Do you have any teachers whose classes you particularly enjoyed this semester? What about any teachers who took time to give you extra help when you needed it, or were willing to talk with you after class about the material, or who just seemed especially dedicated to making your learning experience a great one? I’ll […]
Read More >What you can learn at college graduations
It's college graduation time, as nearly 1.2 million students are about to leave school and move on to the real world. If you visited just about any college campus at this time–including ones that aren't famous–and talked with the graduates, you'd find, 1. Most of them are sad to leave their schools (really, who wouldn't […]
Read More >Can you graduate from a public university in four years?
Large public universities often get this criticism: “The kids can’t get the classes they need and end up going to college for five or six years.” What a bunch of bull. This is an especially touchy subject for parents, as people who’ve heard this or experienced it with their own kids for some reason seem […]
Read More >How much time do you spend really focusing?
Here's a study experiment to try. Next week, promise yourself that you'll spend one hour a day studying or doing homework with absolutely no interruptions, totally and completely focused on your work. When you do it, set a timer to go off in one hour. Then turn your phone off, turn your computer off, close […]
Read More >How to write a college essay about a person who’s influenced you
A teacher at one of my recent college essay workshops asked, “What are some good ways for kids to approach the Common Application essay prompt about a person who’s influenced them?" Here a few tips. 1. Remember what “influence” means. Influence is defined as, “the action or process of producing effects on the actions, behavior, […]
Read More >Don’t do test prep just to do it
Five years ago, the mother of one of our Collegewise juniors said this to me when discussing test prep for her son. If he finds a school he really likes and you tell us it would be a good idea to raise his test scores, we'll have him do test prep. But I don't want […]
Read More >Have to vs. want to
Arun is spending this weekend at a training in Miami with College Summit, a non-profit organization that helps under-resourced students get in to college. He’s been volunteering there for seven years, not because he has to, but because he loves the work. Katie just finished training new counselors in our New York office. Then she […]
Read More >The power of just being nice
There's no place to list "I'm a nice kid" on a college application. But that doesn't mean that nice kids don't get a lot of benefits. Nice kids get extra help from teachers and counselors when they ask for it. They get more effusive letters of recommendation. They'll make a better impression on college interviewers […]
Read More >How to make your next brainstorming meeting more productive
When we're in meetings with families at Collegewise, we spend as much time talking as we do listening. We have to listen carefully to know what advice to give, but if we tried to play amateur therapists and just kept asking, "How does that make you feel?" without saying anything in return, they'd start to […]
Read More >We’re hiring a patient, freakishly organized life of the party
Our Irvine, CA office is hiring 2-3 assistant college counselors to help us 1) take great care of the families who’ve hired us, and 2) keep our office running smoothly during our busy season. Who is Collegewise? We’re a college counseling company who helps high school students find, apply to attend the right colleges for […]
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