The Shumsky Center For Academic And Career Performance

01/25/2022

SAT is going digital. In 2024, the SAT will be given in a digital format with a reduced length. The test will be shortened from 3 hours to 2.

The College Board plans to switch the SAT to a digital format, and shorten the length from three hours to two. It will be the third major overhaul of the college admission test within the past 20 years.

11/17/2020

Reposted from Alongside Claremont McKenna, UCSD and Vanderbilt, Tufts is hosting a deans and directors panel to answer questions about our admissions process and our institutions. Hear from our dean, JT Duck, on November 19th at 7pm EST. Register here: http://ow.ly/TjYQ50ClCPu.

09/21/2020

It seems like private college tuition and room and board costs are on an ever-increasing rise. Certainly, published total costs at top 150 schools like Northeastern University in Boston have gone way up in the last twenty years. But looking beyond sticker price to the average net cost, paints a much different picture. At Northeastern, the average total cost paid by students and families is actually lower than it was in 2001.

Surprising, right? Well no, it's not surprising if you have paid attention to the data on the cost of private colleges over the last twenty years. Because the average discount rate off the listed total price is averaging 50% in the last several years, many families find that private college education is the negligibly different from the cost of their local flagship public research university. It is not unusual today for the cost of a top-150 private college education to be less expensive than a local flagship public research university.

A word of advice to parents and students that will soon apply to college: don't choose on the basis of sticker price. You may close off a great option that is less expensive than your local public flagship university.

08/26/2020

Important Information Update: A Searchable Database of 100 Top Public Research Universities and Their Fall 2020 Coronavirus (Covid-19) Plans

A Searchable Database of 100 Top Public Research Universities and Their Fall 2020 Teaching Method and Coronavirus (Covid-19) Plans.

07/20/2020

Every college in America is dying for students with special talents. When college admissions committees meet, the first students they select for admission are athletes, performing arts stars, academic superstars who have professional publications or projects, and the children of celebrities and the powerful.

If you read between the lines in the details of the college admissions scandals and the civil rights lawsuit against Harvard University, you can see that athletes are worth their weight in gold. Athletes bring tremendous attention to colleges and with media attention comes higher application numbers and increased prestige.

The same is true with performing artists; if they appear in the press, their college alma mater is often mentioned. In the 21st century, authors, entrepreneurs, and YouTube stars bring the same kind of attention to colleges. If you have done professional work as a high school student in academic areas, have written a killer application for Android or IOS, or have started your own business, you will be an attractive candidate.

It isn't just world-class talents that are sought after. Every university needs to fill out their athletics teams, their performing arts ensembles, and wants the best debaters, student activists, and community servants they can find. At the elite level, the expectations are outrageous, but many colleges would love to have an experienced high school theater actor, a good debater, or a solid student who is a good soccer player as well. You may have a special talent, but you will only know if your talents are attractive by reaching out and communicating with college debate coaches, university orchestra conducters, and athletic departments.

If you have a special talent, make it known and force your way into the most attractive pool of applicants.

06/25/2020

The public research universities in some states are seeing larger numbers of top students enrolling as Freshmen for Fall 2020 because of the Covid-19 outbreak and the economic crisis. Will this happen in Texas? Will a retreat from top schools across the country lead to more elite students staying in Texas at UT-Austin, Texas A&M, and the like? How will this affect admissions for the upcoming cycle and the graduating high school seniors of the class of 2021?

Tell me your hypothesis.


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06/25/2020

Most application essays fail to accomplish their most important task, which is to capture the mind of the reader. Remember that your admissions reader will have read hundreds, if not thousands, of essays during the prior weeks and months. He or she will likely have read dozens that day already, so if you're essay doesn't instantly catch the reader's attention, you're in trouble. Most essays are boring, they have no energy, they don't tell the reader anything of consequence, and they seem dishonest. I don't care what anyone else tells you, your English teacher, your counsleor, your mother, or your neighbor. You do not need to paint a pretty picture of your life, especially if it is not realistic!

Do not blow smoke up the reader's behind and pretend that you have perfectly solved your problem, learned an important lesson with minor repurcussions, or that you are a great person. Tell the truth, even if it is painful! Put some skin in the essay and take a risk by sharing something meaningful and real. That's the first step in creating a good essay.

06/24/2020

Texas A&M joins the long list of top-rated American universities that have waived their SAT/ACT requirements for this fall's applicants. Is this good news for those who are not auto-admits in the top 10% of their high school class? Possibly, but a good standardized test score will have a very positive impact if many students are not submitting their scores. Go ahead and take an ACT or SAT, if possible, and see how you do
If the score is not strong, no need to send it in.
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06/03/2020

More updates from on plans for the SAT over the coming months. The at-home option has been eliminated and more dates are being added. See collegeboard.com for more information.

05/28/2020

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Priority registration for fall SAT dates is now open.

Until June 3 at 8 pm ET, a priority group of students will be able to register for August, September, and October SATs: Students in the class of 2020 or 2021 who do not yet have an SAT score, and students who registered to take the June SAT and did not cancel.

As the covid-19 pandemic continues to evolve, we will continue to monitor health and safety recommendations and will let you know if circumstances change closer to the test dates.

Check out collegeboard.com for more information.

05/26/2020

from

If you are anything like us, you likely have a long list of small businesses that you love and want to see come out on the other side of the pandemic.

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These small steps may seem simple, but trust us, helping small business is HUGE.

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