City of Chicago…LET’S CONNECT!

René GomezAssistant Director of AdmissionsLake Forest College

DeVone EuralesSenior Assistant Director of Admission, Coordinator of Multicultural RecruitmentKnox College

City of Chicago… Let’s Connect!

•Building Collaborative Relationships with:▫High School Counselors and Admission

Staffs▫Community Based Organizations and

Admission Staffs

•Helping Students and their Families with developing successful applications and transitions to college.

Session Goals

•Leave this session with:▫Blueprint to better recruit the city of

Chicago.▫Strategies that can be implemented within

your office, high school or college.▫Tips and Best Practices on communication

between counseling professionals.▫Tips on how to manage and cultivate

dialogue between counseling staffs and families.

Why Chicago as a focus?

•Both Knox and Lake Forest College have seen an increase in applications over the past three years.

•With constant expansions of schools and programming within the City, it has become essential for us to be able to navigate the connections that are helpful to the students that we work with but also the institutions we work for.

Chicago Schools Two types:

› Chicago Public Schools› Chicago Parochial and Private Schools

Both are different!› CPS: Multiple types

› Neighborhood, Selective Enrollment, Military, Charters and Technical, etc.

› Access dependent on school resources› Parochial/Private

› Funding, Religious based, Gender based, etc.

Chicago Schools cont…

•These small differences alone prove that there are different/effective ways to work with each type of school/program.

•High School Counselors and Admissions Representatives should begin/continue discussions on how to build rapport between the two!

How do we cultivate relationships?

•Build the relationship

•Maintain the relationship

Tips for High School Counselors

High School Counselors

Admission Counselors

Building Collaborative Relationships

•What are you doing to build the bridge with high Admission counselors?

•Start the conversation Begin to have discussions with your

admissions colleagues about students that have been successful at their schools.

Building Collaborative Relationships cont…

•Be proactive ask for help! Examples: We’re having a college night could

you lead a panel session. Would you be willing to come speak with a

group of juniors.

Maintaining Relationships Reaching Out

Call the College to check on applicants What profile of students are these schools

looking for? Have students from your institutions been

admitted? Have you and/or your students visited

campuses? Have you contacted Admissions for possible

programming help? Junior Nights, Writing Sessions, Mock Interviews

Tips for Admission Counselors

High School Counselors

Admission Counselors

Building Collaborative Relationships

•What are you doing to build the bridge with high school counselors?

▫Connecting to their needs! College Panels Classroom visits Family/Parent nights Professional Development sessions Campus Visits

Building the Relationship

•“First Date”▫How long have you been there?▫How big is your case load?▫What do love most about job?▫Have you had much contact with my

institution? ▫How long have you been in the profession

and in what capacity?

Maintain the Relationship

•“The Courting Process” - Monthly Check-ins▫How are they?▫How are their students? ▫What can I do to help you?▫Is there any updated information I can

have?▫Have you connected with our alumni

teacher in the school?

Community Based Organizations

•There are many organizations that deal with the youth of Chicago.

•Some examples include:▫Chicago Scholars▫Urban Students (U.S.) Empowered ▫HighSight▫LINK Unlimited▫East Village Youth Program▫Upward Bound

Community Based Orgs. cont…

These programs give students opportunities to grow outside of their classrooms.

Programming may include:› ACT prep› College Visits› Onsite Interviews› Essay Writing Workshops

These programs break the mold of the “like” student within CPS Schools to a more global outlook of students… since they are coming from different schools!

A few CBO’s in the City(Click on the name to open the hyperlink)

 • Ada S. McKinley – Henry Ray, Senior Educational Counselor/Trainer, hray@adasmckinley.org

• After School Matters – Mark Pristop, Post Secondary Coordinator, mark.pristop@cityofchicago.org

• Chicago Scholars – Meseret Negash, Senior Vice President, External Affairs, mnegash@chicagoscholars.org

• Chicago Youth Centers – Renee Daye-Cross, Career & College Readiness Coordinator, renee.daye@chicagoyouthcenters.org

• Collegiate Scholars – Jacqueline Gaines, Manager of College Advising and Admissions, jgaines@uchicago.edu

• Daniel Murphy Scholarship Foundation – Carol Lee Barry, Director of College Counseling, carollee@dmsf.org

• Genesys Works – Melissa Vater, Program Coordinator-Lead Instructor, mvater@genesysworks.org

• HighSight – Patty Hart, Program Director, patty@highsight.org

• Link Unlimited – Rodney Gore, Program Manager, rgore@linkunlimited.org

• Marwen – Saba Syal Elahi, Coordinator of College and Career Programs, ssyal@marwen.org

• Target Hope

Tips for Community Based

Organizations

Community Based Organizations

Admission Counselors

Building Collaborative Relationships

•What are you doing to build the bridge with Admission Counselors?

▫Accessibility! Have you reached out to schools to come and

visit your CBO site? Have students been prepped and are they

genuinely interested in the visiting with the school?

Maintain the Relationship

•Monthly Check-ins

▫Call with updates about students.▫Discuss current students from your CBO▫Strategize programming opportunities

Application review session Campus Visit

▫What can I do for you?

Tips for Admission Counselors

Community Based Organizations

Admission Counselors

Building the Relationship

•What are you doing to build the bridge with Community Based Organizations?

▫Connect to their needs! Get to know who you need to know Visit and tour the facility Interact with the students more informally

Maintain the Relationship

•Monthly Check-ins▫How are they?▫How are their students? ▫What can I do to help you?▫Is there any updated information I can

have?

Relationships…

•Translate into:

•More exposure and interest

•To More Effective Applications!

According to…• The Consortium on Chicago School Research

▫CPS students who aspire to complete a four-year degree do not effectively participate in the college application process.1

▫So how do we make sure students become actively involved in the application process?

1 Executive Summary – From High School to the Future: Potholes on the Road to College – March 2008

Effective Applications• What are effective applications?

▫MATCH AND FIT!• How do we create successful applications?

▫Sensibility Are we helping the student apply to schools that

make sense to their ability?▫College Success of Student

Are the colleges that we are suggesting or working for have the proper environment (academic, social, aspirations, beliefs, etc.) for the student?

We need to help guide students to schools that ARE a possible yes! Encourage them to be honest with themselves and their aptitude.

Effective Applications

•Build a rapport with the family!▫If families feel that you are looking for their

best interest in mind… this will begin the process of understanding what applying to college entails

▫Once families feel your concern they will, in turn, provide TRUST!

Effective Application cont…• How do you build trust?

▫Accountability Do what you say, you’re going to do!

▫Reliability Consistent

▫Knowledge Know your stuff, know your students, know your

profession!▫Maintain Best Interest

Don’t turn them into something they are not!▫Professional

Effective Applications cont…

•We need to use our consulting skills▫Authenticity▫Relatable▫Transparency

•With these skills, we can then give responsibility to the student to establish their role as an advocate for themselves!

Transitions to College

•Students have ideas of what the transition to college should be.

•They will find that it is one of self-discovery and growth in a new environment▫When students relate to the niche of what

the college provides, you are more likely to have them as an applicant!

Working together on transition

•Look at transition from the student’s point of view.▫Who you are now?▫How will you approach varying

environments?▫What expectations have you set?▫Have these expectations limited yourself or

other factors?

Working together on transition cont…•You have to let students know that their

expectations may not always be met

•As the consultant… CONSULT!▫We are all on the same page – hoping to

have the best match fit. We will not set them up to fail or be disappointed but we understand that there are reaches!

According to…•The Consortium on Chicago School Research

▫Only about one-third of CPS students who aspire to complete a four-year degree enroll in a college that matches their qualifications.2

▫How do we make sure that students find and know what schools are best fit?

2 Executive Summary – From High School to the Future: Potholes on the Road to College – March 2008

How do we find best match/fit?

•Make relatable connections to the students▫Incorporate past student

success/experiences▫Historical Evaluations

•Is this a good match in general? What are the challenges other students have had to overcome? Resources?

Match/Fit cont…

•Urban to Urban… isn’t an automatic match

•Each neighborhood is different. Students from different ways of life and cultures gravitate to different things. Find connections!

•Leaving High School and going to College WILL BE DIFFERENT! Doesn’t matter how we phrase it!

Finally…

•Your student really won’t know what they will exactly need until…

THEY GET THERE! Be supportive and a resource when they set foot on campus!

Panel Discussion• Moderator

▫ Quinton Clay Assistant Director of Admission and Coordinator of Chicago

Recruitment – Grinnell College – clayquin@grinnell.edu

• Panel▫ Caroline Kelly

Dean of College Counseling – Pritzker College Prep – ckelly@noblenetwork.org

▫ Celso Cárdenas College Counselor and Coordinator of College Testing –

Francis W. Parker School – ccardenas@fwparker.org

▫ Patty Hart Program Director – HighSight – patty.hart@highsight.org

▫ Audrey Penman Admissions Counselor – Western Illinois University – AR-

penman@wiu.edu

Thanks from Us! René GomezAssistant Director of AdmissionsLake Forest College(847)735-5008gomez@lakeforest.edu

DeVone EuralesSenior Assistant Director of AdmissionKnox College(309) 341-7147deurales@knox.edu