The art of the college application will be presented by Matthew Slayton at two free seminars in June. Slayton, pictured at right, a graduate of High School North, Class of 2006, and a junior at Duke University on a full merit scholarship studying neurolinguistics, shares information of Saturday, June 7, at West Windsor Library, at 11 a.m.; and Saturday, June 14, at Plainsboro Library, at 11 a.m.##M:[more]##
“I always knew that I wanted to get into a top college because I wanted a serious intellectual environment more than anything,” he says. “However, throughout school I always followed my passions with a plan in the back of my head. My goals informed my activities, but I did everything because it was meaningful to me.”
Music was a big part of his life. He took music composition lessons through high school and attended the Music Horizons Program in 2003 at the Eastman School of Music on a partial merit scholarship to study music composition. In high school he founded “The Music Makers” and presented music lessons for homeless children through HomeFront. He was the first chair euphonium in the Wind Ensemble. A piano player in the jazz band at school, he also played piano at cocktail parties. I Slayton was also president of the Red Cross Club and vice president of Model United Nations, where he received numerous awards at Model UN competitions.
Although he did not take any SAT review courses, he studied SAT and ACT from books and developed strategy — with which he now tutors. “I was recruited to apply to Ivy League colleges and was offered numerous full merit scholarships at other elite institutions,” he says.
A lifelong New Jersey resident, he was born in Perth Amboy and has lived in West Windsor since he was one. His mother, Laura, graduated from Brooklyn College and is a CPA. His father, Scott, graduated from Fairleigh Dickinson and University of Bridgeport (now Quinnipiac) Law School. His younger brothers are Brian, who will be a freshman at Case Western Reserve University in the fall, and Joel, now a freshman at High School North.
“Those expensive summer programs at colleges are not impressive,” says Slayton, who has attended numerous summer programs. In 2005 he attended TASP (Telluride Association Summer Program), one of the most competitive high school summer programs in the country, featuring an upper college level seminar with extensive reading, writing, and debating. (www.tellurideassociation.org).
Last summer he attended a Tort Law summer program at Oxford University. Earlier this month he traveled to Ecuadorian Rain Forest to study the language of the Waorani (indigenous people) and do service work.
Slayton’s program focuses on winning strategies, what courses to take, how to get a winning recommendations from your teachers, activities to impress college admissions committees, how to let colleges know that you are interested before you apply, and how to learn what really is important. He will also talk about how parents can best help their children and the pressure that the students are under.
“The college application process begins the first day you walk into high school, so learn how to make the most of your high school career while still having fun,” he says. — Lynn Miller
How to Beat the Game of College Admission, West Windsor Library, 333 North Post Road, 609-799-0462. Saturday, June 7, 11 a.m.
College Admission Seminar, Plainsboro Public Library, 641 Plainsboro Road, 609-275-2897. Saturday, June 14, 11 a.m.
