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Gabrielle Glancy

About Gabrielle Glancy

http://newvisionlearning.org

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Resources for COVID-19 College Admissions

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Just in from the president of Brown University.  Will this be a widespread opinion/practice?  It remains to be seen.  Christina Paxson writes:

College Campuses Must Reopen in the Fall. Here’s How We Do It.

It won’t be easy, but there’s a path to get students back on track. Higher education will crumble without it.

 

Rather than send separate emails out to everyone who has asked me for a list of resources for parents, students, teachers and college counselors regarding changes in college admissions policies, dates, tours and applications — all things college — I am going to post the links I’ve found most useful here with a description of what each link offers and what’s good about it.

First off, the go-to for changes in college admissions is NACAC, specifically the area that is providing updates on colleges.

Information is changing daily so please keep checking in to see what’s happening.  
 
The single best resource I’ve found it NACAC, though there are others that are helpful too.
 
Your feedback on this is appreciated.  If you come upon other helpful resources, please let me know.
 

We need to crowdsource information and research — for college admissions — as well as for the virus itself.

 
NACAC info on COVID
 
RE: College side of the desk
https://www.nacacnet.org/news--publications/coronavirus/
 
Status Updates for Colleges vis a vis
Deadlines
Admissions Events
Acceptance of SAT/AP
Second Semester or Third Trimester Grades
 
High School 
https://www.nacacnet.org/news--publications/newsroom/college-admission-status-coronavirus/
Distance learning plans
Availability of College Counselors
And even questions that these students are wanting answered such as:
 

Questions Students are Seeking on Postsecondary Institutions Websites:


Are you willing to change test requirements/recommendations for juniors or seniors given test date cancellations?, Will you honor admission offers for international students without knowledge of current travel restrictions?, Other: Is May 1st still going to be the deadline?
 
Here is a Resource List
Super helpful
Compiled by teachers, therapists and college counselors
 

Below is a spreadsheet of activities 9th, 10th, and 11th grade students can get involved in during this interim period of distance learning.  These are great and important!!

 

Here is an article in The New York Times on how parents can help support their college students’ experience with online learning:

Here are COVID updates from the College Board regarding SAT dates and options as well as AP tests:  https://pages.collegeboard.org/collegeboard-covid-19-updates

Here’s a Twitter roundup of what (certain) colleges are saying about a pandemic’d fall:

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1253007206519275520.html

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1FQLD5dx3dKz6SeMOdnJdAYaodh3qDUS-WUogFUSWA_o/edit#gid=1046877452
Factors affecting college admissions, frequently updates
FAFSA
SAT/AP
Student Loans
School Closures
Study Abroad Programs
 
Fairtest.org — (didn’t seem as up to date as I hoped)
Colleges waiving tests for 2020 admission only
For those students wanting to enroll in fall 2020 ONLY
https://www.fairtest.org/sites/default/files/ACT-SATWaiversfor2020Admissions.pdf
 
Inside Higher Education — specific announcements on testing, financial aid, deadlines etc
https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2020/04/20/coronavirus-live-updates-archive-april-12-18
 
Newsletter from Jeff Selingo sums up main points
https://www.getrevue.co/profile/next-jeff-selingo/issues/autumn-fall-heartache-238492?utm_campaign=Issue&utm_content=view_in_browser&utm_medium=email&utm_source=Next%3A+The+Future+of+Higher+Education
summing this up
Here’s Selingo’s latest.  Sign up for future ones here and explore his website.
 
One option is reductions in tuition for online model: 
What’s next: Once a decision is made about what the fall will look like in terms of operations, the next big decision is how anything short of a regular, on-campus experience will be priced. Most colleges want to keep their tuition levels steady—and for good reason. Their instructional costs remain the same, and in many cases have increased because of technology. 
When I posted a poll on Twitter last night, many agreed that there shouldn’t be a tuition cut this fall. But on some campuses, students and parents are already clamoring for one, even this spring, as The Washington Post’s Nick Anderson recently reported. 

 

 

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Waitlisted? What Next?

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In these crazy and confusing times of COVID-19, in which high schools and colleges alike have gone virtual, it’s virtually impossible to navigate the even-more-complicated maze of college admissions.

All tours are off.  Many schools have created virtual tours with college admissions staff pointing out the attributes of the campus at which they used to work, in buildings that are now boarded shut.

It is far from business as usual.

Admissions decisions have also been affected.

Because of the uncertainty of the times, some schools delayed their decisions and/or have opted to waitlist more students than usual.

Colleges seem to need to know whether the applicant is willing to travel far from home, or to leave home at all, before offering them an out-and-out acceptance.

Some colleges have extended the deadline for accepting your acceptance to give you more time to think about it.

The waitlist has become the new go-to for many colleges, but not knowing whether you’re in or not creates even more uncertainty in an uncertain time.

What to do if you’re waitlisted

First off, you need to make a decision in your own heart about whether or not you still want to go to that particular college under these very particular set of circumstances.

You need to consider the possibility that classes will be held in the flesh in August/September, but that a new wave of infection may sweep the country just as the weather begins to cool down.  Then what?

Are you OK being far away from home under these circumstances?

What happens if you are quarantined and can’t return?

Thought it may seem extreme to consider these possibilities, in fact, this scenario is far from unlikely.

Letters of Continued Interest (LOCI)

If indeed, you still have your heart set on the school-of-your-choice and you’ve been waitlisted, I would strongly suggest you submit a Letter of Continued Interest.  Every year at this time, I help students in this position. The extra effort and info you provide could tip the scales in your favor.

Here are a few quick tips on how to write these letters:

  • Make your letter short(ish) and sweet.  They already have your application and they’ve already taken you seriously.  You just want them to know you’re still very interested, even in these crazy times.
  • Don’t include information you’ve already given them.  Add to what you’ve already provided with new developments, ideas, accomplishments.
  • State your interest directly, but uniquely.  Don’t say “I am writing this because I am still interested in attending . . .”  Start with something more attention-grabbing (but not sensational).
  • Show that you’re aware of what’s happening in the world at the moment and perhaps include in this letter your response to that and how that relates to your ultimate goal(s)
  • Make sure your letter is proofread and perfect.  The last thing you want to do is make grammatical mistakes or give them something they didn’t even ask for that contains typos.

I am here to guide you if you need help.  A strong LOCI can make all the difference!

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Join Gabrielle Glancy Voices on the Road to College: Wednesdays and Sundays at 4pm PST/7pm EST on Facebook Live

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Very inspiring!  Thank you, Gabrielle Glancy for doing this! It gave me comfort and inspiration.  You have a lovely voice and these essays are amazing!

Great idea.  I’d love to see you do more of these!

Beautiful.  Love it!  Thank you for sharing.

Thank you so much for doing this! This young writer gives me optimism, as does your way of presenting him. The future will likely see him join the ranks of our great physician/authors. Your voice and expressions are comforting to watch. Great job!

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In these crazy, disturbing, unusual times, I have found myself spending more time online than ever — doing research on COVID-19 tests, vaccines, cures, Face-timing with old friends, trying to figure out ways to help myself and the world in a situation that isolates us and makes us all feel helpless and vulnerable.

I have taken great comfort and inspiration from the daily poetry offerings Victoria Redel has been giving us on Facebook.  These four or five minutes a day feel intimate, interesting and important.  Her voice and her insights soothe my nerves.  Hearing her read Emily Dickinson, Derek Walcott, Robert Frost, I feel a part of something bigger, something that has been going on for generations, that is as old as human civilization itself — the desire to give expression to the ineffable, to extend a hand (or voice) across the great abyss that divides us from each other, to find meaning in a crazy world.

I have been in the business of getting kids into college for upwards of thirty years.  I live and breathe my work.  It seems fitting then that I share what I do every day — help students find their voice and get into the college(s) of their dreams.

This is the first in a series.  I’m hoping to do a Facebook Live every Wednesday and Sunday 4pmPST/7pmEST.  In this series which I’m calling Voices on the Road to College, I will share a moving and powerful essay a student has written to show college admissions what they’re made of, and muse on why this essay works and what you could do to write a great essay yourself.

Please join me in these moments and feel free to chime in with comments, thoughts, suggestions and ideas.  You can also watch the first video in this series on YouTube.

Keep safe.  Stay well. 

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What the Coronavirus Means for College Admissions

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Gabrielle’s Glancy’s extraordinary powers of observation as well as her experience in the world of college admissions (having sat on both sides of the table as an admissions director and now as an independent college counselor) gives her a unique ability to foresee the consequences and opportunities of our present situation in order to best prepare parents, students and other college counselors for the unexpected challenges we now face in the ever-changing landscape of COVID-19. 

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The college admissions process is often fraught with all kinds of emotions anyway — hope, anxiety, dejection and celebration. And now there’s even more anxiety on top of that over this global health crisis.

— NPR, Here’s How to Pick a College During the Coronavirus

Unique challenges call for unique solutions.

It is an unprecedented time in the history of the world. COVID-19 has usurped any sense of normalcy and routine in our lives and in the world of college admissions. Business is decidedly not being conducted as usual.

Many countries are on lockdown.

Schools — not just across the nation, but across the world — are closed, indefinitely.

Parents, students, counselors, admissions directors all over the country have questions about how college admissions is, and will be, affected by these circumstances.

I have been watching the situation closely and doing extensive research which includes talking to professionals in the field of college admissions.

I believe in my heart that the class of 2021 will go to college just like other graduating seniors in the past.

They will pack their bags, meet their roommates, and live on campus as they hope to do.

In the meantime, however, there are a lot of changes happening in the world of college admissions which affect the class of 2020 perhaps most intensely.

Questions have been flooding my inbox:

What does it mean for college admissions that the SAT’s have (at least for the moment) been cancelled?

How will this affect the admissions process?

Will there even be an admissions process and what will it look like given the current state of the world?

Over the last few weeks, I’ve gotten emails and phone calls from parents and students alike looking for answers.

Although I cannot predict the future, I can guide parents in how to navigate the college admissions process under these unique circumstances, help students figure out what to do next, and assist college counselors like myself in how to help their families make the best of a very difficult situation. 

 

I’d like to address the most important ones here and provide some resources that might help.  As the weeks unfold, I will be posting more detailed updates on the topics touched on here.

 

In the COVID-19 world of college admissions, every day there is a new development.  It’s difficult to keep up with the newest news. 

For that reason, what I offer here, could change by the time you read it.  Hopefully, the links and resources will remain useful.

For easier reference, I’ve decided to do this as a Q & A. 

Here are some answers to the most frequent questions I am asked by students, parents and college counselors about the impact of the Coronavirus on college admissions .

Do you think the SAT’s will really be given in June?

I don’t.  I think it might be a much more protracted period of chaos than we expect.  To gather students in a physical space to take the SAT’s or ACT’s (which is usually how they’re given) has become not only impractical but dangerous.  I have spoken to many parents who say they would not send their kids even if the test is given. 

NB:  Since I first penned this post, the SAT’s have decidedly been cancelled.  Many schools including the University of California are going test-optional.  

If my son or daughter can’t take the SAT’s until the fall, what should we do?

I would suggest you use this time to really prepare.  As much as we sometimes wish, I doubt the SAT’s will go away any time soon.  At the very least, it’s a multimillion dollar business.  I am sure the College Board is working hard to keep this business alive by considering virtual options.

Now you have potentially six months more than originally planned to prepare for the test, IF the October SAT’s will be administered at all.  Of course, the College Board might come up with some way to administer the test remotely before then, in which case, you don’t want to be left behind.  I would be on the lookout for this possibility and check in on the College Board every once in a while to see what they’re saying about test dates and other options.

Will there still be college tours this spring?

College tours will all be virtual.  College campuses are ghost towns.  There will be no college tours or interviews.

In addition to going test-optional, colleges are bulking up their virtual offerings in lieu of cancelled in-person events.  . . .for many students, a personal visit to campus can help in the decision process. Applicants can sit in on a lecture, or meet with current students to get a good feel for how a particular school might “fit.” But with these spring events cancelled, schools are moving online — with virtual tours, video chats with professors and online classes.

“Admissions offices are working hard to make sure [that] even if students can’t visit, they can still get a sense of a place,” explains Bigham, who’s been on the phone with admissions officers across the country.

For those students already admitted, when will they need to make a decision?

Many colleges have extended this deadline.  Colleges understand that without being able to visit, it will delay decisions.

“Every parent and student is going through a difficult time just managing to deal with the uncertainty,” says Boeckenstedt. “It’s really unfair to say, well, we have our deadlines, and come hell or high water, you had better decide by May first.”

According to EdSource.org:

About 300 colleges and universities across the nation have reported that they have extended deposit deadlines, usually to June 1, according to a survey by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). In California, those include Cal State San Bernardino, Whittier College, Mills College and Cal Lutheran University. But 481 of those surveyed said they would not, including UCLA, University of Southern California, Cal State Fullerton and Pepperdine University.

In addition to going test-optional, colleges are bulking up their virtual offerings in lieu of cancelled in-person events. Bischoff acknowledges that, for many students, a personal visit to campus can help in the decision process. Applicants can sit in on a lecture, or meet with current students to get a good feel for how a particular school might “fit.” But with these spring events cancelled, schools are moving online — with virtual tours, virtual chats with professors and online classes.

“Admissions offices are working hard to make sure [that] even if students can’t visit, they can still get a sense of a place,” explains Bigham, who’s been on the phone with admissions officers across the country.

Admissions tests have also been jumbled: Advanced Placement (AP) tests will be given online, without multiple choice questions. The ACT has rescheduled the April 4 test to be given in June because of COVID-19, and the College Board has cancelled the SAT test scheduled for May. 

Shut out in another way, too: With high schools closed, it may be harder to stop by a counselor’s office or get advice from a teacher regarding college. Even though many colleges are shutting their campuses, admissions and financial aid staff are still working and urge students to ask questions by phone, email or on recently-deployed chat tools on the college’s website.

NACAC (National Association of College Admissions Counselors) is the best and most comprehensive resource for

College Admissions Status Updates

Probably the single best source for updates about admissions deadlines and events in NACAC website. This is an invaluable resource for all those applying to college now and for those who are either awaiting or have received acceptances.  I strongly recommend it.

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Will the COVID-19 Affect Acceptance Rates?

We are seeing a slight increase in acceptance rates in some schools.  Other schools are just as competitive.  

An article in the LATIMES suggests that USC:

. . . . got easier this fall amid widespread uncertainty over how the coronavirus outbreak will affect the college plans of students and their families.

The Wall Street Journal is reporting similar statistics:

USC announced Friday that it increased its acceptance rate to 16% for fall 2020, offering admission to 9,535 freshmen this year — about 2,000 more than last year. That’s the university’s highest admission rate in three years — up from 11.4% last year — and the largest number of students to receive the thick red welcome folder in at least a decade.

I wouldn’t count on a higher acceptance rate. IMHO 😉  On the other hand, because of the tremendous amount of anxiety and uncertainty in the world at the moment, I would guess colleges will waitlist more students in order to keep their options open in case accepted students opt for schools closer to home.

How about financial aid and need-blind merit-based aid?

It is clear to colleges that many families will be struggling to pay for college admissions.  For that reason, colleges will be offering more financial aid to more students.  Need-blind aid will also be more readily available, at least for the class of 2020 and 2021.  You can read more about this in The Conversation — 5 Ways the Coronavirus Will Change College Admissions This Fall.

 

Incoming Freshman, Fall 2021

As I mentioned earlier, I am confident that incoming freshman in the class of 2021 will not have to attend college remotely, but will be packing their bags and preparing to decorate their dorms just as in years past.

In the meantime, high schools and colleges are scrambling to find ways to adapt to the situation at hand.

How will high school college counselors evaluate students they may never have met in person?

College counselors will need to rely on virtual interviews and rave sheets in order to write the required recommendations for students they may have met only once.

I will be providing a sample rave sheet in the next week or so because I believe it is more important than ever for students and parents to send these to college counselors who will no longer have the opportunity to meet their advisees in person.

Also stay tuned for a post about new and Innovative College Essay Topics for the Times and one on Tips for Virtual Interviews.

I will also continue to post updates on the impact of the Coronavirus on college admissions.

Please feel free to email me at gabrielle@newvisionlearning.org or call me at 415-637-1955 with your questions and concerns.

Please stay well and positive.  We will get through this.  I am here to help.

BEST of BCE 2020

Best College Essays 2020 Deadline Extended to April 15th

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In the process of writing what is surely the most important essay of their lives, Gabrielle Glancy writes, students are called upon to reach deep inside themselves for what moves them, while reaching toward the world they will soon enter.  In these essays, you will find this yearning, as students unfold their stories, first to themselves, and then to those who will take part in deciding their future.

 

We have been receiving a lot of last minute submissions for the competition and have decided to extend the deadline to April 15, 2020.

As the editor of Best College Admissions Essays 2020, I would like to invite you/your students to submit their essays for publication.

This year’s publication is special!  We will be choosing new submissions to add to the best submissions of the decade!  In effect, Best College Essays 2020 will be an anthology including the best submissions since we started in 2014.

First prize will be $1,000. 

There will also be two second prizes of $500 each. First and second-place winners will be featured — and runners-up will be published — in Best College Admissions Essays 2020.

The college essay is the most important essay students will ever write in their lives — and yet most of these essays are sent to admissions offices never to be seen again. Best College Admissions Essays is a way to honor this rite of passage, while inspiring great college admissions essays to come.

The 2014 and 2016 editions of Best College Admissions Essays were a great success:

  • submissions from every state in the US and all around the world
  • thousands of copies sold
  • ranked one of the top anthologies of its kind

Best College Essays 2018 available here is still the most popular anthology of college essays out there.

We expect Best American College Admissions Essays 2020 to be an even greater success. We would love for you/your students to get public recognition for the private hard work they did on these essays, and we encourage them to submit here.

Feel free to email me with questions at BestCollegeEssays2020@gmail.com. Check out our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/pg/BCAE18. And please spread the word!  

All best,

Gabrielle Glancy
Series Editor, Best College Essays

Best College Essays 2020

Call for Submissions: The Best of Best College (Admissions) Essays

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Gabrielle Glancy, Series Editor of Best College Essays, explains the essence of this series:

What makes these great essays is not a list of accomplishments, but a flavor of uniqueness, a glimpse into the life and heart of the writer, an embodiment of the student’s je ne sais quoi.

Best College Essays 2020 Deadline March 15th

Since its inception six years ago, every year or every other year, 2014, 2016 & 2018, Best College Essays has published the best college admissions essays written by students applying to college.

I am honored to have been an integral part of this endeavor as Series Editor.

Probably the single most important essay a student will ever write in their lives, the college essay gets sent to admissions offices never to be seen again.

The mission of Best College Essays is to exhume these diamonds in the rough, destined to be discarded as soon as the process is over, and expose them to the light of day, in an effort to mark, showcase, and honor this often overlooked rite of passage.

This year, 2020, marks the publication of the fourth in this series, and it is a special edition because it is going to be The BEST of BEST COLLEGE ADMISSIONS ESSAYS!

Best College Essays 2020 will be an anthology of the best essays from our series judged by readers from Harvard, Brown, Oberlin, Wesleyan and Columbia as well as the best of any new submissions we receive.  It is a special honor to be published in Best College Essays 2020 for this reason.

We invite you, or any student graduating in 2020, to submit their essay(s) to the contest.

Once again, we have a $1000 First Prize and two Second Prizes of $500 each.

Click here for Submission Guidelines.  

And good luck!

A New Vision of SAT Prep for the New Year

SAT Basics: What You Need to Know But No One Tells You

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Gabrielle Glancy helped educate us about the SAT’s, the college essays and the whole college process.  My wife and I did not go to university in the U.S. Our son was the first in our family to go to university here.  We needed a lot of help, even knowing how to fill out the forms.  We are so grateful we found Gabby.  — V. Patel

With the first official SAT of the year just around the corner (March 14th), parents and students are filled with questions about the test.

Unless you have a high school counselor who has lots of free time on their hands (an oxymoron ;-), you will probably not know the basics.  It’s easy enough to find this information out for yourself, but for your convenience, I provide it for you here.  If you want to, you can click on these links to various places on the College Board where you can find logistics, information, practice tests and even scholarship opportunities!

Recently I was on a panel at the Oak Grove School in Ojai, California discussing the fundamental inequities of the SAT vis a vis gender, race and parental income. The film in question titled The Test and The Art of Thinking made a compelling argument against using the SAT or ACT as a metric of acceptance into college, and showed it to be the business that it is, parading around as the big cahuna in college admissions — a case of the emperor’s clothes — when really it’s a racist, classist scam money-making scam (IMHO 😉  Recently, I saw that College Board has partnered with the Kahn Academy — which was one of many test prep/tutoring programs out there.  This again raises eyebrows about the ethical nature of the firm.  For my part, the filmmakers of The Test and The Art of Thinking are preaching to the converted.  I already spend a lot of time telling students, who by all accounts should get into Harvard, Brown, MIT,  just how capable they are, in spite of the fact they couldn’t seem to get their SAT scores up to (Ivy League or top tier-) snuff.  This is the subject of a whole ‘nother article.  For now, since, as they say, you can’t fight City Hall, I hope this information will at least help you navigate the inevitable.

Every year I prepare students for these standardized tests.  I will be providing a list of tricks and tips in my next post.

Right now, let’s take a look at the basics.

You’re ready to roll.  You’ve spent a good few months preparing for the test.  You’ve got your pencil (and brain) sharpened, but what do you bring?

Here is what the College Board has to say about what you should bring and what you should leave home the day of the test, directly from “the horse’s mouth”:

Nice to Have

  • A watch (without an audible alarm)
  • Extra batteries and backup equipment—you’ll have to ask for permission to access them. They cannot be on your desk during the test.
  • A bag or backpack
  • A drink or snacks (for your break)
  • Breakfast before you arrive

What Not to Bring

  • Any devices, including digital watches, that can be used to record, transmit, receive, or play back audio, photographic, text, or video content (with the exception of CD players used for Language with Listening Subject Tests only)
  • Audio players/recorders, tablets, laptops, notebooks, Google Glass, or any other personal computing devices
  • iPods or other MP3 players
  • iPads or other tablet devices
  • Laptops, notebooks, PDAs or any other personal computing devices
  • Any texting device
  • Cameras or any other photographic equipment
  • Separate timers of any type
  • Protractors, compasses, rulers
  • Highlighters, colored pens, colored pencils, mechanical pencils
  • Pamphlets or papers of any kind
  • Dictionaries or other books—there are no exceptions, even if English is not your first language
  • Food or drinks (except for during breaks), unless approved by the College Board’s Services for Students with Disabilities. Learn more about testing with accommodations.

Your school counselor can share a complete list of prohibited devices—just ask to see the Official Student Guide.

Turn Off All Electronic Devices

You’ll need to turn off all electronic devices during the test and even during breaks. This includes cellphones. Be sure to turn off your watch alarm, if you have one.

Why? Test centers are serious about security and quiet, so prohibited devices—which include cellphones, tablets, and MP3 players—must be turned off and put under your desk. Better yet: Leave them at home.

If You Bring or Use Prohibited Devices

The test administration staff is encouraged to collect and hold phones and other prohibited electronic devices during the test administration, including break periods, or to deny admission to anyone who is in possession of a prohibited electronic device.

If your device makes noise or you are seen using it at any time, including during breaks, you may be dismissed immediately, your scores can be canceled, and the device may be confiscated and its contents inspected. The College Board is not responsible for loss or damage to personal items, including electronic devices, while you are in the test center.

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There’s nothing new or fancy here — it’s taken directly from the CollegeBoard site.  I provide it only because almost no one actually reads it beforehand.  I often answer questions on this very subject or direct students and their parents to CollegeBoard.org

All test centers follow the same procedures and rules, which you should get familiar with before test day.

Important:

SAT Essay

If you’re unsure about taking the SAT Essay, you may be able to remove or add it on test day with your coordinator’s permission—if test materials, rooms, and staff are available. If you‘re able to switch on test day, there may be fees (or even a refund). Learn about Changing Your Registration Information.

Doors Open 7:45 a.m.

All test centers open at 7:45 a.m. and doors close at 8 a.m., unless otherwise noted on your admission ticket. You cannot be admitted once testing has started. If you’re late or absent on test day, you can reschedule. We recommend rescheduling as opposed to re-registering—it will cost less. Find out more at Changing Your Registration Information.

Make sure you show up with everything you need.

Get the test day checklist.

Testing Starts Between 8:30 and 9 a.m.

Your seat is assigned, not chosen by you. Wait to be seated. Here’s what will happen next:

  • The test coordinator will read all instructions verbatim from a manual and can answer questions only about procedure, not about test questions or content.
  • The test coordinator will tell you when to start and stop working on each section.
  • You must work within each section of the test only for the time allotted.
  • You may not go back to a section once that section has ended.
  • You may not go ahead to a new section if you finish a section early.
  • Do not skip sections. Doing so may result in score cancellation, delays, or both.
  • After the test is finished, the test coordinator will collect and count the test books to make sure all materials have been turned in before dismissing you from the testing room.

Don’t be surprised if your test experience isn’t exactly like that of the student sitting next to you. The sections in your test book might be different.

Breaks

For most students, there is one 10-minute and one five-minute break during the test, the only times you can eat and drink.

  • Keep your ID and admission ticket with you at all times. They’ll be checked every time you enter the testing room.
  • Test books, answer sheets, and calculators must remain on your desk during breaks.
  • You can’t use this time to power up devices, like cell phones—if you do, your scores will be canceled.

Dismissal

If you take the SAT with Essay, you’ll likely be done testing around 1 p.m. If you’re not taking the essay, you’ll likely be done around noon.

Devices

We mention cell phones and electronics often, and for good reason. Your scores will be canceled if you don’t follow the rules around devices.

Things to keep in mind:

  • Test administration staff reserves the right to collect and hold cell phones and other prohibited electronic devices during the test administration, including during break periods.
  • If your device makes noise, or if you are seen using it, or if you attempt to access it at any time, including breaks, you will be dismissed immediately, your scores can be canceled, and the device may be confiscated.
  • The College Board is not responsible for loss or damage to personal items, including electronic devices, while you are in the test center.

As for whether to prepare for the SAT — yes for sure — how to prepare for the SAT and how much time you should devote to doing so — that depends — these will be the subject of another post.

I will say this:  There are tricks and it helps to know what they are.

Preparation is pretty much mandatory.  Everyone prepares, which means to compete in this field, you must prepare too.

I would consider 3-6 months dedicated preparation with someone who knows the tricks, can help you navigate the test, and can contribute to building your confidence in your own abilities (this is key)!

Stay tuned for more on the subject.

In the meantime, you can take a look here at what I provide in preparing students for the SAT’s!

Why Use an Independent College Counselor?

Navigating the College Maze, the Worry-Free Way

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Gabby is super busy. Scheduled back to back most days. But when it’s your time, she is there 100%. My daughter never felt rushed or stressed by Gabby. My daughter felt as if she was working with a trusted friend throughout the process. She truly received a master class in writing, and has already used techniques she learned from Gabby in applying for an honors program in college.  

She helped bring up my daughters SAT scores significantly after just a few sessions, and really pushed her to write essays that she was proud of.

My daughter said that her writing skills, which were already good, have improved so much since working with Gabby, and I think that that is worth its weight in gold. 

Gabby also clearly enjoys working with kids at this stage in life and really understands them.

She acted as a therapist to my daughter throughout the process, giving her pep talks exactly when she needed them.

The College Application Process has become very complicated!  SAT or ACT?  SAT 2 Subject Tests? Early Decision?  Early Action?  Restrictive Early Action? 15 different College Essays?  To Interview or not to Interview, that is the quesion!  And the list goes on and on.

As you probably already have found out, high school college counselors are stretched very thin and also have to deal with red tape.  For this reason, it has become increasingly popular for people to use private college counselors.  If there weren’t such a dire need for my services, I would be out of a job.  But as it is, my phone is ringing off the hook.

And I suppose, if getting into college wasn’t so difficult and competitive, there would have been no need for such extreme and dishonest measures as  recently brought to light in the College Admissions ScandalThe College Admissions Scandal and What It Shows Us, about which I have a lot to say.

I once had a doctor who said he only accepted as many patients as he could hold in his heart.  

I feel exactly the same way.  For me, that number is about twenty-five.  I’m already halfway there!

Because it has become so complicated, and because it is so important, everyone needs help in navigating the college process.

Students and their parents are very nervous.  They often don’t know where to turn.

Don't Get Nervous. Get to Work!

Indeed, there are a lot of steps.  And many of them begin before your child even starts his or her freshman year in high school. 

Because I often meet students late in their 11th grade year, or even at the beginning of 12th grade, I find myself saying:  I wish I met you two years ago.

I am sure that is why I advise you to:

Stop Worrying, and Start Early!

The best antidote to nerves is action.  The longer you wait to get started, the more nervous you will be.

For this reason, I like to see students at least once a year between the end of 8th grade and the spring of 10th grade.  By the way, I don’t have a package and there is no lock in.  That first INITIAL Consultation is simply a time to orient, reflect, and make a plan of action.

What will we discuss?  

How to Navigate the College Process, of course!

Here is a list of first-steps I have compiled.  I hope these will provide light in the darkness and a comfort as you enter the maze.

As for the next few months, here is the timeline:

  • January — College Meetings for 10th and 11th graders to discuss college list and timeline going forward
  • February — Mock Interviews.  It’s very important before college visits (which usually happen over spring break) to get your jitters out and find ways to express yourself that are positive, articulate and authentic
  • March — Believe it or not, we start on the college essays. This is the time to gather prompts, brainstorm ideas and being writing. 

I love my work.  I see how important it is and how much good I do in helping students find themselves and find their way.

That is why I have designed this Roadmap to Success.  It will definitely help you get started.

My door is always open.  Please feel free to email me or call me at 415-637-1955 to see how I might be able to help you.

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The College Admissions Scandal and What It Shows Us

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The day after news of the college admissions scandal broke, WIRED magazine called to ask me for an interview. 

A previous partner was one of the founding editors of WIRED — I thought she had given them my name.  In fact, they had heard about me through the grapevine and then googled me in search of experts in the field.  Presumably, they were looking for someone like myself who has sat on both sides of the table, or all three sides, in my case.  In the course of my career, I have worked in admissions for three different colleges and universities, I have worked in and been director of college counseling at various high schools around the world, and now I am working independently as a college counselor helping students find themselves and the right schools for them (not necessarily the most prestigious) and guiding them in writing deep, authentic, stand-out essays that show admissions who they really are and what they\’re made of.  

I was excited to get the call from WIRED when the story broke.

I had much to say on the topic of the college admissions scandal. 

But that\’s not what WIRED was interested in.  They wanted me to speak on the subject of \”influencers,\” specifically student influencers in college admissions. As Brennan Barnard explains in his recent article in Forbes:

These are the young people who will be applying to college in 5 to 10 years and it is no surprise that this influencer phenomenon has infiltrated college admission. A growing number of colleges and universities are partnering with student influencers to sponsor content on YouTube and other platforms as part of their school\’s marketing strategies in admission. They are selling the “merch” of a college degree.

I kept trying to bring the conversation back to what I thought of as the underlying reasons for the college admissions scandal and what the scandal showed about the whole process these days of applying to college.  Alas.  They found someone else to answer their question!

But recently, reflecting on Barnard\’s broader definition of influencers, I have come to see that indeed those who determine and affect the very climate and policies in education and admissions — and those who are working hard to transform a system that is hardly equitable — have everything to do with the college admissions scandal.

As the Lori Laughlin trial is about to happen, I thought now was a good time to answer the question I wished WIRED had asked me:  What does the college admission scandal show about the whole process of applying to college in 2020?

In his article, Barnard aptly points out that there is a trickle-down effect, pressure coming from the top:

Our nation’s leaders, including President Trump, Secretary of Education DeVos, and legislators in the House and Senate, inform the environment within which colleges and universities operate. From college affordability to immigration to labor laws, the administration’s policies have influenced many admission trends and practices, while raising issues of access and equity in higher education. 

He also showcases the many devoted college admissions directors, administrators and high school college counselors who \”care deeply about equity and social justice and work tirelessly to be a voice for oppressed students\” and cites \”the most talked-about author in college admission in 2019 was Paul Tough whose book “The Years That Matter Most” explores important issues of equity and social mobility in admission and higher education.

But he dismisses the \”influencers\” Lori Laughlin and Felicity Huffman and the whole Varsity Blues scandal, simply stating that it would be \”remiss\” not to mention them.

I can well understand Barnard\’s reluctance to focus on the already celebrated celebrities involved in the scandal, to give it more attention than it\’s already gotten.

But this is exactly where I want to turn the spotlight.

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My sense is that what Lori Laughlin, Felicity Huffman et al. have done is not particularly unique. 

Rather, it reflects the flaws in a system that is broken as well as the corruption present in the general zeitgeist.

Varsity Blues turns inside out an unexamined process — one that is skewed and corrupt — and reflects the values of a commodified America in which a college degree is merchandise, something to be bought.  It highlights the advantages the \”haves \” have over the \”have nots.\”  It shows the perpetuation and exploitation of privilege. 

What these celebrities did was not unique — it just exposed flaws in the system and what happens in one form or another every single day.

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It looks like those involved will be able to buy themselves out of this pickle just as they bought themselves in. 

One would hope the scandal would have caused an implosion in the infrastructure of the college admissions game and a deep inquiry into the systemic oppression that underlies it.

Personally, I think the scandal is part and parcel of an environment in which dishonesty, fraud and extortion are the norm.

It reflects a sense of fragility in the economy and in the \”1%\” for whom the whole structure is directed.

It will be much harder in the future to save for retirement as our parents have done.  There may or may not be Social Security when our children come of age — even when WE come of age!

The economy is booming at the moment, but could topple in the smallest gust of wind.

How do we secure a future in a world such as ours?

I don\’t really have an answer to this question.

I would say, however, that it is going to require nothing short of revolution.  The status quo is destroying the planet and killing the species.  We cannot keep going like we\’ve been going.  People of privilege are getting into schools of privilege . . . and so the cycle continues.

Our fast-paced, techno-world will require new kinds of education, thinking and solutions.  The old institutions must keep up with the demands of our world-on-the-verge.  

Almost every single student I encounter is profoundly worried about the fate of our planet.  Most are considering pursuing fields in which solutions can be found.

These solutions start within.

Buying entrance into top-tier schools is only the tip of the iceberg and one which reflects a profound mistrust of our sons and daughters. 

Let students pick the schools they are actually, energetically and intrinsically drawn to.  Have them write from their hearts, show the world who they are, and let the chips fall where they may. 

Every day in my work, I encourage students to abandon all forms of inculcation in their writing and tap the wellsprings of inner truth.  I ask them to look within, to let themselves be free enough to have the courage to pursue their dreams.

This sounds very un-serious and not like a way to make a living.

But I did it myself; I know it can be done.

What other choice is there?

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Gabrielle Glancy Featured in Elephant Journal: Walking on Air

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I found UNSTUCK to be very enjoyable, on top of being astute, and above all, useful.  The playfulness in it, and Glancy\’s personal voice, undoubtedly make it all the more readable and therapeutic for any struggling writer — especially for its target reader, the college applicant.  Margaret Crastnopol, PhD

Gabrielle Glancy Featured in Elephant Journal

Since my newest book UNSTUCK:  How to Break Through Writer\’s Block, Find Your Voice and Get into the College of Your Dreams came out a few months ago, people have been asking me to speak about what I do best, how I think about writing, and what I consider the secret to my success in getting kids into all the top colleges in the country — the HONEST way!

It\’s been an amazing journey looking into myself to answer the questions asked of me and to find ways to articulate the vision behind the practice — the goals and ideas underlying what I do every day to help students realize their dreams.

Recently, Elephant Journal asked me to speak about this very thing.

Here\’s an excerpt from my article in Elephant Journal:

Writing requires the suspension of both fear and disbelief.  Is what I’m saying true?  Is it good?  Where am I getting these ideas and how am I producing words?  I’m on a roll.  Can I keep going?

These thoughts will deflate even the loftiest among us (pun intended 😉

Suspended, held up by the invisible force of . . .  imagination, spirit, air . . .  that is the place from which, I have found, the best writing comes.

So how do you get there?

I would be happy to show you!  Click here to book a session and get started on one of the most important journeys of your life.

I\’m enrolling students now for the 2020 academic year. 

It\’s wise to start early and lay a foundation for the years ahead.  It\’s also very important to choose schools to which you want to apply and work backwards from there to figure out what you would need to do to get in.  Also, applications for summer programs are due in the next few months.  I have an almost 100% success rate helping students get into summer programs.

Start the new year off right!  Start the new year with New Vision Learning!

Excited talk to Dr. Larry

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