Weekly Update x2: July 22

We have been absolutely swamped getting ready for August 1, when the 2024-2025 Common Application (R) goes live and the (controlled) chaos begins :)

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE LAST WEEKS

BIG CHANGES AHEAD FOR THE ACT

Rising juniors, take note! Starting in the spring of 2025, the ACT is getting a makeover of sorts. Test-takers can expect a shorter test, trimmed down from three hours to two. Additionally — and this is the big one — the science section will be optional, just like the writing section. But don’t throw away your science books just yet! Colleges may require students to submit an ACT science score, the way they did with the writing section for a long time. Our advice is to plan on taking the science section unless every single college on your list confirms that they will consider your ACT score without it.

FAIRFAX COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD PASSES UNPOPULAR POLICY 8130

Major news coming out of Fairfax County — the School Board has approved a new measure that many parents are up in arms about. They’ve decided to implement Policy 8130, which means every five years, they’ll review and possibly redraw school boundaries to tackle issues like overcrowding and equity.

For those who don’t live in Fairfax County, we have a unique situation in that the perceived quality of the schools varies tremendously based on individual school pyramids within our very large district. As a result, the exact same homes in the better pyramids can cost twice what they would cost in the worse pyramids. Beyond the fact that students will be forced to transfer to lower-performing schools, which does not seem particularly fair to those children, redistricting also creates the potential for an economic nightmare. Home values in the top pyramids would plummet in this kind of situation. Yet at the same time, it’s not fair to the other children to be attending the lower-performing schools in the first place. It would be great to find a way to improve the lower-performing schools so that all schools are equally great — that would be a win-win for everyone.

NEW GRADING POLICY IN FAIRFAX COUNTY SCHOOLS

In more controversial news out of Fairfax County, a new policy will allow students to retake assessments for full credit and will add a D- to the grading scale. Some feel this will allow for a more fair and consistent grading system, but others believe it will be hard to implement and will lower expectations of students. Previously, students could get up to 80% on a re-take, but now it will be up to the full 100%. Opponents of this move believe that it will not encourage students to study, as they feel they can simply take the test (or redo assignments) again in order to “game the system”. From a college standpoint, I can see this continuing to perpetuate the (very real) problem of grade inflation in high-performing schools — a situation that contributes to unpredictable admissions decisions, because it leaves admissions officers with no real way to make meaning of transcripts.

KIDS STILL SUFFERING MATH LOSSES FROM THE PANDEMIC

Educators are concerned as they continue to see evidence of math learning losses in students since the upheaval of the pandemic. Schools are seeing that students are still behind in math even though they have been making ground in reading. Colorado has been using the SAT to take some measurements, but are left to wonder if the new SAT digital format is having an effect on those numbers after seeing a “significant” drop in math scores. States across the country are still grappling with overall losses and wonder what that will mean as students head off to college.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE LAST WEEKS

When I grew up, a lot of kids I knew tended to follow their parents’ political beliefs without really thinking for themselves. Needless to say.. a lot has changed! This Washington Post piece profiles a conservative mother, Jennifer, who sent her son, Mike, to a liberal-leaning school that she believes “indoctrinated” him. Mike, however, “decided the ‘indoctrination’ he underwent actually took place at home” and that his school engaged in “counter-indoctrination.” Ouch! Ultimately, Jennifer and Mike were able to put their differences aside and find some common ground. However, no matter where on the spectrum your political views fall, this is a good reminder for parents and students to think about the campus political climate as a factor to consider during the college search.

Did you earn a high score on your AP U.S. History exam this year? You’re not alone. Anecdotally, I have never seen so many students score 4s and 5s on this particular test. Do we just happen to be working with a class of history buffs? As much as I wanted to believe the answer was yes, I suspected that something else was in play as more and more of our students began submitting their score reports. It just didn’t make any sense. But when I read “The Great Recalibration of AP exams”, it all clicked. As it turns out, the Advanced Placement program is making some major changes. Over the past three years, the College Board has been "recalibrating" several AP exams, meaning about 500,000 more students will score a 3 or higher on their exams this year than before. As a graphic in the article shows, the percentage of students scoring 4s or 5s on the AP U.S. History exam in particular rose from approximately 25% in 2023 to approximately 45% in 2024.

Like fashion and music, slang is a reflection of society and the world at large. Post-WWI saw hemlines go up, the rise of the flapper, jazz and a celebration of youth and life – it was the bee’s knees. Not surprising after the horrors of the type of war the world had never seen! Things got groovy and skirts became mini 50 years later. So what are the kids saying these days that reflect on the current state of affairs? This opinion piece from The New York Times takes a nice dive into the words kids are using today — cringe!

As recent graduates are enjoying their last summer before heading off to college, parents are trying to capture quality time, thinking about dorm-necessity packing lists, and trying not to think about their “babies” heading off on their first independent steps. It’s also the time to have serious conversations about the college social scene, including alcohol. It’s unlikely that your soon-to-be college fresh-person will not attend a party, and that party will probably be within the first week of school. This article offers a few things to think about in terms of overall family dynamics around drinking and how to support your teen so they can make good decisions when they are on their own.

And lastly, as we gear up to begin meeting with our Class of 2026 juniors, we’re about to start having a lot of conversations about extracurricular activities and involvement. We always tell our students that it’s better to find one or two really compelling interests and dig into those than to be a jack-of-all-trades dabbling in a lot of little things that don’t really amount to much. And the best types of compelling interests are the ones that truly do interest a student - not ones that they think will “look good” to colleges or that their parents think are worthwhile. What actually looks good is authenticity, passion, and commitment! With this in mind, we loved reading “The life secret Jerry Seinfeld learned from Esquire,” an opinion piece in The Washington Post. The author actually dug up a 1987 copy of the magazine to read the insight that Jerry found to be so powerful! If you want to learn how to become good at one thing in particular, you won’t want to miss it.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Essays, essays, more essays!

Each year during the month of July, we try to identify prompts as early as possible so that our students can get as much work done as possible before the mass release in August that turns into a free-for-all. This year has been especially anxiety-producing for students in Fairfax County, who return back to school earlier than ever before — on August 19! It is important to our families to try to make as much headway as possible on essays and applications before school starts.

So our coaches are working around the clock and we are editing around the clock, too — whether we are on vacation or not! Here I am on the way home from the ERAS TOUR! in Milan last week. My friends and family always take funny pictures of me working in random places and we have a whole collection... mainly because I am constantly working at this time of year! I can’t help but start laughing when I see the camera come out :)

#wherecolleenworks

For more on THE ACT, check out these posts!

Weekly Update: April 22

Our thoughts are with all of the students impacted by the situation at Columbia today and over the past few days.

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

OVER 100 ARRESTED, CLASSES HELD REMOTELY AFTER PRO-PALESTINE PROTESTS AT COLUMBIA 

At least 108 protesters were arrested on Thursday after Columbia University called the police to clear an encampment of pro-Palestinian demonstrators on its South Lawn. The protestors set up tents on Wednesday morning in violation of university policy that allows peaceful demonstrations in certain areas of campus and with two days of notice to the university. Protestors were eventually released and issued summonses for trespassing; two were charged with obstruction of governmental administration.

The protests continued through the weekend and have yet to conclude, despite many Jewish students at Columbia reporting harassment and an unsafe environment: on Sunday, a Columbia University rabbi even pushed students to return home for safety reasons. Columbia’s president, Nemat Shafik, made the decision today to hold classes remotely. She also asked students to stay off campus unless they live there. 

The start of the protests came the day after Shafik spoke at a Congressional hearing on antisemitism on college campuses, where she vowed to keep students safe. After calling in the police on Thursday, Shafik stated that safety is her “top priority” and that the encampment “creates a harassing and intimidating environment for many of our students.” Columbia is no stranger to student protests. The weekend’s events had echoes of a much bigger revolt in April of 1968, when Columbia students seized five campus buildings, took a dean hostage and shut down the university in protest to the Vietnam War. 

NATIONAL SPIKE IN CRIME ON COLLEGE CAMPUSES

According to the Department of Education statistics, the number of on-campus crimes has reverted to pre-pandemic highs. Federal data reports 38,303 crimes on college campuses in 2022, compared to 21,200 crimes in 2020. In February, four college students were murdered in three separate on-campus incidents in Kentucky, Georgia and Colorado in just a 10-day span.  Experts haven’t reached any definitive conclusions about what is fueling this increase, but many point to a full return of on-campus learning as a contributing factor.

NEW VIRGINIA LAW ALLOWS COLLEGES TO PAY ATHLETES DIRECTLY FOR NIL 

Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin signed a bill last week that will allow Virginia universities to pay athletes directly for NIL endorsements. As we have previously shared, NIL is short for "name, image and likeness." A NIL deal means that a student athlete is able to enter into contracts to endorse products and make money off their personal brand. Youngkin said that the new policy, which takes effect on July 1, will help schools be competitive in athletics and provide a level of oversight. It would also nullify certain NCAA rules on NIL deals. Florida was the first state to pave the way for college athletes to be compensated within an NIL context back in June 2020, and some foresee that the new Virginia law could incentivize other states to follow suit.

CORNELL ANNOUNCES CHANGE TO STANDARDIZED TESTING POLICY

This change is different from some of the other recent announcements, both because of the timeline and the scope. First, it should be noted that Cornell was one of the few universities in the country to enact test-blind policies during the Covid-related shift to test-optional admissions.

A test-blind admissions system means that the admissions committee will not consider an applicant’s test scores, even if the applicant wants them considered. As far as the admissions committee is concerned, the test scores effectively do not exist. Cornell’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Architecture, Art and Planning, and the SC Johnson College of Business have been test-blind since 2020 while the rest of the university’s undergraduate programs have been test-optional.

Cornell announced the following policy change today: applicants to the test-blind undergraduate programs mentioned above will still go through a test-blind process during the upcoming application cycle for Fall 2025 admission. Applicants to other undergraduate divisions for Fall 2025 admission, which are currently test-optional, will be “encouraged” (but not required) to submit their SAT and/or ACT scores. However, when it comes to Fall 2026 admission, all students - to all programs - will be required to send SAT or ACT scores.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Should freshmen be allowed to choose their roommate? An article in The New York Times last week said no, pointing out the important life lessons learned and the many benefits of not choosing your own roommate. The author argues that forcing kids from widely diverging backgrounds, ethnicities and economic classes to live in close quarters offers its own education: preparing young people for the world by learning to get along. 

Many colleges give students the option of choosing a roommate, through social media or a campus matching service. Qualities like resilience, risk-taking, and navigating differences across identity and ideology are exchanged for comfort and control. When kids choose their own roommates, they tend to go with people exactly like themselves, the author says. Dartmouth economist Bruce Sacerdote stated that his research shows a clear advantage to a randomized process. “Universities work so hard to achieve diversity… and the most powerful tool universities have to foster that is through roommate matches,” he said.

In light of this kind of research, Duke has stopped letting first-year students self-select. According to the article, the freshman roommate experience is about getting kids out of their bubble, interacting with different kinds of people, and learning to adapt.

In our office we can see the pros and cons of roommate self-selection in a general sense, but have always advised students against choosing a roommate they know from home - especially someone with whom they are close friends. Roommates often experience conflict with one another during their first year in college as they learn to live in a shared environment. When this occurs with a friend from home, it can result in long-term social consequences that go way beyond the residence hall. Much better, in our opinion, to stay close with the friend from home and live separately.

I read an opinion piece last week on campus freedom of speech stating that fear and paranoia have descended onto college campuses. There are increasingly tougher penalties and new rules for students wanting to speak out on Palestine and Israel, with some schools banning indoor protests or preventing students from posting political messages on their residence hall doors. Student activists report feeling like they are being watched by university officials, believing that the administrators may be monitoring student Wi-Fi or watching students through campus cameras. Since October 7, there have been increased allegations of antisemitism and Islamophobia on campuses, and some schools have responded with tougher disciplinary stances, such as the threat of academic probation. 

The author opined that college protest isn’t antithetical to the mission of higher education, but rather, it is central to developing critical thinking skills and a moral philosophy of life. What do students on both sides of the aisle think? A recent Harris Poll conducted for Axios found that 77% of college students “said campus speech should be protected even if some feel the language is deeply upsetting,” – and these opinions were shared equally by young Democrats and Republicans.

Last week, we shared the news that ACT, Inc. is partnering with California-based private equity firm Nexus Capital Management after being slammed by financial losses. Since then, the private equity buyout has set off a lot of alarm bells for education advocates. Many are concerned that the move from non-profit to for-profit status will decrease transparency in the testing process. This is because non-profits are subject to regulatory oversight and disclosure requirements, which help ensure transparency and maintain public confidence. When it comes to test-taking, people need to be able to trust that there is a fair evaluation process. And while ACT says it will not immediately raise test prices, only time will tell if that, too, will ultimately change.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

In between helping our juniors make progress on their lists, we’re still continuing to help our seniors make their final choices! I wanted to share one tip I gave a student last week that seemed to help her, in case any of our readers could benefit.

While it’s not particularly ground-breaking, I do want to acknowledge that this is not my original idea and I can’t remember where it came from - probably one of my former colleagues. I have used it with students for many years, though, and sometimes I even use it myself when I’m trying to make a hard life decision!

Here it is: once you’ve narrowed your list down to two or three schools using all of the traditional decision-making methods, pretend that you’ve chosen one of them and live in that space for a few days.

Wear the sweatshirt, tell friends and teachers that’s where you’re going, start engaging in admitted student groups and putting winter and spring break vacation dates in your calendar. Read about freshman course selection and start researching professors to differentiate between options in the online course schedule. When you go to sleep at night, think about everything you’ll experience “next year.” Are you excited for the football games? Can’t wait to explore your new city? Which aspects of your new life will be easy from an acclimation standpoint, and which may present a learning curve?

Take notes during this period. What surprises you? Do you feel a sense of relief or a sense of regret? Sometimes our body sends us signals after we make decisions - listen to those and write them down!

Next, repeat the entire process with the other final contender school(s). After you’ve had the chance to reflect on the differences between your experiences from school to school, discuss them with a trusted adult. See if this process provides new insight or helps your decision move along!

Good luck to all of the seniors out there - remember, you chose to apply to these schools for a reason, and there’s typically no “wrong” choice. Most students will be happy at any school on their list!

Weekly Update: April 16

Finally, a full week of school for all the Fairfax County parents out there! 👏👏👏

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

HARVARD & CALTECH WILL REQUIRE TEST SCORES 

On Thursday, both Harvard and Caltech announced they will reinstitute standardized testing as a requirement for admission. Test-optional policies were instituted with the intent to help low-income students; however, as we have mentioned before, a new study by Opportunity Insights found that test scores help admissions officers identify highly talented students from low-income groups who would have otherwise gone unnoticed. Harvard and Caltech join a growing number of schools that have reversed their test-optional policies, including Brown, Yale, Darthmouth, MIT, Georgetown, Purdue and University of Texas at Austin. If you ask me, the timeline in which these changes have been announced seems a little unfair. Most of our juniors have had their testing plans in place for 9-12 months already, and it’s a little late for schools to be pivoting like this. At this point, we recommend that all students applying to highly selective schools should operate as if they will need test scores for next year.

PRIVATE EQUITY IS TAKING OVER THE WORLD, COLLEGE ADMISSIONS EDITION

When I first read this article, I thought it was a late April Fool’s joke - but it wasn’t! ACT, Inc., the company behind the ACT, announced last Wednesday that it is shifting from a non-profit to a for-profit company. The new company will be majority-owned by Nexus Capital Management, a Los Angeles-based private equity investment firm. This comes after years of struggling to break even. The non-profit reported a net loss of $12 million and a 44% decrease in assets at the end of the 2022 fiscal year. At the height of the pandemic in 2020, it reported a net loss of $60.5 million. The new for-profit is describing itself as a “public benefit” corporation.” It will not have tax-exempt status, but its board is supposed to take the public good, as well as shareholders’ interests, into account.

What does this mean for families? No one really knows quite yet, but in the meantime, test pricing will NOT change as a result of the new partnership. Currently, ACT costs $93 with the writing portion of the test, and $68 without. This includes the option to send the test score to four colleges, but we recommend that students wait to see all of their scores before making the decision about which scores to send where.

CAITLIN CLARK: “THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER 22”

University of Iowa announced last week that they are retiring Clark’s No. 22, the number she wore in her four years with the Hawkeyes. No women’s basketball player at Iowa will ever wear a jersey with that number; it will always belong to Clark. “There will never be another 22,” the team wrote on social media. I’m not crying, you’re crying!

To add to the excitement, Clark was named the #1 WNBA draft pick yesterday and selected by the Indiana Fever! We’re excited to watch her career play out.

BIDEN AUTHORIZES ANOTHER ROUND OF DEBT FORGIVENESS 

The Biden Administration stated last Friday that it will cancel an additional $7.4 billion in student debt, coming to a total of $153 billion in student loan forgiveness from the administration. Biden’s income-driven repayment plan, known as SAVE (Saving on Valuable Education), will erase student debt after 10 years of payments, compared with the 20-plus years in other existing plans. It will also wipe away the accrued interest for loan balances that are bigger than the amounts that were initially borrowed. Republicans have criticized the program, and assert that Biden is circumventing the Supreme Court, which struck down another version of it last year. They also argue that it is unfair to transfer the cost of repaying these loans to American taxpayers who chose not to go to college or worked to pay for it themselves. With the November elections approaching, this national conversation is just heating up.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

As I mentioned in last week’s update, the cost of college education has risen to $95K at some elite colleges. A Bloomberg piece suggested that students who are not accepted to Ivy League schools are better off considering public flagship universities, rather than enrolling in the next-most prestigious school that accepted them. Public schools can be a much better investment than one of the private, elite “Hidden Ivies.”

Their study of more than 1,500 non-profit colleges found that the return on investment (ROI) at many of these elite, private institutions is 9% less than the ROI at the states’ public flagships. Those who paid less by attending a public school had an advantage when it came to building wealth by saving for a house or retirement. Some experts pointed out, however, that success should not only be considered in terms of dollars and cents.

Looking for insight into your brooding or anxious teenager’s mind?  A new documentary called “The Teen Brain” came out yesterday. It’s a ten minute video, and may be worth watching! Top neuroscientists and a slew of teenagers were consulted for the project, which shares medical reasons that explain why teens feel and experience emotions more deeply compared to adults.  Experts said the amygdala, the part of the brain that processes emotions, becomes sensitive and grows in size during adolescence. This documentary comes at a time that teens in particular are facing a mental health crisis, CDC data shows. Last year, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy issued an advisory warning of an urgent public health issue regarding social media usage and youth mental health.

FAFSA has done it again! Just when we thought that colleges could finally start putting together aid packages for students, schools are reporting major errors in the tax information that was automatically populated in the FAFSA form. The Education Department has at last processed and released FAFSA forms to colleges, but they are fraught with mistakes, leading financial aid offices to distrust the data and to manually correct the information themselves. 

For example, some fields in the forms processed by the Department were blank, had the wrong codes, imported incorrect or partial tax data from the IRS, or incorrectly calculated the students’ eligibility for federal grants. Some of these errors will require the applicants themselves to correct them. Many institutions have pushed back their May 1 enrollment deadline to help students.  Some institutions like University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are being even more flexible, and will allow students to decide once they know their financial situation. My guess is that we will see a lot of waitlist movement this summer as a result of these extended deadlines.

And lastly - I almost didn’t post this, but this New York Times piece entitled The Troubling Trend in Teenage Sex is one of the most disturbing and shocking articles I have ever read (and this is coming from someone who has curated articles relating to adolescents every single week for years!). It was almost unbelievable.

I decided to go ahead and post it because of the seriousness of the issue, and I really do think all parents should make time to discuss it with their high school and college-age children. I sent the link to some girlfriends yesterday, and one of them responded: “each line in this article gets more and more crazy.” That was my exact reaction, too. I was stunned by the percentages quoted, and by the time I got to the brain damage part I was in absolute disbelief. At the end of the day, kids need to be educated about the long-term impact of the choices they are making - and my guess is that most of them simply have no idea.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

We are having a blast helping our seniors navigate through their acceptances to make their final college choices - this is the hardest part of the process in many ways, but definitely the most fun!

In the meantime, our juniors have been BUSY! We are in our second week of spring check-in meetings and they are all hard at work on their essays. A few are nearly finished at this point! It’s so amazing to cross that major milestone off the list early - not only does it get the actual work out of the way, it leaves them with a well-deserved feeling of accomplishment and motivates them to continue making headway in the application process.

Have a great week!

Weekly Update: March 5

It’s Super Tuesday - hope our public school families are enjoying their day off!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

COMMON APPLICATION ® ESSAY PROMPTS RELEASED!

YAY! The Common Application ® finally released their 2024-2025 essay prompts shortly after I hit publish on our last weekly update post - and despite the very long wait, they actually didn’t change at all from the previous year. For any readers who are less familiar with college essay requirements, this particular essay is what is more commonly known as “the college essay” - it’s the main essay, up to 650 words in length, that students will submit to nearly every college on their list. Most colleges also require additional supplemental essays, as well.

UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA FIRES ALL DEI STAFF

To maintain compliance with Gov. Ron DeSantis’ law to prohibit state spending on DEI programs, the University of Florida let go of 28 faculty and staff members this past week: every single employee whose job was related to diversity, equity, and inclusion in some way. This will result in a $5 million cost savings for the university, which will be re-allocated to support faculty recruitment. As Gov. DeSantis himself remarked, “Florida is where DEI goes to die.” 😳

LATINA WOMEN CONTINUE FACING SIGNIFICANT WAGE GAP DESPITE MAJOR GAINS IN EDUCATION

This is a bittersweet update - on one hand, kudos to the population of Latina women who have made enormous gains in pursuing higher education over the last two decades. The percentage of Latinas with bachelor’s degrees has quadrupled since the year 2000, from 5% to 20%, rising faster than any other demographic group. However, this doesn’t seem to be paying off as much as it should from a salary standpoint, as Latina women with college degrees still earn the lowest median income of any demographic. This is probably wishful thinking, but I wonder if some of the disparity could be attributed to the fact that the more recent increase in degrees earned means they are, on average, a younger cohort with less work experience? We will learn more in the years to come.

WAKE FOREST CONGRATULATES WAITLISTED APPLICANTS BY MISTAKE

Word on the street is that a number of Wake Forest applicants who were waitlisted through the early decision rounds received a email last week that was actually meant for accepted students. In addition to congratulating them on their admission, the message invited them to an event meant for accepted students. So, naturally, the students thought that they had been accepted from the waitlist…. until they received an apology email from Wake, who shared that they were not accepted after all! Instead, the email was sent to the wrong group of students by mistake. Can you even imagine?!

MAJOR GREEK LIFE ISSUES AT VIRGINIA AND MARYLAND

No matter which side of the Potomac you call home, it was not a good week for Greek life at your flagship state universities. At UVA, a Kappa Sigma (fraternity) pledge is said to be in a coma after drinking to excess and falling down a flight of stairs and hitting his head. The university has since suspended the chapter in addition to temporarily banning sponsored social events from all fraternity chapters. It’s less clear as to what specifically happened at the University of Maryland, but the administration has reason to believe that multiple fraternity and sorority chapters have been “conducting activities that have threatened the safety and well-being of members of the University community." After an initial warning that took place at an emergency meeting with Greek leaders, the university continued to receive complaints. The following day, a “cease and desist” order was announced. All social events for Interfraternity Council (IFC) and Panhellenic Council (PHA) groups were banned for the forseeable future. Additionally, members are not allowed to have any contact whatsoever with new members or potential new members.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

Have you wondered whether college is really “worth it,” financially? This New York Times article asserts that college is, in fact, worth it, when it comes to future earnings. However, it’s important for students to realize that other factors impact earnings too. What students choose to study makes a huge difference, and sometimes the choice of school also really matters (approach for-profit colleges with caution!).

A Washington Post editorial from last week emphasized that the potential end of test-optional admissions is “the right move.” The piece called it a “social experiment by necessity,” as a result of Covid, but one that provided colleges and universities with hard data to support whether or not test scores are truly needed to differentiate between candidates - and whether or not test scores resulted in an admissions bias against students of color. I agree with the Washington Post’s assessment - while diverse students do perform worse on standardized tests than their white counterparts, that is something that can be taken into context by an admissions officer.

And at the end of the day, every student who takes one of these tests still has to earn the actual scores - they can only be impacted so much. On the other hand, there are many other parts of the admissions process that can be manipulated far more easily. From advising on extracurricular activities and choice of major, to providing in-depth essay help, to assisting with teacher recommendation strategy - yes, I realize I’m basically outlining the services our company provides, but there’s no denying that students really benefit from this.

If you’re looking for a comprehensive look at how all of the recent changes may impact the college admissions process for students this year, check out Town & Country’s piece Has College Admissions Returned to a Normal Level of Crazy?. It reports that “the SCOTUS decision has so far not led to a major shift in acceptance letters for white and Asian students,” and I agree. I believe this is a direct result of the fact that race is still allowed to be considered when it is mentioned in essays. So has anything really changed after all, except the fact that students now need to write even more essays? The verdict is still out. The article does mention “a loosening of the selectivity noose due to some prestigious schools taking a PR hit this year,” which relates to the treatment of Jewish students on highly selective college campuses. Finally, it covers the anecdotal observation that deferrals seem to be up this year, and that while students often consider this to be positive, that might be an overly optimistic viewpoint. I personally think that the increase in deferrals was very school-specific - we saw unique situations at certain institutions, but did not notice any particular blanket shift.

On a lighter note, any podcast junkies out there? You’ll want to check out NPR’s “10 Best College Podcasts in America.” I’m particularly excited to listen to Brandon Kondritz’ The Day I Ditched my Devices. This Northwestern student embarked on a one-day “digital detox” and chronicled the experience. Not sure I could do it!

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

I am thrilled to report that our juniors got right to work after the Common Application ® essay prompt release and started booking their coaching meetings right away. A couple of students have even had their first essay coaching meetings already, and they should be on target to finish this major milestone in April!

On another note, if you’re an FCPS student looking for a great leadership role next year - we highly recommend checking out the role of 2024 Student Representative to the School Board. This coveted opportunity is open to FCPS students in grades 9, 10, and 11 who live in Fairfax County or Fairfax City. Check out the experiences of the current Student Representative, Rida Karim.

Weekly Update: February 27

Happy Tuesday!

BIGGEST COLLEGE-RELATED NEWS OF THE WEEK

ATHENS COMMUNITY SHAKEN AFTER UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA AND AUGUSTA UNIVERSITY STUDENT DEATHS

Two tragedies occurred over the past week in Athens, Georgia. On Wednesday, a UGA freshman died by suicide in his dorm room. The following day, a former UGA student who had transferred to Augusta University’s College of Nursing (also in Athens) was murdered while out for a morning jog. Fortunately, a suspect is in custody. It’s incredible to think about how this poor girl was attacked while just getting some exercise in broad daylight. Our thoughts and prayers are with these students’ families, friends, and the entire Athens community.

YALE UNIVERSITY REVERSES COURSE TO BEGIN REQUIRING STANDARDIZED TEST SCORES AGAIN

Yale announced the results of an internal study which demonstrated that standardized test scores are the best predictor of undergraduate student success on their campus. More importantly, these results have led Yale to join Dartmouth in requiring SAT or ACT scores during the upcoming application cycle.

UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN ADOPTS NEW TEST-OPTIONAL POLICY

Just as Yale decided to pivot back to test scores, University of Michigan formally adopted a test-optional policy that replaces their previous test-flexible policy. If you can’t keep these policies straight, you aren’t alone! The main difference seems to be that the test-flexible policy offered candidates the chance to substitute their AP or IB scores for SAT or ACT scores, if they chose to do so. Now, their AP or IB scores will be evaluated separately from their choice to apply with (or without) SAT or ACT scores. Half of the internet seemed to get this wrong - and understandably so, given how confusing the shift is. Many online posts incorrectly announced that Michigan was not going to consider AP or IB scores at all anymore. This is a good reminder to always confirm policy changes directly with the school!

SYRACUSE INCORPORATES MENTAL HEALTH INITIATIVE INTO BUSINESS CURRICULUM

Kudos to Syracuse for recognizing the importance of teaching future business professionals about the importance of mental health and wellness. As part of the Nass Mental Health Initiative, undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the Whitman School of Management will now be better equipped to handle the challenges associated with their future careers. Through coursework, guest speakers, special seminars and more, students will learn to use tools to help manage stressors and also learn when to seek help.

“COURT STORMING” THRUST IN THE SPOTLIGHT AFTER DUKE PLAYER INJURED

Immediately after Duke’s surprising loss to Wake Forest this past weekend, player Kyle Filipowski was injured by enthusiastic Demon Deacon fans storming the court. As everyone watching the game on television saw, Duke coach Jon Scheyer was absolutely furious and has since called for the ACC to ban the practice. Wake coach Steve Forbes agrees, and has shared his own concerns about player safety.

BEST ARTICLES OF THE WEEK

So you know that NIL stands for “name, image, and likeness.” But what exactly does that mean in real-world terms? What’s the relevance? Why does everybody care so much? Whether you’re NIL-savvy or have never even heard the acronym before, check out this Washington Post article for a deep dive into all things NIL. As a word of caution, you might end up just as confused by the end of the piece as you were at the start - but maybe that’s the point?

Back in November, we wrote about the extent of the financial mismanagement at the University of Arizona. The New York Times has now explored the full impact of the situation, as well as the potential effects on various stakeholders. The article also delves into the long-term impacts felt by the greater community in the city of Tucson.

Lawmakers in the state of Massachusetts are pushing for a potential change to higher ed taxation that is both very significant and could set precedent for the rest of the country. In “Ending The Ivy League’s Tax Dodge,” The Lever provides background into a situation that has mostly flown under the radar of mainstream media so far. As the piece details, private colleges and universities don’t have to pay state or federal income taxes right now. This allows their endowments to build at a rapid rate, which in turn allows them to “give back” by providing generous financial aid packages, and in some cases, by conducting research.

But is this fair, when many of these schools have acceptance rates so low that the general population does not resasonably have any chance of benefiting from the financial aid packages? Or would the general population benefit more from simply taxing these schools on the value of their endowments? That’s what the state’s House Committee on Revenue will need to decide by April 30. A proposed bill hopes to levy a 2.5% annual tax on university endowments larger than $1 billion (on the full amount of the endowment, not just the income it generates).

The tax would then be allocated towards a fund called the Educational Opportunity for All Trust Fund, which would be used “exclusively for the purposes of subsidizing the cost of higher education, early education and child care for lower-income and middle-class residents of the commonwealth.” I can see both sides, but one thing is for sure: the outcome has the potential to have major long-term implications for financial aid at private colleges and universities nationwide.

Speaking of policy shift implications, The Dartmouth provided its readers with an inside look at some of the aftermath of the recent campus-level policy shift that reinstated the standardized testing requirement. Campus safety officers were present at a “tense” meeting between 50-70 students and President Sian Beilock, during which the students discussed their (negative) reactions to the recent decision. However, it is important to note that this group of students does not necessarily represent the entire 4,500 student body.

OFFICE HAPPENINGS

Where oh where are the Common Application ® essay prompts? We have now passed last year’s record-breaking late essay release date and our juniors are ready to get started! Some communication from the Common Application ® organization as to what to expect moving forward would be appreciated 😊

In other news, I’m continuing our first round of winter check-in meetings with juniors and helping them finalize some of their upcoming college visits. Virginia public school students have an upcoming day off on March 5 as a result of the presidential primary, and this is a great time for a college visit. After all, there are relatively few opportunities to see colleges in session without having to miss school!

One of the other topics we discuss at these check-in meetings is standardized testing progress, and we got some frustrating news last week - one of the high schools that a lot of our students attend has a prom date conflict with the April ACT. I absolutely hate when this happens (we see it more often with the May SAT), and it’s a great reminder for all students to look up the dates of any special end-of-year events in advance to check for standardized testing conflicts. Remember that there’s the April ACT, May SAT, May AP exams, the June SAT, and the June ACT!

Have a great week - fingers crossed that we have essay prompts on which to report in our next blog entry!

Four Plans High School Juniors Should Make This Month

Hey Juniors, we’ve got plans for you this month! February is an important time to “get the ball rolling” on your college admissions process. In fact, there are a few sneaky deadlines creeping up that we don’t want to pass you by. To help you get organized, we’ve put together a list of four big college plans you should make this month. So break out your Google calendar and to-do lists, and get to work!

plan #1: sat or act registration

It might feel like only yesterday that you took the PSAT, but now it’s time to sign up for the real deal. Don’t let February slip by without registering for the SAT or ACT. There are a few testing dates available throughout the spring and early summer. Registration typically closes 4-5 weeks prior to a test, so make sure to sign up early! 

As you consider your options, weigh your academic responsibilities and extracurricular commitments. For example, will you have to study for five AP exams this spring? Then maybe the May 6th SAT isn’t the best date for you. Are you already enrolled in a soccer camp that conflicts with the June 10 ACT? Well, then you better sign up for the April test.

Still not convinced you need to register now? Then check out this reality check. The registration deadline for the March SAT is Friday, February 10: that’s only eight days away! 

plan #2: standardized testing study schedule

Once you’ve got your SAT or ACT testing date on the calendar, take some time this month to devise your study plan. You might even want to gather some friends and start a study group. If you need help getting yourself organized, the College Board has information on how to set up an SAT study group and provides a sample study plan. For those planning to take the ACT, there are free study resources available here. We also love Khan Academy, which offers plenty of guidance for both tests. 

If you are interested in adding a prep course or tutor to your study plan, research your options now! Classes and tutors book up quickly during the spring, and we are happy to recommend tutors and courses that have been helpful to our students in the past (private tutoring is without question the best way to prepare if it’s in the budget!).

plan #3: spring break college Visits

So many families wait until summer to begin touring colleges, but did you know that spring break is an ideal time for campus visits? With school still in session, you’ll be able to experience the “hustle and bustle” of college life at the height of the semester. The crowds of students in the quad, the vibrant classrooms, the events in the Student Center- they can all give you a good sense of campus culture and environment. 

College visits can also be useful as you continue to build and refine your college list. When you experience campuses for yourself, you get a better idea of what you like - and don’t like- and which factors are most important to you in a school. 

There is also no question that students who go on in-person visits have a much easier time (yes, that’s italicized and underlined for a reason) with their “Why this school” essays! Michigan and Wisconsin might seem the same from online info sessions, and while those can be very useful in their own right, it can be hard to capture a sense of place - or in teenage speak, “a vibe” - from that type of programming. On the other hand, in-person visits will help you discover the nuances of different environments. There’s nothing like walking through the tunnel onto the field at The Big House or enjoying Babcock ice cream while watching the sun set across Lake Mendota!

Don’t worry, though, if you don’t have much time or can’t coordinate a long-distance trip. You can always schedule a spring tour at a local college. It might not be at the top of your list (or maybe not on your list at all), but the school can still provide valuable points of comparison for the future.

plan #4: Summer opportunities

Now that the idea of college is starting to feel really real, you’ll want to think about how you can use your summer to prepare for the future. Whether you want to gain experience doing medical research in a lab or explore the field of journalism, there’s an opportunity for just about every interest. Visit our database for comprehensive lists of teen internships, volunteer projects, and pre-college programs available for Summer 2023.

Some of our most recent postings include an opportunity to work for NASA and to conduct research on psychological traumas. Pretty cool, huh? The only problem is that deadlines are approaching fast. Many programs will close their applications in mid to late February, so get to work on those summer plans!