First, relax, because there’s very little chance that you’ll pay full sticker price for your child’s college education; and if the costs are still too high, there are actions you can take to reduce them.

Topics: Ivy League, ACT/SAT, Test-Prep, Educational-Consulting, Financial, Financial Aid

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Part II: Square Pegs

In Part I, Round Holes, we considered how you should look at colleges – the criteria to bring to your search for happiness. In this part, we’ll ask you to get in touch with your gut feelings.

Topics: College Application, College Planning, Educational-Consulting

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Part I: The Round Holes

“I thought the ‘best’ college for me was the most selective - I was wrong”

Topics: College Application, College Planning, Educational-Consulting

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We put you in the shoes of college admissions officers, so that you can sense their point of view with these facts:

Topics: College Admission, College Application, College Counseling, College Planning, Educational-Consulting

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This is the third article of our three-part blog series “How to Get Into College."

Topics: Essays, College Admission, College Planning, Educational-Consulting

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With the College Board’s new summer SAT test date (August 26^th) comes an intriguing gambit for high school students who plan to apply to more competitive colleges (and even to those that may not be considered so competitive): taking up to three of the College Board’s 1-hour Subject Tests offered on that date.

Topics: Essays, College Admission, College Planning, Educational-Consulting

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This is the second article of our three-part blog series “How to Get Into College”.

Having dispensed with transcript, test scores, and application essay in our first installment, we follow up here with a few more “Get Into College” essentials.

Topics: Essays, College Admission, College Planning, Educational-Consulting

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A current TV ad for an insurance company ends with this innocuous line: “We know a thing or two, because we’ve seen a thing or two.” We have – seen a thing or two over the past 35+ years of advising students about their college plans and applications.

In three parts, this being the first, we’d like once again to share our acquired intelligence about those elements of an applicant’s academic and non-academic life that play a crucial role in an admissions decision. Focus on these, and you’ll have the best chance of following your dreams of experiencing a meaningful college life. So let’s begin from the beginning with what remains the single most important element of your college application. 

Topics: Essays, College Admission, College Planning, Educational-Consulting

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In an attempt to reward some of the top Florida high school students and to help retain those students for college, the Florida State Senate recently passed the "Excellence in Higher Education Act". The bill is currently working its way through the Florida State House of Representatives. If passed, it would substantially increase "Bright Futures Scholarship" awards to Florida college students. 

Topics: ACT/SAT, Test-Prep, Educational-Consulting

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With the January SAT test date a thing of the past, the College Board is now offering a new “summer” SAT.

Most everyone we know in college admissions thinks it’s a good idea, given the college application schedule that students must set for themselves as they approach the senior year.

An August date gives rising seniors the opportunity to take the SAT at least one more time – way before even the early decision/early action deadlines. Before this year, juniors often chose to either test twice in the spring or wait until October or November of senior year to retest. You can still do that, but the August test is opening eyes to a really favorable new option.

Topics: Common Application, Tutoring, Educational-Consulting

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