This week’s column:

02 Feb These traits make letter-perfect students

Posted at 23:14h in Beginning the Process

By Lee Shulman Bierer When I talk to parents and students, I share the following descriptors -- Passion, Responsibility, Enthusiasm, Leadership, Initiative, Maturity, Character, Perseverance, Integrity, Interpersonal Skills,  Commitment, Curiosity, Compassion, Creativity, Consistency. So what does this really mean? Passion: It's the buzzword in admissions offices. Colleges want...

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29 Jan 10 Commandments of the college admissions process – Part 2

Posted at 14:02h in Beginning the Process

By Lee Shulman Bierer So, last week I shared my thoughts on the important basics needed as families begin the college admissions process. I talked about: Commandment # 1:  I suggested that a student should spend some time understanding who they are, what they want and where...

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21 Jan The 10 Commandments of the college admissions process

Posted at 17:08h in Beginning the Process

By Lee Shulman Bierer I’ve been helping students and families navigate the college admissions process for a long time now and there are some basic fundamental truths. I’m calling them my 10 commandments of the college admissions process. I’m sharing 1-5 this week and 6-10 next...

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15 Jan Admissions officials prefer to see tough classes

Posted at 15:24h in Application Strategy

By Lee Shulman Bierer Whether I'm leading a workshop on navigating the college admissions process or getting stopped in the frozen food aisle at the supermarket, here are some of the most common questions parents ask. The easy A: Is it better to take a lower-level...

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08 Jan  Things to think about in the new year

Posted at 12:47h in Beginning the Process

By Lee Shulman Bierer New Year’s is a time for resolutions and reorganization. If you’re the parent of a high school freshman or sophomore, but particularly if you’re the parent of a junior; now is the time to understand and start implementing the college timeline. There is...

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23 Dec Top Tier Admissions provides early admissions stats

Posted at 11:42h in Application Strategy

Early Admissions Trends: Class of 2024 With Class of 2024 results now coming in on the early admissions round at top colleges and universities around the country, here is our expert assessment on what we’ve learned thus far. We’ll continue to update our information as more...

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17 Dec Early Decision results and Early Decision II – an increasingly popular option

Posted at 16:26h in Application Strategy

By Lee Shulman Bierer Notifications for Early Decision (ED), Restricted Early Action (REA) and Single Choice Early Action (SCEA) have been delivered. This year, as in previous years, there were many more tears than fist-bumps. This following list prepared by College Kickstart (www.college-kickstart.com) was released and includes:...

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11 Dec Interpreting the new PSAT scores

Posted at 18:20h in Testing, Uncategorized

By Lee Shulman Bierer Results from the October PSAT have been released. Your PSAT/NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test)  scores are ready online, you should have received an email with instructions on creating your College Board account, going to your online score report, and using your access code...

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03 Dec The final essay push – those dreaded essays…

Posted at 15:04h in Essay Writing

By Lee Shulman Bierer Okay all you procrastinators, it’s now officially December and with January 1 deadlines looming, you really can’t wait much longer. Yes, of course I know you can, and some of you will wait until December 30th to start “thinking about” what you’re...

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20 Nov Navigating the Thanksgiving tightrope

Posted at 15:15h in Parenting

By Lee Shulman Bierer I'm updating one of my most popular columns. It's about the challenges of dealing with your children when they return home from college for Thanksgiving. College students are about to head home. For many freshmen it will be their first visit back since...

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