At the meeting, we talked about all of the things that generate stress for college applicants: score goals, GPA concerns, and daunting statistics, to name a few. Collectively, after several minutes of agonizing over our poor, stressed-out juniors and seniors, we decided that the biggest stressor of all is that students lose sight of the end goal. They know that they want to get into college – sometimes it seems their college goals are all anyone can talk about – but oftentimes, they forget that they also want to go to college. Students seem to know everything about their dream schools: they can recite acceptance rates, mean SAT scores, demographic breakdowns, and interview requirements at the drop of a hat. But do they know what to expect when they get there?

One of our tutors mentioned a strategy she uses to inspire her students to get through test prep – and it’s a mantra I’ve been sharing with my students since. She tells them, “It’s a few months of suck for four years of awesome.” While we as tutors don’t ever like to feel as though our sessions represent “a few months of suck,” it’s important to acknowledge the unpleasantness of standardized testing. We try hard to set goals and establish reward systems – we tell our students that if they work hard, they will get the scores they want. Do this, get this. Easy, right? Until I heard this other tutor speak, though, I had lost sight of the reward my students really want to hear about. Work hard, do well, get into college. That’s a bit better – most students would prefer an acceptance letter to a score report, right? Almost. I started to realize that what students actually need to hear is this:

1. Work hard
2. Score highly on your test
3. Get into college
4. Love it
5. Reach the point where the college application process becomes nothing more than a distant, dully painful memory. (It exists! Really!)

Suddenly, the goals are different. My mantra became: do this, get all this. And I think my students walked into their June ACT inspired by the notion that the bubbles they’re filling in mean something much bigger (and much less scary) than they originally thought.

Many schools publish student blogs as part of their Admissions pages. These can be great resources for prospective applicants to get a sense of what they’re working towards. I’ve included links to three below:

• UC Berkeley
• Emory University
• Towson University

Three different schools, in three very different parts of the country. Dozens of students sharing their experiences. But I found a common thread! Sometimes as little as one year out from what our students are going through, not one student blogger thought to mention the SAT.

1) Set concrete goals and create a detailed action plan
2) Visit colleges early in the process
3) Do the research
4) Drill vocabulary words
5) Discuss motivation

Set concrete goals and create a detailed action plan

Set very specific, concrete goals early in the test prep process. For example, plan to maximize your child’s SAT/ACT score by having him take the test at least three times. The detailed action plan to support this goal could consist of the following: a) have weekly or bi-weekly tutoring lessons either 6-8 weeks or 12-16 weeks before the first official test date; b) schedule mock tests every 3-4 weeks, working backward from your first desired test date; c) don’t over-commit to the test prep process until you are sure your schedule supports a three to four hour additional time commitment each week. My highest achieving students have almost always been those willing to invest the initial effort to create a clear test prep plan.

Another goal could be to keep preparing for the SAT/ACT until you reach your target score. The specific action steps would likely consist of setting aside enough time each week to master the necessary content. Some specific details within that step could include creating review sheets of the most important math formulas and concepts, as well as the most occurring grammar errors.

Visit colleges early in the process

What pictures come to mind when prompted to think about a 1450 Math and Critical Reading SAT score? That’s anyone’s guess. However, what pictures come to mind when I mention your first visit to your dream school? You may remember the pleasant breeze, inviting scenery, or even cool grass sneaking under your flip-flop while you eagerly explored your preferred four year paradise. I’ve heard stories of students bringing their SAT practice books with them on college visits. Any guesses on whether they do more prep on the ride/flight to the school or the ride/flight home?

Do the research

When I was applying to college, my parents helped winnow down the stacks of college guide books that were crushing our dining room table. They helped me compose a short list of ‘essentials’, ‘negotiables’, and ‘no-ways’. Once they worked with me to clarify the characteristics of my dream school, we were able to shorten the list of choices considerably. We knew the inter-quartile ranges for their SAT scores, their number of students, males to females ratio, percentage of greek life, famous alumni and alumnae, and other differentiators.

Drill vocabulary words

Teenage years are tenuous times, especially when the emotionally charged topics of standardized test scores and colleges are breached. Is there anything a parent can do to support the details of the test prep process? My favorite suggestion is to study the vocabulary words with your child. It may be tempting to just quiz him or her. However, let your child quiz you. It may even be beneficial to reveal occasional uncertainty about a meaning. If the dynamic is simply, “Did you study the words yet?” there may be some really enjoyable exchanges slipping away. Instead, you might get away with saying, “Did you scrutinize your week one vocabulary words with the meticulousness your peers harangue you for, or did you find the lists too prosaic?”

Discuss motivation

Calvin Coolidge once remarked, “Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent.” I’m not sure about you, but I’ve learned the most about myself when things got difficult and the least about myself when things were easy. Winston Churchill shares Coolidge’s emphasis on endurance: “Courage is going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm.” Initial failures are discouraging. The alternatives to hard work are so accessible. However, the payoff of persistence exceeds the disappointment that quitting ensures.

Location: 2715 Peachtree Rd NE Atlanta, GA 30305

Price: Free

May 10 (Tue) 7:00pm – 8:30pm

May 17 (Tue) 7:00pm – 8:30pm

Learn from the best! With 9 years experience helping the nation’s elite students navigate the testing and college admissions process, Jed Appelrouth, MS, NCC, and Wendy Williams, educational consultant, will guide you through all the steps necessary to:

• Help your child achieve his or her best scores on the admissions exams (SAT or ACT)
• Find out what admissions officers are looking for
• Submit more competitive college applications

Don’t miss this FREE opportunity to help your child get ahead!

A college admissions committee spends on average 7 minutes with each application. Will your child stand out?

On Wednesday, November 17, Jed Appelrouth, MS, NCC and Steven Goodman, MS, JD and will be meeting to discuss the ins and outs of college admissions. You can attend the event in-person or watch it live online:

Attend Webinar Attend In-Person

(learn more…)

• Dunwoody High School 9/16 at 3:00 p.m.
• Cobb South (Marietta High School) 9/16 at 6:30 p.m.
• Forsyth County (Cumming Fairgrounds) 9/21 at 8:30 a.m.
• Atlanta (Northlake Mall) 9/21 at 5:30 p.m.
• Gwinnett County (Gwinnett Center) 9/22 at 6:00 p.m.
• Cobb North (Town Center at Cobb) 9/28 at 6:00 p.m.
• Atlanta North (North Point Mall) 9/29 at 6:00 p.m.

These college fairs are great ways to get preliminary information about schools you’ve heard of and some that you haven’t heard of. Not only will you be getting info from the colleges, they’ll be getting info from you. Sometimes these reps are the first people to read and review your application. So, make a good impression! I’ve also been told time and again that admissions officials are more likely to root for your application if they remember meeting you and know how interested you are in their school.

Be sure to collect as much information as you can about the schools that interest you, and ask questions.

Good Luck!

Updated: Last night I heard from DeKalb county teacher that the Race to the Top funds would be used to pay for PSATs. My Google search didn’t yield any new info, but if you know something I don’t, please share in the comments.

In May, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that budget cuts would limit public schools’ funding for the PSAT for sophomores.

Georgia had been paying for all 10th-graders to take the PSAT and for students to take two AP exams, but now will pay those costs only for students eligible for free and reduced-price lunches. The PSAT costs $13; each AP exam is $86.

Why does this matter to students? Well, studies have shown that repeated exposure to a test has a definite impact on students’ performance. The more a student practices a test the more comfortable he will be when he takes it for real Junior year. Not only is the PSAT good practice for the SAT, but a high score on it might lead to full scholarships at a number of colleges and universities.

Former State schools Superintendent Kathy Cox has long been a vocal supporter of the PSAT program, confident in its power to help students perform well on the SAT. It will be interesting to see how students continue to perform on the SAT, especially with the news that Georgia scores have already fallen.

The Associated Press reported yesterday that ACT, Inc. released a report indicating that across the country this year’s Spring ACT scores fell from those in 2009.  ”Last spring’s high-school seniors averaged a composite score of 21.0 on the test’s scale of 1 to 36, down slightly from 21.1 last year and the lowest score of the last five years. ”

Apparently it wasn’t all bad news. Even though scores are falling, the report indicates that 24 percent of test-takers “met or all four of the test’s benchmarks measuring their preparedness for college English, reading, math and science.” If 24 percent seems like a low number, take heart. It is up from 23 percent last year.

While the report shows a rise in the number of students prepared for college-level biology (21 to 24 percent in five years), the number of students prepared for college English has dropped from 69 percent to 66. Perhaps even more upsetting is that 28 percent of students met NONE of the four college readiness benchmarks.

Regardless of the dip in scores, more and more students are opting to take the  ACT either instead of or in addition to the SAT.The gap has been whittled down to under 50,000, and the ACT has been gaining an average of 59,000 + students per year over the last 3 years.  A record 47 percent of high school graduates, 1.57 million students, took the ACT this year. The momentum is impressive.  The current trends predict that the ACT will be on top at the end of 2010, or at the very least, within several thousand students of surpassing the old patriarch.

On a brighter local note, Georgia’s ACT scores are inching up. The 44 percent of Georgia seniors who took the ACT this year bumped Georgia up from 40th to 34th in the national rankings. While the state’s average composite score of 20.7 is still below the national average at 21.0, it is up from 20.6 last year.

According to Evan and David, the key to creating an application that will stand out from the pack is to craft an application that is genuine, that comes from a place of honesty, passion, and vulnerability. The authors give dozens of examples of students who take the right kind of risks with their essays and allow the admissions readers to get glimpses of their character, their fears, their dreams. Essays like these are innately inspiring, and they simply ring true. Authenticity is powerful!

I have personally broken out my copy of The MBA Reality Check on multiple occasions to illustrate to students what it looks like to take the right risks in their applications. The book beautifully lays out “before” and “after” examples from a wide variety of students with greatly diverse life experiences. This is incredibly instructive. Here’s the “play it safe” version, and here’s the “dive in, take the risk” version. I use this book to inspire my students: Take the risk! Put yourself out there. Don’t be afraid of letting people in to see your wounds or your loftiest aspirations.

Good essays cut through the marketing and self-promotion that students feel they must engage in when applying to college or graduate school.  This focus on “looking good” will ruin an otherwise strong college or graduate-school essay.  Take the risk of being authentic, owning your shortcomings, honestly portraying your passions, claiming your victories.

In MBA Reality Check, the applicants move beyond the realm of “looking good.”  One woman writes of her greatest personal accomplishment: learning to swim.  One man writes of his failure to confront racism in his workplace and what he learned from the experience.  One applicant wrote of his passion for fighting fires, another of his life-long dream to reinvigorate the World Wrestling Entertainment Corporation.

These applicants learned that the most powerful way to recruit others, engage them, and bring them to your cause, is to be authentic.  Honesty draws people in. It’s a mammal thing.  Neuroscientists call it limbic resonance, this connection between our respective mammalian brains.  These connections helped our species survive for millennia and continue to serve us today.  As members of the human team, it’s a good strategy to enroll others in our causes and approach them from a place of honesty.  We can generally sniff out pretense and posturing.  But, we are attracted to authenticity.

As the season of college applications is rapidly approaching, the time to write authentically and powerfully is upon us.  When you sit down to write your college essays, remember to drop the pretense of giving the admissions committee what you think they might want to read.  Everybody writes those essays. Write the essays that are true for you.  Allow the reader of your application to learn about your values, passions and vulnerabilities.  Make the human connection and you will be on your way to gaining an advocate on the admissions committee.

If you are looking for a few other ideas, check out an article I put together in 2008 on the topic of writing strong essays.  It’s a good idea to start this process early and give yourself plenty of time to let the creativity flow.  Your college essays will take a significant amount of time and will require you to write in a novel way.  This can be a process of introspection and self-discovery, and at the minimum it can be a valuable exercise in authentic self-expression.

When reading all the valuable information the report has gathered about class sizes, tuition costs and offered majors, remember that just because a college or university has topped U.S. News & World Report’s list, doesn’t mean it has to top yours. If the only thing about a school that excites you is its name, it might not be the right fit for you.