From the Business Insider, an interview with Mr. [Jeff] Bezos about choosing “service and adventure” over “ease and comfort”. “Bezos said everyone has two options for creating their “life story.” Either you go for a life of “ease and comfort” or a life of “service and adventure.” Bezos is clear about which is the right…
Tag: High school sophomore
Guest Post: The Meritocracy-Diversity Divide
Affirmative action policies could use closer scrutiny—but don’t lose sight of their benefits. AFFIRMATIVE ACTION is an increasingly rare sort of debate, the kind where both sides present a valid analysis of a complex and thorny issue. This is not always the case. On climate change, the left is reacting to a real, imminent problem,…
In the Midst of College Admissions, Brilliance is Born
The Daily Academic Dilemma Director: Surya Sundararajan with an assist from Hubbubbaloo Creative
The Dilemma of Every College Applicant
Do you know what you want? Well, do ya…
College Admissions: An Unexpected Treasure
In a recent text conversation with Megan, a second year student at MIT, she reflected on the benefits of the college application process. _____________________________________ Creative Marbles Consultancy: Any advice for seniors going through the application process, especially when applying to MIT? Megan: While it’s hard, I think they should try to enjoy the application process…
“I Got 99 Problems and Being a Kid Ain’t One…”
Imagine being 16 years old, awake at the crack-of-dawn on a Saturday, sitting in a classroom “listening” to a test proctor who might as well be a sloth, awaiting the start of a three hour and fifty minute test in which the results seemly determine their lifelong success…or abject failure. If only the SAT were…
Email: America’s Past-Time (Literally)
The typical teenage inbox … because email is Snapchat’s great-grandmother. Photo credit: Hubbubbaloo Creative, 2017
The Bittersweetness of Choosing a College
“We live in a house around the corner from my parents. He’s gone to all the same schools I went to, and his grandfather went to. We’ve lived this suburban, settled lifestyle. And, now, we’re telling him we want him to dream and live a life in the arts, if that’s what he wants.…
“The Road Less Traveled”
Life begins with a finite period of temporal existence baked into the cake. Somewhere between the innocence of our youth and the reality that balancing needs with wants is a tricky business, lies a narrowly defined period where any choice made can have a disproportionate (positive or negative effect)—exacerbated at times by the hand of…
Grammar Shmammer
The rules of grammar can be annoying, especially when an English paper is “bleeding” with red ink marks, noting every single punctuation and grammar error. However, the purpose for grammar, which is to articulate the author’s ideas clearly to the reader, can get lost in trying to follow the rules of grammar. To help all the college…
Selfish Caring
Not a day goes by, when I don’t hear from a concerned parent that their kid isn’t doing enough community service. The unsaid part of the concern is “not enough for a competitive college admissions resume.” Although community service IS recalled in college applications and can matter in demonstrating the interest and commitment of an…
“I Have Student Debt?”
[Sung to the tune of Heigh Ho from Snow White & the Seven Dwarfs] “I owe, I owe, so off to work I go…” Even though I remember singing this refrain in jest, Millennials, the current generation between age 18 – 35 , may not be so light-hearted. According to Bloomberg News in April 2016: A…
Mind the Gap
Malia Obama recently became a famous representative of a Millennial trend, The Gap Year. Defined as a “year-off” between high school and starting college, most “Gap Year-ians” aren’t just loafing around, playing video games and drinking Bobo teas all day. For a generation raised on scheduled play-dates, year-round athletics, and regimented community service activities, the…
The Middle Class Squeeze
In the last several years, our middle class clients are being confronted by flattening incomes and college costs that have risen over 1000%. More and more families are finding themselves not only planning to pay for college when their children are quite young, but asking for more financial assistance when their children are ready to…
University of California Flagship Cuts Staff
The stress from the continuous reduction in state funding over the last decade has finally come to the University of California’s flagship campus, Cal Berkeley. The Washington Post reported on April 13: a workforce reduction of about 6 percent that comes as the prestigious public flagship is moving to erase a large budget deficit. In…