JRA Educational Consulting Blog | Judi Robinovitz

A recent survey (Lipman Hearne & the National Research Center for College and University Admissions) found that more than a quarter of “high achieving” high school seniors use services of Independent Educational Consultants (IEC’s) to optimize college search. When 1,300 high school seniors with SAT scores of 1150 or higher (out of 1600) and/or ACT scores of 25 or higher were asked, 26% percent said they had worked with an IEC.

Topics: College Counseling

Applying to college is a fairly involved process, and one with no guarantees! Students and their families often ask us what steps they can take to improve their chances of college admission. Because it’s not as simple as one-two-three, below we’ve provided some college admission strategies you can use today to begin improving your chances for college admission.

Topics: College Admission, College Counseling

In our role as educational consultants, we receive most frequently questions about applying to college: When do I start? What do I do? When should I be finished? The list goes on. Our recent posts have focused on various aspects of the college application, including what’s needed and how long applications take to complete. We’ve put together a short, yet sweet, complete guide to applying to college. Today’s post will cover the following:

Topics: College Admission, College Application, College Counseling, College Planning, Going to College

“When should I start applying to college?” is a question we hear frequently from our rising seniors at the beginning of summer. Should I apply now, before I go back to school? Should I wait until the fall? In today’s post, we’ll answer these questions – and more – about the college application timeline, and share some tips to help you stay on track in order to apply in a timely manner.

Topics: College Admission, College Counseling, College Planning

What does it take to write a good supplemental essay that responds to the prompt, “Why are you applying to this college?”and other college-specific questions? It takes planning, and two of the best planning techniques are to doing some research and brainstorming. Take a few minutes to understand how the question may be tied to the college’s mission statement.

Topics: Common Application

The Common Application Education Page – Tips

Most questions on the Common Application’s Education page are quite straightforward. Here are some tips for those questions that are not:

Topics: College Admission, Common Application, Tutoring, Educational Consulting

In the world of college admissions, the most selective colleges usually set the tone for everyone else. For example, when Harvard went test-optional, other colleges quickly followed suit. Brown University president Christina Paxon just announced that all students who have been vaccinated for Covid-19 will be welcomed back to campus this fall to attend classes and activities in person; many other colleges jumped on that bandwagon. Northeastern University (MA), Cornell University (NY), Fort Lewis College (CO), Nova Southeastern University (FL), Roger Williams University (RI), Rutgers University (NJ) and St. Edwards University (TX) are also requiring COVID-19 shots for students who wish to return to campus in the fall.

Topics: College Counseling, College Planning

If you are moving to Florida from another state or country, or you live in South Florida and are looking for schools for your children, these questions often arise: Do I want my child to attend a public school or a private school? And then, Which school is right for my child and my family?

Topics: Public Schools, Private-School, Florida School Choice

Spring Break has traditionally been the time when hordes of high school students can be found in college information sessions, then following backwards-walking student guides across campus, and having meals in dining halls. These visiting students are “trying on” different colleges to see how they fit. But this is 2021, when the lingering effects of the pandemic continue to transform the college tour landscape. In-person tours are limited; schools like Tulane, which is offering live tours, are restricting numbers and following social distancing and mask-wearing protocols. If you do get the opportunity to do an in-person college visit, be sure to also drive around the surrounding neighborhood – and perhaps grab a meal at an outdoor restaurant that students are likely to frequent. Some universities like Lynn University are trying new “drive-through” tours where students and their families stay in their cars and drive through the campus while listening to a narrated tour. And there are tons of virtual options available, including virtual reality tours offered by some colleges.

We’ve all gotten used to change this past year, so it only seems natural that after four years of providing the exact same essay prompts, the Common Application has announced a revision to their 2021-22 slate of prompts. Not to worry – only one prompt has changed, and it offers a fresh, new topic for students to consider.