Dejando atrás los rechazos universitarios

ANNOUNCEMENTS:
*First Outschool Course? Get $20 towards any Outschool class! Enter this code when enrolling: CARISSAH20

(While designed for high school seniors, juniors are welcome to attend if parent feels it appropriate. This course highlights the current academic year's admissions environment, so juniors need to understand their college admissions cycle may produce different trends.)

COURSE DESCRIPTION:
Feeling lost because you were rejected from your dream college? Not sure where to attend after receiving multiple rejections? This is a safe space to explore college rejections, gain perspective, and begin to move on so you can be successful in college and beyond.

The college acceptance game has become increasingly competitive over the past few years, resulting in some surprising college decisions.  Often, students feel discouraged, confused, sad, lost, and sometimes completely devastated when they look at their actual college choices.

The goal of this interactive course is to show students a different perspective on college acceptances and college success using data, facts, various perspective lenses, the role of an admissions counselor, college research, and articles.

*This course has a unique format! The first three meetings are a group class where every student needs to participate in discussion, willing to contribute to the activities, and have cameras on for these purposes. The last meeting is a 15-minute one-on-one session for each student during the actual class time. Independent work (30-60 minutes depending on student) is a required and important part of this course to promote self-reflection.

Course Outline:
**This course requires active participation by every student! This means cameras on, students participating in discussion on course topics and sharing their perspectives. If a student is uncomfortable with this, this course can also be offered one-on-one for an additional cost. Please message me for details! (If a student cannot be on camera for a certain reason, please message the teacher for accommodation options.)

Meeting One: We'll begin with some quick college trivia questions as we get to know each other. Our first discussion involves the 'why college' questions. Students will be given the discussion questions via a google form before class in order to thoughtfully answer and prepare for the class discussion. We'll then learn and discuss the importance of perspective, including discovering what actually goes into college rankings and the concept of prestige. 

Meeting Two: We'll begin discussing the assignment from the previous class then move to examine the college admissions office. We'll look at what admissions may look for and things they must consider. Students will get to act as an admissions officer, deciding which one of three fictional (but real-world based) student profiles they want to admit and why. We'll learn the reasons why college admissions has become so much more competitive in the past few years. We'll end with a brief discussion on what employers look for in college graduates, time permitting.

Meeting Three: Students will give brief, one-slide presentations (their assignment from last class). We'll focus on shifting our perspective from rejection to planning for college success wherever one attends. We'll discuss the concept of identity as a student and discover the surprising benefits of attending a lesser-known or/and a lower-ranked institution. At the end of class, if any student truly feels none of their college choices are a good fit for them, the teacher will provide a list of colleges still accepting applications. We'll also briefly discuss options of either attending a community college then transferring to a four-year school as well as a gap year. By the end of session three, students should be able to put their rejection into a more knowledgeable context and begin the process of moving forward to college success.

Meeting Four: Each student will have a 15-minute one-on-one session with the teacher in place of a group class. Students may use this time to discuss/ask questions about their unique situation, have a short 'decision' session to help them decide which college to attend, look at ways to get the most from their college, or other college application/success questions or concerns. Students will be assigned their meeting time ahead of the class, which will take place during the scheduled class time.