Let the good times roll

For many of you, the start of a new school year is right around the corner or has already arrived! Congratulations! One more year to make a difference, to create change in the world and put your best foot forward!

For Hami students that have started to email question after question about scheduling, "looking good" or the like-remember to take a deep breath! Keep in mind that your counselor is one person working on schedules and preparing academic profiles for nearly 400 students and for some of them that number is close to 500. Patience is key. I had about 75 emails to respond to today. Welcome back Garza! :-)

Schedules will be distributed soon to eager students and parents. I have some suggestions for you on how to navigate the "system". In my informal and unscientific observations from last year, the suggestions certainly helped both student and counselor.

There is also an incredible amount of discussion around AP classes on FB (yes, I pay attention to whats going on) and I have noticed that most students waited until now to start their summer work and now realized that AP is the maybe best/worst decision (causing for another schedule change). If you aren't sure about whether you have made the right decision to take the AP class, remember that NOT taking the class will not affect you as much as you think it will. Admissions officers will not admit/deny you because you dropped ONE AP class in your schedule during one year (although if it is a common occurrence, perhaps they may look skeptically at your profile). They are bigger picture kind of people.

What do colleges like to see? They prefer that students take advantage of all the opportunities in their environment as well as consistent in their lives-academically, athletically and socially. Be you, your passion will stand out and help you stand out.

I want to also point out that the question "will that sport/activity/class look good for college" is also a loaded question that can lead to lots of lovely discussion. First, read my blog with the same title (click here).

Class of 2012: if you haven't already, it is in your best interest to start working on that personal statement! The University of California has not changed the application prompt and there are no secrets: Review the prompts and start writing! The Common App has similar prompts that students can start working on as well. After spending the last four years reading application essays for my alma mater, I can immediately set apart the students that took the time to write their essay and others that sat at the computer the day before the application was due pretended that the UC app was their daily journal or blog. Not good. Take the time to work on your essay, get help if you need it! If are not a Hami Humanities student, don't fret! I can still help!

The Common App site is open for students to start working. There is so much to do before the application deadlines and if you haven't started plugging away at your "To Do" list, then get to it!