Some of my colleagues advise students to read a college's mission statement before writing essays or visiting campus. It can be helpful, especially if the message is unique. My mission--to make the college process less stressful by managing the work ahead of schedule and focusing on the excellent education students can receive at many institutions--is somewhat unique in the world of "scare tactics and negativity" (words on my homepage). I also realize that it isn’t easy to bl

A year ago, I wrote a post in reaction to the new test-optional admissions era. Thankfully, though my 2022 grads are all happy, 2022 admissions tells me that this point needs to be made--and questioned--even more strongly. Learning the definition of “prestige" on Jeopardy! really clicked for me as an independent college consultant: From the original Latin praestrigae juggler’s tricks...derivative...of praestringere “to blunt (sight or mind), literally, to tie up so as to cons

When my son told me that he was on the judge’s panel for the National High School Ethics Bowl at the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill this weekend, that really got my attention. Yes, colleges want students with strong character traits, but even if they didn’t, I would champion this as an ideal extracurricular activity. Visit the page to learn how to start a high school team and recruit participants! I posted about it on both Facebook pages, and here’s a link and video

A colleague's words inspired to me write this. Upset about being waitlisted by your top choice college? That college may not be convinced that you’ll accept their offer. Here’s why: “Yield,” the percentage of students who accept a college’s offer of admission, has always mattered to colleges. The pandemic--and test optional admissions--dramatically increased the number of applications colleges received, making yield less predictable than ever. Yield carries bragging rights—Ha