Scantron Nightmares

Say, “S-A-T” or “A-C-T” to a high school junior, and watch their whole demeanor change.  The idea that a test score that will be considered as part of a future college application can provoke a racing pulse and perspiration. A typical conversation with Juniors about the SAT and ACT goes something like this:

Guest Post: Life of A Naval Academy Mom

About the author: Samantha’s son enrolled at the Naval Academy in Fall 2012, after considering colleges, like University of California Los Angeles and Boston University.  She highlights the support of the Navy Academy parent groups in the local area to bring families together, building a connection with their sons’ and daughters’ experiences at the Academy from…

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Guest Post: Don’t Overlook The Food

About the author: Rohan graduated with a full International Baccalaureate Diploma in 2012.  He moved from Northern California to Ohio for college at Case Western Reserve University.  He’s currently majoring in Biomedical Engineering and plans to attend medical school.  So, in the following post where he discusses what to eat, take his words to heart.  Studying…

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How NCAA Football Can Help Find the Right College, Wait…what?!?

During college football games, the fans, the close referee calls on memorable plans and multi-generational rivalries can all make an impression about a particular college campus.  Once a student is building his/her list of colleges for application, watching college football can be an entertaining way to learn more, supplementing college websites and the hundreds of…

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Top 10 Remarks NOT To Make At Holiday Gatherings

Seniors and their entire immediate family are experiencing the college application process close up and personal. So in the spirit of holiday giving, if you don’t make ANY of the following top 10 remarks to a college applicant, they’ll appreciate the super-bonus holiday gift: 10. “So, where are you applying to college?” 9.  “What are…

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Choosing Colleges With The Price Tag In Mind

Price is increasingly becoming a factor in choosing colleges for application, and enrollment.  67% or two-thirds of families surveyed recently for a Sallie Mae study, eliminated potential colleges at some point in the application and research process based on price, with 40% not even researching colleges after learning the yearly costs.  Our clients are following…

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Student Loan Repayments May Cost More Than The Amount Borrowed

Changes to repayment rules for Federal student loans offers borrowers flexibility to manage their debts, as outlined in a recent New York Times article.  However, not only do the recent changes provide assistance for current borrowers, potential student loan borrowers can plan ahead. Our recommendations are outlined, alongside excerpts of the article in italics. Rising…

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Guest Post – S-N-O-W: The Education Without the Units

Rohan graduated with a full International Baccalaureate Diploma in 2012.  He moved across the country from sunny Northern California to Ohio for college.  Throughout the college application process, Rohan kept an open mind about weather giving him more education than just studying Engineering.  After surviving the first winter, Rohan shares more thoughts about how “weather”…

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Losing Sleep Over College Affordability Concerns? You’re Not Alone.

Families attempting to determine college affordability can be subjected to acute bouts of insomnia.  The predicament of framing the pros and cons of each college choice for their children can be, at times, daunting for parents.  Parents face the dilemma of defining the value of a future outcome–a college degree with all of its attendant…

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“The Three D’s: Death, Disease & Divorce”

When beginning to write college application essays, students often worry about having lived an “ordinary” life, under the assumption that a dramatic event is a compelling topic to persuade college admissions officers.   A few years back, a stressed-out Senior, with tears welling in her eyes, exclaimed to her dad, “Why couldn’t you have died?!?  Then,…

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Gaming College Admissions?

Nervous anticipation arising from predicting who’s going to get into which college doesn’t only affect Seniors, community college transfer students and their parents.  The sense of foreboding can extend to parents of middle school age students, who are thinking backwards to choose a high school that seems more advantageous to meriting the college acceptances they…

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