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Fall Timeline for High School Seniors: October
This post is the second in a month-by-month timeline for keeping your high school senior on target for the college application process through organization, which will keep the fall semester stress...
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College Family Weekends: Forever Jung
It was one of those crisp, breezy October Saturdays in the rolling hills of Pennsylvania, with the leaves just beginning to sport a bit of gold and copper under a cloudless cobalt sky. It was Family...
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Why You Should Consider Applying to College Early Decision
What is Early Decision? “ED” is defined by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) as: “the application process in which students make a commitment to a first choice...
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High School Testing Strategy and Timeline
The alarm clock rings, startling me out of sound REM sleep. I grab it furiously, switch it off, and hurl it to the floor. Then I glance at the time, and—YIKES! I’m late! I leap out of bed. It’s...
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College Consultants? Who Needs’em?
Why should families hire an independent college admissions consultant? 1. Focused one-on-one attention. In the middle of this decade, studies by the U.S. Dept. of Education and National Association...
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The College Waiting Game
November and December of senior year, probably the most nerve-wracking time in the whole college application process. Your high school student may have chosen to apply Early Decision “ED,” Early Action...
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Why Juniors Should Visit Colleges on Winter and Spring Break
If your high school junior is your eldest child, you may not yet realize the change that is beginning to percolate in your family life. You may not be psychologically prepared for the idea that school...
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College Freshmen Home for Thanksgiving
It’s yet another rite of passage for college freshmen. For some, it is the first time they will be home since they left for college in August. For others, it is the first time they will see their core...
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December 15 College News: Early Decision Acceptance
This post offers suggestions for next steps after receiving acceptance from an Early Action college, with advice from Admissions Matters: What Students and Parents Need to Know About Getting Into...
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December 15 College News: Deferral or Denial
This post offers suggestions for next steps after receiving a deferral or denial from an Early Action or Early Decision college, with advice from Admissions Matters: What Students and Parents Need to...
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Academic Awards to Earn for College
Most American teenagers have shelves filled with plastic trophies from sports and other competitions going back to kindergarten. In contrast, many high school students are at a loss to fill in the...
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Questions Applicants Should Ask in a College Admissions Interview
Interviewing does not play as pivotal a role in college admissions as it does in employment, but, depending on your student’s prospective institutions, he or she may be doing some interviews. State...
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College Skype™ Admissions Interviews
Most colleges and universities today do not require evaluative admissions interviews, but many at least “highly encourage” interviews (e.g., U Rochester, Carnegie Mellon, Case Western, Barnard, Rice),...
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December 15 College News: Early Action Acceptance
This post offers suggestions for next steps after receiving acceptance from an Early Action college, with advice from Admissions Matters: What Students and Parents Need to Know About Getting Into...
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The Power of Thank You Notes in the College Process
Thank you notes may seem a bit quaint or archaic in today’s fast-moving, texting, “onto the next thing” culture. But it is never out of style; in fact, I believe it is essential that your son or...
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The Best Public Universities for Out-of-State Applicants
If a family is shopping for a state university, one would think that the family’s own state would be at the top of the list, based on cost alone. Many families look beyond state borders, however, and...
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College Acceptances and Denials: The Best and Worst Things That Could Happen
There seems to be so much at stake when college admissions decisions come out, whether it is December or April. It is especially difficult in December, since applicants usually have only one, or at...
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How to Build a College List
Building one’s list of prospective colleges is the key first step in the college admissions process. If an applicant’s list is appropriate, the college process will be far less stressful than it could...
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Handling December College Admissions News
Several years ago, I created a video for my client families who have high school seniors waiting for college admissions news in December, for Early Decision or Early Action schools. My video offers...
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College Applications: Don’t Follow the Lemmings
“Two roads diverged in a wood, and I— I took the one less traveled by.” – Robert Frost. When any market, such as real estate, the stock market, or the college market, becomes so competitive that it is...
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