How Important is "Leadership" on the Common App?
I'm -ss deep reviewing our clients' college applications, and have noticed one thing they all have in common:
Everyone applying to college is a leader!
Apparently, followers don't go to college.
I'm being SLIGHTLY facetious, but there is a point embedded in my snark:
If everyone is a leader, how important or special can leadership be to an admissions officer?
What if you're not the president, vice-president or one of 17 co-founders of a club? Can you still stand out on your college applications?
I'll take a stab at answering that question, tonight, in a new workshop called "Late Stage College Planning".
The class is free and we're not set to record it. Nothing will be sold, either.
Here are additional topics I'm planning to cover:
*The Inconvenient, Politically Incorrect Truth About What It Takes to Get Into an Ivy or Any Top College -- What do admissions officers REALLY want?
SAT and ACT Strategies -- When should you go "Test Optional" and when should you reveal
...Good vs Bad Extracurriculars
Getting into an Ivy or other top college is about far more than merely curve-breaking high grades and standardized test scores. Harvard and a handful of other super-competitive colleges brag every year about how many applicants with perfect scores didn't manage to get in.
So what does it take to get into an Ivy or near-Ivy college?
A superior academic record -- grades, scores and "rigah" as we say up in Boston -- is important. But that's only 60% of the equation, give or take.
The other 40% is composed of stuff that's out of your control, such as race (still), ethnicity, your parents' educational and economic background...
...and stuff that's IN your control, like extracurricular activities.
There are two types of extracurriculars, Typical and Atypical.
The latter is the type that needs to be perfected to give yourself the best shot at getting accepted where you want to be accepted.
What's an example of an atypical extracurricular activity?
It's not being a member of the Na...
College Admissions "Secrets"
Summer's unofficially over, and if you have a high school junior, sophomore or younger, you might feel like reality has slapped you in the kisser harder than an Emma Navarro backhand.
Yep, the college process is coming atcha, like a fast approaching train.
And like a train, it arrives on its own schedule, and departs on its own schedule -- whether or not you are "ready".
This past year was, hands down, the CRAY-ZEE-IST year in my 22+ as a college advisor, between the Supreme Court declaring affirmative action in college admissions to be unconstitutional, campus protests after the October 7 attack on Israel, increased college applications and dropping admissions rates, huuuuuuge problems with FAFSA and getting financial aid into the hands of families who qualify for it, and uncertainty about test-optional policies as they started to lose favor.
Other than that, things went pretty smoothly!
That's why I'm holding a free online class this Thursday night, called "Late Stage College Pl...
Free SAT / ACT class tonight
Hi there,
If you have questions about the brand spanking new SAT, and/or the brand newer/spanking-er ACT that JUST came out three weeks ago. tune in for tonight's impromptu, live SAT- ACT Preview class.
It starts at 8pm EST.
Here's the classroom link, no registration necessary. Just show up at 8pm (bookmark the link so you don't forget):
- Andy"At the Test Prep Movies" Lockwood
P.S. Please share this with anyone you think could use this info.
P.P.S. One more no-risk, freebie for you: a "Test Drive", Try Before You Buy actual free SAT or ACT Class.
(This is an actual class, totally different than tonight's walkthrough of both tests.)
How to Support Your Kiddo Without Overstepping
College Coffee Talk | Free SAT & ACT Class
Good morning!
Two announcements:
1. We're hitting the airwaves this morning -- 10:00am EST -- for College Coffee Talk, our live show about college admissions and financial aid news that you can use!
Here's what's on tap for today, it's a real doozy, bound to make some parents a little miffed:
How can parents support their children in the application process without overstepping?
In other words...
How not to be a helicopter parent even if you think nothing will get done if you don't micromanage your child until they're 35 years old.
2. Today's the last day for our Free SAT and ACT class promo, a/k/a Try Before You Buy. Here's where to sign up.
Marissa will be doing a live Q&A tonight at 8pm EST. I'll send out the link for that session this afternoon.
Here's where to join us live on College Coffee Talk, in a few minutes, 10am sharp!
- Andy "Caffeine Addict" Lockwood
The Test Optional Lie
Free SAT and ACT Class | Last Minute College Advising
You may have heard, more and more colleges are abandoning their test-optional policies. And for the colleges that still let you conceal your SAT and ACT scores, there's more to the story.
Plain and simple...
There's a difference between APPLYING test optional versus being ACCEPTED test optional
The three most important academic components of a college application are 1. GPA, 2. rigor of course load and 3. standardized test scores. These three factors comprise approximately 60% of the entire college application.
Simple logic: if you remove one of these three academic components -- test scores -- the other two factors take on greater weight. So do the non-academic ones (40% of the application).
Mass marketing by colleges has created a tsunami of applications, year after year. But are those applicants from QUALIFIED students?
Or is a huge chunk of them from kids who think, "Princeton doesn't need test scores, so I'll thr...
Financial Aid Options for Affluent Families?
Good morning!
We're hitting the airwaves this morning -- 10:00am EST -- for College Coffee Talk, our live show about college admissions and financial aid news that you can use!
Here's what's on tap for today:
What financial aid options are available for affluent families?
Plus, the latest (crappy) updates on the FAFSApocalypse, and how they'll affect financial aid this coming year.
Grab a cup of joe and we'll see you at 10am EST (recorded if you can't make it)
- Andy Lockwood
Key factors wanted for colleges applicants?
Good morning!
We're hitting the airwaves this morning -- 10:00am EST -- for College Coffee Talk, our live show about college admissions and financial aid news that you can use!
Today I'll be answering an oft-asked question, "What are the key factors that colleges look for in applicants?"
Join us this morning (or on replay) to get a little bit of college clarity out of chaos! :)
Please feel free to share this with anyone who could use this information. You and they will not get it anywhere else, promise!
- Andy Lockwood
A Big Common App Mistake to Avoid
Good morning!
We're hitting the airwaves this morning -- 10:00am EST -- for College Coffee Talk, our live show about college admissions and financial aid news that you can use!
Here's what's on tap for today:
*Mistakes to avoid on the Common Application Activities section, and
*More FAFSA problems expected this fall. (Ugh.)
Grab a cup of joe and we'll see you at 10am EST (recorded if you can't make it)
- Andy Lockwood
A Brief Common App Walkthrough
The new Common App is here!
I haven't been this excited since, well, last August 1.
I recorded a helpful but incomplete video walkthrough of some of the key aspects I felt should be highlighted.
If you have a 2025 grad, this video will save you a ton of time and stress, even if it bores you out of your skull.
- Andy "Calls 'Em Like I Sees 'Em" Lockwood
P.S. Here's something else that just arrived...
