How to Start Thinking about Financial Aid
College Calm’s class of 2017 received aid offers of over 1 MILLION dollars in merit aid per year- over 4 million dollars over 4 years. We want to give you…
Find Some Time to Play
It is now officially SUMMER!!! I know here at College Calm we talk about how much we can “get done” over the summer for the college process, but the article below serves as a reminder that summer is also a time to play — for everyone — young, old, adolescent or middle aged. We encourage everyone to leave some space this summer to PLAY.
This article was originally written for Patch.com by one of our wonderful students (before we even starting working together). It is a great synopsis of how we know many of our high school students are feeling, but cannot always articulate. Read this with your child/parent/friends and talk about your experiences and observations. Then you should read the article, “Who Fares Best in the College Process,” by Alice Kleeman, who references Laurel’s article and advocates for doing things you enjoy.
” I had a really hard time figuring out what to write about this week. I went back and forth between two other article ideas, wrote them out, but they didn’t sound like me. They were too critical and condemning for my taste. I took breaks in between these episodes of writers block to watch some TV, do some math homework, and just have time to be a teenager.
I realized then that I don’t really get that much time to just have moments to myself and to just rock out to music in my room. It seems that I always have another essay to write, another history chapter to read, or another chemistry test that needs to be studied for. (more…)
Building a Balanced College List
Foundation, Target, Reach and Lottery Schools
As juniors are beginning to investigate colleges and make an initial college list, we want to define the different categories potentially included in a balanced college list. A balanced college list should have at least 2 foundation, 2 target and 2 reach schools. Many students will also have a few lottery schools. The typical student applies to between 8-12 schools, depending on the number of UC/CSU schools on his/her list. All of our students begin with a list of at least 20 schools to investigate in an effort to determine personal priorities. By mid summer, students should have a balanced list of 8-12 schools. .
FOUNDATION SCHOOL
- The college possesses most of the significant features you desire and are important to you.
- You meet all the requirements for the recommended coursework.
- Your SAT or ACT score is significantly above the average that was accepted last year.
- Your un-weighted GPA is significantly above the average accepted last year.
- Your objective academic credentials fall at the top of the college’s admitted class. (more…)
SAT Subject Tests
It is the time of the year to decide if you are going to take any SAT Subject Tests (SAT 2) in May or June. Below are the answers to the most frequently asked questions in my office.
Is your child ready for college?
We often spend so much time focusing on students' academic and extracurricular success that we forget that there are skills they need to survive college that are not taught at…
Who fares best in the college admissions process?
If you are looking for a comprehensive book on the College process, "College Admissions," by Robin Mamlet and Christine VanDeVelde has a great deal of useful information for both students…