Often families mistake college affordability as “lowest price”, yet few consider the potential opportunity costs of an (un)realized genius. Thus, as high school seniors, transfer students, and their families weigh the awesome choice of one college acceptance over another (often while grieving an admissions denial), exercising patience and careful consideration is most prudent. While every…
A college acceptance isn’t a cure-all, get-out-of-jail-free card, where untold riches and lifelong prosperity are as plentiful and readily flowing as red cups filled from a college party keg. Instead: To avoid such pitfalls, effectively reducing the risk of educational malinvestment, prudent families can use the quiet lull of summer to reflect, reassess, and regroup…
According to a recent Los Angeles Times article, preliminary application counts for Fall 2021 released by the University of California show a 15% increase from last year’s Fall 2020 applications, netting nearly 250,000 single applications. Yet, will increases in applications render to more acceptances and more enrollment? Some speculate that the increase in applications is…
The University of California (UC) new President Michael V. Drake recently announced that all nine UC campuses are preparing for a return to mainly in-person instruction in Fall 2021. Yet, in the announcement, the UC also acknowledges their plans may be subject to change by the Fall months: …UC is preparing to welcome students back…
As the University of California (UC) admissions officers evaluate every applicant according to 14 Comprehensive Review points, understanding each criteria is useful for applicants to prepare accordingly, knowing that the totality of their high school experience will be considered when determining their admissions. The UC admissions evaluators seek a thorough understanding of an applicant’s high…
While for many years, the University of California has utilized Comprehensive Review, comprised of 14 different criteria guiding admissions officers evaluations of applicants which already creates a degree of subjectivity, since SAT and ACT scores are optional starting in Fall 2021 and beyond, subjectivity in admissions may increase. To help applicants plan or revise their…
College administrators are proposing two scenarios for the 2020-21 school year, first, a hybrid model of modified residential on-campus living + online instruction + limited in-person instruction and secondly, continuing distance learning with no on-campus residency. With either model, students’ college experience is severely curtailed. Incoming UCLA freshmen, who are not able to acquire housing,…
Yesterday, Thursday, May 21, the University of California (UC) Board of Regents unanimously voted to eliminate the SAT and ACT as a requirement for all first year applicants by 2025. Over the next five years, the UC will phase in the elimination of the SAT and ACT scores from consideration in first year admissions. For…
The University of California (UC) Application for Fall 2020 admissions includes many opportunities for applicants to explain the significance of their hours spent on the field, on the court, in a lab, on a stage, serving others, working in the mall…etc in the redesigned “Activities and Awards” section of the UC Application. In text boxes,…
California’s high school seniors (and increasingly non-Californian high school seniors) will be eating turkey, yams and mashed potatoes and gravy in the glow of a computer screen, as they complete their University of California (UC) applications. Any parent who believes that Thanksgiving will be an incentive to finish college applications early will be sorely disappointed. In fifteen…
In the post-college application response period, high school seniors are eagerly (sometimes anxiously) anticipating admissions decisions from colleges. The University of California campuses will be returning Freshman admissions decisions along the following schedule: Limited Release Mid-February & Late March UC Irvine UC Berkeley Early March UC Merced UC Riverside Mid-March UC Davis UC San…
CONGRATULATIONS to the Creative Marbles Consultancy Class of 2016 for acceptances to: American University Arizona State University Baylor University Boston College Boston University Bryn Mawr College California Lutheran University Cal Poly, Pomona Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo California State University, Channel Islands California State University, Chico California State University, Fullerton California State University, Long Beach California…
In Fall 2016, both freshman and transfer applicants to the University of California (UC) will choose from brand new writing prompts when composing the required personal application statements. After ten years, the UC has retired their previous two essay prompts. With annually record-breaking numbers of applicants—which increases the selectivity in admissions—admissions officers are seeking a fuller understanding…
College alumni often joke about days as a “deprived” undergrad, only eating instant noodles—fast, filling meals on a limited budget—like a badge of honor. Growing numbers of today’s college students, however, embody the literal meaning of “starving” college student. According to the Wall Street Journal: In 2010, the UC [University of California] system added a food-security…
During college football games, the fans, the close referee calls on memorable plans and multi-generational rivalries can all make an impression about a particular college campus. Once a student is building his/her list of colleges for application, watching college football can be an entertaining way to learn more, supplementing college websites and the hundreds of…
