Educational Counseling and College Planning Services

The 2026-27 Common App is officially live tomorrow! Unlike last year's big visual overhaul, this cycle is relatively quiet in terms of changes, which is actually good news. It means if you've been doing any prep work over the summer, you're in great shape and nothing has shifted under your feet.! A fun headline worth knowing: Georgetown University is FINALLY accepting the Common App for the very first time this cycle. If Georgetown is on your list, you'll find it in the dropd

The Common App Activities Section is one of the few places on your application (outside of your essay) to bring some of your own voice and that makes it powerful. It is also offering you the opportunity to highlight your priorities by demonstrating to colleges how you choose to spend your (limited) time outside of school. Here are my top tips on how to get the most bang for your buck out of this brief section: Account for everything you do outside of the classroom. Many stude

You're almost there. Final projects, maybe a last round of test prep, the finish line is right in front of you. And when you finally cross it? Rest. Decompress. You've earned it! But at some point this summer, probably sooner than feels necessary, I want you to think about October-you. October-you is juggling schoolwork, extracurriculars, and a pile of college applications with deadlines that are closer than they look right now. The question is whether October-you is frantica

So you want to march in college. You've been in the band since middle school. You've logged early morning practices, halftime shows in the rain, and bus rides that felt like they'd never end, and you're not ready to stop. Good news: you don't have to! But here's what most students (and parents) don't realize: college band is not high school band with a college ID. The range of commitment, competition, and culture is enormous. The school you choose will determine what that exp

Go ahead and answer that. I'll wait. If you're like most of the students I work with, something just happened. You started to answer and then stalled. Because "good" felt completely obvious right up until someone asked you to define it. So let's try again. What does good actually mean here? High rankings? Hard to get into? Everyone's heard of it? A name that sounds impressive at the dinner table? Trace that answer back. Where did it come from? Because I'd be willing to bet

“Honors” gets thrown around a lot in college admissions and it can mean wildly different things depending on the school. Sometimes it’s a golden ticket. Sometimes it’s… just a fancier dorm and extra homework. Here’s how to tell the difference: Honors Program vs. Honors College They are not the same thing. Honors Program Usually a subset of the larger university May involve: A handful of honors-only courses Priority registration Optional thesis or capstone Often lighter-touc

One of the hardest parts of the college search isn’t building a list. It’s letting go of the idea of a list you thought you wanted. Many students start the process focused on a handful of easy-to-compare markers: name recognition, rankings, acceptance rates, or where friends are applying. It makes sense; those numbers feel concrete, reassuring, and objective. They offer shortcuts through a process that can feel overwhelming. But shortcuts rarely lead to the best outcomes. Ed

By now, many students who applied Early Decision or Early Action have received their results. If yours landed in the frustrating middle category: deferred , you’re probably feeling confused, disappointed, and unsure what (if anything) you should do next. First, take a breath. A deferral is not a rejection! It means the admissions committee found your application strong enough to keep in the pool, but not strong enough yet to admit outright. That’s not nothing, especially in

You’ve probably heard someone say that certain colleges “track interest.” And you’ve probably wondered what that actually means…and whether you’re supposed to start acting like a college stalker to get in. Good news: demonstrated interest is way less dramatic than it sounds. Here’s the quick version of what matters, what doesn’t, and how to approach it with the colleges on your radar. So what actually is “demonstrated interest”? Some colleges want to know whether you’re act

Unfortunately, so much of the college admissions landscape is driven by prestige and name-brand schools: students who want to get into a “good” school, or the “best” school. Oftentimes, though, I find that students and parents don’t really even know how to define “good” schools outside of the national rankings which are shoved down their throats every year and are deeply problematic and not a measure of quality of education. Here is a stark truth, though: attending a highly-

Parents and students are often resistant to gap years at first blush because they perceive they will somehow “be behind”. I would love to...

Many students interested in applying to musical theatre programs for college often have no idea of just how much more involved that...

When you apply to a particular major in college (especially a competitive major like Engineering, Business, or Computer Science), your...

Many students are a bit unsure of how to approach the Common App’s “Additional Information” essay, or whether it is something they...

Rising seniors, by around this time, you should have a fairly decent sense of your college list (especially if you are targeting those...

Happy August 1st – AKA Common App Day! The much anticipated 2025-26 Common App rolls out today after having had a big makeover from years...

Let’s start by dispensing with the myth that you need to have your whole life planned out at 17; you really don’t! And if you feel...

While most students think of senior fall as “college application season”, it is highly beneficial to get a head start on some of that...

The activities section can be daunting for a lot of students, especially if you feel you don’t have many activities (or, have too many!)...

If you’re a student who is interested in pursuing the arts on the collegiate level (as many of my students are), you have a couple...