Many students in the class of 2021 are concerned about how they're going to be evaluated by colleges given the global pandemic and their SATs or ACTs possibly not being a part of their application. As of right now, most schools have not determined how they will handle this, but please know that colleges want to evaluate students based on their best selves. So if students don't have testing yet, they can in the fall, and we're hoping that we're all through this in the coming weeks or months.

Colleges understand that this is a stressful time. Remember, the administrators and admissions officers are all working from home and most likely are quarantined to some capacity too. What the next few months...

Want to play sports in college?

This week we're talking about how high school athletes can play college sports. 

Ninth graders, you must have almost know what your core courses must be from ninth grade through twelfth grade.  It is imperative that you find out as ninth graders what you need to do now in order to graduate with the necessary 16 courses that you need in order to play sports at the next level.

Tenth graders, please register at  eligibilitycenter.org. This is a subset of the NCAA, the National Collegiate Athletic Association, and they need you to register with them if you plan to play sports in college.

Eleventh graders, if you haven't done so already, please register with...

Within the last year, more and more colleges and universities have dropped requirements for standardized tests. The ACT and the College Board, which is the SAT, have been around forever and they are cemented in how we think about college admissions and what schools are the best. As someone who did not test well as a teenager and someone works with students who have a range of scores, I am always conflicted about how to gauge or share information about these powerful pieces to the admissions puzzle.

I’m glad that many schools such as Trinity College in CT, Bucknell in Pennsylvania, Indiana University and many others are actually becoming test-optional and not requiring the tests, however, the...

I read this last week and this is bugging me and I cannot let it go. I don’t know this man and I don’t need to. But anyone who implies that it’s ok to go to college without direction or intention is dangerous. Or just rich.

Let’s examine some of his profound statements:

“When I was a teenager stressing about my next step, my parents reassured me that an undergraduate degree doesn't have to define your future. In fact, it shouldn't.” 

True. No degree or college defines your future. But it strongly influences it. The critical...

As we continue to celebrate Black History Month, I want to share with you 10 great universities that have a history of helping African-American students to excel. This list was comprised by Essence magazine, as well as Money magazine, and I co-sign on it, because it's based on representation, graduation rates, affordability, and postgraduate earnings. True, some of these schools on this list have comparatively fewer black students, but they're extremely generous with financial aid and have financially successful alumni.

The top 10 are: 

1. Princeton University in New Jersey
2. Harvard University in Massachusetts
3. Duke University in North Carolina
4. Cornell University in New York
5. Florida A&M...

One of the most common frustrations of any parent of a high school student is their access to the school guidance counselor. Did you know that the average student to school counselor ratio is 482:1, nearly double the 250:1 ratio recommended by the American School Counselor Association?

This is not the fault of the school guidance counselor. They're a well-intentioned educator, but this is the reality. Too many students need help with choosing classes, creating a college list and receiving advice on what major they should choose or even a career direction.

In Michelle Obama's book, Becoming, she made it clear that her high school guidance counselor was poor and she has made it her mission to not let...

We're at the point in the school year where students and parents should be connecting with their school guidance counselor about choosing classes for next year. Beyond the obvious questions of, "What I, the student, should be taking," or, "How it will help me, the student, get into college?"

Here are 7 more questions that you, the parent, should have while you have the guidance counselor's ear.

1. Which elective courses do you recommend for my kid? 
2. Are there any AP courses available? 
3. What's the plan for the PSAT, the ACT? Do we get practice exams here? 
4. Is this school a testing center for the ACT or SAT, or do I need to go somewhere else nearby? 
5. Do you have college handbooks or...

Scores for students who took the PSAT in October were released this week and, of course, there were many questions. For many the PSAT is their first step into the test-taking world thus explaining its importance to lessen the confusion is best. 

Before you panic or rejoice about your child’s results, let's break down what these results mean and what your follow-up steps should be.

The point of the PSAT is gaining familiarity with the SAT. So before you exhaust yourself analyzing the score, ask yourself, “Do I understand the format of the SAT?” and “Has my child identified what sections are challenging for them?”

How it's Scored 

The PSAT is scored...

With most early admission programs, you can expect three possible decision outcomes: admitted, deferred and denied. In this post, we will focus on what to do if you find yourself in the second group.

First, let’s define what it means to be “deferred.” With an admissions deferral, the college has decided to postpone your admission decision to a later date and will reconsider or review your application with the Regular Decision applicant pool. Because one of the benefits of applying early is knowing whether you have been accepted to your top school or not, it is understandably frustrating when you are neither accepted or denied. However, that is also the bright side - you receive a...