How proud of your child would you be if she qualified for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) program? How proud would she be of herself if she were part of this highly regarded program? How impressed would colleges and/or private schools be, knowing that she is a gifted and talented student? The fact is that the Johns Hopkins CTY program is one of the most prestigious programs that students can attend. Being accepted into the...

How proud of your child would you be if she qualified for the Johns Hopkins Center for Talented Youth (CTY) program? How proud would she be of herself if she were part of this highly-regarded program? How impressed would colleges and/or private schools be, knowing that she is a gifted and talented student? The fact is that the Johns Hopkins CTY program is one of the most prestigious programs that students can attend. Being accepted into the...

You probably already know the three most important criteria for getting into top colleges and private schools. They are:

· Overall GPA

· Grades in college prep classes

· Rigor of academic schedule

Said another way, to be a legitimate candidate for top colleges, students must take rigorous classes (such as AP and honors) and earn excellent grades in those classes. Beyond grades, other important criteria...

As someone who has tutored and counseled students for well over 30 years, who has written countless tutoring and training guides, and who has personally trained more than 500 tutors and counselors, I can tell you first-hand, second-hand, and third-hand that being an effective tutor requires significant skills that go far beyond IQ and subject-matter expertise.

Unfortunately, many tutoring companies are merely involved in window dressing...

If you are like millions of other families across America and across the world, you hire tutors to help your child with a difficult subject, to write a paper, or to pass a test. Indeed, tutoring in America is a $15 billion industry. Most tutoring is done by individuals with little or no training in the fine art of teaching. Much tutoring is done by college students or graduate students. There is no class a person can take to learn to be a...

On the Common Application under the Education tab is a subsection entitled “Honors.” It begins with the following question:

Do you wish to report any honors related to your academic achievements beginning with the ninth grade or international equivalent?”

What counts as an academic honor? The answer is rather murky and open to interpretation. Basically, any honor you have received based on any subject or group of subjects you have...

Everyone seems to know that admission to top colleges is more competitive than ever. It is simply a matter of numbers. More applications means a smaller percentage of acceptances. Furthermore, the rules are constantly changing. Now, first-generation counts more than legacy. In most cases, standardized tests are still optional, and everyone claims to have the winning formula for writing the perfect Common App essay. But in this maelstrom of...

Getting into top private schools is not unlike getting into top colleges. The fact is that highly valued individuals demonstrate a consistent set of values whether they are applying for college or private school. That is because, to a certain extent, top schools are seeking a consistent and predictable set of characteristics from their applicants, whether for college or for private school. Overall, they are seeking to establish an...

Internships! The mere mention of the word brings waves of joy to parents of students seeking admission to high-value colleges—as if the mere mention of the word will result in multiple offers of admission from top colleges across America. Indeed, internships can be valuable additions to college applications, but not necessarily so. Why? The answer is simple and intuitive once you allow yourself to enter the mind of a college admission...

There are some who believe that applying to college is simply a matter of submitting applications. The reality is that hundreds of decisions made between 9th grade and 12th grade will contribute to a student’s admission success. Furthermore, admission factors at top colleges are evolving. What was true 10 years ago, or even five years ago, may not be true today. For example, the legacy advantage has all but disappeared. One’s ethnicity...

Everyone wants to get into a top-choice college but simply wishing for it won’t make it happen. Everything about college admission is strategic, and each individual strategy combines into a comprehensive plan of action that begins as early as ninth grade. However, it is never too late to begin. Whether you are in 9th grade, 10th grade, or 11th grade, there are several things that will increase your chances of getting into one or more of your...

The Five Best and Worst Activities for Summer

Summer is when high school students can engage in meaningful activities that greatly enhance their college applications. Since college applications contain information about a student's record from 9th through 12th grade, it makes sense to plan advantageous summer activities for the three summers that precede a student's entry into college. The summers after 10th grade and 11th grade are...

Every day, students must make decisions that range from the mundane to the sublime, from which socks or stockings to wear to which summer activities to choose. Many high school students, particularly those who are focused on boosting the impact of their college applications, choose activities that fit into neat categories on the Common Application’s activities section. This is a good idea. However, there is an even better idea: choose...

The secret to successful elite-college admission is not what you think. It is not about having an exceptionally high GPA and test scores. It is not about having 100 activities squeezed into 10 spaces on the Common Application. It is not about having 10 AP test scores of 5. It is not even about having excellent teacher recommendations. All of these things are already assumed if you are applying to an elite college. However, you should...

A preponderance of strong and highly advantageous activities begun early in high school will dramatically improve a student’s chance of receiving offers of admissions from elite colleges. The issue is not whether the right set of activities will improve a student’s chances. The question is which activities will do so, and which ones are just a waste of time and money. In order to address this question, one must understand a basic premise of...

When I was taking driving lessons so many years ago, I was never told where I should be staring as I maneuvered my car down the highways and country roads of New England. Instead, I was simply told to keep the car centered between the lines and to keep enough distance between my car and the car ahead. I was told what to do, but not how to do it. It wasn’t until I taught my own daughter to drive that I discovered an important strategy. That...

No high school research activity is ever going to hurt a student’s college admission chances. The only questions are how much will it help and is it worth the time and effort? Four years of high school certainly seems like a long enough time to develop a strong list of meaningful activities. However, four years is not as long as it seems. High school years are full of responsibilities. Students must maintain high GPAs and that alone takes a...

In college admissions, buzz words rarely survive the time it takes to utter them. In the swiftly moving cat-and-mouse game between admissions officers and counselors, as well as the multitude of organizations that prey upon students caught in the middle, the rules are continually changing. “Legacy” has given way to “opportunity.” “Well-rounded student” has been replaced by “well-rounded student body.” “Statistical analysis” has departed and...

The importance of an internship as a standalone activity has been severely diminished. Internships that serve no purpose other than to take a position on a college application will not positively impact a student’s candidacy. In fact, they could have the opposite effect of red flagging an application that is being padded or stuffed by overzealous parents or by concerned students to cover up a weakness. In contrast, internships that fuel a...