For parents of rising Seniors, summer can seem like the ideal unstructured time to get a jump on college essays. For the average rising Seniors, maybe not so much. Take a listen to our podcast about how to combine summer vacation and college essay writing: For more information about college essay writing, see our previous…
Category: Podcasts
What’s College’s Value Given Today’s Prices?
Choosing a college based on price or which campus offers the greatest amount of financial aid can seem like a foreign concept to many families. However, as tuition continues rising annually and parents face the quandary of balancing saving for retirement and paying for college, at the same time their income seems to be shrinking,…
Need Based Financial Aid Explained
Paying for college can sometimes be a separate worry from concerns about admissions. Often, parents ask us nervously about how to afford college, as well as the family’s chances of actually qualifying for any financial aid. I find that parents are most concerned about need based aid, given the family’s income and asset values. The…
Embrace, Don’t Shun Worry and Stress; a Normal Part of Living
We spend our lives–first, learning and then, embracing–the idea that stress and worry should be avoided, denied, and minimized, but seldom understood. Art shares his view on worry and stress with a high school junior client and their family, as well as how one can work with stress and worry to become stronger, not weaker…
Northwestern University’s 2012 Common Application Supplement Essay Defined
Northwestern University includes one essay question as part of their Common Application Supplement. The question is designed to gain insight to the student’s interests and their potential match with Northwestern, which reads: What are the unique qualities of Northwestern – and of the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying – that make you…
University of San Diego Supplement Essay Defined
The key to writing a competitive college essay is understanding the prompt. (Sounds simple, but in the heat of writing college essays, while still keeping up with 15 hours a week of extracurricular activities, plus going to school and completing everyday homework, clearly defining the prompt may be overlooked.) Not to worry, we’ve done half the…
Teaching Style Can Create Stress Among Some Students in a Classroom of Thirty Five Students
Today’s podcast is an edited conversation with a client (high school junior) who was attempting to identify pressure surrounding the day-to-day academic grind. Within the broader conversation, the student suggested that the teaching style of their AP English teacher was creating undo stress and anxiety on the part of the student and their family.
College Selection and Financial Aid in the Age of Rising College Tuition: Part Three
We finish our podcast series today on College Selection and Financial Aid, by discussing the need to define the value of college in an era where tuitions are rising faster then the cost of pretty much everything else we consume. Furthermore, we offer simple questions that any family can ask early, and often, in helping…
Happy, Happy Thanksgivings To One and All From Your Friends at Creative Marbles
Our resident seven year old history teacher–while once again practicing the oral tradition of concentrating when listening to an instruction and sharing it from memory with others–recites a historical synopsis of Thanksgiving in helping to define the importance of this day. At Creative Marbles Consultancy, we take a somewhat day off today (college deadlines happen…
College Selection and Financial Aid in the Age of Rising College Tuition: Part Two
We continue our series on college selection and financial aid, by discussing the clash between the demand–and even right to attend college–and the dawning reality that rising tuitions (at a rate greater than inflation), alongside average student debt increasing at an unsustainable rate, are beginning to price some deserving candidates out of the college marketplace.…
Defining Claremont McKenna: Understanding the Supplement Essay Prompt
The Supplement questions of the Common Application are not only another opportunity for applicants to state WHY s/he is a strong candidate for admissions to ________ university, they reveal more about the college’s values and academic environment the student may join, eventually. As previously stated in earlier posts, competitive essays start with a thorough…
The Inside Scoop about the University of California Essay Prompt #1
126,000 single applications received by the University of California (UC) system for Fall 2012 Freshman admissions. That means at least 252,000 essays were written and included within those applications. (Mind you: These numbers are only for unduplicated applications, and DO NOT include that each application may have ben considered by multiple UC campuses.) …
Unlocking the University of California Application Essay Prompt #2
The most effective communication model yet may be when all parties involved are actively participating. When clarifications are needed, it is naturally asked and answered as many times deemed necessary. Now best communication practices aside, what happens when person A, someone from someplace–an admissions officer–with his/her sum of experiences, is to read person B’s essay,…
College Selection and Financial Aid in the Era of Rising College Tuition: Part One
This is the first in a series of Podcasts dedicated to the complex topic of financial aid as it relates to college selection, with its focus on seeking the greatest return on one’s investment in a college education during an era of rising college costs. We hope you enjoy our thoughts and as always, feel…
Halloween is More Than Pay Day for the Dentist
“Trick or treat, smell my feet, give me something good to eat!” (You know you read that in your best sing-song, childhood voice…) How many of us think about why Halloween is a holiday? Why do we give out candy? Why do we spend hours, if not months, planning an elaborate costume to wear for…