I’m sure most high school students would take issue with this prepcast title. A quick read through many MySpace user blogs usually have the words “SAT test” paired with certain superlatives that I’ll refrain from mentioning here! Why do I think you should be happy the SAT test is so hard? Think about that for a minute, and then watch this video. (more…)

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In this prepcast, I will share my thoughts on competition and achieving a maximum SAT test score. In short, you need to focus on yourself and what you can do; not others and what they are capable of doing. (more…)

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In this prepcast video, I will provide you with free SAT help and I will discuss how you as a parent can best help your child prepare for the SSAT. In particular, I address some issues to look out for when using the SSAT’s own study guide, entitled “PREPARING AND APPLYING
FOR INDEPENDENT SCHOOL ADMISSION AND THE SSAT”. (more…)

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Our own Fred Hargadon comments this morning in the Washington Post that students should not pursue specialized activities solely on the basis of college admissions. Rather, be yourself and discover your passion.

“But I have too many memories of great kids that really didn’t have one outstanding characteristic but seemed like they just would be great people to meet, to know, to go to school with and would have a high growth potential. . . They often turned out to be the ones who made the class gel. And I worry that they will slip through the cracks if everybody is categorizing them.”

I think it helps to understand that the context within which a college views a particular applicant generally (say, as one of a large number of applicants from across the country) is bound to be different from the context within which such applicant is viewed locally (say, as one of a small number of applicants from a particular high school or geographic region). Moreover, the context within which an applicant is viewed by one college is also bound to be different from the context within which that same applicant is viewed by another college, given not only that applicant groups are not completely identical from one college to another but also that the sizes of their respective freshman classes may vary considerably. Context can often explain why an applicant is offered admission by one college and not another. (more…)

I’d now like to share some thoughts on the topic of applying for admission. What you will quickly learn over the next few months is that, for many of the questions you are likely to raise about various aspects of the admission process, there is no single set of answers that apply for all colleges. Do colleges require personal interviews? Some do and some don’t. Do colleges treat your SAT and Test results as a combined score or do they treat the subject scores separately? Some do the former, some the latter. The list of questions goes on and on.

You are likely to find these differences frustrating in at least two respects. First, (more…)

Welcome to the first installment of ePrep’s coverage of college financial aid. I am excited to introduce Don Betterton as the site’s most recent guest expert. Don was the director of financial aid at Princeton University for thirty (30) years. During his time at Princeton, aid awards increased from $3.4 million in 1973-74 to $65 million in 2005-06. In this video, Don discusses the simple things you can do now, while your children are young, to help make paying for college easier when they are older and ready to enroll. (more…)

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Neither you nor your parents will be able to ignore the fact that some colleges (including Princeton) are more expensive than others. Nonetheless, I don’t think it is wise to cross any college off your list just because it appears to cost a small fortune to attend. In the first place, (more…)

You need to be realistic during the college planning process. There is no “perfect” college. I’ve never met a student for whom every classroom experience, every faculty member interaction, and/or every out-of-class experience turned out to be ideal. A good way to approach the colleges you are looking into is to (more…)

While it’s not unusual for students to talk of their “first choice” college, I think it’s a rare individual for whom it can be said that there exists but a single, best college. Even if, as the result of the research you do on colleges, you arrive at a point where you accord enough preference to one college to consider it your “first choice,” your final list ought to include several of colleges, any one of which you’d be happy to attend if admitted. Keep in mind that most students end up very much liking the colleges they attend, regardless of whether they had been their “first choices” when they applied.

It’s also a good idea to (more…)