As a test tutor, I sometimes encounter parents who want to start preparing their students early for tests like the ISEE and SAT. While students should learn some test-taking skills and strategies, my best advice to those who want to “prepare early” is to spend more time reading. Reading comprehension shows up on almost every…
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Though it’s tempting to simply say you want to score “as high as possible” on your college admissions exam, a target score will help you determine how much of your limited time and energy you devote to test preparations. So how should you determine you target score? There are several factors to consider: 1) What…
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If you’re a high school student choosing classes for next year, an important question is how many Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate classes you should take. For years, the answer to this question was, “More!” The number of students taking AP classes has doubled in the past ten years, and also doubled in the ten…
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As top schools become more and more competitive, many people have been scrutinizing the practice of legacy admissions, which means giving preferential treatment to children and close relatives of alumni. There’s good reason for this attention: Harvard’s 2017 survey shows that 29% of its incoming freshman class are legacy students. Other Ivy League and highly…
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If you are a top student and you play the financial aid game right, you could end up with multiple sources of free money: a needs-based grant, a merit scholarship from the school, and/or outside scholarships. The way your school combines these aid sources can be more important than the numbers themselves. It’s important to…
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