Understanding the Basic Principles of Mixing Acid and Sulfuric Acid With Mixtures

Understanding the Basic Principles of Mixing Acid and Sulfuric Acid With MixturesIf you are planning to take the Organic Chemistry course, one of the major things that you need to know is about mixing acids with mixtures. It is very important for every chemical scientist to know how to mix together substances. There are various kinds of mixtures that can be mixed such as those which are acid, base and alkali. For the sake of your chemical science you need to know all the chemical steps and chemical reactions before you start your work.In order to understand what is the mixing, it is necessary to understand the different kinds of mixtures that are available. All of these mixtures have different meaning and significance to a certain situation. Generally, the mixtures are classified into two kinds namely the ionic and the covalent. The ionic mixture is the simplest form of mixing as it just requires stirring and the reaction of the different elements which have differing conductivities. In the ionic mixture, the one most important aspect is that the conductivity of the element will determine the reaction.The covalent mixture is more complex than the ionic mixture and makes use of the formation of the covalent bonds between the mixtures. There are four different kinds of covalent mixtures and they are, the cationic mixture, anionic mixture, anionic anionic mixture and ionic, covalent mixture. In this kind of mixture, the different mixtures are mixed together to form specific chemicals.Another important thing about mixtures is that the chemistry student needs to know the chemical reaction of the mixtures before they get started. This is because the reaction is the building block of any chemical process.A lot of students fail in their experiments as they fail to mix the mixture properly. This is because they do not understand the chemical processes and thus do not understand what the substance can do. The substance should react and then the reaction must be able to r eact as well. Thus, in order to understand the chemical reactions, you need to understand the chemical reaction.To comprehend the chemical process, it is necessary to know all the chemical reactions and their result. There are different kinds of reactions that can happen in the reaction. The first one is a non-reaction where there is no chemical reaction to occur. The second one is a reaction that is catalyzed by some other chemical reaction that may come in contact with the source of acid.The third kind of chemical reaction is the introduction of new chemical agents into the system where other chemical reactions might take place. The fourth kind of chemical reaction is the end product of the chemical reaction that came from the new chemical agent introduced into the system.

Get Lost in Indie Band Deckers Emotional Psychedelic Folk

Get Lost in Indie Band Deckers Emotional Psychedelic Folk Megan L. Indie-folk group Decker is a band on the move. When I called guitarist and singer Brandon Decker for an interview, he was signing the paperwork for a brand new van for the band. I think its the nicest vehicle Ive ever owned. Its gonna be very nice to not have to worry about being stranded roadside. Decker  admitted. And with their busy touring schedule, Decker needs reliable transportation now more than ever. I chatted with Decker  about his musical roots, his prolific songwriting, and the Wu Tang references  on his new album Patsy. TL: How did you get started in music? BD: My mom had great music taste and I grew up listening to vinyl records of Crosby Stills Nash and Young, Neil Young, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys and stuff like that. I liked rock and roll at a young age and I enjoyed singing. So how it all came together for me is that Ive always enjoyed emotively singing music and I also enjoyed writing, more so just words, like prose and poetry and short stories. I started playing guitar in my late teens, just covers. I went through a really profoundly dark time in my mid-twenties, and when I came out of that I just wanted to write songs and Ive been trying to write songs ever since. You have written a lot of songs since then, in fact you have a few albums under your belt. Whats your process like when youre creating an album and has it changed since you started out? Ive done five albums in the last six years, and I dont know if I have a process. I dont mean to sound mysterious or something. I feel like my songs really come out of the ether. I never know when its gonna happen. I found that all my records tend to happen in these flurries. The pattern that Ive gotten into is you make an album and its exhausting and all encompassing. You go and you tour it for some length of time. Then the touring ends and you just start writing another one. All of a sudden Ill have this set of songs and go, this is it, and start recording. I dont know whatll happen. Ive been going so hard for so long I havent been able to write lately. Its really left-brain, right-brain. Being an artist of our stature which is so working-class and do it ourself, it requires a lot of right-brain functioning just to keep the wheels in motion. But Im looking forward to when this phase settles down for our most recent album that I feel really proud of and we worked really hard on, Im looking forward to not worrying about that stuff and being musical and artistic again instead of working. Yeah, you have to be a songwriter, a bandleader, a marketer, a business-person Oh I wear many hats! Of all those hats, its clear to me that youre a great songwriter, plus  you have some wonderful musicians in your band with you as well. How do you choose the people you work with? The number one requirement is that they have a pulse [laughs]. Kidding! They have to be able to put up with me. I tend to be in my own world sometimes. Really sensitive artists dont do well with me. But I feel like Ive got a very talented group of musicians playing with me and theyve all been playing with me a few years, with the exception of one singer who just joined us. My bass player is classically trained. The keyboard player and pianist is classically trained. She also teaches a ton of lessons and has her own studio. Same with my drummer, he is a percussionist and its his life, he teaches a lot (Ed. note: Deckers drummer Henri B. teaches drums, guitar, and songwriting with TakeLessons in Phoenix). I think its so many things, fate, destiny, and you wind up meeting these people. Its just like how you dont choose your family. When youre playing in a band with people they end up kind of becoming your family. So you have a new album, Patsy, out now, and a new video coming out soon. Im hearing a lot of gospel, folk, and soul, but also some Wu Tang references? Can you talk about that a little bit? I have this longtime friend and we always enjoyed our inside jokes, and definitely had a shared enthusiasm for ODB. One of the first songs written on the record, one of the more gospel sounding songs, was inspired by all these people where I live talking about me that I didnt even know, and I kinda started writing this song, and I dont even know how the ODB thing happened. It just happened. Obviously ODB is not a role model for life. But I feel like theres one thing about him, if you watch him, he didnt give a shit about much of anything. He was just in his own world. I felt like paying tribute to how necessary that is for all of us aspiring to put ourselves out there whether its artistically or anything. Its the way you have to learn to live. Ive seen your music described as psychedelic desert folk, and you live in Sedona which is a really special place. Are you really inspired by locations, nature, and where you live? I think so. I love Sedona. Im standing out in front of my house right now and I live under two mountains that I like to climb a lot, I live right by the trailheads. When I moved here in 2008, I dont think I would have considered myself so easily inspired by nature or anything, but I definitely believe that the lifestyle that is kind of fostered by living in this desert-mountain extremely unique place is. I dont know if I would say that it inspires me, but its fuel for my existence on a cellular level. I wouldnt live anywhere else. Youre about to head out on the road again. What are you going to be listening to on this tour? I dont know the answer to that. I put out a post on Facebook asking for recommendations and I got a lot of suggestions to check out. I just heard of this singer Angel Olsen, she has a record out called Burn Your Fire For No Witness and I guarantee that that will be happening on tour frequently. On our last tour the album of choice was Kendrick Lamar. We like to keep a good mix. Dont miss Decker when they come to your town! Follow them on Facebook, Twitter, or their website, and support independent artists. Interested in Private Lessons? Search thousands of teachers for local and live, online lessons. Sign up for convenient, affordable private lessons today! Search for Your Teacher Photo by Matty Steinkamp

The Art of Cake Making

The Art of Cake Making The Art of Decorating Cakes ChaptersWhere Can You Find Cake Decorating Courses?How can You Become a Cake Decorator?Where Can You Find Cake Decorating Supplies?Inspiration for Your Cakes: the Best Books, Website and Social Media FeedsHumans have been making and eating cake pretty much ever since we went agrarian and, along the way, gave some pretty strange names to the baked goods made of wheat; kaka and placenta among them.Kaka is the Old Norse word for cake from which our word derives and ‘placenta’ was used in Ancient Greece to describe sweet baked treats.While we have a hard time imagining anyone offering up slices of placenta at their next big do, it is quite common to serve a lavish cake at special occasions â€" say, a party to celebrate the newest addition to the family.Today’s cakes are mostly calorie bombs loaded with butter and sugar; the icing tends to be especially rich.Those are a far cry from the cakes of yore, which were more like bread than what we identify as cake today. Perhaps that is wh y this next phrase is so often misunderstood:Let them eat cake!This phrase is both incorrectly translated and attributed, often to Marie Antoinette but actually recorded several years before she came to prominence. There is no proof she ever spoke that line, no matter how cruelly history has rewritten her deeds.Besides, whoever spoke that immortal line did not mention cake but brioche, a pastry-like bread whose high butter and egg content make it both fluffy and rich â€" and decidedly out of the reach of the peasant farmers of the day.Modern-day proof that brioche could never be considered cake is waiting for you at your nearest hamburger restaurant where, following the current trend of cutting back on enriched white bread, you may choose between a regular or a brioche bun.Maybe they’ve done away with regular buns altogether.Which type of bread your sandwich is served on aside, there is a staggering variety of cakes for us to discuss and explore â€" we’re not talking about a lay er cake (typical for birthday cakes) versus tiered cakes or wedding cakes, here.All of these fall under the header of ‘cake’:Butter cakes: Victoria sponge and pound cakes are examples of suchSponge cakes: made without yeast; examples include angel food cakes and GenoiseChiffon cakes include oil in the batter, making them extra moistCoffee cake uses yeast, baking powder or baking soda; they may have a glaze drizzled onYeast cakes: eastern European babkas are a perfect example of suchFlourless cakes: cheesecakes, flourless chocolatesChocolate cakes: can be flourless, sponge, chiffon or butter cakes whose primary flavour is chocolateYou’ll note that, so far, the discussion has centred around cake â€" not a bad topic in itself. But we’re concerned with decorating all of those yummy cakes with the many different types of icing â€" buttercream and fondant, royal icing and meringue.Quickly now, before we’re unable to control our drooling, let’s lay out all you need to know to b ecome a sugar artist. GiovanniCooking Teacher 4.83 (12) £25/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors HalimaCooking Teacher £12/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors HakimCooking Teacher 5.00 (5) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors VincenzoCooking Teacher £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors GinellaCooking Teacher £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors ArronCooking Teacher 5.00 (2) £9/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors JoshuaCooking Teacher 5.00 (5) £30/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutors FlickCooking Teacher 5.00 (1) £50/h1st lesson free!Discover all our tutorsWhere Can You Find Cake Decorating Courses? You may consider taking a course in cake design at your local cooking school Image by Steve Buissinne from PixabayIf you want to do things conventionally, you will want to find cake decorating classes, preferably an entire course rather than a one-off or an afternoon session at your local bakery.You may find such classes at your local university under the header of ‘culinary arts’.If the school nearest you has such a degree programme, you would have to follow their plan, which encompasses everything about cooking, to get to the relatively small segment that deals with pastries and cakes.To enrol in such a school, you will have to have sat your GCSEs and A-Levels in subjects pertinent to cooking and food, and earned satisfactory marks on both.Should your town have a cooking school â€" an institute dedicated to teaching and mentoring budding chefs, you may see if they offer cake decorating classes. That will save you the time and expense of earning a university degree.There are oth er ways to learn how to decorate cakes; we’ve covered them all in our full-length article on the subject.How can You Become a Cake Decorator?Think of some of the greatest minds in history: da Vinci, Turing, Einstein... yes, even Julius Cesar, who was a brilliant military strategist. Did any of these innovators base their brilliance on years of academic study?Sometimes, the best way to learn is to blindly forge ahead.Some people would say that the best way to become a decorator of cakes is to buy cake decorating tools, icings, gum paste and food coloring and see what you can do with it all.Others â€" more prudent learners, advocate for tutelage in the sugar arts. After all, piping bags and decorating tips cost money, to say nothing of the icing sugar and all the eggs you need to whip up a meringue buttercream frosting... You can practise your cake decoration skills you learn in school on cupcakes at home Image by congerdesign from PixabayPerhaps the happy medium would be to straddle the line between formal lessons and learning on your own.After all, cake decorating is an art form; isn’t it well-known that artists may take direction and instruction but must ultimately rely on their intuition to create standout pieces?And, once you can confidently create novelty cakes and speciality cakes; as soon as you have mastered cupcake decorating and making cake pops seem like the only answer to a sweet tooth craving...Whether you work out of your kitchen at home or share space with your local baker; even if you trade only on weekends or take only special orders, you need to find out how to market your skills as a cake decorator.Where Can You Find Cake Decorating Supplies?Indeed, before you can experiment with an airbrush set, edible glitter or ganache shaped in a silicone mold, you have to actually have these things in your possession.Your local supermarket likely has a few cake decorating supplies: sprinkles and dragées, for sure. You may even find a set of decorating tips and a piping bag and if you’re really lucky, a straight spatula. Offset spatulas, the one tool no cake decorator can be without, will be harder to find in a common grocery store or even a bargain store such as Poundworld.It is great that you wish to support your local grocers rather than rushing to your computer and ordering everything from Wilton â€" the top-of-the-line merchant for all things cake.If you’re just starting out in your cake decorating venture, you can surely find all of the ingredients â€" the eggs, milk, butter and sugar; possibly even food colouring at your local shop. For more specific ingredients, such as those needed to make gumpaste flowers, you will certainly have to have a supplier on speed dial.One way around that stumbling block is to work with your local baker. You could ask who their supplier is â€" maybe a local wholesaler?Come to think of it, your local baker might sell professional-grade decorating tools and, who knows? They might commission you to make a few cakes for their display case.I don’t like going online; I would rather be personal â€" Luisa D.Not everyone dashes for the computer to see what is available from the top-rated vendors and find discounted rates; today, the trend is to shop local. Wouldn’t you like to support your local businesses when you stock up on cake decorating supplies? Why not talk with your local baker about cake decorating tips and possibly showing some of your creations? Image by Free-Photos from PixabayInspiration for Your Cakes: the Best Books, Website and Social Media FeedsIf you are like the above-quoted Luisa, the Internet is not your go-to source for everything. In this day and age, some might find that remarkable but we’ll bet your librarian is more than happy about it!For some, a library is a quaint repository of outdated resources: books. For others, it is a treasure trove of information and inspiration â€" are you such a one?If so, you may find back issues of periodicals and even entire books on the topic of cake decorating.Among the many benefits of using books as a source of inspiration for cake decorating is that they usually include step-by-step instructions, along with helpful hints on how to achieve a particular colour or type of decoration.All Hallow’s Eve is just around the corner; the perfect time to serve up a spooky trea t in orange and black!Now is the time to head to the library or consult your cookbooks to see what you can whip up to mark the day. While you’re there, you might even look at a few Christmas-themed cakes to get some cake decorating ideas for the upcoming celebration.Whether you are planning a sheet cake (slab cake) decorated in cheerful red and green or you want to decorate cookies in keeping with the season, you can find a host of ideas at your local library.That doesn’t mean there are no resources available online for you to draw inspiration from; all you have to do is know where to look.Some people get into cake decorating for the money they could earn and others keep their eye on the prizes they might win (did you know there are sugar arts competitions held worldwide?) while designing and decorating cakes that seem to defy gravity.We daresay every sugar artist indulges their creativity with every cake they decorate, making our world both sweeter and more appealing, one slice or cupcake at a time.

Taking Lessons Dutch at School

Taking Lessons Dutch at School Everything You Need to Know About the Dutch Language Exams ChaptersThe GCSE Dutch ExamWhat is on the Syllabus of Dutch Qualifications?Review Materials to Prepare for Your Dutch IGCSEOther Resources to Prepare for Your Dutch GCSELearning a second language is often a very personal affair, for all that it is usually done in a classroom, among other students, and coursework is assigned by a teacher.Why choose one language over another? Does one have a particular affinity for the language and culture of a specific country? Or is it because learning a language promises future economic advantage?To give credence of that last speculation, we consider that school students the world over study the English language, among other reasons for all of the potential earning power fluency may bring.What is it about the Dutch language that captivated you? Are you planning to sit Dutch GCSEs with the intent of further education in Dutch language studies?For some, language learning is driven by a desire to connect with their heritage; for others, foreign languag e study appeals because they wish to know and understand other cultures.Whatever your reasons, your Superprof is ready to help you prepare for your Dutch language exam.opportunity to sit this exam  and progress to study the language of Amsterdam at university by sitting the IGCSE.This international version of the exam is, in many ways, similar to the standard GCSE and it is generally accepted as an equivalent.The study materials are about the same and your study methods should be no different than if you were going to sit your language exam at school.However, the IGCSE exam is reputed to be more rigorous; you will definitely have to double down on your studies for a satisfactory result.Here are some other differences between the two exams:GCSE results are only valid in England, Northern Ireland and Wales; the international exam is accredited worldwide.The IGCSE is generally only administered outside of Great Britain; however, more and more private and independent schools in our coun try favour that exam precisely because it is internationally recognised.The University of Cambridge International Examinations division designed both the international GCSE exam and its syllabus.By contrast, the GCSEs are developed and overseen by British entities AQA, OCR, Edexcel and Pearson in cooperation with the Department for Education.Whereas the GCSE score incorporates coursework in its assessment, the IGCSE does not.As you might see, there are certain advantages to sitting the international exam even though some aver it might be more difficult.Its level of difficulty shouldn’t matter to you because you have studied extensively and you are ready for anything any examiner can throw at you!Let us now find what you can expect to find on this exam.As Dutch A-Levels have also been withdrawn, find out how you can certify you Dutch language skills at higher levels...What is on the Syllabus of Dutch Qualifications?In order to properly prepare, you must know what to prepare for. To that end, we searched the programme’s current syllabus to find that you will be tested in all four areas of language learning: reading and writing, and listening.  Naturally, you will also be assessed on your ability to speak Dutch.Score-wise, all four components carry equal weight and none will take more than one hour to complete.The reading portion will see you confronted with a series of short texts, with questions at the end of each paragraph designed to test comprehension.  The writing segment calls for you to address three prompts.You will have one hour to complete each task.Your listening ordeal will challenge you with several recordings from which you must answer a series of questions and your speaking will be tested through two role plays, in addition to a general conversation and a dialogue over a specific topic.You will be allotted 45 minutes for each of these facets.Mind the time as you review: you will be kept to time limits on exam day Source: Pixabay Credit: Free-P hotosFurthermore, the syllabus indicates all of the testing materials are tailored to five topic areas. They are:Everyday activities: home, school and fitness activitiesPersonal and social life â€" family and personal relationships; holidaysThe world around us: hometown, people, places and customsThe world of work: careers and employment; language in the workplaceThe international world â€" tourism, world events and life abroadHow is your vocabulary regarding these topics? Might you need to brush up a bit?Review Materials to Prepare for Your Dutch IGCSENow that you know the framework of what will be expected of you and how you must prove your knowledge, we can go on the hunt for suitable review texts and workbooks.Our first stop would, of course, be the Cambridge International website.There, you will find several documents available for download in PDF format: the last exam cycle’s paper and marking scheme, a few specimen papers, and some role play cards to get you familiar with t he exercise.You will also find a few recommendations for textbooks; among them, a volume titled Concise Dutch Grammar and a book-and-cassette packed titled Teach Yourself Dutch.Both volumes are available for order from the Cambridge website, or you may find them on Amazon - just be sure to order the latest edition so that you learn from the most up-to-date materials!One more recommendation, while you’re browsing that online marketplace: you should invest in a good Dutch English dictionary if you don’t already have one.Naturally, if you are already so advanced that you are preparing for IGCSEs, you may need materials more suited to your language levels.Because of the recent cessation of administering this exam at the GCSE level, you may be dismayed to find a rather shallow history of past papers, marking schemes, notes and other resources.Hence we direct you to Papa Cambridge, whose website has stockpiled everything you might need to review for your Dutch 0515 exam in archives th at date back to 2003.Discover where you can learn Dutch in London or anywhere in the UK!Speaking Dutch with a tutor online is a good way to prepare for your IGCSE Source: Pixabay Credit: Janeb13Other Resources to Prepare for Your Dutch GCSEIf your exam were only about reading and writing and the understanding thereof, perhaps only reviewing past papers would be sufficient practice in the run-up to test day.However, the syllabus expressly states that you will converse with Dutch speakers and must meet or exceed the listening qualification.So, you must also hone your spoken language skills and listening comprehension.You might consider taking Dutch language courses outside of school; perhaps through The Dutch Language School.No worries if you don’t live in Oxford, where they are located; you may sign up for their language course online.Their distance learning IGCSE preparation course will provide you with work and review in all of the elements featured on the examination.Besides the ir course outline, they will provide you with a study tracker so you can measure your progress and make note of where you need more practice and a series of online exercises to measure your achievement in mastering each lesson.You could also improve your Dutch with a broader range of resources...For your studies on the go, you might tune in to DutchPod101, a series of bite-sized lessons in Dutch language and culture hosted by native speakers of Dutch.Because you are so far advanced in your language training, you may have to skip ahead to find new language to learn, or you may enjoy listening to Basic Dutch as a way to relax.Either way, tuning in exposes you to native Dutch speakers talking about a variety of subjects, including the ones on your exam syllabus.What is absolutely great about this website is that you will have the chance to participate in the language learning forum, where other students of Dutch discuss their difficulties and share tips on how to learn faster and bette r.What about private tuition?  People hire tutors all the time to help prepare for GCSE exams!Of course, we’re not talking about studying for a GCSE maths or brushing up on English literature and, of all modern foreign languages one might sit GCSEs in, Dutch is decidedly not in favour â€" that is why the exam was withdrawn.Wouldn’t that make finding a Dutch tutor difficult?That depends on where you look!Superprof has more than 100 Dutch tutors scattered all over Great Britain: if there are none close to you, you may choose to work with a Superprof tutor online.A sizable percentage of our Dutch tutors are native speakers who have relocated to our country. Or, if you prefer to study with someone for whom Dutch is their second language â€" so that s/he understands your upcoming ordeal better, Superprof has those tutors, too!Most of our Dutch tutors give their first hour of lessons at no cost so that you can determine if that tutor is the right one for you. And, at an average rate o f £18 per hour of instruction, you will certainly consider that money well-spent; especially when you score well on your exam!It is indeed tragic that there are not enough language students interested in Dutch to keep it as a GCSE component.Wouldn’t it be super if more people knew all the great reasons for learning Dutch?Still, your sitting the more rigorous IGCSE has a silver lining: it is internationally accepted so you may find it easier to enrol in universities abroad!Study well; your future awaits...Your input is needed: do you agree with our list of reasons to learn Dutch?

Which Online Tutoring Website offers the Unlimited Tutoring Services

Which Online Tutoring Website offers the Unlimited Tutoring Services 0SHARESShare The academic life is the foundation of good professional career. It is the primary necessity for students to excel in academics and cast in a way to accept the competition and challenges for future professional life. To face strong competition, school academic is not sufficient. One requires extra academic support. The students may take private tutoring, group tutoring, online tutoring in desire to get additional help and support. However, none of them give unlimited tutoring except few reputed online tutoring websites. Here are some leading online tutoring websites that offers variety of study programs: TutorPace.com offers unlimited hours of study program for K-12 students. It targets overall performance of the student with tutoring textbook lessons, homework help, test preparation, etc. It offers 24*7 anywhere, anytime availability of online tutors. Tutor Pace offers flexible, systematic, affordable and complete tutoring programs that do not work to pay and use the service but target increased performance of the student with unlimited tutoring. Online Math tutoring benefits the most with boundless tutoring. Unlike Tutor Pace, Tutor.com and SmartThinking.com do not offer unlimited tutoring at a fixed price but offer per minute on-demand program with round the clock availability. The program turns out to be more expensive if child requires tutoring for more than an hour or two in a week. Etutor.com offers lesson module program in two different ways. One is an Independent study program. The student work independently and contact tutor when required. Another is Guided Study Program. It offers one-to-one tutoring like any other tutoring websites. Etutor.com study program expensive in comparison to other website that offer on-demand tutoring but it is worth. Tutorvista.com offers unlimited hours of tutoring at a fixed price with round the clock availability of tutors. It is viable for students who are serious about online learning GrowingStars.com offers per hour on-demand study program. However, it offers unique features called “Always-On Tutoring” program for 5 hour window open for each affiliated school. The student can pre-schedule their session through Sunday to Thursday in the evening between 4pm to 9 pm. This is a low cost tutoring program with almost half of the price in comparison to others. [starbox id=admin]

Deferred Admission in Early Decision What You Need to Know

Deferred Admission in Early Decision What You Need to Know The following piece was written by Rachel Korn. Rachel has been featured in ourAdmissions Expert seriesand is a former University of Pennsylvaniaadmissions officer, as well as the founder of her own admissions consulting firm. Youve heard back from your dream school about your Early Decision (ED) application no, not rejected; no, not admitted; deferred your application will be re-read and reconsidered with the Regular Decision (RD) applicant pool in the coming months for a final answer later. In the meantime, what can you do to improve your chances of admission? How can you manage this time period as well as your applications to other schools? Behind the decision: Most of the time, a deferred ED application falls under a colleges admission criteria and/or admitted student norms. For example, grades may not always have been strong, class schedules may not always have been demanding, testing may have been low, essays may have been poorly executed or in poor taste, or activities may have been slim. Sometimes, these issues can be resolved or improved, and in such cases, the applicants can have a fair shot at admission later. There are other reasons, though, why you may be deferred that are not as clear-cut. You may come from a high school that sends many annual applications to your college and the college wants to wait to see you in the context of the rest of your high school pool in RD. You may not be admissible for some reason, but you are the kind of candidate the college seeks, so the college wants to send a positive message to you and your community that you are, indeed, viewed as talented. You may have connections to the college and the college does not want to say no, but is also not ready to say yes. In many of these cases, politics play a role in resolving the decision in RD. What can you do? First of all, send the college a letter that can be considered when your application is re-evaluated. While you want to remind the college how much you are committed to attending, your passion for the college is a given since you applied ED, so the letter should focus on explaining anything relevant to what you suspect could be the cause of the deferral. Perhaps you have not yet shared enough information in your application about something that worried the admissions officers. Moreover, you should be sharing updates about anything significant that could impact your application like new test scores that you will be sending, the resolution of an incomplete grade, or new awards. It may be possible to correspond or speak with the admissions officers in charge of your application to see if there is something specific you can share to help them in their decision-making. Sometimes, you may gain feedback, overt or subtle, about what has happened. Do note that how you handle this situation will shape how the admissions office feels about you. The odds are very high that you are liked remember, your application could have just been rejected and you want to keep it that way. Contact the admissions staff only when you are calm and thoughtful. Shouting on a phone or sending weekly e-mails bombarding the office will not persuade them to admit you. Plan your contact strategically, speak and write thoughtfully, and take cues from the admissions officers about how much your contact/information is wanted. Prepare for new directions. Although ideally your defer will turn into an admit, you need to start to plan for the possibility that it may not. Make sure that you are continuing to prepare with the same care applications to other schools for RD. As much as you want to hope for the positive answer from your dream school, you actually will help yourself if you can start to also focus on your other favorite options. While completing the remaining applications, remember why you liked those schools in the first place. You may have a dream school, but by no means is it the only school you can love and in which you will thrive. Try to keep a balance between hopeful and strategic for Regular Decision. When all of the application results finally arrive, you will then be assured to have an exciting college option for your future. Visit RachelsAdmissions Consultingsite. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.

What To Do the Summer Before Your Senior Year of High School

What To Do the Summer Before Your Senior Year of High School The following piece was written by Kofi Kankam. Kofi has been featured in our Admissions Expert series and is a former admissions interviewer for The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also the co-founder of Admit Advantage. The summer is finally here. Time to kick back and relax before the final push of your high school career, right? Unfortunately, I think this notion was generated in the same rumor mill that would have you believe that senior year is a time to coast. The reality is that if you are applying to competitive schools, there is much work to be done during your senior summer. Senior summer affords a tremendous opportunity for continuing, extending, creating, or mitigating experiences as needed. Continuing: If you have been a part of an organization consistently throughout your high school summers (or during the school year, for that matter), your senior summer could serve as an opportunity to demonstrate continued involvement. There is often a misconception about what colleges are looking for. In more of a check-off-every-box approach, students build resumes that read as more of a hodgepodge of disconnected experiences. I would challenge this notion, as this sort of resume building is easily discerned by admissions officers and does little to support your candidacy. Certainly, if there are gaping holes or a lack of certain activities that are preventing you from growing as a high school student, then, by all means, use your senior summer to fill in these holes. For example, if youd really like to challenge yourself by taking a certain advanced course during your senior year but you lack the prerequisite requirements to enroll in that course, go ahead and take a summer cours e that will allow you to advance academically. Or if you are particularly light in community service and involvement, you could use your senior summer to engage in such activities. The key here is this: try to pick organizations, activities, and courses in which you have a genuine interest and are in line with past experiences or future plans. This way, you are more likely to stick with the involvement, and your participation in such endeavors will come across as a seamless part of the bigger picture you are trying to paint as an applicant. Extending: This is the step beyond mere continuation. This means that for three summers you have been a camp counselor, and, during your senior summer, you step up to be the lead counselor. Perhaps it means that you challenge yourself athletically and earn a new designation or title during your senior summer for your sports team. It could also mean that you take the initiative to take an advanced course that goes beyond what is offered at your high school. Colleges love to see this! Not only does it demonstrate a sustained commitment to an activity, organization, or interest, it demonstrates initiative, leadership, and passion. More importantly, it also signals to colleges that this is something you will bring to their campus should you be admitted. So, if the opportunity presents itself for you to step up, or if you have to create this opportunity for yourself, without a doubt you should heed the call. Creating: Perhaps the only thing that speaks louder than the extension of an activity is creating new ones. These are the stories that get featured in local and national publications or go viral on YouTube. These are the kind of ventures that dont require you to point out how terrific you are because someone else, usually with a much larger platform, is already doing it for you. Just this week, I watched an internet story about a boy in southern California who didnt just volunteer at a soup kitchen he, along with his father, created a program to feed poor neighborhood residents breakfast every Sunday, complete with corporate sponsors and dozens of volunteers. This level of engagement sends a message to colleges that you arent the kind of person to sit around and complain about things; you are going to institute change. Think about the impact that this sort of proactive person could have on a college campus; it could be game-changing. Look around your community where do you recogniz e a need? Whats lacking? And more importantly, what can you do to spark that change? Alternatively, what industry would you like to learn more about? As the job market continues to struggle, internships abound. Want to learn more about social media? Propose an internship at a local PR firm looking to enhance their social media presence. Just because there isnt a job posting for an opportunity yet doesnt mean there isnt a need; this is where you swoop in to create that opportunity. Just a word of caution here dont force the issue. Again, pick an area that is consistent with your interests or past involvement so that you are more likely to stick with it. Additionally, it should be in line with your values as well as the story you are trying to communicate to the admissions committees. Mitigating: No one likes to admit that they have weaknesses or deficits, but we all do. If your weakness happens to be in the area of test taking, dont allow this to be your Achilles heel. The summer offers the perfect opportunity for test preparation. With so many applicants now taking test prep courses, you are almost certainly at a disadvantage if you do not. Not the best math student? You could use the summer to take a course at a local college to get a jump on the material that will be presented during senior year. Often, a weakness is only as much of a hindrance as you allow it to be. Perhaps youll never grow into a Nobel Prize winning mathematician or get a perfect SAT score, but proactively tackling your weakness may prove to be just the boost you need to at least make it a non-issue. Heres a heads-up for the fall of your senior year: it will likely be overwhelmingly busy. Rather than testing the limits of your time-management skills, use the summer to review and familiarize yourself with the Common Application, and take a stab at responding to the essay questions. Come senior year, you will still find that you are unbelievably busy, but the overwhelming feelings will be turned down just a notch. Remember, you are not alone in this venture. The college guidance office at your school can serve as a tremendous resource for opportunities that may be available during the summer from pre-college programs to summer study abroad and internship opportunities. Additionally, search the websites of local or interesting colleges for programs that they may be offering. Figure out if you need to continue, extend, create, or mitigate and make the most of your senior summer. Then, time permitting, you can kick back, relax, and enjoy the remainder of it. Visit Admit Advantage for more information. The views expressed in this article do not necessarily represent the views of Varsity Tutors.