College Applications

Summer is almost over, and the question parents always ask is "When should I start working on college applications and essays?" If you find yourself asking that same question, the answer is now! Most students procrastinate until the very last week, and their essays are not refined, and just plain bad. Do not make this mistake! Ask for any application advice in the comments

Applying early to colleges

The top colleges like Harvard, Yale, Brown, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Stanford, and Priceton are sending emails and regular mail announcing whether you got in, or got rejected. Another possibility is Deffered. Post in the comments if you got accepted to any colleges for early action or early decision.

Should you rush send your SAT scores

I've recieved many questions about rushing SAT scores to colleges for early decision such as Stanford and the Ivy League colleges. I recommend you do not rush the SAT scores, as it is simply not worth the money.

October SAT results will come out soon!

October SAT I and SAT II results will be available on the college board 19 days after you took the test, which was October 4th. Thus you should be able to see your scores on www.collegeboard.com on Thursday October 23rd. Leave your SAT scores in the comments!

How to get National Merit on the PSAT

Quite a few people have asked me how to get national merit on the PSAT. First off, it is not easy by any means. This opportunity is usually reserved for overachieving 10th and 11th graders. The most common question I hear is what the minimum score you need to qualify for national merit. The answer is "it depends" on the state that you live in. Some states have lower standards for education, and have lower minimum cutoff scores for the PSAT national merit scholarship. Of the more than 1 million applicants (people who take the PSAT each October) only 50,000 qualify, and can become semifinalists, or finalists. More than half of the finalists win scholarship money!

Summer is officially over, so start college essays!

With the end of summer, there isn't much time before you have to start to get cranking on last minute test prep, and the dreaded college essays.  Here are a few tips to help you get started on college essays (which you should asap).

The common application essays are due December 31 for most colleges. You can access the common app at https://www.commonapp.org/CommonApp/default.aspx. 

UC applications are due on November 30, which means you will have roughly 2 months from today to finish the applications if you wish to apply to University of California schools such as UCLA and UC Berkeley. Start the application if you wish to apply at http://www.ucop.edu/pathways/

If you don't know what to write about, you should start brainstorming for the college essays. Think about your talents, passions, achievements, etc. 

National 2008 SAT scores remain unchanged from 2007 scores

The collegeboard has released its annual statistics for 2008 SAT scores. The number of SAT test takers increased by about 8% to 1.5 million (1,518,859). This year, more minorities took the test than in the previous year, however SAT scores remained changed. Perhaps this is good, since in the past 10 years SAT scores have been on the decline. Also the number of first generation students increased by 1%. Interestingly, females constituted the largest portion of test takers among all ethnicities.