More About: To Seek Early Admissions or Not, That is the Question

Admissions rates may be higher for early applicants; however, look closer at the applicants and their qualifications for admissions.  The applicants may be more competitive on test scores, grades, leadership activities and classes, thus a greater fit for the university and therefore more “admissible.” Also, beware of applying Early Decision as a strategy for hedging…

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B.A. in Common Sense

“Common sense can be uncommon.”–Art Baird Every parent knows with certainty their kid is smart.  As Montaigne said, “Everyman has within himself the entire human condition.”  Yet, what does smart mean?  How smart is smart? Is our current generation of budding adults–actually legally an adult–but mere months away from teenager-dome, lacking common sense?  Have we,…

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Financial Aid Myths: Fact & Fiction

Soccer field sidelines are filled with parents sharing their college expense stories and sometimes “nightmares” that can create misinformation circulating through the community.    Depending on the listening parent’s effort to validate or debunk the information gleaned can determine how useful the shared experience will be in guiding their own children. Here’s a few common myths:

How Common is the Common Application Essay?

In this podcast, Art Baird and Jill Yoshikawa, our company’s educational experts, generously share their 10-years of experience to help students write competitive college admissions essays within the context of the Common Application.  They define an effective outline for drafting this complex autobiography. For more helpful information, please also read: Storytelling Season is Around the…

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College: Path to Adulthood?

“We treat our kids like adults when they’re children, and we infantilize them when they’re 18 years old.”  –Jean Twenge (The Atlantic, July/August 2011) We routinely hear parents share concerns as their grown children are preparing to leave for college that laundry and food and budgeting–basics of managing life–won’t be done, nor learned.  (Rarely, do…

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Student Debt = Future Income Spent Today

Know the terms (i.e. repayment, interest rates) and possible consequences of taking student loans for college–essentially bringing future income into the present. (FYI: colleges are not obligated to disclose the terms of the loan BEFORE accepting them as part of a student aid package.  Students MUST ASK.  Also, students are not forced to accept student…

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When a Letter of Recommendation Isn’t Just a Letter of Recommendation

Now, that school’s back in session (or about to be back in session), and the excitement of choosing colleges for application can be wearing thin (given that everyone who discovers or knows you’re a senior is asking where you’re applying), so what’s next?  Well, parents, since about July have been asking us about letters of…

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