The root cause of the financial crisis was purely human factor. This human factor is the completely false sense of omnipotence, self-importance and entitlement among the country’s elite, as well as the nurturing of these beliefs at Ivy League colleges and other elite universities the US will be doomed to suffer other calamities every bit…
Tag: College selection
2020 COVID-Induced Retreat
First, in Spring 2020, as we retreated into our homes concerned for the health risks of contracting COVID, we re-centered our lives. Following stringent social distancing guidelines, we imported the world to our personal fiefdoms. Thus, we’re spending more on groceries to prepare our own meals, purchasing cable and satellite TV for news and entertainment,…
Students select colleges, colleges don’t select students
The criminally fraudulent actions of Rick Singer and 50 parents and college administrators indicted in the college admissions scandal in 2019, highlighted the disparities and weaknesses in the college admissions system, as well as the cultural bias that a college degree is a salve for life’s uncertainties. As Washington Post journalist, Jeff Selingo writes: These…
Advice for Students from Students
I asked a recent college graduate, whom we advised during her high school years, what she believed could be improved about her undergraduate experiences. She shared the following: I think undergrad is complex. It’s an odd blend of finding yourself, finding your passion, and finding your career. And a lot of times those do not…
(Re)writing college essays
Good writing is rewriting. Truman Capote Typically, high school students write one draft of an essay the night before the assignment is due amidst the myriad other homework assignments. Thus, drafting and editing and revising of each sentence happens simultaneously. But, typically, in writing college essays, drafting, editing, and revising are three separate steps, repeated…
The Next COVID Wave: Post-Thanksgiving Break?
Confirmed COVID cases are rising at different rates amongst the different regions in the United States and globally just as many college students will be released from their campuses at the Thanksgiving Break. As they begin traveling home, students may have to quarantine once again, just as they did to start the school year, but…
Can I Change My 650 Word Common Application Essay After Submitting It?
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…
A College Admissions Essay Contemplation
To effectively answer essay prompts, an integral component of applications for many US colleges as well as other countries scattered throughout the globe, requires understanding of the autobiographical writing process. According to the Oxford Dictionary, autobiography is “an account of a person’s life written by that person.” How does a teenager, or one of any…
Economic Inequality & Generational Disparities Could Equal Deepening Divisions
In the 2009-2019 decade following The Great Financial Crisis, the top 5% experienced the greatest income increase of all Americans, further widening income disparities between the top and everyone else. Contributing to the wealth gap, during the same 2009-2019 decade, Millennials racked up nearly $893 billion in student loan debt to purchase college degrees as…
Trouble in the College Market
Two-thirds of all US universities are expecting enrollment to decrease in Fall 2020, with obvious impacts to fiscal revenues. For universities already reporting growing fiscal deficits from the initial COVID-impact in the Spring 2020 academic term, the loss of revenues can further compound the sustainability of the modern American university. According to the latest statistics…
College is a Choice
Attending college is not required for achieving economic prosperity nor lasting peace of mind. Success is defined by the individual’s interpretation of their net worth that they were born to discover throughout a lifetime of searching for value from the sum of their experiences. Yes, that may include attending college, and praise to those who…
Buyer’s Market Anyone?
According to the US Department of Labor statistics, the August 2020 College Tuition CPI dropped 0.7% from the month prior, the largest monthly drop since 1978. College tuition CPI includes: …annual consumer expenditures for undergraduate and post-graduate studies at 2-year colleges, 4-year colleges, universities, and professional schools (law, dental, medical, etc.)…throughout the United States [minus…
Down the Rabbit Hole
Every college applicant, whether high school senior or community college transfer student, has now awakened in their own Wonderland, the Alice of their own journey to discover: To write competitive autobiographical college essays, applicants must reflect on their experiences, in order to define “Who they are” as well as their aptitude, so they can best…
Once Bitten, Twice Shy
As the number of newly reported COVID cases increases, university officials in an effort to protect the health of students, faculty, as well as the larger community are diminishing their capacity to educate effectively. According to The New York Times, as of September 3, 2020, over 81,000 college students have been infected with COVID-19 since…
The Shrinking Middle Class, Part 6
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…












