CPE Blog


The “Test Optional” Trap: How COVID-19 Continues to Kill in 2024 College Admissions

[Updated from 2020 and 2022] For four years before MIT, Dartmouth, and Yale restituted their required SAT/ACT entrance exam policies in 2024*, CPE has been warning students and parents not to fall into the seductive “test optional” trap, COVID-19’s pernicious effor to wipe out a chunk of candidates in the world of college admissions. The cancellation of long-scheduled SATs and ACTs in 2020 and continuing into 2022 and even 2023 forced many colleges at all levels to waive the entrance exam requirement for applicants, thereby making those schools “test optional.” It’s the only socially just and fair decision that could […]


College Entrance Exams in 2024: Measures of Aptitude or Learned Knowledge and Skills?

[based on Dr. Yo’s original post from March 2019] For nearly half a century, I have regularly hosted lively debates in my head about which side of the intelligence spectrum standardized tests reward more: students on the natural, seemingly intuitive smarts side or those whose intelligence derives from knowledge and skills acquired through education. Or to frame it slightly differently, do standardized tests ultimately reward kids who grow up reading and playing with numbers by natural propensity and choice or are otherwise “gifted” in verbal/linguistic and mathematical/logical intelligences, or can students compensate for what they may lack in neural/cognitive firepower […]


Answers to 2 Crucial CommonApp Questions for Second Semester Juniors

How to prepare an…. Question #1: When should I register on Commonapp.org? Question #2: When should I focus on actually writing my CommonApp? Short Answer #1: As soon as possible. Short Answer #2: Between your last final exam this year and the first day of school in the fall. Slightly elaborated answers: There is absolutely NO DOWNSIDE to registering sooner rather than later, and there is tremendous upside to sooner. All you need to do to register (commonapp.org) is to spend five or so minutes completing a simple name-date-email style form and you have access to all the questions and […]


“So, tell me a little bit about yourself” – How to Answer in a College Interview

Welcome to almost February, a great time for HS seniors! The vast majority of college-bound seniors have submitted the vast majority of their applications and passed their last mid-year academic hurdle, and many are in mid-interviewing season. I’ve offered advice about how to answer the most commonly asked supplement essay and interview question both in a prior blog post and in my new book, The CommonApp Handbook, “Why do you want to go here?” In this post, I’d like to offer some advice about answering another very commonly asked question, often the first question right after you sit down for a […]


Test Prep in the Flow of Junior Year

Much has changed in U.S. secondary education for college-bound students over the past half century, from values to curriculum to graduation requirements. But one thing remaining largely the same is the overall academic flow of the formidable rite of passage of junior year and the crush of fall semester senior year. As busy as juniors may think they are now, or are going to be shortly, most are in for a rude awakening. I say this not to derive any joy or instill fear, but to share a vast experience of working with students through this specific period. Hey, fore-warned […]


Shedding Light on the Dark Ages of Junior Year

Back when I was in high school, revisionist history notwithstanding, teachers sometimes referred to the Middle Ages the Dark Ages.  Perhaps a misnomer, the term Dark Ages was meant to suggest that during the Middle Ages—the period in Western History between Antiquity (Greeks and Romans) and the European Renaissance—nothing very interesting happened as far as historians were concerned. Hence, it was dark. (Sidebar: Readers of Dan Millman’s Way of the Peaceful Warrior know there’s something interesting happening every moment, but the term was coined long before the book was written ;-)). By analogy, the long period in the junior year sandwiched between […]


To Upload a Resume or Not to Upload a Resume, That is the Question

If you’re a college applicant stressing out over having to update, triple proofread, or even create a resume from scratch to include in an application and compete in today’s insane admissions game, the good news is you can relax. UNLIKE optional supplement essay questions for particular schools, and UNLIKE optional interviews, which are only “optional” if your GPA, test scores, activities, and guidance counselor ALL indicate the school is a slam dunk, uploading a resume does NOT show you’re willing to go the extra mile. What it DOES often show is a misunderstanding of how ALL your application materials work […]


Darn it, *&#$%, I Got Deferred from My First Choice!

Wrong reaction! I mean, there are no wrong FEELINGS, but if you’re THINKING that getting deferred is bad news, think again! Today’s insanely stingy admissions rates, many below 10% even for early application (Harvard was around 7% this year, 2022), are NOT fake news. They’re VERY REAL. Obviously, you were hoping to get in since you applied in November, and especially since you applied EARLY, but understand what getting deferred actually means in the college admissions game. It means two things in particular, and they’re both good news: Despite that good news, I also want to suggest your application work […]


5 Good Reasons and 1 Analogy Why Many CT Public School Juniors Should Take Two SATs in March 2024

Many states now require high school juniors to take either the SAT or ACT (see, for example, ACT & SAT Mandated States) for federal accountability, a fact that presents new strategic standardized testing options for college bound students. Here in the Nutmeg state of Connecticut, public school juniors will take an SAT on the state’s nickel in March or April 2024 (West Hartford public schools Hall & Conard slated for Thurs 4/21/24), with various makeup dates (check with your school). For students applying to competitive colleges, the best strategy to maximize scores and therefore admissions chances, especially for those who do some […]


An Uncomfortable Personal Memory and the Human Side of College Admissions

After spending 10,000 hours or more doing whatever it is you do, as Malcom Gladwell taught us, you get pretty good at it. When it comes to career educators and gatekeepers of higher education, long experience forges quick studies in distinguishing true students from grade grubbers, potential scholastic superstars from other types of high achievers. Sometime the line is blurry, however—about as often as academic and worldly success intersect. Not often, but it happens, and when it does, assessment of achievement and worthiness of admissions become blurry, too. Numbers, letter grades, and other quantifiable measuring sticks are supposed to objectify […]


Why 10th & 11th Graders Applying to TOP Colleges Should Take an SAT This Fall AND Next Spring/Summer

As noted in my last post, New Digital SAT for March, 2024, and Beyond!, while the new SAT rolling out in the spring looks to be significantly easier than the current version, that doesn’t necessarily mean test takers will earn higher scores. Some students would score higher on the three remaining SATs of the current version (Oct. 7, Nov 4., and Dec. 2) and some on the new digital version starting int March. Which group are you in? Good question, glad you asked. There’s no sure way to tell whether you’ll earn higher scores on the current (fall) or new […]


Digital-SAT-Book-Cover

New Digital SAT for Spring 2024…and BEYOND!

A quick comparison of the new Digital SAT rolling out globally in 2024 and the current paper and pencil (and online version) SAT by Dr. Yo, in consultation with Alisha Cipriano, M.A. GREAT NEWS! After studying the CollegeBoard’s new book, The Official Digital SAT Study Guide, I believe that for MOST students the new Digital SAT rolling out globally next spring (March, 2024) as compared with the current version being offered through the fall of 2023, will be… wait for it… EASIER! This is great news for students: what student wouldn’t prefer an easier test to a harder one? Having […]


SAT versus ACT, A Side-By-Side Analysis, Part 1 of 3

In March 2016, the CollegeBoard rolled out a completely redesigned  SAT, which they’d been planning and perfecting since 2012, the first year they were outsold by the ACT. Although all the changes were ultimately based on (or perhaps justified by) sound educational principles, whenever CollegeBoard representatives spoke about the specific changes or whenever articles were published about them, in almost every case they made the SAT more like the ACT, at least on the surface. These changes included the following: removing the guessing penalty; moving from five answer choices to four; replacing challenging vocabulary with simpler “words in context” and […]


Dr. Yo’s 3 Tips for School Supplies

Quick word about school supplies. ‘Tis the season, fa la la la la. Here are Dr. Yo’s guidelines for purchasing school supplies: If your teachers recommend certain types of notebooks, paper, and other school supplies, always get what they want. It shows respect, willingness to learn their way, and who knows, they might actually have a good reason :-). If you haven’t done it their  way before, don’t prejudge – give it a shot. If you know what organizational scheme works best for your learning style (either because you’re an older high school student or a younger precocious student who uses words […]