Topic: College

Spring To-Do List for Juniors:

Spring for juniors means prom dresses and corsages, soaking up the sun over spring break, and enjoying outdoor sports like lacrosse and baseball. But juniors may also feel very stressed, as their...

News, Wise Insights

College 2024: What You Need to Know (Video Podcast with Don McMillan and Peter Olrich)

Tune in to Don and Peter’s discussion on College 2024: What You Need to Know.

Wise Insights

Four Factors to Consider When Scheduling Your Spring Campus Visits

Visiting college campuses is often the first step students take in taking the abstract concept of college and translating it to the real world. These initial visits serve as an introduction to...

News, Wise Insights

2024 College Admissions Trends and Predictions

In 2023, our team continued to prioritize post-pandemic travel, visiting campuses all throughout the US, Europe, Canada and the UK, deepening our relationships and knowledge, and taking the temperature of the higher...

Wise Insights

“The Waiting Is The Hardest Part”: Timely Advice for High School Seniors

Okay, first, if you teens don’t know who Tom Petty is, ask your parents. They have so much to teach you about great music. Most seniors in high school have now submitted...

Wise Insights

Mythbusters and Hidden Gems: Going to a Good College

I always chuckle when I suggest a college name to a family and someone responds, “I’ve never heard of that.” Um, yeah. That’s why you need me. I’m a professional educational consultant....

News

Don’t Forget to Read this Summer. Your Brain Depends on It!

Read. Read. Read. It’s advice given ad infinitum to children from preschool all the way through high school. There are well documented reasons that back up this recommendation, some of which I...

Wise Insights

The Changing Role of Early Decision in Admissions

As the inimitable sage Beyonce once so fittingly warned, “if you like it then you better put a ring on it.” And in the smoky private poker lounge of the college admissions...

Wise Insights

Harvard Spared by the Feds – But Look Behind the Crimson Curtain

Harvard Admissions Lawsuit Despite accepting Asian American candidates at a lower rate than other applicants*, Harvard was spared this afternoon as a federal judge ruled the university does not discriminate against Asian...

Wise Insights

Tips for those contemplating a college transfer

In the world of admissions, “to everything – turn, turn, turn; there is a season – turn, turn, turn.” Right now, many colleges are in the midst of the transfer season when...

Wise Insights

We Are Pleased to Offer You A Place On Our Waitlist

After weeks of waiting, March 10 finally arrives and throngs of aspiring independent school candidates learn their fate. Predictably, there is elation for the admitted, and sorrow for the denied. But for...

Wise Insights

London Calling! Top Ten Reasons to Cross the Pond for College

Depending on how helplessly you have succumbed to your Netflix binge of The Crown, somewhere between The Queen’s flirtation with horse expert Porchie and Princess Margaret’s sizzling encounter with photographer Tony you...

Wise Insights

The Value in Attending College Fairs

College Fairs happen throughout the course of the year and can be invaluable to the college review process. Benefits include: If there are colleges that you might be interested attending a college...

Wise Insights

Toxic Stress is Crushing More Than Just Our Kids: Turning Outrage Into Compassion

In the right doses, stress builds healthy and productive skills that allow us to survive adversity and even thrive in challenging conditions. Yes, above and beyond the survival instincts of flight and...

Wise Insights

The Power of the Passport

With the recent presidential election in the United States, many of our families living abroad have asked how international students will be received at American colleges and universities in the future. Will...

Wise Insights

Tour D’Admission: Part II Two Small States but Large Enough to Have Colleges for Nearly Everyone

My previous blog left off as my fellow tour participants and I were bicycling from Trinity College in Hartford, CT to Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT on the first leg of the...

Wise Insights

Tour D’Admission: Part I Getting Started and Feeling Like a Freshman

This past summer, I experienced my first “Tour D’Admission.” Like the more famous “Tour de France,” it involves cycling but instead of 23 grueling days of professional racing covering over 2,000 miles...

Wise Insights

Developing the Right Questions to Research Schools and Colleges

Eager to find out more about a potential school or college? Prepping for a campus visit or interview? The road to inquiry begins with asking the right questions. Way back in my...

Wise Insights

Looking to be Surrounded by High-Achieving and Driven Students Like You?

Public Universities’ Small Honors Colleges Looking for a small college feel in a bigger university setting? Looking for smaller classes with professors who are invested in you and your growth as a...

Wise Insights

Applicant Profiles: Who Are You?

For each of our candidates, whether applying to independent school, college, graduate or professional school, an essential element of the process is explaining who you are. Think of the 70’s hit song...

Wise Insights

The Role of the Post Graduate (PG) Year in Preparation for College

Not Just For Athletes Anymore I have worked with many PG students who have eventually declared the PG experience as essential to their growth and success. These students are young women and...

Wise Insights

Alex Clark’s Post-Graduate Year Perspective

When I was first accepted into college in 2009, I was thrilled. I had gotten into my first choice school, Elon University in North Carolina, and felt like I had accomplished everything...

Wise Insights

Finding Joy (and Yourself!) in the Application Process and in School/College

As I look forward to working with new students and families on their educational plans, I often think back to my own college application essay that focused on the process of education...

Wise Insights

Where’s Waldo

Tips for Tackling Wacky College Essay Prompts How do you feel about Wednesday? (U Chicago) What’s broken, and how do you fix it? (Notre Dame) Our campus is powered by wind turbines....