Capstone College and Career Advising

by: Mark KantrowitzNov. 24, 2015      Sarina Finkelstein (photo illustration)—Getty ImagesSome states want you to list an in-state, public college first as a sign of your interest. You probably know that yourincome and assets are important factors in determining your eligibility for college aid. But did you know that the schools you list on the Free Federal Application for Financial Aid, or FAFSA, can also play a role? When students file the onli…click for more...?>

November 19, 2015 6:35 PM By David Highfield   A lot of high school seniors are applying for college right now, and some of them are likely making mistakes on their applications that are sending them straight to the trash. Most colleges recommend high school students start thinking about the college application process as early as their freshman year. “The whole college admissions process, the application process, everything has changed dramatically. A lot of people think that it…click for more...?>

By Valerie Strauss November 24   (Jim R. Bounds/Bloomberg) Every year like clockwork the college admissions process takes over the lives of students, teachers, parents, counselors and admissions officers — and every year like clockwork there are complaints about the process from just about every constituency.  Still, after all these years, it’s just too hard for too many people. So how to improve it? Brennan Barnard, director of college counseling a…click for more...?>

by: Kaitlin Mulhere The ease of online applications and today’s high-stakes, competitive college admissions process have led college-bound high schoolers to apply to a growing number of schools in recent years. About a third of students in 2013 submitted more than seven applications, double the percentage who did so a decade earlier, according to the National Association of College Admissions Counseling. And some students go to the extreme, applying to dozens of colleges. But th…click for more...?>

By: Sara Shapiro Harberson   For most parents and their high school seniors, having a happy memory from the college search is about as rare as getting into Harvard these days. But it doesn’t have to be. Case in point. One of my happiest high school memories is touring potential colleges with my father the fall of my senior year. I remember feeling inspired by the colleges dotting the road, the beautiful leaves on the autumnal trees, and the thought that my life was about to get really…click for more...?>

By: Jon Boeckenstedt Jon Boeckenstedt of DePaul University, left, listens as a vendor explains a virtual campus tour device at a college admissions convention in Indianapolis in September 2014.  (Alan Petersime for The Washington Post) Last week, a group of 83 public and private colleges and universities made an announcement that stunned much of higher education: They were joining together to form “The Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success.” Although…click for more...?>

By:Kaitlin Mulhere   Even living in the White House doesn’t exempt you from the strenuous job of applying to college. In fact, for 17-year-old Malia Obama, all the media attention being given her big decision may make it all the more stressful. As the New York Times reported, Malia has visited six of the eight Ivy League schools—Brown, Columbia, Harvard, Princeton, University of Pennsylvania, andYale—as well as Stanford, Univers…click for more...?>

By: Danielle Douglas-Gabriel President Obama wants to make it easier for students to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)   College-bound students will be able to get earlier estimates of their eligibility for federal grants and loans next fall as the White House moves to simplify the way the government determines financial aid. Instead of students waiting until January to fill out the Free Application for Federal Student Aid, long …click for more...?>

By: Jed Applerouth  Posted by Marshall Findlay on September 9, 2015 in Education Technology in adolescent hands has gotten a bad rap as of late. Whether it be studies suggesting that smartphones are detrimental to the learning experience or our own tendency to believe that we’re part of the 2 percent of effective multi-taskers, an overdependence on technology plays some role in the frenetic, sleep-deprived age in which we live. But that doesn&…click for more...?>

By: Kat Cohen One of the most important things students will do during the college admissions process is develop a balanced list of schools to which to apply. Ideally, this list sets students up to apply to a range of colleges, with varying probability of admission. The common misconception about college lists is that the ‘likely’ or ‘safety’ schools on a student’s list are the least desirable and the applications that require the least attention because, hey, …click for more...?>