What goes into a "good" college essay, anyway?

Does it have to be about some enormously dramatic, Lifetime Move-quality event that occurred in a young lad's or lass's life?

Some gigantic, breathtaking obstacle that the young chap or damsel overcame before going onto accomplish scholastic glory?

Or an abundance of wicked smaht-sounding, multi-syllabic words such as "myriad" and "plethora" stuffed into every sentence?

I bet you know the answers to those questions.

What about "good" and "bad" essay topics?

Getting cut from a team, then working out extra hard over the summer in Rocky's old gym, coming back, making the team and kicking the winning goal or making a buzzer beater from half court?

Writing about grandpa's words of wisdom?

Or oing political?

This Thursday night, I'm conducting a free online class to answer all of these questions. Some of my answers should confirm what you knew or suspected, but then again, some may surprise you, come to think of it.,

The class is called,...

These days, I'm derriere-deep with college essay editing for our clients, and have noticed certain repeated, widespread and repeated mistakes.

(Repeated twice in the same sentence was an intentional joke. Alrighty, as you were.)

I figured I'd share a few of them, to help your child come up with a winning personal statement and persuasive supplemental essays.

This Thursday night, I'm conducting a free online class, Top 10 College Essay Mistakes -- How to write an essay so compelling that college admissions officers will practically crawl naked over broken glass to admit your student.

This class is for kids and parents alike.  Please feel free to share this with anyone you know who will soon be staring at that blinking cursor on their laptop, wondering "What the devil do I have to write about" (or 2024 equivalent expression)?

I'm here to help.  Go here to get the details:

Essay Class

- Andy Lockwood

P.S.  Just to get this out of the way, I'll be making a...

ACT Ch-Ch-Ch--Ch-Changes Webinar

The folks at the ACT just announced some pretty big ch-ch-changes!

I've been wondering why.  But in lieu of sharing my (cynical) thoughts, let me tell you about tonight's webinar.   (I'll probably blurt out my half-baked theories at some inopportune time, tonight):

I'm hauling in our expert, Lockwood Test Prep Head Tutor, Marissa U, to 'splain answers to questions such as:

What are the changes?

When will they go into effect?

Are they good for fast test takers?

Slow test takers?

Kids weak in science?

Kids who aren't strong writers?

And, overall...

What do they mean for your kiddo?

Tune in tonight, Wednesday July 17 --  Marissa will answer these questions and more, including your questions -- we'll be live in chat.

Here's where to sign up for ths one-time, breaking news event:

ACT Webinar

- Andy "Never a Dull College Planning Moment" Lockwood

P.S.  Please share this invitation with anyone who could use this...

Hot off the presses:

The ACT is changing!

What are the changes?

When will they go into effect?

What do they mean for your kiddo?

Tune in tomorrow night, Wednesday July 17 --  our head tutor Marissa U will answer these questions and more, including your questions -- we'll be live in chat.

Here's where to sign up for tomorrow's event:

ACT Webinar

- Andy "Scoop" Lockwood

P.S.  You are hereby requested to forward this valuable invitation to any and all of your pals who could use this information!  

Free SAT or ACT Class Promo 

Good morning - two quickie announcements.

1. A Few Financial Aid and Essay Faux Pas - Live at 10 AM

Join me and Pearl for our weekly program, College Coffee Talk, live on our Facebook page.

Today's topic:  

A Few Financial Aid and Essay Faux Pas

2. FREE SAT or ACT Class Promo Expires Today

Announcing:  a free, no-obligation "test drive" of ANY of our upcoming SAT or ACT prep classes, either in-person or online.  Here's how it works:

1. Check out our schedule in July and August.

2. Pick the class you want to sample, for free.

3. After the class, our head tutor, Marissa will offer our absolute best deal we can give and still keep the lights on and landlord happy.  This is a one-time, "exploding" offer that expires 24 hours after class.

4. There is no obligation or pressure to buy anything, just the forthcoming incentive to enroll with us.

Enrollment expires at 5pm today.  I'm not sure we'll try this...

Although the numbers are slowly dwindling, approximately 75% of colleges allow applicants to apply without sharing their SAT or ACT. 

Who benefits from this policy? The answer may surprise you.

I've said it before and I'll say it again:  there's a difference between APPLYING test optional versus being ACCEPTED test optional.

The three most important academic components of a college application are 1. GPA, 2. rigor of course load and 3. standardized test scores.  These three factors comprise approximately 60% of the entire college application.

Simple logic:  if you remove one of these three academic components -- test scores -- the other two take on greater weight.  So do the non-academic ones (40% of the application).

Mass marketing by colleges has created a tsunami of applications, year after year.  But are those applicants from QUALIFIED students?

Or is a huge chunk of them from kids who think, "Princeton doesn't need test scores, so I'll throw in an...

We haven't done something like this in over a year, but I figured it was high time to dust if off and roll it out again. :)

Announcing:  a free, no-obligation "test drive" of ANY of our upcoming SAT or ACT prep classes, either in-person or online.  Here's how it works:

1. Check out our schedule in July and August.

2. Pick the class you want to sample, for free.

3. After the class, Marissa will offer our absolute best deal we can give and still keep the lights on and landlord happy.  This is a one-time, "exploding" offer that expires 24 hours after class.

4. There is no obligation or pressure to buy anything, just the forthcoming incentive to enroll with us.

Why are we doing this?

We just moved into brand spanking new offices in June, and are excited to fill the space with eager young, fresh students who want to CRUSH the SAT or ACT! 

(And our online classes. :)

Here's where to get all the details, and sign up.  This no-rise, free test-drive...

SAT v ACT Preview Class 

The new SAT caused a wee bit of a kerfuffle when it came out this year, but things seem to be in the process of stabilizing.  However, there are still issues re:  "adaptive testing," the availability of legitimate SAT practice questions from the College Board (there aren't so many...yet) and more.

The college application process is stressful and confusing enough, especially this past year with the Department of Education's financial aid fiasco, plus plummeting admissions rates, not to mention all the Israel-Palestine controversies raging on campuses coast to coast.

So yeah, you sure picked a great time to send your child to college!  Jeez.

Permit me, if you will, Ito help you eliminate one source of stress:  figuring out which test -- the SAT or ACT -- is best...for your son or daughter.

Tonight, our head tutor Marissa U will host a sneak preview class, online, that walks you through each section of each test, offering strategies and...

Tutoring 

It seems like more colleges abandon their test-optional policies every week.  Harvard and CalTech.  Brown and Georgia Tech.  I believe we're still in the beginning stages of a standardized testing comeback.

Why?  Mostly because rampant grade inflation makes it super hard for admissions officers to gauge the college readiness of applicants. When everyone has a 94 average, how to you separate the wheat from the chaff?  

A full discussion of that topic would take too long, but it appears that that the (new, digital) SAT and ACT are back to help resolve that issue.    

The SAT changed formats earlier this year, switching from paper to digital.  Reviews were mixed, to put it mildly, making it more confusing for students wondering which one to prep for, and take, in order to boost their chances of getting accepted to the colleges they want to attend...

...and clean up with fat, juicy scholarships :)

That's why we're running...

Good morning!

We're hitting the airwaves this morning -- 10:00am EST --  for College Coffee Talk, our live show about college admissions and financial aid news that you can use!  

Here's what's on tap for today:  

How Not to Screw Up Your College Applications and Essays This Summer.

Tune In!

Feel free to pass this note along to any of your friends who could use this info!

Grab a cup of joe and we'll see you at 10am EST (recorded if you can't make it)

- Andy Lockwood