Good morning!

At 10am EST this morning, we're tackling one of the biggest decisions college applicants struggle with every year:

Should you apply Early Decision, Early Action or Regular Decision?

I'll run you through the various and sundry considerations to help you determine the optimal way to apply, to give you (your kiddo) the best shot at getting accepted to his or her top choice college!  Yay.

It all goes down in a few minutes:  10:00am EST --  on College Coffee Talk, our live show about college admissions and financial aid news that you can use!  

(Recorded if you can't make it live).

Here's where to tune in:

College Coffee Talk

See you in a bit!

- Andy "French Roast" Lockwood

I messed up last night.

Based on the 5 star reviews and the comments and questions in the chat , it looked like last night's "Late Stage" College Planning webinar went over well.

However, at the end, I learned that I did something pretty stupid.  

When I mentioned that if anyone wanted a free College Strategy Session, all they had to do was click the green button, a couple of people replied:

"Where's the green button"

I didn't post it, somehow.  Impressive!

To make things right in the world again, I'm publishing a recording of the webinar momentarily, and will keep it up all weekend.  If you want to chat about our college advising services, there will be a button under the video recording.  (I mean it this time. :)

Here's where to go: 

Watch Replay

- Andy "Not That Tech Savvy"  Lockwood

P.S.  The topics on the webinar were...

*The Inconvenient, Politically Incorrect Truth About What It Takes to Get Into an Ivy or...

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?   

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...

Hi Ajay,

The Common Application opens tomorrow, August 1.  Senior year of high school for 2025 graduates is only a few weeks out.

If your kiddo's college essay writing efforts are, ahem, less than stellar and/or less than productive, you may want to do something about it before it's too late.

Otherwise, you're in for a month of three of stress, high blood pressure and fighting with your child over the d-mn essays and applications. 

Not fun.

We currently have five (5) spots left for the College Essay Lab, our service that is focused on helping your son or daughter write an essay that "sells".

An essay that advocates, persuasively, why he or she should be picked out of the "sea of sameness" of tens of thousands of near-identical (on paper) competitors.

The personal statement, and supplemental essays, are your child's last, best chance to make the case why he or she deserves to get in.

The Invisible Question

You won't find it anywhere on the Common Application, but this...