For a high school student, there’s no single “right” way to spend a summer vacation. Yet, many students and their families are concerned that without a “productive” summer vacation, then a student diminishes opportunities for college admissions. However, this is not necessarily true. Selection for college admissions is becoming increasingly subjective, thus no one summer…
Most aspiring college applicants (and their families) are aware that they’ll report extracurricular activities in their applications, yet few may understand the significance of their efforts. With their extracurricular commitments, students can showcase their interests, while also contributing to their communities. Since college admissions officers don’t set specific requirements about the number or type of…
Parents and students are often confused about how to choose a summer program, especially when a simple Google search merits hundreds of choices. Yet, with reflection, focused on the student’s needs, families can choose more effectively. First, students can develop their own projects, recruiting mentors to explore their interests, all from home, saving money, while…
For many of today’s kids, experience is often confined to playdates, organized sports, tutoring sessions, afterschool homework centers, and summer camps—all structured programs where the young rarely risk failure or rejection and are often rewarded no matter their engagement or achievement. As a consequence, the youngest generation are fragile, unpracticed at navigating life when it…
Typically during summer, parents add “Visit College Campuses” to their family vacation itineraries. Many parents will exclaim in rationalizing college visits, “I want to expose my kid to college life, since they don’t have an idea what college actually is.” Translation: parents want to impel their children to start the college application process, sometimes well…
Many high school and college students, who are normally camp counselors, are unemployed as many in-person and residential summer programs were cancelled. While a financial deficit for many students in the short term, cascading consequences may also affect students’ prosperity in the long term. On May 24, Patrick Thomas of The Wall Street Journal wrote…
Summer vacation traditionally meant “lazy days “—time to rest and regroup. Yet, for Gen Z’ers and even the preceeding Millenials, summer has become “organized play” and “scheduled interest investigation”, packed into camps, summer school, club sports, and summer reading assignments. But, today’s kids are no different than us as kids—the people who learned from youthful…
Now that AP (Advanced Placement) tests are imminent, the stress level of high school students (and by extension—their parents) is noticeably increasing. Not only are students taking multiple tests in a few short weeks, students are also in the last month of a long school year, and the pressures of thinking that college admissions officers…
Inspired by CMC Clients: OMG College ESSAYS! College essays are often feared. Topic selection can confound students, who’re under the impression that a traumatic-dramatic-life-altering experience makes a compelling college essay. However, choosing the “perfect” topic is not necessary to begin writing. Simply start putting words on the page. Then, students will have some thoughts to edit and…
Parents often wonder how kids can use summers to stay competitive for college admissions, and at the very least, not lose all their academic knowledge from the previous school year. On the other hand, kids are planning how late into the afternoon they’ll be able to sleep, how many Call of Duty levels they’ll be…
Let the summer reading games begin! In this corner, Whatever Novel that your kid does NOT want to read, but is required to read for Class X! In this corner, Kid + Team Distraction—Instagram, YouTube, XBOX, Hulu, Sleeping In…you get the picture. Additionally, parents may wonder if summer reading is a cruel revenge fantasy of…
Parents are often afraid that summer vacation will render their children’s minds into mush. Plus, the indulgence in what can be considered mindless activities, like playing video games, for hours on end is a seeming threat to a kid’s long term college admissions competitiveness. Realistically, most students brains, nor their chances for college admissions, were…
Inspired by CMC Clients: To tour or not? Summer is a convenient time for families to visit colleges, yet also is not ideal for experiencing a more authentic view of campuses, as college students are on break too. Empty buildings and deserted pathways demonstrate the majesty of a college, however not necessarily the vitality. Since teens, who may prize…
Inspired by Creative Marbles Clients: More often, clients are asking, “How do I pay for college?” The idea that 10-30% of their yearly income will go toward college expenses is a tough nut to swallow for any family. While the answer to parents’ question is more complex than this post, in short, planning, planning and more…
