Many high school students believe the persistent myth that taking more Advanced Placement (AP) classes means a stronger college application. However, while AP courses represent “academic rigor”, simply collecting AP’s without reflection, students may not demonstrate what admissions officers actually value: curiosity and depth. The Problem with “Collecting” Credits Many students add AP’s as markers…
One of the most common mistakes students make when writing summer program autobiographical essays is trying to brainstorm, write, and edit at the same time. Students often focus on the word limit too early in the drafting process, and in doing so, they shrink their thinking before a real story has a chance to form.…
For many students, the phrase optional admissions interview triggers a familiar fear: What if I say the wrong thing? What if I don’t have the perfect answer? It’s easy to imagine the interview as exposing and unforgiving. Yet, the optional admissions interviews are as much for the applicant as for the college. Think of the…
For seniors applying to highly selective colleges, including Ivy League school, the writing process often carries an extra, invisible weight. While students worry about What should I say? but also How do I compare to everyone else in the applicant pool? When single digit acceptance rates loom large, what a student writes can seem like…
For some students, especially those who have only ever earned A’s, the first “B” can seem like a crisis. Families often wonder if this single grade will damage college admissions chances. The truth: it won’t. Admissions officers use a holistic evaluation process. That means they look at much more than a GPA snapshot: In fact,…
Every year, students approach the University of California (UC) Personal Insight Questions (PIQs) as if their “my fate is riding on what they write”—one “wrong” topic, one imperfect sentence, and everything falls apart. While the anxiety is understandable, such concern is also ground in a misunderstanding of what the PIQs are meant to do in…
At some time, the rumor started, then spread year after year, that college admissions officers admit students who have experienced heartbreak, difficulty, the “I overcame this challenge” narrative. So, students often compare their experiences to loss or catastrophe or illness, paralyzed to start writing when nothing seems “tragic enough.” But, in reality, admissions officers seek…
Thanks to the Sacramento Rebels Class of 2028 families and players for welcoming me and asking thoughtful questions about college planning. I wanted to share a few additional insights to expand on some of the conversation: Q: For FAFSA, which tax years matter, and what else do families need to know? For the Class of…
Many students approach writing as if it were a one-pot recipe: brainstorming, drafting, and editing—all tossed together in a single step. While seemingly efficient, often students rush their ideas, under the pressure of production by the deadline. Thus, their reflections can be shallow, and repeating frustration over sentences “not sounding right.” Yet with a thorough,…
During the freshman and sophomore years, students often shift, sometimes, quitting multi-year extracurricular activities. For parents, such moments can seem like red flags, worried about the views of admissions officers of their teenager who’s simply maturing. But with a shift in perspective, such life changes can become opportunities for choice and self-discovery. When a teens…
A student’s college list isn’t carved in stone. It’s more like a proposal or hypothesis, which will be confirmed as seniors draft their autobiographical college essays. Early in the process, many students pick colleges based on name recognition, geography, or what their friends are choosing. But as each student reflects more about their goals, values,…
Many students think the first draft of their college essay must be perfect. The truth? Writing begins with a mess. Start by “yapping”—rambling in a Google Doc, voice note, or even a notebook. Talk about what frustrates you, what excites you, what keeps showing up in your life. The ideas don’t have to make sense…
Applying to college can seem like a high-stakes project—one that many parents naturally want to oversee. After all, parents have guided their child(ren) through every milestone to date. But, completing college applications isn’t only about being admitted to the next school—teens (and parents) are preparing for what comes next: adulthood. In such an emotionally charged…
Many students get stuck when starting their college essays, convinced their lives are too “boring” or lacking in dramatic experiences to be worth reading about. But college essays aren’t about trauma—they’re about insight. Admissions officers seek understanding of the person—perspective, motivations, and the meaning of one’s experience. And those experiences don’t need to be earth-shattering.…
When parents first read the price tag of college, many are typically anxious. But beyond the sticker shock is a deeper consideration: What is being paid for? Although seemingly a trick question, consider the invitation to reflect, individually, between parents, or as a family to define value for a student’s future. Families make a significant…