Now that we’ve received some admissions results from ED II and Regular admissions, we wanted to share with you guys what we found worked this season amidst the pandemic by dedicating today's episode on Three College Admissions Strategies in the upcoming application season. 

We recognize that the pandemic presents a lot of challenges and even anxiety on how to approach the college admissions process. By taking advantage of the three strategies we discuss on this episode, you may get a better idea of how you can potentially approach your applications in the future! 

As COVID-19 continues to impact the world, in this June 2020 Updates episode, we bring you updates and advice about standardized testing, virtual learning, the job market and extracurricular activities that students can partake in during the summer. 

As we dive into how to move forward with your academics and activities, we also share our perspectives on how the removal of standardized testing (i.e, UCs) is going to ultimately impact the world of education and college admissions in the future. 

Tune in to this episode to learn more! 

We have another special episode for you on the coronavirus and the constant changes that college admissions are making as the pandemic continues to impact our country. From test date changes to additional college admissions requirements, Jay and Vincent dive into the details of what various colleges are doing and what advice they have for students. 

Tune in to this episode for more updates on the impacts of the coronavirus and detailed advice and explanations on how students can plan their next few months (including the summer) to make the most of their time and increase chances of admissions. 

In this episode, Jay and Vincent dive into the Coronavirus and how it’s affecting our students and families. Due to the pandemic, we have received many questions about its effects on college admissions and have sensed the anxiety since SAT/ACT tests have been canceled, AP exams have moved to online, schools have closed, etc.

Because we understand that this time of uncertainty may bring rising concerns to students and parents, we wanted to dedicate this episode to answer your questions and hopefully ease your concerns.

From what current seniors need to do as admission results come out, to how to prioritize your time to make the most of being at home, Jay and Vincent answer your questions about this time of uncertainty to prepare for what's to come as we end our school year. 

In this episode, we wanted to organize a list of THE INTANGIBLES -- what you should think about beyond the college application (activities, academics, etc.). We specifically chose to spend some time on the miscellaneous things that students and parents do not necessarily think about when they think about their high school journey. 

From reading for pleasure to social media, we cover a wide array of things that our parents and students should be thinking about besides what goes in a college application. 

A new "adversity score" assigned by the College Board on the SAT exam will reportedly reflect students' family income, environment and educational differences in an effort to level the playing field in the highly competitive college admissions process. In this episode, we'll dive into what our speakers think about the new adversity score, its implications, and general advice. 

If you were worried about new adversity score, or had questions about it, this is a great episode for you to tune in on! 

In this episode, we do something special and review an article written by the CEO of the College Board, David Coleman. He writes in The Atlantic his piece titled, “There’s More to College than Getting into College,” which argues for us to reassess the key factors that not just make a great college-bound student, but also enables students to succeed through college and beyond. Given the rising interest and growing intensity of how parents and students approach the college admissions process, we thought it would be an excellent feature on this episode to discuss what the head of college standardized testing had to say about where we are headed and what advice he offers to do college the right way.

Three topics we discuss based on David Coleman's article:

Finding Great Teachers

Picking an Activity (or maybe two)

Learning to love ideas, even when it hurts.

While the school year might be coming to an end for most of our students, our Class of 2020 students are starting the college application process. As such, we thought it would be great to hit the Top 5 most frequently asked questions that students and parents ask about the college application process. We do feel like this would be helpful for all grade levels as they can prepare for their college applications early and keep this information in mind.  

Questions that we discuss today are:

How do admissions evaluate my application?

Should I apply early?

Should I do an optional interview?

Should I tell colleges about any extenuating circumstances that impacted my grades?

How can I make my application stand out?

As we approach the end of the school year, we thought we’d give you a quick checklist of what you should consider and be mindful of in this episode. We know this is a very stressful time for some of our students, so we want to make it easier for you to digest your next steps!

A few things you should consider that we dive into in this episode are:

APs: First 3 weeks of May

SAT IIs/SAT I/ACT: June

2nd Semester GPA

Finals: Finishing your school year strong

Teacher Appreciation Day, 5/7

11th Graders: Teacher Recommendations request

Solidifying Summer Plans (all grade levels)

...and MORE!