Here’s how to focus students’ attention on a few areas of interest and aptitude and build an outstanding college application portfolio.
Building a Compelling College Application Portfolio: Four Keys
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Sophomore
Concerned About the Coalition Application? Five Things You Need to Know as a Parent or Student
The Coalition Application is one of the biggest changes in the college application process this year. Here’s what it means for you.
How to Make Sense of College Rankings
Each September, the week the vaunted U.S. News and World Report college rankings come out, you’ll find parents looking over them anxiously. For many universities as well, these rankings are critical, since universities vie for top spots on this widely-publicized evaluation of their quality. For parents and students, the report adds to the complexity of decision-making about college. Here are tips on how to think about college rankings.
Is College The Best Choice for Everyone?
The number and percentage of high school students who go on to four-year college have been rising steadily for years. But as the costs of college increase and many college graduates see only middling job prospects, more and more families are asking the question: is college the best choice for everyone?
Five Reasons to Work With a College Admissions Coach
A great college admissions coach can help reduce the stresses of applying to college and make the process much easier to navigate.
Acing the SAT and ACT: What You Need to Know
Standardized testing is stressful for many students and parents because it has such high stakes. At many U.S. and international universities, test scores are a major factor in admissions decisions. But taking a standardized test like the SAT or ACT doesn’t have to be stressful and scary.
The New Sat: How It’s Changed, and How You Can Prepare for It
In March of 2016, the CollegeBoard (which administers the SAT and PSAT), kicked off the new SAT, which is a major change from the old one which had been in use for a decade. The new SAT has now been used for almost two years, and there’s still not much understanding about how parents and students should best adapt. So here is a summary.
Here’s How You Can Ace the SAT and ACT
LifeLaunchr now has a way to help parents and students to ace the SAT and ACT, through it’s partnership with Aspire Education Project. For over a decade, Aspire Education Project’s expert tutors have led the highly competitive San Francisco Bay Area tutoring market, helping students reach their college goals at schools including Stanford, Cornell, Duke, and the University of California, Berkeley.
Five Things Teens and Parents Should Know about College Admissions: Part 5
At many high schools, counselors don’t start engaging with students about planning for college until spring of junior year.
But if you’re a parent or student, waiting till spring of junior year makes college planning harder for many reasons. In fact the best advice for parents is to start early: as early as possible, in freshman year if you can. College planning really starts the first day of high school, since its when all the work your teen will do starts making a difference.
Five Things Teens and Parents Should Know about College Admissions: Part 4
Parents I speak to often ask “What’s the best university to study engineering?” or “Where is the best place for my daughter to study biomedicine?” There are many ways to answer this question. The answer I always give is: “It depends on your child.” I tell them to focus on fit, not rank.
Recent Posts
Questions You Should Ask on a Campus Tour
Most campus tours will focus on amenities and prestige factors But as a parent helping your child, here are questions you should be asking at a campus tour.
Creating An Authentic Balance in Your College List
To make a good college list, focus on finding good fits, rather than chasing after the highest-ranked colleges. Rankings are arbitrary.
How You Can Thrive During Remote Learning
Last spring taught us some lessons about thriving with remote learning. Here are keys to success with online education during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Writing About COVID-19 in Your College Admission Essay
For students applying to college using the CommonApp, there are several different places where students and counselors can address the pandemic’s impact, and those different sections have differing goals.
Keys to a Great College Admission Essay
This time of year, many students are working on college admission essays. A great essay can help you be selected over others with similar scores and grades.
Five Things Every Family Should Know About Paying For College
Many families don’t think early enough about how to pay for college. But with a little planning, the challenge of paying for college is manageable.