Clients often want to consider colleges where they’ll be opportunities to join Sororities and Fraternities, also known as Greek Life. In response to clients’ questions, I interviewed Drew, a former Creative Marbles Consultancy client, Fraternity member and soon-to-be-graduated college student with a degree in Biology. He talked with me about how joining a fraternity added to his…
Tag: High school junior
What’s The Value of a University of California Education?
Roughly 30 percent of every dollar we take in from tuition we reinvest back in financial aid. So the nominal tuition is $12,000 but the real tuition is probably about $8500. It’s like the sticker price on an automobile: 62 percent of our students don’t pay the sticker price, [which is] income adjusted. But it’s…
812% = Rise of College Text Book Prices Since 1980
While families know they’ll pay for college textbooks, the actual expense may be seen as, “OMG, ONE more thing I have to pay for?!?” When families may already feel limited in savings and income to pay for rising college tuition, planning ahead can help reduce stress. Knowing the average annual textbook expense at potential colleges,…
Guest Post: Cultural Musings
Many high school and college students intend to study abroad, with only vague notions of foreign escapades and intrigue, as a sort of extended tourist vacation. Haven, a current New York University Sophomore and former Creative Marbles Consultancy client, agreed to share a more detailed picture for students wishing to live and study internationally, while…
What’s College’s Value Given Today’s Prices?
Choosing a college based on price or which campus offers the greatest amount of financial aid can seem like a foreign concept to many families. However, as tuition continues rising annually and parents face the quandary of balancing saving for retirement and paying for college, at the same time their income seems to be shrinking,…
By the Numbers: University of California Fall 2013 Admissions
Note: a negative number in the last column represents less overall applicants admitted as Freshmen to the UC campus. Most all of us can recall a story of the 4.0+GPA earning, 2000+SAT scoring, class president for 4 years, started and is running a charity in Ghana, India and Brazil, plus helps little old ladies across…
What Does College Tuition Really Buy?
Harper’s Magazine reported in November 2012: 81% of Americans who viewed college as a good financial investment in 2008 dropped to 57% in August 2012. Now, there’s much room for interpretation of “good”–however, is the change in the average value of a college degree indicating a shift away from college, and if so, what experience…
Are Families “Shopping Around” For the Best College Deal?
The growing gap between the rate of inflation and increasing tuition, since 1985, may cause families to more carefully consider the worth of a college education, and “shop around” for the “right” campus.
To Seek Tutoring or Not
From the middle to the end of any semester, I start receiving calls from worried parents for tutor referrals. What I’ve learned in my decade of experience is that families hire tutors for a variety of reasons. Being clear on the specific reasons for engaging a tutor can make the the tutoring relationship the most…
ACT vs. SAT
Since college admissions officers will consider the highest score on either the SAT or ACT (and in some cases mix and match the highest subsection scores from multiple SAT test dates, aka “Superscoring”), then students often ask me, “Should I take both tests?” Students are usually trying to determine which test will merit them the…
“I Got In. Now, How Do We Pay for College?”
“How do I pay for college?” is an often heard question from Senior parents at this time of the year. As college acceptances and financial aid award letters arrive, the reality of an imminent, multi-thousands of dollars per year over multiple years expense may be blossoming in the consciousness of families, especially when a…
The Many Definitions of Smart
Memorizing a large number facts may not mean smart. You gotta know how to use the facts, too. Photo Credit: Science is Awesome
Not Every College Awards Advanced Placement Credits
One benefit of Advanced Placement (AP) classes and exams has been the ability to earn college credits, while still in high school, for an exam score of 3-5 on a 5 point scale. However, before assuming EVERY college will provide the college credits and the college credits for the SUBJECT in which the test was…
Transfer Admissions Guarantee At California State Universities (CSU)
California Community Colleges (CCC) and the California State University (CSU) systems recently started a transfer guarantee program for selected majors, where students can earn both an Associates Degree from a Community College and their Bachelor’s from a four year CSU, called the Associate’s Degree for Transfer. Basically, if students complete a set of required general…
Learn HOW to Learn: The Legacy of Mr. Coombs
At this time of the school year–after first semester grades and well-into the next semester–I receive increased requests for tutor referrals. Parents and students naturally assume that a less than expected grade in a class is due to content deficit–that somehow the student just “isn’t getting it”; “it” being the ideas and concepts presented in…