With Dartmouth and Yale recently announcing they will no longer be test-optional and the number of other colleges and universities following suit still unknown, it is more important than ever to pay close attention to the changes being made to the SAT. In case you haven’t heard, the SAT has gone digital; no more paper, no more sharpened No. 2 pencils.

The 2024 FAFSA overhaul, which was supposed to simplify the application, has instead brought headaches for parents and admissions officers alike. The significant delays in both the release of the new Better FAFSA® and its turnaround to the schools are causing frustration and anxiety among families and universities.

As if there weren’t enough factors to consider when choosing the right college for your child, the question of sufficient available housing for freshmen is another one that should not be overlooked.

Kids know that good grades, meaningful essays, strong extracurricular activities, and good standardized test scores can be helpful for college acceptance. For most kids, however, this is usually where their “wealth of knowledge” ends. Transitioning from high school to college brings many new challenges and opportunities, and some of our kids are ill-prepared to adapt comfortably to this new environment.

Many of us have memories of overzealous parents taking over an elementary or middle school project. Thinking they were helping us and only with the best intentions, they got excited and saw how they could make this at-home assignment shine.

In these ever changing and challenging times, it is no secret that the education system in many school districts is changing as well.  Sadly, many budgets are being reduced, classes in the arts are facing elimination, and class sizes are seeing increases.  Perhaps this is why we have also witnessed a growth in private school enrollments. 

I recently reread Norman Doidge’s book, “The Brain That Changes Itself” about some ways to reframe ideas and influence change in our brains and in the brains of our children.

With the May 1st D-Day quickly approaching, we thought it appropriate to debunk some of the numerous myths surrounding making a college choice.

I am continually reminded of a talk given by Joan Borysenko, a Harvard Medical School-trained cell biologist, licensed psychologist, and former researcher from Stanford University. Stanford is one of several institutions studying the multigenerational legacies of emotional states through the study of Epigenetics. What I learned, and what has more recently been well documented, is that a parent’s traumatic experience may be passed along to their children.

It's that time of year again when seniors anxiously await the news of whether their “dream” college is equally enamored and willing to give that 4-year relationship a shot.

There is something about walking into a room where we expect to see our kids "playing together" and instead see them all on their individual devices. Truly playing together seems like a hard concept to pass along to this generation.

It is sometimes difficult to imagine one of our children going off to middle or high school away from home. However, a boarding school in general, whether in the States or abroad, can bring the kind of opportunities that are not always provided at home.

How does a semester abroad sound when we are helping our student think about next steps? Perhaps they will discover adventure; maybe they will expand their mind past the community they grew up in. I often advocate for students to take the transitional gap year and wait to engage in the study that will be demanded of them. But recently, colleges have begun to accept more students by offering the first semester or year in a foreign country.