Many college grads are newly certificated, soon to be jettisoned from the Bank of Mom & Dad, to assume full fiscal and otherwise responsibility as novice adults. But, adulting is complicated. As the astute Lewis Lapham noted about his own experience he needed to … take the college-boy thumb out of my mouth, come of…
Class of 2020 and 2021 college grads, anxious to shop their abilities amongst employers, will confront a complex labor market post the 2020 COVID-influenced economic meltdown. As Class of 2021 graduates emerge from the chrysalis of college, seeking entry into the professional class, they may instead queue up behind the 45% of their Class of…
As new college grads join the ranks of the career-minded, dutifully employed professional, hopeful yet apprehensive in the concomitant uncertainty, I’m sharing advice from Avni, who’s a few years post college graduation. Her wisdom as she reflected on her few years working full time wrangling adulthood, then wondering what if… I would give two pieces…
Congratulations to the Class of 2021 students we had the great pleasure of advising during Winter 2020, who will be proudly attending the following colleges starting in Fall 2021: On the West Coast: Cal Poly, Pomona California State University Fullerton California State University Monterey Bay Chico State University Cosumnes River College Gonzaga University Oregon Institute…
Students we advised, throughout the United States, were admitted to the following colleges for Fall 2021: On the West Coast PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES PRIVATE UNIVERSITIES & COLLEGES Arizona State University Chapman University Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo Gonzaga University Cal Poly, Pomona Hawaii Pacific University California State University, Fullerton Lewis & Clark College California…
Now accepted to a variety of colleges, the complex work of building consensus toward a final choice begins. Families should seek to select the college with the most opportunities where a student to discover or gain confidence in an inherent aptitude. Thus, I strongly encourage families not to rush the college decision, so as to…
To be ready to choose a college, I liberally estimate that a 17 year old high school senior has: Spent approximately 12,760 hours attending school since Pre-K, Completed an estimated 2,376 hours of homework just during four years high school (assuming an average of three hours of homework on school days and six hours per…
Students who applied to colleges will now confront the need to grieve and celebrate simultaneously, as they receive admissions decisions. Acceptances eliciting an elation will be diminished by denials, which sometimes arrive on the same day, as well as by reactions to the success and failures of their peers. In their grief over a denied…
Waitlist offers—the no man’s land of college admissions, an offer for the B Team, a “we’ll call you, don’t call us”—hope and doubt all wrapped up in a single “Maybe”. Students, although navigating through the emotion of wondering why one wasn’t quite “good enough”, can still lobby for an offer of admissions. But, should they? …
Many soon-to-be college graduates—in a time of economic upheaval and pandemic induced doubt—fatalistic and full of dread can relate to the most recent college student-produced meme. Currently, unemployment and underemployment of new college grads is increasing, and gateways to employment like internships and other extracurricular activities are drying up or are suspended at closed or…
Like everything else in our COVID-colored reality, Fall 2021 college admissions decisions will be historic. Let’s review how: Two-thirds of all US universities and colleges are not requiring SAT or ACT scores as part of applications, and some are not considering the SAT or ACT scores at all, implementing what’s known as “test-blind” admissions, for…
For Fall 2021, MIT admissions officers have added two optional questions to understand the context of a student’s current COVID-disrupted reality. During a recent conversation, an MIT admissions officer explained the intent of the two questions. For the first question: If there is anything we should know about your school’s grading system or course offerings,…
For the first time in four weeks, less than 800,000 people filed new unemployment claims (those who have lost their jobs and now seek financial relief from either state or federal government) during the week ending October 17, 2020. Yet, the pre-COVID job market is slow to recover post the March 2020 financial tantrum, as…
On September 1, 2020, a California Superior Court judge issued a preliminary injunction, to be finalized on September 29, 2020, barring the use of SAT and ACT scores in Fall 2021 University of California (UC) admissions evaluations. Essentially, the judge implemented a “test-blind” admissions policy, meaning SAT or ACT scores cannot be considered, even if…
At some universities, SAT and ACT scores are used to award merit scholarships, in addition to being a metric for admissions. (Merit scholarships are awarded regardless of a student’s family’s financial status and based on an applicant’s qualifications, like GPA and SAT or ACT scores.) Many parents are concerned that their children will miss merit…
