If your child has any inclination to serve their country, consider two compelling paths that lead to graduating from college as a military officer (at little-to-no cost).

What are the options?

If your child wants to serve as a military officer in any of the branches, service academies and ROTC programs are two great places to start.

What do these programs have in common?

• world-class education
• unparalleled leadership training
• international travel
• high-prestige and reputation
• engaged alumni network
• emphasis on camaraderie and teamwork
• guaranteed summer jobs
• highly-transferable technical skills
• guaranteed job for 5 years after college
• paid a monthly stipend starting freshman year
• free education

Yes, a free (or nearly free) education. With the rising cost of college, these programs are becoming more and more competitive.  And with options like attending Harvard and Princeton on an ROTC scholarship, people are paying attention.

What are service academies?

Military service...

What is Early Decision?

Early Decision (or ED) is a binding agreement between a student and their ED school. A student admitted in the ED round (usually in mid-December) must retract all other applications and make a deposit to the ED school.

[Note: Students may only apply to one ED school]

[Note: ED is different from Early Action or Restrictive Early Action]

[Note: RD is Regular Decision]

The trend in applying ED is on the rise.

Here's what you need to know:

Who normally applies Early Decision?

• Recruited athletes who want to take advantage of "support" from a coach
• Legacy students who hope to keep their longstanding family tradition alive
• Students with a dream school that is their #1 choice by a long shot
• Students not worried about affordability (either their family can pay full-freight or they are confident they can live with the financial aid package)
• Students with no chance if they wait to apply Regular Decision (RD)

Why is it easier to get into a school by applying ED?

• ...

As applications are reviewed by college admissions officers, they must survive several "screens" to make it to the end. The more selective the school - the less porous the screens.  This week, we address the first two screens in the process.

Screen #1

1. GPA
2. Standardized Test Scores (SAT or ACT)
3. Rigor of coursework

Outcomes on these three criteria will dictate the "selectivity" of colleges to consider. 

Screen #2

When (and if) a student gets through Screen #1, the more selective schools dig deeper.

Next stop: Extracurricular Activities

Extracurricular Activities include anything that happens outside the classroom:

• Sports teams
• Debate Team
• Part-time work
• Elder or childcare responsibilities
• Summer experiences
• Volunteer work
• Theater
• Travel

On the Common Application, there is room for 10 such Activities. The activities should be listed in the order of importance to the student. Space is limited (50 characters for the position and organization name and 150 characters for the...

As your child moves through high school, participation in after-school "clubs" can be a transformational experience - or a colossal waste of time.

Now would be a great time to sit down with your child to discuss how to think about after-school opportunities.

How After-School Clubs Can Help

High school clubs can benefit students in many ways:

• provide an affinity group to make and cultivate friendships
• provide a signal to colleges about what you are interested in
• provide a path to leadership within an organization
• provide a low-risk way to "test" a fledgling interest in a topic
• provide a structure to start your own club

In the context of college admissions, "Clubs" are considered Extracurricular Activities because they happen "outside of the classroom".  Other Extracurricular Activities include sports, jobs, music, theater, child care responsibilities, etc.

As you may know, there is room for 10 Extracurricular Activities on the Common Application. Especially at the more...

Under the Radar

I talk with a lot of people about college admissions issues - all day every day. And I would guess that only about 10% know anything about the service academies.

Some have a passing familiarity with the terms "Naval Academy" or "West Point" or "Annapolis", but that's about the extent of it. 

The goal of this post is to demystify the academies and provide you with information so that your child doesn't miss out on a big opportunity.

What are service academies?

Military service academies are 4-year colleges that are rich in military tradition, culture, and training. Their goal is to educate, train and inspire the future leaders of the U.S. military. These leaders are known as "U.S. Military Officers".

There are five service academies:

• U.S. Naval Academy (Annapolis, MD)
• U.S. Military Academy - aka West Point (West Point, NY)
• U.S. Air Force Academy (Colorado Springs, CO)
• U.S. Coast Guard Academy (Groton, CT)
• U.S. Merchant Marine Academy (Kings Point, NY)

I won't...

Decision Time

Yesterday was the deadline for most high school seniors to make their final college choice. It shouldn't be as stressful as many people make it out to be.

Part of the reason can be explained here.

In this blog post, a mom wonders why so many highly-qualified students aren't getting into their dream colleges and what effect it will have on their psyches.

She also, within the first paragraph, blames:

• this "generation"
• the "system"
• parents
• Admissions Offices

This is a rough post. I agree with some of the sentiments, but not others. Here are my takeaways:

Managing Expectations

Just because your child's stat line reads: 1480 SAT, 4.3 GPA, varsity soccer team, student government, black belt, and quarterly soup kitchen volunteer doesn't mean they'll get into a highly-selective college. It just doesn't. Not even close.

There are thousands of kids just like this. They grow on trees these days. Just ask any parent. I'm not sure why so many people think that a high-performer like...

A lot of my days are spent trying to help teens unlock their "potential". If you are a parent or teacher, you know that this can make for some long days. 

Most teens are content to operate at 50% capacity. A few strive for more. 

The teens who care about their development, progress, and improvement are my oxygen.

Every once in a while, I catch wind of a PrepWeller who has figured it out.

Such was the case with a PrepWeller we'll call "Heather".

Heather started PrepWell Academy as a freshman and wasn't the most diligent PrepWell student of all time. She watched a majority of the videos but not without cycles of skipping and binge-watching. All totally normal. The program was designed with this dynamic in mind.

However, in early sophomore year, the proverbial lightbulb went off for her. All of a sudden, the terminology, advice, and guidance within the videos took on new meaning.

Heather "got it".

It wasn't long before Heather was engaged in the college admissions process as...

My days are spent speaking with high school students across the country about their lives. In particular, about their interests, college admissions strategies, and life ambitions.  It's my passion.

After reviewing (and editing) hundreds of stellar college applications, resumes, personal statements, and college essays, there is one designation that captures the essence of what colleges are looking for in their prospective students - an Eagle Scout.

My job as college counselor and mentor becomes much easier when I'm working with an Eagle Scout. I know what it takes to make it through the program and it is not difficult to help Scouts express these attributes within their college applications.

Some people believe that colleges give disproportionate credit to Eagle Scouts in the admissions process. I beg to differ - and the 10 items below provide more than enough evidence as to why admissions officers sit up straighter in their chairs when reading the applications of Eagle Scouts.

I recently attended a Workshop with eight parents (in this case, moms) who shared their best advice on how to handle the college admissions process.

They all had recent experience helping their children get accepted to Drexel University, UC Berkeley, Syracuse University, Georgetown University, University of Pennsylvania, Mesa Community College and others.

Here are the highlights:

WAS A PRIVATE COLLEGE COUNSELOR WORTH IT?

• Most paid $3K - $4K for a private counselor
• Lukewarm results
  
  • most seriously questioned whether it was worth the money
  • a few found it helpful
  • one found it invaluable
• A few DIYers did not hire a counselor and used school resources to help
• Most waited to seek counseling until their child proved to be unengaged
• Strong positive: Offloading process onto someone other than mom
• Some identified specific areas where counselors came in handy

INTRODUCE THE PROCESS EARLY

• Don't wait until junior or senior year!
• Most children procrastinate to shield themselves from perceived...

Due to popular demand, I have posted this webinar as a blog post (with video) for those who missed it the first time around.

In this training, I walk you through a strategy to build (or refine) your child's college list. Many times, this is one of the biggest challenges during the college admissions process.

1. What are the 4 critical steps and what sequence should they be done
2. 3 case studies of high school students interested in engineering, science, and history
3. A click-by-click tutorial that you can follow-along with to build your list

In a follow-on webinar, I'd like to address what comes next in the process. Namely, making sure that your list is "balanced" and that you can afford the colleges on the list. This is no small chore, either.

Please provide feedback or comments below with your experience with this process. 

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Prep On,

Author: PrepWell Academy's Founder, Phil Black, has spent a lifetime cracking the code on the world's...