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Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Lafayette's College AdvisorWe Are Losing Our Minds: A Mass Exodus of California Students
Once upon a time, California public schools ranked nationally as among the best. In the 1960s the state was able to offer each student that qualified a seat in a University of California freshman class. Many graduated within four years with a high quality education, ...Elizabeth LaScala
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Wednesday, April 25, 2012
College Financial Aid Strategies that Make Sense
Your student is halfway through high school and the gap between what you can pay and what a college education costs has widened. Your kid has good grades so you are hoping for as much financial aid as possible, preferably in the form of grants and awards you do not ...Elizabeth LaScala
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Wednesday, February 29, 2012
The Steps to Success for the College Transfer Student
A student recently wrote to me, "My family can't afford to send me straight to a four-year college. My dream is to attend a community college and transfer to UC San Diego. I'm adopted and have loving parents. My goal is to earn a degree in social work and work as an ...Elizabeth LaScala
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Wednesday, January 04, 2012
Building a Strong College Application: An Engineering Example
Building a strong college application takes thought, time and preparation. Starting in junior year, and most certainly by senior year, students are often asked, "So what are you going to major in when you go to college?" Well-intentioned though it may be, this ...Elizabeth LaScala
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Wednesday, November 23, 2011
What's Wrong with the "Best Fit" College?
About a year and a half ago my youngest daughter, Angela, announced in a distraught voice, "It didn't happened, Mom. I didn't feel any of the colleges we visited was 'the right fit.' What am I going to do now?" She had been offered admission to a few fine US ...Elizabeth LaScala
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Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Three Top Recommendations for the Recruited Athlete
Adding sports to the college admission equation can make an already complex and time-consuming process more confusing and emotional. The "official visit" to the college is a prime example of one of the events that is often fraught with anxiety. October is the primary ...Elizabeth LaScala
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Wednesday, October 12, 2011
College Application Blunders to Avoid
The fall college application cycle always is accompanied by an abundance of advice from college counselors about common application 'red flags.' In fact there are common mistakes that cause red flags and this article strives to provide an organizational framework for ...Elizabeth LaScala
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Wednesday, August 31, 2011
College Shopping for Students with Learning Differences
Although all college bound students should do careful research in order to decide which schools to send an application, this advice is especially important for students with Learning Differences (LD). A visit to each college is even more important for LD and ADHD ...Elizabeth LaScala
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Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Value by Design: Understanding the Artistic Student
What educational direction to take is ultimately a personal decision based on an individual's interests, strengths and needs. A Bachelor in Fine Arts (BFA) may be well worth the time and investment if it adds a firm foundation of skills to talent you already possess ...Elizabeth LaScala
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Wednesday, June 08, 2011
Letters of Recommendation: Asking in the Right Way, at the Right Time
As a college advisor I hold two sessions with each of my 11th grade clients to review 12 goals that should be accomplished no later than the fall of the senior year. One of the goals is to identify two teachers from the junior year to ask for letters of recom ...Elizabeth LaScala
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Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Will Your Facebook Page Help or Hinder Your College Chances?
Many parents can recall the days when students applied to one, or perhaps two or three colleges, got accepted to their first choice school, and were done. Colleges too can recall the days when prospective students could be identified, contacted and wooed all for the ...By Elizabeth LaScala, PhD
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Wednesday, March 16, 2011
Wait-Listed at the University of California?
Colleges build waiting lists to ensure that they have full freshman classes. Since not all accepted students will choose to enroll, these lists allow colleges to reach out to students they would like to accept but do not have the space to enroll. This system is hard ...By Elizabeth LaScala, PhD
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Wednesday, February 02, 2011
The University of California Changes the Way It Evaluates Students
The University of California announced some policy and admission requirement changes for students applying next year and beyond. These modifications should not change the way our students prepare for college. All college admissions offices are looking for bright and ...By Elizabeth LaScala, PhD
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Wednesday, December 22, 2010
'Tis the Season to Hurry Up and Wait
While there are still a few college application deadlines coming up in January, the majority of students have submitted their applications and are settling in for a long wait. The months between sending out college applications and waiting for admission decisions in ...By Elizabeth LaScala, PhD
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Wednesday, November 24, 2010
Application Inflation in College Admissions
Recently I overheard a conversation between two high school students at a local coffee shop. One student told his friend "My grades aren't great and my SAT scores are mediocre, so my plan is to take full advantage of the Common Application and apply to about 20 or 30 ...By Elizabeth LaScala, Ph.D.
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Lamorinda Weekly, Moraga CA