Heard About The New ACT Changes?
Hot off the presses:
The ACT is changing!
What are the changes?
When will they go into effect?
What do they mean for your kiddo?
Tune in tomorrow night, Wednesday July 17 -- our head tutor Marissa U will answer these questions and more, including your questions -- we'll be live in chat.
Here's where to sign up for tomorrow's event:
- Andy "Scoop" Lockwood
P.S. You are hereby requested to forward this valuable invitation to any and all of your pals who could use this information!
A Few Financial Aid & Essays Faux Pas
Good morning - two quickie announcements.
1. A Few Financial Aid and Essay Faux Pas - Live at 10 AM
Join me and Pearl for our weekly program, College Coffee Talk, live on our Facebook page.
Today's topic:
A Few Financial Aid and Essay Faux Pas
2. FREE SAT or ACT Class Promo Expires Today
Announcing: a free, no-obligation "test drive" of ANY of our upcoming SAT or ACT prep classes, either in-person or online. Here's how it works:
1. Check out our schedule in July and August.
2. Pick the class you want to sample, for free.
3. After the class, our head tutor, Marissa will offer our absolute best deal we can give and still keep the lights on and landlord happy. This is a one-time, "exploding" offer that expires 24 hours after class.
4. There is no obligation or pressure to buy anything, just the forthcoming incentive to enroll with us.
Enrollment expires at 5pm today. I'm not sure we'll try this again.
Why are we doing this?
We just moved in...
The Test Optional Lie
Although the numbers are slowly dwindling, approximately 75% of colleges allow applicants to apply without sharing their SAT or ACT.
Who benefits from this policy? The answer may surprise you.
I've said it before and I'll say it again: 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 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 throw in an application just for kicks....
Free SAT or ACT Class
We haven't done something like this in over a year, but I figured it was high time to dust if off and roll it out again. :)
Announcing: a free, no-obligation "test drive" of ANY of our upcoming SAT or ACT prep classes, either in-person or online. Here's how it works:
1. Check out our schedule in July and August.
2. Pick the class you want to sample, for free.
3. After the class, Marissa will offer our absolute best deal we can give and still keep the lights on and landlord happy. This is a one-time, "exploding" offer that expires 24 hours after class.
4. There is no obligation or pressure to buy anything, just the forthcoming incentive to enroll with us.
Why are we doing this?
We just moved into brand spanking new offices in June, and are excited to fill the space with eager young, fresh students who want to CRUSH the SAT or ACT!
(And our online classes. :)
Here's where to get all the details, and sign up. This no-rise, free test-drive offer expires Monday at 5pm.
FREE...
Should You Take the SAT or ACT?
The new SAT caused a wee bit of a kerfuffle when it came out this year, but things seem to be in the process of stabilizing. However, there are still issues re: "adaptive testing," the availability of legitimate SAT practice questions from the College Board (there aren't so many...yet) and more.
The college application process is stressful and confusing enough, especially this past year with the Department of Education's financial aid fiasco, plus plummeting admissions rates, not to mention all the Israel-Palestine controversies raging on campuses coast to coast.
So yeah, you sure picked a great time to send your child to college! Jeez.
Permit me, if you will, Ito help you eliminate one source of stress: figuring out which test -- the SAT or ACT -- is best...for your son or daughter.
Tonight, our head tutor Marissa U will host a sneak preview class, online, that walks you through each section of each test, offering strategies and tips (and traps to avo...
SAT v ACT - Which Is Best?
It seems like more colleges abandon their test-optional policies every week. Harvard and CalTech. Brown and Georgia Tech. I believe we're still in the beginning stages of a standardized testing comeback.
Why? Mostly because rampant grade inflation makes it super hard for admissions officers to gauge the college readiness of applicants. When everyone has a 94 average, how to you separate the wheat from the chaff?
A full discussion of that topic would take too long, but it appears that that the (new, digital) SAT and ACT are back to help resolve that issue.
The SAT changed formats earlier this year, switching from paper to digital. Reviews were mixed, to put it mildly, making it more confusing for students wondering which one to prep for, and take, in order to boost their chances of getting accepted to the colleges they want to attend...
...and clean up with fat, juicy scholarships :)
That's why we're running an SAT and ACT preview class tomorrow night, walking...
Applications and Essays
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:
How Not to Screw Up Your College Applications and Essays This Summer.
Feel free to pass this note along to any of your friends who could use this info!
Grab a cup of joe and we'll see you at 10am EST (recorded if you can't make it)
- Andy Lockwood
"Follow Your Passion?" Blech
A reporter contacted me the other week for help with a project he was doing on college return on investment.
I think he got more than he bargained for -- arguably more of a rant than an interview.
Take a look for yourself if you want to hear my old man, get off my lawn comments about following your passion and other nonsense:
P.S. Four more seats opened up for tonight's IN-PERSON (not a webinar) workshop in our office in Glen Head.
If you're local to Long Island and you want to meet face to face: Register here
Here's what's on tap:
*The inconvenient truth about what it takes -- beyond solid grades and near-perfect SATs, "passion projects" and other nonsense -- to get accepted to a top college today (WARNING: Not "Politically Correct")
*Financial Aid "Loopholes" - how to legally "hide" your money from the financial aid office
*How to avoid Admissions Armageddon and build a balanced, strategic college list
*Are there any ...
We're Having a Problem
We're having a problem with tomorrow's in-office workshop: out of the 25 people registered, we've gotten confirms for only eight. So I have no idea who's coming to our office (not a webinar) tomorrow night.
If you're the parent of a 9th, 10th or 11th grader, I'd like to invite you to come to our brand spanking new office. I'll do whatever it takes to make room for you.
I'll even give you a gift for coming, a copy of one of my latest books. Maybe I'll even sign It for you! Ooooo!
Here's the syllabus for tomorrow's class (in office, not a webinar):
*The inconvenient truth about what it takes -- beyond solid grades and near-perfect SATs, "passion projects" and other nonsense -- to get accepted to a top college today (WARNING: Not "Politically Correct")
*Financial Aid "Loopholes" - how to legally "hide" your money from the financial aid office
*How to avoid Admissions Armageddon and build a balanced, strategic college list
*Are there any Safety S...
Local College Planning "Secrets" Workshop
Announcing: "Secrets" of How to Triple Odds of Acceptance to Your Dream College...
...and how to comfortably afford tuition...
...even if you think there's no way your family can possibly qualify for any type of financial aid.
This coming Wednesday June 26th, we're conducting our maiden voyage college planning workshop in our brand spanking new offices, live! (Not a webinar).
If you're the parent of a 9th, 10th or 11th grader with dreams of attending a top college, I created this presentation EXACTLY for you! Here's a closer look at what's on tap:
*The inconvenient truth about what it takes -- beyond solid grades and near-perfect SATs, "passion projects" and other nonsense -- to get accepted to a top college today (WARNING: Not "Politically Correct")
*Financial Aid "Loopholes" - how to legally "hide" your money from the financial aid office
*How to avoid Admissions Armageddon and build a balanced, strategic college list
*Are there any Safety Schools ...