Many of the best practices to pay for college are fairly easy to comprehend. Save as much as possible (preferably in a 529 plan). Apply for need-based financial aid. Don’t refrain from applying to colleges out of your budget (you might get aid to help), but don’t ultimately attend a school that will put you […]
Read More >Admissions agency
I’ve heard my friend and Collegewise Chief Academic Officer, Arun Ponnusamy, remind students how much “agency” they have in the college admissions process. He’s referring to your power, influence, and instrumentality. Students, you might feel like you don’t get a voice, that the world has already decided that famous colleges are better, that test scores […]
Read More >When it’s personal

College admissions is personal. An admissions officer who’s assigned to your geographic territory, who reads your essays and letters of rec and the summary from your interviewer–they get to know the student behind the grades and test scores. To the degree you’ve shared, they know about your life, your circumstances, your challenges, and your dreams. And […]
Read More >Good reassurance
Some families want to measure every potential decision based on its perceived college admission value. Would it be better to go to a summer program or to volunteer? Which leadership position would be the most impressive? Should I edit the yearbook or audition for the school play? Making informed decisions that satisfy colleges’ stated requirements […]
Read More >Interviews conducted at their homes?
In the last few weeks, several of our Collegewise students have been invited to attend their college interviews at the interviewers’ homes. Not surprisingly, many families have some reluctance sending their teenager to a stranger’s home. But they also don’t want to do anything that would reflect negatively on the student’s candidacy. It’s certainly not […]
Read More >Are results everything?
It’s easy to justify a lot of behaviors, particularly during the college admissions process, by pointing to one result. Your ACT score went up five points. You earned a 4.0 GPA. You got into the college of your choice. What’s more important than those results? What if those 50 hours of prep cost your family […]
Read More >Acting as if
You probably see roles or opportunities that you wish were available to you. Team captain, shift manager, a valued team member or trusted confidant or even a leader. Whatever the goal, you’ll reach it faster if you start acting as if. How would a team captain behave before they were actually the captain? Here’s what […]
Read More >Like they were in the room
Here’s a quick but effective way to improve the mood, trust, and overall team health of your group—talk about people like they were in the room. Your club, your organization, your counseling office–wherever you and others come together to do work you care about, make the decision to talk about people as if they were […]
Read More >Forthcoming forgiveness

Students, parents, employees–even the most well-intentioned of us screw up occasionally. And when others are affected, those moments are a perfect opportunity to build your reputation rather than to break it. Yesterday, Basecamp, the project management software used by hundreds of thousands of people, including me and my team at Collegewise, went down for five […]
Read More >Seek the light
When brainstorming a college essay with a Collegewise student, our counselors know when a topic has real potential—the moment a student lights up when telling us about it. That pure, involuntary spark in a student’s face and voice when they tell us all about their favorite class, that one achievement of which they’re most proud, […]
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