A Milestone for CDI’s Milestones Newsletter - August 20, 2010

CDI’s First Service Learning Summer Intern
Isel Otero-Vera (Bryn Mawr College, 2012)
Translates CDI’s Newsletter to Spanish

CDI Scholar Isel (Walter Johnson HS Class of 2008) recently completed a summer Service Learning Internship at our headquarters. She dug in and helped with various projects including enhancing communications among all Classes of CDI Scholars through innovative uses of social media, assisting with program research, and translating our summer newsletter. Click here to see the Newsletter in both English and Spanish. Shortly after her internship, Isel headed to Chile for a study abroad program. She’s loving the experience, meeting other international students, and taking courses, including Conservation and Management of Environmental Resources, and History of Social and Economic movements in Chile.

During her first two years at Bryn Mawr, Isel served as a Community Diversity Assistant in the Office of Intercultural Affairs and guided tours for the Admissions Office. She also participated in Mujeres, an affinity group for Latina women at Bryn Mawr, Project Educate in Africa, and the college’s Leadership Empowerment and Advancement Program.

We are so proud of Isel’s accomplishments!

“One of the Best”
Collegiate Directions, Inc. was selected by The Catalogue for Philanthropy as one of the finest smaller nonprofits in the Greater Washington, DC area.

www.collegiatedirections.org

PRE-PRESS PREVIEW - July 8, 2010
“Ask the Experts”
Advice from Theresa O. Atta
CDI’s Executive Director -- to be published in the
2011 College Access & Opportunity Guide

Theresa’s article, “Finding and Building Your Network: Are You Connected?” is now available on the Center for Student Opportunity’s Web site and will be included in the hardcopy 2011  Guide, which will be released in July.

In her article, Theresa encourages students to use their networks of family, friends, teachers and counselors for advice, support and motivation during the challenging college application process. (Click here to read the article.)

The Center for Student Opportunity is a non-profit organization that promotes college access and opportunity among first-generation and historically underserved student populations by serving as a clearinghouse of important information on local, regional, and national programs that assist the target student population in college guidance, preparation and admission.  Their Web site features student-written blogs, guides to school support programs, and links to resources for students.

“One of the Best”
Collegiate Directions, Inc. was selected by The Catalogue for Philanthropy as one of the finest smaller nonprofits in the Greater Washington, DC area.

www.collegiatedirections.org

May 10, 2010

CDI Scholar José Otero is featured in The Chronicle of Higher Education’s lead story this week!

Photo: José (far right) with his family at his sister Isel’s high school graduation. Isel, CDI Class of 2008, is a rising junior at Bryn Mawr College and is looking forward to a semester abroad in Santiago, Chile.

As seen on the homepage of The Catalogue for Philanthropy …
Collegiate Directions in Chronicle of Higher Ed

“One of the Best”
Collegiate Directions, Inc. was selected by The Catalogue for Philanthropy as one of the finest smaller nonprofits in the Greater Washington, DC area.

www.collegiatedirections.org

Nina Marks with a CDI Scholar

In last Friday’s Washington Post Op-Ed, “Simplifying the college aid maze,” CDI President Nina Marks made a bold call to college and university leaders to develop better tools for students to decipher and compare aid offers and make an informed college choice.

After citing the success and growing popularity of the Common Application, now used by more than 400 institutions of higher education, she suggested that participating colleges and universities take the lead in simplifying the delivery of financial aid information by using a Common Aid Offer form.

Changing the delivery in both format and timing would allow low-income and first-generation-to-college students to make an apples-to-apples comparison of their financial aid offers well before the May 1 response date.  This would be a small step for institutions and a giant leap for students who must carefully weigh dollars and cents to pursue their dreams.

The response to the Op-Ed has been overwhelmingly positive, and it was followed by even more good news for CDI this week.  We are very proud to have two Gates Millennium Scholars in CDI’s Class of 2010!  We are also delighted to have had six Finalists and four Gates Scholars between 2008 and 2010. The GMS program has become increasingly competitive.  Three years ago it had 13,000 applicants, but the numbers have increased to almost 21,000 in the past two years.  Although we don't know all of the final numbers, it looks as though CDI Scholars captured more than 10% of the GMS awards in the state of Maryland and 25% of those in Montgomery County.

“One of the Best”
Collegiate Directions, Inc. was selected by The Catalogue for Philanthropy as one of the finest smaller nonprofits in the Greater Washington, DC area.

www.collegiatedirections.org

Nina W. Marks

Last week CDI’s Founder and President, Nina Marks, appeared on NPR’s The Diane Rehm Show to address the timely topic of the Student Loan Overhaul. Other participants included: Kim Clark, senior writer for U.S. News & World Report; William Wells, Director of Financial Aid at Wake Forest University; and James Boyle, President, College Parents of America.

You can hear the show by clicking on the link below, then pressing the “Listen” icon. http://thedianerehmshow.org/shows/2010-03-30/student-loan-overhaul

“One of the Best”
Collegiate Directions, Inc. was selected by The Catalogue for Philanthropy as one of the finest smaller nonprofits in the Greater Washington, DC area.

www.collegiatedirections.org