By Lee Shulman Bierer There’s no wiggle room for stupid mistakes when some colleges are receiving over 30,000 applications and acceptance rates can be in the single digits. It’s true that not every school is as selective as those in the Ivy League, but gaffs that cause...
By Lee Shulman Bierer Soaring student debt, it’s a hot topic. Every presidential candidate is talking about it and that’s because the average debt of a senior graduating from college is nearly $30,000. That figure is even more frightening since many families are able to send...
By Lee Shulman Bierer Why is the “Why this college?” so important? Colleges care why students put their college on their list and many colleges incorporate the “why?” question into their applications. While most students find themselves having to write a variety of essays for different colleges,...
By Lee Shulman Bierer Tired of staring at that blank screen? It's time to figure out what exactly you want to share with the college admissions offices. What do colleges want to know about you? That’s a good place to start when you’re brainstorming your college...
By Lee Shulman Bierer On Wednesday October 16, high school juniors and many sophomores will be getting their first taste of standardized testing for college when they take the PSAT/NMSQT. That’s a lot of letters. It stands for Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The PSAT/NMSQT...
What do you need before you fill out the FAFSA? If you need financial aid to help you pay for college, you must complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA®) form. The 2020–21 FAFSA form just opened this week on Oct. 1, 2019. You...
By Lee Shulman Bierer Last week I shared information about two early admissions programs: Early Action (EA) and Early Decision (ED). Early Action is where colleges have earlier deadlines (October 15 – December 1) and they notify students earlier (December – January) and students are not required...
By Lee Shulman Bierer It would be easy, to assume that with the increase in popularity of online applications (www.commonapp.org, www.mycoalition.org and www.universalcollegeapp.com, that a variety of decisions would be streamlined for college applicants. Unfortunately, it’s just not the case. Colleges appreciate the benefits of the common...
By Lee Shulman Bierer You want your essay to be the one that is passed around the admissions office…. or not. It’s a little bit like the difference between being famous and infamous. We all know that a sincere, well-written essay that provides insights about how...
By Lee Shulman Bierer They’re gone. All summer long you worried about their dorm room, what classes they’d take, how they’d adjust socially, if they will run out of money, if they will be homesick, etc. Guess what? They’re fine! The one thing that most parents forget...
