I met Sister Jean! In October 2023, I met Sister Jean, the then-104-year-old nun of Loyola who became a video sensation as the men’s basketball chaplain rooting for the Ramblers courtside in the 2018 playoffs. She has an office in the student center with an open door, through which seven college advisers and I walked to say hello and snap

Also called an IEC (independent educational consultant) or college consultant Besides running my business of college consulting, I used to work as a writing tutor at my local community college. The Writing Center helps students with application and transfer essays as well as their written assignments for the community college. Let me tell you about two students who came to

They almost named their mascot the Moss. The rainy, cool climate of Portland provides the prime conditions for moss to grow everywhere at Lewis & Clark College. It’s on the cobblestone walks, the rock walls, the branches and trunks of trees about to bloom. But the L&C colors are orange and black, so the bright green of the moss wouldn’t

Recommendation Etiquette by Karen Anne Hott I’m an independent educational consultant and the founder of Two Bridges College Consulting. Before going into college advising, I taught AP English Language & Composition, standard and honors English, journalism, and newspaper production in a Maryland public high school. Today I love working with students on their college searches, applications, and essays, facilitating the

Congratulations! You made it through those exhausting AP exams. Now it’s time to take a break and reward yourself with some self-care. Pat yourself on the back. Acknowledge what an accomplishment this is. You took hard courses, stuck with it, and took the end-of-course assessment. Sounds like you’re ready for college. Meditate to singing bowls. Tibetan singing bowls make a

I visited Earlham College in Richmond, Indiana, over two fresh spring days in April as part of a counselor fly-in event. The redbud trees were in full dark-pink bloom and the oaks were just leafing out. If you really want to be seen for who you are, to have support to lift you to your highest potential, and to have

As we turned into the broad green lawn of Reed College in Portland, red brick buildings with limestone accents around doors and windows in Tudor Gothic style greeted the busload of 40 counselors touring five Pacific Northwest liberal arts colleges. A city with character Portland, Oregon, is known for its progressive ethos and its abundance of food trucks. It sits

April 24 May 1 is National College Decision Day, the last day to commit to one school over all the others that accepted you. Some students have already sent in the deposit and even connected with roommates, but every year some students just can’t decide. If that’s you, you may be struck with analysis paralysis or maybe you don’t feel

Disappointed that your phenomenal, amazing child didn’t get into UCLA or Stanford? Stanford’s admit rate was 3.6 percent, and UCLA was 9.4 percent. But your child worked hard to build an impressive record, right? Let’s consider the actual numbers. Stanford had over 57,000 applications and only about 2,000 were accepted. UCLA had over 145,000 applications and fewer than 14,000 were

This isn’t just a month to study for AP exams, though that is something AP students should be doing. Here’s what each class should be doing NOW. Freshmen Look for summer programs that sound interesting to you. Some have deadlines coming up soon. A great resource is Snowday (snow.day), a free, searchable database of more than 1,100 summer programs for