Our Blog

October 14, 2014

Too many students fail to complete optional parts of an application, and severely hinder their admissions prospects in the process. Optional statements demonstrate interest and provide an additional opportunity...

October 6, 2014

In Back to the Future II, Marty McFly travels from 1985 to 2015 and is shocked to learn that a bottle of Pepsi costs $50. With Pepsi bottles sitting...

August 26, 2014

More is better  Applicants often feel that more is inherently better when it comes to their application file and proceed to send along everything from editorials penned for the...

August 12, 2014

Two caveats, before we dish out the advice. First, as readers of our blog know, we do not advocate over-focusing on highly selective schools. Yet we also recognize that...

August 6, 2014

When free agent Carmelo Anthony was being heavily recruited by the Los Angeles Lakers, the seven-time NBA all star entered the Staples Center to the ultimate red carpet treatment. ...

July 30, 2014

In the past few years, and increasing number of selective colleges and universities have adopted test-optional policies, no longer requiring students to submit their standardized test scores.  Institutions eliminating...

July 26, 2014

New York, NY— Andrew’s research continues to make waves in the national media. His study was recently showcased in a CBS Moneywatch article discussing the effects of test-optional admission policies....

July 23, 2014

We frequently receive questions from students and families in reference to PayScale.com’s new college rankings, which sorts institutions on the basis of a calculated 30-year return on investment (ROI)....

July 14, 2014

Attempts to navigate the world of private college scholarships often result in students and families left adrift in the proverbial mile-wide, inch-deep ocean of cyberspace. Let the following tips...

June 30, 2014

Washington, DC— The American Educational Research Association (AERA) recently awarded Michael with an Education Research Service Project (ERSP) grant for his work focusing on college access for undocumented students.  The...

June 20, 2014

Washington, DC— Immediately following its release, Andrew’s study of test-optional admission policies is grabbing national media attention.  The study was featured in Inside Higher Ed, one of the leading national...

June 19, 2014

Athens, GA— Andrew’s research on test-optional admission policies was recently published in Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, which is widely considered as one of the top journals in all...

June 17, 2014

Listening to the mainstream media, one might conclude that getting into college has never been a more competitive or harrowing venture. With the exception of a scattering of hyper-selective...

June 13, 2014

Athens, GA— Andrew and Michael’s research focusing on student debt was recently published in the latest issue of The Review of Higher Education, one of the premier journals in the...

June 5, 2014

In recent posts, we urged students to approach the college admission process with a “big picture” perspective and to consider long-term goals before “breaking the bank” on an expensive...

May 29, 2014

Welcome to the second installment of College Transitions’ “So you want to be a…” series. Designed to help career-minded high school students think intelligently about their postsecondary journeys, these...

May 27, 2014

Andrew was recently invited to contribute a chapter to the International Handbook for Policy Research in School-Based Counseling.  Andrew’s chapter will focus on using statistical methodologies and existing datasets...

May 7, 2014

So much misinformation about the college admissions process is transmitted through the “you have to do x, y, and z” admonitions of peers, relatives, media outlets, and message boards....

April 30, 2014

As college admission consultants, we are aware of the negative labels attached to our profession. In a field occasionally described as exorbitant, unregulated, and even predatory, we work hard...

April 25, 2014

Michael served as a panelist at “Prepárate: Educating Latinos for the Future of America,” a conference sponsored by the College Board bringing together policy makers, higher education researchers, K-12 administrators...