Stamina, Attitude and Tranquility: Essential SAT & ACT Skills

At approximately 4 hours of testing time, the SAT and ACT measure the endurance of a student, as much as their knowledge and ability to reason.  Test taking skills can help students access their knowledge during the long testing period, and pace themselves appropriately.  Padma, CMC’s resident 8 year old Renaissance Man, shares the following test…

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How Major is a College Major?

Choosing a college major is not the fork-in-the-road life moment, where the only consequences are becoming the next Steve Jobs or complete destitution.  Many will equate “deciding a major” with “deciding a career.”  However, major choice doesn’t always match exactly with careers.   Ask any college graduate if their career directly correlates with their academic major. …

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Guest Post: Investigating the Stereotypes about Women’s Colleges

Hearsay and rumors can preclude students from considering women’s colleges.  In order to gain more understanding, Olivia and Stephanie, the authors of the following post, share their experiences as students at women’s colleges in different parts of the United States.  Olivia currently attends Mt. Holyoke College in South Hadley, MA and Stephanie recently graduated from Mills College…

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Guest Post: “The School Part of School”

About the author: Rohan graduated with a full International Baccalaureate Diploma in 2012.  He moved from Northern California to the Midwest for college at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio.  He’s currently majoring in Biomedical Engineering and plans to attend medical school.   The academic requirements for both engineering and pre-medicine can be demanding.  Rohan’s previous…

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Colleges Without Makeup, The Supplement

Social media can give information about the culture of a college campus – beyond the smiling, shorts-clad undergraduates playing Frisbee on the ubiquitous green quad.  Of course, any effective search starts with what a student wants in their own college experience, making some self-reflection a priority. About the University of Chicago – from @UofC_Overheard: Theory…

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Tough Love

As regular readers recall, the news about stagnant American household median income is not a new story, more of an evolving story about how more American middle class families are adjusting to life with less income.  Lifestyle adjustments are just one possible shift in American households.  More often, I’m hearing parents ask questions about how…

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College Admissions Is Not a Race

When choosing colleges for application, the first criteria considered is often, “Where can I get in?” Students are really asking, “How do I measure up?”, creating a competitive mindset.  Then, in comparing the strength of their application to those of other possible applicants, students can generate unfounded or stereotypical conclusions, building nervous energy and aggravating…

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