More Applications, More Competition

By |2025-01-08T00:39:13+00:00January, 14, 2025|College Admissions, College Applications|

It seems as though college admissions has become increasingly more competitive over the last several years.  Many colleges, especially the most selective ones, have reported record numbers of applications year after year.  But since most of these schools have not increased the size of their freshman class, more applications have [...]

Giving Students Autonomy in the College Search and Application Process

By |2025-01-06T18:40:50+00:00January, 7, 2025|College Admissions, College Applications, College Consultants, College Essays, College Preparation, College Research|

In a recent New York Times op-ed, Jenny Anderson and Rebecca Winthrop highlighted a survey of over 4,000 members of Gen Z in which 49% “said they did not feel prepared for the future.”  Additionally, employers have reported that employees from this generation lack many of the key skills necessary [...]

A College Admissions Reading List

By |2025-01-10T00:25:40+00:00January, 2, 2025|College Admissions, College Costs, College Life, College Preparation, College Research, Paying for College|

Recently I wrote a blog post about podcasts hosted by admissions experts. For those who prefer to get their information the old-fashioned way, here’s a list of books that tell it like it is. Where You Go is Not Who You’ll Be by Frank Bruni - Bruni is an award-winning [...]

College Admissions Podcasts Provide Useful Information and Advice

By |2024-11-04T21:37:42+00:00November, 6, 2024|College Admissions, College Applications, College Essays, College Preparation, College Research, Financial Aid, Paying for College|

High school students and parents are often bombarded by well-meaning friends and relatives who think they know it all when it comes to college admissions, the college search process, college applications, essay writing, and more. But truly great advice comes from experts. Here’s a list of podcasts where you can [...]

Aiming for Ivies? Straight A’s Are an Advantage, But Not a Guarantee

By |2024-07-14T17:12:59+00:00July, 16, 2024|College Admissions, College Applications, College Preparation|

As discussed in a recent blog post, grade inflation has exploded in the last several years.  This has resulted in grade compression, which means most students' grades are in the A/B range. A recent webinar from test prep and tutoring company Applerouth addressed these issues.  In it, Jed Applerouth, the [...]

Congratulations to the Class of 2024!

By |2024-05-10T20:05:44+00:00May, 14, 2024|College Admissions, Scholarships|

Discovery College Consulting’s 25 students in the Class of 2024 were admitted to 107 different colleges, which are pictured to the right (click the image to enlarge it).  They will be attending the following schools: Chapman University Creighton University Drexel University Macalester College Montana State University New Jersey Institute of [...]

Making Sense of Colleges’ Changing Test Policies

By |2024-04-27T18:26:00+00:00May, 1, 2024|College Admissions, College Admissions and COVID-19, College Admissions Tests|

Test-optional.  Test-flexible.  Test-blind.  The terms themselves are confusing, and recent shifts in colleges' policies are even more so.  If you're a high school student, or the parent of one, you may feel like you're experiencing whiplash in trying to keep up with the ever-evolving test requirements at U.S. colleges.  Before [...]

The Problem with Grade Inflation

By |2024-04-25T16:55:47+00:00March, 12, 2024|College Admissions, College Admissions Tests, College Grades, College Preparation|

Remember the movie The Incredibles? I’ll never forget the scene where Syndrome, the villain, is holding the superheroes hostage. He says, “When I’m old, and I’ve had my fun, I’ll sell my inventions so that everyone can be superheroes, everyone can be super. And, when everyone’s super, no one will [...]

The Perils of “Achievement Culture”

By |2024-01-16T20:06:24+00:00January, 16, 2024|College Admissions, College Preparation|

In November, I attended a webinar with Jennifer Breheny Wallace, author of Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic and What We Can Do About It.  During the hour-long webinar, I typed nearly four pages of single-spaced notes, and while I will do my best to summarize them, I highly recommend [...]

Deferred? Demonstrate Continued Interest

By |2024-01-03T23:41:47+00:00January, 10, 2024|College Admissions, College Applications, College Fit, College Visits|

Many high school seniors received college admissions decisions in December.  Some were excited to be admitted, others were disappointed to be denied, and still others may have been confused because they were deferred.  If you applied early action or early decision and received a deferral, this means the college is [...]

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