Friday, October 23, 2015

New SAT Breakfast on 10/29 at 8:30AM

The Guidance Department at Burlington High School and KAPLAN Test Prep will co-host a breakfast to explain the New SAT, which will be offered beginning in March, 2016. This breakfast will be held on Thursday October 29th at 8:30 a.m. in the Guidance College and Career Center at Burlington High School. Although this new SAT impacts the Class of 2017, attending this breakfast is open to any other interested parent. Please join us for this informative event on October 29th. If you plan to attend please call 781-270-1780 to confirm your attendance. We look forward to seeing you there. 

Thursday, October 22, 2015

College Fair

On Tuesday October 27th from 6:30 -8:30 p.m., a college fair will be held at the Shriner's Auditorium in Wilmington, MA. The Burlington High School Guidance Department co-sponsors the event with many other Middlesex League High Schools. Usually over two-hundred colleges will attend. A college fair can be a very overwhelming experience for parents and students. The National Association for College Admissions Counseling (NACAC) has developed some very helpful tips that when attending a college fair. We also recommend bringing a pre-determined list of colleges. Make it a priority to visit the schools on your list, then time permitting check out some others. Please remember you are not obligated to stay the whole time, many students spend about an hour at the event.  


If you will be attending the Reading Cooperative College Fair on Tuesday, October 27 at Shriner's Auditorium, there will be a text-messaging registration system available for you to use. Instead of filling out paper contact cards by hand for every school you’re interested in, you can save time by providing your information via text message to colleges of your choice.
Here’s what you need to do:

1.     Text  #BurlingtonHS to 424-888-7537. You will get prompted to fill out your basic contact information via text.
2.     At the fair, you will receive a list of colleges and their texting codes. When you find a school you like, text the code to the number, and your information will get sent electronically to that school.


Below is the most up to date list of colleges attending:

Colleges attending as of October 20, 2015
Albertus Magnus College
American International College
Anna Maria College
Assumption College
Bay Path College
Bay State College
Benjamin Franklin Institute
Berklee College of Music
Boston Architectural College
Boston University
Brandeis University
Bridgewater State University
Bryant University
Burlington College
Castleton State College
Champlain College
Clarkson University
Colby-Sawyer College
College of Mount St. Vincent
College of New Jersey
College of the Holy Cross
College of Saint Rose
Columbia College-Chicago
Curry College
Daniel Webster College
Dean College
Dickinson College
Eastern Nazarene College
Elms College
Emmanuel College
Endicott College
Fairfield University
Fashion Institute of Design & Merchandising
Fisher College
Fitchburg State University
Framingham State University
Franklin Pierce University
Hamilton College
Hampshire College
Hartwick College
Harvard College
High Point University
Hofstra University
Husson University
Iona College
Ithaca College
ITT Technical Institute
Johnson and Wales University
Johnson State College
Keene State College
Lasell College
Lawrence Memorial/RC Nursing & Med. Radiography
LeMoyne College
Lesley University
Lincoln Technical Institute
Lyndon State College
Lynn University
Manhattan College
Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy & Health Sciences
Massachusetts Maritime Academy
Merrimack College
Middlesex Community College
Mitchell College
Mount Holyoke College
Mount Ida College
National Aviation Academy
Nazareth College
New England College
New England Hair Academy
New England School of Photography
Newbury College
Nichols College
North Shore Community College
Northern Essex Community College
Norwich University
Pennsylvania State University
Personal Financial Management Plus
Pine Manor College
Plymouth State University
Providence College
Purdue University
Quinnipiac University
Reading Cooperative Bank
Reading Scholarship Foundation
Rivier College
Roanoke College
Rochester Institute of Technology
Rutgers University
Sacred Heart University
Saint Anselm College
Saint Joseph's College - Maine
Saint Leo University
Saint Michael's College
Salem State University
Salve Regina University
Savannah College of Art & Design
Siena College
Simmons College
Southern New Hampshire University
Southern Vermont College
Springfield College
Stonehill College
Stonybrook University
Suffolk University
SUNY-Genesco
Susquehanna University
Temple University
Thomas College
Trinity College-CT.
United States Air Force 
United States Army Recruiting Station
United States Army National Guard
United States Marine Recruiting Office
United States Navy Recruiting Office
Unity College
Universal Technical Institute
University at Albany 
University at Buffalo
University of Connecticut
University of Delaware
University of Hartford
University of Limerick
University of Maine-Farmington
University of Maine-Orono
University of Massachusetts-Amherst
University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth
University of Massachusetts-Lowell
University of New England
University of New Haven
University of Rhode Island
University of Saint Joseph's
University of Scranton
University of Southern Maine
University of Tampa
University of Vermont
Utica College 
Villanova University
Wagner College
Wentworth Institute of Technology
Western New England University
Westfield State College
Wheaton College 
Wheelock College
Worcester State University

Monday, October 19, 2015

Social Media Readiness for College and Career


Alan Katzman from Social Assurity presented to students on 9/28/15. His message was clear in that social media can play a big role in the college and career selection process. Below are some highlights from the event:

  • Most teens don’t think about how their social media activities will impact their future academic and career goals. Usually just focused on communicating with friends.
  • Everything you post is permanent--even Snapchat and YikYak. Part of Digital Footprint. Some is harder to find than others, but all is discoverable. Anonymity is a myth.
  • People who have never met you will make decisions about you based on what they see.
  • GPA and test scores are not enough to distinguish students for admission to highly competitive colleges.
  • Percent of admissions officers who visited an applicant’s social media page continues to go up every year. 44% in 2016 as compared to 24% in 2011 (projected 57 in 2018). They are not looking to find bad information. They are looking to find out more about the applicant.
  • Idea of “social proof” is to confirm idea about someone by seeing that social media profile matches hypothesis. Important to present yourself as you want to be seen.
  • 93% of employers look at social media before hiring. Lots of companies even hire directly from social media (LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter)
  • Worst kind of posts for perception would be “I hate my teacher” or being cruel to other students.
  • Don’t recommend keeping social media “private” or trying to use an alias account during college admission. They will find you, so be authentic. If you can’t be found on Facebook, it might be a red flag.
  • Get their attention the right way--to get noticed and get engaged.
  • Demonstrate your passion and commitment. Tell your story.
  • LinkedIn profile shows up at the top of Google searches and is a great way to demonstrate interest. Allows you to find communities of people who went to the schools you are interested in. Can put Activity List on LinkedIn. Not just for people in the business world.
  • “Demonstrated interest” (whether they think you’ll attend if accepted) is an extremely important factor in admissions and is another thing colleges may look for on social media.

Friday, October 16, 2015

An Evening with Admissions Expert Mark Montgomery on 10/22 at 6:30


On Thursday October 22nd at 6:30 P.M. in the Burlington High School Auditorium Mark Montgomery, a national college admissions expert, offers his advice on how to avoid the pitfalls and pain of applying to college. Most people take a haphazard approach to visiting schools, examining statistics, consulting rankings, and comparing campus amenities as they consider which colleges might be the right fit. Similarly, during the application process, students seldom think strategically as they fill out forms, write essays, plan for interviews, and communicate with admissions offices.

But the investment in higher education is huge: hundreds of thousands of dollars, huge student loans, and at least four years of hard work. Shouldn’t the process be less scattershot and more systematic? Why is it so hard to be rational in this process?
Filled with good humor, a healthy dose of reality, and concrete examples of real students who avoided these mistakes, the presentation addresses these crucial questions and more:

• How do you calculate “return on investment” in higher education?
• What is the right way to shop for colleges?
• What are the 12 factors in the admission process?
• What are the “hidden” parts of the Common Application?
• Why is it so important to start early in this process?
• How can you develop a personal strategy for success?
• How do you preserve sanity in your household?


Dr. Mark Montgomery earned his BA at Dartmouth College and his Masters and Doctorate at Tufts University. He has been an instructor at Harvard and a consultant at Yale. He specializes in demystifying the ways in which colleges recruit and admit students. His views and advice have appeared in US News & World Report, Money, USA Today, Forbes, The Apple Daily (Hong Kong), The Huffington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, and The Denver Post. He also writes a popular blog on university admission at GreatCollegeAdvice.com.
Montgomery Educational Consulting is a full service educational firm that assists students and their families as they select and apply to the best and most appropriate universities. With offices in New Jersey, Hong Kong, and Colorado, Mark works one-on-one with students to guide them in their choices in secondary school, to articulate which educational environments lead to academic success, and identify how personal and family needs, preferences, and ambitions can be combined to help them pick the right universities—and get in.

Thursday, October 15, 2015

College Topics for Senior Parents

The Guidance Department will host a breakfast called “College Topics for Senior Parents”. The purpose of this breakfast is so the counseling staff can give a very brief overview of important tasks associated with the college selection and application process. This event is geared for parents that missed the Senior College Planning Night on 10/1/15. Please join us for this informative event on October 21st at 8:30 AM in the BHS Guidance College and Career CenterParent's MUST RSVP by calling 781-270-1780.