The Admissions Waiting Will Be Over Soon: University of California Response Dates

From January and Mid-March can be re-named, “The Waiting Season” for Seniors and their parents.  While Early Admissions applicants may know admissions decisions by now (end of February), which can lead to rampant speculation amongst regular decision applicants, the admissions decision waiting will soon be over for University of California (UC) applicants.  Then, comes a…

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What the what?!? Pick A College Based on Surfing?

There’s a myriad of ways to select colleges for application.  Major choice and future careers usually pop into both students’ and their parents’ minds as the first criteria for choosing a college.  However, many get stumped, because at seventeen a student may not have identified a specific academic concentration, nor an intended career.  And, parents…

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“How Do I Select Colleges for Application If I Don’t Know My Major?”

One of the first questions that arise when high school juniors start thinking about selecting colleges for application is, “What’s my academic major?”  However, choosing a major can seem risky, like locking oneself into an academic concentration with no chance to change, as well as declaring career for the rest of one’s life–all at age…

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“Talk With Your Teacher”: Not Always a Simple Task

“Talk with your teacher” is usually advice that parents give to their high school aged student when an academic issue arises.  Teens can typically have the following reactions to their parents’ suggestion: they silently agree, then don’t actually talk with the teacher or they protest, with reasons about the teacher not liking them or being…

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Viewing the University of California Fall 2013 Application Numbers

Ok. Ok. Ok.  Each year, when colleges start releasing the numbers of applications received, I hear from parents and Seniors worried about their chances for admissions. The numbers of applications can spark speculation and fears about one’s chances of being accepted. Looking closer at the University of California’s (UC) application numbers can help gain some perspective and may…

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Sleep, More Sleep and Summer Camp: A Teen’s Summer Vacation Agenda

The months long stretch of unscheduled summer vacation can be enticing to both teens and their parents.  For teens, the idea of sleeping in until afternoon and no pressure about daily homework assignments is enthralling.  For parents, summer can be an unrestricted time to explore other academic interests and hobbies.  (And, in fairness, for teens…

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Do You Wonder if College Admissions Offices are Single-Handedly Keeping the U.S. Postal Service In Business?

Availability of information is not the problem when starting a search for colleges.  The sources of information–admissions statistics, YouTube, college websites, college search engines, Facebook pages, parents swapping stories on the sidelines at the soccer game, alumni returning to high schools to talk about their college experience, aunties and uncles freely offering college advice at…

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“Study Abroad” May Not Mean What You Think

“Study abroad” in college can have multiple definitions.  Not every student will immerse themselves for a year at a foreign university, studying concepts in a foreign language.   Universities are expanding the range of opportunities to travel and study abroad, as well as varying the duration of programs.  Summers, spring breaks, semesters-long, month long trips between…

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