Jen Smith

Posts by jensmith

Pat yourself on the back

This is your last GuidedPath Guru message.  You did it!  You are off to college in the fall!   

Now is the time to:  

  • Pat yourself on the back!  Congratulations on a job well done. 
  • (virtually) High five your friends!  You succeeded together. 
  • Hug your parents or loved ones!  You could not have done it without them.
  • Give your teachers a thumbs up!  They appreciate knowing their classes influenced you. 

As an “official” freshman- you are on your way!  You are moving on to new adventures.  Connect with your college to find out what your next steps are as a freshman. 

It has been our pleasure to join you on this journey the past year.  We hope you have benefited from our tips and tools.  Let us know if you have enjoyed our emails this year.  Write us at support@guidedpathedge.net. 

Congratulations on your success and best wishes for your freshman year!   

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Success in Life


Success in life is more than just graduating from the “best” college.  However, finding the college that’s the best fit for you can help facilitate that success.  Your best fit college may not be the school ranked #1 by US News, or the school your parents went to, or the school your best friend is applying to – you get the idea.  So how do you find college that will help you pave the path to success?   

Jullien Gordon has some advice on that topic in this TEDxTalk.  Jullien talks about the four types of capital that you need to develop in order to achieve success  

  1. Personal capital 
  2. Intellectual capital 
  3. Social capital 
  4. Financial capital 

Understanding these four types of capital can help you choose a college that will open doors for your future.     

Take Action 

As Jullien explains, you must be able to answer the question “Why do I want to go to college?”.  To answer that question, you need to know yourself.  Use the summer to consider what these four types of capital mean to you and why you want to go to college.  An answer to this question will help you define the best fit college for you.    

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Goals for next year

For most students, it’s officially summer now!  Given how this year ended, it may be hard to think about school in the fall.  But now is a good time to reflect on this past year and set your goals for the upcoming school year.  

Look back at this past year: 

  • Are you happy with your grades?   
  • Did you enjoy your classes? 
  • Did you spend enough (or too much) time in extracurricular activities?  
  • Are there activities or classes you wish you could have taken? 
  • What one change will you make for school next year? 

Take Action 

Login to your GuidedPath account.  Do you have everything updated?  Update your profile.  Set a task with your goals for next year. 

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AP Scores and College Credit

AP Scores cropped

Although this year AP tests were “non-traditional”, many colleges have said that they will still award AP credit (see this list by Prompt).  AP scores will be available online beginning July 15.  Scores are released over several days based on the state in which you tested.  View the date and location schedule, and your scores, on the College Board website.  

What is the AP exam score scale? 

There is no “pass” or “fail” on the AP tests.  It’s important to understand the definitions of the AP scores. 

5 = extremely well qualified | Many universities award college credit  

4 = well qualified | Some universities award college credit 

3 = qualified | Some universities award college credit 

2 = possibly qualified | No college credit awarded 

1 = no recommendation | No college credit awarded 

Send Your Scores to Your College 

Be sure you send your scores to the college you are attending in the fall.  The college needs your official AP scores to award you any college credit.  Additionally, your college may use these scores for placement purposes.  Even if you do not receive credit, it’s important to send your official score report.  Check with your college to confirm their policy on awarding AP credit.  You can also find those policies on the AP Credit Policy Search site.  You may also hear this information from your advisor at orientation, or see your college credits on your school’s student web portal.      

What if I have other scores? 

Go to www.apscore.org to view scores on tests you took in previous years. 

I have other questions about AP scores.

You can contact the CollegeBoard directly for AP questions by emailing apstudents@info.collegeboard.org. 

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Summer Melt

It’s summer!!  It’s finally heating up in most places and you might feel like your melting.  However  ”summer melt”  means something very different for colleges.  Each year, colleges require students to submit an enrollment deposit to enroll as freshmen in the fall (usually by May 1, but this year June 1 for some colleges).  After that deposit deadline passes, colleges count up the number of deposits they have and decide whether they need more students to fill their freshman class.  If so, this may lead them to admit students who are on their waitlist.  Those newly admitted students probably sent deposits to other colleges but now those students tell the other colleges they are no longer going to attend.  So that college has an empty seat and so on and so forth.  That’s summer melt for colleges – students who had originally sent their deposit deciding later not to enroll causing the college to fall short of their freshman class goals.   

The pandemic has created anxiety of all kinds including for enrollment managers.  Predictions of students deferring college enrollment or staying closer to home has admission directors eyeing their waitlists.  Counselors are anticipating students may hear from more colleges about waitlists and other offers even late into the summer.    

What does summer melt mean for you?  Well, it means that if you were on the waitlist at a school you might get admitted.  And although unlikely, it’s possible that you could get a revised financial aid package from a school that admitted you.  This may cause you to rethink your enrollment choice.  However, unless it’s an admission offer from your dream college or a truly unbeatable scholarship award, you are probably better off to stick with your original deposit.  You spent a lot of time weighing your options when you made that initial decision.  Don’t second guess yourself unless there is a very compelling reason!  Stick with what your gut tells you and look forward to freshman year with excitement.  

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Essays, essays and more essays

The summer of COVID-19!  Is it looking a little different for you than expected?  No school, no summer job, no hanging out at the community pool or movie theater or coffee shop?  You may find yourself with some extra time these days.   

The college admission process is also looking different than expected for fall.  Many colleges have opted to be test optional for the first time.  This means that admission officers are faced with the task of distinguishing between highly qualified students without relying on test scores.  How do you choose between hundreds or thousands of applicants who have excellent grades and challenging classes on their transcripts?  Needless to say, your essay is one part of the application that can help you stand out.   

So why not spend some extra time this summer refining your essays.  Especially at test optional schools, your essay can take on special significance.  The Common App essay prompts are the same as last year.  If you haven’t already started on your Common App essay, now is the time.  In addition, Common App has added a special “Additional Information” optional essay about how COVID-19 has impacted you.  Should you write this extra essay?  Brad Schiller, founder and CEO of Prompt (a writing feedback company), has some advice for you in his blog.  You should also check to find out if any of the schools on your list require supplemental essays or short answer questions.     

If you are applying to colleges that do not use the Common App, check the college websites to get their essay topics.            

Take Action 

Write something!  Get a first draft of your college essays started now.  This will give you plenty of time to get feedback from multiple people (parents, counselor, teachers, even friends).  It will also give you a chance to put it aside for now and come back to it later.   

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