The HECA News Bulletin

If you're a student preparing for college interviews, be sure to read HECA member Audrey Kahane's article on college interviews before heading off to your interview. It's filled with useful insights into the interview process, and explains what to expect.

You can find more great articles on college admissions planning in HECA's family section.

Best wishes from HECA to all students applying to college this year! 

Diane Schaefer, HECA's immediate past president, was interviewed about the college application process and the benefits of working with a professional college admissions consultant this week by Colorado Public Radio, an NPR affiliate.  Listen to the informative podcast online here  and read the related article. 

HECA has added yet another benefit for members: a 25% discount for mindfish test prep services.

mindfish.com is a effective, enjoyable way to beat the SAT.  Based on students' interactions with their quiz game, SAT Quest, mindfish builds each user a custom prep course. Students then learn to master SAT concepts through video lessons, SAT quizzes, and live online classes with Stanford and Harvard tutors.

HECA members can learn more about this great new benefit of membership in Member Discounts section in the HECA member area.

About a third of the Critical Reading section of the SAT is made up of questions that are explicitly dependent on a student's vocabulary skills. Vocab Videos are a fun and effective way for students to prepare.  These online videos help students build their vocabulary skills so they can be prepared to do well on the SAT and in school.

HECA members now receive a 30% discount on subscriptions to Vocab Videos for their clients. For details on this new member benefit, please visit the HECA Member Discounts page  (sign in required).

HECA members can now enjoy a significant discount on College Essay Organizer (CEO) master accounts.

CEO instantly streamlines the college essay process for educational consultants working with students applying to college. The consultant enters the colleges that a student is applying to into the system, and the system provides all essay requirements for the selected colleges and creates a personalized plan for writing the fewest essays while still meeting all requirements.

CEO has teamed with HECA to offer a discount to HECA member educational consultants. Until December 31, 2010, HECA members will receive a 5 pecent  discount on CEO master accounts. HECA members can learn more about this great new member benefit in the Discounts section of the Member area. (Sign in required).

HECA's annual fund-raising drive for the Marlyn Doan Memorial Scholarship runs from October 1 to November 15.

The Marlyn Doan Memorial Scholarship was created by HECA in 2005 to honor the memory of Marlyn Doan. Before her untimely death, Marlyn was a long-time HECA member educational consultant from Washington state who was particularly devoted to working with students with learning and developmental differences. In Marlyn's memory, the Marlyn Doan Memorial Scholarship is awarded to students with documented learning differences who are working with HECA member educational consultants.

The Scholarship is entirely funded by the generous donations of HECA members and other interested parties. Last year, HECA was pleased to be able to offer the scholarship to two deserving students, and our fund-raising goal for this year is to do the same.

Members may donate online (sign in required). Others interested in donating can do so by contacting Patsy Larson, HECA Scholarship Chairperson,  at Scholarship@HECAonline.org.

The application period for the 2011 Scholarship will begin in January, 2011.

College admissions consultants and the Higher Education Consultants Association were recently featured in an article about the field of higher education consulting in Education Week's College Bound blog.  The article noted that school counselors often have enormous workloads that make it difficult for them to meet individual student needs for customized college counseling services.  Independent counselors, the article explained, are available in the summer, nights and weekends to work with students one-on-one and are also "plugged into the current college scene, visiting campuses often, and can be an effective third party in relaying information to students."

Admissions season 2010 is winding down, but this year's results can help students plan for next year.

HECA Member Ellen Richards reviews the 2010 admissions rates at various colleges in an article on the Examiner.com website.

HECA Member Nancy Griesemer also looked at 2010 admissions numbers at the University of Virginia in another Examiner.com article. 

New York Times education correspondent Jacques Steinberg also posted the admissions rates  for multiple institutions in his blog.