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| A+ Test Prep and Tutoring Newsletter |
February 2011 |
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Shopping for Colleges: The Surrounding
Environment Matters | |
As we dig through the seemingly endless piles of snow created by the latest winter blast, high school seniors are beginning to receive word back from the colleges to which they applied. The schools have looked at a student's grades, extracurricular activities, and SAT scores, but the student and his parents have additional variables to consider when investigating prospective schools. What is dorm life like? Are professors accessible? Is the campus well-maintained? Do I feel like this school is a good match for me?
While all of these factors are very important, it is equally critical to consider the campus's surroundings. Is the college situated in a city? Is it in a rural setting? A student's personality and goals should fit within that broader environment. To think that she will not have any interaction in the "bigger world" is naïve. I once spoke with a student who had attended a college in a rural community. In spite of the excellent academic programs, learning support center, and friendly peers, he was miserable. The pungent smell of cow manure was overwhelming, a feature of this college that he had failed to recognize during his initial visits to the school. Having grown up in suburban Philadelphia, he was accustomed to a more urban lifestyle. The rural surroundings of his college were slow-paced and failed to spark his interest. When he realized that the highlight of the year was the annual pumpkin picking festival, he knew that he had to make a change. Luckily, the student found a suburban college that better met his needs and he transferred there during his sophomore year.
A student might also want to consider a school where the university and town life are mutually inclusive. I recently visited the Claremont Colleges in Southern California -- a conglomerate of private, small liberal arts colleges -- comprised of Pomona, Claremont McKenna, Harvey Mudd, Pitzer, and Scripps. Many of the students I spoke with expressed how much they love the fact that the town of Claremont is oriented around the colleges. Whether it is at one of the local eateries or at the town library, students and residents of Claremont often interact. On the tree-lined streets in the family-friendly neighborhoods I overheard meaningful conversations between these two groups. The residents are happy to share their community with the students, and similarly, the students are thrilled to feel so welcome in this tiny town.
At the opposite end of the spectrum are colleges in major cities. The action and fast pace of urban life attract hundreds of thousands of students every year, but what some students don't expect is the anonymity that can come with city life. When a city serves as the school's campus, it can be very challenging to find one's niche. Some schools, such as The New School in New York City, are so well blended into the fabric of their cities that it is difficult to distinguish between the student and other city dwellers. These issues might not matter, however, to the person who loves the unmatched exposure to art and culture that the city affords, along with plentiful job and internship opportunities. The student and his family should keep in mind that in a city like New York, the cost of living is high, and some students might find it difficult to acclimate to such an environment. In general, a student with characteristics such as independence, direction, and flexibility will fare well in a big city.
So, as you visit colleges, pay attention to student activities on campus. Look at class sizes and dorm room accommodations. But do not forget to look at the environment surrounding the colleges you are visiting. As remote as it may seem to you, the world that exists beyond the gates of each campus needs to meet your needs just as much as the college itself.
Hannah Bookbinder, LSW, M.Ed. is a college admissions consultant, academic coach, and therapist with a private practice in Berwyn and Bala Cynwyd. She can be reached at HannahBookbinder@yahoo.com or 610 647-3959 ext 107. Her website is MyWay2Success.com.
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Featured Student: Amanda Bielanski
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This month we are pleased to profile Council Rock North High School senior Amanda Bielanski. In May and June of 2010, Amanda took the SAT and received the same score both times. She knew she could do better. She signed up for a course with A+, which she credits with providing a clear schedule and giving structure to her study routine. Amanda found it highly beneficial to take her SAT course over the summer, which allowed her to devote time solely to SAT work. Without school homework, she had the time to take numerous practice tests. The hard work paid off, as Amanda saw a 240 point increase when she took the test again in October, 2010!
Amanda commented on the importance of connecting with her tutors, who helped her calm down about the entire SAT and college preparation process. Amanda's verbal tutor, Christine Sweger, remarked, "Amanda was a great student. Her commitment to the program and her positive outlook were crucial to her success." Bob Beckelman, who worked with Amanda on math, commented: "My sessions with Amanda were among the most enjoyable and satisfying that I've experienced over the years," especially when after a few sessions, he could see the "light come on" as she caught on to the strategies, and her practice SAT scores improved dramatically.
From a young age, Amanda has been an avid dancer; she has studied ballet, jazz, and now belly dancing. She is a member of the National Honor Society and German Honor Society. In her free time, this busy senior enjoys travel, and has visited Europe, the Caribbean, and Tunisia. Pre-med studies are in Amanda's college plans, and she is well on her way to her dream of working at the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, with college acceptance letters in hand from Drexel University, Temple University, and the University of Pittsburgh.
Overall, Amanda felt that A+ helped her a lot, both in preparing for the SAT test in her daily schoolwork. Congratulations on your achievements, Amanda!
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Can Comics Help Improve Reading Comprehension?
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Should comic books have a place on the classroom shelf next to "real" children's books? Carol L. Tilley, an expert in children's literature and a professor of library and information science at the University of Illinois, thinks they should. She believes that comics are just as sophisticated as other forms of literature. In an article published in School Library Monthly in 2009, Tilley asserts that children benefit from reading comics at least as much as they do from reading other types of books. "Any book can be good and any book can be bad, to some extent," she said. "It's up to the reader's personality and intellect. As a whole, comics are just another medium, another genre."
Critics might argue that reading comics doesn't approach the complexity of conventional books, but Tilley maintains that reading any work successfully, including comics, requires more than just assimilating text. "If reading is to lead to any meaningful knowledge or comprehension, readers must approach a text with an understanding of the relevant social, linguistic and cultural conventions," she said. "And if you really consider how the pictures and words work together in consonance to tell a story, you can make the case that comics are just as complex as any other kind of literature." As for the argument that kids just look at pictures and not at words when reading comics, Tilley points out that they could be doing exactly the same thing with other kinds of illustrated books.
Historically, comics were written and drawn primarily for the adult readers of newspapers starting around 1890. However by 1910 they had very quickly turned into a medium that was appropriated by kids. According to Tilley, even in the early 1900s there were teachers who raised concerns about comics, saying that their content wasn't appropriate for children, or that it wasn't real literature. And when the first comic books were published as anthologies of popular published comic strips in the mid-1930s, Tilley remarked that "the same concerns sprang up again from adults," who noted the use of slang, colloquialisms, and questionable pictures. In 1955, after a sustained outcry over the suitability of comics as children's reading material, the comics industry instituted a restrictive editorial code and juvenile readership plummeted. Comics then became an adult medium, and today the term "graphic novel" is sometimes used to give comics a measure of respectability. Recently, some artists, publishers, and creators of comics, including Pulitzer-Prize winners Art Spiegelman and Michael Chabon, have advocated reconnecting a juvenile audience with comics, but those efforts have had only mixed success.
"If you look at the comics that are being mass-marketed to kids," Tilley said, "it's mild, tame stuff with a strong commercial tie-in to another media format. There aren't many stand-alone titles unless you go to a comic book store." The one exception is Manga, the Japanese version of comic books that has its own unique artistic and narrative style. "You are going to find a wide selection of Manga at most bookstores," Tilley said. "That's another part of comics that has taken off--one that kids have claimed as the format of choice for themselves." In general, bookstores and libraries will have a greater selection of comics than schools, due in part to funding cuts and traditional resistance from some teachers and school librarians.
Although commercial publishers of comics have yet to recapture children's imaginations, Tilley says that some librarians and teachers are increasingly discovering that comics can be used to support reading and instruction. "In the last 15 years, we've seen some big changes. For instance, comic book publishers and distributors are showing up at library conferences and some journals regularly evaluate graphic novels. That would have been unimaginable 20 years ago. So it has caught on, to some degree."
And, despite their marginalization, Tilley said the distinct comic book aesthetic--frames, thought and speech bubbles, and motion lines--has been co-opted by children's books, creating a hybrid format. "There has been an increase in the number of comic book-type elements in books for younger children," Tilley said. "There's also a greater appreciation among both teachers and librarians for what comics and comic books can bring to the classroom. For example, the National Council of Teachers of English sponsors an instructional Web site called 'Read, Write, Think,' which has a lot of comics-related material. Instructional units like these would have been much more rare 10 years ago."
So, before dismissing the graphic novel section in the bookstore as inappropriate, perhaps it's time to give the comics another glance!
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FREE Proctored ACT and SAT Exams This Weekend in Bucks County
(And more in March and April in both Mont. and Bucks counties) |
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Mark your calendars! Due to the popularity of our free proctored exams, we have expanded the number of locations where we offer our free, no-obligation, proctored ACT and SAT practice exams.
These exams are open to current students and to members of the community. Exams are being offered at four locations this spring:
Wrightstown Village Library
727 Penns Park Road
Wrightstown, PA 18940
Dates:
Sunday, Feb. 20, 2011
1:00 PM to 5:15 PM
AND
Sunday, Mar. 20, 2011
1:00 PM to 5:15 PM
Warminster Free Library
1076 Emma Lane
Warminster, PA 18974
Dates:
Saturday, Feb. 19, 2011
10:15 AM to 2:30 PM
AND
Saturday, Mar. 19, 2011
10:15 AM to 2:30 PM
Penn Wynne Library
130 Overbrook Parkway
Wynnewood, PA 19096
Date:
Saturday, April 2, 2011
10:00 AM to 2:15 PM
St. Paul's Church
120 N. Easton Road
Glenside, PA 19038
Date:
Saturday, April 2, 2011
9:00 AM to 1:15 PM
This is a great opportunity for students to take the ACT or SAT in a simulated test center environment prior to sitting for the "real" thing. Students will receive a detailed score report which includes an analysis of their strengths and weaknesses on the exam.
These free tests are offered by A+ on a no-obligation basis.
Space is limited, though, so call our office today at 215.886.9188 or 610.520.0537 to register.
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Save The Date: JCC Kaiserman Offers a Free College Admissions Seminar
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45 Haverford Road, Wynnewood, PA 19096
Date: Thursday, March 24, 7:00 PM to 9:00 PM
A+ is teaming up with Hannah Bookbinder and the JCC Kaiserman Branch to offer this informative program for high school students and their parents.
Topics to be Presented
- What are colleges looking for in an applicant?
- How best to prepare your son or daughter for the college admissions process
- Common "Mistakes and Myths"
- Overview of college admission tests: PSAT, SAT, ACT, SAT Subject Tests, AP Exams
- Should your child consider the ACT as an alternative to the SAT?
Space is limited to 30 attendees. Call (215) 886-9188 today to register and reserve your place!
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Thank you for your interest in A+ and our newsletter. Feel free to contact us at 215.886.9188 or on the web at www.aplustutoring.com.
And don't forget to visit the A+ Blog, which is updated weekly with articles relating to a variety of education-related topics including college admissions, test prep, learning disabilites, reading skills, and more.
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Daniel Ascher
A+ Test Prep and Tutoring |
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