College Prep 360

04/08/2021

The WSJ recently wrote: “Ivy League schools and a host of other highly selective institutions waived SAT and ACT requirements for the class of 2025, resulting in an unprecedented flood of applications and what may prove the most chaotic selection experiment in American higher education since the end of World War II.”

College Prep 360 Founder Joie Jager-Hyman, College Advisor Hope Murtaugh, and College Advisor/Creative Director Evan Cudworth will bring their combined 55+ years of counseling and admissions experience at Dartmouth, Princeton, and UChicago to go beyond the headlines in an engaging and open conversation covering topics ranging from:

- Why were top colleges flooded with applications in the pandemic?
- What are yield models and how do they play into admissions decisions?
- What’s happening with the testing landscape, now that it’s likely colleges will never “return to normal”?
- How admissions scandals and the pandemic are challenging the status quo around legacy, athletics, economic class, and more
- What HASN’T changed during this pandemic admissions cycle?

Join us on Tuesday, April 13th at 8pm EST for a stimulating discussion with three experts who will help you understand what the heck just happened in college admissions.

Register here:

While we have all grown accustomed to hyperbolic headlines, few could argue with a recent WSJ article titled “College Admission Season Is Crazier Than Ever". The article states “Ivy League schools and a host of other highly selective institutions waived SAT and ACT requirements for the class of ...

03/31/2021

Ken Anselment, vice president for enrollment and communications at Lawrence University, said, "Colleges have an even lower confidence this year in their predictive analytics, which is likely to lead colleges with the capacity to build larger wait lists to do so as a hedge to protect their ability to stick the landing with their class."

He added that "ballooning applications at the top of the market -- and across a broader swath of the top of the market -- might mean that a lot of students are going to be on a lot of wait lists, which will have implications for the next tier of colleges, who will be waiting for those students, which will have implications for the next tier of colleges, and so on. This great sorting that happens each year will likely take longer to work itself out, which means that fewer colleges will probably know where they stand by May 1 this year."

One college counselor at a private high school, who asked not to be identified, said, "I believe wait lists will be huge. Admissions offices in many ways flying blind."

Contact your College Prep 360 Counselor for waitlist strategies!

Some predict the worst year ever, but others say that waiting lists may primarily be a factor at highly competitive colleges.

03/17/2021

"Interviews with college-admissions officials and public and private high-school counselors point to an epic effort behind the scenes to make tough judgment calls at the highest speed. Colleges send out the bulk of their decision notices in March and early April, but it won’t be widely known how the incoming freshman classes will look until late summer or early fall. Added to the uncertainty will be whether students who deferred enrollment during the last admissions cycle will decide to enter school this year.

Harvard University received more than 57,000 freshman applications for next fall’s entering class, a 42% year-over-year jump. Yale, Columbia and Stanford universities were so overwhelmed they also pushed back the date to announce admission decisions. The University of Southern California’s applications pool beat the prior record by 7%. And New York University topped 100,000 applications, up 17% from last year."

By waiving SATs and ACTs, highly selective schools invited an unprecedented wave of applications, upending the traditional decision process.

03/05/2021

Did you know 40% of colleges and universities consider “demonstrated interested” to be important in YOUR college admission? As summarized in “Who Gets In and Why” by Jeffrey Selingo:

“What most schools are doing is no different that what Amazon, Zappos, Netflix, or virtually any other online retailer [does]. . . .the primary goal is to turn an anonymous user into a known one, and then a prospective student and eventually an enrolled one. . . . We can see through website behavior that [students] actually are interested.”

Join our free webinar with CP360 Director of Counseling Hope Murtaugh on Wednesday, March 10th at 8pm EST and learn how colleges can tell if you are genuinely interested in them, and why showing them love is so important!

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_hBTFw1FFTqqaEaHGRfG6bw

02/10/2021

WEBINAR: Why Sophomore Year is the Time to Explore & Create

The pandemic has upended the standard “to do” list for extracurricular activities, summer camps, pre-college courses, and more. But it has also granted immense freedom for students to truly explore meaningful opportunities before narrowing down a college interest!

On Thursday, February 18th at 8pm EST/5pm PST College Prep 360 Creative Director and College Counselor, Evan Cudworth (He/Him) will host a free webinar, where you’ll hear about four common ways students have adapted to the pandemic, and how these responses might affect their academic career and college development:

THE CHILLER: “Everything is just too stressful. All the extracurriculars are cancelled, colleges won’t care as long as I keep my grades up.”

THE CONSUMER: “I’m reading books on Egyptology while enrolling in 3 online courses and watching The Queen's Gambit.”

THE COMMUNITY BUILDER: “I created a weekly Zoom where we invited families from our neighborhood to make a presentation every Sunday night to teach about their area of “expertise.”

THE CREATOR: “After all the plays were cancelled, my theater friends and I started a podcast where we interview each other about why we miss being on stage.”

REGISTER: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_DMZh3ABNTI2nme_WL1dAcQ

01/26/2021

Are you wondering what you can do to learn more about colleges when you can't visit? Are you looking for information on what colleges have done to pivot to online recruitment during COVID? We can help!

Join us for a free, live webinar with College Prep 360 Director of Counseling, Hope Murtaugh, on Tuesday, February 2nd at 8pm EST and learn how to become an online college detective! We will be showing you resources and tools to explore colleges via the internet. This webinar is geared toward junior and sophomore students, but parents are welcome to attend as well.

Register here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_l75knIdeTcyR1sodKil6MA

Email questions to [email protected] in advance or ask questions during the webinar using the live Q&A feature.

12/30/2020

While many traditional clubs, sports, and academic programs have been cancelled due to the pandemic, there are still creative ways for high school students to develop their passions. For example, this theater student reached out to a mentor and produced a play via Zoom.

Last month, our founder Dr. Joie Jager-Hyman hosted a webinar and discussed how extracurricular activities shape college admissions decisions, how the pandemic has changed extracurricular development, and why community impact and intellectual vitality is so important.

To access the full webinar and to learn more about how our college admissions experts work with college-bound students, email [email protected].

12/03/2020

How will colleges evaluate extracurricular activities during the pandemic?

Last week, our founder Dr. Joie Jager-Hyman, discussed how extracurricular activities shape college admissions decisions, how the pandemic has changed extracurricular development, and why community impact and intellectual vitality is so important.

To access the full webinar and to learn more about how our college admissions experts work with college-bound students, email [email protected].

We look forward to helping you build out your extracurricular profile!

11/12/2020

FREE WEBINAR: How to Find Impressive Extracurriculars in a Pandemic
Monday, November 23 at 8pm EST/5pm PST
https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_3W463HGLSyCMqDvyfiupmw

With experts predicting that the pandemic could last well into 2021, college admissions officers are consistently signaling that they expect students to find ways to help their communities and demonstrate intellectual curiosity--despite the fact that many traditional clubs, sports, and academic programs have been cancelled.

Please join us for a live webinar with our founder, Dr. Joie Jager-Hyman, who will share valuable information for any student who is looking to build an impressive extracurricular resume that will both wow colleges and provide a meaningful growth experience. Joie will discuss how students can (safely) find ways to explore the following:

• Community service
• Academic research with professors
• Leadership
• Innovation
• Civic engagement and social justice
• Artistic pursuits

09/22/2020

In the past fifteen years, competitive colleges that previously focused almost exclusively on performance and composition in jazz and classical music have modernized their curriculums to help students succeed in genres that are more popular and culturally relevant.

So how can students take advantage of these new opportunities? And how should students, who possess near-universal access to music production software, social media, and distribution, use these tools to create and promote themselves?

In our upcoming webinar, music industry veteran and College Prep 360 consultant, Isaac Green, along with senior college counselor, Evan Cudworth, will launch our new College Prep 360 Music Program. We will review best practices students should adopt to develop personally, creatively, and professionally. Through these best practices, students will learn how to use their talents to stand out in an extremely competitive applicant pool.

DATE: TOMORROW, Wednesday, September 23rd, 2020
TIME: 7pm EST/4pm PST
REGISTER: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BRczUGQpS2SEH1IVBiA1yQ

09/15/2020

Do you know a talented high school student who wants to break into the music industry? Networks and collaborations are essential to success. And higher education plays a larger role than ever before, populating the ranks of both hitmakers and industry bigwigs. Artists and executives regularly visit campuses to guest lecture, advise, and network with students while career centers help students secure coveted internships at major music labels and agencies. But where to start?

Join a FREE webinar on Wednesday, Sept 23 at 7pm EST / 4pm PST hosted by Isaac Green, who spent 20 years in the music industry, most recently as Senior Vice President of Artist & Repertoire at Columbia Records; and Evan Cudworth, a former admissions officer and arts portfolio expert who has reviewed over 10,000+ applications and now helps talented students develop successful admissions strategies.

Isaac and Evan will review success stories and best practices students should adopt to develop personally, creatively, and professionally.

REGISTER HERE: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_BRczUGQpS2SEH1IVBiA1yQ

09/15/2020

Greetings from the team at College Prep 360! As education adapts to an increasingly digital world, we plan to utilize social channels to share our expertise and help a wider network of students realize their full potential.

Stay tuned for videos and webinars that empower families to be active participants in a changing educational landscape.