I hope you enjoy the upcoming Tour Tuesday posts from my recent trip to Colorado. My professional organization (IECA) always likes to plan a wide variety of schools for us to tour. This was a relatively short tour week as we only toured seven schools, but the variety of the schools is really great! One of the big takeaways from the week is that there is something for everyone: big, small, rural, urban, rah-rah sports vibes, small close-knit communities, classes with 300 to 40

I feel like AI has become a controversial topic. I don’t know what you all have been seeing about skills needed to be successful in today’s AI world. I am hearing a lot of discussion within the college counseling world about the importance of skills that are typically taught in liberal arts and humanities curricula. With AI being able to do so many things, employers are going to be looking for people with the ability to collaborate, think critically, and communicate effective

As you and your teen are researching admit rates for schools on their list, are you doing a deep dive to see what the admit rate is for each application round offered by the school? These admit rates from Colorado College are a perfect example. If you see their admit rate of 26%, it only tells part of the story. I wrote another post a while ago about how much early decision can really help someone’s chances at many schools. Obviously, early decision doesn’t make sense for ev

Over the years, I have posted quite a bit from FSU’s counselor webinars. Today, I wanted to share from UF’s recent counselor webinar. The most important NEW information for Fall 2027 (other than early decision which I’ve already written about) is that UF will now consider a student’s intended major in the admissions review. UF stated that the intended major will not be a primary admissions factor, but it will be one of several factors considered as part of the comprehensive

If you haven’t heard, Florida Bright Futures just raised the score needed to earn the scholarship. Most of my tutoring students have earned the GPA needed and number of volunteer or work hours. It’s the test score that’s typically the sticking point. To earn full Bright Futures (tuition completely paid at a Florida public university - not room and board), this year’s seniors needed a 1330 on the SAT or 29 on the ACT. Current juniors will need a 1350 (typically one extra quest

I wanted to follow up on the numbers I shared last week for the top four Florida public universities. I know they can induce a decent amount of stress. If you’ve read my prior posts, you might remember a recent one about the advantages of starting college in the summer term and the fact that it requires lower test scores. (The matrix is posted again in the comments here.) For many students, the summer scores are still unattainable. A really great option can be community colle

In case any of you are data nerds like I am, I thought you might enjoy seeing these two graphics side-by-side which compare data from last year and this year at the four major public universities in Florida. My “BFF” Jenna at The College Navigators makes such great graphics! I know there are so many “kitchen table consultants" out there posting college advice on Instagram. Sometimes it is very hard to know which ones are giving valid advice and which ones are not. Hers is ver

Should you apply ED to Florida or Florida State? A few weeks ago I wrote a post about the new, binding Early Decision plans for UF and FSU. I thought this graphic was super helpful! It is going to be so very interesting to see how the admit rates from early decision compare to early action. There are so many valuable points in the picture below. I love the pro tip at the end that talks about the fact that you could apply ED to Florida and EA to Florida state. The reverse hol

In case you missed the huge announcement from each school, both Florida State and the University of Florida will have an early decision round of admissions this year. This is going to make admissions feel much different for Florida students this year. If one of these schools is very heavily your child’s top choice and they would be happy retracting all other applications to other colleges if they are admitted, they will definitely want to consider applying early decision. Thi

All the Florida public universities have now released the admitted student profile for the incoming class. All of these schools perform a holistic review, so it certainly doesn’t mean that if students have these stats, they will be admitted; likewise, it doesn’t mean that a student needs to meet every single one of these metrics to be admitted. I love the State University System Admission Matrix photo that has a LOT of data on it. I advise families to look at the S (summer ad

Two weeks ago, two very popular schools, UGA and Tulane, both decided to drop their supplemental essay prompts for next year. If you read last week’s post, you will probably have a pretty good idea of what implications this will have. Significantly more students will apply because it is easier to do so. This is going to bring application numbers up, which will in turn drive the admit rate down and make the schools look like they are all of a sudden even more selective. When U

I find the bottom picture fascinating. It’s rare that people actually sit down and do the math on the number of high schools in the country and the resulting number of valedictorians and salutatorians. The graphic so clearly shows that if only the top two students from each high school applied to the eight Ivies, 57,000 of them wouldn’t get in because there just aren’t enough seats! Columbia just announced that they’re intentionally growing in size, so a few more students wil

I was recently talking to my cousin, and she was asking what are some great schools for an A/B student. There is SO much talk about schools that are high in the rankings, and most people overlook tons of great options that end up being an amazing academic, social, and financial fit for their student. During junior year and the summer after that, it’s so important to sit down and really think about what your teen is looking for in a school. I have written quite a few posts abo

Happy Thursday Thoughts! When I was recently in Pennsylvania for college tours, there were a few schools I was looking very forward to seeing. Honestly, of the ten schools, I was pretty excited to tour nine of them! For a few of the schools, the weather was miserable - not only cold but also dreary and rainy/windy. It’s so hard for students when they are going on a tour to try to see beyond what the campus happens to look like on that day. Similarly, it’s important to not let

Seniors have one more week to decide where they will attend college. Hopefully, they have built balanced lists and have many great acceptances to decide between. I so often hear, “I will go to the best school I get into.” What makes a school “the best?” It’s not necessarily the school with the lowest admit rate or most prestigious name. I love how Jeff Selingo discussed high school by saying it “shouldn’t feel like a four-year performance review for college. It should be a ti

At the exact moment that I posted this, all the Ivy League schools released their admissions decisions. Many “Ivy Plus” schools will also be releasing decisions within this week. There is a lot to consider about applying to the Ivies. For starters, they only offer binding Early Decision (with no scholarship money given) or Regular Decision. The admit rate for these schools is around 5%, and everyone applying (for the most part) all has the same straight A record, test scores

This is the time of year when students are choosing their classes for next year. If you have been reading my posts for more than a year, you will probably remember the main point about senior year. It is so very different from when we were all in high school! These days, students are definitely expected to keep their foot on the gas throughout senior year. You can take a look at the attached pictures from FSU and UGA in terms of number of classes taken in each subject area on

Most of my posts now will be shifting to juniors and younger since seniors are just waiting on final acceptances and making their decision at this point. Take a look at the picture attached here that one of my tutoring students sent me. Parents, senior year “these days” is nothing like it was back in “our day!” Students still must keep taking rigorous courses, doing well in those courses, and they should take English, math, science, and social studies for at least four full y

Not only is it challenging enough to create a balanced list of schools that you like and earn high enough test scores for schools that require them, but now you also need to come up with an admissions plan. Early decision, early action, regular decision, restrictive early action, single choice early action, oh my! The main decision to be made is to apply early decision to your one top school or not. Early decision typically boosts your chances of getting in. The graphics belo

I alluded to other big rah rah football schools that are test optional last week. Many of my test prep students want to stay in the state of Florida due to the Bright Futures scholarship program. Many of them want to go to UF, FSU, or UCF (in no particular order) largely due to the football scene, Greek life, and all around big, public university vibe. For many of them, earning a 1250 or 1300 (or higher) on the SAT is very difficult. It is worth considering out of state schoo