Opinion
October 4, 2023
"If great artists can't get their creations right the first time, what makes the rest of us think we have to? All of our writing - articles and books, reports and briefs, memoranda and proposals - should start as grumpy old Pentimento Men, and as we transform them on the way to our final draft, they will evolve into lovely figures captured in contemplative moments. Every article, book, and tip I write begins as a grumpy old man. Or a cat, or a peach."
August 13, 2023
...we are seeing that some colleges, such as the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), Carnegie Mellon University and Yale University, do not have their supplemental essays ready to be published on the Common Application. Others have published supplements that reflect the court's decision
July 7, 2023
...there are ways to continue to college after high school, keeping in mind that among the factors in making the best college match is affordability, to have the ability to pay for college and not be saddled with years and years of debt. I firmly believe that you can be successful whether you go to Harvard or to a public university or to a less selective school or to community college. In my practice, I see as much potential in students who aren't going to the most selective schools as in my students who are. Sure, plenty of successful people started their careers by attending very selective private colleges, but many did not.
December 22, 2021
When I take a look at admissions to Master’s and Ph.D programs, for example, I see a range of students from all sorts of undergrad institutions, very selective and not so much, yet what the students all have in common is that they had made the most of their undergrad experiences.
So if you were declined in the last few weeks, it’s okay to be disappointed, but it won’t affect your success in life. You will.
October 15, 2021
Ratings are Problematic.
College Selectivity is not a Reliable Predictor of Student Learning, Job Satisfaction or Well-Being.
Engagement in College is More Important than Where You Attend.
Recognizing those statements will go far in reducing the mental anguish that currently surrounds so many high school students, exacerbated by the social isolation of the Covid era.
January 1, 2021
Trying to Overturn US Election Results Sends a Message that Can Increase Anxiety among High School Seniors Applying to College – But Their Futures are Still Bright When I repeatedly read about efforts to overturn the results of […]
October 1, 2019
Welcome to the Wild, Wild West. At least that’s what some people are calling the effect of the change in the bylaws of NACAC, the National Association for College Admission Counseling. Under pressure from an investigation by the […]
September 27, 2019
One never knows when a college will change a procedure or its admissions requirements. That’s why I have to be nimble and aware of what’s happening in college admissions, because things do change, even in the middle of […]
May 5, 2019
Kwame Anthony-Applah, who teaches philosophy at NYU, penned this article in “The Ethicist” column of The New York Times Magazine, May 5, 2019, in response to a high school senior’s distress over her many college denials. It’s long […]
May 3, 2019
I respect the sciences and what they have brought to my world: the ability to read at night; to drive or take the train or fly to visit friends and family; to not worry about polio or small […]