The lengths families went to make it seem like they earned admission to colleges like Stanford, Yale, and USC is shocking, but not the fact that people but their way in.  It is the worst kept secret in the college admissions world that it is pay to play, and this is part of the reason it is such an uphill battle for doing it the old fashioned way.   

At the most selective schools, anywhere from 2/3 to 3/4 of the spots are spoken for even before a school begins to accept applications.  In a class of 1,500, 1/3 are claimed by recruited athletes and 1/3+ are claimed by legacy families.  This means that 50,000 people are competing for the 500 remaining spots, which makes it a 1% acceptance rate for “normal” applicants.  But it gets worse, these 500 spots must be evenly dispersed across the country, the world, and all different backgrounds—they all cannot come from the same over qualified community.  The numbers are tough. 

These figures are not meant to discourage students from applying to selective colleges.  Rather, I want us to have a healthy mindset about the odds and what this process rewards: hard work, creativity, and a willingness to look outside the box to find paths that ensure our kids develop into healthy, happy, and financially independent adults.  Let's recognize the challenge we face and find ways to stand out and build interesting stories to develop a niche.  Learning how to navigate a competitive process by building a story is a life skill that will propel your kids to do amazing things well beyond college and that is the most important part of this process.
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We will continue to encourage your child to his/her best and provide any support that we can for your kids to build their brand and ensure that they have the best odds to earn admission to a college that is a great fit.  We are excited to see what we can accomplish together! 

Out of our hometown of Newport Beach, California, we were rocked by posts emerging on social media of a Nazi drinking game at a high school party. 

There are two things wrong with this: (1) Nazism and (2) underage drinking games caught on camera.  I am not going to delve into how offensive/dumb this was—but rather focus on what these types of incidents mean for this process. 69% of college admissions officers report snooping on social media to search for applicants.  Demonstrating support or approval of hateful ideology or illegal underage drinking is not what an applicant wants to be associated with. 

Applying to college is the culmination of building a brand over several years.  This brand should demonstrate work ethic, leadership, and an ability to contribute to a community.  All it takes is one offensive post, tweet, or inappropriate picture to tarnish a person’s brand for their life.  Your kids’ employers will search on social media to find them.  The people deciding whether they are admitted to their dream school will do the same.  Poor judgment at a minimum can be a disqualifier in a competitive process. Please remind your kids as I do to: (1) set their accounts to private and (2) do not post anything that could be considered offensive or in poor taste to a hyper sensitive person.  This includes liking posts or commenting on them. 
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How do you determine whether something is in poor taste?  I ask students if they would feel comfortable having their name and picture on the front cover of The New York Times and a copy of whatever was posted/liked/shared.  If the answer is no, there is your answer.  We live in an era where it is easy to offend.  When in doubt, be conservative in applying this test.  Our perception of what is "OK" tends to diminish with age.  Also remember, we can be found guilty by association.  If every person is doing something illegal, and your child happens to just be there in the picture, many reasonable minds would assume that your child is also participating in that activity as well. 

It is common for parents and students alike to ask, “How many community service hours do I need to get into college?”  The answer: there is no magic number.  For community service, regardless of whether you dream of attending Stanford or any other college, the commitment and the significance of your community involvement far outweighs the sheer number of hours you spend volunteering.

There is no magic number when it comes to the number of hours you need to get into college.  Colleges will ask for how long you have been involved with an activity, how many hours per week you are involved with it, and the number of weeks per year.  That is it. 

Yet in a stack of 100,000 applications, the time spent volunteering does not paint a picture of why it matters to you, or more importantly, why it matters to an admissions officer.  To tell this story, expect to write an essay describing why the service matters and shapes your view of the world and your position in it.  Highlight what you learned in the activity and how it has influenced your perspective about your future plans.  If you were a leader in the activity, it is also beneficial to explore what you learn not only in terms of the outcome but also how you can increase your impact in society.  When admissions officers review your application, this is what they will be assessing—your ability to make a difference on their campus. 
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As this school year is in full swing, look for opportunities to make a difference and grow.  Focus just on the few activities that matter the most to you.  This will not only build your resume for college but, more importantly, provide you with the opportunity to learn about yourself and how you will contribute to society going forward.  

Goes way beyond just how to get into college.  As school is back in session we are faced with the reality, that applying to college, and high school in general is tough.  Whether it comes to applying to Stanford, the Ivy League, or schools that are less selective, this process rewards those who work hard and are not afraid of taking risks or not getting in.  It may be hard in the moment, but the skills you gain along the way are what will prepare you for what comes after school and ensure your long-term success. 
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My dad, forwarded an article by Courtney Connley featured on CNBC containing an interview with Suzy Welch of the legendary Jack Welch Management Institute.  It has been in line with his advice for my entire life.  I consider it a privilege to pass it on.   
 
Courtney Connley
CNBC - ‎Tuesday‎, ‎August‎ ‎14‎, ‎2018
The best way parents can set their kids up for career success
 
Bestselling management author and CNBC contributor Suzy Welch is often asked, "What's the number one thing parents can do to help their kids achieve career success?"

"That's a tough question," the mom of four millennials tells CNBC Make It. "And I can really only answer with what worked for me."

She says that like most kids, hers would sometimes "whine about the unfairness of life or how hard it was to make new friends at school or how much extra work it took to get an A instead of a B or a C."

Like many parents, she'd respond with lectures about hard work, discipline and perseverance. But Welch's lectures were always punctuated by a simple message that she says is key to helping kids understand the relationship between putting in extra effort and achieving your goals: "Everything good is hard."

"They didn't love hearing that," she says. "But pretty early on, even by middle school, it began to make its own case and they began to see for themselves how a boatload of effort did tend to pay off."

Now that they're adults, Welch says, her kids have been exposed to the normal adversities of working life, like job layoffs, bad bosses and difficult assignments. But despite these challenges, they've all found professional success, and Welch believes that it's because of her mantra.

"Believe me, I know all too well how impossible it is to control what your kids do at school or how they fare in the real world," she says. "Life happens, but don't discount the importance of your influence on their career trajectory."

She recommends that parents lead by example, demonstrating for kids that "when it comes to achieving lasting success, there are very few shortcuts."

"Hard things are hard for a reason," she emphasizes. "They're worth it."
 

I am often asked, “how do I get into college?” I propose asking a different question to help boost your odds of admission: why do I want to go?  Right now the buzz word in the college admissions process is passion.  There is so much pressure in the college admissions process to build a story that shows passion and how you will pursue it in college and beyond.  For many students, it is stressful to have to declare an interest at such a young age when you’ve had precious few opportunities to explore and discover.
Strong applications tie together academic and professional interests through community service and extracurricular activities.

This is why we recommend that you develop a strategy for why you want to go to college and pair it with your strategy for getting in.  It allows you to focus on building a story.  However, do not worry if you are unsure of your plans for college.  The most important thing in high school is to try to discover what you love.  If your interests change, you will be able to change your mind when you get to college; if you need to change direction, then it will be healthy to do so.

Success beyond college comes from knowing what motivates and inspires you and knowing what does not.  Taking a class or participating in an internship or extracurricular activity that reveals you dislike something is as much of a positive step as trying something and loving it.  Do not be afraid to try something more “left-field” in the college admissions process.  Life is trial and error.  Every time you try something and do not like it, use this as a catalyst to do an about-turn and find things that do inspire you.  Once you have the inspiration, this will help guide you to the courses and careers that are right for you...
I have included a fantastic article featured in Forbes by Mariko Silver explaining why a terrible internship may be the most important one you ever have.  Click here to read the article. 

Welcome the chance to have positive and negative experiences as part of this process.
 

The heads of three of the most prestigious private high schools in Washington DC, which produce an outsized share of the entering class of many of the most selective colleges in the US, recently penned an op-ed detailing their reasons for removing AP classes from their curriculum.

They point out the obvious: with AP classes now so ubiquitous across high schools, the value of taking college-level coursework in high school has been dramatically reduced as it relates to the college admissions process. 

They are right.

Colleges are searching for passionate students capable of making a difference in their community.  No amount of AP classes, or perfect grades in these classes, will ever paint a picture of who your child is and what she is capable of accomplishing. 

Make sure that high school affords your child the opportunity to discover who she is and what she wants to do in college and beyond.  Loading up with unnecessarily difficult and time-consuming AP/advanced classes is counterproductive and deprives your child of the opportunity to do things to increase the strength of her application.  Focus on the advanced classes relevant to your child’s area of interest, and skip the ones that are not. 
To read the op-ed, click here.

With college students preparing for the fall semester and 10.7 percent of all student loans 90+ days delinquent or in default as of Q1 2018, the personal-finance website WalletHub released its report on 2018’s States with the Most and Least Student Debt.

States with the Most Student Debt
 1 South Dakota
2 West Virginia
3 Pennsylvania
4 New Hampshire
5 Ohio
6 Mississippi
7 Michigan
8 Minnesota
9 Iowa
10 Indiana
 
States with the Least Student Debt
42 Nevada
43 Maryland
44 Florida
45 Alaska
46 Arizona
47 Washington
48 California
49 Wyoming
50 Hawaii
51 Utah

Best vs. Worst

• Utah has the lowest average student debt, $19,975, which is 1.8 times lower than in New Hampshire, the state with the highest at $36,367. 
  Utah has the lowest proportion of students with debt, 43 percent, which is 1.8 times lower than in West Virginia, the state with the highest at 77 percent. 
• Massachusetts has the lowest share of student loans in past-due or default status, 7.44 percent, which is 2.3 times lower than in Mississippi, the state with the highest at 16.84 percent. 
• Hawaii has the lowest share of student-loan borrowers aged 50 or older, 3.86 percent, which is 2.6 times lower than in Vermont, the state with the highest at 10.03 percent.

To view the full report and your state or the District’s rank, please visit: 
https://wallethub.com/edu/best-and-worst-states-for-student-debt/7520/
 
It is critical to take into account expected student loan burdens as part of your college application strategy.  In some states, 10% of people over the age of 50 still carry a student loan balance.  You do not want this statistic to apply to you or your child.  As part of our school list strategy, we identify colleges that may provide full tuition scholarships based on SAT/ACT scores and grades along with more affordable public school options.  Play the long game when applying and ensure that your school list is tied to your long-term financial health.  

The importance of the SAT and ACT has long been a subject of debate among prospective students, parents, and college counselors who fervently search for the secret to unlocking admission at a top university. With more and more students scoring better and better on standardized tests, colleges are beginning to put less emphasis on the standardized tests which keep anxious high school students up at night, and more emphasis on the extracurriculars which paint a more realistic picture of a student’s merits. 

This is corroborated by Brown University’s recent decision to end the requirement for applicants to submit their standardized testing essay scores. Now, with all Ivy League universities dropping the SAT and ACT writing requirements, students are left to wonder whether they should take the essay, and how much time to spend on studying for standardized tests.

The truth is that the dropping of the essay requirements on standardized tests is an indicator that colleges want to see students in a more holistic light. Standardized test scores are now qualifiers that ensure your ability to compete in the main event rather than golden tickets to admission. It is important, for example, that a student has a high SAT/ACT score when applying to an Ivy League university, but it certainly won’t be on admissions officers minds when deciding whether to admit that individual.

A good tutoring service is essential to students who want to familiarize themselves with standardized tests and meet a specific score. However, a student with a 34 on the ACT versus a student with a 36 has an almost equal shot at getting into a top tier school. Once a student has cleared the bar and scored well on the test—as most students in top high schools do—it is up to their extracurriculars to do the heavy lifting and earn them admission.

Each year, Stanford selects three books for its incoming class to read.  This year’s list encompasses a theme of globality and migration.

Stanford’s 2018 list can be found here.

Great readers become great writers, and applicants seeking to earn admission to Stanford and other selective colleges will be required to write essays that show perspective.

Simply focusing on the essays when evaluating this year’s list would miss a bigger point: colleges are looking for students with appreciation for other parts of the world.  We live in an interconnected world.  Colleges are looking for the next generation of problem solvers who can apply their education to address serious issues at home and abroad.  It is part of the reason there is a foreign language requirement and that colleges take into consideration community service as part of the admissions process. 

In short, colleges are looking for students with demonstrated aptitude to contributing to a global marketplace of ideas and solutions for tough problems at home and abroad.  Tailor high school experiences to demonstrate an openness to different cultures and ideas.  Continue with foreign language studies that reinforce this.  Most importantly, not just for the applications, but for your personal development, expose yourself to different people, places, ideas, and issues, so you can gain a perspective to address them in the years to come.  

​As a college counselor, I have lost track of how many times I have been asked, “How do I get into Stanford?” or that a student needs help getting into Harvard, or some other insanely selective school that only accepts 5% of its applicants.  These are fair questions, but I think they miss the point.  Yes, these colleges have incredible reputations and afford their students spectacular opportunities to learn. But before our students stay up all night, every night, working tirelessly to get in: ask if these schools are the right fit.

A parent forwarded me an article about the most popular class at Yale, which teaches students how to be happy (hint: read the article—it is very insightful).  I think it is fantastic that a school like Yale teaches students about happiness, and equally depressing that we have gotten to the point that we do not know how to be happy.  Many of the students who are in the class probably have worked since they were in diapers to get into Yale, only to realize when they arrive there that the status alone is not enough to make them happy.  

It is not just an Ivy League problem. According to a recent survey by the American College Health Association, 52 percent of students reported feeling hopeless, while 39 percent suffered from such severe depression that they had found it difficult to function at some point during the previous year. 

This is not acceptable.

We must work with our kids to ensure that they attend a school that is healthy for them and build them up to enjoy it when they get there.  Factors relevant for mental health include location, proximity to home, weather, competition and class difficulty, access to resources and activities that excite and motivate students, and an ability to fit in.

There is no perfect school for any one of our students.  A student can achieve her goals wherever she attends so long as she is happy.  Not every day of college will be a happy day, and that is OK.  Finals are stressful. Living with a stranger in a dorm room smaller than a closet can be stressful. But learning how to overcome these challenges and smile along the way is a priceless part of a college education.

There is no right answer to “What college will make me/my child happy?”  In high school, focus on developing passions that will guide our students when they arrive at college.  Prioritize our students’ well-being and have honest conversations about which colleges and programs are the best fit.

Wishing your entire family happiness and enjoyment along the way.