On Friday, January 20, 2023, according to a newsletter sent to counselors, the University of Southern California (USC) admissions officers admitted its first ever class of approximately 2400 Early Action candidates, a 5.9% admit rate. 40,600 first year applicants requested admissions by the November 1, 2022 Early Action deadline, which was also the deadline for…
The late summer for a first year college student is often a frenzy of purchasing all the trendiest dorm accessories, while trying to soak in every last minute with friends who will soon walk their own path. Parents trade insider tips about medical/first aid kits and all the legal documents, like health care directives, for…
For those of you contemplating your purpose and vision, here’s some inspiration from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s final sermon, given on February 4, 1968. Reposted from the Creative Marbles Consultancy Archives, July 2012
In the current economic upheaval, those individuals with more education are unemployed at lower rates than all other groups. Or by wages, assuming that wage is an indicator of educational attainment, those with $60,000+ in wages have lower rates of unemployment than those earning less than $60,000. However, if the recession during The Great Financial…
The sentiments of a current second-year college student attending a public flagship university in California when reflecting on the perils of the academic meritocracy: Rewarding/punishing requires less effort [by faculty and students] though, making it the easier default [system for measuring academic performance]. Assigning expectations, whether positive or negative, is a low-effort path that leads…
Updated: November 2020 from the original posted in July 2018 The short answer is yes…with an *. [See Below] But, like any life-impacting decision, the short answer doesn’t account for the complexities of choosing a college. And, the last three words are what’s most important to keep in mind: YOU, the applicant, are the one…
The University of California (UC) will not require applicants to submit SAT or ACT scores for first year admissions through the Fall of 2025, affecting students currently in grades 8-12 for the 2020-21 school year. Subjectivity in the admissions evaluations will likely increase, without the backstop of standardized test scores to compare other, less objective…
As the University of California (UC) admissions officers evaluate every applicant according to 14 Comprehensive Review points, understanding each criteria is useful for applicants to prepare accordingly, knowing that the totality of their high school experience will be considered when determining their admissions. The UC admissions evaluators seek a thorough understanding of an applicant’s high…
Creative Marbles Consultancy is offering a new advising retainer to help families navigate the current COVID-induced disruption in education. We can assist in the sometimes complicated transition from a teacher centered (pre-COVID) to a now more student directed learning process, the new normal in the 2020-21 COVID-disrupted school year in order to ensure that long…
The middle class, and those aspiring to the middle class, families are incurring ever increasing amounts of debt to pay for consistently rising costs of attending college which many believe essential to achieve economic prosperity. Subsequently, to compensate for stagnating academic achievement in order to compete for college admissions, middle class parents are spending on…
I recently discussed the current disruption in education and the college admisisons process, as well as how as a company we have adjusted our services for clients, with Danielle McKinney of Comstocks Magazine, a local business publication in Sacramento, California. The following is an excerpt: COVID-19 prompted all Ivy League schools to make SAT and…
The American middle class is shrinking, as educational achievement plateaus at the average level of attainment and more middle class families compensate the lagging educational achievement with discretionary spending on extracurricular activities and supplemental academic support services. By the late 1970’s, the collapse of American manufacturing sector made way for the meteoric rise of the…
Like I posited a few days ago, “Why is the American middle class shrinking?” Firstly, it can be argued that personal success, whether economic or humanistic, requires the acquisition of knowledge and the application of such knowledge. However, rote memorization and regurgitation on cue, skills necessary to compete in the modern American academic meritocracy, yet…
The COVID-induced disruption of the educational system, has also upended the Fall 2021 college admissions process. From suspended admissions requirements, like submitting SAT and ACT scores to the implementation of Pass/No Pass style marks for Spring 2020, instead of academic letter grades, effectively reducing students’ cumulative Grade Point Averages (GPA), students and parents are questioning…
As college students prepare to return to college campuses, scattered in varying locales around the nation, to begin the 2020-21 school year, it will not be business as usual given the surrounding outbreak of the novel COVID-19 coronavirus; therefore, monitoring the fluid situation, locally, regionally and nationally, will be of vital importance. The New York…
