JRA Educational Consulting Blog

“Extracurricular activities? How?” you might well ask. Social distancing has blown apart extracurricular activities as we once knew them — and a return to the old “normal” any time soon seems unlikely.

Topics: College Admission, College Application, College Counseling, College Planning, College Tips

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High school students applying to college may have gone wide-eyed at the news that some of the colleges they are strongly considering have gone "test optional" – meaning that ACT and SAT scores are not required. While that’s true, it’s not the same as saying that ACT and SAT scores don’t matter. In fact, ACT and SAT scores will be considered if submitted.

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

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In an interview posted on Kusi.com, under the title “Navigating college admissions amid Coronavirus pandemic,” Robert Massa, who teaches about higher education at the University of Southern California and is a former admissions dean from Johns Hopkins University and Dickinson College, offered these thoughts, among others, on how the COVID-19 pandemic could affect a student’s quest to attend the school of their choice.

Topics: College Admission, Test-Prep, College Counseling, College Planning, Coronavirus

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Every college or university has, or is in development of, some sort of virtual connection for admitted and prospective students and their families. All of them have campus visit pages on their websites, which is where you can find this information.

Topics: College Planning, College Visits, Coronavirus

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March and April are typically busy months in the college search for high-school juniors getting started and high school seniors making final decisions. The Coronavirus Pandemic has put a halt to that process from the closing of schools to canceled campus tours and SAT tests. Last night, I joined a panel of experts through a Zoom presentation about their thoughts on how students can navigate the search during this uncertain time.

Topics: News, College Admission, College Planning, Educational Consulting, SAT

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Date	Action
NOW	The Common Application essay prompts are available. Begin to craft your “personal statement” essay idea NOW if you haven’t yet started. You’ll need this essay for various colleges.
August 1	Common Application officially opens for fall 2020 admission – but start it NOW – the system will “roll-over” your basic information and your college list on August 1.
August/September	Begin submitting rolling admission applications. The earlier you submit, generally speaking, the better your chances for admission and the earlier you’ll receive an admission decision. Many state universities in Florida (e.g. UCF, FAU) offer rolling admission.
Oct 1	Both of the financial aid applications − CSS Profile and the FAFSA − open on October 1. We urge parents to complete these in the weeks immediately following October 1.
Oct 15	The earliest admission deadline allowed by NACAC: ·       UVA – Early Decision ·       GA Tech – Early Action And there are likely to be others with this early date.
Nov 1 & Nov 15	These are the most popular deadlines for Early Action and Early Decision. Applying EA or ED tends to improve your admission chances – so take advantage of EA and ED when you can.
Dec 15	The date by which we want all applications submitted so we can all enjoy the holiday break!
May 1	National Decision Day – the deadline for giving a non-refundable deposit to the college you’ve decided to attend.

 

Topics: College Application, College Planning

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The National Association of College Admission Counseling’s 2018 State of College Admissions Report is jam-packed with data, so we’re going simplify matters by focusing on only the information that can or will most directly affect high school students who’ll be first-time college applicants in the immediate or near future.

Topics: College Admission, College Counseling, College Planning, NACAC

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…which we could have subtitled Here’s How You Can Beat Your Competition in College Admissions, because if you do “it” better than they do, you’ll have a vastly better chance of gaining admission to the schools that you want to attend. And there’s nobody better at helping you excel at “it” than we are: That’s why 95% of our counseling students gain admission to their top-choice colleges.

Topics: College Admission, College Planning

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If you don’t already appreciate how incredibly stressful applying to colleges can be — and how that stress has serious implications — don’t take our word for it. Here’s a student, Gabriela Nadeau, writing about her feelings in a November 2017 article titled College Applications: I’m Applying to College and I’m Stressed AF [“AF” is a texting acronym for “As F_ _ _”] on teenvogue.com (with all of the emphasis via bold font added):

Topics: College Application, College Counseling, College Planning, Anxiety

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Last August 13^th, we posted a blog titled “Forget the Worm: The Early Bird Gets Admitted.” That’s why we’ve chosen our title here (“The Past as Prologue”), because what has already happened should dictate our current actions. Here’s the connection: In that blog, we detailed a long-term trend – what has been happening – favoring those who apply to colleges via Early Decision (ED) and Early Action (EA) over those who apply Regular Decision (RD). That trend has continued, and because ED and EA benefits both colleges and students in unique ways, there’s every reason to believe that it will continue – at an increasing pace – for the foreseeable future.

Topics: College Admission, College Application, College Counseling, College Planning, Early Decision, Early Action

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