Here is a cool emotional awareness exercise that you might find helpful for your students. You can use it if you have students that struggle identifying or discussing their emotions. PDF & instructions are here: https://www.mygroupguide.com/emotionsgame/

The wait-list, commonly referred to as “admissions purgatory,”  is that ugly and uncomfortable grey area – they didn’t like you enough to accept you, and they didn’t hate you enough to reject you.

May 1st is College Decision Day, when students must decide and place a deposit at one college to which they were accepted. When a college puts a student on a wait-list, they will ask the student to respond as to whether they want to stay on the wait-list or if they’ve already made alternative plans, and accepted or will accept an offer from another college or university.

After dealing with the loss of not being accepted, students and parents need to determine which of the colleges where they were accepted offers the best academic, social, and financial fit for the family. If there is a clear winner, then the process is over. Otherwise, families need to evaluate the wait-list opportunities.

It’s important to be realistic about finances. It would be a rare occurrence for a wait-listed student to receive substantial merit-based aid. Need-based aid is more likely, but colleges will not necessarily meet 100 percent of need.

The wait-list is all about the yield: the yield is the specific percentage of accepted students who will choose to deposit and attend each institution. The national yield average is less than 33 percent, which means that two-thirds of students are rejecting the offers of admission they receive. That seems low, but it makes sense when you think about the fact that students apply to multiple colleges and universities and hopefully receive multiple acceptances. However, they can only attend one school. Colleges wish their yield was 100 percent; it would make their jobs much, much easier.

The dynamics of the wait-list vary from college to college and may greatly vary from year to year. The big problem comes when colleges invite thousands of students to be on their wait-list and then find out, after May 1, that their yield increased and they have fewer or in some cases no spots left for wait-listed students. In fact, they may be panicking that they don’t have enough beds for incoming freshmen who have already said yes.  Colleges do their best to predict yield, but it’s a risky game. All of this is to say that there is really no accurate predictive measure to determine how many spots there will be.

According to Richard Clark,  Vice Provost of Enrollment Management at Georgia Tech (www.gatech.edu), “Essentially, the wait-list exists to accommodate demographics that were not met in the initial round of admission offers. If you have the right number of deposits from the West coast, you go to your wait-list for more East coast students. If you have enough Chemistry majors, you may be going to the wait-list for Business students. Ultimately, the job of admission deans and directors is to make and shape the class, as defined by institutional priorities. Meeting target enrollment is critical to bottom-line revenue, creating a desired ethos on campus, proliferating the school’s brand, and other factors.”

So, while stellar academic performance in your first semester is always helpful, much is out of your control. Colleges will not be impressed with gifts and tear-stained notes; they know they are the ones who are in control.

Lee Bierer is an independent college adviser based in Charlotte. Send questions to: lee@bierercollegeconsulting.com; www.bierercollegeconsulting.com

Product philanthropy turns an operational liability into positive social impact

Many schools in the United States are underfunded, with a significant number facing funding gaps that negatively impact student resources and outcomes. On average, American teachers spend between $500 and $900 out of their own families’ budgets to supplement the materials and supplies their students need, according to the National Education Association.  You may know of some businesses in your area who might be willing to donate to help this cause, which is especially dear to your heart.

Manufacturers, wholesalers, and retailers of school and office supplies may be experiencing fairly tight inventories currently, with a relatively robust inventory-to-sales ratio. But the outlook for 2026 is decidedly mixed, with announced job layoffs already outpacing 2025 and the uncertain tariff landscape.

What will happen with inventories is anyone’s guess. It makes good business sense to be prepared if a company suddenly find itself with too much product and not enough sales, whether that’s because of economic shifts, product discontinuation, or seasonal transitions.

This could be a marriage made in heaven. From notebooks to backpacks to winter coats, if a product is safe, usable, and compliant, there is likely a teacher or school that an distribute it responsibly. And the best way to get them in the right hands is through product philanthropy.

What is product philanthropy?

Product philanthropy is a form of in-kind giving that benefits communities as well as businesses. It helps nonprofit organizations, schools, and churches serve more people  in their communities, while potentially generating a tax deduction for regular C corporations.

There are several product philanthropy organizations in the U.S. These are nonprofits that collect corporate product donations and then turn them over to carefully vetted and qualified 501(3)(c)nonprofits. They do the legwork of making sure that donations are used appropriately and shipping them, taking a huge burden off individual companies.

Benefits of product philanthropy

A single pallet of donated notebooks or art supplies can:

·        Equip under-resourced classrooms

·        Support after-school programs

·        Help teachers avoid paying out-of-pocket

·        Prepare students for academic success

Working with a reputable in-kind donation operation, a company will receive a full accounting of how their donation was used. It also ensures that merchandise doesn’t end up with a liquidator or on the open market where its brand can be diluted.

Another important consideration: Companies that have to meet goals for waste and salvage in order to improve ESG metrics find that product philanthropy keeps their items out of landfills.

In these challenging times, an in-kind donation may benefit the bottom line as well. Section 170(e)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code states that when regular C corporations donate inventory to qualified nonprofits, they can receive a tax deduction equal to up to twice the cost of the donated products. 

For example, if a product costs $10 and retails for $30, the difference is $20. Half of $20 is $10. So, $10 (product cost) plus $10 (half the difference) equals a $20 deduction. As $20 does not exceed twice the product cost, it is an allowable deduction.

Best of all, a company has the satisfaction of knowing it has helped teachers and students have a more successful school year. In addition, the positive PR generated by such generosity can burnish a company’s reputation.

In the school and office supply industry, surplus is inevitable. Back-to-school is compressed. Product cycles are fast. Retail expectations shift quickly. Packaging refreshes happen frequently. If a company you may know is unsure what the future holds for their inventory,  acquaint them with a product philanthropy organization and they can find out how it could be part of a solution.  And, as a counselor, you have done a good thing for kids.

Paula DeJaynes is president of NAEIR (rhymes with “share”), the National Association for the Exchange of Industrial Resources, the largest product philanthropy organization in the U.S.  Galesburg, Ill.-based NAEIR (www.naeir.org) has received from more than 8,000 U.S. corporations and redistributed more than $3 billion in products to nonprofits and schools. Paula can be reached at 800-562-0955 or prd@naeir.org.

Whether it was intentional or coincidental, April features two “awareness” months that complement each other: Counseling Awareness Month and Stress Awareness Month. The former is a tool to help you cope with the latter.

The way families live today is not the way people used to live. Fifty years ago, a majority of  women were stay-at-home moms whose husbands went off to work in the morning. The most stressful and expensive thing for families was getting enough food on the table.

Today, stress around kids, relationships, housing, education, finances and especially the workplace are inhibiting our ability to function. Everybody’s working, everybody’s raising the kids, everybody’s struggling to meet basic and financial needs. Remote work isn’t the stress-reliever it was promised to be; many of us are working from home and still having to be the primary parent.

Stress Awareness Month has been observed every April since 1992 – not too coincidentally around the time that stay-at-home momness was coming to an end, when a majority of women had entered the workforce. It’s aimed at raising public awareness about the causes, effects and management of modern-day stress.

Chronic stress can negatively affect your mind and body, creating a multitude of unpleasant physical and psychological symptoms. It can disrupt your sleep and impact your appetite. It can also cause tension, leading to muscle pain, headaches and memory issues.

Other mental health conditions that may be linked to stress include anxiety, depression and substance use.

Exercise, adequate sleep and nutrition are three key ways to cope with stress. The natural endorphins that you get from exercise are one of the best stress relievers. A saunter around the block in fresh air is not really exercise because it doesn’t necessarily elevate your heart rate. If you have trouble falling asleep, many apps offer calming music and guided meditations. Some are even free.

But in case you find those strategies aren’t enough, let’s talk about Counseling Awareness Month, which was established in 2002 by the American Counseling Association.

Some families who could benefit from counseling don’t seek it because of the shame and stigma that still surround it, the idea that if you need to talk to someone you’re showing weakness. It’s also common for people suffering from stress to tell themselves, “I don’t need a therapist. I can talk to my spouse or friends.”

And that’s true to a certain extent, but a spouse or best friend may get tired of listening to you and not be able  to offer coping strategies to help you build resilience and overcome stress.

A professional counselor is a neutral third-party who is not emotionally involved with you or your issues. Their only job is to listen to you, without judgement, and help you understand the sources and triggers of your stress. For example, if the source of your stress is job insecurity, a therapist may offer support or ideas about learning new skills or exploring other types of jobs, helping to build your confidence.

Many primary care practices these days have a behavioral health specialist on the staff, making access easier. The specialist may be a licensed clinical social worker (LSCW) or licensed clinical professional counselor (LCPC), but typically they hold a master’s degree and are trained to address emotional and psychological challenges.

Counseling can be short term and focused on particular issues, or longer term to address many issues that are working against your positive mental health. You may be referred to a psychiatrist if the counselor believes medication may help.

People minimize it, but stress is a real thing. Everybody has stress of one kind or another. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get help for it. We should become a society that not only supports but also commends others for seeking out support and help.

Bonnie Lane, M.S., is principal consultant with Family Support Services.  She specializes in supporting families whose children or loved ones suffer from severe mental illness or substance use disorder. Contact her at 847-651-1554 or bonnielane@thefamilysupportservices.com.