Anna Ivey gives you ruthlessly practical admissions advice
Every year, we’re fascinated to read people’s answers to the Really Short Answer questions on college applications.
For 2016-17, for example, we’re seeing those questions pop up on the applications for Yale, Stanford, USC, Princeton, UNC Chapel Hill, and Columbia, among others.
What’s a Really Short Answer question?
Wise words from the dean of admissions at Smith College:
Students have many options. Focusing on the narrow list of so-called top colleges ignores the rich diversity of the nation’s higher education choices — including community colleges, online courses, residential colleges and large research universities.
Are you a non-traditional (read: older) student planning on taking the new SAT (aka rSAT) this weekend? If so, our friends at ArborBridge test prep are reminding us that there are special rules you need to be aware of, and might need to work around asap:
All of us adults who registered to take the March SAT this weekend so we could see the new test received an email from the CB [College Board] today telling us we had been booted to May instead.
Are you struggling with math? There is hope for you, and "hope" is the key word here.
I came across a great post on the Education Week blog that summarizes the findings of a recent study by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), a big international organization that tracks things like math performance country by country.
Were you under the impression that the College Board and the ACT are primarily in the business of making and administering those standardized tests that drive you batty?
Actually, their real bread and butter is mining students' personal information and selling it for a lot of money.
Mindy Kaling, after being asked, a gazillion times, where she gets her confidence (from Why Not Me?):
"People talk about confidence without ever bringing up hard work.
If you're a high school student (or the parent of a high school student), you probably thought that the ACT is just in the business of creating and administering the ACT test, right?
Actually, they do quite a bit more, and one of their "side" businesses can affect your college applications without you even knowing it. Please read the following advice carefully:
In order to increase its profitability and market share, the ACT has been developing other "predictor" tools to sell to colleges.
As you may already know, there were problems with the June 6, 2015, SAT Reasoning test because of misprints in the instructions on some of the test booklets. It took a little time for the dust to settle and for the College Board to decide how it was going to respond. As of now, the College Board has decided to do the following:
There's an excellent article on the stage of law school education in the Washington Post: "Why Law Schools Are Losing Relevance—and How They're Trying to Win It Back."
Bottom line: "Going to law school used to feel like a no-brainer for college graduates seeking financial security. But that calculus has changed...."
If you are a planner by nature and like to avoid last minute rushes, there’s some foundational prep work your 11th grader can be working on now before crunch time hits in the fall of 12th grade. One of the foundational exercises we go through with rising seniors is to have them create an old-fashioned resume.
That might sound strange at first.
If your child is testing low on the SSAT, PSAT, PLAN, or Achievement Tests in grades 7-10, that’s a sign to start thinking about adding a test prep protocol, or reevaluating one you might already have in place. That’s also a sign to do a full battery of learning disability testing to figure out the underlying cognitive issue.
The goal isn’t necessarily to get accommodations for standardized tests, because not every kid with learning problems has those kinds of learning disabilities.
How do the top schools evaluate multiple LSAT scores? I know a few of the t14 schools claim they average the scores and a few others claim they take a holistic approach. However, I have also read that since the ABA changed their reporting policy, law schools have every incentive to evaluate the highest score.
Also, what if there is a huge disparity in the scores.
What a glorious week all you February LSAT takers are waking up to. Exhausted, curled up, wrung out? Take heart, you could be these people over in Boston:
Twitter: @OnlyInBOS
Here's some of the best news, though. For many years I've been banging the drum to apply EARLY, EARLY, EARLY in the admissions cycle. Recently, though, it's been more of a finger tapping.
Many people who submitted their applications last fall are already getting acceptances, so that hasn't changed, and that's a nice bonus for them.
Some nice feedback from an applicant who worked with our colleague Janeille and is happily headed to Georgetown Law School:
I had worked with an admissions consultant from a different company and thought my application was ready to go.
Some nice feedback on working with our consultant Greg, from an applicant headed to a T14 law school:
Greg, I am absolutely delighted to let you know that I have been accepted at _________ [T14 law school]!! It is honestly a dream come true for me. _______ was a reach school for me, as I fell right along the median for GPA, but slightly below for the LSAT.
