1:1 College Advising Introductory Call

There’s a mistake I see every year.

And it’s usually made by good students with good intentions and high college aspirations.

Once they understand that the application is only partly academic, the instinct is almost always the same:

“Okay. Then we need more.”

More activities.

More leadership titles.

More volunteering.

Another nonprofit. Another summer program. Another credential.

On paper, it sounds logical.

In reality, it often makes the application worse.

Here’s why.

Admissions officers don’t reward busyness. They reward meaning.

When a student does too much, everything starts to look the same.

Depth gets replaced by noise. Signal gets buried under activity.

John Wooden, legendary basketball coach at UCLA, said it perfectly:

Don't confuse activity with achievement.

I’ve seen students with 19 impressive extracurriculars look less compelling than kids with eight, simply because no one helped them decide what actually mattered.

1:1 College Advisory Introductory Call

There’s something I want to clear up, because it causes a lot of unnecessary stress for families.

The college application isn’t mysterious.

And it isn’t random, actually.

It's roughly 60–40.

About 60% of an admissions decision is academic-based.

Grades. Course rigor. SAT or ACT scores.  

(Sidebar: all admissions officers would rather see test scores than not see them. Because they're more accurate predictors of a kid's ability to do college-level work.)

Those things matter. A lot.

But they're not the whole story. Here’s the part that surprises people.

The other 40% is where outcomes really separate.

Part of the 40% is stuff that's out of your control:  race (still), your high school, your zip code, whether your parents went to college.

Then there's the rest of the story, where admissions officers consider questions like:

Who is this student, really?

What VALUE will they add to campus?

What story does this application tell (when w...

Private College Advising

Let me ask you something, Ajay

Where do you want your child to be 12 months from now if nothing changes?

Or in two-three years?

I don’t mean that as a guilt trip.

I mean it as a question worth sitting with.

Because after decades of working with families, here’s what I’ve seen.

Most parents dramatically underestimate the cost of staying stuck.

Not the obvious costs.

Not missing a deadline or choosing the “wrong” summer program.

Or picking the wrong classes. (I’m starting to do that now with my students, and I ALWAYS  have tweaks that aren’t recommended by guidance.)

The hidden costs. The ones that compound quietly.

Another year of confusing activity with achievement...

Doing more-more-MORE! without knowing if it’s the right move. 

Another year of stress around essays, activities, and decisions that feel high-stakes, but the actual payoffs are unclear.

Another year of watching other students pull ahead, not because they’re smarter, but because so...

1:1 College Advising

Can I give you a quick update?

The calls have been coming in, and I’m starting to see my Q1 calendar take shape.

I’ll be honest with you.  I haven’t looked forward to anything in my work quite like this in a long time.

Part of it is the format:

One family.

One student.

One focused block of time.

No rushing. No juggling. No noise.

Just sitting down together and figuring out what is actually going to move the needle.

But a big part of it is who I’m meeting.

These are thoughtful, motivated, coachable kids.

Parents who care deeply, but aren’t trying to micromanage or game the system.

Families who recognize the stakes involved and don’t want to leave it to chance.

That combination is rare. And energizing.

After doing this for decades, I finally know exactly what kind of work I enjoy most.

This is it.

Here’s what these sessions look like:

You, your student, and me. Working together on Zoom or in our Glen Head or Boca Raton office.

We identify the re...

Private College Advising

Let me tell you a little story about Ava, before she got into her dream school Early Decision. 

She came to me with a problem.

Not a grades problem. Not a test scores problem.

An essay problem.

The kind that doesn't just hurt your application, but could flat out kill your chances at elite colleges.

She'd been “working on it” for weeks, whatever that meant.

Her mom had looked at it from every angle.

Her English teacher was useless (college essays don’t have a “rubric”).

Nobody could see a way forward.

Here's what I noticed when we sat down one on one:  Ava was flailing.

Smart kid, strong student.

But too close to the problem.

She'd been staring at this thing for so long that, in reality, she hadn't produced anything, except two random paragraphs that she hated.

I saw the solution in less than six minutes.

Not because I'm smarter than Ava. (I'm not.)

But I was outside the problem.

I didn't have Ava's years of built up internal assumptions ...

[Trigger warning to any guidance counselor, sorry, "school counselor" who may have stumbled onto my email list:  if you're easily offended by what parents REALLY think about guidance counselors -- private school and public school -- you may want to skip this email. ]

There’s something I almost never hear parents say out loud, but I hear it between the lines all the time.

“I feel like my kid’s doing everything she’s supposed to…and I still don’t know if it’s enough.”

That feeling of "we're missing out" isn’t paranoia.

And it isn’t because you missed a checklist item.

It’s because the college admissions system quietly changed, but most school counselors are still playing by the old rules.  Here’s what I mean:

They're drowning in administrative work. Schedules. Discipline issues. Testing logistics.

Many don't even meet with students about college until junior year…which is far too late since grades 9-12 all count on the application.

And honestly? A big chunk don't even know thei...

Yesterday I mentioned that, as an experiment, I'm opening up a small number of spots for personal college advising with families who came from “the outside world” (who weren't referred by other clients).

A bunch of you asked for more details, wondering, “Is this for my kid?” So let me tell you exactly what this looks like.

This is not for parents who want a checklist.

It’s not for families looking for a magic essay template or a guaranteed Ivy outcome (ahem, Lori Loughlin!).

And it’s definitely not for anyone hoping to outsource responsibility and “let someone else handle it.”

This is for parents who sense something important is at stake and don’t want to get it wrong.

Parents who feel deep down that the admissions landscape has shifted, but can’t quite put their finger on how. 

Or what to do about it.

Parents who know their child is capable of more than what’s showing up on paper right now.

Parents who, if they're being honest, have no idea how their child will answer the ...

This is a personal note from me. I'm sending this only to a small group, so do me a favor and keep this between us kids.

I've been thinking a lot about legacy lately.

Not in some heavy or Lifetime movie dramatic way, just... what's actually mattered most to me over 25 years as a college advisor.

It's not the TV appearances on Fox, CBS, or even that weird Netflix "Varsity Blues" college admissions documentary thing that I was in...

It's not my books hitting bestseller status five times, or Pearl’s and my podcast charting at #2...

It's not the speaking gigs or the "college planning guru" label people sometimes use...

That's all ego stuff. 

What matters most: 

The kids.

Like Ava, paralyzed for weeks over her essay. I unlocked it in less than 10 minutes.

A few weeks later:  Admitted Early Decision.

And Liam, who couldn't figure out how to stand out, because, frankly, he really didn't.

I mapped out a multi-step “passion project” in four minutes that he implemented over th...

Final reminder about this SAT vs ACT Preview Class.

If there's any doubt about which test is the right call for your student, this gives you clarity fast.

For example, which test is best for strong math students?

Which is best if you need accommodations?

Which is best if your kid “sucks at science?”

Register here, see you in class!

>>REGISTER HERE<<

-Andy "Last Call" Lockwood

Lockwood College Prep

P.S.   The SAT and ACT are BACK.

Colleges know that they're better predictors of kids' ability to do college work.

And you need good scores to get the best scholarships, too.

SAT v ACT Webinar Tonight

I get it.

College planning and other super-important items on your to-do list get buried once the week starts.

If you have a young-un in 10th or 11th grade, don't let that happen.  Make time for our class tonight.

It’s fast. One  45 minute-ish class to help you:

-Avoid prepping for the wrong test 

-Stop guessing which test fits your son or daughter

-Understand timing differences that matter

-Know what changed on the ACT, and how they affect your kid

C'mon, you don't need to watch the latest "feel good" news. Our class will be better for your blood pressure.

Register here.

-Andy

P.S.  Our head tutor, Marissa U, will walk you through the briar patch of:

- How the test structures actually differ

- Where pacing becomes the problem

- Question styles that favor different thinkers

- What the recent ACT changes mean for strategy

P.P.S.  Does anyone even know what a briar patch is?