Empathy: Considering another’s perspective in a college application
In preparing their applications to college, high school students are encouraged to be authentic, engaged, passionate, and committed. These are indeed great aspirations, and,…
The Role of Recommendation Letters
As we come towards the second quarter of junior year, many students begin to think about letters of recommendation as an element in their college applications.
College admission from the other side of the desk
School counselors and IECs work with high school students and families. As an admission officer, I worked primarily with applications. This inevitably informs one's perspective…
The college admission questions high school juniors face right now
As we commemorate the one-year anniversary of the Covid lockdown, the college admission season of the pandemic draws to its confusing and stressful end. No wonder then that high…
Major Myths, Revisited
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…
A difficult year: early admission outcomes in the age of Covid
Selective colleges across the country, both those with non-binding Early Action policies and those who offer binding Early Decision program, found themselves blitzed with…
The Role of Parents in the College Application Process
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…
Is Early Decision Right For You?
Early applications were initially intended to help students signal their commitment to their top choice school. Over time though, the early application system began to reproduce…
College searching: what information matters and why
This summer rising seniors and juniors are actively researching colleges in order to plan trips and identify the schools to which they may want to apply. These are indeed…
On writing your college essay
As we enter July, rising seniors should be giving serious thought to the college application. Many of you will not find this a happy thought, since starting the essay seems so…