Tag Archives: College

Don’t Miss Dr. Dean Skarlis Speak on College Planning

The Society of Financial Service Professionals (SFSP) of ENY is hosting an evening with Dr. Dean Skarlis, of The College Advisor of New York, in which he will provide his insights on the college selection process. The event is open to all SFSP members and their clients and is a great opportunity for Chapter Members to provide extra benefits to those clients who may have children approaching college age.

Light refreshments will be served; hope to see you there!

Wednesday, January 14th
6:00 – 7:30 P.M.
Italian American Community Center
Dante Room
$20 for Members & Client Guests
$35 for Non-Members

Presenting:
Dr. Dean Skarlis, President of The College Advisor of New York

Dr. Skarlis will outline the steps you and your clients need to find the best fit college. Some of the topics he will cover are:

  • The top 5 factors colleges look for in applicants
  • The financial aid process
  • Proven strategies to reduce college costs
  • Rankings/schmankings: understanding why “fit” is critical
  • SAT/ACT strategy and the NEW SAT
  • How to make the most of college visits
  • The importance of the essay

For more information on Dr. Dean Skarlis, please visit the College Advisor of New York website.

For further questions regarding this event, contact Melissa Shriver at ENYChapExec@gmail.com.

More about Dr. Dean Skarlis

Dr. Skarlis is the President and founder of The College Advisor of New York. Dean has more than 23 years of experience in higher education, including 6 years as a Consultant at American College Testing (ACT) and 9 years as an administrator at Duquesne University and the University of Pittsburgh. A passionate student advocate, Dean has taught at the graduate and undergraduate levels, and has served as a Senior Lecturer at Tiffin University. He holds a B.A. in Psychology from Allegheny College, an M.A. in Psychology from Duquesne University, and a Doctorate in Educational Policy and Administration from the University of Pittsburgh. Dean also earned a certificate from the Harvard University Institute on College Admissions. His research has focused on quality teaching and learning, retention, and program design at four-year colleges. He is a member of the National Association of College Admissions Counseling and the Independent Educational Consultants Association.
Dr. Skarlis has conducted presentations about college admissions for thousands of students, parents, faculty, and administrators at more than 220 colleges, universities, and high schools across the United States. He has also been a featured speaker and trainer for hundreds of families, financial planners and Certified Public Accountants on the intricacies of college financial aid and scholarships. Nationally, he has appeared on ABC World News and has been quoted in The Wall Street Journal twice, and most recently. Locally, he has been a featured guest and member of the “Answers Team” on CBS 6 WRGB TV, WTEN TV, Fox 23 News, and the YNN – Channel 9 “Family Living” segment which is broadcast across upstate New York. He has been quoted in several local and national publications including an article in The Washington Post entitled, “The Dirty Little Secrets of College Admissions,” The New York Post, The Times Union, The Associated Press, TheStreet.Com, and Capital Region Living Magazine, as well as The Portable Guidance Counselor, a book about the college admissions process published by The Princeton Review in 2010. Dean also serves on the Board of Directors of the Albany-Colonie Regional Chamber of Commerce and the East Greenbush-Castleton Youth Baseball League. In his spare time he coaches Little League Baseball and Pop Warner Football in the community of East Greenbush, NY.

The College Advisor of New York
18 Corporate Woods Boulevard
Albany, NY 12211
USA
(518) 512-3021

Not Your Father’s College Admissions

The old commercial by General Motors went something like this:  “The new Oldsmobile is not your father’s Oldsmobile…”  Within a decade of that advertisement, the Olds line was abandoned.  Such is the case with college admissions.  It’s quite literally not your father’s admissions game.  Instead it’s much more competitive, complicated, not to mention, significantly more expensive.  Below I’ve outlined several of the most poignant differences between old and new.

Highly Competitive:  When I applied to college in the 1980s, only 6 out of 10 high school students went directly from high school to college.  Today, that number has increased to 7 out of 10.  To make matters worse, colleges are now recruiting internationally, so kids are being compared to students not only across the U.S., but around the world.  Factor in that because of online applications, kids are now applying to more schools (an average of 7 as compared to only 4 just 15 years ago), and you’ve got many more applicants, many more applications and the same number of colleges as there were 25 years ago.  That all leads to a dramatically highly selective environment.

Test Prep and Grade Inflation:  With the significant growth of the test prep movement, more students are focusing on SAT and ACT preparation, so scores for high performing students have increased over time.  In addition, grade inflation has crept into our high schools like never before to the extent that today, a “B” is much closer to what a “C” was when parents were in school.  Because grades and test scores are among the most important factors in the admissions decision, especially at the highly selective colleges, this adds to the highly competitive nature of today’s process.

An Overwhelmingly Complex Process:  Applying to college used to entail writing an essay, completing some basic paperwork, and mailing the packet to the 2 or 3 colleges to which you sought admission.  The Common Application, and other competing applications, promised to change all that.  The idea was that you would do one application which would enable you to apply to any combination of 500 colleges who use that application.  The problem is that the Common App is not very user friendly.  It’s less than intuitive interface also has several additional pieces, called supplementals, that are specific to each school.  As a result, instead of writing one or two basic essays, many students have to write more than a dozen college essays, depending on the particular schools to which they apply.  Even submitting the applications has become time consuming.  In many cases, you submit once, but you have to pay 10 times!  And what if your college does not use the Common Application?  Then you have to search, register for, complete and submit that many more applications at the college’s own web site.  For many, this is a dizzingly challenging process which is why we recommend starting EARLY during the summer before a student’s senior year of high school.

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