Weekly Update: July 19

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE LAST TWO WEEKS

You know it’s a long-overdue blog update when there was an enormous issue that has since resolved itself!

INTERNATIONAL STUDENT VISAS

This was a really big deal. In what most believe was an attempt to force colleges and universities to reopen for in-person instruction, the Trump administration moved to revoke all visas for international students whose courses had moved online due to COVID-19. There are more than 350,000 international students on F-1 visas in this country right now and most would have been impacted. The colleges would have lost an incredible amount of money - so they decided to sue. Harvard and MIT filed the first lawsuit and many others were in the works. Fortunately, the administration reversed the order and all is (mostly) well again for now.

TEST-OPTIONAL ADMISSION

Schools continue to become test-optional for the Class of 2021! Since the last time I posted, some of the newest additions to the list include University of South Carolina, University of Maryland, and MIT!

ALABAMA

How crazy is this? Alabama has announced that they will not waive the SAT or ACT for admission. Instead, they will conditionally admit Class of 2021 students. Each will need to take the ACT or SAT by May 1, 2021.

MICHIGAN

They had an incredibly confusing “test-flexible” policy that was, at its core, test-optional. I was telling everyone not to worry about it and to read between the lines - but how many seventeen-year-olds know how to read between the lines with something like this? I’m glad to see that they changed the wording on their website to make it clear that they are test-optional, but it would have been nice if they had indicated on the website that a change was made… now the confusing part will be that some people will think the old policy is still in effect. Can’t win!

ATHLETICS

There’s a lot going on in this space! First, Division I and II student-athletes still have to take the SAT or ACT for NCAA eligibility (whether their actual schools have gone test-optional or not), and nobody is happy about it, let me tell you. The basketball coaches have been particularly outspoken. Next, many universities are dropping athletic programs as a result of COVID-19 and the economy. Stanford cut nearly one-third of their varsity sports offerings about a week ago, and Dartmouth made lots of cuts too. Brown cut teams, reversed a couple of the cuts, and maintains that all of this is unrelated to the pandemic. And then of course there are all the sports that have been suspended for either next fall or the entire year. Here’s a great searchable list. As I tell student-athletes every single year, you’re not in until you have an acceptance letter from the admissions office - but that’s never been more true than this year.

ACT

Lots of angry parents and students this past weekend. There were many situations in which kids showed up to take the test and couldn’t, for whatever reason. Most had last-minute cancellations, but I read this story on Facebook of a mom that traveled from Georgia to South Dakota to get her daughter a seat at a test center (can you even IMAGINE!) and then they wouldn’t let her test because the proctor was mistaken about a rule. That poor family. I would have lost it.

DEADLINE AND DECISION PLAN SHIFTS

Johns Hopkins announced the addition of ED II and Georgia Tech shifted their deadlines around, now differentiating between in-state and out-of-state students. UVA announced the deadline shift for ED a little while back, and my guess is that we will see more of this over the upcoming month or two.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE LAST TWO WEEKS

Scott Galloway posted a great blog post that examined why certain colleges and universities are reopening for in-person instruction and others aren’t: in short, they need the money. “If students don’t return in the fall, many colleges will have to take drastic action that could have serious long-term impacts on their ability to fulfill their missions. That gruesome calculus has resulted in a tsunami of denial.” He then went on to assess the strength of over 400 institutions while considering issues of value and vulnerability. Ultimately, he placed each school in one of four quadrants: thrive, survive, struggle and perish. He noted that schools in the “thrive” category could actually come out stronger and potentially more exclusive as a result.

Check out the entire study - it’s definitely worth a read. Many were predictable, but there were also some real surprises on there for me.

This Washington Post piece about misdiagnoses and inaccessible care at college health centers is (a) scary and (b) not particularly surprising. Everyone, and I mean everyone, complains about this - no matter where they go. I am not sure I have ever had anyone tell me they were happy with their college health center. When I was at Wash U almost 20 years ago (that hurt to type) we always used to joke about how they’d either tell you that you were pregnant or had mono.

If you’ve been thinking about putting together a learning pod for your child, check out the Washington Post’s very in-depth piece on them - in which I was quoted! I also spoke on WTOP about these a week ago. Trust me, pods are not as easy as they seem. In the right setting, they could be great, but 95% of the plans I’ve read and heard about do not sound very promising. More thoughts on these later in the week.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

This is our busy season, and boy are we busy! The Class of 2022 is continuing to fill up and we have a bunch of kids on the 2021 Late Start Waitlist. Most of our September availability is up on the calendar at this point, and we will be reaching out to 2022 students in the next few weeks to give them booking instructions to get started this fall!

Bingo Night this past winter! Always a good time!

On a separate note, I have been in the media a lot recently, and some of you saw my segment on NBC at the end of last week in addition to the links I posted above. With regard to the NBC piece, I was a bit surprised to see Colvin Run spotlighted that way and hoped that it didn’t give anyone the wrong idea. As I posted on Facebook on Friday, we have not just liked it but LOVED our experience there. It’s a wonderful school with the best teachers and administration you could ever ask for. Truly, every single one of my daughter’s teachers has been phenomenal.

So please know that while I definitely have issues with the county, I have no issues with Colvin Run, which has been nothing short of amazing. Honestly, I think most of my clients’ parents would say the same about all of their schools. Langley, Madison, McLean, Oakton, whatever - everybody loves their teachers and principals.

But I do think most parents agree that the county is simply too big, and there were a lot of balls dropped for a lot of kids this past spring as a result. It will be interesting to see if FCPS ends up starting the year 100% virtually or not - if I had to put money on it, I think all schools will, private and public. We shall see!

The optional COVID-19 essay that's likely better left unwritten

As you all know, the college admissions landscape has experienced some major changes in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Standardized testing policies are less stable than the stock market, college visits are (mostly) not happening, and I could write this entire post about the challenges that recruited athletes are facing right now!

Interestingly enough, though, the one development that I’ve gotten the most questions about is the one that is probably the least relevant to my client base. But as I always say, “you don’t know what you don’t know,” and this is definitely an area where a seemingly innocent misstep could result in major problems down the line.

In May, the Common Application® recently announced that it would provide students with “a dedicated space to elaborate on the impact of the pandemic, both personally and academically.” This prompt is completely optional and will appear in the additional information section of the application.

Here’s the prompt:

Community disruptions such as COVID-19 and natural disasters can have deep and long-lasting impacts. If you need it, this space is yours to describe those impacts. Colleges care about the effects on your health and well-being, safety, family circumstances, future plans, and education, including access to reliable technology and quiet study spaces.

• Do you wish to share anything on this topic? Y/N

• Please use this space to describe how these events have impacted you (250 words). 

I know how terrible this time has been. Believe me. I get it.

One day when I have recovered enough from the experience, I might tell you how I ended up in our office parking lot in the middle of the strictest part of lockdown, wearing yoga pants. I’ll give you a hint: it has to do with the amazing pediatricians upstairs, my crazy children, and an injury for the record books!

This is one of those areas where you have to tread really lightly and sort of check your privilege, as much as I don’t enjoy that phrase.

This essay is NOT asking what you did during the pandemic at home or how you hated being stuck inside for four months. Rather, it is intended for students who have had substantial, distinct challenges. Although we have all had to adapt to the new realities of this pandemic, these realities have been undoubtedly harder for certain people than for others.

Here is a list of substantial challenges that are worthwhile to mention:

• A parent’s unemployment or underemployment (even if temporary) that caused financial stress

• A student’s need to contribute to family finances that resulted in missing class/less time for homework

• A student’s obligation to homeschool siblings during the school day instead of focusing on their own academic progress

• A death or serious illness of a friend or family member due to the coronavirus

• An immediate family member’s work in a front-line setting (this could range from the hospital to the grocery store and anything in between) that caused stress and fear in the household

I recently listened to an episode of The Daily (a podcast from The New York Times) that provided a great example of a substantial challenge in a student’s life during the pandemic. While this story offers a more extreme example, it does highlight the nature and purpose of this new essay - here’s the episode.

To put this in context, I’m only suggesting that TWO of our rising seniors write this essay. So, while it may be tempting to use this space to explain some challenges of living during a pandemic (because we all know - this is new and scary and not easy for any of us), I urge students to really consider whether or not their challenges fall under the category of “substantial.”

If you were upset about being stuck inside or disappointed with the way your high school managed online classes, I hear you and absolutely sympathize, but this is not a substantial or unique challenge. And believe me - I want students to share what they did during the pandemic, but this essay is certainly not the place for that - it should go in the activities section or in the context of a supplemental essay (if appropriate).

In fact, if a student who did not experience substantial challenges used this essay to talk about their difficulties, it would probably be perceived quite poorly. So, let’s not use this as a place to complain. Save that for friends and family (or anyone in our office - we’ll swap war stories with you ANY day of the week!).

Gap Years, our Friends to the North, and a Double Cohort

I mentioned in my last weekly update post that there’s a lot to consider about the impact of gap years.

Here’s why this is a big deal: each class of students is known as a cohort, and if we have a situation where two cohorts of students enter college at the same time, that’s called a double cohort. And it’s a total cluster.

We’ve actually seen this before, in Canada.

Until 2003, students in Ontario went to high school for five years. Since that was the last year of a five-year high school program, two classes of students graduated at the exact same time (the students who started in 1999 and spent four years in high school as well as the students who started in 1998 and spent five years in high school).

Check out this article. Here’s a relevant snippet:

This year, all across the country, high-school students played the largest and most dramatic game of musical chairs in Canadian history. Ontario's infamous double cohort, of course, was a major factor. The province, home to roughly 40 per cent of Canadian students, finally eliminated the fifth year of high school - producing a blockbuster double class of high-school seniors.

When it came to elite programs, the competition was beyond brutal. Five thousand battled over 270 seats in Queen's commerce; 3,000 for 160 spots in McMaster's bachelor of health sciences. At Waterloo, 1,827 students were jockeying for 100 places in accounting and financial management. And so on.

Which is why many students hedged their bets, applying out of province as well. Montreal's McGill University, a top choice for many, saw a 67-per-cent increase in applications from Ontario: 6,911 in total. But was McGill their first choice or their "safety school"? There was no way of knowing. To avoid being oversubscribed with acceptances, the admissions office decided to set the bar high for Ontario students in the early round of offers. By May, when the phone was ringing off the hook, McGill posted an open letter on the Web, aimed at frantic Ontario families: the university, it said, had "agonized over many of the refusals" issued in recent weeks. "Refusal," it said, "can be a deeply disappointing experience. The disappointment is even more profound when an applicant possesses a strong academic record."

That type of “beyond brutal” competition is exactly what I’m hoping we can avoid for kids in the 2021 entering cohort (HS class of 2021).

And let’s be honest - our baseline level of difficulty today in the United States is very different from that of some of the schools mentioned above today, not to mention the baseline level almost twenty years earlier. So this could get ugly. I know that a lot of parents and students are worried about that happening.

I’ll be honest: I was really worried about this at first. Like really, really worried. But the more I think about it, we may not have as big of an issue as I had originally anticipated. We don’t actually have to end up with a double cohort situation. We aren’t going to have an imminent crisis if all the extra kids join the (college) Class of 2025, because the (college) Class of 2024 would be much smaller.

Those two classes would theoretically even out, which puts us in a much better position than the Canadians. The total number of students on campus will be the same during academic years 2021-2022, 2022-2023, and 2023-2024.

The problem will instead occur during the 2024-2025 academic year, when the entering cohort of 2020-2021 would already have graduated. In this case, there will simply be too many students on campus.

I think that we might be looking at one of the following scenarios instead (or a combination):

• A proportionally less # of students will be admitted from the HS Classes of 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024 in the hopes of evening everything out by 2024-2025.

• The same number of students will be admitted each year as always, with hopes that the numbers will normalize through attrition - meaning very few transfer students will be accepted.

• The same number of students will be admitted each year as always, with impacts to the campus experience: overflowing classes, less housing capacity, and so on.

If I had to put money on it, I think the most selective schools will go with the first scenario or a combination of the first two. I think schools that aren’t as selective and/or have lower endowments will gravitate towards the last option.

Anyway, time will tell but the bottom line is that if recently graduated seniors take gap years, this will certainly have an impact on the numbers ahead - but maybe it’s not the total doom and gloom situation for the Class of 2021 that we’ve been worried about.. and just moderately gloomy for the next few classes?

Weekly Update and FCPS Q&A!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

REOPENING PLANS

More plans were released this week - USC had previously announced a hybrid model, but is now essentially asking students to voluntarily decide to stay home. I think we will see more of this. On the flip side, Claremont McKenna is allowing students to return if they sign “The Agreement” - this is no joke!!

More and more schools (including Yale) will be teaching classes online and allowing certain class years to come to campus. At Yale, for example, juniors and seniors will be able to live on campus all year long. Freshmen will join in the fall while the sophomores stay home, and those two groups will switch in the spring.

Pretty much across the board, professors want to teach remotely, which I understand.

GAP YEARS

Schools are beginning to loosen gap year restrictions. Dartmouth actually reached out to incoming students on Monday to tell them that gap years were not an option, and then circled back on Wednesday with a change of heart. There’s a lot to consider about the impact of gap years, and I typed so much about it that I’m moving it to a separate blog post - stay tuned for that next week!

ACT

Visiting W&L in April 2019 - it’s a really pretty campus!

Ohhh, ACT. Like I said last week, would it really be an update without more ACT drama? Earlier this week, the ACT canceled July administrations in most locations (yep I called it!). I spent some time this week tracking down open spots for kids like a crazy person. Even some of the West Virginia locations canceled! Let’s hope those additional September tests happen, but I’m not all that optimistic.

WASHINGTON & LEE

This push to change Washington & Lee’s name has been a long time coming - I remember reading this article when it came out. it will be interesting to see how it plays out and whether recent events will have an impact.

RACISM AND SOCIAL MEDIA

There have been more situations than ever this summer where colleges (Cornell, Richmond, and many others) have rescinded acceptances as a result of incoming students’ hateful behavior on social media. However, I’m not writing this as cautionary advice about watching what you post (I do have one of those scheduled for next week - but it’s more of the “don’t post party pictures” variety). If you are troubled enough that you’re considering this, maybe it’s better to identify yourself as a racist on social media after all? You’ll be identified immediately and your spot will be given to someone else who deserves to be a member of that community.

BEST* ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

*Or otherwise attention-worthy

I absolutely hate stuff like this, and I’m spotlighting it for that reason: What We Care about in this Time of Crisis: A Collective Statement from College Admission Deans. At it’s core, I think that everything in this letter was truthful and straightforward. For example, notice the theme of family responsibilities throughout the post - I advise students to put that on their applications every year, pandemic or not, if it applies to their situation. And there is absolutely no question that students will not be “penalized” for academic issues beyond their control. But like my post on what it means to be test-blind, just because an applicant isn’t outwardly penalized for something doesn’t mean they will be accepted.

What I wish the letter said, instead, was something like “You will not be penalized for situations beyond your control. HOWEVER - we will look very closely at the manner in which you attempted to mitigate that situation. If you were homeschooling your six year old sister so mom and dad could work their double shifts, by all means, please tell us about that! We will not care what your grades looked like or what else you did.

But if you were the typical suburban kid whose school shut down, how did you handle that? Did you go on Khan Academy and try to learn the material yourself? Did you go on to Masterclass to learn a new skill? Did you take massive open online courses through Coursera and EdX to explore your intended major in depth? No? Ok, no problem. You’ll still be considered. But we have 30,000 applicants and 6,000 spots, so you do the math.”

The thing about holistic admission is that if they want to take you, they can take you. But they have to actually want to take you first. You have to give them a reason to want to take you and it has to be different from the other tens of thousands of suburban applicants.

Ok, getting off that soapbox with a McSweeney’s article! A friend sent it to me, saying “the nerd in you will love this.” Haha, she knows me well. Speaking of McSweeney’s, this piece from Dave Eggers (the founder of McSweeney’s) in today’s New York Times. was funny and relatable too.

For more thoughts on reopening colleges, this blog post was really good, and spot on. The part in the “Off Campus” section made me laugh, but it’s TRUE! I mean seriously! And if you want a more scientific take on the same issue, this one has been floating around.

If you’re in the mood for something positive, this was such a great feel-good story!! I had chills reading it!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

The podcast episode I mentioned a few weeks ago was released, which I shared on social media! It was fun to talk about the evolution of the business.

Other than that, we are close to being finished with our rising senior meetings and are full speed ahead with essay work. Every summer, I forget how busy this time of year gets with the essays (although in truth it’s usually not this busy until August, we’re just on a different timeline this year with being able to get a head start on everything earlier).

I’m taking off next week but will still be reviewing post-meeting essay edits to keep everybody on track. Other than that, I will respond to all emails when I return and Donna will handle any issues that come up!

FCPS Q&A (AS PROMISED!)

We’re thinking about hiring a tutor to come to our home and homeschool our two kids for two days each week. Do you have any recommendations of someone who can teach multiple subjects for a 9th and 11th grader?

I know a lot of families are talking about hiring tutors for their kids to act as teachers during the school day and my advice on that front is that I just don’t think very many will be available (at least for in-person tutoring during the school day).

The demand for qualified tutors willing to come to your home during the school day will far exceed the supply, as the retired teachers will likely not want to come to your home for health reasons, the actual teachers will be teaching their classes, and the stay-at-home-mom-former-teachers will be teaching their own kids. Maybe that last group will have some availability but not nearly enough to go around.

You can probably get a recent college graduate to come to your home during the day if you try to find that person right now, though. Just be prepared that they are probably looking for a “real job” too, and if they find one, you may be out of luck. Check posts on Next Door, facebook, etc. Be prepared to pay more than the going rate for tutoring and to make a long-term commitment.

If you really want a qualified teacher to come to your home, here’s my best advice to make this happen (spoiler alert, it’s going to cost you, but you could split the cost with multiple families). I actually considered doing this myself but it ended up to be more hassle than I wanted to deal with. Reach out to Carney Sandoe and see if they can help you find a teacher in the DC area who is not working right now for whatever reason. Maybe someone who is about to relocate for their spouse’s job. See if you can pay that person a full salary and benefits to work for your family (or a couple families) for the year.

I researched this option heavily last weekend and determined that it would cost about $120k all-in (not just salary - liability insurance, benefits, etc) to be able to hire a qualified teacher with some experience to run something like this for a year. That does not include the cost of space. Honestly, if you have six kids across multiple families this might not be a bad way to do it… but what ultimately changed my mind were licensing issues and legal implications. It can definitely be done - I just didn’t have the time or energy to put towards it myself.

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Do you think FCPS will actually be back in person next year? What about private schools?

I think the FCPS part of this question refers to the hybrid approach (in school two days per week). To be honest, I think it’s unlikely that the two day per week plan will work out exactly as advertised. I hope it does but I just think that people will start getting COVID and they are going to have to shut things down, right?

I think private schools will be able to make it longer than FCPS will, yet if the spread of the virus worsens, it’s just not going to be possible for them to continue either.

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Is it true that high school students will not be able to take AP courses online anymore?

FCPS has indicated that AP courses will not be guaranteed because of staffing issues. This has nothing to do with College Board and taking AP courses online. AP courses were offered online pre-pandemic, they will continued to be offered online during the pandemic, and they’ll be offered online after the pandemic! If you are an FCPS student who wants to take an AP course online and FCPS can’t guarantee it, sign up for one at one of the VPCE-approved online schools we spotlighted.

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Which of the two choices will you choose for your own children?

(The person is asking whether I will choose the 4-day online version vs. the 2-day hybrid version)

Well, I only have one child enrolled in FCPS and she’s going to be in 3rd grade; also, I’m 99% sure we are leaving FCPS. If I was choosing one of these two options, I personally would have gone for the 2-day hybrid version, but only because I’m more worried about the psychological impact of being isolated than I am about the academic impact. On the off days I would have focused on areas that I know are academic weaknesses. For example, my daughter is amazing at math (definitely did not get that from me) and has a harder time w/writing, so I would have tried to hire someone to help with writing on the off days - and truth be told I would have had one of my essay coaches work with her if I couldn’t find someone experienced with her age group.

If I had a student in high school and I couldn’t get a spot at a private school, I’d go all-virtual and just allow limited socialization in other settings, if I’m being really honest. They’d get more instructional time that way and I would be very concerned about academic impact for an older student.

HAPPY 4TH!

I hope you all have a happy and safe fourth of July. I know it’s tough this year and I am not feeling particularly positive or enthusiastic myself, but I’m trying. On the bright side, Hamilton on Disney Plus today, right? That’s something?!? I’m reaching I know…

June 26: Weekly Update

This was a calmer week on the college front, but the FCPS craziness made up for it!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

VIRGINIA TECH

I was starting to get a little nervous that VT hadn’t shared the Common App announcement I blogged about last week, but it came on Monday!

TEST-OPTIONAL ADMISSION

More schools every day, although this week felt like “test optional: state school edition.” We had announcements from UT Austin, Texas A&M, University of Illinois, Ohio State, Miami University, University of Utah and more.

The big one everyone’s waiting on is the University System of Georgia, but I’m not particularly concerned - I think they will come around. Speaking of Georgia, Emory was one of the last highly selective private schools to make the announcement this past week, so maybe that will spur some movement in the state.

ACT

Would it really be a weekly update without an announcement from the ACT? The latest is positive: they are adding a number of new test dates this fall. Now if they could start providing a bit more information about the July test, that would be awesome!

COLLEGE VISITS

In-person visits are happening again, which I’m glad about! An outdoor college tour with everyone wearing masks seems pretty low-risk (I probably wouldn’t go to indoor information sessions, though). You can register for tours at Catholic, Tulane, Elon, SMU and more.

Southern Methodist University two years ago - such a gorgeous campus!

If you’re a rising senior who missed the opportunity for college visits, it might be worth driving over to Catholic even if you know you have no interest in that particular school. You can learn a lot from any campus tour about factors that appeal to you (or turn you off) and then you can use those factors to guide your virtual research.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

I love McSweeney’s! This was a hilarious parody about waitlist movement for the HS Class of 2020. Do you know that some schools are actually calling students they denied to retroactively accept them?

This piece from the Washington Post sheds some interesting light on the cost of Coronavirus testing at UVA and other Virginia schools, and also provides information on the financial implications of students staying home in the fall. The wording was a little bit unclear at the time I read this article, but my understanding is that Virginia colleges and universities will lose a combined total of $527 million in tuition revenue if ten percent of students stay home.

This article in the Daily Princetonian provides surprisingly accurate insight on the inner workings of the process at Princeton. The author cautions at the end that his sources were outdated, but I completely agree with the person who mentioned that the process hasn’t really changed much in terms of what goes on internally.

This interactive visual from the New York Times on the spread of the virus was absolutely chilling but completely worth checking out.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

My own focus this week was really on Fairfax County, both in terms of our office and also personally! I have a rising third grader at an elementary school in the Langley pyramid and another one in full-day preschool at a school that typically follows FCPS.

For those who aren’t aware, FCPS announced their return-to-school plan earlier this week and it’s not great. Parents need to choose one of two options by July 10:

• Two days of in-person instruction at school with no synchronous virtual instruction on the off-days

• Four days of full-day virtual synchronous instruction at home

Pretty much everyone I know is choosing the first option, and most of my clients seem to be doing the same.

UPDATE (2pm): I just saw this article and figured I should add it here. Yikes! A whole other dimension….

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If you have any questions about the impact of the recent plan on high school planning or college admissions, feel free to submit them here and I will answer them on a blog post next week. You don’t have to be a client - just trying to help facilitate the sharing of information!

Weekly Update: June 19!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

Geez, where do I even start with this week?! I feel like I could have written a whole post on “biggest college-related news of Thursday, June 18” itself, haha.

VIRGINIA TECH

I posted last week about new schools accepting the Common Application and mentioned that I hoped JMU would follow suit, joking that I had already given up on Virginia Tech. Well, pigs are flying because Virginia Tech made their own announcement yesterday afternoon! They will accept the Common Application and this is HUGE for so many Virginia residents!

Several years ago, VT switched from using a somewhat-inconvenient-but-not-terrible institutional application to being one of the few schools in the country that required applicants to use the Coalition Application exclusively, i.e. there was no other choice. If you haven’t had to complete a Coalition Application, you may not understand why I’m so excited, but take my word for it: this is very, very good news for anyone interested in Virginia Tech. The Coalition App is just terrible and I’d be so happy if I never had to log into it again!

(Note: as of the time I am writing this post, there has not been an official announcement and it does not even appear that their website has been updated to reflect this, but that’s what they told counselors behind-the-scenes yesterday afternoon).

TEST-OPTIONAL ADMISSION

Nearly all of the most competitive schools that hadn’t yet made announcements did so this week. All of the Ivy League schools, Vanderbilt (that was today), Duke, Notre Dame (also today), NYU (yesterday), etc.

PRINCETON

They get their own category! Princeton dropped single-choice early action yesterday and will only have one application deadline of January 1, 2021. I’m pretty excited about this, actually, as I am not a fan of SCEA. I think we will see more deadline/app cycle related shifts over the months to come.

ACT

The ACT announced last fall that it would provide students with the opportunity to re-take the test one section at a time beginning in September 2020, if the students had already completed the full test at least once. Yesterday, they made the announcement that this initiative has now been postponed until sometime in 2021. Honestly, this is no big loss - to my knowledge, not a single college or university had agreed to accept scores taken through this method and now at least students aren’t making decisions based on something that most of us behind the scenes knew was highly unlikely to pan out.

ERIC FURDA

Ok, so maybe not enormous news but I was sad to hear that Eric Furda is leaving Penn for the “other side of the desk.” I really liked him a lot and he always struck me as very down-to-earth and funny, and we can’t forget his passion for the Eagles! Those kids at Penn Charter just won the college counseling lottery, that’s for sure!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

A New York Times piece examines decision-making and risky behavior among college-age students, writing that the plans to return to college this fall “border on delusional.” I have spent my entire career working with students ages 14-22 and I would definitely agree that this age group is not exactly known for their prudent choices, haha. But maybe they can turn things around and serve as an example for the rest of us?

Several days later, this College Reality Check snippet agreed with the first article and said what everyone in higher education is thinking right now: “Colleges have come rushing forth to announce that they will be inviting students back to campus this fall. But as I’ve spoken to college officials over the past few weeks — usually not for quotation — I’ve been struck by the difference between their public optimism and their private uncertainty.”

That’s so true. Regardless of what’s going to happen and whether this is a good idea (I truly have no clue anymore), there is no question that there is a major, major difference in what is being said publicly right now and what’s being said behind the scenes. This Washington Post article about the aftermath of the Great Clips exposure in Missouri made me feel really optimistic, though. If only everyone would wear their masks!!!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Tons of meetings with rising seniors - all of whom will be receiving an email on Monday to let them know that our August availability is live on the website! We’re also continuing to hold Meet & Greets with rising juniors and are continuing to fill our roster for the Class of 2022!

Speaking of our roster, we’ve reached capacity for the Class of 2021 and at this point will be moving to our annual Late Start Waitlist. We’re able to take a number of kids this way every year after we finish up our work with the first cohort, and this will likely happen sooner than usual this particular year because so many of our students were able to make substantial progress during COVID closures. Not to mention the fact that SO many supplemental essay topics are being released early! If you are interested in working with us, fill out the linked form above and we’ll give you a call to discuss how the waitlist works and what you can expect.

Families who’d like to start right away can instead purchase one of the membership vault plans launching Monday! The highest tier option is a great alternative to a traditional package; it includes quite a few hours of college counseling and essay coaching services and an incredible amount of DIY resources for just over half the price of our least expensive package.

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That’s all for now! Happy Father’s Day to all the dads out there :)

Weekly Update: June 12!

Happy first day of summer, Fairfax County! And we are at Phase 2 of reopening - be safe this weekend, everyone.

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

More testing news! A whole lot of kids found out yesterday that their previously-confirmed June 13 testing administrations would be canceled after all - with less than 48 hours notice. Ughh! It is always something.

Schools continue to shift to test-optional, including Yale, which actually announced the policy while I was writing this post; Johns Hopkins; the University of Washington; and here’s the CRAZY unexpected one- CalTech went TEST BLIND! Definitely did not see that coming. Again, check out my post from April about the difference between test-optional and test blind. This happened on Monday, and I was waiting all week long to see if any other schools would follow. So far, not yet. CalTech is by far the most selective school to go this route.

The colleges are all continuing to release plans for the fall: some students at Duke will be living in hotels (which, to be honest, does not sound so terrible!) and Harvard’s Dean of Undergraduate Education has informed faculty that most fall instruction will take place online.

Purdue made headlines this week because of their fundraising effort to pay for PPE - this has not gone over particularly well from a PR perspective (to put it mildly) but they’ve raised over $112,000 so far! The reason this has gotten so much backlash is that the president, Mitch Daniels, has been one of the most outspoken proponents of reopening colleges and universities this coming fall.

At a reception at Purdue this past fall inside the stadium. That was definitely one of my most fun college visits!

On a more serious note and one that has not actually been covered much yet in the mainstream media, Betsy DeVos issued an emergency rule yesterday that banned colleges and universities from extending CARES Act relief funding to non-citizens, to include students who are DACA, Temporary Protected Status, and asylum recipients. To give you an idea of what a big deal this is, half of the state of California’s 2+ million student community college system is estimated to be impacted.

Now for some GOOD NEWS (it’s about time, right?!) Common App released their list of new members and there are some really great additions for kids hoping to head south. We already knew about UGA, but I had not known about the additions of Auburn and CLEMSON!! So excited about Clemson in particular because I have a ton of kids apply there each year. If JMU would just join this list, it would make me so happy. Please? (I have given up on VT and the University of Texas system!).

If you missed my video on Facebook, UVA released their 2020-2021 supplemental essay topics on Monday. The engineering essay is completely different from the prompt of years past, and some of the others have slight modifications. The last “choice” prompt is brand new - I said this on my video, but I’d be careful about what you write here. Don’t pick something too common. Protesting Black Lives Matter is beyond admirable but there are so many kids who will write about that for this essay. If you did something to contribute in a larger way like Avi Schiffmann - by all means, WRITE ABOUT IT! But I would not write about marching down Maple or you’ll blend in with all of the other kids in Fairfax County, as awesome as that was.

This is not really college-related, but I also put a lot of information about Gov. Northam’s return-to-school plan on facebook. You can find the entire 126-page document here. We are supposed to learn more next week about how FCPS will implement these guidelines.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

I enjoyed “March 10: The anatomy of a day” article from Duke’s campus newspaper - it was interesting (and sad) to read about the different perspectives and the ways that different lives in the Duke community were impacted.

Inside Higher Ed’s piece on how private colleges “report vastly different circumstances” is definitely worth a read. Some of this was not surprising - if you’ve ever been to Bucknell or Kenyon, you will understand exactly why they are highly sought-after options this year. They are in the middle of nowhere, literally!

I took this picture about 18 months ago just before driving onto the Kenyon campus - check out the cows!

I did find the part about NYU surprising, but it will be interesting to see how many students pull out down the line, particularly because NYU was one of the most inflexible schools I dealt with this past spring when it came to deposit extensions. This makes me wonder how many kids just went ahead and double deposited to keep their options open? Time will tell!

In “Rich Colleges Can Afford to Spend More,” Paul Campos asserts that colleges with large endowments should start spending them to be able to avoid budget cuts. I’m not an economist, but at the same time, I don’t feel like it’s quite that simple…

This New York Times article is definitely worth reading for any athletic recruits, and discusses how the process has become very tricky this year given that coaches can’t see prospective student-athletes play in person. The girl they mentioned who is emailing five coaches per day is SMART! That’s exactly what she should be doing. This is definitely an issue right now, and that’s why we made sure to include resources for prospective student-athletes in our membership vault, from a player profile/athletic resume template to guidance for sample emails to coaches.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

I try to make our office run as efficiently as possible and am a big fan of automating whatever we can. This cuts down on back-end administrative tasks that aren’t client-facing and gives us more time to spend providing great service to our clients! With so many essays and application edits coming in at this time of year, I decided that there had to be a better way.

Several hours later, I came up with the following online submission forms:

Wow Editing Submissions - this is ONLY for edits related to Wow Writing Workshop

Editing Submissions - this is for everything else - supplemental essays, cover letters, resumes, applications, you name it!

We started using these with a few kids this week and will continue to roll it out slowly with all of our students over the next two weeks. From now on, instead of emailing to indicate that something is ready for review, all students will fill out one of the above two forms every time they have something ready. They will also fill out the second form at the end of each essay coaching meeting so that their progress from the meeting will continue to have the second level of review.

I have a lot of fancy automations and rules set up on the back end in our project management system, so these will route directly to my to-do list and will even end up in the right category, depending on the type of edits needed. I’m really excited about it and I definitely think it will also cut down on the amount of lead time I’ll need to edit an essay!

Weekly Update: June 5

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

Things fell apart even more with the College Board! I knew that they were planning a big announcement that day, but didn’t know what it was going to be. I have to say, I did not expect them to cancel at-home testing although I believe it was absolutely the right call.

SO MANY test-optional announcements resulted, including UVA, Penn, Columbia, Dartmouth… UVA also switched to an 11/1 deadline for ED (it was 10/15 this past year).

Catholic University ended up shifting to test-blind - for all of the conversations about test-optional admissions and equity, I am surprised that more people aren’t making a fuss about the test-blind vs. test-optional designation. I guess the average person simply doesn’t understand the difference?

More announcements about academic calendars - Stanford has a particularly interesting plan; I don’t know if it will work but it’s very well-thought-out! Drexel is the first school (to my knowledge, anyway) that is offering students a fully-separate cohort-based entry plan called Winter Entry. I wonder if we will see more of that.

By the way, have we collectively decided that COVID-19 is over?! Things have relaxed SO MUCH over the past couple of weeks. I really felt strongly that there would be no school this fall, but now I’m second-guessing myself. It makes me nervous when I don’t see people wearing their masks.. wear your masks, everybody!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Frank Bruni’s piece on the potential impact of COVID-19 on students’ fields of study (with an emphasis on the potential for a lack of humanities majors in the future) was interesting food for thought. This is always a tough thing, because I squirm a little bit myself when I hear kids talking about degrees that seem to have zero marketability. But then on the flip side, as I’ve written about before, I really do believe that I have a better life today in all regards because of my degree in English. I have a job I LOVE, I make a difference in people’s lives, and I have a high income - can you really ask for more from your career? (Maybe to get home a little earlier? ha). But seriously, I would not be where I am today without the utterly non-marketable degree I pursued! It put me in a position to be able to take risks.

A professor from the New School makes a case that college should be free. This is tough. I do think that community college and even a 2+2 community college + university program should be free if there’s a way we can make that work financially as a society. But on the flip side, if we’re running wild with the “free college for everyone” idea, we have to fund it on the back end… and as far as I know, there’s only one way to do that: taxes!

My favorite blog reader :) sent me this video yesterday about the potential impact of the lack of Chinese student enrollment this fall. I will admit that when I first saw the video, I wasn’t sure it would be all that interesting, but it was! Some of the statistics were staggering - like the enrollment at Michigan State. Wow.

Finally, a great piece from the New York Times with practical advice for the Class of 2021 - I thought the tips from Hannah Wolff at Langley were particularly spot-on and aligned with everything we tell our students here. I suppose one piece of criticism is that the article could have done a little more to point out who should NOT choose to write the additional COVID-19 essay. More on that from us later this week.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We sent out our senior graduation gifts on Wednesday. I’m really, really excited about them and I hope our seniors are too. I cannot even tell you how much work went into these on my end!!! But it was totally worth it. I spent about six hours (!) that day writing individual emails to each of them, and while I practically had carpal tunnel by the time I went home, I was glad that I wrote them all myself. It’s kind of sad how we get to know these kids so well and then in a blink of an eye, they are done!

Other than that, I just had a whole lot of meetings with sophomore and juniors, edited about 124,643,234,123 essay and recommendation drafts, and I had the podcast interview today that I wrote about in my last weekly update! It was unexpectedly nice to be able to share my story of how my business came to be and how it’s evolved over the last decade. I am excited for what the future holds!

Final Junior Year Meetings & Class of 2021 Supplemental Essays

We have been so busy this week with final junior year meetings!

Our goal is to have our students finished with the following by the end of 11th grade:

• Common Application

• Common Application Main Essay

• Teacher Recommendation Information #1

• Teacher Recommendation Information #2

• Counselor Recommendation Information (some schools have not released this yet)

• Generic Supplemental Essay Work (we prepare four separate pieces of writing to repurpose later)

We are obviously checking up on any outstanding tasks multiple times per week, but the final meeting of the year serves as a good checkpoint to measure what has been accomplished against our initial goals. I am happy to report that most of our students have been done with them for a while!

The main purpose of the meeting is to finalize the student’s college list based on final junior year grades, final test scores (not this year, haha) and all of the research that has been completed up to this point.

Once we finalize, we are able to jump right in and work on school-specific supplemental essays (as well as the Coalition Application, if needed). I do not like to begin any school-specific tasks until we know for sure what the list will look like because I don’t want to waste our time working on something that isn’t needed down the line.

We have developed a method that categories every supplemental prompt into one of the following categories:

• Why This School?

• Why This Field?

• Why This School and Field?

• Quirky Topic

• Meaningful Activity

We then work with our students to help them re-purpose material from the already-prepared pieces of generic supplemental writing to fit each school-specific prompt, but our approach to doing this differs depending on the category.

If you are interested, you can see some of this year’s supplemental topics here:

University of Georgia 2021 Supplement - DC College Counseling

University of Michigan 2021 Supplement - DC College Counseling

University of North Carolina 2021 Supplement - DC College Counseling

Villanova University 2021 Supplement - DC College Counseling

Our current clients will start to see these pop up in their google drive folders over this week and next. As soon as a topic is released, we like to start working on it to get it out of the way!

Last year, we did a ton of detective work and identified an incredible number of Class of 2020 essay topics in advance of the formal release date of August 1. This year, we’re going to stick most of this content into the membership vault (and of course our individual student folders, as always) - along with our guides and activities to help with each of the supplemental prompts above.

Weekly Update: May 29 (a little late!)

I’m a guest on a podcast this week and have to provide an answer to the question “What is one thing about you that may surprise people?”

Well, one thing that would probably surprise most people is that I spent a year in college interning as a Complaint Counselor at the ACLU of Eastern Missouri for fifteen hours per week. I then spent ten weeks during the following summer as an “intern investigator” for the Public Defender Service in DC, in the Parole division. I spent incredibly long days tracking down witnesses all around Southeast DC and PG County, meeting with our clients at the DC Jail, and so much more. I know people throw the words “life-changing experience” around a lot, but that’s exactly what these internships were.

The biggest thing I learned from both of these positions is that the justice system will only work if both sides do exactly what they are supposed to do. The minute someone goes rogue, the entire system collapses. In the Parole division at PDS, I was helping out convicted criminals who had done some really horrible things. But it was my job was to help make sure they had the best possible representation so that the system could operate as it was intended. And police misconduct is a very, very real thing.

If I’m being honest, I almost didn’t post this week. I felt silly writing a blog post with sections like “Biggest News of the Week” when the SAT registration debacle is clearly NOT the biggest news of the week - or anywhere close to it. I have been glued to CNN. Truly, though, I am horrified by this entire situation. And yet I am not surprised. So I will say this: my heart absolutely breaks for George Floyd and the thousands and thousands of other names I’ve never heard.

Without getting too personal, I have realized one thing for sure over the past few years: I have absolutely no clue what it’s like to be a person of color in America today. The more I learn, the more I realize how much I still don’t know. But I am trying to understand, and I am so very sorry that this has happened. I wish I had something more eloquent to say.

There is absolutely no good way to segue this, but here goes:

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

(Yes, changing the title on this..)

More test-optional announcements, including the University of Miami and Rutgers.

Tons more announcements about the shifting of academic calendars at various colleges and universities.

ACT

We did get some clarity on the June ACT on Friday. First of all, some sites will be offering the test. ACT is trying to source community-based test sites in certain geographic areas without other options (for example, if the local school districts will not offer it). Depending on how that goes, it’s possible that more test sites will be added as time goes on.

In case you were wondering:

• Test-takers will not be required to use PPE (i.e. masks), although they are encouraged to bring their own to use.

• Test-takers that do bring/wear their own PPE will need to remove it upon arrival for facial identification purposes.

• Test centers will be set up to adhere to social distancing guidelines. I assume that means six feet apart, but they may have left it vague on purpose.

• There are definitely test centers open within a reasonable drive of the DC area. If you are okay with the risks above, then you may be able to log in and adjust your registration to one of those centers (please note that I am not advocating doing this, but I wanted to at least share the information I have).

As of Friday morning, ACT hadn’t specified exactly how the lack of required PPE will work in states where PPE is legally required in public indoor spaces, like Virginia (although I am sorry to say that I have seen many people without masks in Virginia in public indoor spaces since the law went into effect on Friday.. so maybe no one is following this anyway?)

FAQ released early Friday indicated that all students registered for the June ACT would receive a personalized email update at some point that day regarding their options. I heard from a lot of students who did receive this email, so it sounds like that actually came to fruition.

For what it’s worth, ACT also announced that their CEO is stepping down (was fired? not sure) and their COO is stepping into the CEO role. This is pretty big news and was sort of swept under the rug.

SAT

Last week, the College Board was supposed to open their site up for August, September, and October registrations for students who met priority criteria:

• Students already registered for the June SAT or Subject Tests who didn’t cancel their registrations

• Students in the high school class of 2020 who don’t have SAT scores

• Students in the high school class of 2021 and don’t have SAT scores

It wasn’t clear whether the priority students were limited to one sitting or multiple, and to be honest, it’s still not fully clear. What we do know is that many students were able to register who did not meet the priority criteria at all. As a result, lots of students who should have had priority got shut out. Anecdotally, I found that families who were not registering for SSD (extra time) spots definitely had an easier time registering for multiple sittings.

Non-priority registration opens up June 3, but I’m sure the site will crash again.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

I liked this one from the New York Times - it compares the strategy that Washington University in St. Louis (my alma mater!) is taking with St. Louis University down the street. SLU’s approach is definitely the one that we’re seeing from a ton of different schools. I can’t decide if I think the people at Wash U are being really smart about this or the exact opposite, but I’m intrigued to see how this plays out.

I thought this piece, also from the New York Times, asked some important questions about standardized testing.

Nearly half of high school students who graduated in 2016 had at least an A- average, but an admissions officer may give an A- from a struggling public school in Mississippi less weight than one from Phillips Academy, even though grade inflation is worse at wealthier and whiter schools. Other application components — personal essays, recommendation letters from illustrious mentors, calls from well-connected college counselors — also favor students from richer families.

While I agree with the author’s point 100% that the alternative is worse because of grade inflation, what I completely disagree with is the part about how grade inflation is worse at wealthier and whiter schools. Some wealthy and white schools, sure. The grade inflation at some FCPS high schools is so wild I can’t even wrap my head around it.

But Phillips Academy and peer schools? Not a chance. No way. We work with a lot of boarding school kids and this is just plain wrong. These schools have deflated grades, not inflated grades. That being said, the author’s incorrect assumption indirectly proves his point: so much is subjective and we need some kind of standardized way to measure achievement.

I thought about that article a lot as I read the one that ended up being the most interesting of the week, a piece from the WSJ about revolutionizing admissions in the wake of the pandemic. To be honest, I found this one very puzzling. I agreed with everything for a while - there’s no question this will be an extremely different year. However, I did not agree with some of the assertions at the end. Like this:

The unavoidable shift in the admission process this year could help to address stubborn longer-term problems. It may, for instance, de-escalate the current arms race widely decried by colleges, high schools, students and their families.

I’m sorry, but I’m with the New York Times article on this one. I truly do not think that the holistic approach that de-emphasizes testing data will de-escalate the arms race. In fact, I think it will escalate the arms race. Trust me when I say it’s already happening; the people who have the means to pursue professional assistance are doing so right now in droves. Your jaw would drop if you saw what our numbers looked like for the month of May… despite the fact that we’re in an economic depression.

Any of the assessment methods mentioned in that article can be easily manipulated. The Bowdoin videos? Come on. We prepped several students for that exact exercise last year. It’s very easy for a consultant experienced in admissions interview prep to help a student showcase their best self in that kind of setting. Same with the Character Skills Snapshot (to which the authors refer as the “Character Snapshot.”

As I see it, “revolutionizing” admissions to make it more holistic is going to help the people who can afford assistance with the soft aspects of their application, like interviews, essays, and recommendation letters. I’m not in the test prep business, but I would imagine that it’s much harder to ensure that a student achieves a high score on the ACT than it is to provide content to help that student’s recommender write a fantastic letter.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Just another super busy week. All the ACT/SAT nonsense took up a lot of time.

We are working on something that I’m very excited about for our graduating seniors, although they don’t know about it yet. Soon!

Some of the schools have begun to release supplemental essay topics for the Class of 2021. Stay tuned for a post on those later this week!

That’s all for now. Here’s hoping we can turn 2020 around during the month of June, am I right?!

Summer Reading Choices During the College Admissions Process

Memorial Day weekend has passed and another summer is upon us!

I always tell rising seniors to make sure to fit in some time over the summer for summer reading. Some schools will ask in an interview setting about recent books read, and others ask about books in supplemental essays.

There are also schools that don’t ask about this at all, but it’s not like you have anything to lose by picking up a book, and trust me - you’ll be glad you got it out of the way. It’s terrible to be juggling a million different things and having to then squeeze in a random book to read. Just do it now while you have time!

You can’t just pick out any random text, though. It’s important to be mindful of the admissions process ahead and the manner in which you will ultimately need to use the information you gained.

If you pick something that you read in school, it will look like you aren’t intellectually curious and don’t read on your own time. It’s also pretty hard to hide which books you read on your own time vs. which you read for school. I remember I had to read Brideshead Revisited during the summer going into my senior year. Worst book ever. Not a chance that could have been passed off as my choice!

Instead, I always advise selecting a book that (a) does not sound like it was something that would have been read in the classroom, and (b) is relevant - both to your interests in some way and also to society as a whole.

Selections that fit the above criteria will not only seem more authentic, but they will also be more enjoyable to read and will make for engaging conversation in an interview setting. This is not the time for obscure books.

Here are some of my top picks for Summer 2020:

The Art of Showing Up: How to be There for Yourself and Your People by Rachel Miller

This book examines what is at the root of creating and maintaining meaningful, close relationships in adulthood: showing up for yourself and for those you love. Students interested in the social sciences or anyone interested in learning more about how to grow and maintain relationships, especially now, would be interested in this book. Check out the author’s recent segment on NPR - it does not actually start until 2:30.

Never Split the Difference: Negotiating as if Your Life Depended on It by Chris Voss

Written by a former FBI international hostage negotiator, this book shares a practical guide to helping us become more persuasive in our professional and personal lives. Students interested in business, psychology, sociology, and education should definitely pick up this book this summer - or really any student interested in interpersonal interactions! This book was written several years ago but has gained popularity recently because of Chris Voss’ Masterclass on negotiating (it seems like every person in America is on Masterclass right now!). One of my students recommended this to me after taking the Masterclass and I am about halfway through it. I highly recommend it! I have learned a TON and am enjoying practicing on my family members ;-)

Rodham by Curtis Sittenfeld

What if Hillary Rodham hadn’t married Bill Clinton? From a New York Times bestselling author, this book looks back at the life of the 2016 Democratic Presidential Nominee and considers how her determined path to a political career may have shifted if she had not said yes to the charismatic law student from Arkansas in 1975. A student interested in political science, women and gender studies, or history would definitely enjoy this summer read! I also absolutely love this author (sorry, my inner English teacher is coming out)! Here’s a recent review from the Washington Post.

Where to pick up the books:

Did you know we have a great independent bookseller right here in Vienna called Bard’s Alley? I am all about shopping small these days!

You can go directly to their website’s ordering page, which offers a number of different ordering methods. Word on the street is that you can even get your books delivered to your house via bicycle along with yummy snacks. How cool is that?! You can also order from them through Bookshop.org, an online service run by The American Booksellers Association; Libro.fm, which offers a wide selection of audiobooks; and Hummingbird for e-book editions. 

At the same time, you can submit email requests to them directly using this form.  

Want more suggestions?

Our full summer reading guide has already been uploaded to our new membership vault! If you’re a current client and want the guide now before the site launches, shoot Donna an email and she’ll send you a copy.

Weekly Update and Exciting News to Share: May 22

Another very busy week in our office with some exciting news at the end of this post!

BIGGEST NEWS OF THE WEEK

A number of schools went test-optional, including Elon, UConn, RIT and more.. but all anyone is talking about is California!!

The University of California Board of Regents approved some incredible changes yesterday - including a shift to a test-blind (!!!) approach for in-state applicants in the Class of 2023 and 2024. Crazy! And they finally got rid of that writing section requirement! If you are interested in all of the details, I would highly recommend reading straight from the source as linked above; I read a few different articles in the mainstream media that contained errors regarding the impact on out-of-state students.

We also learned more admissions statistics from this year’s senior class - College Kickstart did a great job of sharing it!

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

We saw many more colleges and universities share their plans for fall, and I enjoyed reading coverage from a New York Times reporter who was able to listen in on COVID-19 discussions at the University of Kentucky. I also really liked this piece from the Chronicle of Higher Ed (which I imagine most of you cannot access due to the paywall). You can see the first line, though, and that’s probably all you really need to get the point!

Along the same lines, this piece from a public school teacher in California provides an incredibly in-depth depiction of what the fall will look like if K-12 schools open. From a parental perspective, I am DYING (DYING!!!!) to get my kids out of the house, but I also spent nine years of my career working in school-based settings - including a year in a New York City public school.. and the professional side of me knows that this guy is right. I would rather school systems just focus their efforts on improving virtual instruction.

This blog post on writing from Brad Schiller was actually written a week ago, but I didn’t read it until last night so it’s fair game, right?

Students don’t realize they’re bad at writing. Grade inflation and limited feedback make students believe they’re good. They receive little feedback on their Structured Thinking – i.e., the higher-order aspects of writing (content, structure, and clarity). The problem compounds year over year throughout K-12 and higher ed until students become unprepared job seekers.

Oh my gosh YES! I see this constantly. I am always surprised by the poor quality of the written work that students produce, and am even more puzzled when they have a straight-A transcript to go along with it. I really do believe that our process helps students become better writers, which is one silver lining of all of the essay work in the college admissions process. Still, it doesn’t make up for the lack of proper instruction in most K-12 settings.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

This has been such a hard secret to keep!

We launched pre-orders for a brand new offering today: the DC College Counseling Membership Vault! This has actually been in the works since April of 2019, but COVID-19 reinforced the idea that there is an incredible need right now for college admissions assistance at a lower price point. While I wish we could provide individualized help to everyone, this offering provides an amazing alternative.

Current clients will gain automatic access when we launch one month from today.. and we’ll be sharing more details throughout the month to come!

Weekly Update: May 15

I have struggled with how best to share all of the ever-changing news relating to the college admissions process throughout the COVID-19 pandemic. At first, I was trying to update our Coronavirus Page every day, but it became too time-consuming. Still, the links on that page should provide the most up-to-date information regarding a situation that is constantly changing.

Instead, I’m going to try publishing a weekly update each Friday with the biggest news and best articles of the week, plus anything interesting that’s been happening in our office!

Here goes:

Biggest News of the Week

• AP Exams did not start out so well, to put it mildly. In addition to thousands of students having to choose between no credit vs. retaking their exams in June, cheating was rampant (see screen shot!). So frustrating for everyone involved. Most of the complaints we heard were about three exams: AP Physics C: Mechanics, AP Calculus AB, and AP U.S. History.

• William & Mary announced a shift to a test-optional pilot program that will last three years (Classes of 2021-2023 will be impacted). By the way, William & Mary was the big shocker of the 2019-2020 application cycle for Virginia residents before all hell broke loose in March with the virus. They waitlisted so. many. qualified. candidates. It was insane and felt very different from previous years. ED is the way to go there, no question (like basically every other school!).

• Villanova will be test-optional for the Class of 2021 and also added an EDII option. I think we are going to see many more schools move to EDII. Which is awesome because I LOVE EDII. It’s still relatively under-utilized as a strategy. We were 4/4 for EDII acceptances this year with the Class of 2020, and were also 100% with the Class of 2019, although I can’t remember offhand how many we had - around 3-5, I believe. The right EDII strategy can be huge for a candidate.

• The Cal State system announced that it will not provide in-person instruction this fall and the UC System has indicated that they will likely follow suit. Remember that the UC and Cal State systems were some of the first to announce a switch to test-optional admissions - UC made the decision all the way back on April 1.

• FCPS just announced this afternoon (Friday, May 15) that school buildings will remain closed in July. Students in grades 7-12 will be able to pursue daily synchronous instruction through Online Campus coursework for a reduced price. Be careful - this is not for everyone. The grades count - if it doesn’t go well, they will be on the transcript regardless. If you haven’t looked at our Guide to Virtual Instruction Alternatives for FCPS Students, check that out.

• Speaking of, everybody is talking about MISC. I personally think this is the final nail in the coffin for in-person K-12 instruction this fall.

Best Articles of the Week

• Loved, loved, loved this article from the Atlantic. I think that our society needs to open our eyes more to the idea of college students starting at home through online learning. I know it stinks, believe me. But this too shall pass and no matter what happens over the next four years or where the classes take place, the students will have degrees from the schools in question. That’s what’s most important at the end of the day in my personal opinion.

“We must ask ourselves: What would make leaders gamble with human life this way? The answer is twofold: fear and acquiescence—both of which, when left unchecked, lead down a path to moral damnation. The fear of the fiscal damage associated with empty campuses in the fall is the primary reason that schools are exploring every option to avoid that possibility … The other reason higher-education leaders may be forced into questionable decisions is their refusal to stand up to the unrealistic expectations of many faculty and staff members, students, alumni, and other stakeholders. If you are a college president right now, not everyone is not going to like what you do. But if you are fair, honest, and transparent, you will be respected; and it is always better to be respected than liked.”

• An interesting piece from New York magazine about what the future of higher education may look like (side note: wow, the BC stuff, ha!). Not sure If I agree with the prediction but it was interesting to consider.

• This piece from Forbes considers the future of K-12 education through four separate models. I haven’t heard too many others discussing microschools - but maybe they should be!

Office Happenings

• After just over ten months, our trademark was approved this week! So exciting.

• During the last several weeks, we have had an incredible amount of 10th graders sign up for ongoing services. I don’t know that we have ever had this many 10th graders sign up in such a short period of time… but I’m glad because starting early makes it so much easier in the long run! So much easier to do things right the first time than have to backtrack later and fix mistakes. Right now, we are helping many of these students strategically map out their summer experiences and target their test prep.

• Most of the 11th graders have been done with their Common App essays for a while and the focus over the last few weeks has shifted to teacher and counselor recommendation work. We have an extensive process that I referenced on the blog last year.

• Our July calendar should be live by the beginning of next week. Two months in and (knock on wood) our pivot to 100% virtual services has gone exceptionally well, even though I’m getting lonely here all alone. All of our students are Zoom experts now!

Enjoy the weekend, everyone!

Ten Years!

It’s incredible that today is our tenth anniversary. So many emotions!

In all honesty, I’m not as excited today as I would have expected. I have reflected a lot over the past week or two about what I’ve accomplished over the last decade and the many sacrifices I have made along the way to get where I am today. Some have been small and some have been enormous (hello second child with zero maternity leave, and I do mean ZERO).

It kills me to think about the many other small business owners out there who have worked just as hard as I have - and their entire livelihoods have been destroyed because of factors that (a) came out of nowhere and (b) were entirely out of their control. It’s just heartbreaking and so completely, unbelievably unfair. I read this letter last week and can’t get it out of my head. It honestly takes my breath away to think of how someone like that must feel. I can’t entirely wrap my head around it, nor do I have any kind of solution to make things better, but all of this certainly diminishes any excitement I feel today.

On a more positive note, it really has been a great ten years and I do feel so lucky to spend every day doing what I love with amazing people. We all have our moments, but I truly enjoy 95% of what I do. My husband yells at me every night for coming home too late but the minutes just go by so quickly. How many people get to say that? I don’t really think I’ve ever taken it for granted, but I can tell you for sure that after these past two months I will never take anything for granted again.

So, upon reflection, here are the top ten things I’ve learned over the past decade, in no particular order. Some are directly about college admissions and some are just about life!

1. So many aspects of the admissions process change from year to year and are unpredictable. It’s very important to stay on top of what’s going on so that you can strategize accordingly. For example, the Class of 2021 will need to look very closely at individual schools’ deferral policies for the Class of 2020 when prioritizing their list and choosing an ED option. Unfortunately, we don’t have this information yet and we will not know it until later this summer or perhaps even early fall. (I am certain that 95% of the policies in place right now will not be the ones in place when it counts, so don’t waste time stressing about this yet.)

2. At the same time, there are aspects of the admissions process that have never changed and will never change: (1) Make the best grades possible in the most difficult courses possible. (2) Achieve the highest test scores possible. (3) Differentiate yourself from the competition as much as possible in terms of everything else.

3. There is literally nothing more painful in the world than watching your child suffer - regardless of what the suffering entails or how minor the issue may appear to a third party. I didn’t fully understand this until I became a parent myself. From failing to make the sports team, to opening the rejection letter, to getting dumped by the loser boyfriend - it’s an emotional rollercoaster. As an observer, I think it’s much harder on the parents than the kids at the end of the day. You desperately want to be able to protect them and sometimes that’s just not possible.

4. Along the same lines, there is NOTHING more infuriating than watching your child make a poor decision, especially when you know better. So. unbelievably. frustrating.

5. The college admissions process can turn the most amazing, grounded people into CRAZY people thanks to #3 on this list (think: those involved in Varsity Blues). This is normal. It will pass. No one in our office will judge you for being a little crazy at times. Just please don’t do anything illegal or unethical in the meantime, as tempting as it might feel, or the consequences of those decisions will not pass.

6. Every single choice a person makes has a consequence, whether large or small (hence #4 on this list), and as a result, we have much more control over our own lives than we realize. It’s just about recognizing the consequences of our actions and also recognizing that inaction is a form of action as well. I’m kind of obsessed with this book that I actually believe my mom purchased for my kids - thanks, Mom! I think someone needs to write a teen version and an adult version. It’s a children’s book, but I have honestly found myself changing my own behavior because of it.

7. By and large, most kids do not listen to their parents, so don’t beat yourself up if yours fall into this category. There are definitely some that do, and their parents are very lucky. For everyone else’s kids, you are not alone, and the good news is that 95% of them will listen when presented with the same information from a neutral third party.

8. The vast majority of kids who think they are bad test-takers just haven’t committed themselves to studying or didn’t have the right preparation. This is NOT the case for everyone. There are some people who truly struggle with standardized tests, especially if there are learning differences involved. But there’s also a heck of a lot of kids who expect to make a 35 on the ACT with an hour or two of studying every week for two months. Not happening.

9. You can’t make assumptions about others’ college admissions results - there is a heck of a lot that goes on behind the scenes that people aren’t publicizing. If someone has surprisingly good (or bad) results, there’s probably a reason for it that they didn’t share with you. Kids with straight Bs don’t get into UVA “because they’re lucky”, and kids with straight As don’t get rejected from all of their colleges “because they’re unlucky.”

10. Everybody has a story. I guess this comes full circle with the beginning of my post. I have heard so many heartbreaking stories over the years - life is just not easy for anyone. Families who look like they belong in a commercial are struggling and families who look like they are struggling to keep it together are the happiest people you’d ever meet. Always give other people the benefit of the doubt.

To any current or former clients reading: thank you from the bottom of my heart for an amazing ten years. My whole team and I are so grateful to have the privilege of not only working with your families but also for your very generous referrals. Over 70% of our clients each year are siblings or close friends of former clients, which means so much! I’m excited to see what the next ten years have in store (just no more global pandemics, please!).

The year the testing came to a halt

These days, every time I finish a string of back-to-back meetings I open my email to find out that another school has shifted to a test-optional policy for the Class of 2021. Today, there were four: Haverford, Tulane, Colgate, Middlebury - these are good schools! They join a group of institutions ranging from small liberal arts colleges, such as Amherst and Williams, to the entire University of California system.

So what does this mean? I have had so many questions about this over the last week. Kids with good scores are concerned that they won’t matter, and kids without good scores are already packing their bags for UCLA. Not so fast!

let’s talk about the difference between Test-Optional and Test-Blind. This is really important.

Test-Blind:

The school will not consider tests at all when considering an applicant’s candidacy.

At a test-blind school, your amazing test score is about as important as that amazing chocolate cake you just baked for dessert tonight. It’s really awesome that you baked it and I’m sure your family enjoyed it, but it has absolutely zero bearing on whether or not you will be admitted to a given college. Zero.

MIT just shifted to a test-blind policy for subject tests and this is how their website explains the policy in their Frequently Asked Questions section:

I took the subject tests. Can I submit my scores for your consideration?

No: in fairness to all applicants, we won’t consider them for anyone. We think it would be unfair to consider scores only from those who have scored well and therefore choose to send them to us. They are neither recommended nor optional; they are simply not a part of our process anymore.

Just like chocolate cakes are not part of the admissions process!

Test-Optional:

The school will consider any test scores sent as part of the admissions process (usually a major part), but will not hold it against an applicant for applying without test scores. Basically, it serves as another data point; if the score is high, it will only help an applicant.

And what does that mean for the other applicants?

Let’s pretend you’re buying a house, and you think about the factors you need: however many bedrooms, bathrooms, maybe you want newer construction and a big yard. Great! So you are looking at a bunch of McCraftsmen that all more or less look the same and then all of a sudden a Redfin alert pops up on your phone. A house that meets every single one of your criteria hit the market - but this one also has an incredible pool with the most amazing hardscaping you’ve ever seen! All of a sudden your mind goes to entertaining around the fire pit during the summer and, wow, it’s the same exact price as the other houses down the street that also had everything you wanted.

You certainly didn’t need a house with a pool; in fact, you would have called yourself a “pool-optional” buyer. But now that you have five great options and one just happens to have this mini resort in the backyard - is this really a question?

Obviously you’re going to take the house with a pool.

And obviously, if two applicants are exactly the same, and it’s a highly competitive institution, the applicant with the high test score is going to be admitted over the applicant without test scores. No question.

Nearly all of these COVID-19 changes are about schools becoming test-optional, not test-blind.

So, it’s not time to buy the UCLA sweatshirt yet…that being said, it’s not all doom and gloom.

First of all, not all institutions are highly competitive.

There are many that are moderately selective - ones where good kids with lower test scores can have a huge advantage applying as test-optional candidates, particularly when paired with an ED or ED II app and the ability to pay in full. (The ability to pay doesn’t really matter for the highly competitive schools, because there are plenty of qualified applicants willing to pay for a certain sub-set of schools.)

This type of situation is where the right strategy is going to be critical.

Second, not all applicants are exactly the same.

Not even close!

This is important to consider and it’s why students cannot write about “How experiencing COVID-19 changed my life” for their college essays. Truly, they aren’t the same - they come from a variety of different backgrounds, with different goals for the future, and different personal stories.

You might have a kid who is just all-around amazing with an incredibly compelling essay, outstanding recommendations, etc - now that student may very well be admitted test-optional to a highly competitive school over the one who has high test scores but is “not sparkly enough,” as a Duke admissions officer once described a straight-A student to me in a counselor advocacy call (true story!).

SO HERE’S MY ADVICE:

1. Control what you can control - I have said it before and I will say it again: you can’t waste time being upset over what happened this year. It’s just out of your control. And if you don’t have a high test score, the reality is that you may not have the opportunity to retake the SAT or ACT in time… but you also might. We just don’t know yet. So don’t worry too much about this.

2. STUDY!!! If I was in this situation and wanted to go to a highly competitive school, I would study, study, and study some more for your test of choice over the next couple of months and hope for the best. David Coleman announced earlier this week that the College Board is attempting to roll out an at-home version of the SAT. And if that doesn’t work out, a deferred student could theoretically take a standardized test well into their senior year - even the February ACT will be back early enough that a college might give it some consideration during RD, particularly for a class that has been impacted so heavily. The good news is that very few students in the Class of 2021 are going to end up with high test scores, so the ones that do have them will really stand apart.

3. Differentiate the heck out of yourself - You have to make up for that lost data point. Blending in with the other upper-middle class suburban applicants with good grades and the same set of activities is not going to be enough here. You need a compelling personal story and a niche. An amazing essay, killer recommendations, you get the idea.

4. Earn the best grades and AP scores possible - They are literally all you have at this point in terms of data, so make them as high as you can. This is probably obvious, but just in case!

5. Consider early decision and be very strategic about your choice - If your grades are not 100% perfect and you were not able to differentiate yourself in some incredible way, consider a private school that’s very competitive but not a no-brainer over a substantially less expensive top-tier option like UVA. Those are the schools that may be the ones to choose. For example, Boston University, Tulane, and so forth.

Remember: you have a lot of time on your hands to work on this stuff!

Productivity Tips for All Ages: Family Kanban Boards

Well, it’s week four of quarantine and I think the reality has started to set in for most families that we are in this for the long haul. I’m trying not to complain but wow, this has just been very hard for everyone! When we’re not stressing about the things we can’t control, like the economy, we’re stressing about the things we theoretically can control, like accidentally letting a microscopic germ inside the house from a cereal box that wasn’t sanitized enough!

One common theme I keep hearing from a lot of parents - whether my friends with young kids or my clients with teenagers - is that motivations are dwindling, everyone has cabin fever, and nobody wants to sit down and do what they are supposed to be doing. This is excellent timing (just kidding) given that FCPS is about to re-start next week after a month off!

I know from my work life that parental nagging is usually ineffective and most often just results in everyone fighting with each other. Children (and even teenagers, I promise!) naturally want to please, but it usually turns into a power struggle at home. So the more that parents can distance themselves from the “taskmaster” role, the more likely it is that the tasks will actually be completed… as long as there’s a different type of accountability structure in place. This is exactly where my team and I shine in the college admissions process and why we are so big on the constant follow-up.

So, I decided to practice what I preach to everyone else and stop with the power struggles. Keep in mind, my kids are very young, so it’s not like I really care whether they are formally learning or not. I am not sitting here and pretending we are formally homeschooling - we are definitely not. I have bigger fish to fry, like running a business in the middle of a global pandemic! But I do want them to have a structured day with as little screen time as possible.

Enter Kanban boards!

These can be used by anyone of any age. For adults (see mine below for today) - I use a very simplified version. If you use Trello or the boards setup in Asana, this will look familiar.

Starting out, I put my to-do list in the backlog section to the left. Note that I have chosen only to include one-time tasks, for my purposes. I don’t include things like “responding to email” or “following up after essay coach meetings,” since I do those all day long.

Then I move the tasks that absolutely needed to be completed today to the “To Do” section. I move a task into “Doing” while it’s in the process of completion and “Done” after it’s finished. I personally LOVE the visual reminder of what I’ve accomplished - or what I haven’t accomplished!

I handled it a little bit differently with my kids and attempted to color-code their tasks while giving them some choice. Everything orange (for my daughter) and yellow (for my son) was non-negotiable and needed to be completed. In the morning, they were able to select six of the pink/blue tasks of their choice to add to the agenda for the day. Some of the tasks didn’t apply to today - for example, there’s no girl scout meeting or sewing class. So we skipped that.

My son is only three and can’t read, so if I had more time I would probably have drawn a little picture or something on his tasks for him to understand what they mean instead of having to rely on an adult.

The idea is that THEY get to decide when and how they want to do everything, as long as everything is done properly and according to the task (so 30 min of independent reading really does need to be 30 min), but it can happen whenever. And once the tasks are done - screen time!

For my kids, I will move all the post-its back to the backlog for tomorrow - but for me, I will have a totally different set of tasks, so I just throw mine out at the end of the day and start fresh.

Note: While this is useful for anyone, it can be especially helpful for kids with ADHD or anxiety who need to know what’s ahead and/or have trouble completing tasks and/or focusing on an end goal.

If you are inspired to step on the Kanban bandwagon, the large post-its that stick to the wall are available for curbside pickup at the Office Depot in Reston - that was the only place anywhere near Vienna that had them in stock.

Stay healthy!

Let's not forget about the juniors

On the morning of September 9, 2001, I woke up as my flight from New York was landing in London. I was a junior in high school and my best friends and I had finally arrived to start our “term abroad.” We were SO excited for everything ahead. I’ll never forget excitedly rushing to aol.com to sign in two days later when our group finally got internet access. I was the first one to make it to a computer. Before I could even enter my screen name (ha), there it was: a photo of the planes hitting the WTC.

BOOM! Life changed. In an instant. Forever.

Junior year is a tough time for anyone; that was true twenty years ago and it will be true twenty years from now. Your grades are all of the sudden incredibly important, you’re struggling with test prep, you’re trying to squeeze in college visits, you might be managing a handful of AP classes - it’s just so incredibly stressful in the best of circumstances.

Now, add a global crisis as the cherry on top of the pre-existing stress. That’s just a really, really difficult situation. I’ve been there. I get it.

So, as I see post upon post on social media about how sad it is that seniors are losing all of their end-of-high-school milestones - and don’t get me wrong, I feel terrible for the seniors too - I also think we need to remind ourselves: let’s not forget about the juniors. The seniors were already mentally checked out on high school well before this happened. But when the juniors look back in twenty years, these are the months they will remember. COVID-19 will probably define their high school experience, just as 9/11 defined mine.

Most of our seniors were admitted ED - so with school out, we’ve essentially spent the last couple of weeks with juniors, all day long. I can tell you firsthand that most of these kids are incredibly worried and scared about what the future will hold. They don’t know when they’re going to get to take the standardized tests that are hanging over their heads; they don’t know what’s going to happen to the coveted summer internships they worked so hard to land back in January and February; they don’t know if their schools will be back in session next fall. But they do know that their actions during this time will be judged by college admissions officers in less than a year - and the clock is ticking.

All of this on top of the fact that the “teenage brain is wired with an enhanced capacity for fear and anxiety, but is relatively underdeveloped when it comes to calm reasoning.” YIKES.

Here is some advice to help parents of juniors support their kids right now:

Try to be open and honest about any concerns with which your family is struggling, from finances to illnesses. Teenage imaginations will almost always create situations that are far worse than reality, so look at this as an opportunity to build trust that will come in handy during the college years ahead.

Watch for signs of depression and serious anxiety. When we meet with students on a regular basis, we can see shifts that might not be obvious to parents who see their children every day and aren’t actively looking out for this type of thing. Obviously, we share concerns when appropriate but every parent should be paying attention right now as well.

Pick your battles. Avoid power struggles. Cut them slack in all the areas that don’t really matter - but at the same time, set non-negotiable rules that emphasize health and wellness. Everyone needs to be getting an adequate amount of sleep right now to keep their immune systems functioning as well as possible, and it’s totally unacceptable for kids to be leaving the house to socialize.

Remind them about the silver linings of this situation. As terrible as this is, there are also a number of unexpected advantages. Kids who have been working like crazy all year can relax a little bit without worrying about messing up their perfect GPAs. Kids who haven’t been working like crazy can take advantage of a rare opportunity to positively influence their grades for the year. There are a million cool courses they can take online to explore different fields and now they actually have time to pursue them!

Celebrate their successes and accomplishments. We have a whole bunch of kids who just finished their Common App essays or are about to finish them within the next week. They are also making incredible headway on their teacher and counselor recommendation prep work, they finished their Common Applications long ago - we even have one girl who has written five supplemental essays already in addition to her main Common App essay! We are so proud! It’s important to recognize your kids’ hard work - and remind them how the upcoming months will be so. much. easier. as a result of buckling down now (here’s our list of suggestions for spending this time productively in case you haven’t read it yet).

And on a lighter (but totally serious!) note -

We at DC College Counseling are taking the official stance of no pandemic essays for the Class of 2021.

So, please don’t encourage this - NOT a good idea, Mom and Dad, NOT A GOOD IDEA AT ALL! This is going to sound terribly morbid, but if an immediate family member passes away, we will find a way to work that in. Otherwise, we need to show the admissions committee that there is more to your student than a pandemic that every single kid on the planet (literally!) is dealing with right now. Wasting valuable essay space on a topic that will not differentiate your student from any other student is not a good idea, no matter how life-altering this period of time will be for all of us.

More like 12,500th. 125,000th? Seriously, I would not be surprised if 75% of applicants write about this.

NOT UNDER OUR WATCH, PLEASE!

P.S. While it kills me to admit this, I actually did write the 9/11 version of the above for my college essay. Ughhhh. I know, I know. And my mom thought it was fantastic. Of course she did. It probably had two spaces after the periods, too. What can I say, we live and learn, right?!

Coronavirus: What You Need to Know

Whether you are more of the “doomsday prepper” type or think this is all overblown, there’s no denying that Coronavirus is a hot topic right now. We decided it was probably a good time to revisit our cancellation policy to ensure that we are providing the best possible service in the best possible environment!

Client Cancellation Policy

As our clients know from their contracts, we have a strict 48-hour cancellation policy - for any reason. However, we’re not doing this to be mean; in fact, we actually this policy in place to help our students.

Since we are dealing with teenagers (who often-times have 123,352 better things to be doing than writing their college essays), we can’t make it too easy to call in sick. This is particularly the case because so much of our strategy involves helping our students complete excellent work on a specific timeline.

Not only does this help each incentivize each individual student to uphold their commitments, it also helps the client base as a whole. Imagine if we had 5-10 students canceling meetings each week at the last minute for social obligations or other completely avoidable reasons. This would mean that 5-10 other students were blocked from booking those meetings.

Truly, this impacts everyone. After a decade of running a business with a high-school-age client base, we are 100% confident that this type of policy is best for everyone.

This Doesn’t Mean Show Up Sick!

It is fine to come with a cold, but students who are contagious cannot attend in-person meetings. We mostly follow Fairfax County Public Schools’ sick policy. If you have a fever, you are contagious and you should not be here.

One exception where we do NOT follow FCPS policy is with head lice. Knock on wood, I don’t think any of our clients have had head lice before while working with us, but just in case - do not come here with head lice!

Additionally, if CDC recommendations are more stringent than FCPS recommendations, we will follow those. For example, as of today (March 5), the CDC recommends 14 days of self-quarantine after traveling from Italy. FCPS does not; we will go with the CDC. Please let us know immediately if you have been to any of the countries on the CDC list or have had contact with anyone that has.

No Wasted Time

Students who are contagious or quarantined but still fine to complete work should simply switch their in-person meetings to remote ones. We hold remote meetings via Zoom, which is a video chat tool that also allows for super-easy screen sharing when working on essays, applications, and other documents. It’s like skype, but better! If you would prefer to switch a planned in-person meeting to a remote meeting for any reason, just email Rebeccah and she’ll take care of it for you. Please CC Colleen and your coach (if applicable) as well so that we can make sure that very-last-minute requests are not missed.

If you are truly too sick to work over Zoom, we will take the hour of time that you reserved and put it towards something else beneficial! We will never bill you for twiddling our thumbs during a missed appointment! Instead, we’ll take your reserved time and spend it doing something useful that doesn’t require direct student interaction. Maybe it’s plotting out a strategy and outline for repurposing specific essay content for individual school prompts; maybe it’s reviewing work that has already been completed; maybe it’s performing research for program-specific questions to ask an interviewer.. there are typically quite a few things we can do!

Snow Day Policy = Public Health Risk Policy

If for some reason Fairfax County Public Schools needs to close because of a public health risk, we’ll just jump right to our snow day policy. All meetings will be automatically canceled and we’ll contact you to reschedule. We may decide it’s fine for our office to remain open on a case by case basis, and we’ll contact you to give you the option to come in if you desire in that scenario. If you choose not to come, there will not be a cancellation penalty.

Upholding Our Own Standards

We’d also like to share an update to our team member sick policy, given the current landscape. We absolutely hate canceling meetings, because we know what an impact it has on our clients. Even though we try as hard as possible to avoid this, sometimes there’s just no way around it if we want to maintain a healthy office environment. So, not only will we hold our staff to the same health guidelines as students, but we’ll also hold ourselves to the same cancellation penalty if we have to be the ones to cancel.

If Fairfax County Public Schools are open but a member of our staff is contagious or quarantined with less than 48-hours notice, here’s what will happen:

1. We’ll first try to switch to a Zoom meeting, if the team member can meet remotely.

2. If that’s not possible, we’ll try to find a different team member to step in. This may require switching to a Zoom meeting, but we’ll do our absolute best to find a different coach to substitute if the meeting involves a coach. We will not assign substitutes for meetings with Colleen.

3. If we can’t offer a remote meeting or a substitute, your next hour of work with us will be free. One catch: you do have to spend that initial time block doing something productive relating to the college admissions process :)

Double-Check Spring Break College Trip Plans

This isn’t about our own office, but given what may be ahead, it’s wise to start thinking now about what will happen if colleges close as a result of the Coronavirus outbreak, but you still need to try to squeeze in those visits. You will likely have to identify a few other days this spring to be able to visit while schools are in session.

Double-Check Standardized Test Cancellations

It’s possible that the College Board or ACT will need to cancel upcoming SAT or ACT administrations, as they have already done in other countries, as a result of Coronavirus. Typically, when tests are canceled in the United States, makeup dates are provided. Please monitor your email carefully in case you are impacted by a cancellation.

WASH YOUR HANDS!

Please, please, please!

A long-awaited FAFSA update: Why you shouldn't apply just to apply - and how to get help if you DO need to apply!!

Don’t “Apply just to Apply”

If you are 100% positive that there is absolutely no way that your family will qualify for financial aid, submitting the FAFSA will result in the following:

• Sharing personally identifiable information unnecessarily

• Providing information that could potentially bias the admissions committee against providing merit aid to the admitted student because of a higher-than-average household income and a perception that the additional money “isn’t needed”

• Providing information that could potentially make it more difficult to gain admission in the first place.

That last one is an especially important consideration: while a lack of financial need doesn’t really give anyone an advantage anymore (there are plenty of full-pay students, especially in the DC area), having financial need can still represent a disadvantage… whether the school claims to be need-blind or not.

Remember: many admissions officers do not have access to the numbers on financial aid forms when making the admissions decision, so other than context clues, they don’t know whether the student is applying for financial aid with a $50k HHI or a $500k HHI. They just know that the student applied for financial aid.. and BOOM! There goes any benefit associated with being a full-pay student!

Still: If you need to apply, you need to apply.

If there is ANY question that you might be eligible for need-based financial aid, please disregard the above information and go ahead and apply. You need to fill out the FAFSA; in all likelihood, the CSS Profile, as well; and any other forms required for the financial aid process. Many schools also have institutional forms, so please make sure to check individual financial aid websites. Don’t waste one minute thinking about whether to apply or not or worrying about a disadvantage. Control what you can control!

How to know?

Go ahead and visit FAFSA4caster to get a better estimate of your eligibility for financial aid before filling out a FAFSA. If your Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is less than the expected cost of attendance at the highest-priced college(s) your student(s) may attend - you may qualify. Don’t forget to add the cost of attendance numbers together with multiple students in college - this is calculated per family, not per student.

• For example, let’s say your EFC is $100,000 and your son is a high school senior during the 2019-2020 academic year. You visited the schools’ websites and found that the cost of attendance at the pricest school on his list is Boston College, with an estimated cost of attendance of $76,161 (ouch) for the 2019-2020 academic year.

• Your first step should be to re-calculate the possible estimated cost of attendance for the 2020-2021 academic year. Boston College has had price increases of just under 4% (3.9%, 3.97%, etc) in recent years - let’s give them some wiggle room and re-calculate assuming a 5% cost increase to be safe. Your new estimate is $79,969. In this case, STOP! Don’t apply for financial aid. (Note: BC claims to be need-blind, and they very well may be, but why risk it? Many schools claim things that aren’t the case, or change policies mid-way through the admissions cycle.)

• However, let’s take that same scenario (EFC is $100,000 and the expected cost of attendance at your senior son’s highest-priced school is $79,969) and pretend that you already have an older child in college already. She will be entering her second year at UVA’s School of Engineering (that in-state tuition never looked so good, huh!) and the estimated cost of attendance is $38,210. Allow for a 4% increase based on UVA’s past data, which would come to be $39,738. Add the two numbers together: you’re now at $119,707. YES- you should apply for financial aid!

One issue I didn’t cover here, for simplicity’s sake - the way that schools present costs are slightly different from school to school and are not particularly straightforward. Some include allowances for items like living expenses, for example. Since it’s not a perfect calculation, if your EFC is anywhere near the expected cost of attendance, I would go ahead and apply just in case. On the other hand, if your EFC is $100,000 and your student is attending a school with a $70,000 cost of attendance, you should not apply. This will do you no favors.

YAY! WE WILL LIKELY QUALIFY! HOW DO I FILL THIS THING OUT?

If you do decide to fill out a FAFSA and apply for aid,  the good news is that there is a local organization that provides 1:1 assistance for free. College Access Fairfax will provide 1:1 assistance at their FAFSA completion workshops, as long as you show up with the documents they require in hand (don’t worry, there aren’t too many documents to gather).  Students do not have to be enrolled in Fairfax County Public Schools and do not even have to live in Fairfax County. This is such a great service! There is still one workshop left on April 1 for Class of 2020 seniors who are filling it out on the later side, and you can register for that here.

They also provide programming for younger students that is absolutely worth attending if you believe you will apply for financial aid or would just like to learn more about the process. Events in March include Paying for College/Scholarship 101 (I would recommend this for families with students in 9th-11th grade) and several Middle School Financial Awareness seminars.

A FEW LAST TIPS

Believe me, I understand that it’s stressful to think about paying for college. Whether you qualify for financial aid or not, this is a source of stress for MANY families across income levels. Here are a few more tips concerning finances:

• Set a budget from the beginning and stick to it. Do not allow emotion to be a factor in your decision-making process; desperate people make bad choices. NO school is worth your retirement savings or hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt.

• Try not to feel badly if you can’t afford to send your student where she wants to go (or can, but have chosen not to spend your money that way). I have seen so many parents beat themselves up about this over the years, which is crazy. Accepting that you can’t give your child everything is the worst part of parenting and 100% unavoidable. You can put it off, sure, but not forever.

• Bernie Sanders is NOT the answer. Sorry, had to stick that in there :) Don’t forget to vote on Super Tuesday tomorrow!

Good luck!

To FAFSA or not to FAFSA... that is the question!

Few things bother me more than processes that aren’t transparent.

As a result, I try to do whatever I can to be honest and direct with my clients. I do not believe in hiding the truth from people - it only causes problems in the long run, even if it seems like a good idea or “the right thing to do” at the time. (Side note: if you haven’t read the book Lying, I highly recommend it. Life-changing!)

One college admissions-related issue where transparency is seriously lacking has to do with filling out the FAFSA, and whether families without financial need should fill it out anyway.

Around this time of year, every year, questions about this issue roll in nonstop. On one hand, colleges and school counselors seem to be insisting that the FAFSA is required for everyone, financial need or not… but many families report that their accountants have advised them that it’s not required, and that they shouldn’t fill it out.

I’m with the accountants. NO! Don’t fill it out if you don’t have financial need.

But my school counselor said to fill it out!

The long and short of it is that school counselors often-times encourage all families to fill out the FAFSA to make sure that no families accidentally bypass it because of a mistaken belief that they aren’t eligible.

While I agree in theory that it’s better to have a hundred ineligible families apply for no reason than to have one eligible family miss out on financial aid… I feel like the whole thing gets tricky when gentle “encouragement” turns into “bombarding families with scare tactics” about how their students will not be eligible for merit-based scholarships if their parents do not apply for financial aid.

And it’s not just counselors, it’s entire school systems and even STATES! Some states have actually begun to force all graduating public school students to complete the form!

As a result, many families truly believe that filling out the FAFSA is just another necessary step in the college application process and they fill it out without questioning anything.

Even though I am not a fan of spreading inaccurate information to scare people into doing something, I think the school counselors that perpetuate this myth have their hearts in the right place.

Moreover, based on the outright arguments I have seen on college admissions list-serves, I am pretty confident that a good number of these counselors actually do believe it’s required and just don’t know any better. Which is sort of concerning, to be honest, but I digress!

But the colleges said to fill it out too!

Colleges, in my opinion, aren’t perpetuating the idea that the FAFSA is required for the same reason as the counselors. Instead, they want the data! If more students fill out the FAFSA, that just means that the colleges and universities have more information to use in sophisticated mathematical models that influence admissions decisions and scholarships.

You can read more about how data is used in the admissions process in a New York Times article that I shared on social media this past fall. It was one of the best college admissions-related reads of last year, in my opinion! You can find it here - but I took the liberty of copying and pasting a selection below, as well:

If you pick any two freshmen at the same college, they are very likely to be paying completely different tuition rates. Those rates are based not on the true value of the service the college is offering or even on the ability of the student’s family to pay. Instead, they are based on a complex calculation, using sophisticated predictive algorithms, of what the student is worth to the college and what the college is worth to the student.

The consultants many colleges hire to perform those calculations — known in the trade as “financial-aid optimization” — are the hidden geniuses of enrollment management, the quants with advanced math degrees who spend hours behind closed doors, parsing student decision-making patterns, carefully adjusting their econometric models, calculating for admissions directors precisely how many dollars they would need to cut from their list price to persuade each specific Chloe or Josh to choose their college. Outside the ranks of enrollment management, the work done by the companies that employ these back-room prodigies is almost entirely unknown. But collectively, they play as big a role as anyone in shaping American college admissions today.

Of course they try to suggest that families have to fill out the FAFSA. Come on - those algorithms won’t run without data!

The Actual Truth

Colleges provide three different types of scholarships, or “free money", “grants,” etc:

• Merit-based

• Need-based

• A combination of merit-and-need based

It is exceptionally, exceptionally rare for a school to require the FAFSA for a scholarship in the first category - one where financial need does not play a role in the selection process.

If you hear an admissions officer say that the FAFSA is required for scholarships, or if you read it on a college website, you need to delve deeper to determine if any of the schools on your list fall under one of those rare exceptions.

NOTE: Since many of my blog readers are Virginia residents, I want to point out that Virginia Tech is one of the schools that does show up on the exception list. Still, the reason for the exception won’t apply to 99% of the VT applicants with whom I work. Most of their “merit-based scholarships” do have a need-based component - which obviously requires the FAFSA - but some of their military scholarships require the FAFSA even though they don’t take financial need into consideration:

So, if you know that you will be applying for a military scholarship at VT: yes, you’re going to have to file the FAFSA regardless of need.

If there is any question whatsoever about whether a FAFSA might be required at a certain school for merit applicants without financial need, make sure to do your due diligence; after all, policies change. Give their financial aid office a call. Ask: “What kinds of scholarships require the FAFSA? Does your institution have a single scholarship that is merit-based only, with no financial need component whatsoever, that requires the FAFSA?”

Be warned: the person may very well tell you at first that merit-based scholarships do require the FAFSA at their institution. But once you start pressing about whether those “merit” scholarships incorporate financial need, you will learn that it is incredibly rare for a college to require the FAFSA for a scholarship that is truly based on merit alone.

Think about it - why would you need to share your financial information for a scholarship that has nothing to do with financial need? That would make no sense.

So why not just submit it anyway, just in case? Can that really hurt?

It sure can!

More on that in my next post..

(And just to be clear - families with financial need should fill it out. No debate there.)