The Common Application is a standardized template with text boxes and easy call to action, “Let’s get started.” The website/application is user friendly and even offers suggestions and tools to help students navigate the application.

As our class of 2022 practice their pomp and circumstance, let's reflect on the 2021-2022 admissions cycle and share our wisdom with the parents of rising high school students.

Whether you are attending on-campus or virtual tours, visiting schools is a crucial part of the college admissions journey. Many families use this opportunity to jump start the college conversation.

With colleges in flux, submitting test scores is a decision students make at the time of application. However, your college readiness process needs to include SAT or ACT test scores, so that you have all the pieces your application will need to allow you to make informed decisions.

Seniors have reached the halfway mark…and there is still plenty to do and not a minute to spare. A good place to start is to evaluate your goals (dreams) and assess your college application list. Here are some suggestions to follow up or consider as second semester begins.

Early Decision notifications will begin rolling out first week of December and will continue through the 3rd week December depending on a particular University and their admission timeline. The best advice during this waiting time is to be prepared and READ every email completely and follow directions.

Whether the college fair is online or in person, the students have an opportunity to hear (and hopefully meet) an admissions associate dean promoting their school and increase awareness. As well as mentioning a few key words to hopefully pique your interest. Depending on your high school year and where you may be on your college search journey, Fall college fairs can serve many purposes.

This is a one year-long program that brings together 2-4 high school juniors who will work with our college counselor on their college paths. Vicky will guide and lead students through various group and individual discussions, activities, and assessments to help them understand who they are, what they are looking for in a college experience, what they need to do to accomplish that goal and get them ready for the competitive college admissions process.

College essays need to do a lot of heavy lifting in the fast-paced world of essay reviews. Opening the essay with a “hook” as a strategy was devised to draw the immediate attention of the reader in order to pull them right in. However, what was once a great idea has morphed into a very cliched and poorly used technique. The need to have the essay open with a “hook” overshadows the quality and depth so needed for the narrative essay.

Why is it our habit to dwell on what we don’t have or don’t know rather than what we do have and what we know to be true. We feed off the shoulda, coulda, woulda’s and bait our kids into feeling defeated before they even begin the process. Then the media drives the college admissions hype calling attention to all the factors that we can’t control like how a college ranks in selectivity, demographic needs, legacy, and so forth. Herein lies the very reason why this process becomes overwhelming and exhausting. So...I think the phrase someone used is “Stop the Madness! Let’s try a different approach or the preferred approach.

College essays are different than other essays your student has produced during their high school experience.

Many seniors believe or are led to believe that getting their college application in first presents significant advantages, as this allows colleges to have more time to review their application.

The thought of meeting and sitting down to talk to an admissions office or school alumni about why you are interested in and believe you are a good fit for a particular school is daunting. How you respond and conduct yourself can be the determinant in whether or not you will be accepted. It can also be a factor in the school’s awarding you scholarship money.

What you write and how it is written is based on who the audience is and what the objective of the writing sample is. A DVD instruction manual is written in a different style than a romance novel, which is nothing like an economics textbook. The guy setting up his DVD just wants to know how to complete each step as quickly as possible. The romance reader is looking to escape into a fantasy world.

Because college admissions are more competitive than ever, an accepted application often comes down to the details. For instance, high school transcripts are an excellent way for students to positively differentiate themselves from other applicants. But what exactly are colleges looking for in a transcript, other than good grades?

Letter of recommendations is a very confusing aspect of college admissions. Either student misses their importance or over think it. Ideally speaking, letters of recommendation provide a first-hand account of who the student is, their conduct in an educational setting, enriching it with anecdotes etc.