Yesterday was the official last day of school in our local district. In the coming days and weeks, students will be set free to enjoy their summer fun. And unlike the COVID cancellation of many 2020 activities, there are numerous outlets for fun in the months ahead. Many of our students have some exciting summer […]

If you’re an 11th grader and you want to go about the college application process properly, then yes, you should be thinking about teacher rec letters right now. In fact, some high school guidance offices require that students ask teachers for rec letters prior to the end of the school year, and some of those […]

It’s my favorite time of year, no doubt. Yes, this is the time when students learn about where they’re admitted to college, but it’s also the start of March Madness, the single greatest sporting event on the annual calendar. (Note: To my soccer-loving friends, the World Cup only comes around every 4 years. And while […]

Please don’t think from the title of this post that I’m suggesting that your participation in a March Madness bracket, and winning, is the answer to paying for college. But keep reading, and I’ll explain the intersection between Bracketology and getting money for college. Both exercises––paying for college and completing a winning bracket––are extremely difficult. With March […]

Last month, while we were all trying to enjoy the Holiday season, Congress passed and the president signed major, significant legislation that will change how financial aid is calculated. The FAFSA Simplification Act is the culmination of years of effort by Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), who retired from the Senate this week after serving 3 terms. […]

First, to be perfectly clear, this is NOT a political piece… AT ALL. In fact, as I write this, the ultimate make up of the next Congress remain unsettled, while the winner of the presidential election is settled, even if some will dispute that. And I will absolutely leave the analysis of all that to those […]

Happy Friday! Not gonna sugar coat it, This. Was. A. Very. Long. Week! If you’re an educator, administrator, college-bound teen, current college student (or a parent who loves them), there’s a very good chance that you’re in a ‘code-yellow’ state of emergency right now, extremely anxious about how this is all gonna shake out next Fall. […]

Right before we got married, Jill and I went skiing. Jill was just learning, and while on our first lift, we looked down and saw a couple fighting — loudly. One of them screamed, “if you go that way, we’re getting a divorce!” At that exact moment, another skier (probably an instructor) shouted back, “Save Your […]

My son in an 11th grader and my daughter is in her 3rd year of a 5-year program at Drexel University in Pennsylvania. I share this now because I want you to understand that I don’t just professionally empathize with your concerns, I’m living them. And, I want you to know that I’m doing everything I can (in both […]

Here’s what we learned this week: First, several more schools (including many deemed ‘highly selective’) announced that they would be dropping the SAT/ACT requirement for admission. In just the past two weeks, Tufts University (my alma mater), Case Western Reserve University, Boston University, and all of the University of California (UC) schools have decided to move to […]