Amazing (and FREE!) Glaciology Program for Girls Seeks Applicants

Getting into college is about more than grades and SAT scores. It's about demonstrating your ability to find and create unique opportunities. After all, as I wrote in The Two Biggest Mistakes Students Make on Their College Applications, the advantage of attending a top school isn't the quality of the book learning. It's the abundance of resources and faculty that you wouldn't have access to anywhere else. 

Moreover, colleges are looking for students with an interesting story -- students who have actively worked to fill their lives with passion, adventure and meaning.

Girls on Ice is a way for you to do just that! This free wilderness and glaciology program is accepting applications through January 29, 2016.

Two teams of nine teenage girls, aged 16-18, will spend twelve days exploring and researching mountain glaciers and alpine landscapes in Alaska or Washington. The teams will be led by professional glaciologists, artists and mountaineers.

Girls on Ice is operated by the University of Alaska Fairbanks College of Natural Science and Mathematics, and each girl's tuition is fully covered by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Alaska Climate Science Center (AK CSC) and the University of Alaska Fairbanks.

There will be two different expeditions this summer:

• Girls on Ice Alaska is for girls ages 16 to 18 who are from Alaska, the Pacific Northwest, British Columbia, Yukon or California. This expedition runs June 17–28, 2016, and girls sleep under the midnight sun while exploring an Alaska glacier.
• Girls on Ice North Cascades is geared toward girls from all countries ages 16 to 18 and explores Mount Baker, an ice-covered volcano in Washington. The North Cascades expedition runs July 10–21, 2016. 

The program helps girls learn about the natural processes that create the alpine world, develop critical thinking skills and explore the connection between science and art. Participants will also learn how to travel on glaciers, design their own field experiments and work as part of a team.

In addition to creating a lifelong memories, this is a chance for you to develop many skills that will look great on your college applications. As I wrote in If You Want to be Pre-Med, READ THIS, teamwork and collaboration are increasingly important in science and medicine. Many colleges have begun asking specifically about your experience doing intellectual work with a team. Moreover, not many high school students have experience doing actual field research, and having this experience could help your application shine.
For more information and to learn about the application process, go to http://girlsonice.org/apply/.

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The Girls on Ice application requires a series of short essay questions and two teacher recommendations. If you need help with any part of the application, please contact me or check out my services and rates page.