Choosing an academic major, or a set of college courses in a particular speciality, is not simple. Students often equate “academic major” as “career-training“, yet academic knowledge doesn’t always immediately translate into “job”. Often, students will still need to understand their aptitude, so they can find an application for what they know, or “to get…
Tag: College applications
Fall 2021 Admissions Policies Turned Upside Down
With many different colleges amending admissions policies to be test-optional, no longer requiring SAT or ACT scores to be submitted with first year applications, as well as many K-12 schools and community colleges shifting grading policies to universal Pass/No Pass or expanding Pass/No Pass options for students at least for the Spring 2020 semester, the…
Why Do You Want to Attend College?
As an educational consultant, when I ask the question in the title, students and their parents are often stunned and momentarily speechless. Parents usually look at their kids, shrugging their shoulders, as if to communicate, “She’s asking you, you answer.” Then, kids often confess that although they expect to attend college, they’ve never really considered…
Test-Optional Confusion
Cornell University admissions officers will not require that Fall 2021 first year applicants submit SAT or ACT scores as part of their applications. Cornell’s policy change applies only for the Fall 2021 application cycle, so underclassmen in the Class of 2022 and younger may once again be required to submit SAT or ACT scores. Yet,…
Let Your Light Shine
Skip to 00:40 An inspirational message that one never tires in hearing.
Test Optional Admissions
Given the cancellations of the ACT and SAT tests this spring 2020, several colleges, including the University of California, will have a test-optional policy for applicants starting next Fall 2020, meaning applicants are not required to submit SAT and ACT scores for admissions. However, the test optional policies vary per school, ranging from suspending the submission…
An Open Letter to The College Board About Advanced Placement (AP) Tests
March 26, 2020 Dear The College Board, David Coleman, CEO College Board & Trevor Packer, Senior VP of Advanced Placement & Instruction: While not diminishing the dilemma of how to continue the AP program and administer AP exams in the midst of the current global pandemic, students’ frustrations about reducing the exams to 45 minutes from…
Spring SAT Cancellations?
Updated: March 14, 2020 March 12, 2020 Dear The College Board: As K-12 administrators close school campuses around the country due to the COVID-19 outbreak, thus canceling Saturday’s March 14 SAT as well as potentially SAT tests in May and June, it’s urgent that The College Board address a growing set of concerns. Without answers to…
Potential SAT or ACT Cancellations due to COVID-19 Concerns
Updated: March 11, 2020 7:52 pm As some public health officials are recommending restricting large public gatherings greater than 10 people to stem the spread of the novel coronavirus and some schools, which are testing centers are closing, the potential exists for cancellation of the March 14, 2020 SAT and the April 4, 2020 ACT,…
Selecting a College vs. Being Selected by a College
Worries about “not being accepted” to a college are common, since most parents and students believe they’re at the mercy of an admissions officer’s decision. Often, students think, “How do I make my experience, like GPA, test scores and extracurricular activities, match the “right” selection criteria of (insert name of college)?” Few students turn the…
The Costs of Cheating
Recent articles highlighting cheating in college here and here and here, may be shocking to some or just an everyday commonplace for others or somewhere in between both reactions. However, none of the authors of the aforementioned articles question why students and seemingly more students than in the past believe that cheating in college is…
The Early Admissions Arms Race
According to the Common Application, “around 860,000” applications were submitted on November 1, 2019 for Early Action, Early Decision and Regular Decision application deadlines, which for the first time, exceeded the “around 720,000” applications submitted last year on January 1 for traditional Regular Decision deadlines. The increasingly competitive nature of the college admissions process—evident in…
Who’s the Class Clown?
Teachers got jokes Some advice for those students wanting to be the next Jack Ryan: If you’re looking to hide top secret information, insert it into a syllabus or an assignment’s instructions. No one will ever read it. — Typical EduCelebrity (@EduCelebrity) December 2, 2019 And, just to shake things up for those parents who…
University Of California Application – Activities & Awards Section
The University of California (UC) Application for Fall 2020 admissions includes many opportunities for applicants to explain the significance of their hours spent on the field, on the court, in a lab, on a stage, serving others, working in the mall…etc in the redesigned “Activities and Awards” section of the UC Application. In text boxes,…