Jessie's Blog
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How and When? A Quick Guide to Application Types
How and When?
Acronyms are confusing when you are unfamiliar with them. Families today are already busy with work and life. Handling the college application process alone is akin to taking on a “part-time job.” Considering there are dozens of application platforms, variations on demonstrated interest, and choices of application types (Rolling, EA, ED1, ED2, Regular Decision, etc.), the process is understandably overwhelming.
Click the PDF below to download the guide.
Most Teens Think You Can Read Their Minds: How to Avoid the #1 Application Faceplant
What new couples don’t realize (how could they?) is that you’ll end up having the same argument—about the same core thing—for years, sometimes decades.
For Dave and me, that argument is usually about whether I’ve told him something. Just last week, I mentioned that I was going to book club Tuesday evening. He insisted I hadn’t told him. I was 98% certain that yes, I had told him. (I could even picture where we were standing in the kitchen, me scrubbing the broiler pan.) This verbal volley went …
Got Questions About Applying for Financial Aid — Start with October 1st
Everyone is back to school and getting used to the new academic calendar. We wish you an engaging, healthy, and successful school year!
In the meantime, the college application process marches on. October 1, 2025, was the first day that any U.S. citizen or eligible non-citizen who expects to apply for need-based financial aid can access, complete, and submit the FAFSA and CSS Profile.
Invariably, a whole host of questions arise. "How do I actually apply for financial aid?" "What do the acronym…
College to Career — A FOUR-YEAR PLAN (Downloadable Resource)
Click the link below to download the Elevated Admissions resource graphic.
EA - Four-year plan - College to Internship/Job.pdf
Just dropped! The Elevated Admissions College Athletics Winter Sports Guide
Hello !
This month's newsletter targets students who love their winter sports and want to continue participating in them once they get to college. The Elevated Admissions College Athletics Winter Sports Guide details both NCAA and USCSA programs across the United States. We have focused on Alpine, Freeski, Nordic, and Snowboarding programs.
Click here to access the guide.
Stay warm, and if you love winter sports, enjoy the season!
The Northeastern SEC Obsession — How to Manage Trends in the Shifting Admissions Landscape
Axios recently published an article by April Rubin and Thomas Oide that explores the "why" behind SEC schools' recent surge in popularity with students hailing from the Northeast. The graphic below shows the shift over the last nine years. The article's opening line states, "Warm weather, affordability, and politics have prompted a teenage migration from the Northeast to the South."
Whether this trend will continue remains to be seen, but understanding the trends can help you manage the colleg…
Boost An Application in Five Minutes – or – How Your 9th, 10th or 11th Grader Can Leverage Five Minutes
How are you?
The typical response to that question these days is a breathless, "Busy, and you?" with the occasional sigh and a somewhat forced smile. The point of this newsletter is not to create more "busy" for you or your teen; it's to help your teen make one or more small shifts that can yield significant results when it comes time to apply.
It's high season for college applications right now. My team and I are continuously reviewing applications and helping students position themselves. N…
I'm Planning College Visits with my 15 year old. Why?
Spring Break is right around the corner and quite unexpectedly, I find myself planning college visits with our 15-year-old daughter. She is a sophomore and our youngest. With three older siblings, we've been to this rodeo before. In the past, we have always commenced with this ritual in the winter and spring of junior year. Yet, for Mary, I feel compelled to start now. Why?
I've been questioning whether it's too soon to be starting down this rabbit hole, especially since she plans NOT to app…
The Test Optional Dilemma Continues
Are the SAT and ACT Still worth worrying about? The short answer is likely "yes."
The pandemic's ripple effects continue to send college admissions offices scrambling. They have long relied on test scores as one of the key variables they use to evaluate candidates, yet according to FairTest, seventy-six percent of bachelor's-degree-granting institutions have now adopted some blend of a test-optional or test-blind policy. The ramifications have been – unsurprisingly – both positive and negativ…
The #1 Roadblock Your Teen Can't Avoid
There is no limit to the amount of time and treasure we can invest in enhancing our children's potential. It can feel like there are endless educational and experiential opportunities to be had... because there are. It can also feel as if there's no limit to the expense those opportunities can amass. At the end of the day, we do our best with the means at our disposal to help our children realize their potentials, but as teens reach the cusp of adulthood, the stakes can feel higher. The added pr…