On our last episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, host Ian Fisher and his guests covered a variety of topics for students and parents in different phases of the college search. Seniors in the midst of making their college decision will enjoy hearing the first segment about “rah rah” schools (i.e. schools with strong school spirit). Juniors who are just starting their college search process will not want to miss Ian and Tova Tolman’s in-depth conversation about how to research colleges. And, finally, senior parents who want to learn about how to talk to their kids about making the final college decision based upon finances will want to tune in for the last segment of this week’s show.

On the March 30^th episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation was all about the research necessary to help get you pick the right school for you. Whether you’re a junior narrowing down your list of where to apply, or a senior deciding between multiple offers of admission, Beth Heaton once again has the answers!

If your child has Ivy League aspirations and either recently or will soon be taking the SATs or ACTs, you may be wondering what scores are actually required for acceptance to a highly selective college.  While no exact cutoff exists—and even a perfect score won’t guarantee acceptance—College Coach educator Elizabeth Heaton provides guidance for parents in the latest installment of her Huffington Post series on assessing your child’s chances at an Ivy league institution. 

At this time of year, my colleagues and I begin to field a lot of questions about high school selection. “Does it matter where my student goes to high school?” “How will colleges compare High School A to High School B?” “Is it true that going to private school helps a student in the college admission process?” Whether the questions are from the younger siblings of our clients or a friendly neighbor down the street, the families are asking simply because they want to guarantee that their students start high school off on the right foot.

Congratulations! Your child is headed off to college! Eighteen years of milestones flash before you as you prepare for this new adventure.  In this new college environment, all the information you were once responsible for and privy to, like your child’s grades, tuition bill, and medical records will be off limits to you. Your access to these records will be denied if your newly adult child does not give you authorization. Here are some things you need to know in order to navigate this new landscape:

To the thousands of students grappling with a recent rejection from an Ivy League or similarly selective university, the college admissions process can seem unfair. And guess what? They’re right. The competition among the highly selective universities to recruit what amounts to a virtual handful of students leads to a purposeful lack of transparency in their admissions practices. This opacity encourages among families unrealistic expectations, undue stress, and, for the vast majority of applicants, eventual disappointment. Is this anxiety and heartbreak simply a natural consequence of a brutally selective process? No, says College Coach’s Ian Fisher.

The TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) is a standardized test that measures the English skills of non-native speakers. The Internet-based test consists of reading, writing, speaking, and listening sections, while the less common paper-based test covers only reading, writing, and listening. Most U.S. universities will expect you to take the TOEFL if you are a non-native speaker residing in a country where English is not the primary language. Even if you attend an English-language high school, many universities still expect you to take the TOEFL.

Harvard University releases its admissions decisions for the 2017/18 school year today.  Is your child one of the chosen few receiving the coveted acceptance from Harvard or one of the other similarly selective Ivy League institutions?  If we’re being honest, the answer is probably not.  But why not?  Your child is a good student, right?  But how good is good? 

On last week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, host, Sally Ganga, and guests covered a range of topics: pulling the trigger on where to enroll, a deep dive into Texas public universities, and tax breaks that you or your student could potentially leverage.

On the latest episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, host Beth Heaton welcomed guests to talk about both the SUNY (State University New York) system and to answer our listener’s questions.