Joye Thaller’s Post

For high school students with Ivy League and top college aspirations, summer can be a particularly stressful time. The pressure to stand out in the college admissions process can feel overwhelming, especially if you missed the deadlines for prestigious academic summer programs. But don't worry, it's not too late to engage in meaningful summer activities that will impress Ivy League admissions officers! Whether it's volunteering in your community, interning at a local business, or pursuing a personal project, there are plenty of ways to make the most of your summer. By demonstrating initiative, creativity, and a passion for learning, you can showcase your potential as a future Ivy League student. Here are 5 ideas that students can still plan... https://lnkd.in/entxP9WX

Summer is upon us, but that doesn't mean our Arizona students have stopped learning. Student summer programs are important for: - Exploration and discovery - Skill development - College and career readiness - Socialization - Personal growth and confidence. Summer programs are vital in preparing students for success in both their academic and personal lives. #EducationMatters #SummerLearning

If you haven’t figured out your Sophomore/Junior’s summer plans yet, you're not too late, but you need to start figuring it out right now! You’re not alone. We will walk you through all the scary what-ifs that make it feel like this decision-making is going to put your kid's college admission in jeopardy. Signet Education’s 40-minute Summer Planning course gives you a plan and a path: How summer can impact college candidacy - in realistic terms! What counts as a summer activity, and how to choose between them?  When do you start planning?  How do you find or create these opportunities?  How to integrate how your child spends their summer into their extracurricular portfolio and whole college profile. Sheila Akbar, PhD, has guided hundreds of families across the U.S. and internationally and will give you summer planning clarity. Access this course with introductory pricing of only $49 (valued at $400). https://lnkd.in/gAHdn_ii

🏖️Summers are crucial components of your college admissions process. Many colleges may ask in their supplement-- How did you spend your summer? Follow these 7 tips to maximize your summer and stand out in college applications! 🏖️  
1. Delve deeper into your academic area of interest by reading, conducting research or pursuing a passion project 2. Attend a competitive summer program that is valued by admissions officers. 3. Study for an upcoming SAT/ACT and achieve the score you are targeting 4. Get a service-oriented job (ex. ice cream shop, grocery store bagger, camp counselor) 5. Volunteer your time to benefit your local community while supporting your interests. 6. Get a head start on your high school classes by preparing for upcoming school year. 7. Seniors, work on your college applications to prevent last minute stress and overwhelm 👉Out of the 7, which ones are you pursuing this summer?

The University of Richmond is an idyllic campus on 350 acres 15 minutes from downtown Richmond, Virginia. According to Princeton Review this year, it's the number one Most Beautiful Campus in the country. To be honest, I'm not sure it beats out Swarthmore, Yale, Bryn Mawr, or Brown, my personal favorites for campus beauty. But it is lovely. With just over 3100 undergraduates, Richmond offers an amazing academic experience that we see with small liberal arts colleges. In fact, Princeton Review also ranked Richmond 3rd for Best Classroom Experience and 5th for Most Accessible Professors. Students here do not apply directly into any major and 70% of students participate in research before they graduate. And the Richmond Guarantee ensures that students receive a $5000 stipend for otherwise unpaid summer internships or faculty mentored research. Also, here's a fun fact: the University of Richmond was the first school in the US to establish leadership as a major; the Jepsen School of Leadership Studies is very impressive and worth a look! Socially, all students get into the Division 1 athletic events for free, and Richmond offers the kinds of events that we just don't see at huge universities, like midnight munchies in the dining hall during finals with a DJ. What I really love is that in order to get university funding, clubs at Richmond must be open to all students and the events that they host must also be open to all. A lot of the students are quite wealthy and many of them are very well-dressed. I noticed this on campus and I noticed it at a nearby hotel I stayed at for a week while many prospective students and their parents were coming and going. Admission is highly selective. I was pleased to hear again that they expect 4 years of the 5 core academic subjects at the highest level the high school offers to be competitive as an applicant. We know this is true for the super selectives, and it's great to hear them be transparent about it. With a 23% acceptance rate, Richmond is now in the same room as Smith, Villanova, Wake Forest and Skidmore. What was a regional university not very long ago is now nationally ranked, and what we call a hot school. Richmond is on the rise! #collegeadmissions #collegeplanning

As part of my annual spring tour of colleges, this past week I visited Bennington College in Bennington, Vermont. I'd lived in Bennington briefly about 20 years ago, but had never actually visited Bennington College until this year. Bennington is a small college of about 730 students with a charming campus filled with eclectic and thoughtfully constructed learning and living spaces. What stands out to me most about Bennington is its innovative curriculum. Rather than declare a traditional major, Bennington students develop an academic plan focusing on a single, challenging, often interdisciplinary intellectual problem or question. Students then embark upon an ambitious research process, including multiple internships, classes, and tutorials, culminating in a 30-60 page research paper as well as some sort of public-facing presentation or performance. Similar to a dissertation committee, a committee of faculty members works closely with each student to hone their research questions, ask questions of their own, provide feedback and support, and help direct the student toward opportunities after they graduate. Many Bennington students go on to graduate school to continue and deepen their research pursuits. It is an innovative, rigorous, and inquiry-driven approach to undergraduate studies, and the students I spoke to were extremely excited about the projects they had embarked upon. The type of student most likely to succeed at Bennington is someone who is, or aspires to be, self driven in their intellectual pursuits, who does not expect a uniform or cookie-cutter design to their program of study. Students enrolling at Bennington don't necessarily need to be natural leaders among their peers, but they do need to be community minded. Bennington students are generally oriented toward helping to make the world a better place, and are people seeking to use their educational experiences to make a difference. If you'd like to learn more about colleges all over the country to develop a robust and diverse college list, use the contact form on my website to schedule your free one-hour consultation. #iec #ieca #collegeadmissions #collegecounselor #collegecounseling

My dream for the higher education side of public administration in Wisconsin: - The existing UW Oshkosh, UW Green Bay, and UW Milwaukee MPA programs form a single system wide MPA program. - UW LaCrosse, who has a great undergrad PA program, also becomes part of the system-wide MPA program. - We create accelerated 4+1 programs that connect undergraduate majors across system schools to the system-wide MPA program so that students can obtain an in-demand credential that sets them up for career success. - We create a statewide advisory board of public service professionals to ensure our offerings match workforce needs. - We create a statewide internship program that gives our students resume-building skills, provides needed work for state and local governments, and strengthens the student to career pipeline. - We establish an applied research center attached to the system-wide MPA program to provide research, trainings, and customized services to government entities throughout Wisconsin. I've thought about ways to accomplish this, there are always piecemeal agreements and MOUs we can pursue, but I think legislation is ultimately how we could get there. I'm sure there are flaws in my logic, but doesn't it make sense to: - Build more career pathways for liberal arts undergrads? - Incentivize collaboration for programs in a common system as opposed to perpetual competition between under-resourced programs? - Provide a vehicle for research based solutions for Wisconsin governments? - Focus the talent in our university system towards making a practical visible impact on communities across Wisconsin? Let's bust down these silos.

Friday Poll ✨ Calling all Tucson high school seniors! What are the top three things you're looking for in a college degree experience? Share your priorities in the comments below and let's see what matters most to our future college students! 🎓🤔  • • • #TucsonBusinessCommunity #LocalCollaboration #SupportLocalBusinesses #PartnershipMatters #TucsonPride #CommunityDrivenEducation #StudentOpportunities #BusinessNetworking #CareerDevelopment #InternshipProgram #LocalEconomy #BuildingConnections #TucsonLeadership #EducationForAll

5 Benefits of Starting at Community College Before Transferring to University After living off-grid across America for 6 months during my gap year, I began my journey at community college before transferring to Drexel University. Here’s why it was one of the best decisions I made: 📝 Personalized Learning: Smaller classes meant more one-on-one time with instructors, fostering a better learning environment. Every teacher I had was phenomenal, sharing not just academic knowledge but also invaluable life lessons. 💵 Cost: Tuition is significantly lower at community college. Without the pressure of high tuition, I could comfortably explore different career pathways at my own pace while putting the savings into investment accounts and minimizing student loan debt.  🌎 Diversity: Community colleges attract students from all walks of life—high school students in dual-enrollment programs, career changers, working parents, and international students. This dynamic mix of perspectives gave me invaluable insights into different careers and life paths, enriching my learning experience. 📸 Flexibility: Flexible schedules allowed me to work part-time and gain internship experience alongside my studies. Staying local also provided the flexibility to nurture my network and expand my photography business, Events with Ethan. 🕔 Time: Community college provided me the most valuable resource in the world: time. Time to discover my direction, master my study habits, build connections in a smaller setting, and time to figure out what I value.    Community college set a solid foundation for my academic and professional success— something I'll carry with me for life. #CommunityCollege #HigherEducation #TransferStudent #DrexelUniversity

New Student Orientation sessions always fly by quickly, forcing our office (and the two others we planned with) to carefully consider what information we wanted to share, and more importantly, what we wanted students to walk away with.🤔 We decided to open things up by posing the following question - "Why did you decide to come to college?" Of course, answers have varied. But in many cases, the answers given by students highlighted the undeniable link that exists between Career Services and the student college journey.🔗 We'd love to hear from you! If you attended a college or university - why did you decide to? If you work in higher education - what does your summer orientation look like and how do you make the most of your time with students?💭