Admissions Consulting Archives

Virtual College Visits Can Offer More than You Think

August 5, 2012 Brad Hoffman

The college identification and visiting process can be overwhelming to plan and implement, however, technology, and specifically YouTube, can help narrow down your trips with virtual college visits to the admissions office, chats with current students and even visits to classes.

Click below to read The New York Times coverage of these virtual college visits and planning resources on YouTube or watch some of the sample videos.

https://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/

Discover What Admissions Officers Are Looking For

Watch this video on YouTube

Get Essay Writing Tips From Admissions Officers

How to Write a College Application Essay that Stands Out

Watch this video on YouTube

Determine the University’s Learning Expectations

The Senior Thesis

Watch this video on YouTube

Sit In on a Class

1. Introduction and What this Course Will Do for You and Your Purposes

Watch this video on YouTube

Written by: Editorial Team, My Learning Springboard, Inc.

Kindergarten Redshirting

July 9, 2012 Brad Hoffman

Three journalists at 60 Minutes, all at different life stages, discuss their thoughts about kindergarten “redshirting” in the video segment below. Like it or not, “redshirting” is a rising trend and one that parents are very interested in strategizing for admissions. It’s a complicated topic and there are many factors to consider in each child’s case. Parents must also understand the various birthday cutoffs for kindergarten registration. These vary between public and private schools and also from state to state. In some states, such as New York, public school cutoffs are determined by each local district. This is an important consideration for families relocating.

When deciding if your child is ready to start kindergarten, GreatSchools.org encourages parents to consider these social, academic, and developmental factors:

Enthusiasm toward learning. Is he eager to explore and discover? Is he comfortable asking questions? Does he persist even when a task is difficult?
Language skills. Does she communicate her needs? Express her feelings appropriately?
Ability to listen. Can he follow simple instructions? Is he able to listen to an entire story without interrupting?
Desire to be independent. Does she separate from parents for the school day? Is she starting to take responsibility for her personal belongings? Can she follow simple two-step tasks? Can she use the bathroom by herself?
Ability to interact with children and adults. Is he able to share, compromise, take turns and problem-solve?
Strong fine-motor skills. Is she able to hold and use a pencil? Cut with scissors? Is she learning to write her name?
Basic letter and number awareness. Can he sing and recite the alphabet and recognize some letters? Can he count to 10 and identify numbers one to five?

This 60 Minutes Overtime article addresses this topic further.

Written by: Editorial Team, My Learning Springboard, Inc.

You Are More Than A Test Score

May 13, 2012 Brad Hoffman

In tenth grade, my class had a group meeting with my high school’s college guidance counselor about SATs, ACTs, and the like. After being overloaded with information about scores and numbers, we were given pins that read “you are more than a test score.” Definitely a little cheesy, but these seven words resonated with me throughout my college application process and through my first year of college.

In the same vein of school being about more than just grades, the New York Times published a piece about the Posse Foundation. This organization selects dynamic, creative, intelligent students, who exhibit impressive leadership qualities, but not the test scores to get into top schools, and gives them the opportunity to attend high-level schools. About 600 students are selected per year. Then, ten students from the same city are put into a “posse” and attend college together. Ultimately, says the New York Times, the success stories of so many of these students “tell us not just that the SAT is an inadequate predictor of college success, but that it can be malignant.” These students are selected through an interview process that tests their “problem-solving, leadership, communication and collaboration skills, their initiative and resourcefulness.” Ultimately, “the Posse program reveals the poverty of the conventional wisdom governing academic success. Our rules for college admission, and ideas about college achievement, are linear, but in reality, college achievement is complex. The factors are much more diverse than our educational system is built to accommodate. So are the people who succeed.”

My high school was small, and for reasons I do not know but greatly appreciate, the administration chose not to calculate GPA’s or have valedictorians. As an almost-sophomore in college, I have taken the liberty to extend the pin I received in high school’s message of “you are more than a test score” to “you are more than your GPA.” These three letters—an acronym I had never been confronted with until college—terrify me. They paralyze me. The thought that just two integers, with a decimal point no less, accurately measured my success in college scare me, and also made me wonder—aren’t we supposed to be pursuing our academic interests and challenging ourselves, and not obsessing over grades and searching for easy A’s?

In response to my frustration, countless people have told me that while naturally your grades must reach a certain standard, your GPA is not the end all and be all. A professor who has been on graduate school admissions boards advised me that they’re looking for students who are “interesting” and that this, more often than not, can mean imperfect GPA’s. The college experience, like people, is complex, comprised of much more than a few numbers. There are so many other factors to determine success: just look at how the Posse students are selected—through their “problem-solving, leadership, communication and collaboration skills, their initiative and resourcefulness.” From what I’ve experienced so far, learning happens in so many more places than the classroom. Students join groups and attend events that may have no direct connection to academics, but still add to their personal growth and sense of achievement. It is the combination of all these experiences that leads to a successful, satisfying, and challenging college life.

By LeeLee Borzak, Private Tutor

Tutoring for School Transitions Can Be a Strategic Investment

April 29, 2012 Brad Hoffman

On April 13th and April 15th, Anna M. Phillips from the New York Times published two articles about the tutoring scene in New York City: After Number of Gifted Soars, a Fight for Kindergarten Slots and Tutoring Surges With Fight for Middle School Spots. Fueled by competition for limited seats in highly sought after kindergarten programs, middle schools, and high schools, tutoring companies across the city are poised to benefit from this school frenzy and family fear factor. Beyond admissions testing for these types of public school programs, there is similar energy surrounding admissions testing for independent schools at every level from kindergarten through high school. Then begins preparation for the SATs or ACTs or both. In an educational environment with high stakes testing and scarcity of resources, this increase to seek tutors and specialists shouldn’t come as a surprise, and parents will do anything they can to set their children up for success.

As parents prepare for these types of school transitions, it’s really important to be clear about goals and values before reaching out for any supplemental tutoring or test preparation. It’s one thing to familiarize students with a test format, but it’s an entirely different matter to push for admissions into a school where a child may ultimately feel frustrated and unsuccessful. We should not compare preparation for kindergarten or G&T testing (administered by the DOE) with preparation for the SATs. Older students are prepared to sit for extended study periods and to practice the required drills for college entrance exams. They are able to be a part of the strategic thinking and planning that goes into the college admissions process. Preschoolers are just having their first experiences with education, and we send a sad message when we expose them to paper and pencil cramming. Instead there are ways to embed these skills into structured play in order to build stamina for difficult tasks and comfort working one on one with a new person.

This is the approach that our early childhood educators take at My Learning Springboard when working with very young students ranging from ages 3 to 5. Our preschoolers love their tutors and usually ask for sessions more than once a week. For parents who have the resources to support private tutoring, their experience has been hugely positive. Articles about preschool and kindergarten tutoring usually cause readers to imagine some insane scene with helicopter parents on the sidelines and tormented children being drilled on practice questions. Sadly, this scene probably exists in many tutoring circles. But it doesn’t have to be this way.

When tutoring is developmentally appropriate and planned over longer periods of time, we can really get to know a student and enrich his or her learning in a way that follows the child’s rhythms. The experience is positive and creates a joy for learning. Our teachers also provide parent education so that families are empowered to support learning beyond the tutoring sessions. If the intention is thoughtful and genuine, the tutoring experience can be an amazing one.

For parents considering test preparation for their rising kindergartners or sixth graders, I would encourage them to carefully consider the messages they want to send their children and their value set as a family. Have they visited the schools they’re so desperately clamoring to get into? Are they sure the end justifies the means? Do they feel the tutoring company has their child’s best interest at heart or do they feel that they’re being engaged in transactional tutoring?

Just because it feels like everyone else is doing it doesn’t mean you have to. I’m all for being honest about the admissions process in New York City, which is indeed intense and overwhelming. But I also believe strongly in the integrity of teaching and learning. There are ways to engage in test preparation that are strategic and reasonable. If done well, test preparation should add to a family’s investment in developing successful, lifelong learners.

By Brad Hoffman, M.S.Ed.
Board Certified Educational Planner and Learning Specialist
My Learning Springboard

Senioritis? High School Seniors Begin to Prepare for College as Acceptances Arrive by Mail

April 12, 2012 Brad Hoffman

Senior year….finally. Whether you’re excited or terrified about embarking on this new, post-high school chapter of your life, there is definitely still a lot going on during these last 2-3 months of your school year.

Although your senioritis has surely kicked in to some degree, it’s important to remember not to let your grades slip a considerable amount. You may already be accepted to college, but your dream school can very well revoke your acceptance. You may not have been able to read past the “Congratulations!”, but your acceptance letter said that you are accepted to said college on the condition that you complete high school with the same personal and academic achievement on which your acceptance was based. According to Phillip Ballinger, the Director of Admissions of University of Washington, “We see it as a matter of fairness to students who were not admitted or wait-listed.” This is not meant to scare you, though. The cases in which high school seniors had their acceptances revoked were cases in which students had a considerable decline in their grades. If you’ve had mostly A’s in high school and received a B or two, you definitely should not be panicking.

While the end of senior year means caps, gowns, and commencement addresses, it also means AP exams. If you are enrolled in AP classes and have upcoming exams, it is very tempting to slack off. After all, you don’t need to even send the scores in to your college! What you may not realize, though, is that passing an AP exam can give you college credits and in some cases exempt you from introductory courses in college. Having credits from before college will not only give you a little peace of mind, but can also help financially: you may be able to graduate a semester early, thus saving that much tuition. If your score on the exam exempts you from an introductory course, it can allow you to jump right into more advanced, and perhaps more interesting, classes. It is important to remember, though, that you are not at a disadvantage if you do not have AP credits, so don’t worry!

One of the more underrated parts of the new college phase is the shopping for dorm room furnishings and school supplies. Major store chains such as Bed Bath and Beyond and Target have entire sections dedicated to helping you get everything you need for your room, offering vast selections of things you didn’t even know you “needed.” Buying the necessities really adds to the exciting “fresh start” feeling of your upcoming freshman year experience. Before you check out of the store though, be sure to find out the measurements of your room. The first day of college is stressful enough; unpacking your twin-sized sheets only to find that your new bed requires twin XL sheets (I didn’t know the difference until 6 months ago) would certainly not help matters. If your school doesn’t give you specifics, the most valuable resource in this regard would be someone who currently attends or attended your future college: he or she will (hopefully) know how much closet space you will have, whether or not your will really need those bed risers, and if the beds come with attached drawers underneath. If you don’t know anyone, reach out the your college’s residential life and housing department.

LeeLee Borzak, Private Tutor

Virtual College Visits Can Offer More than You Think

Discover What Admissions Officers Are Looking For

Get Essay Writing Tips From Admissions Officers

Determine the University’s Learning Expectations

Sit In on a Class

Kindergarten Redshirting

You Are More Than A Test Score

Tutoring for School Transitions Can Be a Strategic Investment

Senioritis? High School Seniors Begin to Prepare for College as Acceptances Arrive by Mail

Company Overview

School Planning

Private Tutoring

Test Preparation