharov: Another thing is that it's well now that people who play a sport are in marching band or in place can have that many extracurriculars because those activities are time consuming.
Mae Sakharov: And oftentimes, people who are athletes do some coaching for kids, which is very helpful. So with extracurricular activities they should be things that are interesting to you.
Mae Sakharov: And there are some kids that have tremendous energy and and they're involved in a million things and that's who they are and it doesn't tire them. They love it. There they land with their boots on every time. And that's who. The kid is it's very dependent, however.
Mae Sakharov: I have to say that
Mae Sakharov: One thing. There's a lot of robotics. Now, which is also very good and can be great but but it's it's good to have a balance.
Mae Sakharov: Of some things that require active participation, like a Model UN and robotics is building if in fact you want to do that or to have some balance and activities.
Mae Sakharov: And it's nice to have something which is an involvement in your school if you can now there's some kids who actually have to work at home because they have to take care of a sibling and and that's highly respected by
Mae Sakharov: Colleges, because that before or they have to take care of her parents
Mae Sakharov: I've known kids who's a parent might have
Mae Sakharov: Cancer and this particular kid was it had to be home with the parent. These things happen life, life happens. And so with extracurriculars, the most important thing is that they're something that engages a student
Mae Sakharov: Something that they love. And one thing that I advise not as don't invent a club for the 12th grade because you don't have any extracurricular activities that happens all the time to there's millions of things that just pop up.
Mae Sakharov: Later on, and it's it's not going to help anybody
Mae Sakharov: Okay. Another question was extra corrected a statement of student focuses on
Mae Sakharov: So, okay.
Mae Sakharov: Well,
Mae Sakharov: I think somebody wanted to know a fan of successful personal statement. And I mentioned that before, that is successful personal statement is something about their own history that really inspires
Mae Sakharov: And helps students now. Um, I don't know college when you thinking about college and other thing is that it for people thinking about graduate school.
Mae Sakharov: If you're a business major. Someone was asking me this weekend, it might be helpful if somebody the business or an engineering major
Mae Sakharov: Undergraduate you probably wouldn't want to do that major in graduate school, or if in fact you are going on to business, you might want to do a different aspect of business because there's no
Mae Sakharov: Reason. Once you have one degree to go on and do the exact same thing. Later on, for example, some people might major in biology and then take biology.
Mae Sakharov: And then get an MBA in business. It's very, very another thing.
Mae Sakharov: I'd like to share is about people that want to be physicians
Mae Sakharov: If you're interested in being a doctor, being an occupational therapists, physical therapist or any of the those fields.
Mae Sakharov: And you have AP classes. Please take the class again because the AP is not really preparation for what you're going to meet in the M cat or in
Mae Sakharov: You need to have the class and that probably will be advice to you because the APS or high school classes. It's great to get a p credit and you don't need thousands and thousands of a piece. Some people come in with
Mae Sakharov: 1120 I mean so many APS I can be 20 but a lot of a piece and that in the end.
Mae Sakharov: I mean, it takes time away. But why Russia. Russia your life because you're going to learn something different in college classes and college
Mae Sakharov: The idea of college. The idea of colleges to learn in a collaborative way and to learn have disciplines into we've with each other and to develop
Mae Sakharov: cogent statements, where you can be a thinker, because if you're a thinker, then you can go on and be a leader and there's no reason. I mean, people rush high school enough and for preparation for college and college
Mae Sakharov: It should be a truly a place where you
Mae Sakharov: Have dialogue where you're really able to sit down and people can express different ideas and come up with synthesis, where you can work in the lab and research. I mean for me.
Mae Sakharov: Personally, and I really encourage students is to look up professors when they're going to college. Find somebody write to them.
Mae Sakharov: See if you can work with them from the time you get into college. See if you can spend time working with a professor or if you're in the communications field. See if you can spend time with the radio station at that school or find out who's doing the films or sports.
Mae Sakharov: Their people who are very interested in sports related fields and if they go to a big 10 school, see if they can sit in.
Mae Sakharov: With the games if in fact they play right now of course we're not in a position to do that. But you really college is the time to grow up and to really integrate your earlier life into the new life that's coming forward and not to rush
Mae Sakharov: And high school is a time for learning for developing a background and disciplines and and taking courses which provide a gateway to your future and introduce you
Mae Sakharov: To a wider world than was prevalent before which also has to do with thinking and you're thinking becomes more and more abstract as you go along and you're more able to develop a hypothesis, your own hypothesis of life, which is why it's so
Mae Sakharov: Really important not to rush high school and to really dig into what you're what you're learning, um,
Mae Sakharov: And and to take that to the next level and to keep on progressing as you learn more and more about how to put together your education in a way that's productive and really
Mae Sakharov: challenges you to develop a more interesting life. What else do people want to learn a statement a successful student
Mae Sakharov: Well, no, this is wrong, a successful state statement doesn't focus on what a student did in high school that that's what your resume does a successful statement focuses on a story.
Mae Sakharov: As example of somebody wrote about
Mae Sakharov: The Veterans home I mentioned a successful college statement they worked in a Veterans home and. Prior to working a voluntary in the veterans home. They were very interested in military history and they really believed in heroics, and
Mae Sakharov: They got to speak to a veteran of Vietnam.
Mae Sakharov: And at the same time they were reading a book called The Things They Carried which talked about what people took into war in Vietnam, what was in their pack and how their pack.
Mae Sakharov: Told the history of their life and what and what they learned from speaking to the veteran who happened to be an African American Veteran in a VA home was that
Mae Sakharov: That sometimes the infantry were cannon fodder, that in fact they were which brings forth. All Quiet on the Western Front.
Mae Sakharov: And so in doing the story, the student learn something about the infantry they learned about who a veteran was and they and they broaden their experience that's a personal statement.
Mae Sakharov: That that's a very successful personal state and because it told a story from someone's life that was very important to them, someone else told a story of voluntary at a hospital and they
Mae Sakharov: Were asked to come in to see a baby being born, which is amazing and they saw a DNS SEC mountain, they saw a life. So no a personal statement is not what you've done in high school life I've been fabulous. I am the president of my class.
Mae Sakharov: No, that's in your resume and that and it can become a laundry list then know the personal statement is something that defines you.
Mae Sakharov: And defines you.
Mae Sakharov: I knew somebody another personal statement. I knew, years ago, someone that actually went to an Ivy League school was they wrote math problems.
Mae Sakharov: And their math problems. They were an essay T tutor and they turned in math problems and they solve them. I mean, I don't think that can be done now, because the whole process was different, but that was something that they had done or
Mae Sakharov: Somebody else told about being the only girl in a in a statistics cast in a very uptight school in New Jersey and how it felt she won.
Mae Sakharov: But haven't felt with all you know, there weren't many girls in her class and how it felt. So yeah, no, it's not.
Mae Sakharov: It's not a resume. It's something that really defines who you are and makes you different from other people. So to reiterate, from the beginning of when I said the best preparation for college is knowing what your school
Mae Sakharov: District offers by reading their curriculum. It's very different from one place to another, knowing
Mae Sakharov: Whether they have honors classes that whether they separate the students or not. I personally
Mae Sakharov: Unfortunately, a lot of kids burn out in high school and I would rather have a kid have the opportunity to take strong classes, if possible, not necessarily a piece, do they have to have all AP classes. No, but also you should know
Mae Sakharov: When classes are available to students, one of the local schools only offers AP only and 12th grade. So you have to know what this is and went to take classes.
Mae Sakharov: The same thing about standardized test when they're given it's it's possible of this subject tests are gaining more precedents, because they
Mae Sakharov: They offer based show what somebody has learned in school.
Mae Sakharov: And they can be taken it quite early, but what you don't want to see somebody who's correct for the sap since they were in the seventh grade, and as people have probably noted SAP are no longer
Mae Sakharov: Most many schools are not even counting them because they'd rather look at what someone has done in high school and because there was so much over test prep.
Mae Sakharov: And so know what your school offers
Mae Sakharov: Make going into ninth grade make a whole outline of what courses to take. Make sure you have the requirements to go to college, which means not dropping out of a lot of kids only have
Mae Sakharov: A foreign language in eighth grade and ninth grade, even though that looks like maybe it looks like two years or three years, you really need four years of high school or five years of foreign language
Mae Sakharov: And you need that citizen of the world. In any case, and make sure that you know that you really have
Mae Sakharov: Very good record keeping hold on to papers that you've written, make sure clean out come don't throw out make sure your computer is really organized kids are really sloppy. I would go through things and have lists of ninth grade readings have everything organized and start
Mae Sakharov: start organizing very early on this year in terms of colleges, you have a lot of decisions to make, whether kids should go far away, or because of covert or stay closer to home.
Mae Sakharov: Where they know the environment. Those are really important things to consider.
Mae Sakharov: And also, you know, just keeping eyes on the news and deciding whether it's better. I think a gap year is great, but not necessarily this year because, I mean, people have already been home.
Mae Sakharov: For kids going into 12th grade, should they differ. I'm not quite sure, unless they have something to do. I wish they were really concrete answers about what to do about cope with. But they're not
Mae Sakharov: And the other thing to mention is that all kids have different honor their differences.
Mae Sakharov: nurture their talents and challenge them. And then I think you'll have successful preparation to college. I think that's about all I have to share right now.
Ram Yeleswarapu: Great. Thank you, Dr me greatly appreciate those views and
Ram Yeleswarapu: Once again, just reminding the youth and their families who have signed on to actually please go to the link we see these questions actually coming alongside
Ram Yeleswarapu: And so please keep sending them along and note that the link to the form itself is going to be kept open until end of day June 30 so you have
Ram Yeleswarapu: until end of day in June 30 to actually send in your questions and I kind of see that the questions have started coming in. So, you know, send them across. That's awesome.
Ram Yeleswarapu: So, so again, we know that these are exceptional circumstances with 19 has clearly introduced a lot of uncertainty for many facets of life.
Ram Yeleswarapu: But hopefully, this one, our session with Dr. May kind of shed some light on some some broad aspects of topics that we that you guys chose
Ram Yeleswarapu: On and keep the questions coming and we will kind of compile them please be patient. We will obviously try to see how best we can organize answers and if it makes
Ram Yeleswarapu: A more practical thing for us to organize a follow up session with Dr. May just to kind of have a Q AMP. A we will do that as well.
Ram Yeleswarapu: And please, be mindful when we share the contact information of Dr. May our time is valuable. She used the counselor. She does provide counseling. So, you know, if you do need to reach out to her. Just make sure that you know you consult with your parents, and then you please do contact her
Ram Yeleswarapu: And so, other than that, I think we are done for this session, we're going to wrap it up now and we again thank you sincerely for joining in. You all take care. Please stay safe stay healthy and Dr. Mate, thank you once again for your time greatly appreciate, have a good rest of the afternoon.
Mae Sakharov: Thank you. All right.
Bye bye.