It’s supposed to be the jolliest time of year, but perhaps not for everyone. With college admissions being consistently more confusing, and acceptance rates continuing to plummet at some schools, the holidays can wind up being a season of bad news for some students. Perhaps they had their heart set on an Early Decision school, or really wanted to be admitted to another school. When the news isn’t great, it’s easy to spiral down into a sad, disappointment vortex. So here are some of our top reminders for students feeling the pain of college admissions decisions this time of year.
Have you heard that some colleges are test-optional? Perhaps you did but weren’t sure what it meant. In this blog, we will cover the basics you need to know and common pitfalls to avoid.
From time to time I like to tap into the wealth of knowledge and experience of the Campus Bound staff, many of whom are former college admission counselors, and ask them questions that could provide some inside information that could potentially help you. This month I asked, “What was the best college essay you ever read, and what made it stand out to you?” Here are their responses:
You have likely heard the terms before- weighted and unweighted GPA- but the definition of those varies significantly from high school to high school and college to college. In this blog, we will go over the important details to know and shed some light on this complicated topic.
Easier said than done, we know! The college process, for those entering it, can feel overwhelming and scary. But if there is one thing we’ve learned over the years of working in admissions, helping families as college counselors, and as parents going through the process ourselves (many of us additionally have kids who have recently applied to college!) is that trust is the key.
As the title of this blog suggests, I allow my 6 year old to walk to school. In this era of parents driving kids to school, or even bus stops, I get some serious side-eye when I tell other parents that. Now, let’s be clear. He has an 8 year old brother that he walks with. School is about a quarter of a mile from our house with all sidewalks and no major streets to cross. Still, it’s a decision, much like allowing children to play at a playground alone, that could get me thrown in “mom jail.”
At Campus Bound, we typically don’t advise students to focus on specific colleges until junior year of high school. We provide more information about that in this recent blog post. However, some eager sophomores may want to get a jump start on certain things, including the college recruitment process for student athletes. In this blog post, we explain why an early start is helpful and the tasks that can get done now to ease the process down the road.
We may be biased, okay we are definitely biased, but Campus Bound students are the best. We are so lucky to have worked with some pretty amazing students over the years. For this week’s blog, we decided to tap into the experience and knowledge of our former Campus Bound clients to see what advice they have for students currently going through the process, or who are about to go through it.
You’ve worked hard on your college list and applications. You researched schools, visited as many as possible and have even written your essays and submitted all, if not most, of your applications. But this time of year, the inevitable “What if?” can set in. Parents can succumb to it just as easily as students. “What if the ideal college is out there and we just haven’t found it?” “What if I don’t get accepted anywhere?” “What if we don’t get any financial aid?”
You’ve been at college for one semester now, or maybe longer, but you are thinking it’s just not the right place for you. Here are some things to consider if you are thinking about transferring.