In case you missed it, Brittany Stinson was recently admitted to 5 Ivy League colleges and the most selective college in the country, Stanford. She had what most applicants for those schools had–great grades, impressive test scores, solid community involvement, documented interests… but what she had that was unique was a different admissions essay. An important part in college admissions is standing out. You need to be personable, smart, and passionate. These things are hard to show on an application that is merely a reflection of your course history and activities. The essay can set you apart. Stinson’s essay focused on her growth and discovery–against the backdrop of Costco. She grew up visiting this massive hub of consumerism, and there her curiosity grew….
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Tips to Pick Your Best Fit Colleges
Creating your ideal college list can be a challenge. There are over 4,000 colleges in the United States. That is a lot of schools with which to become familiar! It is a big reason why families hire professionals to help them make these decisions, but you can start the process on your own. If you follow these different areas then you can begin comprising your perfect college list. Geographic Location One of the first things you can do to cut down a large list of 4,000 schools is limit your geographic area. Is it important for you to be a day’s drive from home? Do you want to be somewhere warm? Do you want to be somewhere with seasons? Think about the geographic…
How to Negotiate for a Better Financial Aid Award
It’s that time of year again. Families are beginning to hear from colleges regarding financial aid. For a few families, this is exciting as they are getting more in aid than originally anticipated. For most though… it can be a stressful and frustrating experience. When you aren’t getting the type of financial aid for which you believe you deserve, you may be left to question if college is even an option. Let me tell you… it is! You just need to know next steps. Most parents don’t consider negotiation with financial aid at all, and they figure that whatever the schools offer them will be the best that they will get. Let me tell you something… this belief is false. FALSE. When you…
Brian Talks Financial Aid on CCTV!
Brian discusses financial aid on CCTV- With the average cost of an in-state college education hovering around $23,000 per year and the average cost of a private college education hovering around $42,000 per year it is safe to say… college is expensive. College prices have soared over the last 40 years, and many question why. More importantly, many have been left wondering how they will afford college for their own children. Our owner, Brian Safadri, was featured on CCTV this week as a resource explaining this phenomenon. In his segment he also chats with two of our clients, Kelly & Jake Mattinson. We helped them through this process, and we can help you too. Check out his interview below!
How to Create Your College List
How to Create Your Perfect College List! Creating your ideal college list can be a challenge. There are over 4,000 colleges in the United States. That is a lot of schools with which to become familiar! It is a big reason why families hire professionals to help them make these decisions, but you can start the process on your own. If you follow these different areas then you can begin comprising your perfect college list. Geographic Location One of the first things you can do to cut down a large list of 4,000 schools is limit your geographic area. Is it important for you to be a day’s drive from home? Do you want to be somewhere warm? Do you want to…
10 Steps to Start Your College Plan
10 Easy Steps to Start Your College Plan! Time and time again we are asked to give families a “how to” book for preparing for college. Well we thought we’d do just that! Below is a quick, 10-step planning process for you to begin your college plans. 1.) You need a destination to create a map. Do you ever get on the freeway to drive to an unknown destination? Do you get in your car and say, “I’m going to start driving, and I am sure I’ll end up where I need to be today,”? I’m going to say, probably not. You typically start a journey with an end goal in mind. College is the same thing. If you don’t know where…
California Residents: Is College Admissions Harder?
For all of you California residents is college admissions harder? A blog post recently made on HuffingtonPost.com paints the picture that higher education is a bigger challenge for students living in California. In the article we learn that college admissions for California students at UC schools has slipped form 63% to 60% this year. That means 40% of those students attending our in-state schools are non-residents of California. That is shocking when you consider that our tax dollars are what fund the UC system. But should we be surprised? When budget cuts come we often take money away from public education. The bulk of those cuts go to higher education services. That is to say that California community colleges, California State Universities, and…
The Value of a College Education
The Value of a College Education Is college really worth it? We’re always hearing debate about whether or not the value of a college education holds strong in this economy. With tuition rising people question whether or not the investment is worth it. We want to break it down for you to make it easy for you to decide. Questions Brewing In an article in Forbes a couple of years ago, Erika Andersen wrote: “we over-rely on time spent in school as a measure of intelligence… and of fitness for a job. Now, don’t get me wrong: some careers certainly require a rigorous course of study, generally best done in a collegiate and/or post-collegiate environment… But for other jobs, I think we…
Important ACT Update!
Important ACT Update!! We posted a few weeks ago that the ACT would be changing this September. The changes include edits to roughly 20 multiple choice questions throughout the test, but the biggest chance will be found in the writing portion. The writing portion will be graded on a 1-36 point scale and will look for a different approach to content grading. Test scores matter in college admissions, so you need to make sure you’re prepared. We have some good news! The ACT has finally released a full-length practice exam incorporating all of the recent changes (including multiple texts in the reading, six science passages, and the “enhanced” writing prompt). You can find all of this information at the following link: http://www.actstudent.org/testprep/. You…
ACT Changes September 2015!
ACT changes September 2015! The ACT will be undergoing some changes this fall, and this could greatly impact your college preparation plans. ACT, Inc. announced they will be implementing changes to the ACT starting with the September 12, 2015 exam! Brief overview of the changes: • Roughly 20 questions (total) on each exam will be affected by these changes • ACT will be introducing a two passage reading component • ACT will also change about 5 math questions to better align them with content areas recently introduced to the ACT • Roughly 3 English questions will be reworded • Roughly 2 science questions, which require prior science knowledge, will be added • The biggest change is an updated Essay or Writing Test (see below for…
