Yearly Archives: 2012

7 Tips for Writing New Year’s Resolutions in the College Admissions Game

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On behalf of everyone at CollegePrepExpress, I wish you a healthy, productive, successful, and HAPPY NEW YEAR! I’m a great believer in the old adage that today is the first day of the rest of your life, that you can choose to wipe the slate clean and start fresh any day you choose. But there are two ideal times for students in particular to pause for serious introspection and reassessment and to set new goals: the beginning of the academic year and the beginning of the calendar year. So NOW would be a great time to sit down with paper […]

Cooking in College: Fast, Easy, Inexpensive and Healthful Meals & Snacks for Students on the Go

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Listen to internet radio with CollegePrepExpress on Blog Talk Radio     No one’s busier or on tighter budgets than college students, right? But you gotta eat, so you may as well eat well. Learn how to prepare tasty,  time-efficient and cost-effective recipes from cooking experts Andrea Lynn, author of The I Love Trader Joe’s College Cookbook, and Jessica Harlan, author of Ramen to the Rescue: 120 Creative Recipes for Easy Meals Using Everyone’s Favorite Pack of Noodles and Tortillas to the Rescue: Scrumptious Snacks, Mouth-Watering Meals and Delicious Desserts–All Made with the Amazing Tortilla. Topics include: How can I […]

Attention Underclassmen and Parents: CommonApp 101 & Hot Tips for Extracurrics

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                “Passion is no ordinary word” – Graham Parker  One of the most common words bandied about in the college admissions game is “passion,” and not without good reason. Indeed, one of the keys to writing successful applications is effectively communicating areas in your life–whether academic, athletic, extracurricular, or volunteer and work experience–about which you are passionate. These days committees aren’t as impressed with “well-rounded” as they are with “depth of interest,” in other words, passion. So how and where can you communicate your passion on the CommonApp?  Good question, glad you asked. Many mistakenly think it’s only the “Personal […]

All About the ACT

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Listen to internet radio with CollegePrepExpress on Blog Talk Radio   With the ACT on December 8, this show is RIGHT ON TIME! Join Dr. Yo’s TEEN EXPERTS—including Teddy Monyak (Conard ’13), Sarah Gianni (KO ’14), and Katherine Gianni (KO ’14)— as they offer advice, tips, and flat out tricks to beat this college entrance exam. Topics include: What IS the ACT? Does is count as much as the SAT? How is it similar to and different from the SAT? What material should do I have to know? What are the best strategies for each of the five tests (English, […]

SAT Subject Test Requirements Changed by Hurricane Sandy for 2012 Applicants

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An important article that appeared earlier today in the The New York Times college blog, The Choice, reported that a number of schools, including Harvard, Boston College, Columbia, and Penn, are changing, and in some cases WAIVING altogether, their SAT Subject Test requirements. If you were counting on a good Subject Test score from the November test administration, you should definitely read this article and visit your Early Decision and Early Action schools’ websites for further information.  Different colleges are making slightly different accommodations for those applicants affected by the unseasonable inclement weather. If you’re confused by how your particular schools’ […]

College Admissions in the Digital Age

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Listen to internet radio with CollegePrepExpress on Blog Talk Radio Applying to college is different in 2011 than ever before.  Dr. Yo is joined by Steve Cohen, author of Getting In: The Zinch Guide to College Admissions and Financial Aid in the Digital Age, and Dean Tsouvalas, Editor-in-Chief of StudentAdvisor (http://www.studentadvisor.com), as they discuss: The Common App   What Admissions Committees are looking for   How prospective students can evaluate college web sites virtual tours connecting with students watching videos

Reminiscences of Summer Travel and Study Abroad

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It would be no exaggeration to say that my trip to France in the summer of 1980 changed my life. As a typical angst-ridden teen—with a slightly atypical penchant for Existential literature—I found myself in a funk at age 16, the promise of three months’ vacation notwithstanding. An extended journey through France changed all that, opening my eyes to the world beyond my hometown classrooms and ho-hum haunts. In particular, a little five-year-old boy named Florian (who patiently taught me French vernacular), his ten-year-old brother Cyril, and my French “parents”—all of whom are among my friends on Facebook more than […]

4 Tips to Make Your CommonApp UNcommon

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Even though many colleges have graciously extended 11/1 deadlines on account of Hurricane Sandy, many students and their parents (especially the latter) remain in get-it-done mode. While the desire to remove this stressful boulder from your shoulders is understandable, it can lead to eleventh-hour rushing, inattention to detail, and ultimately disappointing mail come mid-December. While I am a huge fan of the CommonApp in general, one of its potential pitfalls is that it’s a web form, which to the net-gen means it can be done really quickly. And, strictly speaking, it can. With simple check boxes, drop-downs, text boxes, and […]

The 2012 PSATs are Over!….Now What?

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Some of you took the PSAT on Wednesday this past week, and the rest of you will take it tomorrow. For many, so begins your foray into the wonderful world of high stakes, college admissions testing. That’s the bad news. The good news, though, is that you get a little standardized-test break in the otherwise nonstop bombardment that is the junior year in American high school. So what’s the next best move? Good question, glad you asked.  THREE suggestions: FOCUS ON YOUR SCHOOL WORK. Remember you’re in school primarily to, um, get an education. So buckle down and try that […]

Tips and Tricks for the CommonApp

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Listen to internet radio with CollegePrepExpress on Blog Talk Radio What’s one relatively easy way to separate yourself from the pack in the most competitive era in college admissions ever? With  scintillating application materials, of course! Join Dr. Yo and his panel of experts–Northwest Catholic’s Director of Guidance, Joyce O’Rourke, and teen Samantha Udolf (Harvard ’16)– who’ve been through or are going through the process as they share tips and tricks for writing winning essays, filling out the activities list and extracurricular blurbs, managing supplements, and more!   If you haven’t started or you’re still working on your CommonApp, DO […]

Mash-ups, Texting, and The CommonApp Activity Blurb

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Thank God for loud music during exercise class.  I don’t know about you, but when I start hearing myself breathing hard—okay, panting like an almost-50-year-old—I take a psychological hit, convince myself I’m more fatigued than I am, and stop pushing myself.  So when the instructor cranked up her iPod during this morning’s 6:00AM Boot Camp, I smiled to myself and kicked it into high gear—er, higher gear. Funny thing about her playlist.  It was all mash-ups.  And as I did my 237th squat in a row, I got to thinking about what a fitting metaphor for our time the mash-up […]

Root & Synonym Clusters 6: Lazy or Lacking Energy Synonyms

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On these hot, humid, days, we all tend to feel a little lethargic, torpid, slothful.  And while being lazy never got anyone into top colleges, the CollegeBoard LOVES putting words that mean lazy or lacking energy on the SAT.  So here are a whole bunch of them to learn and associate together: apathetic – showing or feeling no interest, enthusiasm, or concern: lethargic –  sluggish and apathetic lackadaisical – lacking enthusiasm and determination; carelessly lazy indolent – wanting to avoid activity or exertion; lazy. slothful – lazy perfunctory – carried out with a minimum of effort or reflection torpid – […]

Becoming a Vocab Sponge: Learning SAT Vocab Quickly and Effectively

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Listen to internet radio with CollegePrepExpress on Blog Talk Radio   Tired of looking at lists of SAT words organized alphabetically? Does the idea of flipping through yet another set of flashcards make you want to throw up a little bit in your mouth? Then tune in to this episode of “Prep Talk,” when Dr. Yo will share the many secrets of increasing your vocabulary exponentially in the easiest, most enjoyable, and highly effective ways. He’ll also be joined by Anthony Green, President of eLearning Affiliates, and two TEEN EXPERTS (Oliver Beers, SAT student, and Molly Donahue, SSAT student) who’ll […]

Root & Synonym Clusters 5: “Laud” Roots and To Praise Synonyms

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This word cluster features lots of SAT words that mean “to praise,” many of which use the root “laud,” and some of which do not. The very common word “applause,” for example, means to express praise in the form of clapping.  Here are a whole slew of words you can associate with PRAISE: applaud – to show praise by clapping laud – to praise highly, especially publically laudable – praiseworthy laudatory – expressing praise plaudits – praise, applause extol – to praise accolade – honor, award, privilege awarded in praise adulation – extreme or excessive praise or admiration eulogy – […]

Root & Synonym Clusters 4: “Hard to Get Along With”

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Do you know any, um, how shall we say, difficult people? Yeah, me, too. Here’s a great list of challenging SAT words that all mean, roughly, “hard to get along with.” The subtle differences in meaning, for the philologists out there, follow below. For most folks, especially SAT takers, just knowing that all these words describe people who are, for one reason or another, cranky, hostile, aggressive, difficult, and just plain hard to get along with. belligerent  (“belli” = “war,” as in antebellum) – hostile bellicose – warlike recalcitrant – stubborn and uncooperative intractable – stubborn and unruly truculent – […]