Guidance Reduces Anxiety Chole was tearful.  I had known since she was a motivated sophomore at East Lyme High School.   Generally confident and having an overall great high school experience, she was now entering her senior year and having a meltdown. We had worked together for SAT prep.  She thought she had college under control […]

College and Career Planning Advice from The Learning Consultants I was working with Dylan, a young man from Lyme-Old Lyme. He was really anxious: what if I choose the wrong career?  Will I doomed for misery? “What have you discussed with your parents?” “Nothing.  They just say to do whatever I want.” Parents often wonder […]

I have been a member of the World Future Society for nearly 20 years. Anyone can join.  So it means nothing more than a long-standing interest in the future.  For me, this has been an interest in helping young adults gain admission to colleges of their choice and pursue careers of their interest. My first […]

The Learning Consultants“The Learning Consultants has become a public health service for Connecticut students and their parents.” So wrote a well-known public health physician from Yale as she described our college counseling, tutoring, and SAT preparation services in an email to friends. I loved reading that line. It made me laugh at first, but more […]

College-to-Career Counseling in Old Lyme, Connecticut: Finding Direction in a Rapidly Changing World The world of work is changing faster than most families expected. I have an oddly optimistic view for my clients in Shoreline, CT. Chaos creates opportunity.  Really. I’ll explain my own path to give even a touch of possibility. I was an […]

Why Connecticut Students Should Finish SAT Preparation Before Senior Year Every year at The Learning Consultants, I meet seniors who are scrambling — either during the summer before senior year or in the fall — to raise their SAT scores. By that point, they finally know where they want to apply. They understand the level […]

“Life doesn’t stop.” Alana, a mom from East Lyme noted. Her son had indicated a desire to pause between high school and college. To be clear, I am all for gap years.  But similar to Alana – who was not theoretically against gap years – the pause would have to be affirmative and not just […]

My students in my SAT classes might be cursing me today. But many are doing what I suggested: taking an SAT practice test. The Shock of the SAT: Why Every Student Should Take a Practice Test First In teaching Shoreline, CT students over the years, I have observed what we all know: The challenge with […]

College Admissions Counseling in What’s Changed — and What Still Matters Most I’ve been guiding students through the college admissions process since the turn of the century. When I started working with high school students from Connecticut’s shoreline communities, the admissions formula was relatively clear. Grades and test scores led the way. Activities mattered. Essays […]

Connecticut’s Math Crisis: Why Shoreline Students Are Falling Behind The numbers are troubling — and the stakes couldn’t be higher. Math has never mattered more. From artificial intelligence and data science to finance, engineering, and entrepreneurship, mathematical proficiency is increasingly the gateway to the most in-demand, highest-paying careers of the 21st century. Yet right here […]