Denied?!? WHAT THE WHAT?!!!?

The email inbox for a college applicant at this time of March can be an emotional minefield.  Each “ding” alerting the Senior to a newly received message can create a heart-pounding, nervous-butterflies-in-the-stomach-hand-quivering-as-you-click-the-mouse-on-the-bolded-new-message-from-such-and-such-college, frantically searching the opening text for, “Congratulations!” and instead seeing, “With a record number of applications, we regret we were unable to admit you…

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Transfer Admissions Guarantee At California State Universities (CSU)

California Community Colleges (CCC) and the California State University (CSU) systems recently started a transfer guarantee program for selected majors, where students can earn both an Associates Degree from a Community College and their Bachelor’s from a four year CSU, called the Associate’s Degree for Transfer.  Basically, if students complete a set of required general…

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The Admissions Waiting Will Be Over Soon: University of California Response Dates

From January and Mid-March can be re-named, “The Waiting Season” for Seniors and their parents.  While Early Admissions applicants may know admissions decisions by now (end of February), which can lead to rampant speculation amongst regular decision applicants, the admissions decision waiting will soon be over for University of California (UC) applicants.  Then, comes a…

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More About Waiting for College Admissions Decisions: Is The Glass Half Empty or Half Full?

Perception can change everything.  I was complaining recently about something not going my way, and a friend reminded me about the neighborhoods in Syria being bombed daily, a roof over my head from the recent winter rain storm, you get the picture.  My friend got me thinking–how do we maintain a realistic view without falling…

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“How Do I Select Colleges for Application If I Don’t Know My Major?”

One of the first questions that arise when high school juniors start thinking about selecting colleges for application is, “What’s my academic major?”  However, choosing a major can seem risky, like locking oneself into an academic concentration with no chance to change, as well as declaring career for the rest of one’s life–all at age…

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Viewing the University of California Fall 2013 Application Numbers

Ok. Ok. Ok.  Each year, when colleges start releasing the numbers of applications received, I hear from parents and Seniors worried about their chances for admissions. The numbers of applications can spark speculation and fears about one’s chances of being accepted. Looking closer at the University of California’s (UC) application numbers can help gain some perspective and may…

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Sleep, More Sleep and Summer Camp: A Teen’s Summer Vacation Agenda

The months long stretch of unscheduled summer vacation can be enticing to both teens and their parents.  For teens, the idea of sleeping in until afternoon and no pressure about daily homework assignments is enthralling.  For parents, summer can be an unrestricted time to explore other academic interests and hobbies.  (And, in fairness, for teens…

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Do You Wonder if College Admissions Offices are Single-Handedly Keeping the U.S. Postal Service In Business?

Availability of information is not the problem when starting a search for colleges.  The sources of information–admissions statistics, YouTube, college websites, college search engines, Facebook pages, parents swapping stories on the sidelines at the soccer game, alumni returning to high schools to talk about their college experience, aunties and uncles freely offering college advice at…

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