Maybe it’s because the uncertainty and randomness of the college admissions process has increased, but it got me thinking about how creating a balanced list is not unlike building an investment portfolio. Why not purposefully include the amount of uncertainty or “risk tolerance” a student is willing to experience to the process of building a balanced “portfolio” of colleges to apply to?

I’ve been a college coach for almost 10 years and each year the number of deferrals as well as the number of colleges that execute them, continues to grow. Each time it happens to a student, I feel their disappointment as they receive the news. I understand when parents exclaim how unfair it is that their teens have to wait even longer and jump through more hoops. it’s also a reminder that the admissions process is not fair. It’s a complicated process with a LOT going on behind the scenes that has absolutely nothing to do with the student.

In the movie “Don’t Look Up”, the astronomer who discovers the “killer comet” is a PhD student at Michigan State. When she and the head of the department finally get in to see the President to share their findings, they are told that “no offense, but we need our team of ‘Ivy scientists’, plus the ‘brightest minds’ from MIT and Caltech to confirm.” Of course, all of them corroborate the findings of the student from the “lesser college”, right down to the exact detail.

Standardized testing is back. Well, to be more accurate, it never really went away. With testing sites unavailable throughout the country during 2020, the majority of colleges had no choice but to go test-optional. This year, it was more varied and played out differently amongst the colleges depending on a variety of factors.

I truly wonder each year if the FAFSA form becomes available in October because it is also the same month as Halloween. Both things can be pretty scary.

“How do I get scholarships for college”? That’s certainly the million-dollar question. And if I had the perfect answer, I’d probably be WORTH a million dollars!

What I do know, is that it’s best to go where the money is, and that’s at the college itself! It’s also the easiest place to begin, for a few reasons.

It is not at all surprising that the college essay is the part of the application where students and parents feel the most pressure and stress.

In a process that overall lacks transparency and control, the essays are where students feel they are able to have the most influence above and beyond their statistics and accomplishments.

Over the years, I’ve seen many students successfully navigate the transition from high school to first year of college. I’m not saying they’ve all done so without some bumps and bruises along the way, but in general, they’ve done well handling all of the normal “firsts” of living away from home.

That got me wondering about how to know if a student is truly “college ready”? And what that means, exactly.

The month of June is always a reflective time for me as my students end their high school careers and move on to the next chapter of their lives.

Wow, what a difference a year makes! I can’t remember the last time that expression meant more than it does this year. Each week, I am greeted by a happier, more excited student who was able to see their friends in class for the first time or resume activities that were previously on hold!

“Reach, target and safety” is the formula by which students were taught to craft a balanced list of colleges that included a few that were a sure thing, a few that matched the student’s academic profile and a few that ….”you have a chance of getting into”, as defined in this blog, But over the last few years, the “targets” were, well, missing the target and the “reaches” were slowly moving way out of reach.

In the world of yoga, the phrase “just breathe” has many meanings, but the general mantra is a reminder to slow down and take a breathe when things are either spinning out of control or when we’ve done all we can within our control.

Last year’s graduating seniors had to choose their colleges based on a variety of criteria that they had to evaluate sight unseen and then barely got to experience this year.

“We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day.”

-Edith Lovejoy Pierce

I was recently given the responsibility of making sure a wire transfer was executed properly and the funds went into the correct account. Since there wasn’t a perfect way to ensure this, and the ramifications if it wasn’t done correctly would be rather large, I decided to create my own checks and balances system:

Hi juniors and sophomores. How are you doing? I know most of the attention has been focused on seniors completing their applications and first-time freshman navigating online college, but this is also a different semester for you too.

It’s more than a little bit eerie how well this expression fits this year.

If the experiences we go through provide us the chance to use what we learn to help us make choices for the future, then both the year 2020 and the vision it provides will continue to be filled with TONS of opportunities.

If there is one bright spot amongst this pandemic, it’s that it has provided the opportunity to slow down and press the “pause” button in our lives. Maybe that’s why so many of my recent newsletters have focused on the theme of reflection.

I recently saw a post in one of my Facebook College Consultant chat boards talking about a Seattle high school studentwho built a website that monitors and updates Coronavirus cases. Remarked one consultant, “that’s a kid who’s getting into Harvard”. The interesting part is that this student didn’t create the website to “look good” on his college applications or get into an elite college.

I’ve been thinking a LOT about the current high school seniors this year. How can you not? During the time usually dedicated to celebrating accomplishments and looking forward to college, they are in the midst of a global pandemic, the likes of which none of us have ever experienced, while they are in the unique position of making one of the first big decisions of their lives with respect to college and their future.