College Coffee Talk | Free SAT & ACT Class

Good morning!

Two announcements:

1. 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, it's a real doozy, bound to make some parents a little miffed:

How can parents support their children in the application process without overstepping?

In other words...

How not to be a helicopter parent even if you think nothing will get done if you don't micromanage your child until they're 35 years old.

2. Today's the last day for our Free SAT and ACT class promo, a/k/a Try Before You Buy.  Here's where to sign up.

Marissa will be doing a live Q&A tonight at 8pm EST. I'll send out the link for that session this afternoon.

Here's where to join us live on College Coffee Talk, in a few minutes, 10am sharp! 

Tune In!

- Andy "Caffeine Addict" Lockwood

Free SAT and ACT Class | Last Minute College Advising

 You may have heard, more and more colleges are abandoning their test-optional policies.   And for the colleges that still let you conceal your SAT and ACT scores, there's more to the story.

Plain and simple...

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 factors 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,...

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:

What financial aid options are available for affluent families?

Plus, the latest (crappy) updates on the FAFSApocalypse, and how they'll affect financial aid this coming year.

Tune In!

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

- Andy Lockwood

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!  

Today I'll be answering an oft-asked question, "What are the key factors that colleges look for in applicants?"

Join us this morning (or on replay) to get a little bit of college clarity out of chaos! :)

Tune In!

Please feel free to share this with anyone who could use this information.  You and they will not get it anywhere else, promise!

- Andy Lockwood

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:

*Mistakes to avoid on the Common Application Activities section, and

*More FAFSA problems expected this fall. (Ugh.)

Tune In!

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

- Andy Lockwood

The new Common App is here!

I haven't been this excited since, well, last August 1.

I recorded a helpful but incomplete video walkthrough of some of the key aspects I felt should be highlighted.  

If you have a 2025 grad, this video will save you a ton of time and stress, even if it bores you out of your skull.

Watch Boring Video

- Andy "Calls 'Em Like I Sees 'Em" Lockwood

P.S. Here's something else that just arrived...

Hi Ajay,

The Common Application opens tomorrow, August 1.  Senior year of high school for 2025 graduates is only a few weeks out.

If your kiddo's college essay writing efforts are, ahem, less than stellar and/or less than productive, you may want to do something about it before it's too late.

Otherwise, you're in for a month of three of stress, high blood pressure and fighting with your child over the d-mn essays and applications. 

Not fun.

We currently have five (5) spots left for the College Essay Lab, our service that is focused on helping your son or daughter write an essay that "sells".

An essay that advocates, persuasively, why he or she should be picked out of the "sea of sameness" of tens of thousands of near-identical (on paper) competitors.

The personal statement, and supplemental essays, are your child's last, best chance to make the case why he or she deserves to get in.

The Invisible Question

You won't find it anywhere on the Common Application, but this...

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:

*Blockbuster Changes to the ACT...and how they affect your child

*Notes From Yesterday's College Essay Bootcamp

*Student Loan Repayment Program Tomfoolery

Tune In!

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

- Andy Lockwood

We now have a little more info on the latest changes to the ACT, so we're running a short webinar to loop you in.  It's tonight!

This is new information that came out since our last update two weeks ago.  So exciting I want to vomit.

Or not. But, whether or not exciting, this will be important information for anyone who has a kiddo contemplating taking the ACT.

Tune in tonight --  our head tutor Marissa U will cover the new changes and answer your questions -- we'll be live in chat.

Here's where to sign up:

ACT Webinar

- Andy "This Just In" Lockwood

P.S.  Reminder about the College Essay Lab, if you realized that your child needs help standing out on the college essay.

Use coupon code ADMIT2025 for an instant 20% off "scholarship".  That's 700 donuts to you and me.

But you have to enroll before deadline or before we give out our last 6 spots.  The clock is a-ticking and a-tocking. Soon the bell will...

The College Essay Lab | ACT Update

Here's a big hangup I hear from our college advisory students, year after year: 

"I can't come up with anything original."

To that I say, "Balderdash!"

Because that's not THE THING.  Not your job.   

A college essay writer's task is not to be "original." 

Think about it, the average admissions officer reviews 1,000 applications each year.  Some applications have two-five supplemental essays, each.

If the admissions officer has three years' career experience, that amounts to at least 3,000 essays, perhaps triple or quadruple that amount when supplemental essays are part of the equation.

Your chances of surprising your admissions officer?

Approximately the same as Joe Biden pulling a Tom Brady, "un-retiring" and winning the presidency.

That is to say, zero.

Ah, so what IS your task?

To write something fresh.  Unusual.  Something INTERESTING.

How do you do this? 

Generally speaking, an interesting...