Journalists do not work with teens and young adults.  As such, their articles about the value of college come from a theoretical perspective and almost always are off the mark.  On the subject of the amount of money that parents pay for college, there is no doubt that college costs have become out of control.  […]

Given our college counseling work, I have deep anecdotal research on (1) where students from Southeast CT apply to college and (2) what parents say about college behind closed doors versus what they say in public. Watch what people do more than what they say.  You can tell what they really care about.  Many strong […]

The SAT is the fairest part of the college admissions process.  For years, I have kept relatively quiet whenever I hear people complain about the SAT’s fairness.  Yes.. I know that any defense that a tutoring company makes is self-serving.  The position, however, is also entirely accurate. Do those complaining about the fairness understand why the […]

After “Ivy Decision Day” the bulk of college admissions decisions from most colleges have been made.  I get many e-mails regarding the results from both our college counseling and SAT clients. The unsurprising news, at least to the knowledge, the numbers matter…. enormously.  Those with a lower than median Academic Index – each school has […]

“Because people care.  So you should too.”  Dr. Spady, one of my graduate school deans said to a younger, more idealistic, and more naive me.  I was in an Ivy league law school and discussing getting a second Ivy league degree with Dr. Spady who ran the Fels School of Government.  He was convincing me […]

There are many unfortunate truths about the scandal: (1) Inequality for the wealthy (2) Some people cheat (3) Getting jobs/gaining admission is not always a meritocracy But… is there anyone over 30, who looks at the above as truths that are no more revealing than saying that the Earth has water? The surprise, in fact, […]

“I am shocked to find out gambling is going on.”  Perhaps only fans of Casablanca will get the reference.  But much like the audience laughter stemming from Renault’s pretend surprise that corruption occurred, my reaction to the college admissions scandal was anything but a surprise. That we have inequality, that we have corruption, that we have […]

“What is a good SAT score?” I have been asked this question thousands of times. “Where do you want to go to college?” That would be my most common response. “The SATs are relevant in a practical sense for one single reason: college admission. A good score helps you gain admission to the colleges that […]