Georgetown Quietly Changed Its SAT/ACT Policy. You No Longer Have to Send Every Score.
For years, Georgetown had one of the most unusual standardized-testing policies among highly selective colleges. Take the SAT three times? Send all three. Take the ACT twice? Send both. Take both tests? Georgetown wanted to see the complete testing record. There was no hiding the ugly Saturday morning when the SAT went sideways. No carefully […]
Grade Inflation Is Real. Here’s Why Strong Grades May Not Be Enough Anymore.
Your student has a 4.0. Maybe even higher. They are taking honors or AP classes. Their report card looks impressive. They have done exactly what families have been told to do: Work hard. Take challenging classes. Earn strong grades. So why are colleges still asking for more? Why are selective universities bringing back standardized testing? […]
The Common App Is Open. Here’s What High-Achieving Students Need to Do Before November.
The Common Application opened August 1, 2026. That means thousands of rising seniors are creating accounts, adding colleges, and telling themselves they have plenty of time. Some do. Many do not. For students targeting selective and highly selective schools, the EA and ED deadline window, most commonly November 1, is now exactly thirteen weeks away. […]
No Supplemental Essay? Then Grades and Scores Matter Even More.
Some elite schools are making it easier to apply. That does not mean they are making it easier to get in. In fact, for many students, the opposite may be true. When colleges reduce or remove supplemental essays, families often assume the process just got simpler, friendlier, or less stressful. But that is not the […]
Columbia Is Requiring the SAT or ACT Again — and Families Should Notice the Pattern
Columbia is bringing back the SAT or ACT. That matters. Not because one policy change suddenly rewrites college admissions. But because Columbia was the last Ivy League holdout, and now even Columbia has decided that standardized testing belongs back in the admissions process. Families should stop reading these announcements as isolated headlines. They are not […]
More Than 1,100 UC Professors Want the SAT Back: What Families Should Take Away
More than 1,100 University of California math and science professors are urging UC regents to reinstate college-entrance exams, arguing that too many students are arriving underprepared for serious quantitative work. According to the reporting, the professors cited major readiness problems in STEM, including nearly one-third of first-semester calculus students at UC Berkeley showing “severe preparation […]
Yale Just Made the SAT/ACT Matter Again — As If It Ever Really Stopped
Yale now requires the SAT or ACT again. And families should be honest about what that means. This is not just a policy update. It is a reality check. For years, a lot of families quietly absorbed the idea that standardized testing had become optional in the ways that really mattered. That if a school […]