I started a blog post a few months back encouraging you to consider colleges you may never have heard of before. I haven’t finished it yet but this concept is a very important one. After you put aside the names you know, be willing to look one level deeper – the point, after all, is … Read more
April showers are unreliable in California, but college acceptance letters come every year like clockwork. They are accompanied by their unwelcome cousin, rejection letters. High school seniors have had a turbulent week this past week, of course paying more attention to the letters from colleges where they were not accepted than from colleges who said … Read more
I met with a local representative from the University of Alabama this week. Why would a California student consider attending this school? Take a look at some interesting information I learned: Alabama’s debate and forensics team has won 19 national championships. Alabama is ranked 6th among public universities in enrolling National Merit Scholars. [National Merit … Read more
Huge news for the Class of 2014 – your essays have been announced! The questions are here: Some students have a background or story that is so central to their identity that they believe their application would be incomplete without it. If this sounds like you, then please share your story. Recount an incident or … Read more
I attended a gap year information fair this weekend. It was hosted by the Center for Interim Programs, based in Massachusetts, one of the oldest consulting organizations that help students organize “gap” time between high school and college. Counselor Jason Sarouhan describes a gap year as a way for students to “take productive, intentional time out of your … Read more
It seems that every week I am off to another professional conference. This week it was lunch with admissions officers from 24 different schools on Monday, a tour of UC Irvine and discussion with fellow counselors about college search experiences for Jewish students on Friday. I added up all of the time I spent on … Read more
I’ve been quiet for a little while as I helped my clients finalize their college applications – November and December were packed with activity! I thought I would share this interesting list of the most popular majors from a recent CNN Study: http://www.globalcitizencorps.org/blog/2012/03/top-ten-most-popular-majors Many students who come to me mention some of these as potential … Read more
Yesterday, I hosted my Inaugural* “Let’s Talk About College!” lunch for my high school sophomores and juniors. In addition to the six students who came, I invited a few friends who attended different colleges. Not official admissions representatives, or even interviewers – just normal people who can talk about what it’s like to be a … Read more
Just got back from a three-day, seven-campus tour in Central and Northern California. I went with three other counselors, plus 48 students from the high school where I volunteer. We had about 5 freshmen, mostly sophomores and juniors and a handful of seniors, and we were fortunate to be able to visit alumni from our … Read more
Please join us for two free presentations at Temple Adat Shalom this Tuesday, 10/16, and next Tuesday, 10/23 about college admissions. This week, we’ll talk about the basics: what matters in college admissions, how an admissions committee works, what your student can do in 9th, 10th and 11th grade to improve their options when they … Read more