In - Your Guide to College Admissions from The Princeton Review

Teacher Feature: Chicago

This feature on IN is all about The Princeton Review’s awesome test prep teachers.

That’s right—“Teacher Feature” showcases the men and women behind our courses for the ACT, SAT, and other standardized tests. These are the caring and enthusiastic folks who will boost your score and get you one step closer to the best college for you.

This week’s teacher, Ibrahim, comes to us from TPR's Chicago office.

Name: Ibrahim Hamed

Tests you teach: ACT, SAT, PSAT, SSAT, MCAT Physics, and High School and College Academic Tutoring 

Length of time teaching at TPR: Since early 2006.

Site: Chicago 

IN: What do people struggle with most on the ACT? How do you help your students overcome these obstacles?

IH: Students typically struggle with three things:

• General intimidation by the test
• Time
• Energy drainage (the structure of the ACT keeps the most boring and stressful parts—i.e. Reading and Science—toward the end)

How we fight these struggles:

What’s in a Name?

If a student’s mom or dad is a graduate of a certain college, should that influence his admission decision if he decides to apply to that school?

Like it or not, a student’s chances of being admitted to a college will receive a big boost if one of his close relatives is an alumna or alumnus. He would be considered a “legacy” student at that school.

Today, the New York Times blog The Choice explored the long-standing phenomenon of college legacies and how they work today. Check it out here.

Are Today’s College Students Too Self-Centered?

Do any of the following words describe you?

• confident
• competitive
• individualistic
• self-centered
• narcissistic

According to a recent study at the University of Michigan, college students today have bigger egos and less empathy than students of the previous generation did.

A lot has been written in the wake of this study, and StateUniversity.com recently collected some of the most prominent articles on this topic. Check them out here.

Did the list of words above accurately describe you? Either way, do you believe that you and your peers, as a generation, are more self-centered than previous generations were at college age? If so, do you think this is a problem? Email me at INblog@review.com and let me know what you think. I will post responses here on IN.

These Apps will Make You Smarter

Instead of slingshot-ing birds across the screen or playing solitaire for the billionth time, download some apps that will boost your knowledge and testing skills. These phone and tablet apps will make the way you “kill time” this summer a whole lot smarter.

Word Apps

Improving your vocabulary is never a bad idea, and it’s an awesome summer activity for the rising seniors who will have one more crack at the ACT or SAT this fall. Both tests favor students with large vocabularies.

To boost your word skills, Uloop suggests several different apps produced by the likes of Apple and Dictionary.com. I’m partial to The Princeton Review’s own word app, the SAT Vocab Challenge.

A Test-Prep App

I know that standardized tests don't really measure intelligence, but a good score can sure make you seem smarter to a lot of colleges. To move beyond simple vocabulary review, The Princeton Review offers a full SAT review in app form with its SAT Score Quest App for iPad.

The “College App”

If the apps above aren’t enough to satisfy the student in you, one college recently created an app that allows you to access the world of higher education right on your phone or tablet. The University of Phoenix—a for-profit, predominantly online school—recently launched its PhoenixMobile app to extend the school’s online classrooms. You can knock out your Stats 101 homework while waiting in line at the grocery store.

Still Looking for a College?

Help is on the way. Next week, the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) will publish its annual “Space Availability” list of colleges that are still accepting applications.

Perhaps you didn't think through your initial list of colleges. Or maybe you simply haven’t had the opportunity to apply to any schools just yet. Either way, NACAC’s list is a great way to find well-respected institutions where you may continue your education. Many still have financial aid and on-campus housing available.

To access the list, you may visit the NACAC site or simply keep an eye on IN—I will post a link to the list when it has been published.

Keep Your Eyes on the Prize

College-bound seniors have probably heard this about a hundred times, but it bears repeating: even though you’ve now received your acceptance letters, there’s still plenty to do before you head off to college this fall.

To clarify your journey over the next four months, the College Planning Blog recently posted a to-do list for seniors. Doing the following will help to ensure that nothing stands between you and your future college:

• Stay focused academically.
• Commit to one college.
• Complete the financial aid process.
• Be safe.

For advice on each point, check out the full post here.

College Admissions Myths

Do colleges prefer “well rounded” students? Should you take the hardest classes that your high school offers?

The college admissions process is littered with questions and misperceptions. Fortunately, the authors of a new college admission guide recently debunked the most common myths that college applicants hear. In addition to the questions above, these authors tackled topics such as:

• “bragging” on your application,
• applying early decision, and
• finding the best recommendations.

You can see their top 10 admissions myths (and the realities behind them) on this article on the Huffington Post.

Lillian Luterman and Jennifer Bloom are the authors of IN! College Admissions and Beyond: The Experts' Proven Strategy For Success. (Great title, but totally unaffiliated with this blog.)

So What Are the Odds of Getting off that Waitlist?

Look at the numbers and see for yourself. The New York Times blog The Choice recently posted the number of waitlist offers—and the expected class size—for dozens of selective colleges.

Check out the post here. Some schools have created rather small waitlists (your odds are better if you’re on one of these), while others have seemingly done everything in their power to make this “the year of the waitlist.”

In either case, keep in mind that schools typically offer admission to many more students than they can accommodate. They expect many students to turn them down, and they only dip into their waitlist pool when a larger-than-expected number of students decides to go elsewhere.

Student Loans Are Good Debt, But Don’t Go Crazy with Them

Most economists agree that higher education is a good investment—the boost to your lifetime earning potential far exceeds the cost of a degree. So, if you end up taking out loans to pay for college, you should have the ability to pay them off.

That being said, you should think carefully about the size of the loans you’re comfortable assuming. Loans beyond a certain limit can financially constrain you after you first graduate from college, when you’re most financially vulnerable.

Large loan payments may force you to take a job you don’t want, force you to live with your parents, or consume any discretionary income—all situations you’d hope to avoid as a college-educated worker.

Montgomery Educational Consulting recommends that students only take out subsidized federal Direct Loans in their name. Not only do these funds have low interest rates, they’re capped at reasonable levels; your maximum Direct Loan debt would be $27,000 if you complete your degree in four years.

Any difference between that amount and your school’s cost of attendance should be covered first by scholarships and grants and second by parental payments and loans. If those funds don’t cover the remaining cost of attendance for a particular school, it’s probably too expensive for you. You should resist the temptation to take out additional loans in your name.

For those who are wondering, a $27,000 loan requires a monthly payment of about $200 over 20 years. To try additional loan amounts and repayment terms, check out the Loan Payment Calculator at FinAid.org.

Taking Your Economics Course with Mom

As part of a new initiative, community colleges in several states are encouraging individuals over 50 to return to school.

According to Inside Higher Ed, the Plus 50 Initiative is targeting those who completed college but never received a degree.

The director of the American Association of Community Colleges (AACC), Mary Sue Vickers, endorsed the initiative at AACC’s annual meeting this month.

“To meet future demands, we need to prolong the labor force participation of aging baby boomers,” said Vickers.