1. education
2. graduate school
3. college

Volume 25 No. 7
22
April
Published by the Tustin Unified School District
Orange County National College Fair
Anaheim Convention Center, Hall E
800 W. Katella Avenue, Anaheim, CA 92802
714/765-8950
Saturday, April 22, 2012, 1:30 p.m. - 4:00 p.m.
March 2012
Famous
‘Rejects’
Warren Buffett
Chairman of Berkshire
Hathaway Inc.
Before They Were Titans, Moguls and Newsmakers
These People Were...
Rejected At College Admission Time
After Harvard Business School said no,
everything ‘I thought was a crushing event
at the time, has turned out for the better.’
Lessons in Thin Envelopes
Had she not been rejected by Harvard, she
doubts she would have entered television
journalism.
By SUE SHELLENBARGER,
the wall street Journal
Meredith Vieira
‘Today’ show co-host
Lee Bollinger
Few events
arouse more teenage
angst than the
springtime arrival
of college
rejection letters.
With next fall’s
college freshman
class expected to approach a record 2.9
million students, hundreds of thousands
of applicants will soon be receiving the
dreaded letters.
Teenagers who face rejection will be
joining good company, including Nobel
laureates, billionaire philanthropists,
university presidents, constitutional
scholars, best-selling authors and other
leaders of business, media and the arts
who once received college or graduateschool rejection letters of their own.
Both Warren Buffett and “Today” show
host Meredith Vieira say that while being
rejected by the school of their dreams was
devastating, it launched them on a path
to meeting life-changing mentors. Harold
Varmus, winner of the Nobel Prize in
medicine, says getting rejected twice
by Harvard Medical School, where a
dean advised him to enlist in the military,
was soon forgotten as he plunged into
his studies at Columbia University’s med
school. For other college rejects, from Sun
Microsystems co-founder Scott McNealy
and entrepreneur Ted Turner to broadcast
journalist Tom Brokaw, the turndowns
were minor footnotes, just ones they still
remember and will talk about.
Rejections aren’t uncommon. Harvard
accepts only a little more than 7% of
the 29,000 undergraduate applications
it receives each year, and Stanford’s
acceptance rate is about the same.
“The truth is, everything that has happened
in my life...that I thought was a crushing
event at the time, has turned out for the
better,” Mr. Buffett says. With the exception
of health problems, he says, setbacks
teach “lessons that carry you along. You
learn that a temporary defeat is not a
permanent one. In the end, it can be an
opportunity.”
(continued on the back page)
Columbia University president
To ‘allow other people’s assessment of you
to determine your own self-assessment is
a very big mistake.’
Harold Varmus
Nobel laureate in medicine
Rejected twice by Harvard’s medical
school. One dean there chastised him and
advised him to enlist in the military.
Ted Turner
Entrepreneur
Rejected by Princeton and Harvard. ‘I want
to be sure to make this point: I did everything I did without a college degree.’
John Schlifske
President of
Northwestern Mutual
Lesson he learned from Yale’s rejection
helped him years later counsel his son,
Dan, who was rejected by Duke.
Tom Brokaw
Broadcast journalist
Harvard rejection prompted him to settle
down and stop partying. ‘The initial stumble
was critical in getting me launched.’
Make the Most of Spring Break College Visits
Thinking about swinging by a few college campuses over spring break? I spoke with
Don Fraser Jr., director of education and training at the National Association for College
Admission Counseling, about how to make the most out of your visit.
Planning
Planning is critical. Research ahead
of time to learn all you can about the
colleges you want to visit. Write down
what stood out, take notes, and bring
them along so you know what questions
to ask. Look closely at the calendar and
find out when tours are offered. If you
have time and the college offers it, stay
overnight to get a richer sense of the
atmosphere on campus.
Attitude
Have an open mind when visiting a
campus. “Don’t put too much stock in any
one piece of information from a friend or
website,” says Fraser. “Try to go into the
visit as objective as possible.” There can be
a lot of emotions going into a visit—maybe
the student is being pushed to go, the
weather might be bad, etc. Pay attention
to those gut feelings and realize that might
cloud your impression of the college.
Registration
Increasingly, schools flooded with applications are looking to see if you’ve
been interested enough to visit their
campus and weigh that in the admissions
process. Be sure to fill out a form when
you visit so there is a record of your
being there.
Look beyond the buildings
Set up meetings. If you want to know
more about a certain department, contact
t us t i n un i f i e d s c h o o l d i s t r i c t someone ahead of time for a meeting or
to sit in on a class. Interviewing with the
admissions office on a visit varies widely
by school, says Fraser.
Don’t just ask for a meeting for “strategy
sake,” but if it’s someplace you really want
to go, ask about a meeting. Look beyond
the buildings. “When people are being
paraded through on a tour or wandering
aimlessly, look at what’s posted on bulletin
boards to see what’s happening,” says
Fraser. Pick up the student newspaper and
check out the police blotter to get a handle
on the crime. Talk to students, other than
the tour guide, about the school. “Students
are usually willing, ... and it can be pretty
revealing,” he says.
Develop a Strategy
For many students, there are two or
three schools that have risen to the top
of their list that they want to check out
first. If you can’t do lots of traveling, at
least visit a large and a small school and
one in rural, suburban, and urban settings
to make some comparisons. There are
also virtual tours online.
Keep Track
How To Succeed
Academically In
High School
The key is strong study skills. It is
important to develop and maintain
good study skills throughout your
high school career. Here are just a
few suggestions to start your year
off well and help you keep up with
your studies.
››Use an assignment notebook or daily planner
every day to keep track of homework, tests,
quizzes, and grades.
›› Keep a separate notebook and folder for
each of your classes.
››Pay attention in class and take good notes.
These notes will be very important in helping
you study for midterm and final exams.
››Participate in class discussions. This will keep
you focused on the topic at hand, and show
your teacher that you care about learning.
››Always ask questions if you need something
clarified. If you cannot get your question
answered during class time, make some time
to speak with the teacher after class. Go for
extra help whenever you are struggling in a
class. Your teachers are regularly available
after school to help you. Not only will you get
your questions answered and get you started
on your homework, but it will show your
teacher that you care about his/her class.
››Save all of your old tests and quizzes and
keep them organized. These, too, will help you
with tests and final exams.
››Do all your homework. In addition to
assignments to be handed in, you should
review your notes and do all required
readings. On average, you should
have one hour of homework
per class every night. In
reality, you should never
have a night without
homework!
After a week of hopping from one
campus to the next, they can all blur
together, so jot down some notes and
snap a few photos to remember what
you liked, suggests Fraser.
Exerpted from an article by Caralee Adams
2
MARCH 2012
Want to Know the Likelihood a College Will Accept You?
There’s an App for That!
There’s an app for just about everything
these days, so it’s about time that there’s
one that will help students determine
how likely they are to be admitted at their
school of choice. The Facebook application,
AdmissionSplash, asks students to submit
a personal profile including quantitative
and qualitative characteristics, such as test
scores, grades and extra-curricular activities,
which colleges consider when making
admissions decisions. Then the program
enters that information into a complex
algorithm to predict the student’s chance
of getting into any of the 1,500 colleges
currently included.
According to tests conducted at UCLA
and NYU, AdmissionSplash founders
looked at three sets of students – 88 and
73 from UCLA and 75 from NYU – and
found that the app was able to accurately
predict admissions decisions for 85, 91
and 97 percent from each group, respectively. AdmissionSplash co-founder Allen
Gannett views the application as a morepersonalized college guide book, calling
it “a really good tool for narrowing down
your choices,” but is quick to point out that
students should not rely on it as a sole
indicator. Gannet believes the app will help
students navigate through the stressful
application process and hopes to develop
a program that will predict admission
chances for law, medical, business and
grad school applicants.
by Suada Kolovic, www.scholarships.com
Fastest Growing Occupations Projected from 2008 to 2018
Occupations
Percent
Change
New Jobs
(in thousands)
Wages
(May 2008 median)
Education/Training
Category
Biomedical engineers
72
11.6
$ 77,400
Bachelor’s degree
Network systems & data communications analysts
53
155.8
71,100
Bachelor’s degree
Home health aides
50
460.9
20,460
Short-term on-the-job training
Personal and home care aides
46
375.8
19,180
Short-term on-the-job training
Financial examiners
41
11.1
70,930
Bachelor’s degree
Medical scientists, except epidemiologists
40
44.2
72,590
Doctoral degree
Physician assistants
39
29.2
81,230
Master’s degree
Skin care specialists
38
14.7
28,730
Postsecondary vocational award
Biochemists and biophysicists
37
8.7
82,840
Doctoral degree
Athletic trainers
37
6.0
39,640
Bachelor’s degree
Physical therapist aides
36
16.7
23,760
Short-term on-the-job training
Dental hygienists
36
62.9
66,570
Associate degree
Veterinary technologists and technicians
36
28.5
28,900
Associate degree
Dental assistants
36
105.6
32,380
Moderate-term on-the-job training
Computer software engineers, applications
34
175.1
85,430
Bachelor’s degree
Medical assistants
34
163.9
28,300
Moderate-term on-the-job training
Physical therapist assistants
33
21.2
46,140
Associate degree
Veterinarians
33
19.7
79,050
First professional degree
Self-enrichment education teachers
32
81.3
35,720
Work experience in a related occupation
Compliance officers, except agriculture, construction, health and safety, and transportation
31
80.8
48,890
Long-term on-the-job training
t us t i n un i f i e d s c h o o l d i s t r i c t 3
MARCH 2012
SAT Preparation Classes
2011-2012
Sponsored by
Assistance League of Tustin
Each session consists of 6 classes:
3 math and 3 critical reading and writing classes
Class Times:
Wed. evenings 6:30-9 p.m. and
Saturdays 9 -11:30 a.m
Important Test Dates & Deadlines
2011-2012 School Year
Payment:
$50 per person per session.
To pay online go to altustin.org
Make checks payable to ALT.
Write your session choice, e-mail address,
and name on your check.
PSAT Test Dates
PSAT Test is in October Each year
Register for the PSAT/NMSQT at your high school
SAT & Subject Tests Dates
Test Date Reg. Deadline Late Registration
Drop your check in the ALT Thrift Shop mail slot at
445 El Camino Real, Tustin OR mail it to:
ALT, PO Box 86, Tustin, CA 92781.
**
Oct. 1, 2011
Sep. 9, 2011
Sep. 21, 2011
Nov. 5, 2011
Oct. 7, 2011
Oct. 21, 2011
Dec. 3, 2011Nov. 8, 2011Nov. 20, 2011
Jan. 28, 2012
Dec. 30, 2011
Jan. 13, 2012
March 10, 2012* Feb 10, 2012
Feb. 24, 2012
May 5, 2012
April 6, 2012
April 20, 2012
June 2, 2012
May 8, 2012
May 22, 2012
You will receive an e-mail confirmation from
[email protected]
Arrive early on the first day of class to sign in and
pick up your SAT workbook. Bring pencils, paper, and
a calculator. Refreshments will be provided.
(sessions 1,2, 3 and 4 are completed)
Register online at www.collegeboard.com
*U.S. only, Subject Tests not offered
**Additional late fee required
Sunday tests are administered the next day
Session 5 April 14 (Sat.), 18 (Wed.), 21 (Sat.), 25 (Wed.), 28 (Sat.), May 2 (Wed.)
For more information contact Jeanne Diradoorian
at [email protected] or (714) 335-0547.
ACT Test Dates
Test Date Reg. Deadline Late Registration**
Sept. 10, 2011
Oct. 22, 2011
Dec. 10, 2011
Feb. 11, 2012*
April 14, 2012
June 9, 2012
Aug. 12, 2011
Aug. 13-26, 2011
Sep. 16, 2011
Sep. 17-30, 2011
Nov. 4, 2011Nov. 5-18, 2011
Jan. 13, 2012
Jan. 14-20, 2012
March 9, 2012
March 10-23, 2012
May 4, 2012
May 5-18, 2012
Other Test Preparation Resources
Register online at www.act.org
**Additional late fee required
t us t i n un i f i e d s c h o o l d i s t r i c t Eureka
www.eurekareview.com
877-GO-EUREKA
Princeton Review
800-273-8439
www.princetonreview.com
Ivy West
800-489-9378
www.ivywest.com
Revolution Prep
877-738-7737
www.revolutionprep.com
Kaplan
949-756-2950
www.kaptest.com
4
MARCH 2012
Scholarships
Below are just a few scholarships currently available. Visit Web sites for complete details and eligibility.
For additional opportunities, search online for scholarships that best suit your personal criteria.
The Santa Ana /Tustin
Soroptimist International
Scholarship
Sponsored by Tustin Public Schools
Foundation
Deadline March 15, 2012
Website: www.tpsf.net
Award Up to $500
Description Graduating TUSD senior
female student who is in financial need.
Award is to be used while pursuing
higher education.
Nelson Elementary
Alumni Scholarship
Sponsored by Jeff Chien (Nelson
Elementary 2008 Teacher of the Year)
in partnership with Tustin Public Schools
Foundation.
Deadline March 15, 2012
Website www.tpsf.net
Awards Up to three $250 awards
Description Awarded to a graduating
senior who attended Nelson Elementary
School.
www.fastweb.com
www.scholarships4Student.com
www.gocollege.com
www.scholarships101.com
www.embark.com
www.collegenet.com
www.scholarshipproviders.org
www.scholarships.com
www.scholarshipExperts.com
The Steve Hume Memorial
Scholarship for Science
Sponsored by Tustin Public Schools
Foundation
Deadline March 15, 2012
Website www.tpsf.net
Award Up to $500
Description Graduating Tustin High
School senior who has demonstrated effort
and creativity that has inspired excellent
achievement in science. Award to be used
while pursuing higher education.
Ryan Watanabe Memorial
Scholarship for Scholar Athletes
Sponsored by Tustin Public Schools
Foundation
Deadline March 15, 2012
Website www.tpsf.net
Award Up to $1,000
Description Graduating Tustin High
School senior athlete in financial need with
a 3.0 GPA who will attend either a 2-year
or a 4-year college in the upcoming fall.
t us t i n un i f i e d s c h o o l d i s t r i c t Holocaust Remembrance Project
Sponsored By The Holland & Knight
Charitable Foundation
Deadline April 19, 2012
Awards 30
Max Amount $5,000
Web site http://holocaust.hklaw.com
Description This national essay contest
for high school students is designed to
encourage and promote the study of the
Holocaust.
Duck Brand Stuck at Prom
Scholarship Contest
Sponsored by Duck Brand Stuck at Prom
Scholarship Contest
Deadline June 13, 2012
Awards 10
Amount Up to $5,000 for winner towards
the school the winner attends.
Website http:/www.duckbrand.com/
Home/Promotions/stuck-at-prom.aspx
Description This contest rewards
individuals for creating prom attire made
completely of Duck Brand tape. Each
couple must submit one color photograph
of the couple together in prom attire.
5
We The People 9*17 Contest
Sponsored by Constituting America
Deadline July 4, 2012
Awards $1,000, and a trip to a
historic city
Website http://www.constitutingamerica.
org
Description The contest categories for
high school students include: compose
and perform a cool song, write, direct
and produce an entertaining short film or
PSA, or write an essay.
MARCH 2012
College Prep: Checklist for Winter
12
SenioRs
Pull Your Applications Together
aa Narrow your list of colleges to between five and ten
and review it with your counselor.
aa Get an application and financial aid info from each.
11
aa At school, sign up in September to take the PSAT/NMSQT® in October.
aa Get PSAT/NMSQT tips and a free practice test.
aa Take the PSAT/NMSQT in October.
aa Start with you: Make lists of your abilities, preferences, and personal qualities.
List things you may want to study and do in college.
Visit as many as possible.
Make a master calendar and note:
aa Test dates, fees, and deadlines.
aa College application due dates.
aa Required financial aid applications deadlines.
aa Your high school’s deadlines for application requests,
aa Start your college search.
aa Jumpstart your college planning by reading about majors and careers.
aa Search college Web sites to find colleges with the right characteristics.
aa Start thinking about financial aid.
aa Talk to your counselor and attend college night and financial aid night at your
school. Use financial aid calculators to estimate your aid eligibility and costs.
such as your transcript.
aa Recommendations and transcripts deadlines.
aa Ask for recommendations. Give each person your
resume and any required forms.
aa Write application essays and ask teachers, parents,
and friends to read first drafts.
For Early Action or Early Decision:
aaNovember 1: For early admissions, colleges may
require test scores and applications in early
November. Send in your SAT scores at
www.college­board.com.
aa Ask if your college offers an early estimate of
financial aid eligibility.
Get Financial Aid Info
aa Attend financial aid info events in your area.
aa Talk to your counselor about CSS/Financial Aid
PROFILE®.
aa Use Scholarship Search at www.collegeboard.com,
10
Social Security Number:
aa You will need to obtain a Social Security number (or
Resident Alien ID) to apply for college and financial
aid, if you do not have one.
Search for Scholarships
aa Surf the Internet for scholarships. Ask your counselor
for a list of scholarships. Check with local financial
institutions, your parents’ employers, philanthropic
organizations, and clubs for possible scholarships.
Review the scholarships in each issue of the Academic
Bulletin and on your school’s Web site.
t us t i n un i f i e d s c h o o l d i s t r i c t SophOmorES
Plan for the years ahead
aa Meet with your counselor and review your schedule with him or her to make
sure you’re enrolled in challenging classes that will prepare you for college.
Colleges prefer four years of English, history, math, science, and a foreign language.
aa Start a calendar with important test and application dates and deadlines.
aa Get more involved with your extracurricular activities.
aa Use College Search to find out the required courses and tests for colleges
that you might be interested in attending.
aa Go to college fairs in your area.
Consider taking the PSAT/NMSQT® as a sophomore
aa Sign up for the PSAT/NMSQT in September, which is given in October.
aa Get PSAT/NMSQT tips and a free practice test.
aa If you’re taking the PSAT/NMSQT, check ‘yes’ for Student Search Service® to
hear about colleges and scholarships at www.collegeboard.com.
review scholarship books, and ask your counselor
about local and state funding sources.
aa MARCH 2: Cal Grant deadline!
Juniors
9
FreshmEn
Plan for the years ahead
aa Meet with your counselor and review your schedule with him or her to make
sure you’re enrolled in challenging classes that will help you prepare for college.
Colleges prefer four years of English, history, math, science, and a foreign language.
aa Use College Search at www.collegeboard.com to find out the required courses
and tests for colleges that you might be interested in attending.
aa Start a calendar with important dates and deadlines.
aa Get more involved with your extracurricular activities.
aa Go to college fairs in your area.
6
MARCH 2012
(Continued from page one)
Mr. Buffett regards his rejection at age 19
by Harvard Business School as a pivotal
episode in his life. Looking back, he says
Harvard wouldn’t have been a good fit. But
at the time, he “had this feeling of dread”
after being rejected in an admissions
interview in Chicago, and a fear of disappointing his father.
As it turned out, his father responded
with “only this unconditional love...an
unconditional belief in me,” Mr. Buffett
says. Exploring other options, he realized
that two investing experts he admired,
Benjamin Graham and David Dodd, were
teaching at Columbia’s graduate business
school. He dashed off a late application,
where by a stroke of luck it was fielded
and accepted by Mr. Dodd. From these
mentors, Mr. Buffett says he learned core
principles that guided his investing.
The lesson of negatives becoming
positives has proved true repeatedly, Mr.
Buffett says. He was terrified of public
speaking—so much so that when he was
young he sometimes threw up before
giving an address. So he enrolled in a Dale
Carnegie public speaking course and says
the skills he learned there enabled him
to woo his future wife, Susan Thompson,
a “champion debater,” he says. “I even
proposed to my wife during the course,”
he says. “If I had been only a mediocre
speaker I might not have taken it.”
Columbia University President Lee
Bollinger was rejected as a teenager
when he applied to Harvard. He says the
experience cemented his belief that it
was up to him alone to define his talents
and potential. His family had moved to a
small, isolated town in rural Oregon, where
educational opportunities were sparse.
As a kid, he did menial jobs around the
newspaper office, like sweeping the floor.
Mr. Bollinger recalls thinking at the time,
“I need to work extra hard and teach
myself a lot of things that I need to
know,” to measure up to other students
who were “going to prep schools, and
having assignments that I’m not.” When
the rejection letter arrived, he accepted
a scholarship to University of Oregon
and later graduated from Columbia Law
School. His advice: Don’t let rejections
control your life. To “allow other people’s
assessment of you to determine your own
self-assessment is a very big mistake,”
says Mr. Bollinger, a First Amendment
author and scholar. “The question really
is, who at the end of the day is going to
make the determination about what your
talents are, and what your interests are?
That has to be you.”
Others who received Harvard rejections
include “Today” show host Meredith
Vieira, who was turned down in 1971
as a high-school senior. At the time, she
was crushed. “In fact, I was so devastated
that when I went to Tufts [University] my
freshman year, every Saturday I’d hitchhike
to Harvard,” she says in an email. But Ms.
Vieira went on to meet a mentor at Tufts
who sparked her interest in journalism by
offering her an internship. Had she not
been rejected, she doubts that she would
have entered the field, she says.
And broadcast journalist Tom Brokaw, also
rejected as a teenager by Harvard, says
it was one of a series of setbacks that
eventually led him to settle down, stop
partying and commit to finishing college
and working in broadcast journalism. “The
initial stumble was critical in getting me
launched,” he says.
Dr. Varmus, the Nobel laureate and
president of Memorial Sloan-Kettering
Cancer Center in New York, was daunted
by the first of his two turndowns by
Harvard’s med school.
The second time, a dean chastised him
in an interview for being “inconstant and
immature” and advised him to enlist in the
military. Officials at Columbia’s medical
school, however, seemed to value his
“competence in two cultures,” science and
literature, he says. ¡
Designed & edited by
Beth Mehlberger & Patricia Prescott Sueme
in cooperation with the TUSD
300 South C Street • Tustin, CA 92780-3695
high school counselors
www.tustin.k12.ca.us
Published by
Academic Bulletin
TUSD Communications Office
The Academic Bulletin is published and distributed monthly (September through June) to high
school families of the Tustin Unified School District. The newsletter has been created for the
purpose of disseminating information only. No recommendation is made or intended by the editor
Beckman High School PTO
or distributor of this publication.
Si desea recibir esta publicación en Español, por favor comuniquese con su escuela.
t us t i n un i f i e d s c h o o l d i s t r i c t Sponsored by
7
Foothill High School PTO
Tustin High School PTO
MARCH 2012