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The Insider: Your Expert Guide to College Admissions -
College Admissions Consulting

Admissions Bloopers; Listener Q&A

We talk a lot about what to do as part of your college admissions process. This week, we have some cautionary tales of mistakes some have made in the hopes that you can avoid making similar bloopers. In Officer Hours, we’re answering your college admissions and finance questions.

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January 20, 2021by College Coach
College Admissions Consulting

What to Do Now That Applications Are In; Tips for Juniors Starting the College Process

Seniors: your applications are in. What can you do now? We’ll talk about steps you can take on the admissions and finance side while you wait for your decisions.  Juniors: you’re up! We have advice for starting the college process in earnest now that you’re in the second half of junior year.

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January 13, 2021by College Coach
College Entrance Exams

University of Michigan’s New Testing Policy: Unfair and Illogical

student biting pencil at desk

by Steve Brennan, former admissions officer at Occidental College

At Bright Horizons College Coach, we speak with hundreds of families every week about college admission. And every week, we try to put a stressed out family at ease by saying something like, “Don’t worry about the PSAT or PreACT – colleges will never see that score.” Or, “It’s true that the 11th grade PSAT can have implications for merit scholarship consideration, but no college admission officer will ever see it and use it for admission.”

In the too-often opaque admission process here was advice that didn’t start with, “Well, it depends…” or have multiple caveats. And? Families had one less thing to be anxious about. Anytime we can dial down the stress surrounding the college admission process for students and families, that’s definitely a win.

Enter the University of Michigan.

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July 21, 2020by Steve Brennan
College Admissions Consulting

Pursuing ROTC; Biggest Myths: Admissions and College Finance

Interested in participating in Reserve Officer Training Corps—ROTC for short—in college? We’re welcoming Rob Kirkland, author of The Insider’s Guide to the Army ROTC Scholarship for High School Students and Their Parents, to share his thoughts on applying to these programs. In another in our Biggest Myths series, we’ll look at some myths in both admissions and college finance.

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April 29, 2020by College Coach
College Admissions Consulting

COVID-19: Things to Do While Your Student is Home and One Senior Making Her Decision; Comparing Financial Aid Awards

Congrats seniors: admissions season is in the homestretch. But just when you thought you would cross the finish line with no more issues, here comes COVID-19! We’re interviewing a senior who is in the middle of receiving admissions decisions and trying to figure out her next steps when she can’t visit any colleges to help her make her final choice. Another topic that’s top of mind this and all years are financial aid awards. We’ll take a look at how to compare them across different schools. Finally, for those underclassmen who are unexpectedly at home right now, we have thoughts on how to use some of this time to get ahead in the process.

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April 2, 2020by College Coach
College Applications

Preparing to Apply to College… from Home

BHCA_170223_8523

Many of us are unexpectedly finding ourselves at home all day… and with a teenager. At College Coach, we regularly work remotely with high school students on their college application processes, so wanted to share some thoughts about how to make sure the weeks ahead are productive ones. While distance learning may or may not be an option for your student, here are some ideas that we’re sharing with our remote students to help advance their college processes and make the most of this unexpected down time.

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March 18, 2020by Karen Spencer
College Admissions Consulting

Using Naviance: How to Interpret the Scattergrams

study in the USA

In a previous blog post, Using Naviance: How to Get Organized, we discussed how to get started with Naviance. This installment focuses on how to best utilize the program.

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February 25, 2020by Mary Sue Youn
College Admissions Consulting

Athletic Recruitment Q&A

NCAA soccer ball

The college admissions process has a lot of moving pieces, and for student-athletes hoping to continue their sport in college, there are even more deadlines and logistics to consider. High school athletes who are interested in playing college sports should begin their research with the NCAA Eligibility Center and initiate open conversations with their high school coaches for support and guidance along the way.

To better understand the logistics of athletic recruiting from the admissions perspective, we checked in with two of our admissions experts. Kennon Dick was a Division 1 admissions liaison to the athletic department for Drexel University, where he later got to peek behind the recruiting curtain as an assistant lacrosse coach. At Tufts University, which supports a Division 3 athletic program, Becky Leichtling served as the admissions liaison to the softball, women’s soccer, and women’s lacrosse coaches, and assistant coach for women’s Ultimate Frisbee. 

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December 5, 2019by College Coach
College Admissions Consulting

Do Universities Have International Admission Quotas for Certain Countries?

CoCo_130820_0212

I’ve often been asked how US colleges go about admitting international students. The questions are usually centered upon quotas—limits to how many students can be admitted from a particular region of the world. Because certain countries often send such “incredible” students to U.S. colleges, and only a few of them are admitted year to year to a given school, there must be a predetermined number of admission slots per country goes the thinking. Right? Wrong.

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November 19, 2019by Zaragoza Guerra
College Admissions Consulting

NACAC Ethics Guideline Changes: What Does This Mean for You?

College Admissions Ethics Guidelines

If you’re paying attention to the news, you may be aware that the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (NACAC) recently voted to eliminate portions of its ethics code regarding student recruitment. The result is that colleges can now offer special incentives to students applying under binding Early Decision policies, continue to recruit students who have already committed elsewhere, and recruit students who were admitted but enrolled elsewhere.

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October 2, 2019by Elizabeth Heaton
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The Insider: College Admissions Advice from the Experts is where College Coach experts weigh in on the latest college admissions topics. We cover everything from application timelines and strategies to tips on financing your child's education.

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