College Admission Blog
How Boarding Schools Are the Gateway for Chinese Student Success
Back on November 3rd, The New York Times ran a collaborative article, “The China Conundrum” combining the work of their reporter, Karin Fischer, and Tom Bartlett of The Chronicle of Higher Education. I call attention to their piece in this forum because the demand and influx of Chinese students into American higher education parallels the [...]
Read MoreDon’t Become the Difficult Parent
The college placement office is one of the quiet, but most important support pieces of a boarding school education. Boarding school college placement offices, and the students they support, benefit from a bounty of resources and experiences. A boarding school college placement office works full-time; works with a very healthy (read low) officer to student [...]
Read MoreThe Case for a Gap Year- with some questions
The ‘gap year’- a fairly frequent topic of ours both as question recipients and as writers (it often comes in tandem with questions about a post graduate year)- received nice essay coverage on The Choice blog at The New York Times. As part of her National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC) conference coverage Rebecca [...]
Read MoreSkepticism Over College Rankings Applies Equally to Private School Rankings
Over on the Independent Educational Consulting Blog, Dodge Johnson, IECA president, offers his preemptive salvo on the coming U.S. News annual college rankings. Suffice to say, he’s skeptical; not a fan; and his piece can serve a foundation on why it’s important to approach many types of rankings with a healthy dose of skepticism. Dodge’s [...]
Read MoreA Good Friend Offers A+ Advice for Cutting the Cost of College
Christine Chapman’s of Starr & Chapman Educational Consulting is the subject of an AOL Original interview exploring ways to reduce the cost of college- “Six Tips for Cutting the Cost of a College Education.” The quick interview draws on Chapman’s experience as new parent facing the cost of saving large sums in her family’s effort [...]
Read MoreSending Your Freshman to College: Parenting Advice from Malcolm Gauld
Editor’s note: Reading excerpts from Malcolm Gauld’s (Hyde Schools, president) new book “COLLEGE SUCCESS GUARANTEED: Five Rules to Make it Happen,” we became curious about the book’s context and why it seems to make so much sense right now. We got in touch with Mr. Gauld and he was kind enough share this exchange with [...]
Read MoreInterlochen Arts Academy Earns a Brief Mention in New York Times “The Choice” Blog
In their post “The College Decision From The Professors’ Perspective,” Lynn Jacobs and Jeremy Hyman mention Interlochen Arts Academy as an example of a strong program and how to temper and weigh collegiate expectations. “Don’t make a hobby into a deal-breaker. Whether — and how well — a college can accommodate your extracurricular interests is [...]
Read MoreIt’s Not About Tests. It’s About Rigorous Curricula
Alex Mallory has a piece over at the Huffington Post titled, “The Real Reason Private Schools Drop AP Tests.” His argument is nice, but everything in it is premised on time, money and resources that most schools don’t have. Of course a school, or district (does Mallory know about public school districts?) can write their [...]
Read MorePreparing for College: Forman School Teaches Students To Understand, Then, Position Themselves
Much education involves self understanding, realization, and an ability to put oneself in a position to be successful. Most students figure this out along the way during their K-12 years. Either you find you’re quite good at something that you enjoy doing, or, you encounter topics that are painfully difficult and that leave you disinterested. [...]
Read MoreICEF is Coming to Vancouver in May!
Many schools use educational consultants to help them find and select suitable students. It makes sense. Why fly half-way across the world to find students when you can hire someone on the ground in any specific country to find students for you? These consultants (sometimes referred to as agents) vary in ability and professionalism, so [...]
Read MoreFootball Signing Day: Boarding School Flavor
I can’t find a good, single list of boarding school players who signed today, but I found something close. ESPNBoston has a list of Massachusetts players scheduled to sign today. It lists high school and college with whom they’re signing. It’s missing some of the Western New England schools and looks like it might short [...]
Read MoreWaiting for Your Private School Admission Decision: Lessons from the College Placement Office
Hector Martinez, The Webb Schools‘ (Claremont, CA) college guidance director, has posted a nice piece at Webblogs (The Waiting Game). Although, he’s speaking to seniors and their parents in the throes of the college admission process, some of comments apply to families working through the boarding school admission process. His high notes: No one likes to [...]
Read MoreConnections and Relationships: Boarding Schools Have Them, Colleges Want to Return to Them
Three stories came together this morning to remind me and drive home the point that- in so many situations- working, living and learning- it’s about people and relationships. And, boarding schools ‘do’ people and relationships better in an educational setting than just about any other form of school. Let me lay out the three. I’ll [...]
Read MoreA Gap Year Primer
Wall Street Journal writer Sue Shellenbarger presents the current state of and thinking about the ‘gap year’. “Delaying College to Fill in the Gaps” covers all the general themes: what is a gap year; what gap year options/opportunities are available; why take a gap year; what are the risks in a gap year; paid vs. [...]
Read MoreA Refreshing Look at the College Admission Process
Jen Fitzpatrick the Director of College Guidance at Sewickley Academy has written a solid post that stands up against the din and hype that have become part and parcel of the college admission process. Titled “College Guidance: 5 Best Tips & Practices,” it’s really more than five recommendations. And, more than recommendations or prescriptions for [...]
Read More