Welcome to the driver’s seat! After months of waiting to learn where you would be accepted, the tables have turned and YOU are now the decision maker. Where to start? Accepted seniors are often invited to admitted student events, which are great opportunities to learn more about the schools you are considering. Here are 5 tips to make sure you get the most benefit out of these events:
1. Take…
When students have a mentor during college they are twice as likely to be successful after graduation—reporting more engagement at work and scoring high on other measures of well-being. The Chronicle For Higher Education reported on a book by Hamilton College Sociology Professor Dan Chambliss who followed more than 100 Hamilton students during and after college to determine which aspects of their undergraduate years really made a difference long term. Relationships matter…
High school juniors (and some sophomores) took the College Board’s PSAT in October. Scores of this Preliminary SAT will be released shortly: around December 3rd to educators and December 10th to students. So what do these scores mean and what should you do about them?
How to interpret your PSAT score: The PSAT is scored out of 760 points per section rather than the total 800…
The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) surveys college admissions counselors to determine the weight of various criteria in college application decisions. NACAC’s 2017 State of College Admission Report is its most recent, and is based on data from 603 institutions representing a wide variety of colleges. 
Table 7 shows us that 77% of colleges surveyed identified grades in high school college preparatory courses and grades in general as the most…
Most college websites are chock full of useful information if you know what to look for. Whether you are a junior just beginning your research or a senior starting to analyze admissions offers, these tips might help you get some answers.
1. News You Can Use – Look at the news on the home page to see if the college seems like a lively, active place. It’s a positive sign if faculty, alumni and student work and research are highlighted and if interesting guests are visiting campus. University…
Children who have ever been diagnosed with a learning disability or a medical issue that affects their learning, or who currently receive accommodations such as extended time or use of a computer at school, should start thinking early in high school about applying for accommodations for the SAT or ACT. Starting early means 9th or 10th grade.
Case Study: Realizing The Need Late In High School
Consider Joey’s story. He was a hard-working, first-born student in a private school…
The Common Application, accepted by nearly 800 colleges, launched on August 1st. While the application is pretty straightforward, here are some things to look for as you register and complete it.
1. Keep Track of Your Registration Information. Record your password along with the email address you used at registration time so you can easily access it. You may think you will remember it, but we have learned from our students’ experiences that this is often not the case.
2. Preview…
Has summer boredom set in? Do you need a break from college planning and summer reading? You can now learn about exciting new topics through Khan Academy’s partnership with major cultural and academic institutions. Visit the Museum of Modern Art, explore Pixar in a Box, NASA, Dartmouth, and more by looking here. Topics include:
The Metropolitan Museum of Art Tate The Museum of Modern Art The J. Paul Getty Museum California Academy of Sciences Exploratorium American Museum…
You know all about Facebook, Snap, Twitter and YouTube, but there are dozens of free or low-cost apps and sites to help you survive high school, college, and beyond. Here are a few of our favorites:
Studying and Organization
This fall, most juniors will take the PSAT, a practice standardized test that is very similar to the SAT used in college admissions. Both tests have similar content, format and scoring, and the PSAT is considered good preparation for and helpful in predicting SAT scores.
1. Evidence Based Reading and Writing
2. Math