The Insider: College Admissions Advice from the Experts

Guest post by Jason Shao of Revolution Prep

A recent article in Business Insider suggested that students should avoid taking the New SAT for the first three sittings (in March, May, and June of 2016). We thought this was a bold position to take, so we asked our trusted partner Revolution Prep to give us their perspective.

If you’re a 10^th or 11^th grader, you were probably shuffled into a large auditorium sometime in the not-too-distant past to take the PSAT, a practice version of the College Board’s SAT. If you’re anything like the majority of students I speak with every year, you’re probably a little confused about the relevance of the test or the reason for taking it. And when your results arrived just a week or two ago, you were probably a little perplexed by the numbers and what they mean for the future. Hopefully this article can help you make some sense of the whole experience, and give you a better idea of how it fits into the admissions process.

That loud exhalation you heard over the weekend was the sound of tens of thousands of high school students submitting their first round of college applications before early deadlines on November 1. For those of you who have confidently put your personal statements and supplements in the hands of admissions officers at your first-choice colleges, congratulations! You’ve earned a well-deserved break from essay writing and resume building, and may even want to share your status with your friends on Facebook or your followers on Twitter. But before you publish that tweet, take a step back, and think about the door you may be opening.

Will my October Scores be Considered for Early Decision?

The results from the October SAT are scheduled to be released later this week, just a couple of days before November 1 deadlines for Early Decision and Early Action. The close proximity of these related events has a lot of people confused and concerned, and understandably so. I’ve answered questions around this issue at least ten times just this week, and I hope this short post will help you clear up your confusion and provide a little bit of stress relief. Read on to see how you can manage late-arriving scores with your EA and ED applications.

What Colleges Can I Get Into with Low SAT Scores?

At College Coach, we see a lot of students with immaculate high school transcripts who just aren’t very good standardized test takers. Admissions offices are fond of saying they care much more about how you do over four years of high school (your grades) than four hours on a Saturday (the SAT), but that doesn’t change the reality that some test scores can be prohibitively low for certain colleges. Many students who have worked hard to earn their excellent grades yet struggled with their performance on the SAT might find themselves with fewer options than they had hoped when it comes time to submit applications in the fall. But take heart! Even if your scores are lower than the rest of your academic profile, there are steps you can take to find yourself a great college match.

Common College Essay Mistakes: Word Choice

Over the last couple of weeks, essay review season has really started to pick up at College Coach. We’re diving into drafts each day, providing both the big picture ideas and the small-scale tips to help students find success with their college application essays. Our past blog entries have focused more on the big picture: how to approach the “failure” prompt from the Common App; ways you can effectively use the Additional Information section; brainstorming through writer’s block. Today I want to focus on the smallest of issues with college essays: the words you choose to use.

How to finish your application essays on time

One of my colleagues at College Coach sent an email to our admissions team today. “Six weeks until November 1!” it said. I had to check my calendar just to be sure. Yep, she was right. Six weeks until the first big deadlines of the student admissions cycle. Six weeks until those precious ED applications would be shipped off to my students’ top choice colleges with personal statements perfected, activities lists completed, and supplements fully executed. Six weeks until we could all pause and breathe a heavy sigh of relief and either begin the anxious wait for decisions or take a well-deserved rest before diving back in to more applications.

If the college admission season has gone according to plan, you’re likely putting the finishing touches on your last supplemental essays, penning personal thank-you cards to your teacher recommenders, and hunkering down for a congratulatory bowl of ice cream and Netflix marathon. While this dream scenario is appealing to parents and students alike, it doesn’t quite match up with reality for so many seniors scrambling to stay on top of things during this stressful fall. If you’ve put off your applications for the last few months, waiting until a sense of urgency kicks in, you’re not alone. But we’re here to tell you that the time to get started is now (if not a month ago), and to help you take the first big steps towards college application success.

Over the last few weeks, we've introduced you to a number of college admissions counselors on the College Coach team. Today we take a break from that format to share something different: an email correspondence between Becky Leichtling and Ian Fisher on their educational backgrounds, college search processes, and thoughts on small liberal arts colleges. We hope you enjoy following along and maybe asking a few questions of your own in the comments below!

Last Thursday, Bev Taylor authored an article on Huffington Post, claiming “Need Blind Admissions Is a Lie.” Its publication ignited a flurry of responses among college admissions professionals both publicly and privately. On Thursday, we posted part one of a response to her article, which offered a rebuttal to some of her proscribed actions and clarified some of the terms surrounding “need” in admissions and financial aid. Today, we continue with part two, which challenges Taylor’s central claim that need blind admissions just doesn’t make logical sense.