It's often a waste of time to get upset about things you can't change. When your flight is delayed or you're stuck in bad traffic or it's raining on a day you wanted to go to the beach, that's the reality. Getting upset won't change things for the better (and I admit that I often […]
Read More >What we’ve learned from our gong
We tried something new in our Irvine office this senior season–we brought in a gong. The idea was that kids would bang the gong loudly and proudly on the day they submitted their final college application. We wanted to show families yet another way to celebrate the process, not just the admissions outcomes. To be […]
Read More >For counselors: The inalienable rights of students, parents, and counselors
All good counselors occasionally find ourselves disagreeing with students and parents. And it can be frustrating when you have to argue to get a family to consider advice that you believe really is in the best interest of the student. But one of our Collegewise counseling credos is that it’s not our job to fight […]
Read More >Five things you can start doing tomorrow that will get you better grades
Whether you're an "A" student, a "C" student or someone in between, here are five easy ways to earn higher grades. 1. When you're in class, pretend there is a state law prohibiting you from studying the material later. If you knew you'd never be able to study the material later before tests, you'd pay […]
Read More >Read what you’re signing before you sign it
It's just good business sense to read any document carefully before you sign it. But on college applications, a lot of students don't read the fine print in the signature section. They just sign and send. It's important to understand what you're agreeing to when you sign anything. Here's some of the text from the […]
Read More >How to spot a smart person in the room
Here's a good way to spot someone who's smart and engaged. When the conversation turns to something they don't understand, when there's a term or concept that's unfamiliar to them, that person doesn't sit there and nod his head. He doesn't pretend to understand when he doesn't. He doesn't disengage and become less interested just […]
Read More >Chris Rock on accountability
I've written posts before about the importance of students accepting responsibility, rather than blaming other people for their mistakes. Of course, it's not just a good lesson for kids. It's one of the secrets of successful adults, too. From comedian Chris Rock while being interviewed on Inside the Actor's Studio: It's never the audience's fault. […]
Read More >How Collegewise counselors take it or leave it
Whenever a Collegewise counselor comes across news, a helpful website, or other information she finds useful, we send it to each other in an email with the subject line, “Take it or leave it” (“TIOLI” for short). Originally Arun’s brainchild, the idea was that whenever one of us came across anything small or big that […]
Read More >Take a class at Harvard, Stanford or MIT for free
Not many people in the world have ever experienced calculus at MIT. No surprise there since you had to, well, get into MIT, which almost nobody does. But now you don't have to get in. You don't even have to apply. All you need a computer to experience calculus…MIT style. Here it is. 35 lectures, […]
Read More >A pep talk for counselors
Whether you're a high school counselor or a private counselor, you've probably experienced some combination of the following stresses: Not enough time to focus on the admissions part of your job. Working too many hours. Too many letters of recommendation to write. Parents with unrealistic expectations–for their kids, for the college admissions process, or for […]
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