By Caroline Matas, Ph.D. It doesn’t take a deep dive into college admissions Reddit, TikTok, or discussion boards to encounter tall tales about the mythical creature at the center of it all: the Admissions Counselor. The Admissions Counselor is larger than life, all-knowing, the keeper of the keys to your future. The Admissions Counselor throws..
By Adam Muri-Rosenthal, Ph.D. Each fall, high school seniors around the US and the world race against early college deadlines, hoping to maximize their chances by applying Early Action (EA), Restrictive Early Action (REA), or Early Decision (ED). In most circumstances, applying by these deadlines provides an advantage—slight in some cases, more substantial in others—and..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. There’s nothing like an imminent deadline to force people to get started. Unfortunately, that mindset doesn’t work for the college admissions process. Planning to start your applications and essays just shy of November 1st, the big Early Action or Decision deadline for most schools, is like trying to run a..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. Sometimes, what’s left unsaid means more than what’s spelled out. Think about how your mom or dad might prepare your favorite meal after a stressful day and let you enjoy it in peaceful silence. That quiet gesture can often show as much love and care, if not more, than asking..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. I have seen it all – alcohol, curse words, even boobs. This is just a sampling of what has turned up on spur-of-the-moment requests to see my students’ social media accounts. Granted, many of you now have finsta accounts rather than just one Instagram profile, and you’re certainly more savvy..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. For many students, landing on a college waitlist hurts. Some even (wrongly) perceive it as a failure (trust me, it’s not). They might even question what they didn’t do right or what they could have done better, and they may even blame the system that is drenched in secrecy, and..
By Adam Muri-Rosenthal, Ph.D. Social media is no less ubiquitous in the college application process than everywhere else in our daily lives. Just as a potential employer may search for your name on Google, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram (to name a few), the practice is gaining increasing acceptance in the world of college admissions,..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. In June of every year, commencement speakers appear onstage to impart words of wisdom to excited and anxious graduates. Their messages are meant to fortify young people as they transition from childhood into adulthood. While tradition holds that most students sit and listen, I thought it was important to allow..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. The arrival of Covid-19 has disrupted education in a way that we have never experienced before. While the impact of the pandemic on your high school education, admissions prospects, and financial aid packages is nowhere close to being known, we are providing you with information that we do have as..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. “Let us, then, be up and doing, with a heart for any fate; still achieving, still pursuing, learn to labor and to wait.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Getting deferred can be demoralizing. You’ve waited months hoping and wishing for an acceptance, only to find out that you have to wait..