***FREE TELEPHONE CONSULTATION - 516-345-8766 | Call Us!***

Here at College Connection, we’re hunkering down, ready to offer some sage advice for high school students as they march forward - socially distanced, of course - on their journey to college.

First and foremost, of course, would be to STAY HOME. Help to flatten the curve of the Corona Virus, not only to keep yourself healthy, but to avoid infecting others, particularly the most vulnerable. Socialize online (teens are experts at that)...

Whether you're in Great Neck or in Guam, time constraints, logistics, social distancing, or simply dollars and cents may make face-to-face, in-person counseling impractical, if not impossible.

That's why College Connection offers E-Planning, a comprehensive combo of online, e-mail, telephonic, and virtual counseling, with a real-live college planning counselor on hand and on call,...

Seriously, though, getting started down that long and winding road to college admissions, as it is with many things in life, is often the most difficult part of the journey.

So, what will follow below is a basic (very basic, as in, just to give you a push) primer -- a "To Do" list, if you will -- to set y...

Whether planning for college, applying to college, paying for college, or just thinking about college, this workshop is a must attend for high school students and their parents.

Seth Bykofsky, a/k/a The College Whispere...

Rankings. The best of the best. Top dog. Number one seed. Whether of colleges, basketball teams, tennis players, or pizza parlors, somebody is ranking them, and everyone is reading about them. Suspect as they are -- and they are, on so many levels -- we are drawn to rankings like so many moths to a flame (or was that, so many flies to... you get the idea). Rankings give us a sense -- often a non-sense -- of someone else’s idea of which school, which restaurant, which airline, which dry c...

Seldom are the words “ethics” and “humanity” heard in the same breath as “college admissions,” but on Wednesday, March 22^nd at 7:30 PM, the Ethical Humanist Society of Long Island will play host to a college planning workshop, where high school students and their parents will get the inside scoop of how to choose the “best” colleges, the ins and outs of the application and admissions process, writing persuasive essays, and navigating the maze of financial aid ...

Just when you thought it was safe to start your college applications, you have to decide where to start them, how to submit them, and who will truly give you the easiest access, the most bang for your buck, and the greatest likelihood of success.

Most of those applying to colleges are familiar, for better and for worse, with the Common Application (with 600+ colleges), replete with it's spinning wheels of death, initializing bars of doom, and the very antithesis of commonality, college-speci...

COLLEGE PLANNING FOR HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS & PARENTS

• Choosing Colleges That Are “Best” For You

• Navigating The Application Process

• Admission Strategies

• ​Winning Essays

• Financial Aid Essentials & Scholarship Sourcing

College Connection, Official Sponsor of College Admission Success™, offers a FREE College Planning & Admissions Workshop. Open to students and parents alike, this forum will explore such topics as choosing a college that’s a “best” fit for you, the intricacies and nuances of...

...But The Second Mouse Usually Gets The Cheese!

Yes, Common App, portal to more than 600 college applications, goes "live" on August 1. And so, the college application season officially begins. Or so you thought...

As my colleague, Nancy Griesemer, reports inThe Examiner, some colleges are willing to accept your applications even earlier.
READ, Colleges ready and willing to accept applications for fall 2016

Yes, it's like doing your Christmas/Chanukah shopping in July. You'll buy those presents ...

If there is a single question The College Whisperer™ is asked most about the college application process, it is, “Where do I begin?”

My typical response is, “At the beginning, of course!” ;-)

Seriously, though, getting started down that long and winding road to college admissions, as it is with many things in life, is often the most difficult part of the journey.

So, what will follow below is a basic (very basic, as in, just to give you a push) primer -- a “To Do” list, if you will...

The college admissions process, from application to financing, is confusing, confounding, complex, and often overwhelming. Getting in the admissions game is one thing. Understanding the rules (where there are rules), and actually getting in to a college that is “best” for you, is quite another!

Common App or proprietary college application? Early Action, Early Decision, Restricted Early Action, Regular Decision or Rolling Admissions? ACT, SAT, Test Optional? Deferral or Waitlist? CSS Profi...

Not all that long ago, college counselors talked about Target Schools, Reach Schools, and Safety Schools.

For those who need a refresher in the terminology:

Target School -- You have the grades, the scores, and pretty much fit right in with what the college is looking for.

Reach School -- Not quite there academically, and perhaps a longshot. A toss of the dice. Why the heck not?

Safety School -- You are breathing and have a pulse at the time of application. Congratulations. You're in!

Fast forward...

For most graduating high school seniors, the tale has been told. You've applied and been accepted to college, made your final decision, and, hopefully, searched for and found an abundance of scholarship money to pay for that degree.

There are of course those, who, waking up to the fact that high school is now coming to an end, have yet to apply to college. The procrastinators. The "hiding under a rock" gang. The "I only applied to one school and didn't get in" bunch.

Out of luck? Too late? Afte...

The college application season approaches (and waits for no one)!

Just a brief, yet important, overview as to what high school juniors/rising seniors should be doing at this stage of the college admissions game (batteries sold separately):

1. Naviance - Build that Resume (in the About Me section). Every activity, in school and out; every award, honor, citation, and pat on the back; basically, anything you have done during waking hours from the 9th grade on. [Include senior year activities, etc....

We are pleased to share the 2015-2016 Common Application Essay Prompts with you. New language appears in italics:

Rankings. The best of the best. Top dog. Number one seed.

Whether of colleges, basketball teams, tennis players, or pizza parlors, somebody is ranking them, and everyone is reading about them.

Suspect as they are -- and they are, on so many levels -- we are drawn to rankings like so many moths to a flame (or was that, so many flies to... you get the idea).

Rankings give us a sense -- often a non-sense -- of someone else’s idea of which school, which restaurant, which airline, which dry cleaner...

Test prep and fees for APs, SATs and ACTs: $1500
College Application fees: $1000
College tuition, room & board: $60,000

Knowing how to navigate the college application, admissions & financial aid process? PRICELESS!

Okay, so we’re mixing Farmer’s Insurance with MasterCard, but surely you get the message.

The college admissions process, from application to financing, is confusing, confounding, complex, and overwhelming. Getting in the admissions game is one thing. Understanding the rules (where...

There are many superaltives bantered about these days. “Best” seems to trump all. “Best” hotels. “Best” restaurants. “Best” haircut. [I once knew a man who only frequented what he believed to be the “best” of everything. He died. As I recall, he had the “best” funeral.]

And then, there are those best of the “best” -- “Best” colleges.

Ahh, yes. The “Best” Colleges In America (or the world. The Universe?) Rankings of the “best” 100, the “top” 25, and th...

. . .Doesn’t Mean There’s Not More To Be Done!

Access Your College Web Portals -- Colleges give you web portals for a reason: So you may log on and get additional information, complete forms, check your status, find and accept (or decline) your financial aid award, and so much more. Check the web portal for every college you’ve been accepted to, and do so often!

Update FAFSA -- Submitting your initial FAFSA early is good. Submitting your “Corrected” FAFSA, after you file your tax retu...

Build that Snowman yet?

Well, snow or no snow, this is the perfect time to begin to build your high school Resume, both on Naviance and on paper.

NAVIANCE: While many college applications have an activities section, most are extremely limited in the number of activities you may list. [ Common App limits you to 10.]

That’s why it is so important to have a “paper” (Word Doc) Resume that may either be uploaded to your college application or sent under separate cover to Admissions.

Naviance all...

While watching the Academy Awards, trying to second-guess who would win the Oscar and who would get snubbed, slighted, or sacked, it dawned on me -- the awarding of the Oscars is very much like college admissions: Arbitrary, capricious, and pretty much anybody’s guess, educated or otherwise.

Was Birdman really more worthy than The Budapest Hotel? Eddie Redmayne truly a better actor than, say, Benedict Cumberbatch? Why was Feast the “best” animated short film, and not The Bigger Picture? ...

It is not always -- or even often -- about the story. How you tell it. What it imparts. Where you’ve come from. Where you hope to go. At least not in college admissions, where the difference between acceptance and denial (or deferment and waitlist) is frequently a random act rather than a conscious effort.

Take the case of two students I worked with this year. Both from a prestigious Long Island high school. One with stellar grades, scores, community service, extracurriculars, and an essay t...

You’ve seen them. In the newspapers and magazines. On Internet search engines and online tutorials. Even on your Twitter feed.

“10 Things You Must Do Before Applying To College”

“7 Myths About FAFSA”

“8 Reasons Why Your SAT Score Matters”

“The 5 Best College Dining Halls”

Yes, along with those inane college rankings (the ones that prompt colleges to extend their application deadlines, so they can have more applications to deny, thus decreasing the acceptance rate, and moving them...

The one word I hear most in my college planning and counseling adventures is "overwhelmed." Followed, in many instances, by "frustrated," "frightened," and "flabbergasted." [The latter probably being a good SAT word! :-)]

How something so seemingly simply (it actually was just that, back in the days when applications were written by hand and submitted via the United States Postal Service) could be turned into something so complex, complicated, costly, and, in almost every respect, inane.

The in...

First piece of advice when setting out to write your college essay: Keep Calm and Just Write -- It's Only An Essay!

Seems there's nothing more unnerving to students (and, by extension, their parents) than the college essay. What to write? How do I say it? Will it be good enough? Can I tell my "story" in 650 words or less? And what about Naomi?

Indeed, with all the hype and hyperbolae surrounding the college essay (as to form, content, style, and overuse of SAT words), it w...

L.N. of Manhasset, NY writes:

My son will be a junior in high school this year, and we are considering enrolling him in an online college planning course. The price seems right ($299), and a set of CDs is also available for an additional sum. Any thoughts?

The College Whisperer™responds:

Good for you for wanting to start college planning early. Too many high school students, waiting until the start of their senior year, wish they had gotten a head start in their junior year!

With respect to the...

Recently, I spent the better part of a day assembling furniture that was “Made in China.” Leaving aside the fact that the instructions were clearly lost in translation, and the pictures of the nuts, bolts and assorted parts looked nothing like the content of the carton (not even the ones that were left over after final assembly), I got to thinking about why we can’t – or simply won’t – make things like tables, chairs, and dressers here in this country.

Could it be, as we are told...

- - -   
Plan. Prepare. Prevail!  

          FREE College Planning Workshop, March 26th

 When college applications get to you, you need to get to us! 

Contact us ...

1. Common Application member institutions still open to new applicants may be found by going to the Common App website, scrolling down Member Colleges & Universities, and clicking College Search. Indicate that yo...

Plan. Prepare. Prevail!

The views and opinions expressed in this blog are solely those of The College Whisperer™.

Who knows what peril lurks in the college application and admissions process? The College Whisperer™ knows. . .

* * *
Comments? Questions for The College...

Watching the Olympic games, The College Whisperer is awestruck by the seemingly superhuman athletic performances, from swimming to gymnastics to beach volleyball. The thrill of victory, and the agony of defeat! The human drama of athletic competition. WOW!

And to think, the difference between getting a medal and going home without one is sometimes determined by one one-thousandth of a point or of a second. One one-thousandth. Can you imagine that?

Well, consider this. When reducing -- by formu...

Live from the Common App. . .

The Common Application is now live at www.CommonApp.org. Are you ready?

Yes, the mainstay of the college application season, home to the apps (and sundry supplements) of "456 Common Application members in 46 states and the District of Columbia, as well as in France, Germany, Italy, Scotland, and Switzerland," will see you now. Let the insanity begin!

Registered? Committed your Login and Password to memory? (Don't be a wise guy. Write it down!) Personal stateme...

Private coaches: Are ...

A Sherpa's Guide to College Admissions

Excerpted from TheCollegeWhisperer.com

M.S. of East Williston, NY writes:

Do I really need a college planning counselor for my child? Aren't the resources available through her high school guidance counselor, the colleges,...