By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. Movies, like Mrs. Doubtfire, The Internship, Stepbrothers, and Good Will Hunting, play on our innate schadenfreude to turn stressful circumstances, like a bad interview, into comedic gold. An interviewer asks an impossible question, or an interviewee says something unbelievably ridiculous, and suddenly you’re shaking your head laughing at the poor..
By Nora Lessersohn, Ph.D. In the first part of our two-part look at tackling the personal statement, we discussed the brainstorming process. If you haven’t read that yet, check it out here. In this post, we will talk about what to do once you’ve found a topic for your essay. Whether you’ve done some freewriting..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. Boston College, down 5 points to 27% BU, down 3 points to 22%. Emory, down 3.5 points to 18.5% Harvard, down .62 points to 4.58% Tulane, down 3.5 points to 17.5% UCLA, down 2.1 points to 14%. Virginia Tech, down 17.4 points to 56% Face it. These numbers don’t make..
By – Nora Lessersohn “The unexamined life is not worth living.” – Socrates While we probably shouldn’t take this statement as literally as Socrates did, it can help us think about how to tackle one of the most important parts of the college application: the personal statement. What is the personal statement? In simplest terms,..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. You’re probably like many students, who come to us agonizing over what are the “right” activities to do. You ask yourself, “Am I doing enough? Are my choices what colleges are looking for? Do I look well-rounded enough?” While you’re correct to assume that extracurricular activities play an important role..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. Everyone wants to know the secret of getting into a dream college. While there are several strategic decisions that everyone can make to enhance their chances, there are also several “magical gifts,” known as “hooks,” that can give some applicants a huge admissions boost. So, what are these magical gifts?..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. Numbers are supposed to be straightforward and easy to interpret. 2+2=4, 9>5, and a triangle’s angles always add up to 180 degrees. Yet, in the world of college admissions statistics, some numbers lie. Selective Colleges’ Early Rounds One of the biggest instances involves the country’s most selective colleges. I often..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. More than a right of passage or an opportunity to test drive a college, visiting campuses is a must for the college-bound. After all, how else can you get an admissions officer to answer all of your questions, learn about a college from its surroundings to its programs, and demonstrate..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. Just before November 1st is that time of year when anxiety runs high and you start imagining all of the things that could go wrong. Let me reassure you that almost all of your worries are unfounded. Here are the 5 most common things that seniors and their parents worry..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. Time and again, families cheat themselves out of money and admissions opportunities, for the simple reason that they don’t understand how financial aid works. Rather than keep your child out of a top choice institution or set yourself up for a late retirement, learn the facts, so that you can..