The weekly newsletter for Kansas City parents with great students who want to improve their college admissions profile How to Time Your College Applications Megan Dorsey and Erin Wilson of The College Prep Podcast discuss an underrated part of college applications: timing. Learn terms like rolling admissions, early decision, and early action. 5 Facts About College Merit Aid Brian Eufinger—test-optional expert, owner of Edison Prep, and NTPA board member—discusses the current landscape of...
10 months ago • 1 min read
The weekly newsletter for Kansas City parents with great students who want to improve their college admissions profile Making the Most of Extracurriculars Lee Norwood, the founder of collegesharks.com, discusses how students can build leadership skills via extracurriculars. Hint: it's not just about how many activities they're involved in. Busting 5 Scholarship Myths Ann Garcia, author of the critically-acclaimed “How to Pay for College", busts the 5 most common scholarship myths: Myth #1:...
10 months ago • 1 min read
The weekly newsletter for Kansas City parents with great students who want to improve their test-taking skills Get Ready for Test Day FAQ Highlight Have your student plan something for after the test to look forward to. Thinking about the future can make them feel better, combat stress, and motivate them. Top 10 Mistakes To Avoid on Test Day Don't worry about difficulty, depart from what you learned, and more. Test Day Checklist What to bring and what not to bring. Get Your Answers The...
10 months ago • 1 min read
The weekly newsletter for Kansas City parents with great students who want to improve their test-taking skills Test Prep A Three-Test Timeline Think of testing as a longer-term process, not a short-term result. Most students should aim for a three-test timeline: One baseline test taken with little to no individual prep, although a group class before this first one could work well A test to hit a goal of 3-5 points of improvement with more intensive prep Another test to hit your initial goal...
11 months ago • 1 min read
The weekly newsletter for Kansas City parents with great students who want to improve their test-taking skills I'm back! Summer is a busy time for me as I'm meeting with students during the day and everything else fades into the background. I'm excited to return with updates on what's been happening in the testing world. Current Events The ACT is Changing The ACT announced changes due to begin in Apr 2025 and become permanent in Sep 2025. This change is irrelevant for the Class of 2025 and...
11 months ago • 1 min read
The weekly newsletter for Kansas City parents with great students who want to improve their test-taking skills I'm still buzzing from the annual National Test Prep Association (NTPA) Conference I attended last week in Philadelphia. ~100 educators from around the country came together to share best practices in the pursuit of higher scores for our students. I'll be sharing many lessons learned from that conference over the next several months, but today I want to highlight some great resources...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
The weekly newsletter for Kansas City parents with great students who want to improve their test-taking skills Current Events Pathway Prep on the Tests and the Rest Podcast I had a fun conversation with Mike Bergin and Amy Seeley on the Tests and The Rest podcast. Listen until the end for a fact not many know about me! Get Ready for Test Day FAQ Highlight Have your student plan something for after the test to look forward to. Thinking about the future can make them feel better, combat stress,...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
The weekly newsletter for Kansas City parents with great students who want to improve their test-taking skills Why Tests Are Important The Grades They Are A-Changin' A 'good grades / bad test-taker' student is the most common in the test prep world. While test-taking is a skill that can (and should) be improved, not enough emphasis is placed on how much grades have changed over the past 30 years. In 1990, 37.9% of freshman at 4-year universities had an A-average in high school. By 2022, that...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read
The weekly newsletter for Kansas City parents with great students who want to improve their test-taking skills Why Tests Are Important Are the Publics Next? The private schools aren't the only ones returning to testing. UT Austin announced they will switch from test-optional to test-required for the fall 2025 applicants (high school class of 2024). The statistics that came with this announcement were stunning: Of their enrolled 2023 first-year students, those who submitted test scores under...
about 1 year ago • 1 min read