She uses the backpack analogy as a way to help her clients prioritize the things occupying their headspace.  A backpack is a useful tool, but it has a limited capacity and a tendency to collect stuff that weighs you down.  I couldn’t help…

Students should be encouraged to look at its exciting range of possibilities rather than casting around for a narrow academic box to climb into. But college is also not summer camp, and a conversation about majors might be another way to…

In the admission process to a selective liberal arts college, a lack of any academic focus can also help to weaken a student's application. Some colleges will require applicants to express an academic interest even if their admitted…

College admissions present parents with difficult ethical, social and educational choices. We want our children to enjoy the adventure, act with integrity, feel good about the outcome, and be launched into successful and empowered…

My 24-year-old graduate-student son recently had a terrible experience that offers many lessons to college-aged students and their parents. As a nice, smart kid who typically thinks the best of people, he naively put himself into a…

A successful interview is the outcome of your conscious and thoughtful choices about how you to present yourself to others. Thinking about this process will also help you to better explore and evaluate all of your personal and professional…

Why choose College Goals to guide your child and you through the critically important challenge of preparing for and gaining admission to college? You will benefit from the collective knowledge, experience and wisdom gained from…

Are you a high school student (or the parent of one) who is wondering how best to spend your summer? What do colleges expect high school students to do during their school holidays? While summer is a great time to relax and recharge, it’s…

As parents and students explore college admission, they cannot help but be struck by the astonishing cost of attending an American university. Sarah Lawrence College, for example, has a sticker price of almost $60,000! Parents are…