Welcome Back!

Dear SEAD Scholars,

Welcome back to BCSM! I hope you're feeling refreshed after a week off, and I can't wait to reunite with those of you I haven't seen in a while. To recap, we had an awesome information tour and session at Fordham (Lincoln Center) over break. I've included some information highlighted in the information session and tour below to keep it fresh in your minds!

• Fordham College has two New York campuses, located at Lincoln Center, Manhattan and Rose Hill, Bronx.
• Religious affiliation: It's the only Jesuit university of New York, although the school is accepting of all religious (or non-religious) identities.
• Size: Fordham boasts a diverse mix of 1,800 students (undergrad.) who commute and who live on campus.
• Professors: During the information session, the admissions officer emphasized a culture of professors being accessible and demanding, and living by the "cura personalis" philosophy, an ethic of care for all aspects of the students' personal well-being. There's a student-faculty ratio of 12:1.
• Academics: Fordham has a core curriculum, which means all students must take classes within designated categories. For example, all freshmen and seniors take a seminar in values, and students will also take classes in English, philosophy, economics, psychology and other disciplines to provide a well-rounded education.
• Arts: Fordham also has access to unique programs in the arts, such as joint-programs with the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater school.
• Student life: Our tour guide emphasized the vibrant student life at Fordham college, characterized by over 100 student clubs/organizations, dialogue on social change, arts, athletics and more.
• Admissions: In terms of admissions, Fordham College, like many other schools, has a holistic application process that takes into account students' academic transcript, test scores, essay, extracurricular activities and recommendations.
• Financial Aid: Fordham is a private, 4-year college with a tuition of $44,450/year for full-time students (taking 12-18 credits/term) and $1,482/credit for part-time students. There is also an evening college program for $825/credit All colleges have a Financial Aid estimate calculator on their websites, and Fordham's is included below!

https://fordham.studentaidcalculator.com/survey.aspx

Columbus Circle, Manhattan - just a few blocks from Fordham at Lincoln Center

We also had a fantastic SEAD bowling trip this past Saturday (bumpers not included)! For those of you who couldn't make it to the college tours or who are interested in seeing more schools, we'll be looking into planning more college visits together this week. Check out our pictures from bowling below!

Safi in action!

February Break

Hi SEAD Scholars!

I hope you're all enjoying break so far, and Happy Birthday to Michelle! I have some updates on college visits this week! On Thursday, February 19 we're going to Fordham (Lincoln Center) at 11am. The address is 113 West 60th street (between Columbus and Amsterdam), in Manhattan NY. Registration is required for this visit, and register at: https://admission.fordham.edu/event-calendar/?id=a8eeabfe-b6c3-4bd8-9b13-a16039c939bc.

On Friday, February 20 at 3pm we're going to New School, located at 72 5th Avenue (corner of 13th street), in Manhattan NY. Registration is also required and can be found at: https://newschool.askadmissions.net/Portal/EI/Registration?gid=623577e340f204b03d431cb9c115ebb15a2ce4&returnUrl=Search.

We're also going bowling this Saturday (2/21) at 2pm at Gun Post Lanes, located at 1215 East Gun Hill Road, Bronx, NY. There will be food!

I'm happy to chat on the phone this week if you need help with anything, and I look forward to seeing you at our college events and bowling! You can reach me at (917) 573-0437 or at sarah.waltcher@dartmouth.edu. Enjoy the break.

Best,
Sarah

Action shot of Lovtin's star acting class performance!

College Awareness

Hello SEAD Family!

This week, I have lots of updates on college topics. The first update concerns the college blog: I'm meeting with all the scholars and discussing different types of colleges (2- and 4-year) as well as specialized schools. Links to the SEAD blog's in-depth exploration of these topics are below!

http://sead2college.blogspot.com/2014/12/types-of-colleges-two-and-four-year.html

http://sead2college.blogspot.com/2014/12/specialized-schools.html

Students are also encouraged to take this quiz to win cool prizes:
https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1LpOdLZyi5pFQS5qTRfa6yxxy6_99NhWyjzuoR5ivqv8/viewform

In keeping with this college knowledge emphasis, SEAD-BCSM is going on 3 college tours next week during the February break. It's always helpful to see as many colleges as possible to give you a sense of what you're looking for, and we're doing a mix of private and public 4-year colleges/universities. On Tuesday, February 17th we're going to Hunter College at 3pm for an information session and tour. On Wednesday, February 18th we'll explore the New School at 3pm and on Thursday, February 19th we'll head to Fordham (Lincoln Center). I'm so excited to hear your thoughts, which will aid us in ongoing conversations about your college lists.

Finally, we'll be ending next week with a bowling trip on Saturday (2/21) at 2pm at Gun Post Lanes!

Looking forward to this week at BCSM before the break!

Best,
Sarah

Isabel hard at work in the College Office!

Second Semester and College Knowledge

Welcome to second semester of junior year, SEAD!

BCSM was way too quiet last week without you, so it's great to have you back! I wanted to dedicate this week's blog post to an in-depth look at SEAD's College Knowledge blog (http://sead2college.blogspot.com), which is a fantastic resource for you all. This blog can help you build your college list, learn about the college application, and prepare for standardized testing. It can answer questions such as: What's in a personal statement? When should you apply to college? How do you apply for financial aid? How do you get scholarships? There are also resources for your families so you can have these conversations together. The blog compiles all this important information in one spot, and I hope you'll find this helpful.

Not only is this blog a major asset to you, but it can also help you win prizes! At the winter reunion, many of you received prizes for previous college knowledge work you've done. I've included the new point system below. Take the blog's quizzes for the double benefit of making yourself a more informed applicant and getting college apparel!

Best of luck getting back to classes!

Sarah

Photo of the week: Kat and I hanging out in Manhattan!