The Insider: College Admissions Advice from the Experts

Over the last half year, there have been major changes in the world of college admissions testing. The SAT returned to the old 1600-point scale, did away with the mandatory writing section, and made it optional instead. The ACT changed the scoring scale for its own optional writing exam and the resulting scores caused an uproar among test-takers that has yet to die down. As an admissions counselor here at College Coach, I’ve had countless students ask me about the importance of the writing score, and I’ve seen a lot of stress over lower-than-anticipated scores on the writing section of these tests. Below is the advice I’ve been giving over these last few months.

In today’s entry, we continue the conversation between Ian Fisher and Elyse Krantz on the Turning the Tide report from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. You can re-read part one on our blog here, and if you’re interested in further conversation, you can explore the archives of our Getting In radio show to hear more from Ian, Elyse, and Elizabeth Heaton, on the impact of the report.

A recent report published by leading colleges and universities is calling for concrete changes to the college admissions process. Here, two of our expert educational consultants discuss their opinions and ideas about the report.

If you’re a high school junior, it’s time to start planning college visits. Whether you’re making a trip across the country to look at schools in better weather, or just taking the long weekend to visit a few schools within driving distance, there’s no better way to get a sense of the college experience than by being on campus.

Editor’s Note: This is an opinion piece from one of our educators. We will be following up this piece with a more detailed and nuanced breakdown of the report discussed here, Turning the Tide.

One of the best things about hosting a weekly radio show is that we have the opportunity to connect with a much broader and more diverse audience than we would otherwise. In last week’s show, we used that opportunity to bring listener questions to the air, providing our advice for how to manage some challenging situations. From finance questions regarding scholarship deadlines and student loans to admissions questions about foreign language requirements and first-generation student status, our experts peppered the airwaves with some really terrific content for families of high school-aged students.

Some of the best news for high school families last fall was the news that we would be renewing our radio show, Getting In: A College Coach Conversation for 2016. Last Thursday was our 48^th show and our first of 2016. And we started the year with the same great admissions and financial aid conversations that made our show popular in 2015. As always, the show is free for download on VoiceAmerica, or you can subscribe through iTunes. Give us a rating when you make the download! You can join us live at 4pm EST every Thursday, or listen at your leisure.

When I was a junior, I learned all about gambling in Honors Pre-Calculus with Mr. Barkdoll. We discussed the expected value of various casino games and the lottery. I learned, pretty quickly, that I should never ever buy a lottery ticket, even if the jackpot got as high as the Powerball did last night: $1.5 billion. Those two bucks would be better spent on a cup of coffee. What I didn’t learn, however, was the way admissions data and statistics should be used to develop my college list.

Happy New Year! We’re just seven days into 2016 and we hope that means many of your resolutions are still alive. Whether you’re going to the gym more, eating healthier, or resolving not to look at your phone while you drive (good one!), January 1 is a great time to think about what you want to improve in your life. For high school juniors and their families, the application work looming in the fall threatens to interrupt all kinds of progress. We’ve got some resolutions for students (and parents!) to help keep you on the right path over the next twelve months.

When students find themselves at the edge of their college application deadlines, I find they tend to whip themselves into a frenzy over every component of their applications. Many students are concerned that test scores may not arrive in the hands of colleges and universities on time. And this is a reasonable concern. For the vast majority of schools, you need standardized test results to be submitted by the testing agencies in order to receive a decision from colleges.