Here’s a condensed version of episode 21 on the Tom Talks College podcast with some slick visuals referenced on said podcast. Itinerary We just wrapped up another state-mandated ACT this morning, so parents of juniors in the great state of Wisconsin…be good to your kids. We’ve been working them pretty hard, and they need a little mental downtime and maybe a three-hour nap. I’m enjoying a slower day today, then I’m back at Edgewood tomorrow for two ACT classes with two great groups of students before hopping on an early flight out of Dane County Municipal Airport and arriving before noon at Sea ..read more

This is part 3 of a 3-part series on College + Money, and you can learn more about this topic as well as parts 1 and 2 referenced below on the Tom Talks College podcast.  How much will we really pay?  In the first part of this series, “College Costs Simplified: The 15/35/45 Rule” (episode 16) highlighted the three basic parts of college costs and an easy to remember 15/35/45 rule to give you a ballpark of the most important part: tuition and fees. Part 2 “Merit Aid: Your Teen’s Best Part-Time Job” (episode 17) went beyond sticker price to find merit aid and show you that many college ..read more

This is part 2 of a 3-part series on College + Money, and you can learn more about this topic and also hear last week’s “College Costs Simplified” on the Tom Talks College podcast.  Merit aid may be the best thing you’ve never heard of when it comes to college admissions, and what follows is a quick introduction to what could be your teen’s best part-time job…and to the gift that keeps giving. Before we dig into the details, let me state this up front and as clearly as I can. Merit aid is the best tool you have to reduce the cost of college.  Read that again, and if it helps, imagine ..read more

Comparing costs at different colleges is often more complex than it needs to be, partly due to a lack of consistency from one college website to another. If you’re not careful, you run the risk of making decisions based on faulty information.  In this blog and in episode 16 of Tom Talks College, I’m going to break down costs for any college into three basic parts that are universal and can easily be compared. You’ll also learn a rule of thumb for typical costs at different types of colleges – including out-of-state and private – and you’ll learn how to use simplified numbers to make easy ..read more

I don’t want to waste your time, so let me state some facts, answer a few common questions, and let you – the parent – make the right decision for your family.    About 97% of four-year colleges in the United States have a test optional admissions policy.  “Test optional” means you choose whether or not to submit an ACT or SAT score.  If you choose not to submit it, it won’t hurt your chances – but submitting a strong score can help. Here are the three main reasons why students prep for the ACT:  Higher scores mean better chances of admission; A strong score gives yo ..read more

Most athletes think the athletic recruiting process is just like the movies: I show up at a tournament or national ID camp, a college coach discovers me out of the hundreds of kids that are there, the coach offers me a full ride scholarship, I go to the Division 1 college of my dreams, etc.  The reality is that most college athletes learn how to actively promote themselves along the way. Most college athletes do not attend Div. 1 universities, and instead attend Div. 2, 3, NAIA, or Junior Colleges. Successful college athletes often start the process early and take responsibility for their ..read more

2020 was a tumultuous year that not even the most clairvoyant of planners could’ve expected. And even though this goes without saying (and you’re probably tired of hearing the phrase ‘in these unprecedented times’), the pandemic had wide-reaching and unpredictable effects, and the college admissions process was not immune to these effects. Even the best and brightest of students had to navigate a confusing mess of ACT cancellations, rapidly-changing university policies and uncertainty about what the future of post-secondary education would look like. Despite this uncertainty, our students refu ..read more

Just when you thought 2020 couldn’t get any more F words thrown at it, here are three more: Flip, Flop, Forward. I’ll explain in a bit, so keep reading. Lately, my feed (and probably yours, too) is full of posts about what a challenging year 2020 was, so I don’t need to spend any time recapping that fact. As college planners and test prep gurus, we’re especially aware of how difficult the year was for students and families trying to navigate their way through the college planning process. Three F Words for 2020 2020 was the year of the perpetual FLIP. The pandemic flipped our worlds upside dow ..read more

Get our free LinkedIn Training Video! Keep reading if you want to learn how high school students can use LinkedIn for career and college research. If you’re a video/visual learner, get our free training video. We created an entire 30-minute training video that hows you how to unlock the power of LinkedIn for your college and career research, and we’d LOVE to send it to you. Click here to download this FREE training video! Hey high-school students! Did you know that the minimum age for having a LinkedIn account is just 16? Many high schools now teach students how to use of LinkedIn for networki ..read more

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