4 things you can do today to prepare for college

After all the work and stress of the college application process, actually starting college may seem like a comparatively easier and more positive experience. However, college life differs in many ways from the lives of most high school students. Going away for college is a unique experience for everyone, but for most students, it will involve making major adjustments.

Once you’re on campus, you’ll typically be expected to handle most aspects of your life much more independently, from academics to social activities to everyday practical concerns. Balancing all these new responsibilities can be a challenging task.

While people often focus on the academic side of preparing for college, the more personal and practical skill sets that college also requires are just as important.

Here are 4 areas you’ll need to consider as you get ready for the demands of college life: 

Get comfortable taking care of household chores and errands.

For many young people, the beginning of college is the first time they’ve lived independently from their families for an extended period of time. It can come as a shock for them to suddenly find themselves personally responsible for a whole range of activities that might have previously been taken care of by their parents or other family members.

From cleaning to paying the bills to running errands, there are many adult tasks for which you’ll need to take responsibility in order for your college life to run smoothly. It’s wise to start learning how to accomplish these tasks well before it becomes absolutely necessary for you to do them for yourself.

Many young people encounter obstacles as they learn to take on more substantial domestic tasks, but minor disasters, like shrinking all your sweaters by using the wrong temperature on the washing machine, are part of the learning process. With practice, you’ll become much more comfortable with these tasks, and the earlier you start practicing, the more secure in your abilities you’ll feel when you leave for college.

Understand and manage your financial situation.

In order for you to learn to handle your own finances, the first thing you’ll need to figure out is what financial resources you have and in what forms. Do you have savings, and if so, where are they held? Are there bonds in your name waiting to mature, or is there a trust fund or college fund being held for you? Whatever your situation, learn as much as you can about it.

If you have a bank account, check out its terms, and get in the habit of actually looking at your bank statements. (If you don’t have a bank account, get one!) You can also look up whether the bank you use now has branches and ATMs in the cities where you’re considering going to college—if not, you may end up finding it more convenient to open an additional account at a more accessible bank.

If you do have substantial savings, investments, or other financial resources of your own, now is the time to make sure you know what they are and how they work. Your family may be able to help you learn more and access more advanced financial planning resources.

High school is also a great time to start practicing making and sticking to a budget. No matter how much or how little money you have, you can keep track of and think critically about how much you earn, save, and spend. It’s also smart to get a sense of how much money is required in order to meet your usual needs and wants.

Talking about money can be awkward, but it’s important that you have an honest and forthright discussion with your parents about who pays for what and how. There are a number of important questions to be answered before you leave for college, some regarding everyday expenses, others regarding what plans are in place to help you in an emergency situation. 

How much will your parents contribute to your living expenses during college, and how will they send you those funds? Will you have access to a family credit card for emergencies and/or for everyday expenses? Who pays for textbooks and school supplies, and what about medical expenses? Whatever you decide as a family, it’s best to make sure everyone is on the same page before you leave home.

Develop sustainable and organized work habits.

Everybody procrastinates sometimes, and college offers plenty of distractions that can interfere with your academic performance. The same is true of high school, of course, but at least in high school, you’re generally operating in a very structured academic environment with routines and rules that help guide your workflow.

Once you get to college, you’ll have to keep up with your workload much more independently. There are many benefits to this increased intellectual freedom, but the downside is that you’ll have less of a framework to depend upon to provide support, guidance, and check-ins as you complete course assignments. 

It’s important to learn good work habits while you’re still in high school because sooner or later, they’ll become essential to your academic success. Studying, writing essays, and other academic tasks become much easier if you have good habits already in place for managing your schoolwork.

Particularly in the present day, technology can be a useful ally. There are a wide range of productivity apps and computer programs available that might be a good fit for you. Some block your computer or phone from accessing social media websites for a certain period of time. Others help structure your study schedule with tools like checklists, alarms, calendars, and reminders

The bottom line is that you should do what works best for you, as long as it’s healthy and constructive. Whether it’s asking a trusted friend to change your Facebook password during finals period, maintaining an elaborate system of Post-It notes, or managing your time with a calendar app, the best work and organizational habits are those that you can effectively maintain over time and come to rely upon.

In the end, only you can say what will genuinely help you to get work done and which specific strategies match up to which of your goals. Use your time in high school to experiment and find the methods that work best for you.

Learn how to ask for help.

Sometimes, people conflate adulthood with total independence, but this approach isn’t always the best way to go. No matter how old, experienced, or ambitious you are, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with asking for help when you need it—and sooner or later, everyone needs help.

What you need to learn, the earlier the better, is how to ask for help in a clear, mature, and effective way. This includes figuring out when it’s time to seek help with a task or decision, which can affect how easy it is to resolve the problem—recognizing the issue and intervening early can make a huge difference.

You’ll also need to work on ascertaining who is able and willing to provide that help, and phrasing your request in an appropriate way to get the specific information or assistance you need. If you don’t direct the right questions to the right people, you won’t find your answers nearly as easily. 

Once you get to college, you’ll most likely be surrounded by resources that you can access to help you solve problems and make the best of your college experiment. These might include academic tutoring, mediation for interpersonal or roommate issues, counseling to keep you mentally and physically healthy, and programs to help you manage your stress level, among many others.

These resources are great to have, but once you’re attending college and living a more adult life, they do require some work and commitment on your part to access. An instructor might, for example, recommend that you seek out tutoring to help you through a rough patch in one of your courses, but it’s up to you to actually sign up and go to your tutoring sessions.

As you get closer to college, it’s vital that you develop your ability to ask for help effectively and appropriately. You need to start taking ownership of your life, and this includes recognizing your limits and proactively seeking out the help you need rather than muddling through and hoping that problems just go away.

We hope this helps. For other resource help, comment below or shoot us an email

How Good is the SAT/ACT at Predicting College Success?

As you probably know by now, standardized test scores are a basic part of the college application process. Most schools will require you to submit your scores from the SAT or ACT in order to apply, and a high score is a necessity for admission to the best colleges.

For years, however, educators, admissions professionals, and students like yourself have been asking what SAT and ACT scores really mean. What does a standardized test actually measure, especially when it’s so different from the experience of learning in a classroom setting? What does a student’s test score as far as their chances of succeeding in college later on?

The ACT and SAT won’t ask you to demonstrate knowledge of specific highly advanced content, and they don’t measure how “smart” you are. However, studies show that these tests have some predictive ability when it comes to anticipating how well you’ll do in college, albeit within limits. In this post, we’ll go over the data that’s available, explain what this data may mean, and suggest how you can use this interpretation to better manage your college prospects.

Defining the Parameters: What Does “College Success” Mean?

In order to answer the question of whether your SAT and ACT scores can predict whether you’ll succeed in college, we first need to ask the question of what it means to succeed in college, and what quantitative factors we can use to measure that success.

The quality of your college experience is something that everyone defines a little differently. For you, college success might mean getting good grades and academic awards, preparing well for your future career, or making networking connections that will help you to achieve your goals, among many other options. Many of these definitions are subjective, personal, or unquantifiable, which makes it difficult to use them to determine the predictive ability of standardized tests.

When schools and other institutions attempt to define college success, they tend to stick with factors that can be quantified and compared more easily. Commonly used measures of success include college GPA, graduation rate, or how long the average student takes to graduate. Success in college might also be measured by how many students find high-quality employment after graduation, or the average income of students a certain number of years after graduation.

Researchers have attempted to study the relationships between SAT and ACT scores and each of these measures of success, as well as others. Some of these studies haven’t produced much useful data, but some have found potentially interesting correlations between a student’s standardized test scores and their eventual college performance.

The Data: What Have Researchers Discovered, and What Does It Mean?

There isn’t space in this post to go over the entire body of research on test scores and college success in great detail. We can say this much: overall, studies have shown that students who score higher on the SAT and/or ACT are slightly more likely to achieve higher grades in college and higher incomes after college.

In this sense, we can say that in general, higher standardized test scores do show a correlation with college success as it’s usually defined. This effect is heightened because top-tier colleges, which tend to have very successful students, use test scores as a selection factor, so students with high test scores are more likely to get admitted to colleges that will give them the best chance to succeed. However, it’s not quite that simple; several other factors complicate this interpretation.

First of all, these studies only show correlation, not causation, a distinction you may have learned about in science or statistics courses. Basically, we can see that students who score highly on the SAT and ACT do tend to also show higher levels of college success, but this information doesn’t tell us why this happens, or necessarily mean that the former causes the latter.

Whether a student does well on the SAT or ACT can be affected by a variety of factors aside from the student’s inherent aptitude. For instance, it’s pretty clear that targeted test preparation can raise your scores, but high-quality resources for preparing for the SAT and ACT aren’t available or accessible to everyone. It’s hard to tell how these factors interact to produce a successful college student; other factors might have more of an impact than high test scores.

Another factor to take into account is that even when studies do show a relationship between test scores and college success, the correlation is not very strong. In other words, a student who gets a higher score on the ACT or SAT is slightly more likely to be more successful in college, but only slightly. Your standardized test scores don’t always predict your future.

Some studies have found that in practice, your high school grades and GPA tend to be better predictors of your eventual college success than your SAT and/or ACT scores. It’s thought that course grades, which are made up of many different assignments and exams over a long period of time, are more comparable to the challenges you’ll encounter in college than your test scores.

To maintain a high GPA, you need to put consistent and dedicated effort into your coursework over a long period of time, and skill in this area will be invaluable as you move on to college. Standardized test scores are based on a smaller amount of data, collected at only a few test sittings, so they may not reflect as accurately your ability to keep up a high level of performance throughout your college experience and in your future career.

What Can I Do With This Information?

There are a lot of opinions out there about the value of standardized tests and how much they do or should matter. In recent years, a handful of colleges, including some that are very well-regarded, have decided to go “test-optional,” meaning that they don’t require students to submit SAT or ACT scores as part of their applications. (You can learn more about test-optional colleges in our blog post The Reality of the Testing-Optional Trend.)

Still, it’s clear that your SAT and ACT scores measure something that’s important to the majority of colleges when they’re considering applicants for admission. Most competitive colleges require you to submit these test scores, so it’s important that you put time and effort into preparing for your tests in order to get the best scores that you can.

The data we have right now does suggest that your SAT and/or ACT scores may have some value in predicting how well you’ll do in college.  High test scores may indicate that you’re well-prepared for the challenges that college will present. At the same time, however, it’s wise not to get too caught up in trying to predict the future, especially while you’re still in high school.

Getting high scores on your standardized tests doesn’t guarantee that college will be a breeze for you, especially if you attend a college that’s known for its academic rigor. Your own choices will also affect how well you do in college, from which courses or majors you pursue to how well you study and organize your time.

By the same token, if your test scores are lower than you’d like them to be, this doesn’t mean that you’re doomed to fail in college. Some students just perform much better in a classroom than they do on standardized tests. Besides, you still have time to improve your study habits, get help with particular problem areas, and otherwise work on doing better in school.

If you’re preparing to apply to competitive colleges, you definitely need to take the SAT and/or ACT, and also take some time to study and prepare beforehand to maximize your chance of a good score. These tests are still required by the large majority of colleges, and a good score is a necessity for admission into the most prestigious and popular schools.

However, it’s equally clear that your standardized test scores are not the be-all and end-all of academic success, and you shouldn’t place too much value on these tests as a measure of your ability and worth. A correlation exists between high test scores and college success, but many other factors are also important in determining your educational path.

Get informed and prepare responsibly for your SAT and/or ACT, but don’t let yourself get too caught up in the outcome of these tests. Making the most of your time in high school, finding a college that’s a great fit for you, and setting yourself up to achieve your goals are much more complicated than your score on any standardized test.

Want to learn more? Come have a chat with us

How To Thank Teachers Who Wrote Recommendation Letters

Finally, the grunt work of the college application process is over. You have gathered all of the necessary documents, written stellar essays, and submitted your college applications. Now, while you wait, it is time to reflect on those who helped you in the application process.

After all, you were not the only one who worked hard on your applications. Your parents gave you all of the demographic and financial information you needed, your peers or teachers may have looked over your essays, and most importantly, your teachers submitted those required recommendation letters.

Now that you have submitted your applications, you ought to think about thanking your teachers for helping you with your application. What is the most appropriate way to show your gratitude? We at Edbrand have compiled the following guide to thanking teachers who wrote your recommendation letters for your college applications.

How should I thank my teachers?

A Card

Cards are a simple and inexpensive way to tell a teacher that you appreciate what they have done for you and your future. A handmade card is the most thoughtful and shows a teacher that you took the time to think of them and make them something special.

Note that a Hallmark card or a generic thank-you card from the store does not show the teacher that you put any thought or care into the thank you. There is nothing heartfelt or personal about a generic card.

Thus, if you choose to buy a card, make sure you write a sincere message to your teacher. Don’t use clichés like “you mean the world to me” or “words cannot describe how much your letter meant to me.” Try to make the message personal and thoughtful so that the teacher knows how much you care.

A great place to start when thinking about what to write is to recall a specific and fond memory you had with the teacher. Perhaps you two bonded in class over a book you both liked or perhaps there was one lecture in her class that you thoroughly enjoyed and still remember. Adding those fond memories to your message will make your card more thoughtful and personal.

A Gift

Getting a teacher a gift is a lot trickier than getting them a card. First of all, it is important to note that it is by no means necessary. However, if you decide to give a gift, make sure that it would be an appropriate gift to offer a teacher and wouldn’t put them in the uncomfortable position of having to refuse.

Some schools have policies against getting teachers gifts, and some teachers simply don’t feel comfortable accepting gifts from students. Thus, it is important to check beforehand and make sure it is acceptable to get your teacher a gift before you actually buy one.

If you know it’s okay to give a gift and you want to, make sure that the gift is heartfelt. You don’t have to get your teacher anything extravagant like a large gift basket or a $100 massage voucher. In fact, you should avoid being too flashy with your gift. It is not appropriate for the situation, and many teachers may not be comfortable accepting such an expensive gift from a student.

The goal for a teacher gift is to be small but personal. Think about the teacher — what are their interests, passions, hobbies, or obsessions? Perhaps Shakespeare is your teacher’s literary hero, or your teacher loves to put beach decorations around their classroom.

Knowing these little nuances about your teacher will help you get them a simple, personal gift. For example, you could get your Shakespeare-loving teacher a mug with a King Lear quote on it. You could get your beach-obsessed teacher a nice beach-themed magnet or poster for their classroom.

If you can’t think of anything that the teacher would personally like, you can opt to give them a memento of the college that you will be attending. This can be anything from the college banner, a mug with the university logo on it, or even a university sweatshirt. Any gift that is related to the university you are attending will remind the teacher that they helped you get there, which many teachers will appreciate.

Talk To Them

Regardless of whether you give a card or a gift, you should thank your teacher in person. It is extremely rewarding for educators to see that they are making a difference in a student’s life and that students appreciate their hard work. Go up to your teacher and thank them sincerely, and be sure to let them know how excited you are about the opportunity they’ve helped you get.

Also, if you choose to thank your teachers before you have gotten your results back, do not stop contact there. Always let them know the results of your application. Teachers want to see their students succeed and its important to maintain relationships with people who have spent so much time on your personal growth.

Parents: How To Help Your College-Bound Teen Study for the SAT or ACT

As your child starts thinking about college—and what he or she needs to do get there—one potentially anxiety-provoking hurdle to cross is standardized testing. Your child will probably take the SAT and/or ACT in their junior or senior year, and may be feeling stressed about it. So how can you help? Read on for EdBrand's strategies for supporting your college-bound teenager.

Know the Difference Between the Two Tests

Most colleges will accept scores from either the SAT or ACT. However, some schools may require additional tests, such as SAT Subject tests, along with the SAT and not the ACT. Your child should check with the schools on his or her list to see which tests are required.

While the purpose and content of the SAT and ACT are similar in that neither measures content-specific knowledge, the two tests have a few notable differences. Understanding these differences will help you better prepare your student.

The SAT is favored on the East and West Coasts and is comprised of three sections: Reading, Writing and Language, and Math. The ACT is more popular in the Midwest and includes four sections: English, Reading, Math, and Science Reasoning. Both tests offer an optional essay.

Along with the additional Science section, the ACT contains more questions, but allots less time for students to complete them. The optional essays differ as well. The SAT asks students to analyze a text and the author’s argument, while the ACT tasks students with analyzing an issue and developing a new argument. Essentially, the measured skills differ: reading comprehension for the SAT, and critical thinking for the ACT.

The test your child chooses to take should depend on his or her academic strengths and skillsets. 

Make a Timeline a Month Before the Test

Check the SAT or ACT schedule on respective collegeboard and ACT websites to figure out when your child will take the test for the first time. An independent self-starter will probably need less guidance, but you should still check in from time to time. If your child needs more structure and relies on you for instructions, you’ll probably want to make a schedule with him or her and offer routine reminders.

Start by doing a practice test. Your child will take the actual test, while you serve as the administrator. Based on the initial performance, determine areas that need more focus and attention. Then set up a timeline for practicing with realistic goals.

Be Encouraging and Supportive (not Overbearing or Intrusive)

Your child is transitioning into young adulthood. Understand that your role as caretaker is changing along with this transition.

Focus on offering guidance and support, rather than telling your child what to do. Bear in mind that these tests and their significance have changed considerably since you took them, so don’t assume that you necessarily know more about them than your child does.

However, if your child seeks out your advice, give it! Just do your research first so you know what you’re saying is accurate.

Take Care of Your Child’s Well-Being

As your child enters college season, he or she may be tempted to devote 24 hour a day to studying while neglecting health and wellness. You may need to remind him or her to take a break and avoid staying up late to cram. Not only will that not help, but it may even hurt test and academic performance, not to mention mental and physical health.

Relax 2-3 Days Before the Test

Practicing until the 11th hour isn’t going to improve your child’s performance. Instead, encourage him or her to relax by playing games and making a healthy meal. 

Find Great Resources

You don’t have to do it alone! There are plenty of resources to help your child with test-taking strategies. Contact us and we can provide you with some great tips and introduce you to our certified contacts. 

Parents: What to Do When Your Child Just Isn’t Living Up to Their Potential

There is obviously a big difference between intelligence and dedication, and sometimes, intelligent children learn early on that they can do well in school or other activities simply by coasting on their natural abilities rather than by working hard. It might be a helpful method in elementary or middle school, but by the time these students arrive at high school or college, it becomes clearer that this method isn’t going to put them on top. 

This isn’t always what happens to naturally brilliant children; students can have difficulty reaching their full potential for many different reasons. In any case, as a parent it can be extremely frustrating to watch. This post will try to offer advice and helpful insight. Read on for advice on dealing with a teenager who isn’t putting his or her full brain power to full use!

No Perfect Parenting Method(s)

Before we delve into the details, it is important to acknowledge that there are no perfect parenting methods—every parent and every child is different, and methods that work wonderfully for some might be totally useless for others. The good news is that you don’t need to limit yourself to just one method or course of action; you can try out many different things and see what works and what doesn’t. There may not be any perfect solution to help a child who is struggling with reaching their full potential, but with plenty of communication as well as trial and error, anything is possible.

Communication is Key

If you’re reading this, chances are you probably feel frustrated with your high schooler. Maybe you’re operating under time constraints (like college application deadlines) or maybe you’ve been worrying for a while that your teen will end up throwing their potential down the drain.

These are all very valid feelings, and it’s incredibly important to communicate under these circumstances. Talk to your teen about your concerns. To ease into this conversation, you may want to consider finding a jumping off point based off of something recent that’s happened. For example, rather than simply accusing your teen of not trying hard enough, you might say something like, “Hey, I know your SATs are in the next six months. Have you thought about taking any coaching classes?”

Make an effort to try and find out why your teen doesn’t feel as motivated as you think they should be. Maybe they’ve been distracted by something personal or maybe they’re intimidated by the competitive nature of their high school. Maybe they simply aren’t interested in their courses at school — whatever the reason, it’s important to at least gain some insight on the situation, and to let your teen know that you’re there to listen and troubleshoot, not just to criticize.

Try to have a two sided conversation with your teenager, again, you should be firm but not overly critical. You want to make sure that both you and your teen feel heard; you don’t want them to feel like you’re getting on their case for no reason. Make sure your teen knows that you aren’t pushing them towards success because you will only approve of them if they’re successful—you’re pushing them because you want them to become the best version of him/herself possible. You’re doing it because you love them and want the best for them. Be sure to stay on message: I love you and I want the best for you.

Put in the effort to try to see things from your teen’s perspective, too — you were young once, and while it may or may not be hard to remember how you felt when you were a student or a teenager, remember that your child’s experiences are just as real and valid as your own. Finally, be sure to check in with yourself and make sure that your expectations for your teen are realistic. It’s more than ok to want your child to do well and gain a competitive edge in life, but if your expectations are realistic. 

It’s a well-known trope for a reason: sometimes teenagers who are smart don’t always live up to their potential. 

There is obviously a big difference between intelligence and dedication, and sometimes, intelligent children learn early on that they can do well in school or other activities simply by coasting on their natural abilities rather than by working hard. It might be a helpful method in elementary or middle school, but by the time these students arrive at high school or college, it becomes clearer that this method isn’t going to put them on top. 

This isn’t always what happens to naturally brilliant children; students can have difficulty reaching their full potential for many different reasons. In any case, as a parent it can be extremely frustrating to watch. This post will try to offer advice and helpful insight. Read on for advice on dealing with a teenager who isn’t putting his or her full brain power to full use!

No Perfect Parenting Method(s)

Before we delve into the details, it is important to acknowledge that there are no perfect parenting methods—every parent and every child is different, and methods that work wonderfully for some might be totally useless for others. The good news is that you don’t need to limit yourself to just one method or course of action; you can try out many different things and see what works and what doesn’t. There may not be any perfect solution to help a child who is struggling with reaching their full potential, but with plenty of communication as well as trial and error, anything is possible.

Communication is Key

If you’re reading this, chances are you probably feel frustrated with your high schooler. Maybe you’re operating under time constraints (like college application deadlines) or maybe you’ve been worrying for a while that your teen will end up throwing their potential down the drain.

These are all very valid feelings, and it’s incredibly important to communicate under these circumstances. Talk to your teen about your concerns. To ease into this conversation, you may want to consider finding a jumping off point based off of something recent that’s happened. For example, rather than simply accusing your teen of not trying hard enough, you might say something like, “Hey, I see you’ve registered for all parallel classes next school year. Have you thought about taking any AP classes instead?”

Make an effort to try and find out why your teen doesn’t feel as motivated as you think they should be. Maybe they’ve been distracted by something personal or maybe they’re intimidated by the competitive nature of their high school. Maybe they simply aren’t interested in their courses at school — whatever the reason, it’s important to at least gain some insight on the situation, and to let your teen know that you’re there to listen and troubleshoot, not just to criticize.

Try to have a two sided conversation with your teenager, again, you should be firm but not overly critical. You want to make sure that both you and your teen feel heard; you don’t want them to feel like you’re getting on their case for no reason. Make sure your teen knows that you aren’t pushing them towards success because you will only approve of them if they’re successful—you’re pushing them because you want them to become the best version of him/herself possible. You’re doing it because you love them and want the best for them. Be sure to stay on message: I love you and I want the best for you.

Put in the effort to try to see things from your teen’s perspective, too — you were young once, and while it may or may not be hard to remember how you felt when you were a student or a teenager, remember that your child’s experiences are just as real and valid as your own. Finally, be sure to check in with yourself and make sure that your expectations for your teen are realistic. It’s more than ok to want your child to do well and gain a competitive edge in life, but if you’re expecting them to become the President of the United States or be working at a major law firm by age 15, it might be time to reevaluate.

Push, But Don’t Preach

In some cases, it might be a good idea to try and lightly push your teenager in the right direction. Maybe they’re unsure of what they want or what they’re good at, or maybe they truly just don’t know what kinds of opportunities are available for a smart high school student.

There’s no doubt that, in the end, your high schooler should be doing the work on their own. But if you want to provide that little extra push in order to get them started on an upward trajectory, you might think about printing out lists of extracurriculars, looking over their high school course catalogue with them, or sending them emails with compelling information you’ve found about colleges or summer programs.

If your child isn’t the best at time management or meeting deadlines, try checking in on their coursework from time to time. Again, you want to find a balance between offering to help your teen without becoming too overbearing or allowing them to take advantage of you. 

Try asking questions instead of giving orders. While you may want to say something like, “Your unit tests are next week and you’re going to be busy with the soccer tournament all weekend. You need to start your studying tonight, or else!”, but changing your approach to “I know you have that big maths unit test on Monday and you’re going to be busy with the soccer tournament all weekend. Do you have a plan to get your paper done in time?” might work better in terms of checking in with your child while still allowing them to have agency over their own work.

You should aim to encourage your high schooler to manage their schedule on their own and work on figuring out how to juggle multiple responsibilities and deadlines, especially since they’ll have to do this all on their own once they arrive at college.

Consider Incentives or Positive Reinforcement

Sometimes, incentives and positive reinforcement can be helpful motivators for students who need an extra push. Ultimately, you want your child to be internally motivated to do their best, but small rewards and reinforcements can help teach them that hard work ultimately pays off.

These incentives don’t need to be huge or costly. If your teen makes the honor roll or agrees to join a few extracurriculars, for example, in return you might consider taking them out to a meal at their favorite restaurant, letting them attend an upcoming concert, or allowing them to host a small party or get together at your house.

Remember to offer your teenager encouragement when they tell you about their recent wins, like getting a good grade or receiving positive feedback from a teacher — be sure to let them know how proud of their efforts and their hard work you are. 

Final Thoughts

It’s hard feeling like your brilliant child isn’t living up to his or her potential. While there is no perfect one-size-fits-all solution, two of the best things you can do in this situation are to communicate with your child and encourage them to work to achieve their full potential.  

If you find that you’re still having difficulty after trying all of these suggestions, you may also want to consider connecting your teen with a EdBrand student mentor. This year long program pairs high schoolers with older peers who will help them figure out their interests and solidify their leadership skills. Student mentors can also help students apply to college, manage their stress, and develop a sense of self-motivation!

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What is a good SAT score in 2018?

One question that we at Edbrand hear a lot is “What is a good SAT score?” Many students are anxious to know how their scores stack up or really want to have a concrete target score in mind when they go into test day. It’s only natural that you’d want to know what a qualifies as a “good” score. 

While we would like to be able to offer a more concrete answer, the question isn’t actually so cut and dry. Instead, what qualifies as a good SAT score depends on a number of different factors. Some students are interested to know what scores will place them in certain national percentiles. Other students are focused on getting into a specific college or even a particular program. In all of these instances, a good SAT score will have a different meaning. 

In this post, we’ll break down this seemingly simple question into a number of different angles so that we have an answer for nearly every student. If you’re interested to find out what a good SAT score might look like for you, keep reading.

What is the Distribution of SAT Scores Like Most Recently?

One way to think about a “good” SAT score is by considering where it places you amongst other students who took the SAT this year. By looking at percentiles, we’re able to get a pretty good idea of how your SAT score stacks up to the national average. 

Have a peek at the table below. In it, you’ll notice that scores are listed alongside percentiles. Percentiles represent the actual national average percentile of 2017 graduating students who scored below that particular score on the new SAT.

SAT Score Percentiles for 2017

National SAT Percentile Scores

As you can see, if you scored a 1320, that score places you close to the 90th percentile. This means that nearly 90% of students who graduated in 2017 scored below you. Not bad! 

There are a few other things worth noting as you review this table too. First, in order to place in the top 50% of national test takers in 2017, you would have needed to score a 1060. This means that if you scored 1060 or above, you scored better than half the students who took the SAT that year. This places you above average and by some standards could qualify as a good SAT score. 

If your standards are different and you are shooting for the top 30%, you can check the 70th percentile score and find that those scores are in the 1170 range. For students who want to place in the top 30% of test-takers, a score of 1170 might be the magic number to qualify as a “good” score.

What SAT Score Do I Need to Get Into a Good College?

For some students, though, simply knowing the percentile isn’t enough. Many students want to know if their score is “good enough” to get into a specific college. 

Again, this question is especially difficult to answer for a few different reasons. For one, there is no minimum SAT score required at any of the most selective colleges, so simply scoring highly on the SAT is not enough to ensure admission. Similarly, you could perform quite poorly on the SAT and still be offered a seat in the freshman class if you are able to impress the admissions committee in a number of different ways. 

Next, what qualifies as a good college to one student may not meet another student’s standards. For this reason, it’s better to ask about specific colleges than to focus on a bigger generalization. 

How Can I Find Out If My Score Is Good Enough For a Particular School?

There is a lot of SAT score data available online. Most colleges publish information about the SAT scores of admitted students, so it is easily available to potential applicants like yourself. One simple way to access it is through the CollegeBoard Big Future website which allows you to search by school and see various data points about each school. 

In order to find out how your score stacks up at a specific school, you’ll need to find where your score places you amongst admitted students. While there won’t be a list of SAT scores from every single student, there will be a list of percentiles particular to that specific school, usually rounded off to 25%, 50%, and 75%. 

In general, we recommend that for safety schools, your SAT score should fall within the 75% percentile, meaning that it is above 75% of scores from admitted students. For target schools, your score should fall between 50-75% and for reach schools, your score should fall at least within the 25% to give you at least a decent shot at getting in. 

Sometimes, though, average SAT scores can be a little confusing or even deceiving. For some schools, and especially for specific programs within a school, SAT scores might be skewed so that average composite scores only show part of the picture. 

For example, when applying to a selective engineering program like the one at MIT, a student might have a perfect 800 on the Math section of the SAT but only a 550 on the Reading and Writing sections. The cumulative score of 1350 in this case might lead someone to believe that a 680 is roughly a strong contender on the Math section, when in reality the average score on this section accounts for more than half the composite average.

Keep a lookout on our blog for more info on test prep; both SATs and ACTs all this month! 

10 Outstanding Commencement Speeches in 2017

With exams, college apps, and the December chill we thought you needed some positivity. Here 10 of the best graduation speeches this year: 

Joe Biden, Colby College

Former Vice President Joe Biden spoke to students about engaged leadership, as well as the importance of empathy and dignity.  He encouraged students to get involved and be engaged in the world around them, including politics.

Message: “It’s time to regain our sense of unity and purpose.”

Theo Epstein, Yale University

Theo Epstein, President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs recalled his history with the Cubs, including the team’s monumental victory on Game 7 of the World Series.

Message: “Some players — and some of us — go through our careers with our heads down, focused on our craft and our tasks, keeping to ourselves, worrying about our numbers or our grades, pursuing the next objective goal, building our resumes, protecting our individual interests. Other players — and others amongst us — go through our careers with our heads up, as real parts of a team, alert and aware of others, embracing difference, employing empathy, genuinely connecting, putting collective interests ahead of our own. It is a choice… The latter, connecting, keeping our heads up, allows us to lead, and, every now and then, to be part of something bigger than ourselves, and, therefore, to truly triumph.”

Will Ferrell, University of Southern California

In a humorous speech, comedian Will Ferrell spoke about the fear of failure and needing to overcome it.  He also spoke about success, the need to appreciate what you have, and the importance of giving back.

Message: “No matter how cliché it may sound you will never truly be successful until you learn to give beyond yourself. Empathy and kindness are the true signs of emotional intelligence.”

Dr. Adam M. Grant, Utah State University

Adam Grant, Wharton School management professor and co-author of Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, told students that sometimes quitting is a virtue.

Message: “Define your dreams broadly enough that you can find new ways to pursue them when your first and second plans fail…. If you want to be resilient, find the right amount of generosity and authenticity and grit.”

Helen Mirren, Tulane University

Tony, Emmy, and Academy Award winner Helen Mirren shared five pieces of advice for a happy life, including “treat people just like people” and “don’t overcomplicate things.”  She also offered many practical dos and don’ts.

Message: “We’re all in this together.”

Sheryl Sandberg, Virginia Tech

 Chief Operating Officer of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg recalled how her own personal tragedies helped her come out stronger. Sandberg told students to cultivate resilience, not just for yourself, but also to instill it in other people.

 Message: “Build resistance in yourselves.  When tragedy or disappointment strike, know that you have the ability to get through anything…An important way you can serve and lead is by helping build resilience in the world.”

Howard Schultz, Arizona State University

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz shared his rags-to-riches story, which started with his childhood in public housing.  He also explained how he built his business based on values and humility, in addition to profits.

Message: “Summon your compassion, your curiosity, your empathy towards others and your commitment to service.  Give more than you receive and I promise you, it will come back to you in ways you can’t possibly imagine.”

Octavia Spencer, Kent State University

Academy Award winning actress Octavia Spencer inspired students to stay true to their authentic selves.  Students should lead their own journeys and not try to copy the paths of others.

Message: “No one came here the same way, and you won’t all achieve success the same way… Don’t let yourself get caught up in the trap of comparison…. Define success and define your best years by every day that you work hard towards achieving your goals.”

Oprah Winfrey, Smith College

 Global media leader Oprah Winfrey told students to use their talents, gifts and knowledge for the greater good…to change the world for the better.

Oprah reflected upon how much of her personal happiness comes from helping others. The more she donates her time to helping people, the more fulfilled she feels.

Message: “Make it your intention to serve through your life with purpose…Shift the paradigm to service and the rewards will come.”

Mark Zuckerberg, Harvard University

Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg called upon college graduates to build a world where everyone has a place and a purpose.

Fast Fact: Zuckerberg went to Harvard, but dropped out after creating Facebook there. He received an honorary college degree the day of his address.

Message: “Purpose is that sense that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, that we are needed, that we have something better ahead to work for. Purpose is what creates true happiness… But it’s not enough to have purpose yourself. You have to create a sense of purpose for others.”

How to ace the Oxbridge Interviews

Admissions tutors at Oxford and Cambridge meet a star student everyday, make sure you can stand out with some of these tips.  

Be passionate

The interview is your opportunity to express passion for your chosen subject. The person that interviews you will likely be your tutor at least for the first year. So gelling with them would be important.Tutors want to see that you will be a joy to teach, that you're deeply interested in your subject, and that you're keen to learn. Therefore, the most important thing is to genuinely demonstrate an interest in the subject you’re applying for.

Show your unique strengths

Think creatively, gain relevant work experience and insights to draw from, and read beyond your school syllabus to distinguish yourself from other applicants. While tutors will see many applications, no candidate will be exactly the same as any other. Your subject profile, your reading and your motivation will all be unique to you. Hence drawing on these aspects will allow you to impress an admissions tutor and help them to understand why you are deserving of a place.

It's a conversation, not an interrogation

Viewing the interview as a conversation with an academic about a subject you both enjoy and are passionate about can make the process seem less daunting. Demonstrating interest and coherently engaging in academic dialogue is the crux of the conversation— and honestly, how you learn at these schools. So showing that you can do that in the interview is imperative. 

Don't expect the unexpected

There are crazy interview stories where students have found their tutors lying on the floor while asking them questions but in reality that is not the case. Apart from talking through your personal statement and application material, questions asked at an Oxbridge interview are designed to see your thought process. Whilst some questions may seem obtuse or confusing out of context, they allow a student to demonstrate their unique way of thinking.

Among Oxford University's interview questions in 2015, for example, economics and management students were asked whether bankers deserve the pay they receive, while applicants to the oriental studies course were asked if archaeology can “prove” or “disprove” the Bible.

Practise, practise, practise

Encourage people to ask questions to find out how you can make your explanation clearer about different topics. No matter how bright you are, it is unlikely that your first interview will be better than their third, fifth, or 10th attempt.

Do your research

Talk to current students and graduates about their experiences of Oxbridge interviews and spend some time looking at the university websites. Oxford and Cambridge want to be open about the interview process and the websites are as helpful as they can be these days. 

Be confident, not arrogant

Be passionate, be confident, and be likable. There's a difference between voicing your opinions and assuming you're right. Leave your arrogance out the door as you approach these interviews. It’s unlikely anyone will take you if they find you arrogant or hostile  to work with. 

We hope that tips help you as you train towards your interviews. Contact us with any questions, interview questions, or mock interviews! 

How to Write the University of Chicago Application Essays 2017-18 Optional Essay Prompts 4-6

Welcome back to the final installment for the University of Chicago Essay series. Let's get to it!

Essay Option 4

The late New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham once said, ‘Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life. I don’t think you could do away with it. It would be like doing away with civilization.’ Tell us about your ‘armor.’

– Inspired by Adam Berger, Class of 2020

This is probably the prompt that lends itself most to a personal narrative or story, for obvious reasons. One tactic that you can take is to describe a personality trait or common behavior of yours as your armor — for example, confidence or sarcasm — and interweave that with anecdotes that prove the point. In general if you take this approach, you want to try and choose less common or clichéd personality traits.

Sarcasm is about the most conventional answer that you can give that still makes for a compelling essay, anything more narrow than that (like confidence) will likely come off as clichéd. A slightly more innovative approach in this style is to use it to show that you’re willing to engage with your flaws a little bit, especially if you are a strong applicant on paper. Obviously you don’t want to go overboard, but (as an example) describing a nervous tic where you rub your pen during a test to help calm yourself down could serve as an essay that humanizes you and takes a more innovative approach to the prompt.

Another angle to take with this prompt is to use it to explore an extracurricular activity or passion that you display in your profile. For a specific activity or passion, you could then talk about a fundamental skill or “go-to move” that you fall back on when things aren’t going smoothly in this activity, which thus makes it a form of “armor” that you use to avoid failure in the activity.

The sports examples are easy to think of: For example, perhaps your go-to move in basketball is a fadeaway jump shot. But the concept can also be applied in a non-sports context. If you are a Lincoln-Douglas debater, then maybe there is a rhetorical trick or technique that you always fall back on when you’re in a tough debate. Or if you conduct a lot of physics research, perhaps you always fall back on your understanding of data when you see results that you can’t replicate or that are confusing. Regardless of the arena, the point is to highlight a foundational skill that you use in the activity to reiterate your passion and dedication to the activity.

One final approach is to engage literally with the question and talk about your favorite piece of fashion or clothing. Perhaps you have a favorite shirt or there’s a pair of shoes that has a special place in your heart. But if you do write about an actual piece of clothing, you shouldn’t just skim the surface level, i.e., “I like this shirt because I look good in it, and it makes me feel good.”

Instead, you should use it as a jumping-off point to reflect on who you are as a person and share that with the admissions counselor. For example, you might write an essay about your favorite pair of sweatpants because you always do your best work in those sweatpants (and cannot do your best work unless you are comfortable and warm). You might also extend the essay to talk about why you sometimes feel the need for solitude (which the sweatpants implicitly represent) amidst the social strain of being in high school.

Essay Option 5

Fans of the movie Sharknado say that they enjoy it because ‘it’s so bad, it’s good.’ Certain automobile owners prefer classic cars because they ‘have more character.’ And recently, vinyl record sales have skyrocketed because it is perceived that they have a warmer, fuller sound. Discuss something that you love not in spite of but rather due to its quirks or imperfections.

– Inspired by Alex Serbanescu, Class of 2021

This is a prompt that is naturally set up for you to share something that’s quirky or offbeat about yourself. One angle to take is to focus on some sort of hobby or pastime that you enjoy that isn’t particularly mainstream.

For example, if you collect antique furniture from the 1940s or really love riding in older Amtrak trains for the authenticity of the experience, then this is a prompt that lines up really nicely to explore that. If you can tie the various quirks of the hobby or pastime to your own personal journey, then that takes the essay to the next level. For example, if you first experienced an Amtrak train with your grandfather and heard his stories, that could create a highly personal and compelling narrative.

Another approach with this essay is to write about some sort of “guilty pleasure” that you have, say if you like bad movies like the Transformers series or cheesy pop music. If you are then able to use your guilty pleasure as a vehicle to explore society at large and your place within it, then that can create a truly innovative and interesting essay.

For example, if you’re a male in more traditional settings whose guilty pleasure is watching romantic comedies, you could then explore the fact that this is considered an “unmanly” pastime and how you feel about that fact in a reflective and incisive essay. This is possible with any number of “guilty pleasures,” but you do want to be careful about how your assessment will be viewed by the reader.

For example, it’s perfectly fine to write an essay that says that you love the Transformers movie series despite its uneven gender politics if you are a woman. But the same essay written by a man might come off as tone deaf given who admissions counselors are.

Essay Option 6

In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, pose your own question or choose one of our past prompts. Be original, creative, thought provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun.

This is a prompt that appears every year. This essay really poses the highest risk but also the highest potential reward. Writing your own question allows you to write an innovative essay that either tackles a difficult or controversial topic (for example, our founder Vinay Bhaskara’s essay tackled why mainstream Hollywood films are more valuable than seemingly more intellectual independent films), or presents the information with a unique format (such as a conversation with a dead historical figure).

Using a prompt from past years also allows you to write an essay that is thematically and tonally different from many other applicants (as they will mostly be writing about the first five prompts offered above).

Generally speaking, your best payoff to this essay comes if you want to try something unconventional, such as writing an essay that describes the four years of high school as Hell, Purgatory, Paradise, and Heaven, and is written in the style of the divine comedy.

There are a variety of possibilities here ranging from the idiotic (you probably don’t want to write your own variation on the alt-right’s platform referring to events in your high school life) to the (relatively) overdone — they’ve probably seen several essays that have been written in iambic pentameter as an ode to Chaucer.

And we’ll reiterate the note above: This type of essay has the highest variance in terms of outcome. If done well, an unconventional essay can captivate the right admissions counselor in a way that no conventional essay can. Conversely, if the essay is executed poorly or even if it isn’t, your essay may go over the admissions counselor’s head or bore them. So this is only a strategy that you should try if you are confident in your abilities and have at least a couple of sources of high-quality feedback.

This is also an optimal prompt for truly diving into an academic passion, particularly if it is of an advanced level or unique tenor. For example, if you know a lot about Soviet cars produced between 1957 and 1983, then writing a custom prompt that allows you to explore that passion may be easier than trying to bend that topic to match one of the prompts provided.

As with any academically oriented essay, you do want to make sure that any jargon you use is made clear, either via explicit explanation or context clues. You shouldn’t shy away from jargon — it’s one of the things that helps position you as an expert on the subject of your essay. But you don’t want to render the essay unintelligible to your reader.

One broader note on writing your own prompt — it doesn’t have to be as complex or convoluted as the other UChicago prompts, and you mainly just want to find a prompt that matches the essay that you want to write, even if it is straightforward.

We wish you the best of luck writing your UChicago essay!

How to Write the University of Chicago Application Essays 2017-18: Optional Prompt 1-3

Welcome back! Lets get back into our running essay series on the University of Chicago!

Essay Option 1

‘The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.’ – Joseph Joubert

 Sometimes, people talk a lot about popular subjects to assure ‘victory’ in conversation or understanding, and leave behind topics of less popularity, but great personal or intellectual importance. What do you think is important but under-discussed?

– Anonymous Suggestion

The key words in this prompt are “victory” and “progress,” which indicate that the prompt is set up nicely for you to draw a contrast between the topic that you think is important but under-discussed and other topics.

One natural axis with which to approach this essay is policy or politics. It is pretty easy to draw a contrast between issues that are politically contentious, like abortion or free speech, and issues that are highly impactful but less debated, like malaria in Africa or the opioid crisis in the United States. If you go down this path, it’s important to note that questions like abortion and free speech are certainly important.

Instead of just arguing that they are not important, you can draw upon the prompt in saying that discussion of those issues is usually conducted in such a manner that no progress is made. Instead, it’s usually about trying to yell at the other side.

As long as you make this clarification, you can then turn to the real or underlying issue and explore it further, laying out why you think it’s important. This essay archetype can be made more effective if it is interwoven with a strong personal narrative that ties you to the important and under-discussed issue (for example, perhaps you have cousins that have gotten addicted to opioids). But it is still possible to write an excellent essay in this vein even if you don’t have a personal connection to the essay.

Another angle to take with this essay is to focus on a highly specialized or niche area within a topic or field of interest and write a deep-dive essay that shows off your passion for a subject. This can obviously be something like a deep academic treatise on an overlooked aspect of Russian history between 1640-1700, but it doesn’t have to be about a purely academic topic.

For example, if you’re an avid soccer player and fan, you can write an essay about why the 3-5-2 formation is under-discussed and under-utilized, despite allowing several underdog teams to pull upsets in international tournaments. The important thing isn’t that the idea is particularly academic or erudite, but rather that you know the topic extremely well and can display your love for it through the essay.

Essay Option 2

Due to a series of clerical errors, there is exactly one typo (an extra letter, a removed letter, or an altered letter) in the name of every department at the University of Chicago. Oops! Describe your new intended major. Why are you interested in it and what courses or areas of focus within it might you want to explore? Potential options include Commuter Science, Bromance Languages and Literatures, Fundamentals: Issues and Texts, Ant History… a full list of unmodified majors ready for your editor’s eye is available here: https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/academics/majors-minors.

– Inspired by Josh Kaufman, Class of 2018

This prompt certainly lends itself to an essay with a more humorous tone, and it is quite easy to slip into a joking treatment of “Bromance Languages” or “Ant History.” There are certainly interesting essays that can be written in this vein, but we would caution that it is really difficult to pull off a humorous tone in a written format because so much of humor is contextual and specific to the tastes of the audience.

You can still write an essay that attempts to leverage humor with this prompt, but you should keep your audience in mind. Admissions counselors at top universities tend to be younger, highly educated, and politically progressive. So it’s probably not the best idea to slip that “edgy” (i.e., racist) joke that you found on Reddit into this essay. And regarding tone, you should be going for something closer to Mel Brooks or Woody Allen than to Adam Sandler.

However, you don’t have to tackle this prompt with a humorous lens. Instead, you can use it as an opportunity to show off your intellectual chops and flexibility, or highlight multiple academic themes on your profile.

For example, let’s say that you’re interested in both linguistics and gender and sexuality studies. Instead of cracking the all-too-easy jokes about Bromance Languages, you could reframe your exploration of the topic by using it as a launchpad to discuss the concept of toxic masculinity and how that prevents effective communication in male friendships by creating a taboo around discussing one’s feelings openly.

This essay is going to work best if you find a pun or fusion that aligns closely with your profile. To share just one more example, let’s say that you renamed “Social Sciences” to “SoCal Sciences” and are interested in studying urban studies and history. You could frame the renamed major as the study of how the historic presence of industry and the military (the hard “sciences”) in Los Angeles shaped the urban geography of the city and made it harder for the city to densify its neighborhoods once those industries left.

Again this is just one of numerous possible examples with the dozens of majors on that list. You should think carefully about your own.

Essay Option 3

Earth. Fire. Wind. Water. Heart! Captain Planet supposes that the world is made up of these five elements. We’re familiar with the previously-noted set and with actual elements like hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon, but select and explain another small group of things (say, under five) that you believe compose our world.

– Inspired by Dani Plung, Class of 2017

This prompt is the first to really lend itself to a highly personal narrative, as you can use it as a vehicle to comment on the broader psychology or organizational patterns of the society around you while weaving in your personal experience. As an example, if you struggled with self-esteem and communicating with peers when you were younger, you might argue that your place in the world is driven by the combination of confidence, intellect, and the ability to communicate or connect with other people.

If you mixed your analysis of these topics with intensely personal and negative memories of times that you struggled in each area, it could be the foundation for an incredibly powerful essay.

Conversely, you can easily lay out a more positive case and tell your story that way. For example, you could propose that the world is composed of altruism, Smithian self-interest, and random chance. Using this as your foundation, you could argue that every event in your life falls into one of these categories, and share anecdotes of how your life displays each of those traits.

Once again (as with most UChicago essay prompts), there is also a more academic angle that you can take, perhaps illustrating your knowledge of sociology, economics, or neo-Marxist analysis. The key with this type of approach is to ensure that you are displaying both your intense passion for the field and your in-depth knowledge of it. UChicago is the rare school that will accept your display of an academic or quirky passion in a college essay, but you cannot fake it — your essay needs to display the deep love and passion you have for the subject or field.

We hope this was helpful! Tune back in tomorrow for optional prompts 4-6!