College Counseling Advice

“No way.” Mrs. Addison exclaimed when I suggested a certain college in the Boston area for her son, Mike, a rising senior at Lyme-Old Lyme High School. The college matched the criteria for what Mike wanted. But Mrs. Addison’s reaction stemmed from her understanding of colleges thirty years ago. “The C students went to that college” […]

“I want to go to college in the South.” Will, a senior at Valley Regional High School in Deep River, CT said as we started our college counseling session. As has tended to be the case in such situations, Will has no relatives in the South. His family has no plans on moving to the […]

“I want to go to California for college.” Matt , a junior from Waterford, Connecticut said during our first college counseling session. I looked at his mom for her reaction. “We don’t want him to go but it’s his choice.” During college counseling sessions, I hear the “California for college” quite often as well as […]

When I first started this work circa 2002, Stacy a senior from The Williams School showed me her college essay during a break in SAT class. Stacy had the good fortune of travelling to the Amazon River. “Everyone told me I should write about the trip.” I read her well-written essay. It could have been […]

“We are in a state of emergency regarding my son’s college search,” expressed Mrs. Raskin from East Lyme, Connecticut about her son Paul’s college search. I was booked. But she pleaded for me to find a spot. Paul and his mother came to see me a short while thereafter. Mrs. Raskin was almost in tears […]

“I’m not getting into college!” said Abby, a senior at Hopkins in New Haven, Connecticut. Abby went through her college application list: Brown (first choice), Columbia, Penn, Georgetown, University of Chicago, Tufts and Johns Hopkins. Nothing else. That’s not entirely accurate. She mentioned her safety schools – which I won’t do here because it might […]

It has become fashionable to bash the outrageous cost of college. As a father of three soon to be college bound students, I empathize. But when providing college counseling, I try to get my parent-clients to understand the difference between the experience and the outcome.  They, then, can sort out what colleges are worth the […]

Anna, a junior at Valley Regional High School, in Essex, Connecticut, asked, “I know college is a big deal. But why is it such a big deal to choose the right college.”   I told her this story. I left Penn Law School and started my legal career in the Philadelphia District Attorney’s Office. One of […]

“It doesn’t really matter where you go to college… “ said Tommy a sophomore from Guilford, Connecticut. This a such a nonsensical statement that it deserves no serious refutation, except for the fact that it is repeated so often that impressionable young people believe it and need to be reeducated. I asked Tommy to explain. […]