Outside Reading

By Jonathan, IvyWise Tutor Students around the world are confronted daily with the topics of social and racial justice, whether in their own experiences and communities or, at the very least, in the news and on social media. Students who care deeply about these topics or want to learn more about them might be wondering how to integrate them into their own lessons. There are numerous resources, such as the Zinn Education Project, which provide grade-level-specific teaching materials that center racial and social justice across a variety of subject areas, including art and music, world history and global studies, economics, and even math.

Summer is a time to decompress, rejuvenate, and recenter with friends, family, and outdoor activities. It’s also a time to look ahead to the start of the school year, but often many students don’t start to think about the next semester until it’s looming just around the corner. Summer reading is a great tool to not only keep students engaged throughout the entirety of the school break but also as a last-minute back-to-school prep tool to plan for success in the weeks ahead.

As a former high school English teacher, I always tout the importance of reading as a means to improve one's writing, especially when it comes to the college essay. Author Annie Proulx perhaps sums it up best: "Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write."  Reading exposes you to different writing styles, diction, and sentence syntax which can influence, improve, and even inspire your own writing style.

When it comes to your college application, colleges will look to see how you spent your time outside of school. In addition to your extracurricular activities, you may also want to list hobbies and interests that you commit a significant amount of time to. Reading is probably one of the best hobbies you can have - it can deepen your interests in a particular subject, help you become a better writer, and will prepare you for the often grueling reading lists in college-level courses.

Is the study of history – history? In recent years, only about 1% of college students graduate with a degree in history. In fact, between 2008 and 2017, the latest year with available data, the number of history majors has plummeted by nearly 30%.

With an increasing number of new technologies and an expanding global population, self-studying is on the rise. Education is no longer confined to just the classroom, and some would argue that the classroom model is outdated and does not meet the intellectual needs of individuals in such an interconnected society.  Being an autodidact, or self-teacher, has become increasingly feasible due to MOOCs (massive open online courses), Internet encyclopedias, and more colleges and universities offering courses online.

Setting academic and college prep goals now is a great way to get students excited about their college prep and alleviate some of the stress commonly associated with planning for college. While it may not be time to apply to college yet, starting to think about academic and college prep goals now will make it easier for students to identify solid goals by the time application season rolls around. It will also allow them to relax over any upcoming breaks, rather than stressing about what they need to accomplish before school is back in session.

Latin American studies is an exciting and unique concentration that gives students a specialized global perspective. In these programs, students study the politics, history, culture, and language of Latin American countries and become experts on the many intricate and fascinating aspects of these nations. Students have the opportunity to graduate with an interdisciplinary major, and colleges across the country have developed programs and institutes that provide student bodies with highly specialized educations in the field.

Incoming senior, rising senior — these terms refer to a high school student who has just completed their junior year and will be starting their senior year in the fall. For many rising seniors, the end of their junior year marks the beginning of the long, and often stressful, college application process. While the full Common Application and school specific supplements aren't released until August, some essay topics have already been revealed, and many students are taking the initiative to begin working on their application essays over the long summer break.

IvyWise KnowledgeBase IvyWise Newsletter Applying to US universities as an international student can be a daunting process, and the pressure surrounding college entrance exams like the SAT and ACT can cause additional anxiety. As an international applicant the stakes are high, with some of the US’s most elite colleges posting extremely low international admission rates. Test scores, while not enough to gain admission alone, are critical pieces of the college application process, and international applicants need to understand how to make the most of their test prep.

Compiled by Will Fitzhugh from The Concord Review The formal research paper in high schools has been steadily disappearing over the past two decades, and it shows no signs of revival. The accessibility of the Internet, larger high school class sizes, over-worked teachers, and a growing emphasis on alternative forms of research presentation has dwindled the traditional 15-20 page research paper to just a few pages and Power Point presentations. As the founder and editor of The Concord Review, I have spent the last 26 years championing the significance of the research paper.

The summer between junior and senior year is the prime time for college-bound students to start brainstorming and writing their college application essays. Students can get started on their Common App now, getting the bulk of the work out of the way before the start of the school year in the fall. The first step in figuring out how to get started on the Common App will be to take a look at their 2023-24 essay prompts and begin to brainstorm which topic to write about.