For most students, the high school transcript is going to be the most important part of their college application. But what are college admissions officers actually looking for when they review a transcript?  Former Fordham, Barnard, and Montclair State admissions officer, Tova Tolman, explains how she would approach transcript review—what grades were important to her and what grades she ignored—in the latest installment of the our video series, Ask the College Admissions Expert.

Students with no acceptances will want to tune in to this episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, in which we will help you best handle an admissions season gone awry and offer suggestions for moving forward with your college plans.

Guest Post by Sabrina Manville, Co-Founder of Edmit

It’s decision season! After all the time you’ve spent figuring out where to apply, submitting applications, doing interviews, and… waiting, most families now know where they stand at the colleges they applied to. And that means you have to decide where you put down your deposit.

There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. And while the media tends to focus on just a handful of schools, we at College Coach encourage students to think outside the box during their college selection process and explore a wide range of colleges. As such, we are highlighting a new college each week in our School Spotlight series. Check out the college below, along with the other posts in our series, and you may just stumble upon your dream school!

School Spotlight: Saint Louis University
St. Louis, MO

There is a scholarship (or many scholarships) out there for everyone. Every student has some skill, interest, experience, or characteristic that may make them an attractive candidate for one scholarship or another. And while we often refer to scholarships as “free money,” scholarships don’t actually come for free. It takes work to thoughtfully consider your strengths and research the scholarships that might be most appropriate for you. While the effort that goes into finding and winning scholarships may be akin to a part-time job, we at College Coach want to make your job a little easier. This on-going scholarship series highlights a new scholarship each week. Check out the below, along with the other posts in the series, and you may discover a funding resource that will make covering that college bill a little (or a lot!) easier.

As the saying goes, “It is better to give than to receive.” Many students graduate high school with loads of community service hours under their belt. Through service to others, they have shown compassion and empathy. Additionally, volunteerism helps hone essential skills such as team building, problem solving, and project management. And in this circumstance, performing community service can also lead to scholarship funding.

Scholarship: Great Value Community Service Scholarship

As we make our way through the admission decision season, there is so much happy news to celebrate. Dreams are fulfilled, goals are achieved, all the hard work has finally paid off! But with this happy news there may also come some tough conversations about costs, debt, and compromise.

Many College Coach admissions advisors are also parents who have made it through the college selection process with their own teens. How did they survive? Through open communication and transparency with their children, not just in senior year, but early on. We hope their advice and insight is helpful to you, whether you’re currently debating financial aid offers for the fall, or just beginning the college conversation with your younger children.

As we approach the pinnacle of tax season, we’re hearing a lot from taxpayers about the size of their refunds or the size of their bills—for some, much bigger or much smaller than anticipated due to tax reform. The Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, passed at the end of 2017, was one of the most sweeping reforms of our tax code in decades, and repercussions of the bill—both positive and negative—will likely be felt through all sectors of our economy for years to come. We thought readers of The Insider, however, may be particularly interested in taking a look back at the education provisions of the bill—how tax reform is affecting students, parents, and the educational institutions that support them. We’ve broken down the key education provisions of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act into categories, based upon the stakeholders most affected, though impacts will certainly be felt across stakeholder groups and through society at large.

In the world of college admissions, nothing may be more frustrating than the waitlist offer. “Thanks so much for applying. I know you were expecting an answer, but we need you to wait for yours just a little bit longer than everyone else.” On this episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, we’ll offer some perspective by reviewing the waitlist trends we saw last year and offering suggestions for how to approach your own waitlist status.

With the April 15^th tax filing deadline right around the corner, you want to make sure that you’re taking advantage of every tax benefit you can get. And if you’re a parent paying for college, you may be eligible to claim an education tax break (or, potentially, multiple breaks, depending upon how many kids you have, how you’re paying for college, and a number of other factors). Check out the breakdown of the most common college tax breaks on the Edmit blog.

There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. And while the media tends to focus on just a handful of schools, we at College Coach encourage students to think outside the box during their college selection process and explore a wide range of colleges. As such, we are highlighting a new college each week in our School Spotlight series. Check out the college below, along with the other posts in our series, and you may just stumble upon your dream school!

School Spotlight: St. John’s College
Annapolis, MD & Santa Fe, NM