(Forbes) By Chris Teare. At this time of year, college admissions officers like me are bleary-eyed from weeks of reading applications. Many of us are now in committee sessions, determining which applicants will receive offers of admission. At the very few super-selective, single-digit-percentage-acceptance places, the process is Darwinian. Admissions officers at the vast majority […]
Read More »(The Atlantic) By James Murphy — Teenagers make bad choices. Honestly, who doesn’t? For adolescents, however, who are armed with new responsibilities, opportunities, and bodies they are almost inevitably unprepared to deal with, the wrong decision can have serious, life-altering effects. For low-income adolescents who lack the safety net that comes with privilege, the wrong […]
Read More »(The College Board)–The new SAT Essay is a lot like writing assignments you’ll see in college. It asks you to read a passage and analyze how the author constructs a persuasive argument. You’ll have 50 minutes to complete your response. Quick Facts The SAT Essay is optional, but many colleges require or recommend it. If […]
Read More »(Boston Globe) By James S. Murphy– I HOLD A PhD in English from the University of California, Berkeley. I’ve taught students to write at Emory, Berkeley, and Harvard and picked up three teaching awards along the way. I have published more than two dozen pieces in national publications, including The Atlantic and Vanity Fair. In May, […]
Read More »(Education Week) By Walt Gardner– Although the new SAT makes the essay optional, almost two-thirds of test takers in the spring went for it (“How a teacher bombed the SATs,” The Boston Globe, Jul. 14). The essays were rated by two scorers on the basis of reading, writing, and analysis. The scores were added up for […]
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