When I was a sophomore at Yale, my acting professor Toni Dorfman looked at the class over the top of her Hogwarts-level spectacles and said, “every director should be forced to act in a play at least once a year. That way they will remember what it feels like to be...
Even the brightest kids go through periods of boredom and lack of motivation. Burnout is becoming more common, and it’s not the student’s fault: high expectations, overscheduling, poor nutrition, and lack of sleep can all contribute. Here are some of the most...
One of the most effective ways to measure performance on the ACT or SAT is with the points-captured system. It works like this. Say a student takes a diagnostic ACT and scores a 20 out of 36. That means there are 16 more points that the student could potentially...
Some high schools and colleges now require or encourage a video submission with your application. Anyone can film a short video about themselves, but if you incorporate these professional acting tips you’ll eliminate many of the mistakes that make admissions teams...
by Nathaniel Dolquist, Yale University Class of 2014 When I was in the fifth grade, I asked my cousin what colleges were the most difficult to get into. “Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Stanford,” she replied, “but nobody actually gets in there.” The goal was set. I...
We recommend students apply to around 15 schools, divided into the following categories: Five Safety or “High Odds” Schools These are schools with high odds of admission and frequently include community colleges, state universities, and other large public schools....
No. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many schools reevaluated the utility of including standardized testing in their admissions process. If testing is not your strong suit, you may be able to skip the tests if the school(s) you want to attend don’t require them. For more...
I recently helped a high school sophomore with his application to Cornell's Precollege Studies program. As he wrote and I edited, I had a gut feeling that his application had what I call the “Ivy League Sparkle”. There was something special about it, something that...