Many students, particularly strong ones, find themselves finished or close to finished all of their high school graduation requirements by the end of junior (11th grade) year. As a result high schools often offer seniors (12th grade students) in high school the option of attending school part time as long as graduation requirements are met. Don’t be seduced by this options that may bring short term pleasure but long term challenges.
5 Smart Summer Tips for Wise Rising Seniors
It’s summertime, which means that many rising high school seniors are pondering the best way to spend a couple of months away from schoolwork.
For some answers, we turn to college admissions expert and college application coach Craig Meister – on location on the beach – for five important oceanside advice videos for rising high school seniors to ensure that they make the best personal choices for how to make the most of summer break.
1. Best Summer College Application Completion Advice
2. Summer Job vs. Summer Internship
3. Pre College Programs vs. Local Options
4. Is Summer SAT or ACT Prep a Smart Use of Time?
5. Don’t Forget to…
Craig is a college admissions coach and founder of CollegeMeister. He previously held university admissions and high school college and career counseling positions in Baltimore, West Palm Beach, and Rio de Janeiro.
College Admissions and the Eyes of a Child
There were only eight in the box, but Billy didn’t see it that way. To him there wasn’t anything he couldn’t draw. Especially anything red. Shoes. Birds. Strawberries. Even dogs. Look at it the right way, and anything could be red.
Mrs. Struthers understood that, and loved to see Billy in class every day. Together, they discovered all kinds of things that turned out to be red. As the year went on, Mrs. Struthers showed Billy how many other things were a mix of red and one of the other colors in his box of crayons. By May, Billy was working with just green, and just yellow, and just about every other color. But once kindergarten was over, it was the red crayon that had been worn down to a stub.
Coloring somehow became both less important and more important as school went on. By second grade, the box had grown from eight to twenty-four, but there was less time to color in school. Billy had rearranged the box to keep his favorite eight colors together, in the front row.
During one of those rare times drawing was allowed, Billy was relishing the chance to draw another cardinal, when Mr. Tyler walked by his desk.
“Cardinals aren’t really red, you know” he said.
Billy kept drawing, and looked up. “What do you mean?”
“They’re actually their own color. Cardinal red. You have that in your box. It’s in the top row of colors.”
Mr. Tyler walked away. Billy kept drawing with red.
The last time Billy saw a box of crayons in school was fourth grade, when the box had grown to 64. Billy had no idea what to do with a crayon named Salmon—wasn’t that a fish?—and the two named Yellow Orange and Orange Yellow looked exactly the same. Why take up space with two crayons of the same color? Billy brought his box of eight crayons from home. The red was getting very small.
There wasn’t time for coloring again until eighth grade, when Billy took an art class in middle school. The crayons had been replaced with pastels that were thicker, and moved across the paper differently than crayons. Suddenly, Billy’s crisply drawn cardinals were fuzzy, and smeared, and looked a little more like smushed raspberries. Billy waited until the end of class to ask his teacher about this, and how could he draw crisp cardinals with pastels.
The teacher frowned. “We didn’t draw cardinals today” she said, “we were drawing mosaics. Did you draw mosaics?”
Billy put his head down. After school, he took his crayons home, and put them in the back of a desk drawer.
The counselor opened up the file on his lap and smiled. “The career tests suggest you have an exceptional talent for art. Have you considered a career in graphic arts?”
The student across from him stared at his blank phone screen.
“Billy, did you hear me?”
“Yeah” Billy said, not looking up.
“Your records say you haven’t taken an art course since eighth grade. There’s room for one in your schedule next year as a senior. What do you say?”
Billy’s eyes were frozen on the ground.
“Mrs. Jefferson is a great art teacher. She taught me how to cross hatch. Have you ever tried that?”
The counselor pulled out a blank piece of paper, and opened the top drawer of his desk. It was filled with crayons.
The squeak of the drawer made Billy look up. “They’re all green” he said.
“Yeah” the counselor chuckled, “I had this thing for green crayons when I was a kid, and it’s stuck with me all these years. I had a couple of teachers try and talk me out of it, but when you love something, you just stick with it, you know?”
Billy looked away for a minute, then pulled out what looked like a pack of cigarettes from his pocket.
“Uh, Billy—” the counselor said.
Billy flipped open the top of the box, revealing a dozen crayons of different heights. All red.
“Do they teach art in college?”
Dear 12th Grader: Don’t Blow Your Ivy Chances Now
So many high school seniors are still in real contention for an Ivy League acceptance in the first few weeks of twelfth grade. Then, something happens that takes most of these smart and well-intentioned young people out of the running entirely.
Don’t let this happen to you! Watch the video below to find out what you must do to give yourself the best shot of closing the deal with the Ivy League or similarly selective college of your dreams during the first few weeks of senior year.
The advice in the above video is particularly relevant to students who have not made major mistakes in 9th grade, 10th grade, or 11th grade.
Sadly, many high school students make major academic, extracurricular, or personal missteps throughout high school. As they say, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure.” Why get yourself into unnecessary trouble or cause yourself needless anxiety or stress later in high school just because you didn’t know that certain decisions that you make as a high school freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior could actually turn out to be mistakes serious enough to derail your smooth sail towards achieving your post-high school goals?
If you are a student (or a parent of a student) who wants to proactively and wisely tackle every challenge high school throws your way and reach your college admissions potential, the best advice I can give you is to join me for College Counseling Tonight.
College Counseling Tonight is for students and parents who desire expert guidance as they navigate the college admissions process, which actually begins the moment a student starts high school! Too many students don’t get much if any great college admissions advice even as late as into their senior year in high school; therefore, it’s never too late to join College Counseling Tonight if you want to give yourself the best chance at reaching your college admissions goals.
Nearly every weeknight throughout the year participants in College Counseling Tonight meet up with me live (no more than three students (or parents)/session) for thirty minutes during which time they are encouraged to ask their current college admissions questions, discuss where they are in the process, and learn from others’ questions and my answers. During College Counseling Tonight I’m also able to provide exclusive access to insider admissions news and information. My goal is to ensure participants leave each session armed with the knowledge they need to make the most of every opportunity presented during their high school career.
In short, if you join me for College Counseling Tonight you’ll gain access to timely best-in-class college admissions counseling that will empower you to make the right moves regarding academics, testing, extracurricular activities, and college applications in order to meet with future college admissions success.
Best of all, unlike my one-on-one college admissions coaching services, which are, frankly, quite expensive, joining College Counseling Tonight only costs a very reasonable $49/session. Consider it an amazing insurance policy to protect against the lack of college guidance or downright poor college counseling many students experience during their four years in high school. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure – especially if that cure comes too late (which, from my experience, is too often the case with students who only start getting good/any college counseling in 11th grade or later).
Get ready to bust the most common college admissions myths and prepare to glide through the entire college admissions process calm, cool, and collected. Join me for College Counseling Tonight.
Dear 11th Grader: Don’t Screw Up Your Ivy League Chances Now
One decision you make in eleventh grade, your third year in high school, will directly influence your chances of getting into an Ivy League or similarly selective college or university when you are a high school senior.
If you don’t make time to focus on this one endeavor during your junior year, you won’t be meeting your college admissions potential. In the process you will be kissing Ivy League colleges and similarly selective American colleges and universities goodbye – particularly if this misstep is coupled with similarly destructive mistakes in 9th grade, 10th grade, or 12th grade.
Yet, in an ideal scenario, you won’t be making any major academic, extracurricular, or personal missteps throughout high school. As they say, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure.” Why get yourself into unnecessary trouble or cause yourself needless anxiety or stress later in high school just because you didn’t know that certain decisions that you make as a high school freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior could actually turn out to be mistakes serious enough to derail your smooth sail towards achieving your post-high school goals?
If you are a student (or a parent of a student) who wants to proactively and wisely tackle every challenge high school throws your way and reach your college admissions potential, the best advice I can give you is to join me for College Counseling Tonight.
College Counseling Tonight is for students and parents who desire expert guidance as they navigate the college admissions process, which actually begins the moment a student starts high school! Nearly every weeknight throughout the year participants in College Counseling Tonight meet up with me live (no more than three students (or parents)/session) for thirty minutes during which time they are encouraged to ask their current college admissions questions, discuss where they are in the process, and learn from others’ questions and my answers. During College Counseling Tonight I’m also able to provide exclusive access to insider admissions news and information. My goal is to ensure participants leave each session armed with the knowledge they need to make the most of every opportunity presented during their high school career.
In short, if you join me for College Counseling Tonight you’ll gain access to timely best-in-class college admissions counseling that will empower you to make the right moves regarding academics, testing, extracurricular activities, and college applications in order to meet with future college admissions success.
Best of all, unlike my one-on-one college admissions coaching services, which are, frankly, quite expensive, joining me for College Counseling Tonight only costs a very reasonable $49/session. Consider it an amazing insurance policy to protect against the lack of college guidance or downright poor college counseling many students experience during their four years – but especially during their first two years – in high school. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure – especially if that cure comes too late (which from my experience is too often the case with students who only start getting good or better college counseling in 11th grade or later).
Get ready to bust the most common college admissions myths and prepare to glide through the entire college admissions process calm, cool, and collected. Join me for College Counseling Tonight.
Dear 10th Grader: Don’t Become An Ivy League Reject!
One decision you make in tenth grade, your second year in high school, will directly influence your chances of getting into an Ivy League or similarly selective college or university when you are a high school senior.
Make sure to make time for the major pursuit described in the video below during your sophomore year because if you don’t, your chances of getting into highly selective colleges or universities in two years will nosedive – especially if coupled with similarly destructive mistakes in 9th grade, 11th grade, or 12th grade.
Yet, in an ideal scenario, you won’t be making any major academic, extracurricular, or personal missteps throughout high school. As they say, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure.” Why get yourself into unnecessary trouble or cause yourself needless anxiety or stress later in high school just because you didn’t know that certain decisions that you make as a high school freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior could actually turn out to be mistakes serious enough to derail your smooth sail towards achieving your post-high school goals?
If you are a student (or a parent of a student) who wants to proactively and wisely tackle every challenge high school throws your way and reach your college admissions potential, the best advice I can give you is to join me for College Counseling Tonight.
College Counseling Tonight is for students and parents who desire expert guidance as they navigate the college admissions process, which actually begins the moment a student starts high school! Nearly every weeknight throughout the year participants in College Counseling Tonight meet up with me live (no more than three students (or parents)/session) for thirty minutes during which time they are encouraged to ask their current college admissions questions, discuss where they are in the process, and learn from others’ questions and my answers. During College Counseling Tonight I’m also able to provide exclusive access to insider admissions news and information. My goal is to ensure participants leave each session armed with the knowledge they need to make the most of every opportunity presented during their high school career.
In short, if you join me for College Counseling Tonight you’ll gain access to timely best-in-class college admissions counseling that will empower you to make the right moves regarding academics, testing, extracurricular activities, and college applications in order to meet with future college admissions success.
Best of all, unlike my one-on-one college admissions coaching services, which are, frankly, quite expensive, joining me for College Counseling Tonight only costs a very reasonable $49/session. Consider it an amazing insurance policy to protect against the lack of college guidance or downright poor college counseling many students experience during their four years – but especially during their first two years – in high school. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure – especially if that cure comes too late (which from my experience is too often the case with students who only start getting good or better college counseling in 11th grade or later).
Get ready to bust the most common college admissions myths and prepare to glide through the entire college admissions process calm, cool, and collected. Join me for College Counseling Tonight.
Dear 9th Grader: Don’t get rejected from the Ivy League so soon!
One major decision that you make in ninth grade, your first year in high school, will directly influence your chances of getting into an Ivy League or similarly selective college or university when you are a high school senior.
If you can avoid making this one big mistake (described in the video below) in your first year in high school you will salvage your chances of getting into a highly selective college or university later on – as long as you don’t make similarly destructive mistakes in 10th grade, 11th grade, or 12th grade.
Yet, in an ideal scenario, you won’t be making any major academic, extracurricular, or personal missteps throughout high school. As they say, “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure.” Why get yourself into unnecessary trouble or cause yourself needless anxiety or stress later in high school just because you didn’t know that certain decisions that you make as a high school freshman, sophomore, junior, or senior could actually turn out to be mistakes serious enough to derail your smooth sail towards achieving your post-high school goals?
If you are a student (or a parent of a student) who wants to proactively and wisely tackle every challenge high school throws your way and reach your college admissions potential, the best advice I can give you is to join me for College Counseling Tonight.
College Counseling Tonight is for students and parents who desire expert guidance as they navigate the college admissions process, which actually begins the moment a student starts high school! Nearly every weeknight throughout the year participants in College Counseling Tonight meet up with me live (no more than three students (or parents)/session) for thirty minutes during which time they are encouraged to ask their current college admissions questions, discuss where they are in the process, and learn from others’ questions and my answers. During College Counseling Tonight I’m also able to provide exclusive access to insider admissions news and information. My goal is to ensure participants leave each session armed with the knowledge they need to make the most of every opportunity presented during their high school career.
In short, if you join me for College Counseling Tonight you’ll gain access to timely best-in-class college admissions counseling that will empower you to make the right moves regarding academics, testing, extracurricular activities, and college applications in order to meet with future college admissions success.
Best of all, unlike my one-on-one college admissions coaching services, which are, frankly, quite expensive, joining me for College Counseling Tonight only costs a very reasonable $49/session. Consider it an amazing insurance policy to protect against the lack of college guidance or downright poor college counseling many students experience during their four years – but especially during their first two years – in high school. After all, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of a cure – especially if that cure comes too late (which from my experience is too often the case with students who only start getting good or better college counseling in 11th grade or later).
Get ready to bust the most common college admissions myths and prepare to glide through the entire college admissions process calm, cool, and collected. Join me for College Counseling Tonight.
College Counseling: The Year in Review
There are many years in the college counseling world that come and go without a lot of fanfare, but this certainly wasn’t one of them. Thanks to America’s ever-growing fascination with the college application process, counseling received more than its share of the limelight in 2019. Here are the highlights:
The Scandal Known as Varsity Blues Leave it to a small group of parents with way more dollars than sense, and a con man feigning to be an independent college counselor, to create even more angst over selective college selection than ever before. Since this story involved Hollywood, money, and some of the three schools the New York Times considers representative of the world of college admissions, way too much time and energy was devoted to understanding what this kerfuffle meant to college admissions as a whole. The average high school senior takes the SAT once and goes to college within 150 miles of home. Varsity Blues meant nothing to them. The same should have been true for the rest of us; instead, this issue is now running neck and neck with Popeye’s Spicy Chicken Sandwich for the year’s Story That Wasn’t Award.
Change to NACAC Ethics Code It made fewer headlines, but the Justice Department’s investigation into NACAC’s Code of Ethics could prove to have far more implications to the college plans of seniors than Varsity Blues could hope to. With colleges now allowed to offer incentives for students to apply early, and with colleges able to continue to pursue students who have committed to another college, the May 1 deposit date is still in effect, but may prove to have significantly less effect.
College Testing and the University of California The value of the SAT and ACT popped up in the headlines all year, as even more colleges decided test scores no longer had to be part of their application process. At year’s end, the test optional movement got a big media splash, as the University of California announced it was reviewing its testing policy. Combined with a lawsuit filed against the UCs claiming the tests are discriminatory, it’s clear that business as usual in the college application process is on its way out. Will more changes ensue?
The Harvard Case and Race Affirmative action advocates celebrated a legal victory this fall when a court ruled Harvard’s admissions procedures do, and may, use race as a factor in reviewing college applications. The case drew national attention in part because it was initiated by a group claiming Harvard didn’t admit enough students of Asian descent. It’s likely to stay in the headlines when the decision is ultimately appealed to the US Supreme Court, a group that, as it currently stands, has been known to be highly skeptical of race-based programs—meaning this year’s lower court victory could be pyrrhic at best.
Improved Research on College Counseling Academic research has never gotten its due in the world of school counseling, and that’s certainly true in the more specific field of college counseling. That trend may be changing, as a report from Harvard lays the groundwork for a more data-based approach to measure the difference counselors make in their work. The findings include an indication that counselors tend to be more effective in college counseling if the counselor was raised in the same area where they work, and, as a rule, are more helpful providing information to the student about the college the counselor attended. The report suggests this may be due to undertraining in college admissions as part of counselor education programs– to which most of the counseling world replied, no kidding. Look for more to come here.
Billions More for More Counselors, But Who Cares It’s hard to remember the need for more counselors was one of the favorite topics of the media just two years ago. A sign of American’s true indifference—or short attention span—rests with a congressional bill that provides up to $5 billion for new school counselor positions, a bill that is currently languishing in committee. Is this bill a victim of an absence of school shootings, impeachment, or both? Given what it can do, is there really any reason this bill can’t be a focus of action in 2020? That’s really up to us.
Remembering Tom Weede, and Calling on the Next Tom Weedes
I could tell this was not going to be a typical meeting with a college representative. He walked into my office with absolutely no hurry, as if this was all he had to do all day, and talked about his school from the heart, not from a memory-committed checklist of things someone else told him to say. When I asked questions, he left a space between when I stopped talking, and when he started his answer, never once referring me to the school’s website, or the college catalog. This was clearly a guy who knew his school as well as he knew his middle name.
It was also notable that he didn’t talk about his school in some theoretical abstract. We do that a lot in college admissions, where we talk about a college in the third person, like it’s some kind of god. He mostly talked about the students at his school, what they were doing, what they liked about being there. He knew that’s what makes the college experience work for a student—who you go to school with. He wasn’t going to waste my time reciting scores and rankings, because Rugg’s could tell me about scores, and rankings were, well, pretty pointless. If you have time to talk with someone face-to-face, the conversation should be a giving of self, not of data, and that meant talking about things that mattered. What matters most in college is the students.
After he said everything he thought I should know, he got up and gave me his card. As I recall, he said something about how he’d like to hear from me, but the university had made it kind of hard to get hold of him, with a student aide and a secretary standing between him and every incoming call, but he urged me to persist. After he’d left, I read his card, and realized I’d just spent forty-five minutes talking to a Director of Admissions who had made a cold call to my high school.
That was my introduction to Tom Weede, who passed on earlier this month, leaving this world and our profession all the poorer. The outpouring of loss has come from all circles of our field, and it all contains one common message; Tom was the rare person who not only felt you mattered; he made sure you knew you mattered. He trusted you with his opinion, and trusted that you would step up and let him know how you felt in turn, even if you saw things differently. His advocacy in the profession was focused on students, and when he engaged you in conversation, you felt, as George Bailey once said, that he knew you all the way to your back collar button.
Tom’s come to mind quite a bit this summer, and not just because of his passing. I’ve been besieged by a number of students and parents flooding my office with requests to make college plans, and they’re all ninth and tenth graders. One father called and insisted he had to meet with me right away, since his son was a junior, and had no college plans at all. The student’s name wasn’t familiar to me, so I looked him up. Turns out he was a sophomore, but since his father called the day after school was over, calling his son a junior made things sound more important, I guess.
That’s the kind of month it’s been. One parent wants to meet to talk about “college strategy,” another one is convinced his ninth grader’s chances at graduate school are already shot because the student has no plans for this summer. It’s easy enough to get caught up in the mania the media is peddling as college readiness, but it’s never hit the ninth and tenth graders like this before. Worse, it seems to be hitting their parents, and too many of them are succumbing to the herd mentality of college angst, abandoning their post as sentinels of their children’s youth.
If there’s any remedy to this, I’d like to think it’s the calm, listening voice of the Tom Weedes that are still with us. Tom did most of his preaching to admissions officers, and none of us were smart enough to ever ask him if he’d thought about saying this to kids and families. Since similar voices are doing the same thing, it’s time to ask them to broaden their scope, before SAT flash cards become the in gift for bar mitzvahs.
Voices like Ken Anselment, Heath Einstein, and Tamara Siler do a very nice job of reminding colleagues that that the college selection process is all about the kids. What’s needed now is for them to share their insights with a larger audience, giving kids permission to be kids. It would be a great way to honor Tom’s memory. Better still, it would be the right thing to do for our world.
Don’t call me a Director of College Counseling ever again
There is no doubt that something is very broken in American secondary and tertiary education. Over each of the last fourteen admissions cycles, I have helped students from around the corner and around the world navigate the college admissions process and tackle the full time of job of applying to American colleges and universities.
During this time, I have witnessed a dramatic increase in the number of students who are unaware of what makes them unique, what their goals are beyond getting into a ‘good college,’ and what actual options even exist for students graduating high school. What feels like an outbreak of complete lack of self-reflection and time dedicated to research and analysis is occurring at the same time as students are more programmed, stressed, miserable, and incapable of demonstrating what was once considered ‘college level’ verbal and written communication skills than I’ve ever witnessed before.
I can’t be a part of this madness anymore without speaking out. As I see it, three major changes need to be made in the way we educate children in this country, only one of which I have true control over as a person tasked with helping students transition from secondary education to what comes next.
- Starting in elementary school and continuing right through college, most students are not being taught the basics of writing, reading, and speaking English – whether these students attend public, private, or parochial schools. Students are taught to ape the style or priorities of their English teachers in order to earn an A instead of being taught how to think or communicate in an articulate, agile, and dynamic manner. I am not an English educator, but I can say after seeing thousands of essays produced by high school juniors and seniors and speaking to thousands of high school juniors and seniors that writing, reading, and speaking instruction is not being properly carried out in this country if we are to have any hope of sustaining – let alone building upon – the knowledge and attainment of previous generations.
- Students have little to no sense of who they are in relation to the generations of people who came before them and thus they have an increasing inability to put themselves in proper context; the result is that their college essays, whether well-written or not, read like narcissistic one-man plays, and from the admissions results I’ve seen up-close, colleges like it this way! We are doing a generation of our fellow citizens a great disservice when they can’t see beyond their own feelings and experiences, when they don’t know anything about their state’s history, and when they know appallingly little about their country’s history or the history of Western Civilization. Again, very few people in either secondary education or tertiary education seem too concerned about this, which brings me to what I can control…
- College is not the end all be all. In fact, for many students a four-year college experience can only lead to a lifetime sentence of debt and ignorance. Who appointed four-year colleges and universities to lord over us as non-negotiables of our human experience? All those who benefit from the higher education-government complex, that’s who. I’m done promoting this perverted ideology. Today, one can learn more valuable and applicable information on YouTube than one can learn by completing many four-year curricula on offer at America’s top-ranked colleges. Career, technical, and experiential education in all of their many forms – trade schools, apprenticeships, gap years, a paying job doing just about anything – are the best fit for many individuals who’ve just graduated high school. We are doing a disserve to students if we provide only college counseling. We are doing a disservice to students if we only provide college and career counseling. We must educate our students to pursue their own individuality and we must expose our students to the diverse options that exist after high school graduation – from the armed forces and community colleges to gap years and apprenticeship programs. I no longer have any desire to work in a school that trumpets its college admissions statistics, name drops the elite colleges and universities its students have matriculated into, or even slaps the name “College and Career” before the words “Counseling Office” or “Guidance Office.” In all of these scenarios, schools are giving colleges, universities, and employers far too much control of our youth. Students need to be empowered to think big and dream big. That requires not anchoring high school counseling, guidance, or advising to college or career at all.
At a time when long-standing traditions and institutions are actively attacked in our country on a daily basis – mainly from those who’ve been indoctrinated by or are employed by higher education institutions – I’m going to join all those in favor of tearing asunder the part of the past that I don’t like; don’t call me a “Director of College Counseling” or “College Counselor” anymore. It’s giving four-year colleges and universities, corporations, and governments – all of which are in business and are big business – way too much power over all of us. For as long as I continue to help students and families transition from high school to what comes next, from this point forward, if you are going to refer to me as a “Director” of anything, please refer to me as “Director of What Comes Next.” “What Comes Next Counselor” also has a nice ring to it. In return, I promise to provide you a “What Comes Next” guidance experience that exposes you to the full diversity of post-secondary options. Even if 100% of my students continue to enroll in four-year colleges and universities, if my recalibrated approach to post-secondary guidance gives even one student or family pause to consider the benefits of attending a community college while working a full-time job, or pursuing an apprenticeship, or taking a gap-year, or joining the military, or getting a job as a waiter, or earning a degree abroad, or starting a business I will have earned my title as “Director of What Comes Next” and I will feel so much better about myself knowing that I am no longer a cog in the wheel of the American higher education-government complex that has for far too long entranced far too many Americans.
Yet, most of all, I will feel great for the young men and women I work with every day because once they see a four-year college or university is not the be all end all, maybe some of them will calm down, drop out of a few of their extracurricular activities, and use their spare time to pick up and read a book like Great Expectations or Candide or go on YouTube and watch for free the full thirteen installments of Civilisation: A Personal View by Kenneth Clark. There is no doubt that after doing so students will be closer to gaining a healthy perspective on life than they ever could playing America’s obscene college admissions game.
I may still be the CollegeMeister, but I will remind all with whom I work that where one goes to college (if they do at all) or where one works 40+ hours each week (if they do at all) does not define a person. If anything, the sobriquet CollegeMeister is more apt than ever because I have not just mastered the Byzantine art of getting into the world’s “top colleges;” I have freed my clients, my colleagues, and myself from colleges’ former power over all of us, and I look forward to helping others see the light. No longer will colleges be the masters and the rest of us their slaves.