SI Counseling aka SIC Podcast

While on the road, stopped by Loyola Marymount University and visited with one of my former students who is a current student at LMU. Loyola Marymount is one of 28 Jesuit (a Catholic university) colleges that are located in 17th states, the District of Columbia and Belize.

Jesuit colleges like Loyola Marymount University in California welcome students of all faith and strive to instill values of menaing and empathy for their students. At the same time, their mission is encourage students to become leaders not only in their profession but social justice as well.

Loyola Marymount University founded in 1911 has 143 acres with over 6,000 student and has a range of rankings like:

*Top 2% in Diversity - College Factual, 2021
*No. 3 in Promotion of Latinx Student Success - Education Trust, 2017
*No. 4 in "Students Most Engaged in Community Service," Nationally - Princeton Review, 2023
*No. 8 in "Best Catholic College," Nationally - Niche.com, 2023
*No. 14 in "Best Undergraduate Teaching" Among National Universities - U.S. News
*No. 46 in Best Colleges for Veterans, Nationally - U.S. News, 2023
*No. 77 in "Best U.S. National Universities" - U.S. News, 2023
*No. 90 - Nationally - Wall Street Journal / Times Higher Education, 2022

Now rankings give us one picture and academic offerings at LMU like Animation, Engineering, Film & Television, Marketing, Recording Arts, Screenwriting, and Studio Arts can provide us some of the options at Loyola but let's find out the inside story from a student and how they master the admissions and financial aid process to move forward with their dream school - Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles, California.

We are back again on the road talking with college students to give you real stories of their experiences. This podcast is about one of the nine University of California campuses - UC Riverside!

It is 1,200 acre campus with over 26,00 students with two Nobel Prize winners, 11 Fulbright Scholars and 28 National Academies Members located in a diverse geography from the desert to the coast with a group just as diverse. Located Inland Southern California and graduated the first class of 20 students in 1955.

Since then he has made some impressive rankings:

*No 1 public univeristy in US for social mobility - U.S. News
*No 1 for Hispanic enrollment - Urban Institute
*No 2 in the country for financial aid - Business Insider
*No 2 in Entomology research in the world - Center for World University Rankings
*No 3 in Hispanic STEM graduates in the US - Natioanl Science Foundation
*No 4 for Pell Grant (low income) student performance - Washington Monthly
*No 9 among public universities for sustainability - Princeont Review
*No 11 most diverse medical school - U.S. News
*Top 12 public university - Forbes "America's Best Value Colleges"
*No 14 public university - CNBC "Colleges That Pay Off the Most"
*No 31 in the world in plant and animal sciences - U.S. News

Yes, impressive now let's hear it from a UCR aka Highlander (school mascot) student point of view.

The Posse Foundation was founded in 1989 by Deborah Bial who received the MacArthur "Genius" Grant for her work to recruit students from across the nation and connect them with partner colleges and universities in the United States as a leadership cohort that is about inclusiveness, support, understanding and game changers.

It is one of ten organizations chosen by President Barack Obama to receive a portion of his 1.4 million Nobel Peace Prize and has expanded their program not only with the Posse Arts Program in collaboration with Lin-Manuel Miranda and the Miranda Family Fund but also with a new chapter in the Bay Area. With over 10,000 alumni there is no stopping these students and it is clear with data.

Posse Scholars who are nominated their junior year by Posse nominators and selected late Fall their Senior year have quite a resume like cardiologist, state assembly member, CEO, writer, city council members and so much more.

The program is still growing with additional grants from Google's Global Impact Award with a 1.2 million grant for the Posse Veterans Program, Netflix's $5 million donation to organize opportunities for Black creators, Black youth, and Black-owned businesses and even developed a STEM program.

The four-year Campus Program works to "ensure the retention of Posse Scholars and to increase the impact of the program on campus." How does this happen? Posse staff visit schools four times annually and there are weekly Posse Scholar mentors weekly with their group - their "Posse."

The program has expanded to a Career Program that helps schoalrs and alumni to a variety professional opportunities.

There are over 20 chapters located in D.C, Virginia, Phoenix, Philadelphia, New York, New Orleans, Newark, Minnesota, Miami, Memphis, Los Angels, Indiana, Houston, Denver, Dallas, Cleveland, Chicago, Charlotte, Boston, Atlanta and NOW - the Bay Area. How does this process work to obtain a full tuition scholarship with priceless amount of support throughout college and beyond!

Welcome to a great opportunity to listen to Mia - yes - Mia a Posse Scholar at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania.

If you haven't heard about UC Scouts - you need to know about it. We are here to inform you about an online opportunity to help you to remediate a course or advance your skills in subject areas that may not be available at your high school. This is a podcast for anyone who is a lover of learning from 8th grade to high school. Let's learn and grow!

Let's learn about one of the big leaders in higher education - Boston University. This large university with "endless" amounts of opportunities is the gateway to so many different majors, scholars and fun all around Boston. We will learn from one of their best - BU & SI Alumnus - Rob who will talk about his best experiences at BU and how Boston University can be a great fit for YOU!

This is it! It is college application time and there is so much information. But we are here to help you to understand all the overall steps, tips and suggestions how to move forward on your college applications. Questions are addressed, next steps are given and let's begin the college admissions game TOGETHER!

Did you know some colleges offer optional college interviews? Yes, they do! But do not worry we have a student who will share their experiences before, during and post interview along with suggestions on how you can schedule, prepare and obtain a great mindset before you go onto your next college interview!

You are so lucky! Nope, SUPER LUCKY! We have some great students who took time out of the 10th Annual SI Magis College Bootcamp where all high schoolers have a chance not only to learn about the UC (University of California), CSU (California State University), Common App for over 900 colleges across the world, college personal statement writing AND college financial aid and scholarships. They worked so hard all week on their own personal time during summer vacation. Now that everyone is back gearing up for college applications - they have some advice on how to move onward and upward TOGETHER in the college app process. But they amazed me. Their advice is so good - whether you are in middle school, high school OR even at an university - listen, learn, practice to make permanent and be happy and great because YOU ARE!

Changes are still coming your way whether you are a Senior, Junior or even a Sophomore. We are here again to talk about standardized test requirements for U.S. colleges like over 1800 of them. What have they decided since the Fall 2022 college admission cycle? Let's learn, let's understand TOGETHER and YOU DECIDE! The key thing is to take ownership of the college process and focus on one's talent and moments that will benefit the students short term, mid-term and long term! YOU MATTER NOT A NUMBER. Let's go!

Have you been asked about your college list? Do folks forget to ask you how you are and rather ask you where you are applying to? Let's listen to a Senior who is going through this process right now and how she is going to decide whether to share or not to share.