College Admissions with Calm, Clarity & Confidence

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Student fills out college planner on a blanket on a summer day.

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If you’re finishing junior year, use the summer to get a head start on college applications. With steady work over the next few months, you could be ready to submit applications shortly after they open in August, well before early application deadlines. Here’s what to work on before school ends and during the summer. Before […]

Get Ahead on College Applications this Summer

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Every spring, well-qualified students get turn down letters from colleges they’d hoped to attend. College admissions results are not a measure of how worthy a student is as a person or a strong predictor of their adult success. In spite of what some media outlets and popular colleges want you to believe, studies show that […]

Student Engagement Matters More than College Rankings

College Admissions
Engagement Matters More than Rankings Five college students work on a group project in a library.

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Typically the first question families ask after their kid gets an offer of college admission is: How much will this cost? Unfortunately, there is no uniform format for delivering financial aid offers. And some colleges have confusing ways of labeling grants, scholarships, and loans. So understanding college financial aid offers takes time and attention to […]

College Financial Aid Offers

College Affordability
Man and woman reading a bill next to a computer College Financial Aid Offers

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The Common App essay prompts remain the same for 2025-26 as in the past couple years. These essay prompts aren’t a list of questions to answer. They are designed to help you think about what’s important to you, who you are as a person, and what you would bring to campus as a college student. […]

Girl writing an essay. Common App Essay Prompts 2025-26

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Some colleges have returned to requiring test scores for admission. Even at test optional colleges, strong scores can improve your application. Generally colleges will accept the SAT and ACT on an equal basis, converting scores from one format to another. This means students can take practice tests, then register for the format they prefer. Changes […]

ACT Changes in 2025

College Admissions
ACT Changes in 2025 A standardized test answer sheet and a sharp pencil.

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BLUF (Bottom Line Up Front) – Don’t fall for the trap, test scores still matter for college admissions. Even though the majority of colleges accept applications without test scores, having strong scores can still benefit students — especially at selective colleges. Don’t miss the table at the end that lays out several possible situations with […]

Do Test Scores Still Matter for College Admissions?

College Admissions
Standardized test bubble answer sheet, a page of trigonometry questions, and a sharpened pencil, with the headline "Do test scores still matter for college admissions?"

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What most high school students know about military life tends to come from movies or books. Even those who grew up in military families may wonder what it would be like to personally serve under military restrictions and responsibilities. Military academy summer programs offer students a taste of life as a cadet or midshipman. This […]

Copper dome of the Naval Academy Chapel against a blue sky Military Academy Summer Programs

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The Department of Education announced on November 14, 2024 that the FAFSA 2025-26 is available to all students through the Beta test version. This means any students can apply for federal financial aid for the 2025-26 college academic year through the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Students and their “contributors” (aka parents submitting […]

FAFSA 2025-26 Available to All Students

College Affordability
Graduation cap on a pile of $100 bills. FAFSA 2025-26 Now Open

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Many colleges require supplemental essays in addition to a long personal statement about the student. These additional essays are intended to give admissions more information about the student and what is important to them. One type of supplemental essay that frequently stumps students is the Why Us? college essay. Let’s consider what these prompts are […]

Supplemental Essays: How to Write a “Why Us” College Essay

College Admissions
Tips for Why Us? Essays Background image of a laptop computer, writing journal, a pen, and a cup of coffee.

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When students apply to colleges, they may have to choose between Early Decision, Early Action, or Regular Decision. Other options include Rolling Decision and Restrictive Early Action? What is Early Decision and how is it different from other options? Is Early Decision a good choice for you? Let me explain what these options mean and […]