Tag: colleges

Spring SAT/ACT scores are in and members of the class of 2015 should now turn their attention to college applications.

To guide students through the options and tasks they need to complete for college admissions, Sandweiss Test Prep offers in-depth support and admissions counseling at reasonable hourly rates.

Sandweiss Test Prep’s admissions counseling services include student guidance and support for their college selection process as well as help with college applications and essays. According to owner Steve Sandweiss, “I have been helping students with their applications for several years, [and] I can be useful in three principal areas: 1) narrowing the college list; 2) designing a “marketing” strategy for each application; and 3) drafting and polishing the common app and supplemental essays.”

In admissions counseling sessions, students will receive help narrowing their search for the right colleges and learn how to create a good list of schools (including safety schools and ‘reach’ schools). Once the school list has been assembled, students will receive assistance in drafting their essays for both the Common App (used by several hundred colleges and universities) and for the supplementary essays required by individual schools.

To further expand their support for high school seniors this year and in future years, Laurie Gordon, co-owner of Sandweiss Test Prep, is pursuing a certification in college admissions counseling from UCLA. This coursework will provide her with the skills and resources necessary to aid students in finding the “right fit” college.

Although we are in the midst of summer and students may be putting off their application process, it is a good idea to commence this process as soon as possible.

Once school starts in the fall, seniors will be busy with classes, extracurricular activities, and possibly preparing for one more round of standardized testing, so those students who can get a jump on the applications process this summer will be much happier and less stressed than their procrastinating peers.

 

Sandweiss Test Prep offers extensive college admissions counseling services to students in the greater Seattle area. Contact us to learn more about admissions counseling, or to book your student’s session!

Featured photo from here, labeled for reuse.

Graduation season has passed, and it’s time to think about college applications! Recent college admissions trends offer important information to students applying in the next few months…

The Importance of a High School Record.

According to the National Association for College Admission Counseling, your child’s high school record is the number-one most important factor in college admissions. Good grades, rigorous course loads, and challenging courses have a stronger influence on admissions decisions than class rank or even standardized test scores. Essentially, colleges want to see that you’ve taken the most challenging classes that your school has to offer, and that you received strong grades in these classes.

College Applications Increase.

Students are sending out more college applications than they used to, and so colleges and universities around the U.S. are getting more and more applications every year. In 2011, 29 percent of the pool of college applicants sent seven or more applications (up from 9 percent in 1990), and the average number of applications per student has increased since then. This increase in the average number of applications per student has resulted in a negative cycle: more applications lead to lower admission rates, which leads to more applications as students try to hedge their bets, and so on.

Acceptance Rates are Dropping.

The lowest recorded admission rate (5.07%, according to research from Ivy Wise) happened this year. The average overall admission rate is probably closer to 50% or more, and several Ivy League colleges are accepting a higher rate of applications for the class of 2018 than they did for last year’s class; however the difference is not great. Many Ivy League schools received a higher number of early decision applications. Since most schools accept a significantly higher percentage of early applicants over regular submission applicants, early decision is to your student’s advantage. Also, now that colleges are receiving so many (and not accepting) applications, it’s critical that students find a way to break through the noise.

Demonstrated Interest is Key.

Most selective schools are becoming even more selective in their admissions decisions. Colleges and universities nationwide are placing stronger emphasis on students’ demonstrated interest in attending their school. They track student visits and interviews, check to see if the student has contacted faculty or alumni, and analyze their supplemental essays to gauge how well the student knows the school (and therefore, the likelihood of enrolling). College admissions officers want to see that your student has done his or her homework on the school. They will almost always look at your child’s social media profiles, too, so remind your student to be careful!

Contact us to learn about test preparation, tutoring, and admissions counseling services to help your student through the college application process.

Featured photo from here, labeled for reuse.

It’s that time of… life. It’s the time when you and your parents (or you and your student, parents…) hit the road and visit the schools you’re interested in. That may mean a trip across the country, or just up the street, but either way there are a few things you should be sure to fit into your trip so you get the best “view” of the school possible. Here are a handful of tips for planning your college visit to ensure you get the most of your visit:

Learn as much as you can before you go on your trip.

Perusing the school’s website and reading campus blogs will help you get a grasp on things that you really like about the school—and things you’re iffy about before stepping foot on campus. This will help you be prepared to ask any necessary questions, voice concerns and know what you’re heading into. Write down questions you have so you don’t forget to ask!

Take the trip while school is in session.

While summer trips are convenient, visiting the campus when it’s empty isn’t the best time to do it. Go during spring or fall when the campus is teeming with students and activity so you can get an accurate representation of campus life. Many high schools will even count missed school days for college visits as educational trips, rather than absences.

Make a schedule.

You probably have a few schools you’d like to see—so plan them accordingly. If your budget is limited, focus on your priority schools. If you’ve got a little more flexibility, start close to home, and expand out. Save the best for last—as you’ll learn how to best tour schools to get the most from your visit during your early trips!

Set interest meetings.

Seek out specific faculty members, staff, and/or students whose interests align with yours. For example, if you play the oboe and wish to play in the college orchestra, you should arrange a meeting with the orchestra director. Or if you have written for your high school newspaper and wish to work for the college newspaper, you should check out the newspaper office and meet with one of the editors. If you are interested in majoring in anthropology, you should meet with one of the anthro professors. It’s usually possible to arrange these meetings in advance, and often the admissions office will help you do so.

Take the campus tour… then explore.

The campus tour is a GREAT way to learn the highlights of the school. This is the school’s “best foot forward” moment, and you’ll likely learn a lot about the academic, athletic, and student activity “core” of the college. What you won’t learn, however, are the downfalls, dodgy areas (and every campus has them), student culture and intricacies of campus life. Once you’ve been on the campus tour, spend some time exploring and adventuring around campus to get a better feel for the geography and student culture.

Be a student for a day (and night, if you can!).

A lot of colleges and universities have programs where you can attend classes for a day, or even spend a night in a dorm with an existing student for a night or weekend. It’s a great way to REALLY understand how the school operates and feels.

And don’t forget—if you’re taking the SAT this March and missed getting in on our current classes, sign up for our Condensed SAT Test Prep Course now!

Featured photo from Flickr user NIExecutive, labeled for commercial reuse.

Is your high school junior on schedule with the necessary college preparation steps? Now that your son or daughter is settled into the school year, winter break is an optimal time to determine which big college entrance test your child should take.

It’s important to keep in mind that all colleges will accept either the SAT or ACT. We offer free diagnostic testing for both exams in order to determine which test is best suited for your child. In addition, we will provide a recommendation about the appropriate preparation options, how long the process will take, and the approximate cost.

Here’s a list of to-dos and helpful college preparation tips to get your student ready for a productive junior year.

  • Take a diagnostic test. Now is the time to take diagnostic exams to determine whether the ACT or SAT is the better test for your student. If your child took the PSAT in October, you will not receive results until January, which is too late to begin our courses to prepare for late winter test dates.
  • Based on the diagnostic results and our recommendations, register for either the February or April SAT, or the March ACT. This will allow sufficient time to re-take either exam later in the spring if necessary.
  • Think about college visits. Winter break or mid-winter break are the ideal times to plan college visits, since classes will be in session and your student will get the best sense of campus life. Begin thinking about a list of colleges that your son or daughter might be interested in applying to. Click here for College Board’s interactive college search tool. As you plan your child’s college visits, consider visiting different kinds of schools in the area. Your child can get an idea of what his or her experience might be like at a school with or without fraternities/sororities, a private school vs. a public school, an inter-urban school vs. a rural school, etc.
  • Now is the time to get as much information about colleges as you can. Visit your local public library (or our Sandweiss Test Prep office!) to look at college guidebooks. Check your high school counselor’s office and/or their newsletters to learn about college representatives who might be visiting your high school. You should be ‘window shopping’ for colleges as you and your child put together the list of places he or she might be interested in attending.

Stay tuned for more college preparation tips here on our blog. Remember that while test prep is important, colleges put more emphasis on grades! Study hard and focus on keeping your junior year grades at their best.