New School College Counseling

07/07/2026

Summer Checklist for Rising Seniors
If you're heading into senior year this fall, here's what to knock out before mid-August:
1️⃣ Start your Common App and complete the profile page (it's open now)
2️⃣ Build your resume first, then use it to complete the Activities section
3️⃣ Get a final draft of your personal statement done, so you have time for supplemental essays when they drop August 1
4️⃣ Open a STARS (Self-Reported Transcript and Academic System) account and enter your grades. Required by schools like Clemson, NYU, and University of Tennessee, and easy to forget
5️⃣ Complete your counselor packet/brag sheet so it's ready when school starts
Getting these done now means walking into senior year ahead instead of behind.

06/27/2026

06/15/2026

After working with almost two hundred students, here's what I know to be true:

1. This is not the time to procrastinate. Students who use the summer to work on essays, activity lists, and resumes experience significantly less stress during senior year. The work doesn't disappear. It just gets harder to do well when the classes are demanding and sports practices are daily. Waiting until the deadline to write the essay doesn't allow enough time to develop your thoughts, edit, and improve. A rushed essay is a lost opportunity to show a different side of you. I have also seen students become so overwhelmed at the last minute that they fail to apply at all, or submit after the deadline at 12:02. Planning ahead makes all the difference.

2. A balanced college list can change everything. Students who apply on a whim or simply to test the odds often face a wave of rejections in March. Beyond being defeating, the harder truth is they probably didn't even want to attend most of those schools. Applying just to see what happens is not a strategy. Spending time thinking about why you are applying to each school, visiting the campus, and considering whether it is truly a good fit makes the process more meaningful and the outcomes better. It is also important to find schools that aren't uber-selective but still offer what you are looking for. I understand having a dream school and needing to apply, but I recommend only applying to 3 to 4 reach schools and spending more time identifying why those reach schools are even on the list. Then students can find similarities at less selective schools.

3. The rules keep changing. After Covid, things seem to change daily. Deadlines shift. Essay prompts change or are even eliminated. Test policies evolve. Whether demonstrated interest or legacy matters varies by school and by year. Schools have gone from test-optional to test-preferred to test-required within a short time. New deadlines continue to appear as well. This year, Washington University and Syracuse added Early Action. Last year, USD, USC, and University of Michigan added Early Decision, and University of Florida followed suit this year. This is genuinely hard to keep up with, especially for working parents who are already busy.

4. Results can be unpredictable. Every year I see decisions that don't make sense on paper. Institutional priorities and yield protection are blamed but the results are still disappointing. A student who did everything right, denied. Another admitted to a reach school after not getting in a school with higher admission rates. At the IECA Conference this year, an admission officer from Penn said that they used to make sure decisions made sense from a high school, ensuring top students were admitted over those with lesser qualifications. She said they don't necessarily do that anymore. After seven years, I've made peace with the fact that the process will always have surprises and that is why a thoughtful college list is so important.

5. Everything works out. There are real highs and real lows along the way. Students change their minds about what matters to them. A school that once felt like the only option becomes less important. But when students take the time to understand what colleges are looking for, build a thoughtful college list, and prepare, the process works. At the end of it, students land somewhere great. With over 3,000 universities in this country, there are remarkable opportunities waiting at every one of them. Students join clubs, find mentors, build friendships, and graduate with skills, confidence, and knowledge that prepare them for careers and independence.

The process is hard. The outcome is worth it.

05/02/2026

https://www.wsj.com/us-news/education/college-admissions-yield-rate-2fb30f42?st=JbNUwQ&reflink=article_imessage_share

Schools are pushing to get commitments from prospective students sooner, adding new early-admission rounds, and using wait lists aggressively.

04/06/2026

Waitlisted… Now What? (For Parents)
If your child was waitlisted at a top-choice college, take a deep breath—this is not a rejection. It means the school believes your student is qualified… they just don’t have space right now.
Here are 4 simple steps to help your student navigate this:
👉 1. Send a Letter of Continued Interest
Encourage your student to share updates since applying—grades, activities, awards, jobs—and reaffirm their interest.
👉 2. Visit Campus (If You Can)
If possible, visit or revisit. Some schools give as little as 48 hours to accept a waitlist spot, so being prepared helps.
👉 3. Commit by May 1
Have your student choose a school where they’ve been accepted and submit their deposit. Attend admitted student events—you may be surprised how excited they become.
And remember the idea behind "Love the One You’re With" this school already believes in your child and their potential.
👉 4. Be Patient
Most waitlist movement happens after May 1, once colleges know how many students are enrolling.
Final thought:
Your student will land where they are meant to be—and they can thrive at more than one college. 💙

03/25/2026

At large flagship universities, one of the most important, and often overlooked, factors is "fit to major."
At many of these schools, you’re not just applying to the university, you’re applying directly to a specific college or major (think engineering, business, computer science, etc.). And here’s the reality: admission standards can vary dramatically between majors at the same university.
A student who might be admitted to the university overall could be denied from a more competitive major, or even the entire school, if their academic profile and experiences don’t align with that program.
That’s why “fit to major” matters so much:
✔️ Your coursework should reflect genuine preparation (rigor + relevance)
✔️ Your activities should show interest and exploration in that field
✔️ Your story should make sense — why this major, and why you?
This isn’t about having everything figured out at 16 or 17. It’s about showing direction and authentic curiosity.
At large flagships especially, strong applicants aren’t just high achievers — they’re students who have started to connect their academic choices, extracurriculars, and future goals into a cohesive narrative.
Bottom line: It’s not just “Can you get in?”
It’s “Can you get in for what you want to study?”
That distinction can make all the difference.

Deciding how to match your activities to your major is something I can help with. Whether it is recommending a community college class, summer program, internship or job shadowing, making those connections is important.