The Parent Trap

A parent’s job is often unenviable. Thankless. Tiring. Trying. Tireless. Especially when the child is a teenager. Parents’ reasons for making decisions can vary from encouraging their children to “live their own lives, do what makes you happy” and worries that what makes their children happy won’t pay their bills, let alone save for retirement,…

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Our Fervent Wish

…is that every high school senior and transfer college applicant and their parents temporarily develop multiple hands, whose swift fingers dance with the wind across the keyboard to craft brilliant essays well before the deadline. Deadline approaching. pic.twitter.com/CszGLJyrA1 — Academia ɐɹnɔsqO (@AcademiaObscura) September 4, 2018  

College Application or Marriage Proposal?

Applying to college isn’t simple.  Metaphorically, choosing a college can be like an arranged marriage—parents are involved in the choosing process, lifelong expectations are being weighted and future prosperity is being forecasted. “Dowries” are paid in the form of tuition, room and board, books etc.   Students seek a college that’s the “right fit“, dating…

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Knowledge Doesn’t Belong to Just Any One Person

Below is an excerpt from the May 2017, National Geographic Magazine, where Paleoanthropologist Lee Berger, discusses the need for frank discussion and collaboration amongst everyone, not just scientists and academics, in order to advance human knowledge. Doesn’t publishing your raw data invite premature criticism?  Yes, there’s is public criticism, but that’s peculiar to any science…

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College Admissions Decisions: The Troll Underneath the Bridge or The Gateway to Oz

As college admissions decisions are delivered to email and postal mail boxes all over the world, the decisions can seem to either validate or condemn a lifetime’s efforts. However, just as in Justice: What’s the Right Thing to Do, where Harvard Professor Michael Sandel hypothesizes a straightforward college acceptance letter, the truth can be more layered: In…

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Let Your Light Shine.CMC

Carpe Diem

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…

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Early Admissions: “The New Normal”

In what’s increasingly becoming an “Arms Race” of admissions, more and more students are applying early admissions.  The higher admit rates during early admissions in comparison with the regular decision period seemingly indicates greater chances for admissions.  For the current Class of 2021, 14.5% of Early Action applicants to Harvard were admitted, while during Regular…

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