by Karen Wolf

We are pleased to announce that eight of our juniors were selected to participate in this year's Boys State program on June 16-21 at Rider University.  "American Legion Jersey Boys State (ALJBS) is a mythical fifty-first state organized and administered for citizenship training purposes under the auspices of The American Legion." The local Boys State chapter was so impressed with all of our candidates that they are sponsoring all of them! Congratulations to Louis DeLeon, Reed Donegan, Alpha Oduro, Noah Potian, Oliver Rosenthal, Jonah Sulkin, Nathanael Varghese, and Shriram Vasudevan.

by Karen Wolf

Congratulations to Dylan Wigdahl and Shriram Vasudevan, who were accepted to the Governor's School for the Sciences (GSS) at Drew University and the Governor's School for Engineering & Technology (GSET) at Rutgers University.  Both programs are free, prestigious, and highly selective residential programs where students engage in scientific research, team projects, live and learn with like-minded peers from across New Jersey, and interact with professors and people in their respective fields.  We wish them both  a wonderful and rewarding summer experience.

Rochester Institute of Technology congratulates Todd Marks on being awarded the High School Award in Computing! As President Munson describes, "RIT, founded in the 19th century, is today one of the top universities in the nation working at the intersection of technology, the arts and design. We are a university that is shaping the future and improving the world through creativity and innovation."  Award winners who apply, are admitted to, and enroll at RIT are awarded a scholarship worth $19,000 per year. 

Approximately 30 representatives from camps, recreation departments, local non-profit organizations, and other organizations attended the career/job fair on April 11th in the auxiliary gym.  Participating teachers brought their classes to the fair or students could obtain individual passes to meet with the representatives.   The Jersey Mike's table was a big hit as students spun the wheel to win sub sandwiches or other prizes.  Some of the participating organizations included Wegmans, the Dept. of Corrections, Christine Valmy cosmetology school, JR CDL Truck Driving School, One Stop Career Center, and several branches of the military.  We thank our participating organizations and hope students were able to find summer jobs and/or consider various career opportunities. 

A group of 22 juniors were escorted to Montclair State University on April 16th by members of the school counseling staff, Ms. Barrera, Dr. Kenny, Ms. Weisenseel, and Mrs. Wolf.  It was a beautiful day for a walking tour of the university preceded by an admissions overview and culminating in a free lunch at Sam's Place, a food court on campus.  Below are some key facts about Montclair State University:

• Approximately 22,000 students attend the university with about 5,300 living on the 252-acre campus, Division 3 Athletics

• Hispanic-Serving Institution with 45% Hispanic Population and 44% First-generation students

• Most popular majors:  Biology, Business, Psychology, Computer Science, Film/TV

• Red Hawk Advantage Tuition Program - 4 free semesters for families making under $65,000 and 3.0+ GPA

• Early Bird Admission program for Juniors

Special Programs

Culinary/ Hospitality / Tourism Management Program:

• Students complete internships working in resorts in Sea Isle, GA and Kennebunkport, Maine

Allied Health Program: Sonography, Lab Science, & Radiography

• Students start out making approximately $70K per year

• Many hospitals offer loan forgiveness

Respiratory Therapy Program (coming soon):

• Guaranteed employment

• Highly competitive

Bachelor of Science in Nursing:

• Applicants need minimum GPA of 3.0

• 85% pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam

School of the Arts - Theater program

EOF Program:

• Offers counseling, academic support, and leadership opportunities

• Students must attend a mandatory 4 week summer program

• Dr. Kenny, Ms. Streiff, and Mrs. Wolf attended the Counselor Open House on May 3rd.

• Approximately 6,000 undergraduates, 32% first generation students, 54% Students of Color, 80% of students live on campus, 26 Greek organizations.

• Admissions profile is 3.66 average GPA, test optional except certain programs, free laptop given.

• Academic programs include a direct entry nursing program, great health sciences programs, many dual degree programs, and Honors College.

• Generous merit scholarships are given and they look at demonstrated interest (contact with the university).

• New Visual/Performing Arts school is being formed, adding new faculty.

• Fairly new College of Pharmacy/Doctoral program but with early assurance once admitted to Binghamton.

• New SUNY Tuition reduction program for NJ students (Binghamton, Stony Brook, and a few other campuses are excluded).  There are merit scholarships (Dean’s, Provost, and Presidential for top students) which makes the cost less than Rutgers.

• There are many honors programs being offered in different majors in undergraduate research (comes with a $3,000 research stipend), business, and engineering and others

• Good for students with disabilities, one of a few campuses that prints textbooks in Braille.

• Q center for LGBQT+ students helping with housing and other concerns.

• Binghamton accepts AP credits with scores of 3+ and will accept dual enrollment courses for credit with C or higher grades and a transcript from that college.

Ms. Weisenseel attended the Lehigh Valley College Tour in April, visiting Moravian University, Lafayette University, Muhlenberg College, and Cedar Crest College. 

Moravian

• 40% of this year's incoming Freshman class were first-generation college students. 

• Moravian's Career Promise Program  

Lafayette

• Ranks #14 in the nation for Engineering

• Has a prominent focus on mentorship

• The surrounding town of Easton has an abundance of activities and events, including music, food, culture, and arts festivals. 

Muhlenberg

• New experiential learning requirement.

• Has a very popular pre-med program. 92% of students are accepted to dental school and 90% are accepted into medical school.

• Fahy Commons, Muhlenberg's newest building, is the first building in the world to reach the Living Building Challenge Core Ready certification.

Cedar Crest

• Nursing is one of the college's most popular programs. 98% of nursing students pass the Nursing Board Exam

• The Sophomore Expedition is a free, guaranteed study abroad program in which all sophomores who are interested will travel to a pre-selected location, at no cost at all, for 7-10 days . 

• STAR Program= Students with an unweighted GPA of 3.25 or higher will pay the in-state rate of their state's flagship public institution.

Misericordia University 

• Rural/Suburban Campus in Dallas, PA

• 2,100 students

• Rapidly growing population of students of color (21%) and first generation (33%)

• Most popular programs are Health Sciences: Diagnostic Medical Sonography, Nursing, OT, PT, PA, and Speech Language Pathology

• Met 88% of financial need for incoming class, Lowest tuition for a private school in NE PA 

Marywood University

• Residential Scranton campus (2 miles from downtown) 

• 1800 undergrad, 700 grad

• Just completed $2 million renovation for 5-year PA program

• Popular direct admit bachelors programs in Nursing and Respiratory Therapy

• Most popular programs are Architecture (5 year BArch and 6 year MArch), no portfolio required 

University of Scranton

• Premier Jesuit School in Northeast, top 25 Catholic school in the U.S. 

• Beautiful, 58-acre campus is located in downtown Scranton

• Top notch buildings, dorms, and facilities and consistently ranked for best campus dining in the country 

• Most popular programs Business and Health Sciences 

• 3,600 undergrads

King's College

• Small city campus, downtown Wilkes-Barre, PA 

• 2,100 students (undergrad and grad)

• Founded by the Congregation of Holy Cross from the University of Notre Dame

• With a 3.6 GPA you are guaranteed a seat in a 3+2 program, finishing at Notre Dame

• Rare Catholic school that has accredited programs in Business, Engineering, and Health Sciences: Nursing, PA, OT, Athletic Training, Nutrition

• Will match Rutgers tuition for New Jersey students