Part and parcel of the college planning and counseling process is helping you find -- and apply for -- the money to pay for college.

Some have already started searching and applying for "outside" scholarships (bravo!), while others will do so over the course on the ensuing weeks and months. [Alas, most will never bother to mine for the money, and many who do, without an assist, will be looking to chisel in to the mother load with a toothpick!] 

Aside from scholarship searches (and actually ...

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Not that we would have this blog become a diatribe against the Common App, but we couldn't help chuckle out loud when we read the following on Common App's Facebook timeline:

"APPLICANTS: Do not try to trick the system into letting you create two accounts. If you succeed, you have no idea of the potential mess that awaits you: confused colleges, confused counselors and teachers, mismatched records, incomplete applications....and that's just the beginning. For your own good, please don't go dow...
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Our friends and colleagues at College Admission Book (you don't have to buy the book. You have The College Whisperer™ and College Connection! :-) have created a step-by-step guide to completing and submitting the Common Application. [Click HERE to view.]

Yes, it is lengthy. True, some of the advice must be taken with that proverbial grain of salt. Agreed, that the round "How To" does not always fit neatly into the square holes of Common App. And yes (sigh), most folks (especially teens apply...

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In response to public comment to The College Whisperer's™ recent blog post, Oops! Common App Has Done It Again!!!, that which has been said -- not to mention all that has been left unsaid -- bears, we believe, repeating.

Below is the commentary, verbatim, for your consideration, pro and con. Your further comments, on either side of the argument (or on the fence, for those who, like Switzerland, choose to remain neutral), are most welcome.

Allow me to simply say here, and for the record, that ...
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In the grand quest to find the college that's the right fit for you, to gain a foothold (if not the upper hand) in the application and admissions process, to develop that winning college essay, and, once accepted, to find the money to pay for it all, who would be best suited to guide, coach and de-stress students and parents alike -- the Long Island Medium or The College Whisperer™?

We asked a panel of experts, comprised of noted academics, intellectuals, rocket scientists, and the intern fr...
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For those familiar with the Common Application, portal to more than 500 college applications, the flaws and foibles of a most imperfect tool are self evident.

To the unsuspecting and newly initiated -- as almost all high school seniors are, it being their first foray into the wild and crazy world of college admissions -- Common App is fraught with pitfalls and hazards, not to mention the occasional stealth essay.

Take, for instance, the Activities section, where a simple click to open, without ...
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Four and a half minutes.

No, not the time you spent actually studying for that recent math test. Not the time it takes to cook instant oatmeal or Uncle Ben's converted rice. Not the time you ran the mile in.

So, what is this four and a half minutes?

Actually, it is the average (as opposed to mean?) time spent by admissions officers reading the typical college essay. Yup. That's it, folks. All of four and a half minutes.

What? You spend weeks, if not months, contemplating. What do I write about? W...
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No, not the retelling of a life's tale. The stuff that a movie fantasy and new Broadway musical are made of. The meshing of imagination and whimsy, with reality and truth. 

Then again, perhaps this is just such a story. The exuberance and optimism of youth. That dreamlike romanticism of life, embraced by every teen who sets out to conquer the world, to triumph over mediocrity, determined not only to dream those dreams that are larger than life, but to make those dreams come true.

Yes, Big Fish....
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