Making the Most of Your College Years

Congratulations to the class of 2014! You’ve just started what many consider to be the best four years of your life – your undergraduate college years. While we hope that you will make your academic work the focus of your experience, be sure to take full advantage of all that your college has to offer, both within and beyond the walls of your classroom buildings.

We wish all of you the best of ... more >>

30 Ways to Rate a College

We’ve always been a bit suspicious of the usefulness of college rankings, believing that it is up to the individual to decide, based on their own criteria, which schools top their lists of “Best Colleges”. This powerful graphic by the Chronical of Higher Ed show that the college rankers themselves (Forbes, U.S. News, etc.) have also “personalized” their college lists by selecting their own criteria on which they rank colleges. Interestingly, there is very ... more >>

Students, Welcome to College; Parents, Go Home

A friend called me a few weeks ago to report that she had just finished buying all the pieces she needed for a layette. “For whom?” I inquired, anxiously, knowing that her youngest child was 12. “For Ben, of course” was the reply. I couldn’t help but laugh – Ben is 18 years old and headed off to college this week. In just the way she had prepared for his arrival into ... more >>

Grading on the curves

This is a humorous and mildly impertinent piece on how unhelpful college rankings can be. In this season where every few days another ranking list is published, it’s good to keep perspective on what’s important. No, it’s not how available free parking is on campus – it’s how well the college meets and matches the applicants talents and interests.

Pulling an all-nighter for the college application

Our goal for many of our college clients is for them to have most of their common application completed by the end of the summer. In July and August rising seniors have more time and fewer distractions so they can fully focus on completing the common app, and completing it well. The Fall is can be a very busy time and students should be focusing their energies on their classwork as this ... more >>

America's Best Colleges

According to a new report by Forbes, Williams is the college that best meets students needs. Having just visited Williams last month, I can tell you that the campus is stunning, the facilities are state-of-the-art, the faculty are very impressive, and their Tutorials Program, based loosely on the tutorial style teaching at Oxford and Cambridge, make this a top-notch place to live and learn. It seems like a no-brainer to encouage students to apply here. ... more >>

Hearing the right notes from a job candidate

With the rising price tag on college education and the tightening job market, parents are increasingly concerned about whether or not their son or daughter will be able to get a job upon graduation. Fair enough – with four-year tuition bills approaching the quarter of a million dollar mark, it’s not unreasonable for parents to hope that their child will have the skills they need to land “a good job.” However, ... more >>

Drexel U. Brings On a New Wave of Applicants

Over the next few months, select high school seniors will be recieving “V.I.P. Applications” from colleges encouraging them, through a simplified process, to apply to their institutions. Colleges send out V.I.P applications to those students whose SAT scores fall within a certain range as a way of increasing their applicant pool as well as intentionally raising the average SAT scores of their applicants. Both these moves make colleges appear more selective. ... more >>

Every year, IECA (the Independent Educational Consultants Association) polls its member consultants to ask them what they have observed to be the trends in college admissions. After the data is collected, the list of The Top 10 Things Colleges are Looking for in Their Applications is published. Annually, without exception, the most important piece of an student’s application is their transcript – how well have they done, and how challenging has their course load been. Further down ... more >>

Yesterday, the Common Application became available on line! Accepted by the vast majority of colleges in the U.S., the common application has, for many students, streamlined the application process. However, this is not a one-size-fits-all solution. Many colleges will also ask for supplemental materials to be completed. these supplements can ask for as little additional information as a few pieces of data, or can be as involved as asking the applicant how they plan to contribute ... more >>