Amazon I speak with Connecticut parents every day about college. I have done so for 2o years. In the last several years, discussions have almost always included the financial investment required. While we all want our children to have a great life experience in their college years, most every parent is worried about the career […]
Read MoreBroadly speaking, college admission is based on: (1) objective factors: the academic index (2) subjective factors: “hooks” (such as athletics/diversity/connections) and activities/defined interest/essay/application Unless one of those hooks is exceptionally strong, the objective factors dominate the initial screening of candidates. If students do not reach a certain number within the school’s academic index, then the […]
Read MoreSix-pages, full sentences, “narrative” format. These could be the requirements of a middle school writing assignment. But, they’re actually Jeff Bezos’s guidelines for “pitching” plans at Amazon. According to Franklin Foer in “What Jeff Bezos Wants” (The Atlantic, November 2019), Bezos insists that his employees explain their ideas in lengthy narratives, because he knows that […]
Read MoreAs a writing teacher, I talk about vocabulary a lot. After all, words are essential tools for writers. Even more important, words make thinking possible. They give shape to our thoughts, enabling us to identify and clarify what’s in our minds. So, the more words we know, the more “thinking” we can do, and the […]
Read MoreGood writing isn’t just important for authors, English teachers, or technical writers. It tops the list of skills most prized by employers today. According to a 2018 survey by the NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers), employers placed written communication ahead of all other attributes they value in recent college graduates (“In the Salary […]
Read MoreWhy do students so often struggle with their college application essays? While some find writing in general daunting, others get stuck mainly because they’ve forgotten to think about their audience. All writers, no matter their purpose in writing, need to consider their audience. Who will be reading their writing? Knowing this from the start and […]
Read More“Almost every study concludes that getting a college degree is worth it. What is known as the college wage premium—the difference in lifetime earnings between someone with only a high-school diploma and someone with a college degree—is now, by one calculation, a hundred and sixty-eight per cent. For people with an advanced degree, the wage […]
Read More“A 95 GPA is too low for the colleges you are applying to… ” The mom of a student at a top public school in Shoreline, CT relayed her conversation from an off the record conversation she had with a friend who is a college admissions official at a well-regarded college in Connecticut that claims […]
Read MoreEvery part of our The Learning Consultants’ philosophy embraces happiness. I want our clients to be happy. And, I know that conventional success is part of the happiness picture for many of our clients. In a well-meaning effort to alleviate the stress of both students and parents, there seems to be nonsensical advice passed along […]
Read MoreYes, I know school just started and having to think about PSATs and SATs is the last thing students (and parents) want to think about. But I can tell you with certainty that not preparing is far worse! For juniors, the PSAT begins the kick-off to college. For seniors, the October SAT is the last […]
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