By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. I have seen it all – alcohol, curse words, even boobs. This is just a sampling of what has turned up on spur-of-the-moment requests to see my students’ social media accounts. Granted, many of you now have finsta accounts rather than just one Instagram profile, and you’re certainly more savvy..
By Adam Muri-Rosenthal, Ph.D. Social media is no less ubiquitous in the college application process than everywhere else in our daily lives. Just as a potential employer may search for your name on Google, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram (to name a few), the practice is gaining increasing acceptance in the world of college admissions,..
By Adam Muri-Rosenthal, Ph.D. In early April 2021, Ivy League colleges announced their Fall admissions decisions. Continuing a now long-standing trend, they shared news of record-breaking application numbers and their stalwart companion, lower acceptance rates. Much like every year, the news leaves a select few students basking in the glow of their accomplishment, many thousands..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. Over a lunch of Peruvian chicken, two former clients probed me to find out what makes an accomplished student, you know, the kind that gets into the country’s most selective schools. They were curious to know what precisely the students did, what the parents did to help them, and what..
By Nora Lessersohn, A.M. We often hear from families: “It can’t hurt just to throw our hat in the ring at X school!” This is what you might call using “hope” as a strategy, ignoring data in the name of playing the lottery. While Barack Obama might disagree, hope, alone, is not at all likely..
By Nora Lessersohn, A.M. “It was a ____(adjective)____ and stormy night, and I was ____(adjective)____. My ____(noun)____ asked me if I wanted some ____(noun)____.” Remember MadLibs? The game where you fill in the blanks with adjectives, nouns, and verbs to make a funny story? Well, believe it or not, you can look to this childhood..
By – Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. Many adults lament the fact that many teens these days no longer hold jobs. They worry that the younger generation is no longer learning the humility that comes with doing “menial” work, nor the responsibility that comes with managing personal finances. What the older generation often misses, however, is..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. As a college consultant, the big question I keep getting from parents and students alike is: what are the chances of getting in next year? Can you blame people for asking? With changes about college admissions practices in the news cycle nearly every day, families are correct to wonder what it all..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. The arrival of Covid-19 has disrupted education in a way that we have never experienced before. While the impact of the pandemic on your high school education, admissions prospects, and financial aid packages is nowhere close to being known, we are providing you with information that we do have as..
By Victoria Tillson Evans, Ph.D. “Let us, then, be up and doing, with a heart for any fate; still achieving, still pursuing, learn to labor and to wait.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Getting deferred can be demoralizing. You’ve waited months hoping and wishing for an acceptance, only to find out that you have to wait..