CVU School Counselors Podcast

This week in episode 20 we interview Claire Howell. Claire is a former CVU student who brings a grounded perspective to her advice to current students. Hard to believe we are at episode 20! "I am very thankful for CVU and feeling like it set me up really well for success in college & life in general (it's a great school!). :)" Please reach out to us if you have former students you would like us to...

On January 11th we spoke with several local college directors of admission about their schools, their application review process, what "rigorous" means, Is test optional really test optional? We spent an hour with them and learned a lot about the current state of what colleges are seeing both in their applicant pools and success on campus after having been forced to go test optional by the pandemi...

This week on the School Counselor Podcast we have several guests … and we test Russ’ editing skills a bit. We have a lengthy conversation with Troy Paradee about Nexus (2min). There are many layers to this option for students and we attempt to bring some clarity … and fewer tears to this option for students. We also speak to Stan Williams (29Min) about the new and evolving agreement with St. Mikes...

Russ and Ry sit down and talk about the course request process for the 23-24 school year. We talk about the timeline for releasing schedules and what we are hoping to see in a finished master schedule. There are several important links for todays show. These documents will be distributed to students and the PDFs here are important in helping families work together to create an informed set of cour...

Today, in Episode 16, we speak with folks from both The Center for Technology, Essex and the Burlington Technical Centers. We discuss several topics including their application and, information sessions upcoming at CVU. Both technical centers are hosting open houses and we touch on the importance of attending either an open house or a school day visit to express interest as it is an important part...

CVU Senior Lily joins us to talk about her path through the college search and college application process. Show Links: College Panel Night Youtube Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cI2tyzRrN-4

This episode is more of a nuts and bolts brief conversation around the Semester 2 Add/Drop process for students. Russ and Ry briefly discuss the process, the timeline and a couple new offerings for students. Show Notes: Semester 2 Add/ Drop Form - https://forms.gle/bAB8HNTqevLTLKmW7

The Essay This week we talk to Kathleen Gibbs, CVU English teacher. Our topic this week is essay writing. Every junior at CVU takes a Writing Composition or Practical Writing course where one of the main topics is the college essay. Students brainstorm ideas and draft several essays in a supportive environment. https://youtu.be/EEvAEaL7hBs - The Bates College Counselors talk about the admissions p...

This week we talk with Peter Booth the coordinator of RISE. What is it, What is its history, How does RISE work and how do I select experiences that work for me?

We speak with UVM (Moses Murphy), Middlebury (Sam Prouty) and Dartmouth (Anna Dechert) about how Standardized Testing is utilized during their application review process. We also talked about what it means for a school to be test optional and what exactly is a holistic application review. Show Links: Fair Test website https://fairtest.org/school/ College Panel Night https://youtu.be/cI2tyzRrN-4

Show Notes: This week, Russ, Susie and Ry sit down and discuss the PSAT and PreACT test result profiles that have recently been released to students and families. Next week we talk to several regional representatives about how they holistically review student applications both with and without testing as part of the student submission. Lots of Show Links this week: Understanding your score report...

This week, Susie and Russ talk to Fern Aguda Brown and Jess Hoskins about CVU’s MTSS (Multi Tiered Support Systems) and how these are utilized to support student learning. We also dip our toes into the conversation around do colleges support student learning plans and what might that look like, as well as who starts the process. We also talk about plan initiation here at CVU. What is the process,...

We rejoin our interview with Brandon for part 2 of our conversation about the Vermont State Colleges and their impending restructuring. Our first guest on this podcast is Brandon Kennedy. Brandon is here to discuss their new system and how it will benefit Vermonters now and into the future. On a personal level, an amazing education awaits you wherever you decide to attend and for me that was withi...

Show Notes: In episode 7, Russ had the opportunity to speak with Jess McCloud on the topic of Anxiety. Jess is a local clinician with ties to the Direction Center and to CVU. Though all of our local clinicians are swamped with referrals and waitlists are long, relief does not have to wait. Jess talks about some easy to implement techniques that reframe our thinking in those stressful/anxious momen...

Susie and Russ jumped right into the deep end in our conversation with Matt about the nature of his job as the SAP (Substance Abuse Prevention) Counselor at CVU. We are myopic if we think that there are no substances in the building, but Matt details resources and supports that are in place to help our young people. If you have questions you would like us to ask Matt, please feel free to send an e...

Susie and Gavin host a panel geared towards learning about a variety of educational pathways and short term training programs in Vermont that can lead to a broad array of well paying careers in Vermont. Guests are Brandon Kennedy, Michael Keogh and Tom Cheney. Michael Keogh is the Director of business engagement with CCV. Tom Cheney is the executive director of Advance Vermont and creator of My VT...

Today in part two of our conversation on Financial Aid, Russ and Susie talk with Carrie Harlow. As we mentioned last week, Carrie is first and foremost a Redhawk and a financial aid … guru working with VSAC. She talks to us today about all things financial aid. I think Carrie said it best when she told us to have fun. College Applications and applying for Financial Aid is by its very nature, stres...

Today in part one of our conversation on Financial Aid, Russ and Susie talk with Carrie Harlow. Carrie is first and foremost a Redhawk and a financial aid … expert working with VSAC. She talks to us today about all things financial aid. I think Carrie said it best when she told us to have fun. College Applications and applying for Financial Aid is by its very nature, stressful. If we are only stre...

Today on the podcast, Russ and Susie talk to Brandon Kennedy. Brandon works for the new Vermont State University and is here to talk to us about the blending of all the Vermont State Colleges into one holistic university serving all Vermonters. Brandon talks to us about the realignment and why it happened, Program availability across multiple campuses, and why it might very well be the best option...

Russ and Susie talk about the college application process and what students can expect to see on the Common Application as well as how to Navigate the process of asking for letters of recommendation. Show Links: The Common Application: https://apply.commonapp.org/login Senior Kick Off Video: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1N1iXc-XJVa3eDdaIb_Sgm8PndHXUoSgv/view Common App Solutions Center: https:/...