College Advice

“It’s her life.” So said a well-meaning set of parents from Madison, CT.   Their daughter snapped at them several times over the previous year when college or the SATs were brought up.   The parents decided not to broach the subject again.  The end result: the parents and the daughter were sitting in my office in […]

I had a wonderful lunch with a student who graduated from Madison Connecticut’s Daniel Hand High School about ten years ago.   He had been an intern with The Learning Consultants and, as such, we have stayed in touch through the years.  I met my young friend through our SAT class and, as such, I know […]

The college value question is often addressed by people who do not work with high school students. Strangely, they tend to address the metaphorically similar question “is college worth it at all? Most of the writers are in the work force – more often than not in the high tech space – and seem to […]

I am often the first person who discusses money in the context of salaries, career paths, and college majors with 17 year old college counseling clients in Shoreline, CT.  Or maybe I’m the first person that many of these students listen to but, regardless, it is always surprising to me when a student-client expresses that […]

“Does it really matter where you go to college?”  While I realize the question relates to whether one will be conventionally successful and I politely respond as such when asked.  Here’s what I’m really thinking:  Your child’s whole external world is changing.  Colleges vary radically.  To approach college for your child with such a cavalier […]

One of our Old Saybrook friends stopped the conversation that a few parents were having about college.  That suited me since I am immersed in college counseling and would prefer a different topic during a party.  But her response concerned me: “I don’t want to think about it.”  Her daughter is a junior. I sympathize […]

My friend who lives in Fairfield County asked me for SAT help for his freshman daughter.  I noted that most students in Shoreline,  Connecticut start junior year.  “Not around here”, he said.  We laughed at the differences between where live, even though, relatively speaking it is a very small space on the map. The college conversation […]

“It is different now.”  Ron a father of a junior from Guilford High School, noted when his wife suggested that maybe they were making to big a deal about the college process.  Ron is an executive in a multinational company and is also involved in a New Haven not-for-profit organization that helps those in challenging […]

Among our college counseling clientele,  I have observed an uptick in anxiety. There is significant evidence pointing to overuse/misuse of technology (texting/SnapChat/Instagram) as the main reason for the increase in anxious teenagers. There is significant evidence pointing to the restructuring unpredictable economy as the main reason in the increase of anxious adults.  The Great Recession […]