For many parents of middle schoolers, the transition to the often bigger high school can seem overwhelming. There are so many curriculum choices and students are often given more independence in their course selection. College applications require a student’s transcript to display grades since the ninth grade, so the choices they make now may have an impact on their later opportunities. Here are a few of our tips to help your child make a smooth and seamless transition to their next school:

For students applying to U.S. colleges and universities from abroad, it’s not only a challenge meeting the benchmarks defined by one’s own national curriculum—either secondary school leaving exams or applications to one’s own set of national universities—there’s the added work of deciphering how local successes translate over to USA admissions standards, a system with its own set of quirks. Will a set of classes taken abroad even fulfill the course requirements of a U.S. college? As with most answers: It depends.

A Guest Post by Lisa Bevill, Fortuna Admissions

Are there embarrassing pictures of you on Instagram? Or are you tagged in a Facebook photo from a best friend’s party that you wouldn’t show your mom? Maybe you took to Twitter once, in a fit of frustration, with a thinly veiled insult directed at a teacher. Or you’ve put off creating your LinkedIn profile.

The U.S. college admissions process can be perplexing to international and domestic students alike.  Why are some seemingly qualified applicants denied admission, while others with outwardly similar qualifications are accepted?  The answer lies in the fact that U.S. college admissions officers are not tasked with simply admitting individual students, but with shaping a diverse class that meets a variety of institutional needs.

It’s that time of year again, when high school freshmen, sophomores, and juniors select their courses for the next academic year. Many students and parents agonize over these choices.  In general, the more selective the college a student aims for, the more rigorous the courseload ought to be; however, a full complement of honors and/or AP courses simply isn’t realistic or sustainable for every student.

International students, just like their domestic counterparts, should strive for a college list that encompasses a range of admission selectivity. While it’s fine to aim high and dream big, it’s smart to have a safety net and multiple options. To better understand how to build a balanced list and why rankings aren’t everything when it comes to the college search, see Emily Toffelmire’s recent article on www.wes.org, home of World Education Services, a non-profit organization advocating for international education since 1974.

On the latest episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, host Sally Ganga talks about the connection between major and career and tackles a number of our listeners’ questions.

What is a good SAT score?  It’s a simple question, right? The answer, however, is anything but simple, and depends, according to former Reed College admissions officer Abigail Anderson, on the colleges to which you’re applying. An off-the-charts test score at one school may be only middle-of-the-road at another. In this installment of the College Coach video series, Ask the College Admissions Expert, Abigail explains how to determine what a good SAT score is at the colleges on your list.

All too often, we hear students rave about the moment they first set foot on campus for that gorgeous fall tour. Students were clustered in small groups dotting the quad, enjoying the brisk autumn air, discussing Kant or Boaz. A softball game had broken out on the diamond in front of one of the dorms, and these college kids felt effortlessly casual in the way they interacted with one another. In the dining hall, it was lasagna night—with a side of garlic bread, of course—and the conversations drifted from pop culture to the big game to politics. Wow. “From that moment on, I was in love.”

Not so fast, kiddo.

College Coach is thrilled to announce that we will be participating in a Facebook Live event sponsored by U.S. News and World Report on February 15th at 2:00pm ET, discussing what parents need to know about borrowing college loans.