There's a question your kid has to answer on every college application.

It isn't on the Common App. It isn't in any supplement. No college will ever say it out loud. That's why I call it the invisible question.

Here it is.

Why should we take you instead of the 50,000 other kids who look exactly like you on paper?

I have this conversation with kids several times a week, most weeks of the year, and it's an uncomfortable one. I tell them: I know you're special. I know your mom and dad think you hung the moon. But to this college, right now, you are a dime a dozen.

That's not an insult. It's a description of the pile. Thousands of applications, similar grades, similar scores, similar activities lists. I call it the sea of sameness.

Getting out of it is not about deserving it more. It's marketing.

Let me tell you where I learned that.

Years ago, long before I did this for a living, I bartended at the Four Seasons in Boston. The retired founder of Avis used to come in about once a week. Even...

Here's a scene I've watched play out for 24 years.

Great grades. Great scores. The guidance counselor looks at the software and says that one's a target, you should get in there.

Denied.

The family is blindsided. They did everything right and the machine still said no.

Mistake number three is not understanding that college admissions is a marketing exercise, not a meritocracy.

Start with the software. Most high schools run Naviance, some run SCOIR, a few use something else. Whatever the logo, it does roughly the same thing. It plots your kid's GPA and test score against other kids from your high school who applied to that college, and tells you how you stack up.

That's useful. It is also badly incomplete, for two reasons.

First, the admissions decision isn't built on grades and scores. It's built on twenty-something factors. The software can see two of them.

Second, your kid isn't competing against the other kids at your high school. They're being compared to kids in your high school a...

Mistake number two on my list of the 12 deadliest college planning mistakes is the one almost every parent makes without noticing.

You assume it works the way it worked when you applied.

It doesn't. Not remotely.

I graduated high school outside Boston. Back then Northeastern admitted 90% of the people who applied. Nine zero. It was the school you landed at when the other doors closed.

Northeastern's admit rate today is around seven percent.

Same school. Same name on the sweatshirt. Completely different institution to get into.

Now go run that exercise on your own list. The safety school you're penciling in because your neighbor's kid got in a decade ago may not be a safety anymore. It may not even be a target.

That's the trap. Not that parents are lazy. Parents are working incredibly hard off a map that expired.

Here's the rest of what moved while nobody sent out a memo.

Admit rates at the selective schools are at all time lows. A lot of colleges now cost north of $100,000 a year all i...

Last month I ran a webinar on the 12 deadliest college planning mistakes. About a hundred families showed up.

I opened with a poll. What's your biggest challenge right now? Getting into a decent school, paying for college, or you don't know where to start.

"All of the above" won. "Paying for college" came in a close second.

Nobody picked the thing I had listed as mistake number one.

That mistake is putting all your emphasis on the four years instead of the 40.

Everything in this process points at one moment. The decision letter. Families organize two years of their lives around it. And frankly the ads from people like me don't help. You've seen them. "93% of our students got into one of their top three choices."

You know how easy that is to pull off? Tell a Long Island kid to apply to Princeton, Stanford, and Nassau Community College. One out of three. Every single time.

So your kid gets in somewhere. Then what?

Getting in is not the finish line. It's the starting line. And where your ...

It's inevitable, every year, just as day follows night:

• High 90’s average
• National Honor Society member
• Varsity sports participant
• REJECTED from half their schools.

Why?

Because these poor kids never learned how to STAND OUT -- how to MARKET themselves.

Admissions officers have a different perspective than a sweet grandma knitting a blankie.

They’re skimming.

Judging. Comparing.

Tossing.

Your kiddo has mere minutes to grab their attention and sell them on their VALUE.

To answer the Invisible Question that's technically not on the Common Application, but in the hearts and minds of every admissions officer as they grind through 1,000 applications per year:

“Why are YOU different from the other 50,000 identical applicants you're competing with?”

That’s what I'm going to show you, Wednesday night: 

College Admissions Cheat Code
Wednesday, May 21
Register now → https://collegeplanningedge.com/

You will discover:

 The “Admissions Edge” strategy for turning a boring ...

We're in the throes of arguably the bumpiest college decision season in history.   

Daily, I'm witnessing joy in Mudville, as well as reports of sobbing, bedridden kids crushed by rejections (sometimes the same person).

In the midst of this emotional, chaotic time -- especially today, a/k/a "Ivy Day" -- it's important to focus on an important, overlooked truth:

Where you go is not who you are

I know, your kid may not want to hear it seconds after a rejection.  But that doesn't mean it's untrue.

I won't bore you with one of those long lists of famous successful people who didn't go to an Ivy, or who were rejected by their top choice college, but it's far from the end of the world if you don't get into your top choice college...

...but I can't help myself, so here's a short list of some really successful, non-Ivy leaguers.

Howard Schultz, the Starbucks guy - Northern Michigan University

Marc Cuban -- Indiana University

Steve Jobs -- Reed College (dropout)

Michael Dell - UT Aust...

We're moments away from shutting the door on tonight's SAT Crusher class, but we still have three (3) spots left.

If you (or your friends) are interested, here's where to get the low-down on our GUARANTEED, small group tutoring class:

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That coupon code works for all the classes listed on that page, BTW.

Bottom line:

A strong SAT or ACT score can still open doors, win money, and get your kid into a better school.

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- Andy "Tootin' My Tutor's Horn" Lockwood

P.S. Your instructor, Marissa U, doesn't merely believe in “just getting by" or "settling" for a "decent" score.

Her client Dylan Briody started with a 1330, and was hoping for a 1450. His final score, hot off the presses:

1520!

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Admissions results are a-rollin' in, and it's proving to be the bumpiest year I can recall.

I'm always trying to sift and sort through the data to make sense of it all, but it's not easy.

But one thing seems to stand out like a sore thumb:

SAT and ACT scores matter.

The higher your scores, the better your odds of admission.   Even in today's test-optional world.  

Yes, most colleges still let you APPLY test-optional.   But there's a difference between applying test-optional and getting in test-optional.

That’s the reality no one tells you during campus tours. They want EVERYONE to apply, because more applications means more rejections, and more rejections mean higher rankings.

That's how the College Admissions Matrix manipulates you.

But here’s the good news:

We specialize in helping students crush these tests.

Not just “do okay.” Not “get by.” We’re talking real improvement. Real confidence. Real results.

Like our client Dylan Briody,...

Picture this.

It’s December. It's a dark, chilly evening.

Your kid logs into their college admissions portal. You're trying not to hover or eavesdrop. Yet, here you are.

They click “View Decision,” their hands shaking, their stomach in knots.

The page struggles to load...Then, finally, you see the words:

"We regret to inform you…"

Maybe they don’t even finish reading. Maybe they slam their laptop shut, fighting back tears...while their friends celebrate acceptance letters from their dream schools.

Now you’re the one feeling sick. Could this have been avoided?

I won't pull punches. The answer is YES.

This year’s admissions cycle has been an absolute bloodbath.

Record-low acceptance rates

An explosion of applicants (even safety schools are rejecting top students)

Families losing out on five-figure scholarships because they didn’t know how to play the College Funding Game

But still…some students somehow beat long odds, and get in.

Many, “less qualified”. 

And thousands...

I have good news and bad news for you!

The good news:

You still have a few hours left to grab one of the last seats in the College Application Edge Bootcamp at the $3,495 discounted price.

The bad news?

This offer slinks out of the room in a few short hours.

If you wait any longer, you’ll have two choices:
Pay full price later ($5,995) like the families who missed this deal.
Try to “DIY” this process… and hope for the best.

Personally, I wouldn’t gamble my kid’s future on hope.

And I KNOW you don’t want to be sitting in the kitchen in August, September, October and maybe all the way through December, screaming at your kid to finish their applications before the Early Decision, Early Action and Regular Decision deadlines.

Do yourself and your kid a favor, preserve your relationship during the most stressful, high-stakes period of their young lives. Make the smart move today.

 Head on over here to get all the details and grab your seat before the promo disappears.

Learn m...