There has been a recent flurry of activity surrounding the value of the SAT and ACT, suggesting a swing in the pendulum away from test optional. [Recent articles: The Misleading SAT Debate - The New York Times (nytimes.com); The Misguided War on the SAT - The New York Times (nytimes.com) ] Outside of the necessity to move to test optional during Covid, the rationale to go test optional is being questioned and backed up by research that suggests:  1) A direct correlation of college success tied to test results    2) Ways to use tests as a method to highlight academic tale ..read more

  holistic applICATION reviews vs. metric based reviews  "who moved my cheese?"    Did They get in? If you know any high school seniors this holiday season, they are about to learn their fate for their early decision college admissions and maybe even their early action decisions. The one consistent behavior is overwhelming happiness for those admitted and a range of emotions for those denied or deferred. Statistically, the admit rates have been dropping precipitously at the most select schools. Students who did not consider the admittance advantages of early decision may h ..read more

  Extracurriculars Still Matter for High School Students photo courtesy of Byram HIlls High School Facebook page.   Summer is a great time to get involved with extracurricular activities, a crucial piece of the college application! There are 3 components that are valued by the most selective colleges: Metrics – GPA, Rigor, SAT/ACT, Recommendations Main Character Essays and College Specific Supplements Extracurricular Activities School-Sponsored Extracurriculars – Sports, Clubs, Theater, Dance, Debate, Model UN, Band/Orchestra, Math, Chess, Robotics, Science Research, Newspape ..read more

  Have we been taught the wrong way to study for all these years? For high school students It’s the season for AP tests, finals, and tests like the SAT and ACT. But college and graduate school students are also going through the same study motions. Notecards, crib sheets, highlighting, isn’t that what we are supposed to do? A NY Times Opinion article “There Are Better Ways to Study That Will Last You a Lifetime” challenges the way most of us learned to study. The premise, offered by author Daniel T. Willingham: “Students get studying wrong because they don’t assess whether a method works ..read more

    There is a lot of pressure for students to do extracurricular activities. Many colleges view EC’s as a critical element of the application. There are varying degrees of a student's engagement level: Is the student doing enough in this regard? Are they following their passions? Or are they doing the activity because they were told to? I pose the following critical question to get to the core: Who owns the extracurricular activity? It sounds like a crazy question…shouldn’t the answer be “Of course, the student owns it?” But, consider the possibility that the parent owns the activi ..read more

college visits: Who, What, where, when, and Why   One of the most revered times for a parent is the college visit. When done properly, it can be one of the best experiences to get to know your child beyond their activities and schoolwork. Most important is that the focus of the visit is solely on the child applying for colleges. It’s not about mom or dad’s busy career(s) or about a sibling and their life. Most importantly, it is about choice—the ability to choose any academic focus at any one of hundreds of colleges. Oh, and they will likely be living somewhere else for four years. And d ..read more

How will ChatGPT affect college applications?   ..read more

What has changed with College Admissions since Varsity Blues ? To refresh your memory, in 2019, a scandal arose over a criminal conspiracy to influence undergraduate admissions decisions at several top American universities.Rick Singer, the shamed college counselor, synonymous with what is known as Operation Varsity Blues, is going to jail for 3 and a half years—proving that “crime doesn’t pay”. This video recaptures the news the day the scandal broke. But what has happened since the scandal was birthed? These seven stages initiated from the epicenter of Varsity Blues: An Awakening — Most pa ..read more

What to do after early college applications are submitted   Congratulations for those students who pushed the send button in their Common App screen and saw the online confetti fly.   What’s next? The natural tendency is to think that everything is complete, and complacency can set in after what has been an exhaustive admission process. It is not uncommon for students to want to be "done" with the application effort regardless of the consequences of not staying fully engaged with the process.  This is probably the most competitive process that they have ever faced and one ..read more

  Do You Know this Union College? Union College is in upstate New York in a city with a very distinctive name – Schenectady. Union was founded in 1795 and in addition to holding to its liberal arts roots, it has been quietly evolving and adapting to today’s student needs. Union is regarded as one of the few small liberal arts colleges that has a solid balance of liberal arts and engineering. Union now offers an Environmental Engineering Major and is bringing back Civil Engineering. With only 3 classes per trimester, students really get a chance to know their professors. For intro classes ..read more