NY Times: Getting Into College, Strumming His Own Tune

This New York Times article by Samuel G. Freedman is intriguing for a variety of reasons. First, the author rightly asserts that stress need not be a part of the college admissions process. Second, the article makes clear that students need not have "shockingly impressive" (think providing clean drinking water to war ravaged mothers and children in Burma) summer jobs and internships to get into America's best colleges and universities. Finally, whether he realizes it or not, the author of the article illustrates just how poorly advised many students are when he describes how Kevin only got into one of five schools to which he applied. All students should have a few "saftey" schools on their list (or at least one sure bet) so they will have some sort of control over where they end up the fall after their senior years in high school. Kevin is an impressive student, but his acceptance into GW was not a sure thing, rather a very lucky result. What if he had not gotten in? Most likely his only options would be community college or a four year school with a very late deadline. With Tactical College Consulting, LLC, students and parents approach the college admissions process holistically. We help students craft college lists that include a variety of colleges that - no matter each college's admissions rate - meet the academic and personal needs of our students and will be places from which they will be proud to earn a degree.