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.

On January 20, the Harvard Graduate School of Education released a new report on the state of college admissions that was endorsed by senior admissions staff and deans from schools all over the country, including those from Yale, Harvard, Princeton, and Brown. Titled Turning the Tide, the report outlines specific challenges to college admissions offices, encouraging them to find ways to relieve the pressure of the college admissions arms race and support better, more conscientious students nationwide. While the core values of the report are clear, well-articulated, and of critical importance, as a former admissions professional and College Coach educator, it’s hard for me to see the ways that this report will create meaningful change for college-bound high school students nationwide.

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.

On last week’s show, Beth Heaton and her guests delved into the new Coalition Application, common questions and mistakes on the FAFSA, and extracurricular activities for the burgeoning writer or journalist.

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.

I’m embarrassed to say that in my senior year, I assumed that if a school had a 10 percent admit rate, I could apply to ten similarly selective schools and get into one of them. Those of you with even a passing familiarity with statistics know that it doesn’t work this way; I didn’t. And I didn’t get into most of the schools to which I had applied.

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.

Students

1)  I resolve to do well in AP US History not just because it will look good in college admissions, but because it’s a fascinating class.
This is great advice no matter the class, and no matter the activity. If you throw yourself into your work, you’ll be much more satisfied than if you feel like you’re going through the motions.

by Ian Fisher, former admissions officer at Reed College

How Long Does It Take for SAT Scores to be Sent to Colleges?

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.

At this late date, many students are still submitting scores to places like the University of California or the University of Washington and wondering what to do to get scores submitted on time. Our resident Common App expert and jack-of-all-trades, Elyse Krantz recently placed a call to the College Board—administrator of the SAT and all its derivatives—to get answers to the most frequent questions from our students.

Why You Should Ignore the College Rankings Hoopla This Year and Every Year

At this point, it feels like an annual tradition in higher education. The US News and World Report releases its rankings for the “best” colleges and universities, sells a huge number of copies of their magazine, and triggers an avalanche of responses from academics and thought leaders who assault the value of one-size-fits-all rankings. I weighed in two years ago on this blog, breaking down the methodology for the US News and World Report college rankings (which remains largely the same), and encouraging students to think more generally about the value of their education.

Get Outside The Top 10

Students all around the country are returning to their high schools this fall, and seniors are heading back with the special thrill and anxiety that comes with college applications. Those who have made the most of their time this summer will be pretty close to finishing their college list and will have a serviceable draft (maybe even a finished draft!) of their college essays. But even if you’ve taken care of a huge part of your college apps on your end, you’ll need to enlist the help of your high school guidance counselor to ensure everything is finished by the appropriate deadlines. A little extra thoughtfulness will go a long way towards making your application even stronger, and improving your chances of getting into your top choices. Here are some steps you should take to make the most of your high school counselor.

1. Establish a timeline that works for your high school guidance office

How to Ace Tough College Interview Questions

In my time spent as a senior admissions officer at Reed College, I must have interviewed hundreds of students. And I asked weird questions, too. What would be your useless superpower? Is math discovered or invented? If you had one question for God, what would it be? Sub-question: Would you rather he give you the answer to your question or tell you the question you should have asked? My goal was to keep students on their toes, then to catch them off guard, and then, when their expectations had been flipped upside-down, I would find out who they really were.

Most interviewers won’t ask questions quite as odd as the ones I used to ask, but their objective is largely the same: get a sense of the student’s personality and style of engagement.

Update: Read the latest tips for the 2017-18 Common App.

The Common Application launches today, and students around the country will have the opportunity to login and begin filling out the information within. While we recommend students create an account and begin to poke around the application’s dashboard and other tools, we also want students to know that there is no inherent value in submitting the application as quickly as possible—especially if that means sacrificing the quality of the materials within. Every year an article highlights the kid who submitted the first application of the year. Pay no mind. When apps are read months from now, there’ll be no timestamp on the forms—no priority list based on when apps come in.

For help with the Common App itself, return to us often. In addition to comprehensive posts on the Common App’s new interface for this year, our Common App expert Elyse Krantz joined fellow educator Beth Heaton on College Coach’s Getting In: A College Coach Conversation radio show this week to help make sense of all the ins and outs of the app.