Quidditch - College Admission Counseling https://greatcollegeadvice.com Great College Advice Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:10:45 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://greatcollegeadvice.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/758df36141c47d1f8f375b9cc39a9095.png Quidditch - College Admission Counseling https://greatcollegeadvice.com 32 32 Freshman Orientation Comes Eight Months Early https://greatcollegeadvice.com/freshman-orientation-comes-eight-months-early/ Thu, 16 Dec 2010 15:10:45 +0000 https://greatcollegeadvice.com/?p=6695 Facebook groups allow students to meet their future classmates eight months early.

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]]> The ink is barely dry on the Early Decision college acceptance letters but students aren’t waiting for freshman orientation to meet each other. Thanks to Facebook, the original college “getting to know you book,” kids are discovering who will be in their class and whether they’re from Oklahoma City, Los Angeles or even Dubai.
They’re trading stories about what they like to do and what they dream of doing in college.   A favorite topic is the weather particularly for the experienced East Coasters sharing clothing tips with the West Coast kids.
Students are also reaching out to each other in a non viral way and considering meeting in person. If you live in the tri-state area, let’s meet up over the holidays.
Who plays quidditch?  Anyone want to start a team?
The best part of these Facebook gatherings are the sheer joy that jumps off the screen. The happiness these students feel from getting accepted and from meeting like minded folks is overly apparent.
“Even though we haven’t met, I feel like we’re friends already!” or “Who knew one piece of paper could make me so happy!”
These Facebook get-togethers aren’t organized by the colleges. Rather, they’re completely a grass roots effort. So log on today, and if your new college doesn’t have a group, be a leader and create one! Wait, you don’t have to be a leader anymore, now that you’re accepted to college??!! Think again.
Juliet Giglio
Educational Consultant in Los Angeles, California

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]]> College Admission, Hogwarts, Harry Potter, and a Lesson in Marketing https://greatcollegeadvice.com/college-admission-hogwarts-harry-potter-and-a-lesson-in-marketing/ Sun, 06 Dec 2009 15:22:22 +0000 https://greatcollegeadvice.com/?p=3413 An editorial in today’s New York Times is written by a prospective college student, Lauren Edelson, who laments that every college in America is now comparing itself to Hogwarts. And she’s right: they do. For two reasons. First, today’s college students grew up with J. K. Rowling, just as I grew up with Dr. Seuss. […]

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]]> An editorial in today’s New York Times is written by a prospective college student, Lauren Edelson, who laments that every college in America is now comparing itself to Hogwarts.
And she’s right: they do. For two reasons. First, today’s college students grew up with J. K. Rowling, just as I grew up with Dr. Seuss. Students today quote lines from the books and movies, just as students my age regaled in singing the song from “Brady Bunch” or “Gilligan’s Island.” Times have changed, icons have changed, but kids have not.
Second, and because Harry Potter and Hogwarts are so iconic, colleges craft marketing messages around J. K. Rowling’s settings and characters. If Hogwarts is every kid’s idea of school, then it’s only natural for university offices of communications to use Rowling’s language to entice potential applicants.
I don’t disagree with the editorial one whit. And I applaud the author’s desire to focus her college search on what really matters in a school: academics.
But the writer is both unusual in her focus and naive in her understanding of how colleges and universities operate. The comparisons to Hogwarts are lost on this young woman, but they resonate with the vast majority of prospective students today.
Mark Montgomery
Educational Consultant in Colorado

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