Both the Common Application and the Coalition Application are online college application platforms. The Coalition App is a relative newcomer, opening up for applications in Fall of 2016. In contrast, the Common App has been around since 1975 and has gone through numerous revisions since then. Let’s first talk about the similarities and differences in…
When it’s time to choose high school schedules, I get LOTS of questions about foreign language requirements for college admissions. If your student does not appreciate the importance of taking a high school foreign language when it comes time to apply to college, it’s time to make sure they understand it now! Here are my…
I’ve heard students refer to their sophomore year of high school as being “the invisible year.” In some ways, they are correct. There is less excitement about this school year, as compared to their freshman year, when they were new to high school. And for the most part, during the sophomore year, they are also…
Hopefully, no matter how reluctant you feel about this upcoming milestone, you have begun taking a few steps. I’m an advocate of starting the process early to help alleviate as much of the stress as possible. Everyone hears the horror stories about the junior year of high school and certainly it is likely to…
College entrance exams become a big topic when students enter high school. It used to be that students planning to apply to college took one of the two tests, either the ACT or the SAT, one time, and that was that. In some regions, students took the ACT and in others, students took the SAT. …
If you have been reading about college admissions for a while, you may already know some of the financial aid basics like what an EFC is. And if you’ve been following me for a while, you likely know what an NPC is too. However, the list below also includes financial aid questions you may not…
So, you’ve accepted that as unbelievable as it seems, it is time for your high schooler to begin visiting some colleges. You’ve navigated the college websites and gotten a couple of visits scheduled. But what do you do while you’re there? And you’ve got lots of questions – how do you know what kind of…
While college admissions interviews are not the norm, they are not uncommon either. Even if a college interview is offered, it’s sometimes not mandatory. But, if any of the colleges on your student’s list offer the option, your student should seize the opportunity. Interviews are a great chance to impress admissions officers and they can…
I have a confession: Until last winter, I was anti-college fair. There were a number of reasons for that. The major one was that we were able to visit all the schools on Kids #1 and #2’s college lists at some point prior to college application time. We were not as fortunate for Kid #3…
We are inundated with college ranking lists these days, from US News and World Report, which is probably the most popular, to Niche. And no two lists are quite the same. Is one better than another? What should you consider as you look at the rankings? A better question might actually be, “Does college ranking…