by Joe Avanzato Anxiety, when left unchecked, has the potential to multiply fear to exponential levels. I was certainly nervous in 2008, high school graduation approaching quickly, unsure what to do with my future. Walking into Sarphatie Education’s offices for the first time, I felt even more nervous, as Dr. Trama seemed to be an unstoppable force. At our first meeting, she urged me to stop worrying about the process, explaining that she was helping me now. True to her word, she took the reigns of the application process, calmed my initial nerves, and became a steady, guiding light during a time that can often be confusing for even the most prepared students. One of the more stressful parts of […]

Sum up your life in 500 words?  Many students feel that this is the impossible mission of the college application essay.  If the subject of your admissions essay had to be the entirety of your life and/or character, they’d give you more than 500 words.  The truth about admissions essays is that colleges want to get a sense of your personality in order to see how you’ll fit into the academic community they’re building.  Since you are yourself in everything you think and do, you can pretty much write about anything. I just made the problem worse, didn’t I?  Anything?! Not surprisingly, there are many theories about picking the right topic for your essay.  I’ll outline a few common theories, […]

With the new school year getting underway this week, it’s important, if you’re starting 12th grade, that you get to work on your college applications. The earlier you start work on your applications, the better – as procrastination can lead to missed deadlines. (We’re going to assume that you’ve worked up a list of colleges to apply to at this point. If you haven’t done that, start there. Here’s our post with tips on how to narrow your list down from the thousands of colleges available to you.) Now that you have your list, it’s imperative that you come up with a list of deadlines of the applications. Many schools will have different deadlines, so if you have a calendar […]

With the start of another school year upon us, it’s time to think about college applications. But where to start? There are literally thousands of options available to you. How do you narrow your list down? Here are some of the ways that we’ve found to be helpful when you’re figuring out where to apply. 1. What Type Of School Do You Want? This might seem like an obvious statement, but it’s an important one. By “type” we don’t mean “party school” or “non-party school;” instead, there are certain demographics that can be used to find schools that will be a good fit. First, are you looking for a four-year school, or a community college? Are you looking for a […]