Once again this week I was reminded that College Board is not an educational or research institution, it’s a marketing firm with a product to sell. And like most marketing companies they follow the ABCs as defined by Mitch from Glengarry Glen Ross … “Always Be Closing”
Yesterday, the University of Alabama announced that 2026-27 applicants to all three of their campuses will have to submit test scores. This made me curious about the admissions profile of Alabama, so I logged into College Board’s Big Future to look at the statistics. A few years ago CB redesigned and ruined the Big Future website. This time I was surprised to see that Big Future had changed again. This time it was pretty cool . . . visually.
But I also noticed a few less savory and unsurprising things. Let’s check it out:
Do You Need a Private College Counselor? I Asked the Pros
Several times in the past month I’ve gotten the same question “should I hire an independent college counselor?” I’ve been asked about it by super wealthy families and middle income families (poor families tend not to ask about purchasing luxury goods). Since this has come up so much I figured it was time to stop replying in private spaces accessible to only a few.
Before I answer, let me define what we’re talking about. IECs. Independent college counselors. Private college counselors. Sometimes called college consultants, college coaches, even educational consultants sometimes. Basically, it’s folks you pay to help you figure out your kids educational pathway. You might remember the Operation Varsity Blues scammer Rick Singer.
Continue reading “Do You Need a Private College Counselor? I Asked the Pros”The Myths of GPA in College Admissions Explained
In the last few weeks, I attended and presented at both the NJ and NY Association of College Admission Counseling conferences where I spoke to lots of colleagues and friends about the admissions process. One consistent theme that emerged is that while the inputs from students are similar (classes, grades, sometimes APs and scores, sometimes essays and recommendations), the way colleges consider them is vastly different. Understanding this might be one of the biggest misunderstandings in the national conversation about admissions. We’ve all seen the stories of the student with the seemingly high GPA getting rejected from multiple schools. We’ve probably even clicked the clickbait and empathized with that student. The problem is that this narrative is just wrong.
There is no such thing as “a GPA.”
Should You Take the SAT/ACT in 2025?
Four years ago, I first answered this question, but since 2021 might as well be the Age of the Pharaohs an update is due. This question still looms large and seems particularly confusing given that more than 85% of colleges remain test optional but news outlets obsessed with certain highly rejective colleges, test prep companies with revenue goals, economists at Dartmouth trying to justify their president’s wishes, and far too many educational consultants keep screaming that “testing is coming back.” So let me step once more into the void and venture to give some guidance on whether (and when) to prepare for and take the SAT or ACT.
Continue reading “Should You Take the SAT/ACT in 2025?”It’s So Hard (to get into college)!
Not long ago, a friend asked me, “Was it hard for your son to get into college?” This question took me aback. My answer: “No. He applied, we waited, colleges answered. Some said yes. Some said no. There was nothing hard about it.”
I’ve never thought that “hard” was the right word for the college application/admissions process. Laying asphalt in the hot summer sun is hard. So is teaching 35 rambunctious 12-year-olds for 6 hours. And running a marathon. Waiting for a politely worded yes or no? Not hard.
That might sound flippant, so let’s dig in a bit deeper.
What is a good college?
We need to have a serious discussion about what we call a “good college.” Having recently gone through the college application process with my oldest child—and now starting it again with my youngest—I’ve been thinking a lot about choosing a college and what makes a good college. We need to reconsider the better define what and who gets to define a best, top, good, or (god-forbid) elite colleges. Who can we trust to tell us which colleges are best? How should a family define what makes a college “best”? Is it the educational experience, rankings, social life, brand/reputation, cost, or something else entirely?
Let’s explore this …
HBCU vs HRC: The value of culture
This past week I was talking to a family about college admission and we had a brief venture into the never-ending PWI (predominantly white institution) vs HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) debate. I wanted to bring a few thoughts (really one particular comparison point) about that to the blog . . . so here we are. Let’s go . . .
Continue reading “HBCU vs HRC: The value of culture”Big Tobacco is to ACT as::
One of the things that annoys me most about the testing publishing industry, especially ACT and College Board, is how much it behaves like the Big Tobacco. And not just modern Big Tobacco, but Big Tobacco in the halcyon days of the industry when they had free reign to make mildly supported hyperbolic claims about the benefits of their products.
Continue reading “Big Tobacco is to ACT as::”The P in PSAT doesn’t stand for practice
Recently almost 4 million students around the country received their scores back from the PSAT. I have a child in 11th grade and I tutor the SAT (which is the same as the PSAT for all intensive purposes ) and other bubble tests, so I talk to students and parents almost daily about testing and what it means. So I’ve been talking to a lot of parents in the past few weeks about the PSAT. Thus this blog. . .
Continue reading “The P in PSAT doesn’t stand for practice”Cutting Room Floor: The Hidden Factors Influencing College Admissions Decisions
I recently wrote an article published in Word In Black about the different ways colleges go about the business of evaluating applications and even though it was long as hell, I couldn’t get in everything I wanted. So let me highlight a few bits that got left out. This is, obviously, part of my periodic series on this blog called Cutting Room Floor (the first one is here).
Continue reading “Cutting Room Floor: The Hidden Factors Influencing College Admissions Decisions”
Bellowings 
You must be logged in to post a comment.