Happy Sunday. I'm back from the office where I was torturing, um, overseeing a client take a practice test.  Kudos to him for spending a sunny Sunday morning to bone up on his test taking skills in advance of his next exam.

Even if his mom forced him.

Quick announcement about our online, GUARANTEED SAT prep class.   It kicks off tomorrow Monday, 8/28.  (Followed by the ACT class, which starts in September.)   

If you sign up for the SAT or ACT prep course now, you can qualify for an instant,  $115 "scholarship" (discount) with the coupon code CRUSH2023 while we still have availability.

The classes are more like "group tutoring" sessions because they're EXTREMELY small. 

Here's where to learn more about the class, the puttin' our money where our mouth is, no-risk First Class Guarantee, more:

Online Group Tutoring

- Andy "Sunday Special" Lockwood

P.S.  We also offer 1:1 tutoring, subject to availability.  Those...

I'm sad to report that I've had 4-5 conversations lately about last minute "emergencies."   None of these exchanges involved actual, bona fide, life-threatening emergencies of course.

First, I'm a college advisor.  Not a cardiologist.  Or bail bondsman.  Those guys have real emergencies.

My fauxmergencies involve sudden realizations that, yes, the school year is starting and all best laid plans 'o mice and kids of getting college applications, essays, or doing well on the SAT or ACT have gone awry. 

But wait, there will be more fake emergencies, right around Early Decision, Early Action and financial aid deadlines, and frantic phone calls and emails requesting help.  Some will come in the day of said deadlines.  (We don't bother to return those calls.)

Harken unto me and listen to my best possible advice I can give anyone in 12th, 11th, 10th grades or younger:  there are no surprise deadlines.  All colleges publish...

Good morning!

I'm in the midst of three college drop-offs over a grueling,10 day stretch, but wanted to tell you about two financial aid-related stories that caught my bleary eyes over the past couple of days.

The first was about alleged price fixing among elite colleges.

The second related to incredible, nauseating amounts of cash spent by public universities on the most STUPID stuff.

Sadly, neither of these stories is breaking news. This stuff has been going on longer than the 21+ years I've been a college advisor.  

The first story was about U Chicago paying $13.5M to settle allegations of financial aid price-fixing.  I'm embarrassed to say that I don't quite get the plaintiff's point. According to the summary I read, it looked like the allegation was that U Chicago colluded with 16 colleges, including Brown, Columbia, MIT and Duke. 

But the collusion was not about U Chicago sharing their applicants' files and coming up with identical awards, they way the...

If you like money, you'll want to watch the interview I just did with my friend and colleague, scholarship search expert and bundle of energy Jean O'Toole.

Here's the scoop on what we covered:

• What's the deal with those weirdo, gimmicky, obscure or just plain wack-a-doo special scholarships that everyone talks about?
• Which scholarship search websites are actually worth spending time on?
• How to sniff out a scholarship scam and avoid getting ripped off
• The best time to start your search for scholarships (this will surprise you)
• The oddball reason corporations need you to take their scholarship money
• How to win a scholarship for an "Invisible Disability"
• A ninja way to "raid" high school scholarships -- Pretty sneaky, sis!
• Are there really scholarships for families who don't qualify for financial aid?
• The biggest mistake families make in the scholarship search process
• More

This was a high energy, high octane interview, so I hope you check it out and get ready to take a whole lotta...

ACT and SAT Group Tutoring

Coupon Code: PREVIEW23

BREAKING -- the Common Application is out today!  

I haven't been this excited since the new phone books arrived (bonus points if you got the movie reference).

Putting my giddiness aside, today's the day when Class of 2024 college-bound kiddos can get a clickin' and a clackin' on their little computers and officially start the college application process.  Some thoughts:

• There's no race.  Even for rolling admissions colleges.   
• However, there's no need to wait until hours before deadline to start your applications.  These easily avoidable faux emergencies occur in November and December.  Today's August 1, but those deadlines will sneak up on thousands. Maybe even some of my readers (not you of course :)
• Generally, the Common App is straight forward. The parts that require some thought and strategy are 1. the personal statement, 2. supplemental essays and 3. the Activities Section.  Work...

Why should you take the SAT or ACT if colleges are test-optional?

If you don't submit your SAT or ACT, how do admissions officers decide whether to accept or reject?

Should you submit your scores to some colleges but not others?

Do some colleges prefer one over the other (SAT v ACT)?

How do you know "Which Test is Best"...for your son or daughter?

Is it ok to sing a sad song with an upbeat tempo?

These (except one) are just some of the near-daily questions our head tutor, Marissa U and I get here at our college advisory firm.  This is just tip tippity-top of the iceberg, too.

That's why we're doing a live and unplugged open (and free) webinar tomorrow night, Monday July 31, where you can get these and your other questions answered, time permitting.

Here's how it works:

1. Sign up (click that large blue button, below)
2. Answer the 1-question survey about your "burning question" that you want answered (optional)
3. Show up Monday night (you'll get the link once you sign up)

It's...

Registrants for tonight's live Q&A sesh on the SAT and ACT have already pre-submitted some good questions, among them:

How do I figure out which test my daughter should take?

Is the SAT or ACT better for a kid who Is stronger in math?

My son is not good at science.  Should he avoid the ACT?

Why can't she get a good score on the SAT, her grades in school are much higher!

There's more, much more.  If you have these or other questions about the SAT or ACT, consider this an official invitation from moi to you to attend tonight's live webinar.  

You don't have to bring anything. But if you're stressed out, feel free to mix yourself a nice summer cocktail.  We don't judge.

Here's where to sign up, please spread the word if you have friends who need this info.

WEBIBNAR REGISTRATION

Carpe College!

- Andy Lockwood

P.S.  Our classes and tutoring options are listed on our site, LockwoodTestPrep.com. 

But don't sign up for anything now,...

I get this question almost every time I send an email about our SAT and ACT tutoring options, and yesterday was no exception.  The question:

"Do you even need to submit your SAT or ACT anymore?

The answer, my friend, is blowin' herein...

There is a difference between APPLYING test-optional, and GETTING IN test-optional.

Colleges are a little cute about this. They don't readily release their stats on the number of admitted students who submitted their scores.

They do, however, brag about how many students with great or perfect scores they rejected, like Stanford did last year.

How do you decide whether to submit your scores?  Here are my thoughts and hunches:

• Test-optional policies were designed to increase minority enrollment at selective colleges.  The increase, so far:  a big fat 1%
• Admissions offices used test-optional policies to recruit other classes of students, in addition to underrepresented minorities:  legacies, athletes, international...

Greetings from Cape Cod.  I'll be quicker than greased lightening:  our online and in-person SAT classes start tomorrow, Tuesday, and Wednesday (7/18 and 7/19), respectively. If you enroll now you'll save a cool $100.

Just go here for the online class and here for the in-person, group tutoring class -- use coupon code CRUSH2023 for either.  (Just wait for the shopping cart price to update before you check out.)

Higher scores mean greater odds of admission, even in a so-called test optional world -- and better chances of winning scholarships.

Summer is the best time to prep, there aren't any school-year distractions.

Sign up today!

-Andy Lockwood

P.S.  Yes, we tutor for the ACT too.  Everything is listed on our test prep website:

https://www.lockwoodtestprep.com/

Something funny dawned on me the other day when I was preparing my notes for our upcoming bootcamp session.

A few months ago, the college advisor multiverse had their you-know-whats in a bunch over the upcoming, predicted use of Chat GPT for college essays. The sky was falling. But now it's like this never happened.

These days, all the buzz is about the Supreme Court's recent decision that the current practice of race-conscious admissions violates the Constitution. Current practice.

I want you to understand something: the Court did not shut the door on underrepresented minorities at the country's elite colleges. Instead, the majority suggested that colleges must recruit differently. Individually, not based on race.

One of the two obvious methods we all expect college admissions departments to implement has to do with supplemental essays. That likely means that there will be more opportunities for students to talk about their cultural and ethnic "lived experiences".

(I can't believe...