In a few hours, our head tutor Marissa is conducting a live test prep strategies presentation, 5 Score-Killing SAT and ACT Prep Mistakes and How to Avoid Them. 

The next ACT registration deadline is in four days (for the exam on 11/22), and the one for the SAT is later this month (see below).

Our next (guaranteed) ACT prep course starts tomorrow. Marissa will be offering a special discount coupon code on tonight's free workshop!  

Here's where to sign up for tonight's class

Drop whatever you're doing if you have a young-un taking the SAT or ACT in the near future.  Don't miss this class, who cares about the polling data, anyway! 

I'm Andy Lockwood and i approve of this message, mostly.

Good morning!

Two non-political announcements today:

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!  

Today's topic:  "Hidden" Common Application Tips.  Here's where to join us at 10am EST (recorded if you can't make it).

2. Tonight, our head tutor Marissa is conducting a live test prep strategies presentation, 5 Score-Killing SAT and ACT Prep Mistakes and How to Avoid Them.  Here's where to sign up for tonight's free class

Grab a cup of joe and we'll see you at one or both events today (each will be recorded)

- Andy "Two Times the Fun" Lockwood

Hi there,

I'll be quick like a vanishing apparition you thought you saw out of the corner of your eye...

Right now -- until midnight, tonight -- you can hire us to help you complete the FAFSA, CSS Profile and all financial aid applications...

...ACCURATELY, on-time and STRATEGICALLY....

...so that you can get the MOST money for your own Children of the Night, and comfortably afford their college tuition...

For a Whopping 10% Off

Plus, there's an EZ Payment Plan, as well as a discounted 1-Pay plan.

I don't want to make this email too long, because we're about to put this promotion back into the crypt when the clock striketh 12 of the clock, tonight, Hallow's Eve.

In a nutshell, here's what you get when you enroll before DEADline:

• Expert help avoiding all DEADLY, money-losing mistakes on the FAFSA, CSS Profile and all other ghastly, gruesome financial aid applications (we prepare them for you)
• Strategies to maximize your eligibility for need-based and merit-based aid
• Assista...

Hey now, I'm about to go live on tonight's webinar, (partially) titled, How to Slash College Costs by 56.1%...even if you think you can't possibly qualify for anything.

Do you find that description to be as snazzy and eye-catching as I do? 

Even if you don't, I have good news, you can still come join us!  Click the pumpkin-colored button below and you'll be whisked over to the webinar dungeon...

ATTEND!

See you soon!.

- Count Andrew Von Lockwuud

Undead College Advisor

P.S.  Here's the short list of tonight's topics:

*The new, not improved financial aid formula and how it affects your eligibility for aid (esp. if you have more than one kid in college, own a business or are divorced/divorcing)

*How to negotiate with a college after it's so-called "final" award

*How to legally "hide" your savings from the prying eyes of the Department of Education and your college financial aid offices

*More, including your questions, 'cause we'll be live (and somehow, undead) in the chat!...

Last year's release of the "simplified" FAFSA was scarier than The Exorcist and Rosemary's Baby wrapped together. 

This year, it might be worse.

If one of more of your Children of the Night is headed to college in the next year or three and you're deathly afraid of monstrous college tuition bills, we're putting together a little webinar tomorrow, October 29th to rescue you from a fate worse than death.

Here are all the gory details:

Learn more...

The short version is that I will walk you through all of the pitfalls and traps that lie waiting for you in the financial aid process, worse than anything that goes bump in the night.  Topics include:

*How to "Hide" Your Savings From the Hobgoblins in the Financial Aid Office

*Negotiation Secrets:  How to Squeeze an Extra $30,022 From the Financial Aid Office, After It's So-Called "Final" Offer

*The 529:  Friend or Foe?  Good or Evil?

More, including your questions.  We'll be live -- yet undead -- in the chat!

Here's where to go...

If one or more of your Children of the Night is headed to college in the next couple of years...

...and you're just now learning how much you'll have to shell out in tuition, I've got good news:

You're NOT starring in your own horror movie. 

Tonight, we'll show you how to navigate the financial aid process so that you can comfortably afford college, without scrimping on your lifestyle or racking up tens of thousands -- or hundreds of thousands -- of dollars in debt (that was my personal nightmare,  between college and law school).

Pearl and have assembled a little webinar just for you tonight, to discover the "dark arts" of financial aid.  Here's what's brewing:

*The new, not improved financial aid formula and how it affects your eligibility for aid (esp. if you have more than one kid in college, own a business or are divorced/divorcing)

*How to negotiate with a college after it's so-called "final" award

*How to legally "hide" your savings from the prying eyes of the Department ...

Tutoring | Financial Aid Apps Prep

I want to tell you about our guaranteed SAT and ACT prep courses, but first, I'd like to address a commonly asked question:

Should My Kid Bother to Take the SAT or ACT?

Let me lay it out for you, because I seriously doubt you'll get this information from your guidance counselor or any other "expert."

60% of a college application is based on academic credentials:

*GPA

*Rigor of course load

*Standardized testing

(I'll cover the 40% some other time.)

If you take away one of the Big Three academic components, then the other two take on more weight.  Simple logic.

So my first point is that there's a difference between applying test-optional and GETTING ACCEPTED test-optional.  If your scores are too low to submit, AND your GPA and rigor is also lacking, you're not competitive and merely wasting your application fee.

What about the "High GPA, Bad Test Taker Phenomenon?"

Not that unusual, thanks in large part to rampant grade inflation.  

Last w...

Tutoring | Financial Aid Consulting

Average ACT and SAT scores dropped in 2024 compared to 2023.  What does this mean for 11th grade and younger kids who are headed to college?

1.4 million kids took the ACT in 2024, the average score:  19.4, down from 19.5 in 2023.  Big whoop.

1.97 million kids took the SAT or PSAT in 2024, the average score:  1024, down from 1028 the previous year.  Big whoop number two.

The party line among test professionals is not that our kids are dumber, but that more kids are taking the tests.

My hunch is the opposite, lower scores are part of the overall decline in education, achievement and accountability that keeps me up at night.  A topic for another day, or never (publicly).

Let's turn to some specific advice for college-bound 11th graders and younger.

Prep hard and take the tests, either the SAT or ACT.  Start before you're "ready," so you don't run out of time.

Take a diagnostic exam first, to determine Which Test is Best.

More and more colleges ...

From the desk of Renfield
Personal assistant to Count Andrew Von Fafsala Lockwuud 

Hello. I don’t have much time so I’ll cut to the chase while Count Von Fafsala and Countess Pearlticia are slumbering in their coffins. The sun will set shortly and I’ll be busy tending to their gruesome needs..

Let me be brutally honest:  I didn’t see your name (or even your soul) on the list of victims, um, “people” signing up for the $304.50 off Financial Aid Consulting promo that ended at midnight last night, and I was shocked!  And not in the good way.

But come a little closer, so I can whisper something in your ear (sorry in advance about the insect breath):

I can still get you in for the same deal that expired yesterday.  All you have to do is sign up before the Count and Countess rise again, and nobody gets hurt.  

The Lockwuuds won’t know anything about my evil scheme, so they won’t punish me (which is a bit disappointing, in a way) for sending you this note.

Here’s the secret trap door l...

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:

Does applying Early Decision or Early Action hurt your chances of financial aid and scholarships?

Tune In!

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

- Andy Lockwood