Lora Block

02/14/2020

Students with strong ethical and moral characters will get a boost in their college applications, according to the latest research. Empathy, resilience, integrity, selflessness—these attributes are significant and could be factors that give an applicant the bump they need to land in the admit pile. The only thing more important are strong grades in challenging high school classes. Now you know! Here's more:

The fact that 70% of admission officers deem character to be moderately to considerably important to an applicants’ candidacy should have students’ ears perking up.

02/12/2020

How can college applicants defend against fake or misleading information about the college application process and about college life? Here are some great tips for rooting out the SCAMS by using a process of SCAM detection:

The informed consumer is best served by careful research and a critical eye to what's real, what's thorough, and what's subjective. Here is a quick way for students and families to cut through the noise, access accurate information and determine how it applies to them and their college hopes.

01/16/2020

As my new high school juniors dig into their college plans and searches with my help, it's fun to mix a bit of humor in with the hard work. This column by Brennan Barnard shares some amusing predictions about how college admission might work in the future.

As we begin a new decade in college admission, we need to maintain a sense of humor. Here are some unlikely predictions...or at least let's hope so!

06/13/2019

Here are some essential financial tips for students heading to college in the fall. What you should know about budgeting? credit cards? health care plans? and more.
I suggest reading carefully:

We’ve got budget, retirement account, credit, information security and insurance advice for your independent adult, college student, gap-year taker or future soldier.

06/13/2019

I'm so proud of all my graduating seniors this year! They worked hard on their applications. Each student ended up getting admitted to most of their colleges so they had good choices and good financial options. They'll be attending colleges in places as varied as Maine, Wisconsin, NY, Vermont, California. I know they'll all make wonderful contributions to their campuses and have good experiences, since they each made a happy college match.

04/30/2019

The high school juniors I'm now advising on their college searches are correctly focusing on year- end academics and preparation for spring standardized tests. But soon they'll be able to visit the colleges on their lists. This advice to parents traveling with their students is excellent: use the road trips encourage your student to develop their own ideas about themselves and which colleges they fit into. Trust them to grow.

College visits can be a chance for parents to start thinking of their kids in a more grown-up light.

04/24/2019

Which college admissions criteria should be most important?
A recent poll asking the public about how fair they think college admissions is shows people divided about the importance of grades, standardized test scores, sports, legacy status. Not surprisingly the divisions are found by age and race.
But overall, for example only 11% think legacy status should be important but one-third say athletic ability should be important and 27% say race or ethnicity should be.
In my opinion, what's missing in the public understanding is that about 70% of colleges accept between 50-70% of applicants irrespective of legacy, ethnicity or athleticism.
The rightful outrage we all feel about the recent scams shed light on unsavory practices affecting a handful of only the very most selective colleges. This has unfairly increased the public sense that admission "to college" is unfair and rigged, without distinguishing among colleges.
The reality is that more colleges are worried about meeting enrollment targets. Most of those colleges are terrific college options available to most applicants.
Remembering that will put this scam into perspective.
Here's the poll

BOSTON (AP) — As a sweeping bribery scandal reignites debate over college admissions, a pair of polls reveal that many Americans think the nation's universities place too much emphasis on factors...

03/21/2019

I'm still so disturbed by the recent college admissions scam. I feel it's essential to distinguish my work as a Certified Educational Planner ( holder of the CEP) and member of the Independent Educational Consultants Association ( IECA) from the person who carried out that fraudulent activity and who was a member of no professional association.

For me and other members of these organizations, working to help launch high school students into their next phase of life, college, is a sacred trust. That means working with the student as she is, not undermining that student with the message that "you're not good enough"
for certain colleges so you need to bribe your way in.

CEPs and members of IECA held to the highest ethical standards and ongoing professional development requirements, which never allow promising certain college admission or paying bribes or suggesting we have special pull.

My mission is to help students identify colleges that will match their educational and social goals so they will thrive and succeed and have great opportunities to stretch their wings and learn about themselves and the world. I start with who the student is, help him or her understand themselves better and make sure they present themselves honestly to colleges. I puncture many of the myths around college admission in order to reduce the huge stresses that often accompany the college application process. Students and family are very grateful for this approach, and it works.

03/16/2019

I am pleased that in response to the recent college admission scam, many are looking for solutions that address colleges, athletic programs, the role of privilege, and the role of independent college counselors. Unfortunately, some have suggested a solution that would increase the benefits to the already privileged.

Some opinion pieces have appeared suggesting that no one should be allowed to charge for college admission advice. This attitude favors the wealthy, privileged families that are able to send their children to private schools, often costing in the tens of thousands of dollars and whose college counselors serve small numbers of just 20-30 students. Such a system provides a benefit to those privileged enough to provide such support, while leaving public school students behind. These public schoolers often face impossible ratios of 600 to 900 students per counselor—with that counselor handling crisis intervention, course selection, as well as college advising.

Independent Educational Consultants (IECs) help level the playing field by supporting working- and middle-class students who go to public school, by allowing families of more modest means to gain similar expert help and advice at an hourly rate that is affordable for most. In addition, all members of IECA commit to efforts to serve those from underserved communities.

Those that want to stop the use of all paid assistance (would they refuse paid tutors for students struggling in school, as well?) misunderstand the fundamental role of independent educational consultants. IECs help students explore college opportunities and find the right place for them to succeed academically and socially. IECs don’t get students admitted—they help students demonstrate why they deserve to be admitted at appropriately chosen schools. They help students find colleges they might not have heard of—often out of their region—and they help students put their best foot forward.

02/14/2019

Some Valentine’s Day advice for my students waiting for acceptances from their colleges coming in a few weeks:
Be careful not to fall in love with a college for the wrong reasons, or to be devastated if you’re rejected as if applying to college is like a dating app.
The Dean of Admission at the University of Pennsylvania says it well: ”…the paradox I see in admission, and love, is that at some point students are compelled to declare their one true love (early admission programs), but at other times in the process need to step away and see the wider field….The concept of the ‘ideal partner’ may not have a place in the college search process, lest we set ourselves up for disappointment and denial… In the end, I do believe the vast majority of students find their true love, it just may come from previously unexpected places and takes an open-minded person.”
Here's more:

Searching for a college can be like looking for love. It is an experience that is layered with expectation, emotion and often uncertainty. It can also be exciting and rewarding if approached thoughtfully and with a strong sense of self.

01/22/2019

Here are some changes I'd love to see in the college admission process in order to reduce the stresses students feel: eliminate Early Decision and Early Action plans so all applications to a college have the same deadline; eliminate the expectation many colleges have of showing "demonstrated interest," which is a minefield of confusion and unfairness; eliminate use by colleges of a "recommendation" to taking standardized tests-- either require or don't require them( preferably don't) so students don't need to read the minds of admission offices; stop using corporate-speak in marketing materials ( such as "return on investment") and instead remind students that their college education is a journey of exploration.
There's more here:

This second piece in a two-part series on change in college admission proposes aspects of the application experience that need to be altered or abandoned in 2019.

01/02/2019

Students, parents, high school teachers and counselors and college admission staff can all benefit from increasing communication and operating from a position of kindness. Think of how much better the whole college admission process could be! This post says it all as a wonderful New Year's Resolution:

The new year provides an opportunity to review what is working and what is not. The college admission experience could certainly use less finger pointing and more constructive collaboration. Here is how everyone involved can resolve to do better.