Five Admissions Tips for High School Juniors
I recently had a chance to speak on the Your Daily Scholarship podcast with scholarship expert Dave Peterson about a topic close to my heart. For nearly thirty years now, I’ve been counseling families on managing different aspects of college admissions and have encountered the same issues over and over again. One of the most detrimental yet easily avoidable mistakes in putting together a competitive college application is waiting too long to address certain influential elements. Consider these five tips before or during but definitely not after junior year if you can: 1. Select Classes Carefully Academic rigor matters, but don’t take on the toughest classes you can just because you have Ivy League aspirations. Make sure you commit to honors classes you are truly interested in, or else you’ll be spending hours a week regretting your choices. By the same token, make sure you think about all the classes…
Prep and Priorities
Meet Rory, a bright, motivated high school junior who can definitely see himself as a doctor (or lawyer or professor or CEO…) someday. Rory, a three-sport athlete and AP student, has made the most of his school experience so far in an effort to present as an outstanding applicant to any college. Aware of the considerable benefits of prepping for the SAT & ACT early in junior year, Rory and his family begin tutoring in September with an eye on the December exams… Junior year these days demands far more of teenagers than most adults realize. Ambitious students don’t just take on advanced classes but also juggle a slew of activities in which they must show commitment, leadership, and excellence. Extracurriculars can be particularly stressful during pressure points in a season, especially when coaches demand absolute acquiescence to uncertain practice schedules. While Rory was excited about preparing for the SAT…
Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Scores
The 2023 PSAT/NMSQT was unlike any other with the introduction of the new digital, adaptive format. What does that mean for PSAT scores and what they can tell us about future testing and college success? Let us help you understand just what your teen’s PSAT score means in terms of all the factors that matter at our 2023 Understanding PSAT/NMSQT Scores Parent Seminar: How can a student improve in each area of need? Does a PSAT score define your SAT destiny? Could the ACT be a better option based on PSAT scores? What scores might lead to National Merit Scholarship recognition? What can PSAT scores illustrate about success in college? What can’t PSAT scores tell you? 2023 PSAT scores will be released on November 6 or November 16, depending on when in October a student tested. Based on this, we’re offering two different seminar dates: — November 9, 6:30-7:30pm ET…
Testing and Admissions Information for the HS Class of 2025
In October 2023, I had the pleasure of speaking, as I do every year, to the Brighton PTSA about what the SAT and ACT are, why they matter, and what families can and should do about them. This year’s presentation was distinctive because we’re now talking about a digital SAT starting in the United States on March 2024. I’ll be delivering this seminar quite a bit over the coming months and years, but you don’t have to wait for me to come to your school–we have a recording! Enjoy the video and feel free to follow up with questions. Looking for more information about the digital SAT? START HERE
Submit Your College Applications Before Pumpkin Pie
Our friend and colleague Kristin Cocquyt of Cocquyt College Consulting offers student-centered, fit-focused college counseling in Webster, NY and through the Zoom-verse. This guest post promotes the benefits of finishing those college applications early! To procrastinate is to be human, but to tackle the college application process with fortitude and precise planning is…. well, hard. The college search and application process is full of details and deadlines and for most teengers is straight-up intimidating. If you’re in the midst of the college search and application process, it can feel like another varsity sport or AP class (or two) with the required time investment and homework. Your color-coded spreadsheet of deadlines and usernames and passwords is intense, and you have multiple Google Docs going with essay drafts. The college application process can sort of take over and distract you from the other glories of senior year. I’ve coached over 600 students…
Play To The Final Whistle
A restless urge to compete impels all great success in a way that less ambitious emotions cannot. Often, we are competing with others for some coveted prize or championship. Other times, we compete with ourselves, to beat our best time or turn out our most perfect effort. Even when we strive against the seemingly unyielding barriers of space and time, we are competing; those who break speed records or delve impossible depths compete against reality itself, and sometimes even win. The highest test scores often go to the fiercest competitors. Make no mistake: greatness will not simply fall into your lap. Championships, awards, and glory go to those who fight relentlessly for them. On the day of your official ACT or SAT, your competition is far greater and more vast than you can probably imagine. If you want to earn a 99th percentile score, you’ll have to best somewhere between…