The Best U College Admissions Consulting

  2021 has been a year for the books. We know that the students who will graduate this spring have been experiencing a global pandemic for more than half of their high school years. This is unprecedented and extraordinary, and we are constantly amazed by the ways the students we engage with on a daily basis have risen to this challenge. As this year wraps up, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on all that we are grateful for– This Fall has already brought  dozens of college acceptances to the TBU family . Among those, we have heard from many joyful students who have gained admission to the following colleges, with many yet to come for the Class of 2022: Arizona State U Boston College Brown U Bryn Mawr College Carnegie Mellon U Chapman U Claremont McKenna College Colorado School of Mines Colorado State U Fairfield U Fordham U Georgetown U Ithaca College Loyola Marymount U NYU Northeastern U Point Park U Pomona College Providence College Rowan U Santa Clara U Seton Hall U Sta...

  Join  Stacy’s  ramblings as she discusses the importance of teenagers exploring and finding their own interests outside of the classroom. Sign up for a FREE 20-minute phone call or online video meeting now   so we can learn about your family’s college admissions needs and how we can provide support.

  Stacy Hernandez  received both her B.S. and M.S. from Northeastern University in Boston. From 1999 – 2011, I worked in undergraduate admissions at Johns Hopkins University and Northeastern University with short breaks during these years to have a family, work at Maryland Institute College of Art, and start a yoga business. In admissions, I read thousands of college applications, made admissions decisions, managed a variety of recruitment territories, oversaw the recruitment process and the tour guide program, and developed recruitment programming for underrepresented multicultural students. I switched sides of the desk and served as the Director of College Counseling at Dawson School in Lafayette, CO, from 2011 – 2015. At Dawson, I worked with all types of students to support their college admissions process and developed admissions programming for middle and high school students and parents. Additionally, I served as a College Counselor at Shining Mountain Waldorf School in...

  With winter break very close on the horizon, we can’t stress enough the importance of applicants closing out any application work prior to break. Here are a few reasons why you want to be sure to use these last days to get those applications submitted: School Materials and Supports: Note that winter break is not only a reprieve for students but a time when schools are fully closed. This means when the last bell rings to start the vacation students will no longer have access to School Counselors, Teacher Recommenders, or Administrators whose support they may need to submit final materials. Students should take stock of their application requirements and ensure that any school transcripts, recommendations, High School Profiles, forms, or other materials that may need to be sent from the school are taken care of in advance of break. This way, you ensure that your applications are fully complete in advance of upcoming January deadlines. It always helps to submit in advance of deadlin...

  College Fit: What Do You Want & Need. When Picking Colleges For Your List. Families from the USA and All Over The World —  Sign up for a FREE 20-minute phone call or online video meeting now   so we can learn about your family’s college admissions needs and how we can provide support.

  We provide strategic, hourly counseling support to self-directed students and their families who want to manage their admissions process independently. College Admissions Planning Support  (college choices, college list building, college visits, test planning, high school course selection, networking with colleges, college majors/careers, activities, summer plans, resume development, application deadlines strategies, application timeline, college decisions) College Application & Essay Support  (how to fill out applications, applications and writing essay support, interview prep) College Affordability Support  (how to pay for college, financial aid, scholarships, and cost of college) Passion Project Support  (assistance in exploring and planning an in-depth extracurricular activity that reflects your academic and/or personal interests) BRAVE & SAFE SPACE We honor and respect the multifaceted identities of our students including sexuality, gender identit...

  This is a tough question to answer because it all depends on the type of schools you want to apply to. A strong score for one school may be a noncompetitive score for another school. Instead of getting fixated on a particular test score being a “good score”, I recommend two things. Take practice tests so you can start to determine your testing abilities, strengths/weakness, and you can start to see what range you are testing within. Or work with a testing expert to help you to determine your testing goals, the scores you will most likely achieve, and determine testing abilities and limitations. Start identifying schools you are interested in and check out the average test scores. Typically colleges will either post the middle 50th percentile test score of their accepted or enrolled freshmen students. A great resource to use to check the average  ACT and SAT   scores for accepted students is by going to collegedata.com. Collegedata has wonderful admissions information, s...

  Wondering what all the changes of the last two years mean for current 10th & 11th graders? Here’s what we at  The Best U   think you need to know: What’s the current status of test optional admissions? Some background: Pre-pandemic admissions saw a long growing trend of colleges adopting test optional policies in recognition that standardized testing is a weak predictor of college success.  Large public universities, Ivies, and some of the most selective liberal arts colleges were the holdouts  on this long shift, led mainly by liberal arts institutions for well over two decades. With massive pandemic disruption to the availability of SAT and ACT testing,  a new wave of colleges adopted test optional admissions policies. Most of these institutions retained their policies for at least the 2021–2022 application year , and a few have indicated extensions through 2023. The entire  University of California  System has indicated they will  no...

  Colleges in the USA are looking for many things from applicants. It is not just about grades and test scores. We have designed an online course to walk through what colleges want to see from applicants. Course: How To Increase Your Chances of Getting Into the Colleges You Want $15.00 USD We provide strategies that have helped thousands of students apply and get into colleges. In this video course, learn the best way to stand out in the admissions process and you will discover… How colleges evaluate applications and what the key aspects of the decision-making process are Various admission and application strategies that have helped students apply to colleges The pieces of the process that you should be most focused on Important takeaways to improve your chances To sign up, please  click here .