Testing Rights and Responsibilities

Avoid Test Score Cancellation: Know Your Rights and Responsibilities

It’s a nightmare scenario: You diligently prepared for the ACT/SAT/AP exam, you showed up on time, you took the test, you waited for your scores…and then you were notified that your scores were invalidated. All that time and effort went down the drain, and now you’ll have to retake the test with little preparation and on a tight timeline.

The odds are good that this won’t happen to you, but score cancellation is certainly not unheard of. Almost every year, there is at least one news story about groups of students whose scores were cancelled, often through no fault of their own. For example, in 2012, about 200 students had to retake the SAT because the proctors were careless; in 2013, hundreds of California students had their AP exam scores cancelled due to seating irregularities; and in 2014, seating irregularities caused some Charlotte students to fear that their SAT scores would be cancelled.

Violations of testing policies and procedures can lead to mass score cancellation. Even more common, though, is individual score cancellation as a result of suspected cheating. Sometimes students are accused of cheating before they ever leave the testing center, usually because a proctor noticed something suspicious. More often, students receive a letter in the mail after the testing date. This usually happens when a test is red flagged either because of a significant score increase (like 500 or more points on the SAT within a 1-2 year period) or because of a high number of identical responses to another student seated nearby.

Avoiding test score cancellation requires knowing your rights and responsibilities as a test taker. If you are familiar with testing policies, you are less likely to be accused of cheating, more likely to notice some policy violation that could spell trouble if not corrected, and better able to mitigate damage if you do receive notification of potential score invalidation.

Your Resources: Official Policies

The College Board and ACT, Inc. publish their official testing policies online. You can find them here:
• AP Exam 2016-2017 Bulletin for Students and Parents
• SAT Terms and Conditions
• ACT Terms and Conditions

Each of these documents is rather lengthy, and the vast majority of students never read them. Below is a summary of the most common policies among these tests:
• You have to present photo identification when you get to the testing location.
• Follow all proctor instructions regarding timing. Don’t skip to other sections of the test, and put your pencil down when time is up.
• Don’t plagiarize any part of any essay.
• Don’t look at anyone else’s testing materials.
• Do not discuss any test content during or after the test. This includes posting information online after taking the test. Although it might be difficult for the testing agency to identify you, if they succeed, your score can be cancelled.
• Follow all calculator policies.
• Do not have your phone or any other electronic device out during the test, including during scheduled test breaks.
• Do not look at any exam materials before you are told to.
• Do not remove any exam materials, including your own notes/scratch paper, from the testing room.
• Do not leave the building during the test, including during scheduled breaks.

Avoid Score Cancellation: What to Do on Test Day

Both the College Board and ACT, Inc. have complete control over score cancellation, and their decisions are final. This means that if they determine that a policy or procedure was not followed, you have very few options available to you. Even if you did nothing wrong and gained no advantage during the exam, you can suffer the consequences of someone else’s mistake. If you suspect a testing irregularity on the day of the exam, you may refuse to take the exam and contact the College Board or ACT, Inc. to arrange to take the exam on an alternate day. This is an imperfect solution, but it may help you to avoid unfortunate delays that could negatively impact your college admission process.

Cheating Allegations: How to Avoid Them

Both the College Board and ACT, Inc. red flag tests for unusually high score improvements or for remarkably similar responses to those of another test taker.

If you have diligently prepared for the test and you anticipate a significant score improvement, it is a good idea to use your test booklet to take notes and do scratch work. If you are accused of cheating, you can then request that they look at your test booklet to see that you actually did the work rather than just copying off of someone else.

Obviously, you should not cheat off of someone else’s test. You should also keep an eye on your own test booklet and answer sheet to ensure that no one else might cheat off of your work. This can help to reduce the odds that your test is flagged for having a high number of matching answers to another test taker.

Cheating Allegations: What to Do if You’re Falsely Accused

First, don’t stress out too much. If you’re falsely accused of cheating, the worst thing that can happen is that you can be forced to take a paid retest. The College Board and ACT will not tell colleges about the allegation or ban you from retesting.

If you receive a letter alleging possible cheating, you will generally be offered several options: You can try to validate your score by providing documentation that supports your score; you can retest free of charge to validate your score; or you can cancel the test score and get a refund.

You should generally try to validate your scores by providing supporting documentation; even if you fail to convince the College Board or ACT, you’ll still be able to retest. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.

Supporting documentation might include:
• Transcripts demonstrating that you are a high-achieving student
• A high PSAT score
• High AP or IB scores
• A high SAT or ACT score (submit a high SAT score to validate an ACT score, and vice versa)
• A signed statement from your SAT or ACT tutor saying that they saw significant score increases on practice tests
• A signed request for the testing agency to review your test booklet scratch work and compare it to your answer sheet

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Study Skills for Parents

Study Skills for Parents

1. Teach your child that he controls his own success

Students often come to believe that doing well in school is about being smart or being lucky. While natural intelligence can give a student an extra edge, school success is about hard work and effort. Each student has control over whether or not he succeeds because each student has control over how much effort he is willing to put in. Here are some tips to help establish this mindset:

  • Praise the process rather than the trait. Don’t say, “You’re so smart!” Say, “You worked so hard!” Don’t say, “You’re so good at the violin!” Say, “You practiced so much!”
  • Establish a “no excuses” policy. Part of controlling success is taking responsibility for mistakes. It wasn’t mom’s fault that homework was forgotten, and it wasn’t the teacher’s fault that there was a test that wasn’t studied for.
  • Emphasize that your role is to help as needed, not to solve everything. You’re there to help explain a tricky math concept, not to finish the entire worksheet.

2. Help establish goals and plans

Long-term success requires more than memorizing math formulae – it requires the ability to set and achieve goals. Take an active role in helping your child establish achievable academic goals, create step-by-step plans for accomplishing those goals, and set rewards for reaching goals. By making this a regular practice, you can help your child become more responsible and goal-oriented.

3. Reduce anxiety about tests and grades

Tests and grades are undeniably important (especially for college-bound high school students), but too many students suffer from anxiety that hinders academic importance. The solution starts with parents who help students put test scores and grades into context. Remind your child:

  • It’s important to always put in hard work and try your best, but no one succeeds all the time.
  • Grades are important, but one bad grade is not the end of the world. It’s just a reminder to try harder next time.
  • Grades and test scores don’t measure intelligence – a bad grade in math doesn’t mean you’re “not good at math,” it means that you need to work harder to master math concepts.
  • Test anxiety is real, but it can also be overcome. Students who suffer from testing anxiety should practice relaxation techniques like mindful breathing to help reduce anxiety on test day.

4. Promote a love of learning

The most successful students are those who approach learning with joy rather than with resignation. Here are some ways to help foster a lifelong love of learning:

  • Talk about interesting things you’ve learned so that you can demonstrate that learning is a lifelong process.
  • Surround your kids with books. Research shows that consistent access to books can increase a child’s motivation to read.
  • Encourage your child’s natural interests. Take your budding history buff to a history museum, take a future scientist to a science museum, or get your engineer-minded child models to build.

5. Find extra support as needed

Sometimes extra help is necessary. There are tons of resources to help students overcome studying struggles, from after-school programs at the local library to online courses to individualized support from an organization like 宝博体育 Education. If you think your child could benefit from extra support, contact 宝博体育 Education for a free consultation!

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Parenting Resolutions

Parenting Resolutions

Parenting Resolutions

1. Meal Planning Helps…No, Really

If you often find yourself at a loss as to what to make for dinner (only to end up putting a frozen pizza in the oven in sheer desperation), then you’re not alone. And if you also find yourself thinking, “Yeah, I could plan meals ahead of time, but who has time for that?” you’re also not alone.

Believe it or not, the whole meal planning thing actually helps.

Since my family started meal planning, we spend less on groceries (because I know exactly what I need for the week since the meals are already planned), I spend less time staring into an open freezer, and we eat healthier (fewer hastily thrown together meals means healthier meals in our house).

Give it one month – just one. Each weekend, carve out thirty or forty minutes to plan out meals for the coming week and to make a grocery list of everything you’ll need for those meals. Put the week’s menu up on the fridge and then stick to it. After a month, you might just be a convert.

2. Force Your Family into Organization with a Craft Project

A busy family often leads to chaos – no one knows everyone else’s schedule, the mail is deposited all over the house, the keys go missing, homework is discovered in the couch cushions, and you wind up with fifteen jars of peanut butter because you lost your grocery list and can’t remember if you needed peanut butter so you buy more peanut butter…

These problems can all be solved with one big craft project (and a whole lot of persistence in forcing everyone to utilize said craft project): A family organization hub.

We’ve all seen them online: a big thing on the wall with key hooks, a calendar, a grocery list, a place for mail, slots for everyone’s homework, and whatever other tools your family might need. They can be pretty, they can be ugly, they can be over the top, they can be basic – they can be whatever you want.

Spend an afternoon putting together a customized organizational hub for your family. Then spend a couple of weeks forcing everyone to actually use it.

If you fail, you may have wasted some time on a craft project. (And who hasn’t done that before?)

If you succeed, you will have accomplished the nearly impossible task of organizing your family.

3. Reinstate the Family Dinner

When kids get older and schedules get hectic, it can be hard to sit down for dinner together at the same time. But research shows that regular family meals have tons of benefits, including:

  • Establishing better self-esteem and coping skills
  • Building stronger family connections
  • Encouraging healthy eating habits
  • Reducing behavioral problems
  • Improving student achievement
  • Boosting the vocabulary of younger children

A family meal every single night might not be an attainable goal, but resolve to set aside a few nights per week to sit down together over a healthy (pre-planned?) meal.

4. Make (and Enforce) Chore Charts

Sometimes it’s just easier to vacuum the rug yourself than to cajole your child into doing it. Doing the dishes goes faster (and gets done more thoroughly) if mom does it than if the kids do it.

But research shows that kids who have a set of chores have higher self-esteem, are more responsible, and become better able to cope with frustration and delay gratification. Not surprisingly, all of these traits combine to make for more successful students!

Check out this chore chart from the University of Arkansas for age-appropriate chores for children age 2 through 18.

5. Effort Counts

According to Scientific American (and the three decades of research they discuss in their article), the secret to raising smart kids is to not tell them how smart they are.

Kids who grow up being praised for innate traits like intelligence (“Oh, you’re so smart!”) internalize the idea that success is something you’re either equipped for or you’re not. Such kids might find math challenging; instead of working really hard to get better at math, they often come to the conclusion that they just aren’t good at math. And if you’re just not good at math, then trying harder won’t seem like a very good solution.

The secret to overcoming this, researchers suggest, is to praise effort and process over innate skill. In other words, don’t tell little Johnny how smart he is for getting that A on his spelling test – tell him how hard he worked to get that A.

6. Set Smart Tech Limits

Smart phones, tablets, computers, and televisions have surrounded us with screens. To absolutely no one’s surprise, research has shown that too much screen time is bad for everyone (kids AND adults). It can lead to sleep disorders, attention problems, poor academic achievement, and a host of other issues.

The solution isn’t to take away all access to technology but to set smart limits and stick to them. Check out this article from Great Schools for some tips on how to set smart limits for your kids.

7. The Family that Reads Together…

Most people know that reading to young children is important for later success in terms of vocabulary development and literacy, but older kids can benefit from family reading time as well. Establishing time each week to read together as a family – whether reading aloud to younger children or simply sitting around reading separately at the same time – helps to reinforce good reading habits in children (and parents) of all ages.

Surveys show that about 1/3 of Americans don’t even touch a book in any given year. Surveys also show that women are more likely to read than men. To ensure that your child grows up to be a reader (and enjoys all of the benefits of reading), it’s important to model that behavior. Family reading time not only establishes the habit of reading in your kids but also shows them that adults read, too, and that reading is an enjoyable pastime for people of all ages and genders.

8. Be Smarter About Homework Help

Homework is a perennial parental nightmare. First there’s the battle of getting kids to do their homework. Then there’s the battle of helping them do their homework.

In order to create independent learners, it’s important to be smart about just how much homework help you offer. Too little help can result in frustration, poor self-esteem, and bad grades. Too much homework help can have the same effect. Check out this article for tips and best practices on homework help. And don’t forget: If you think your child needs extra support, don’t hesitate to look for a good tutor (like those at 宝博体育 Education) to get your student on the right track.

9. Plan WITH Your Teens, Not FOR Them

Once you’ve got a teenager in house, it’s time to plan for college. Which college to attend is a decision that has life-long impacts, so it’s important that your teen be part of the planning process. It can be tempting to set goals FOR your teen, but it’s much more important to help your teen set goals for themselves.

For guidance in the college admission process, check out this past blog post.

10. Get More Sleep

Studies show that 1 in 3 adults don’t get enough sleep on a regular basis, so there’s a pretty decent chance that you’re sleep deprived. What’s more, a 2015 CDC study found that 90% of American teenagers are sleep-deprived.

Sleep deprivation leads to a host of health problems, poor academic performance, and poor growth, so make it a resolution to set an earlier bedtime and promote healthy sleep habits for everyone in the family.

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What is your New Year’s Resolution?

What is your New Year’s Resolution?

Lose weight? Begin a new hobby? Improve your grades?

If it’s to improve grades, then you are not alone.

Many students want to improve their grades, but don’t know how. I have always thought that it’s ironic that public schools don’t teach you how to study – we either develop study skills on our own or don’t develop them at all.

I have helped many students improve their grades at 宝博体育 Education, and in almost every case, the students had the ability to do well but did not know how to study. As a result, many of them had struggled and failed to do well in some of their classes, and their confidence took a huge hit as a result. Many had become resigned to the notion that they weren’t good at math, English, science, or other subjects, when in reality, they just needed to learn how to study more effectively.

In the next couple of blog posts, I will share my study habits, tips, and advice with you.

Grades are an indication of mastery… not intelligence

First, let’s start with mindset. A lot of students think that grades show how smart you are. For example, if Mary is getting an A in Algebra whereas John is getting a C, then Mary must be smarter than John in terms of math. That’s a common misconception.

Grades show how well you’ve mastered a subject, and that’s very different from intelligence. Intelligence and talent give you a head start, an edge, but the experience you get from a lot of practice is much more important to obtaining mastery.

If John only does the minimum work required by the teacher (does homework and pays attention in class) whereas Mary goes above and beyond what the teacher requires (does homework, pays attention in class, AND she does all of the practice questions in her textbook, AND she reads the textbook before class, figures out what she doesn’t understand, and asks the teacher questions during and after class), is it any wonder that she has a higher grade (and greater mastery) than John?

John represents the average student, and he’s getting an average grade. If you want to stand out with an A like Mary, then you have to have the mindset of a straight A student – you have to be willing to do MUCH more work than the other students in your class because that’s how you get an A.

Mastery is a product of talent, training, and experience. You might not be able to change your natural talent, but you can improve your training and experience by learning how to study and by getting much more practice.

Practice is the pursuit of mastery

Practice, Practice, Practice.

No matter how talented or well-trained you are, you cannot master a concept if you have only done it a couple of times. In order to become a master, you need to have had a lot of practice and experience.

I’m not talking about rote repetition – that doesn’t provide experience. Many students study for a test by re-reading the chapter in a textbook, reviewing a problem set or homework packet, or re-doing questions that they have already worked through. Review is good, but tests will have new and unfamiliar questions, so it is very important to practice by exposing yourself to as many new and unfamiliar questions as possible.

Don’t think of practice as work – homework and schoolwork become mindless chores if they’re approached that way. Change your mindset – embrace the Practice. Don’t start studying with a specific number of practice questions or a certain time limit in mind – that makes studying a chore to be gotten out of the way.

Learn to love Practice – it’s the first step towards Mastery.

Extra textbooks: How to get practice with new and unfamiliar questions

A great way to do better in school is to get extra textbooks. In middle and high school, my father and I would buy used textbooks in addition to the ones I got in school. In the beginning, I didn’t understand my father’s wisdom, but later I came to understand that some authors are better at explaining certain concepts than others, so extra textbooks act as backups in case you don’t understand your teacher or your main textbook.

For example, when I was in high school, I took AP chemistry. I had one textbook provided by my AP chemistry teacher, but I also had two additional college-level Chemistry textbooks that I used. Sometimes I would come across a chapter that I didn’t really understand well in my school textbook. It would be really helpful to read three different explanations written by three different authors and to be able to go through three different sets of practice problems. This did not mean that I had to do three times as much work as everyone else, but it did give me access to three times as much material if I needed it.

Today, you have the benefit of online study resources as well. For example, the College Board and others offer practice questions for AP exams. Many of these resources are free and easy to locate.

The best way to utilize these extra textbooks (or online practice materials) is to look at all of the questions. After working through a few problems, you will start to be able to tell immediately whether you know how to solve a problem. If you can figure out the steps you need to take to solve the problem within a few seconds, then you can move on. If you have any doubt about how to solve the problem, go ahead and work through it. And if you come across problems you can’t solve, ask your teacher.

Read the chapter before class

Read the chapter that your teacher will cover in class so that you’ll already be familiar with the materials during the teacher’s lecture. If you are really short on time, then at the very least, try to skim through the chapter and look at all of the charts, tables, diagrams, and example problems.

Reading ahead gives you a couple of benefits: First, it allows you to make note of anything that you don’t understand so that you can ask your teacher about it during class; second, it helps you to better understand what your teacher is conveying since you’ll already have a foundation to work from. Because you’ll already have this foundation, you’ll also be better able to catch the details that your teacher emphasizes in class – this is an important skill, because teachers will usually give hints about topics or test questions that will be on the test.

Read the chapter first or skip right to the questions?

Is it better to read the chapter before working through practice problems, or is it better to look at the practice problems and read the chapter as needed to answer the questions?

This is a matter of personal preference, and you should figure out which works best. For me, I liked to jump straight to the questions at the end of the chapter. I realized as I worked through the problems that I would have to go back and reread the parts of the chapter anyway in order to solve the problem. I saved time by skipping right to the problems and reading the chapter as I worked through the problems. Then at the end, I would go back and read the chapter again to make sure that I didn’t miss anything, and then I would make an outline of the most important points in the chapter.

This method won’t work for everyone – and if you’re being diligent and trying to read the chapter before class, then you may end up with a lot of questions that you aren’t able to figure out or work through. That’s ok. Now you’ll be on the lookout for information in class that could’ve helped you solve those problems. You can ask the teacher questions or ask to work through the problem in class. In the beginning, you will get stuck often, but this process will teach you to become an independent learner, and as you do this more often, you will become better at finding the answers on your own.

Set up a study schedule

The best way to get a lot of practice is to have a study routine.

If you are taking challenging classes and you are hoping for straight A’s, you’ll need to set aside a lot of time. At the beginning of the year, plan to spend about an hour for each class each day. For five challenging classes, that’s five hours per day, Monday through Saturday, to do homework, read ahead, review notes, and work through practice problems.

Before you worry about being able to actually spend that much time studying, remember that you can reallocate time once you figure out which classes challenge you the most. Maybe you’ll find that you can breeze through your history class without too much review but that your chemistry class requires a lot more effort. You can always cut out some of your history study time to give yourself more time for chemistry or to allow yourself time for other pursuits.

Studying is like any other skill: It takes time to get better. It can be hard for an athlete to practice every day, but the daily routine of drills builds physical stamina. The same is true of studying: practice builds stamina.

Seek help when you need it

Your teachers are there to help you understand the material, so you should never hesitate to ask for clarification or help when you need it. And if you still find yourself struggling – whether with specific concepts, an entire subject, or just figuring out how best to study, 宝博体育 Education is here to help. Contact your local 宝博体育 Education center for a free consultation.

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360 Degree Tutoring and Why It Works

Many people equate tutoring with standardized test prep, but at 宝博体育 Education, we practice what we like to call 360 Degree Tutoring.

What Is 360 Degree Tutoring?

360 Degree Tutoring is comprehensive. At 宝博体育 Education, our tutoring programs are fully customized to suit each student’s unique needs. We know that no two students are the same, which is why 宝博体育 works with students and parents to craft individualized study plans.

The 宝博体育 Method: What Makes 宝博体育 Education Different?

Every student who comes to 宝博体育 Education starts with a grade-level appropriate diagnostic test. Depending on the student and his goals, this test might take the form of a full-length PSAT, SAT, ACT, or grade-level specific test.

  • 宝博体育 diagnostic tests are administered under realistic testing conditions, giving students valuable standardized test practice.
  • These tests help to pinpoint each student’s individual strengths and weaknesses, allowing 宝博体育 Education Center Directors to help students and their parents establish clear goals and an individual plan to achieve those goals.
  • All 宝博体育 diagnostic tests are fully aligned with 宝博体育’s curriculum, allowing teachers to better help students build on strengths and address weaknesses.

After the diagnostic test results are in, students and their parents meet with a 宝博体育 Education Center Director to review scores, discuss academic goals, and formulate a customized study plan to achieve those goals. 宝博体育 Education study plans go beyond standardized test prep to help students address:

  • Schoolwork needs
  • College admission plans
  • Enrichment or remediation
  • Study skills and organization

Once a student is enrolled at 宝博体育, he will periodically take interim tests to assess progress. After each interim test, the Center Director will meet with the student and parent to:

  • Explore changes in the student’s performance
  • Assess whether to adjust academic goals
  • Adjust the student’s study plan to address any changes

宝博体育 Education Center Directors: A Valuable Resource

One of the first faces a student sees upon entering a 宝博体育 Education center is the Center Director. Center Directors offer valuable assistance throughout a student’s time at 宝博体育. 宝博体育 Center Directors are academic experts with local knowledge, offering a deep understanding both of local schools and of overall academic trends. They offer detailed guidance at every step of a student’s 宝博体育 Education program and throughout the college admission process.

宝博体育 Education Teachers: Tutors and Mentors

To teach at 宝博体育 Education, a teacher must score in the 95th percentile in the subjects in which they want to teach, ensuring that all 宝博体育 teachers have the content knowledge necessary to help students succeed.

But there is much more to being a 宝博体育 Education teacher than just content knowledge. 宝博体育 Education teachers:

  • Often come from top-ranked colleges and universities, providing them with unique insight into the competitive world of college admissions.
  • Have a wide range of backgrounds, from recent college graduates to college professors and everything in between.
  • Share a love of teaching and a deep dedication to helping students succeed.

宝博体育 Center Directors work with students to help them find the best teachers for their specific needs, ensuring that students have access to teachers with the skills and knowledge necessary to help them meet their goals.

宝博体育 Education’s Goal: Passionate Learners

While 宝博体育 Education’s Center Directors and teachers work to help students improve their grades and test scores, they also work to help students become passionate and independent learners. This means going beyond drills and assignments to help students master the study skills and organizational skills necessary for lasting success, establishing a rapport between teachers and students to make learning interesting, and helping to mentor students as they work toward their goals.

Interested in exploring a 宝博体育 Education program for yourself? Sign up for a free consultation here.

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5 College Admissions Tips

Starting the college admissions process but not sure where to focus your time? Here are our top five college admissions tips!

1. Show Interest!

If you have the grades, test scores, and other qualifications for admission, sometimes the thing that pushes your application over the edge is your interest in the school. Colleges are ranked in part based on how many admitted applicants actually enroll, so if you’re well qualified but you haven’t demonstrated a lot of interest in attending the college, you might get passed over for an applicant who seems more interested. How can you show interest? Apply through early action programs (be careful of early decision, which is binding), go on an official campus tour, or include a brief addendum to your application stating your sincere interest in attending the school. Even small acts like following the school on social media can help to indicate a greater degree of interest.

2. Be careful when applying through Early Decision programs.

Unlike Early Action programs, Early Decision programs are binding. If you get into the school, you have to go (with the exception of an inadequate financial aid package). Once your application is submitted through an Early Decision program, the entire decision making process is out of your hands. If you have second thoughts in the spring, it’s already too late. Early Decision programs should only be used by those students who are absolutely 100% certain that this is the school they want to attend.

3. Keep finances in mind.

The college admission process ought to be entirely about merit and achieving one’s dreams, but colleges come with very real price tags. Many students are blinded by the appeal of their dream school, but they are often brought crashing back down to earth when financial aid offers arrive. There’s nothing wrong with applying to dream schools that might be a financial stretch, but it’s important to have some financial backups in line as well.

4. Be open minded.

Try not to pin all of your hopes on one school. Especially at top-ranked schools, competition is fierce, and even the most qualified applicants might not always get in. Visit and apply to a range of schools – you might find out that a school you’ve never heard of is the perfect school for you.

5. Don’t limit yourself by numbers.

If there are some schools that you love but that are a bit out of reach based on your test scores or GPA, consider applying anyway. Test scores and grades are certainly incredibly important, but you are more than just your numbers. Most colleges utilize a holistic admission process that just might recognize that something extra that makes you a perfect potential student for their school, so keep a handful of reach schools on your list.

Looking for more college admissions tips? Reach out to your local 宝博体育 center today!

5 College Admissions Tips
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How To Get Started On Your College Essay

Perhaps you have already finished the often harrowing process of writing your college application essays. If so, congratulations.

If, however, you are facing looming college application deadlines and are still staring at a blank screen, this post is for you.

Writing a truly excellent college application essay is hard – but it’s supposed to be hard. The point of the personal statement is to force you to reflect on yourself and your experiences and to communicate some aspect of who you are in a compelling and skillful way. This isn’t something that can be done in an hour or two of feverish typing; this is something that requires deep thought and careful writing.

But although creating a good application essay is hard, it definitely isn’t impossible. Here are some of our best tips for college application essays:

Look for inspiration in other people’s essays

Reading successful college essays can help you in coming up with strong topics, incorporating effective stylistic elements, and crafting a strong opening and closing. To get started, check out these past successful essays from 宝博体育 Education, Johns Hopkins University, and Tufts University.

Take the time to pick ONE really good topic

A lot of students overdo it in their essays, creating franken-essays that try to combine too many disparate stories. Your essay should tell one cohesive story; it should never read like a list of your accomplishments or try to shoehorn two relatively unrelated stories together.

Make sure you address the prompt

Maybe you’ve already written an essay that you like, but it was for a different essay prompt. Maybe you have a topic you really like, but it doesn’t quite suit the prompt you’re given. Unfortunately, your best bet is to come up with a whole new topic. Don’t try to force an essay to fit a prompt when the relationship just isn’t right.

Pick the best Common App prompt for you.

If you’re using the Common App, you’ll have five prompts to choose from. It might seem like a good idea to pick a prompt first and then to pick a topic. Instead, list some ideas for topics for each of the five prompts. Try to come up with at least two possible topics for each prompt. After you’ve made your list, you can evaluate the possible topics to pick the one that you think best reflects an important aspect of your personality for experiences.

Make a plan and start writing

That seems so simple in principle, but it’s tough in practice. Once you’ve picked a good topic, plan your story – and, make no mistake, your essay should tell a story. Like any good story, you’ll need a beginning, a middle, and an end. Once you have your plan, just start writing. Don’t stress about getting your wording just right; don’t worry about perfecting each sentence; don’t worry about anything at all. Just write. It’s the best way to get that blinking cursor to stop mocking you.

Revise, revise, revise

Perhaps the most important step in creating a really strong essay is to revise the essay repeatedly. This is where you perfect your wording, eliminate any and all grammar errors, ensure that you’ve maintained a consistent and appropriate style, and punch up your opening and closing to create impact. This is also the step where seeking outside help can make the biggest difference. For example, many 宝博体育 Education students bring their essays to their 宝博体育 tutors for help revising their essays. After all, our tutors have all been through the college application essay ringer. Contact your local 宝博体育 Education center today for help with your college application essays.

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College application season is heating up…

and we’re here to offer advice about when to apply…

Wait, you ask, what do you mean when to apply? Don’t I need to apply by the deadline?

Many colleges offer several admission plans, each with their own deadlines. Colleges might offer regular admission, rolling admission, early action, restrictive early action, and early decision options.

Regular Admission

Regular admission deadlines are when the majority of students choose to apply. This is generally the final application deadline, and there are some students who should wait to apply via regular admission.

If you are expecting to still take additional standardized tests, such as the January or February SAT or ACT tests, these later application deadlines allow you to submit these later test scores. A higher standardized test score might offer you greater benefit than applying early would.

If you are hoping that your grades for this current semester of your senior year will bring your GPA up, waiting to apply via regular decision will make this semester’s grades a part of your application. That higher GPA could be useful if you’re currently unsure about your standing.

Rolling Admission

Some colleges utilize a rolling admission process in which there either is no deadline or the deadline is significantly later than other deadlines. With rolling admission, colleges make admission decisions as applications are received. As a result, the earlier you apply, the greater your chances of admission since there are generally more open spots available and admission officers are a bit less choosey.

Early Action Admission

Early action admission is non-binding, meaning that you don’t have to attend the school if you are admitted. These deadlines are early (thus the name), usually before mid-November, and students generally receive their admission decisions by December or January. This allows you to better plan ahead since you know whether you got in much sooner than you otherwise might. Another benefit of early action is that you can apply at other schools in the meantime.

Restrictive Early Action Admission

Restrictive early action admission is also non-binding, but you are restricted from applying to other schools via early application programs. In other words, if you apply to one school via restrictive early action admission, you can apply to as many other schools as you want through regular admission programs, but you cannot apply to any other schools via early action or early decision programs.

Early Decision Admission

Early decision is binding – if you are accepted at the school, you are obligated to enroll. You can apply to other schools via regular admission programs, but you may not apply early to any other schools. In addition to learning whether you were accepted early, you may get a boost in your chances of admission if you apply to a school via early decision. Early decision tells a school that it is your top choice school, which can make a slight difference in admission decisions. In fact, in 2013, the average early decision acceptance rate at U.S. colleges was 64%, compared to a 53% acceptance rate for students who applied via regular decision.

There is only one circumstance in which it is acceptable to not enroll in a school after being accepted via early decision, and that is if the school does not offer an adequate financial aid package. If you apply to a school via early decision, are accepted, and feel that the financial aid package offered is not enough, you can appeal to receive a revised financial aid offer that might make the tuition easier to afford.

Is It Worth Applying Early?

To answer this question, you’ll need to do a bit of research. Every school is different with regard to early versus regular acceptance rates. Check the past admission rates for the schools you hope to apply to in order to learn whether students who applied early saw significant benefits. At some schools, the admission rate for early action or early decision applicants might be as much as 20% higher than the rate for regular applicants; at other schools, the difference may be minimal or non-existent.

Think carefully about applying through early decision programs – it’s a big decision and a big commitment. Before submitting an early decision application, you must be 100% certain that this is the school you want to attend!

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Thank a Tutor: National Tutor Appreciation Week

About a decade ago, the National Tutoring Association launched National Tutoring Week, a week of appreciation for tutors that is celebrated at tutoring centers, colleges, and universities across the country.

Tutors work year-long to help students learn and grow on the road to achieving their academic goals. 宝博体育 Education’s tutors are dedicated educators who strive to motivate their students each and every day. To show our appreciation for our amazing tutors, we have asked some of our center directors to tell us about a few of their most dedicated tutors. Here’s what they had to say:

宝博体育 Westport: “Julia is simply amazing. She is extremely knowledgeable and patient, and she finds a way to relate to every student she has in her sessions. But beyond just forming meaningful relationships with her students, she is a superb teacher and motivator. Her students always tell us how she explains concepts in a way that is understandable, approachable, and applicable.”

宝博体育 Jericho: “Jared is an invaluable and flexible member of our team. He is always willing to go the extra mile and creates wonderful rapport with our students.”

宝博体育 Parsippany: “Gina has been such a wonderful teacher to have at our center. She works with a lot of our younger students and makes them enjoy coming here, but also has them work to their full potential. She is an extremely dedicated teacher who goes above and beyond for her students. We don’t know what we would do without Gina!”

宝博体育 Gillette: “Shota and Dorothy are two of our superstar teachers. They have been with us since we opened, and their students leave class feeling confident and motivated to do better.”

宝博体育 Roswell: “I am more than thankful to have Brian because of his passion for education and student’s success.”

These are just a few of the hundreds of wonderful educators at 宝博体育 Education. We’d like to take this opportunity to offer our sincere thanks to all of our tutors for everything that they do for our students.

Are you a 宝博体育 student? Be sure to thank your tutors this week! Your appreciation will make their day!

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