junior year

Using the Summer to Gain a Competitive Edge

 tagged admissions process / freshmen / junior year / senior year / sophomores / vacation studying by

What are the best three things about the school year?  Duh.  June, July and August of course!  Camp, summer jobs, new friends and relationships, and, most importantly, NO SCHOOL! The long summer break is a double-edged sword, however: very few use the summer to advance their learning or to advance their chances in the college admissions game.  Given the increasingly competitive nature of the game, summertime represents a phenomenal opportunity for ambitious students not only to enhance their education (not to mention keeping up with the international competition, who are in school 10 or 11 months out of the year), […]

College Admissions Secrets for Parents and Teens: Listen to Mom’s Advice

 tagged ACT / admissions / applications / extracurriculars / junior year / parents / SAT / standardized tests / test anxiety by

By Kate Cryan, mom If you’re looking for an entertaining, informative, and inexpensive evening for you and your college-bound teens, head to Hall High School at 7pm on Wednesday March 12th, where Dr. Michael J. Youmans (aka Dr. “Yo”) of CollegePrepExpress will present a 90-minute “soup to nuts” overview of the college admissions process. College admission is a daunting process for both student and parents, and it makes no difference to the parents’ stress levels whether it’s the first or fifth child going to college.  (As a parent with one child nearly finished at college, I can vouch that starting […]

Why the ACT is just as important as the SAT

 tagged ACT / admissions / junior year / SAT / test prep by

By Kate Cryan “There are several compelling reasons why students SHOULD TAKE BOTH tests.”  So said Dr. Yo in this 2008 post. You could say he was a good five years ahead of the curve: last year, the number of students taking the ACT was, for the first time, slightly higher than the number taking SAT, and 50% higher than the number taking ACT ten years ago. Why the sudden preference for ACT? It’s not sudden, and it’s not a preference, because SAT popularity hasn’t waned. The number of ACT takers has steadily increased each year until it finally surpassed […]

Getting Your CommonApp (Almost) Done Over the Summer

 tagged applications / CommonApp / junior year / senior year / vacation studying by

Jeez, school just freakin’ ended and you’re hitting me with THIS? Take a chill, Mr. Intense—er, Dr. Intense—would you? Actually, I was going to offer YOU that very advice, especially if you have the type of parents who want your whole application done the day after your last final exam (hey, try to keep in mind how much they love you :-)). Rising seniors absolutely should take a chill for a while after surviving the year-long educational torture chamber we call junior year. Having said that, we also STRONGLY suggest that you get as much work done on your CommonApp […]

Pep Talk for Standardized Test-Taking JUNIORS

 tagged ACT / admissions / applications / junior year / SAT / standardized tests by

“The truth can hurt you it’s just like the dark it’ll scare you witless but in time you see things clear and stark.” – Elvis Costello Everybody knows junior year is the hardest working year of high school. And, alas, the stark reality is the hardest part of it is the final stretch. Cumulative tests, big papers, final projects, and (gulp) final exams all conspire to make the last two to three months challenging to sleep, serenity, even sanity. Oh yeah, and then throw standardized testing—SATs ACTs, Subject Tests, and, in some cases, AP exams—into the already unmanageable mix. Thanks, adult world, […]

Preparation for Standardized Test Game Day

 tagged ACT / junior year / PSAT / SAT / senior year / sleep / stress management / test anxiety / test prep by

October marks the first big month of standardized testing for college bound juniors and seniors.  SATs, SAT Subject Tests, PSATs, and ACTs are all given this month.  Hopefully, you have been taking practice tests, going over every item you got wrong or left blank, and studying the material you need to learn.  If you haven’t been, stop what you’re doing and callCollegePrepExpress at 413-329-7540: do not pass go, do not collect $200, do not even finish this blog. No seriously, as your game day approaches, here are some valuable tips for squeezing out your maximum score on whatever exam you’re taking: […]

Standardized Test Planning, Grades 9-12

 tagged ACT / freshmen / junior year / PSAT / SAT / senior year / sophomores by

Don’t let the title of this week’s blog fool you: the most significant thing you can do in any grade for college admissions is to take the most rigorous classes available to you and earn the best grades you can in them.  Period. So as this year begins, keep your eye on the prize: A’s in school! Having said that, another important component in the college admissions game is, for better or worse, standardized test scores.  Consequently, it’s never too early to start to plan which ones you’re going to take, and when you’re going to take them.  Forewarned is forearmed, […]

Reducing Stress is Part of Our Mission

 tagged admissions process / junior year / senior year / stress management by

Did you catch the FRONT PAGE of last week’s Wall Street Journal? (click here for full article).  The press has made it clear that 2008 has been the most competitive year ever for college admissions, with 2009 promising to be even worse. Junior year has always been a notorious rite of passage: the hardest classes, most demanding teachers, grades counting the most, and, oh yeah, standardized tests.  In September everyone’s talking about how college admissions committees look most closely at junior year grades, PSATs come up fast in October, and the work and pressure keep mounting through SATs, ACTs, Subject Tests […]