Here’s a college essay exercise that will help you find your best stories. It works best when you’re faced with a prompt that asks a specific question like, “What has been your most significant failing, and what did you learn from the experience?” rather than an open and general one like, “Relate a story that […]
Read More >When good for you is bad for others
I’ve written often here that I think quitting gets a bad rap, especially in high school. Not all quitting is good, but successful people quit things all the time. They’re just strategic about what and when they do it. That’s why I’ve never heard a college say that they would prefer that students plod through […]
Read More >Helping freshmen start high school right
It’s too early for freshmen to worry about lots of things—the SAT, the driver’s test, and yes, even getting into a dream college. Please don’t start measuring your every 9th grade step by whether or not it will help you get into Yale. That’s not just a surefire way to initiate early-stage admissions anxiety. It’s […]
Read More >Make the effort
When I started writing this blog daily almost seven years ago, I always had a nagging question in the back of my mind whenever I would dole out parenting advice for those going through the college admissions process—will I be able to walk this talk when I’m a parent myself? Now that I’ve joined the […]
Read More >No financial (aid) regrets
Much of the anxiety infused into college admissions stems from the fear of making that one mistake that makes all the difference. Families worry that missing one detail, instruction, or advantage will erase all those years of hard work. Good college counselors spend much of their time talking families down from these fears. But one college preparation version […]
Read More >We’re hiring community organizers
Two years ago, in the communities where Collegewise operates offices, we began hiring community organizers—local parents to help more people learn about what Collegewise does and why we do it. Responsible experimentation is good in business, but we still had some initial reluctance. We didn’t want to do anything that would ask people to put their personal or […]
Read More >Last call for our Common App webinar
There are plenty of potential reasons why a college applicant might consider attending our upcoming webinar, Making your Common App Less Common, featuring our Vice-President and Head of Counseling, Arun Ponnusamy. Maybe you have questions about which essay topic to choose. Maybe you’re struggling with the activity section. Or maybe you just want to learn from […]
Read More >Must, should, or want?
Most college prep can be divided into three categories. 1. Things you must do. Taking standardized tests falls in this category. Unless you apply to exclusively test-optional colleges (and there are more of them than ever before), if you want to go to a four-year college, you’ll probably have to take the SAT or ACT. You […]
Read More >The cost of quick checks
If you’re still convinced that you can get your best work done while constantly switching your attention to incoming emails, texts, and other distractions, the research on “attention residue” says otherwise, as this article points out. Bottom line: you’re sharper and more productive when you commit to long blocks with no interruptions (not even a […]
Read More >Same old good news
College counselors (and regular readers of this blog) won’t be surprised by this news. But for everyone else, here’s a little something from this week’s Inside Higher Ed: “Every spring, the articles appear about how the admission rates to Harvard University or Stanford University have hit record lows and how it’s just impossible to get […]
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