A high school senior started a thread on reddit entitled, “I’m not as smart as I thought I was.” He writes about getting his first B, being disappointed with his SAT score, and coming under a new impression that he’s not the smartest kid in his class, just not as intelligent as he thought he […]
Read More >More effort, less worry
You don’t get to control whether or not any particular college says yes. You can influence it, but the actual decision is out of your hands. You do get to control: 1) How much effort you put towards preparing for college.2) How much time you spend worrying about what the answers will be. The first […]
Read More >Do colleges expect perfection?
Many people believe you have to have a perfect 4.0 to get into W&M (ed note: William and Mary) and other selective colleges and universities. We’ve heard students say that even a 4.0 isn’t good enough for W&M. Don’t get me wrong, we like 4.0s (or whatever the comparable GPA is at your school) … […]
Read More >Write this down when you visit colleges
I’m not a fan of turning college visits into homework assignments. Yes, I think you should take the tour if you can. But the rest of your time should be spent seeing what you want to see, whether that’s sitting in on a class or watching the baseball team practice. Just find a way to […]
Read More >Are you ready for your college adventure?
We love it when a student is excited about finding the right colleges. Casey, who's working with Katie in our Bellevue, WA office, is planning a trip to the East Coast with her family to see colleges. A self-described “organizational nerd,” Casey made a binder for the trip with all the details, maps, and spaces […]
Read More >Choose your critics
My old college buddy—writer and editor Adam Kleiner—is plugging away editing my next book. When each round of his feedback arrives, it’s loaded with criticism. “This section needs tightening.” “Fact check—support with a real example.”“This feels entirely speculative to me.” “Too many references to soccer and trigonometry. Mix it up.” it’s not exactly a cheerleading […]
Read More >Should you apply to colleges your friends are applying to?
I got a good question from a Collegewise parent at a seminar last weekend that I thought I’d answer here: Q: “What would you tell a student who seems to be picking colleges based on factors like where his friends and girlfriend are applying?” A: It’s important to remember that at this stage (spring of […]
Read More >What is school really for?
I think that students should have incredibly high expectations for their lives, and for their future colleges’ roles in helping them realize those dreams. That’s why I preach so often here that what you do in college will be more important than the name of the college you attend. Going to a prestigious school used […]
Read More >The truth about alumni connections
I’ve met a lot of students and parents who think particular colleges offer “great connections” for their graduates. And yet, I have never once met a person who got a job just because he or she went to the same college the boss attended. You might think that attending a school like USC, Duke, Michigan […]
Read More >Don’t miss the bigger lessons
Going to college should be about experiencing as much academically as you can, but more importantly, it should be about learning how to learn, and recognizing that learning is a lifelong endeavor. School isn’t the end of the learning process. It’s purely a training ground and a beginning. In my humble opinion, once you have […]
Read More >- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 279
- 280
- 281
- 282
- 283
- …
- 380
- Next Page »