Last month, four wonderful new counselors joined our Collegewise family. First, we’ve added two Los Angeles-area counselors with a long history of helping parents make sound educational decisions. Patti Winkel College Counselor Pasadena, CA Patti graduated from Connecticut College with a degree in theater. True to the liberal arts college ideal which espouses a well-rounded and relatively […]
Read More >In the final minute of a podcast hosted here on Dan Pink’s website, Twitter and Jelly co-founder Biz Stone was asked what three pieces of advice he would give to seventeen-year-olds. Here they are: Failure. In order to succeed spectacularly you need to be willing to fail spectacularly. Creativity. It’s an endless resource. You’ll never […]
Read More >Julie Lythcott-Haims is a parent, a former dean of freshmen at Stanford, and the author of an upcoming book on the effects of helicopter parenting. In this brief TED Talk, she reminds parents that it’s your job to put yourselves out of a job, and you succeed only if you’ve raised an independent adult. And […]
Read More >Kalman Chany is a financial aid expert and the author of Paying for College Without Going Broke. This free guideline, Financial Aid 101, available on his website, is a great introduction to the financial aid process. During the college admissions process, it’s important that families discard hearsay and seek out good advice from people who […]
Read More >The term “batching” refers to grouping similar tasks together. For example, if you are writing an essay but stop to read and reply to every email the minute it arrives, it’s impossible to get into the zone with the essay. “Batching” in this case would look like this: you would focus for let’s say an […]
Read More >From Seth Godin’s Stop Stealing Dreams: “The right college is the last, best chance for masses of teenagers to find themselves in a situation where they have no choice but to grow. And fast. The editor at the Harvard Lampoon experiences this. I felt it when I co-ran a large student-run business. The advanced physics major […]
Read More >For applicants applying to college this fall, there are still things you can do to improve your chances of admission. Wild swings don’t work here—creating three clubs just so you can list them on your application won’t make a difference. But here are five ways you can make yourself a stronger applicant and boost your […]
Read More >I spend a lot of time on this blog and in front of audiences reminding parents of high school students that they need to step back. Helicopter parenting is no way to prepare your child for college. Kids need the opportunity to take responsibility for their college search and their future. You’ll always be there […]
Read More >Many college essay prompts ask applicants to discuss their “world” or “community.” For example, the University of California asks, “Describe the world you come from — for example, your family, community or school — and tell us how your world has shaped your dreams and aspirations.” Even with that detail in the prompt above, many […]
Read More >Vincent in our Princeton, New Jersey office returned from a NACAC affiliate conference recently with a meticulously researched guideline handed out at one of the sessions which detailed those colleges that still require SAT Subject Tests (there are fewer of them than there were last year). But the handout also served as a good reminder […]
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