Counselor’s Corner – April 30, 2020
Social-Emotional Counseling
Spend some time each day checking in on how you and all your family members are feeling. This is a great activity to do at the breakfast or dinner table. Use this feelings wheel to facilitate expression of the variety of feelings we are experiencing right now (and to build our emotional vocabulary).
Weekly Quote from Project Happiness
Many things feel beyond our control right now so let’s focus on what you CAN do right now. I’ve always loved this quote, and it arrived in my inbox today at the perfect time.
College Counseling
Congratulations Seniors! This year’s Grade 12 students have received admissions offers from excellent universities around the world. Here are a few so far: University of Melbourne, University of Amsterdam, Virginia Commonwealth University-Qatar, Hult University-London, York University, Edinburgh-Napier, and Emory. Way to go, Seniors!
The Seniors are currently using their time by taking a University Preparation Course through the University of Washington, USA and presenting weekly on topics relevant to their upcoming university experience such as coping with roommate issues, laundry and cooking, transportation, managing finances, drugs and alcohol, and coping with culture shock. They report that they feel well prepared both academically and social-emotionally for university because of the rich experience they’ve had at BIS together as a small class and from doing the IB diploma.
Virtual University Showcase: Europe
Thursday 30 April, 11:00 BST / 18:00 HKT
Our third showcase features universities from around Europe, including IE University Spain, Jacobs University Bremen and Bocconi University. Admissions reps will share information about their institutions and take questions from counselors, students and parents.
University of The Week – State University of New York at Plattsburgh
Here are some of the creative things we are doing to make the admissions process as simple and quick as possible:
- We send acceptance materials, scholarship award letters, and cost of attendance estimates via email.
- We email the SEVIS ID and an electronic copy of a signed I-20 to each accepted applicant so that they have everything they need to schedule a visa interview right away. When possible, we will send the hard copy of the original I-20 to deposit-paid applicants.
- We offer live chat from our website with currently enrolled students from 6:00 am – 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm to 12:00 am (midnight) every day (including weekends)!
- The Duolingo English Test has been added as another option for applicants to provide proof of English proficiency.
- We will award advanced standing transfer credit for standardized exams (for example, Advanced Placement, International Baccalaureate, Advanced-Levels, etc.) as we always have even though administration and assessment methods have changed.
- We do not require submission of the SAT or ACT for admission or merit award consideration for international applicants.
- We continue to use rolling admission to receive and review applications for fall 2020 enrollment. If an accepted applicant for fall 2020 cannot enroll, we can defer both the acceptance and the scholarship award to spring 2021.
We started this semester with about 300 enrolled international students. Over the last several weeks, many of those students have left campus to return to their home countries or to other places in the United States. We are doing our best to support the basic needs of the approximately 130 international students who remain on campus and in the community. While many of the means we have always used to support and engage our international student community are not available to us, we are continuing to be a community via Facebook, Zoom “town meetings” once each week, individual virtual appointments, email, WhatsApp, etc.
Until next time, be well and resilient,
Jackie Vogl
Associate Vice President, Global Education
State University of New York at Plattsburgh
Phone: +1-518-564-3287
Email: vogljg@plattsburgh.edu
