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Ways to Avoid Rejection

12/4/2014

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When many students begin their college applications and send off their college applications, they may actually forget that the application itself is just one part of what needs to be submitted.  There are several other documents that must be received before  your file is considered ready for review by the college. And because of this, many students are going to receive a ton of emails and postcards just after they submit their applications, notifying them that all their materials have not been received. Panicking parents and students will begin to stress out. Here are some ways to avoid having your application sidelined in the admissions process.

School Forms / Naviance

Your school college counselor should have a list of colleges that you will be applying to several weeks before your first deadline. He/She will need to prepare all the forms that need to be submitted from the school. Some guidance office will rely on students to pick up the documents and send them to colleges, while others will collect and send all the school materials together.

So, what are the forms that MUST be received by each of your colleges?

Teacher recommendations, the guidance counselor recommendation, your transcript, and the school profile MUST ALL be received by each of your colleges.

Some schools now file electronically via the Naviance or Common App, but other schools may still remain locked in the era of paper and the U.S. Post Office (also known as snail mail). Thus, it will be important to give your counselor plenty of notice as to where you will be applying. If school materials get lost in the mail, some colleges will wait a few days for another set to be sent, but it is better to avoid this situation.

Test Scores (SAT I, SAT II Subject Tests, or ACT scores)

These test scores must be sent directly from the reporting agency to colleges, unless you are applying to a test optional institution. The only scores that colleges will accept come directly from the Collegeboard (www.collegeboard.com) for the SATs or the www.act.org for the ACT.

With an unusually high number of issues with missing SAT scores during some of the early admissions, it would be best to request your scores at least 2 weeks before your deadlines whenever possible.

Payments


Students, do not forget that in order for your application to be processed, your payment must be received. Most college allow credit card payments, and/or checks. Make sure you put your ID or SSN number on the check and send it directly to the admissions office (follow directions). For students who are submitting a fee waiver, be sure to call the admissions office and make sure that the required information for a waiver was received and that your request was accepted.

Supplements

While all the aforementioned are important, the Supplements is the part of the application that can be deal breaker.

Colleges may wait for late SAT scores or payments, but if the supplements are not transmitted by the deadline, the application may be rejected. So, make sure you work carefully on these essays and submit them on time.

For college services, contact Lee Academia consultants and avoid application rejections.


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LAEC's International Students : 2002-2013

10/30/2014

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Picture
This week, Lee Academia's team gathered data from 2002-2013 and created this graph on the left. We can see the increased interest in U.S Colleges/Universities as more and more International students apply and seek LAEC's High School/College/Graduate School Counseling.

Lee Academia limits the number of students we work with, as we dedicate our expertise and professionalism in helping each and every one of our clients. In 2012-2013, we see a tremendous increase in our International Students (especially from China) applying to U.S. Colleges seeking our help during the Spring and early Summer term, thus limiting our availability for American students.

Here are sample services that we helped our International Students with:
  • Choosing U.S. Boarding, Colleges & Graduate Schools
  • College List - Selection 
  • College Research
  • College Tours & Visits
  • ART & Visual Schools
  • Art Portfolios
  • Interview Training
  • Building Resume / Brag Sheet
  • Applying to High Schools/Colleges/Graduate Schools
  • TOEFL / IELTS Preparation
  • SAT / ACT Preparation
  • MCAT/GRE/GMAT/LSAT and more
  • Finding Interests / Extracurricular
  • College Application Essays
  • Transitions / Adapting to U.S. Colleges
  • Scholarship Searches for International Students
  • GAP Year / Conditional Year / Transfer Admissions
So don't hesitate and enroll now! LAEC is a first-come, first-serve based Educational Consulting center. We will do our best to accommodate all our interested students and parents from both the U.S and International countries. Contact us now.

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Superscoring: What is it?

9/5/2014

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With the big day arriving soon, students are also going to anticipate their standardized test score report to arrive when they finish. And lucky for them, instead of waiting for the hard paper copy of the score report to arrive, scores are available online. 

SAT Superscore

Now, let’s assume that on the SAT, you received a 560 in Critical Reading, a 740 in Mathematics, and a 630 in Writing. Your overall score would be an 1930 (out of 2400). Students might compare their score to the scores of admitted college applicants. This measure is somewhat helpful in determining what their scores mean, but what students really want to look at are their percentile ranks.

While our imaginary scores would place you above 78 percent of the students in the country for your reading score, above 96 percent of students for math, and above 82 percent of students in writing. Note that although you have a separate score reported for your essay (on a scale of 1-12), that score is already part of the complex calculation used to arrive at the 600. You will also see a writing subscore for the multiple choice questions (on a scale of 20-80). The score between 200 and 800 is what matters.

Keep in mind that your scores are estimates. And the many versions of the SAT all have the same level of difficulty among all the various questions; the SAT writers are only human. 

This is part of the reason that some colleges superscore the SAT. Many students take the SAT multiple times. We recommend that students take the SAT no more than two times. There are variations in the test content, thus the second time a student takes the SAT, he might do worse in reading but much better in math. And it would not be fair if your higher reading score from the first test was disregarded. So, some schools will look at all of the test scores you submit and use the highest score you achieved in each section. For example, they may take your reading score from your first test and your math and writing scores from your second test and then combine them to give you your highest score possible out of 2400. 

The College Board publishes data that tells us whether the schools we are interested in superscore or only look at the scores from the last time you took the test. If you have ever wondered how applicants at Ivy League schools seem to have near perfect SAT scores, this is how. Few applicants attending the elite institutions scored a perfect 2400 in a single attempt.

ACT Superscore

If students took the ACT, the percentile-based interpretation of their scores makes more sense than does the numbers-based interpretation. In terms of percentiles, if scores are 82% in English, 75% in Math, 85% in Reading, and 90% in Science. Again, that’s the percentage of students across the country that you performed better than. The composite score is the average of those four subscores. If you took the optional essay, a separate English score is also reported (on a scale of 1 – 36) that combines the multiple-choice writing with the essay score, but the composite score uses only the multiple choice subscore.

Similar to the SAT, there is some variation across the ACT tests (with some being noticeably harder than others). Again, this is why the percentiles matter more than the raw score. 

The difference between the tests, though, is that superscoring is not widely practiced with the ACT. ACT recommends that colleges use a single highest composite score for their admissions criteria and many schools abide by this recommendation. The ACT content is presented in a more straightforward way, which allows students to easily assess their errors, practice, and improve their scores, thus taking the ACT after studying is beneficial.

SAT and ACT Tutoring

If you are considering hiring an expert SAT tutor or ACT tutor to help your child prepare for the SAT or ACT, Lee Academia can help. Please call us at 646.266.6084, so we can begin to develop a personalized SAT tutoring and/or ACT tutoring program for your child.

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No Excuse For Not Starting Now...

7/27/2014

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Yes, we know the 2014-2015 Common Application will not officially be live until August 1st, however, as we have been telling our students, the essay prompts this year have not changed from last year's application.

So, rising seniors, what are you waiting for? Students can (and should!) get started on their essays now.

Common Application Prompts

Do you (the student) need help writing an essay that will improve your admissions odds? 

Contact us today! We will guide you through everything you need to know about writing a great college application essay.

Writing a Compelling College Essay in 1-Day!

Our 1-day course (5 hours, with 30 minute break included) will include:
  • What admissions officers are looking for in the essay
  • How to pick a compelling essay topic
  • Topics students should never write about
  • Common mistakes to avoid
  • How to use humor and anecdotes
  • How to wow admissions officers with a great opening (with examples) 
  • How to approach each common application prompt
  • How to write a great "Why Here" essay (for Supplemental Applications)
  • How to write about a weakness or failure 
  • Brainstorming, Developing, and Editing a final draft before the end of the 1-Day Program.
  • Plus, a question and answer session just for you about the process.
Seats are limited (small group course of 3 students or 1-on-1 private available)*. For more details or to register, contact us now at 646-266-6084 (8AM-6PM EST) or email us at Stephenie@Leeacademia.com with the following information to reserve your seat:


Student Name, High School, Home Address, Phone Number, Email Address
Credit Card Number (MC or Visa)
Name on Card
Expiration Date

Early Registration (register before August 1 at 7pm EST): only $450
Regular Registration (begins August 2): $550


*Online courses are available, as well. Contact us for more details.

Questions?  Call 646.266.6084
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Why a Private Consultant?

7/18/2014

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The cost of a college education is one of the second largest financial investment next to purchasing a home. Currently, many private tuitions range between $180,000 and $250,000, and state governments have been decreasing their funding. Your financial decisions will benefit from our professional guidance.

As many students choose a college without adequate investigation and research regarding what the college has to offer them, research shows that one out of three college students leave or transfer to another college and five out of ten students require five or more years to earn a degree. Our objective assessment of the student’s needs at Lee Academia help us to use current research beyond website information to find the right “student-college fit”.

Many colleges have become more selective and Lee Academia's College Consultants understand what is needed for top students to gain admissions. However, finding the right college for the average or learning differences students is just as important. Many less competitive colleges have higher drop out rates and lower graduation rates, therefore it is essential we carefully place average students in appropriate educational settings.

High school counselors – both in public and private institutions – are so overwhelmed with student caseloads, federally mandated paperwork for special needs students, dealing with disciplinary situations, and scheduling courses. There is little time left for quality personal contact between counselor and the student applying to college. Guidance counselors will write a letter of recommendation, assemble a transcript, and include a student profile in the college packet – nothing more.

For more information and to contact us for a consultation: click here.


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May Day

5/1/2014

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Today is the deadline for first-year candidates to choose among their offers of admissions, financial aid and scholarships. Congratulations to all college-bound students and hopefully, you all deposited on time.

Remember:

While some colleges may offer an extension of the May 1 deadline, students need to call and/or email their admission counselor, and state the reason for the indecision, and many schools do not grant extensions.

Deposits are not refundable after May 1.

Also, after going through all the years of planning, researching, arguing, traveling, debating, analyzing, comparing, writing, thinking, fretting, and finishing strong, do not forget that getting accepted in to the college is FAR less important than staying in and successfully completing college.

As always, we welcome your comments and questions. Feel free to email us or call us at 646-266-6084. Join us on Facebook and Twitter.


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2015 Graduate Schools

3/5/2014

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The U.S. News & World Report surveyed more than 1,300 graduate schools and programs and ranked them according to their methodology.

They offered a sneak peak of the 2015
Best Graduate Schools rankings. Surveying 453 accredited master's programs in business, the U.S. News & World Report listed in alphabetical order the top 10 highest-ranked business schools:

Columbia University (NY)
Dartmouth College (Tuck) (NH)
Harvard University (MA)
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Sloan)
New York University (Stern)
Northwestern University (Kellogg) (IL)
Stanford University (CA)
University of California—Berkeley (Haas)
University of Chicago (Booth)
University of Pennsylvania (Wharton) 

The actual ranking and score of these and other graduate schools – including those offering full-time, part-time and executive MBA programs – will be available March 11, 2014, on usnews.com. Use #BestGradSchools.

Lee Academia's professional experts can help you with your graduate/professional school journey. Contact us for more information.

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5 Things You Should Know About IELTS

2/28/2014

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1. IELTS, the International English Language Testing System, is an English language proficiency test designed to test communicative English abilities of non-native speakers.

2. The IELTS is a paper-and-pencil test with 4 sections : Listening, Reading, Writing, and Speaking. The Speaking test includes live, face-to-face interview with a trained ESL professional.

3. A variety of question types are used in IELTS to test a wide range of skills. For example, there are matching, classification, multiple choice, sentence completion, short answers, diagram label completions and more.

4. There are two versions - Academic and General Training. The Academic version is used for higher education and professional certification, while the General Training is used for work or migration purposes.

5. IELTS is accepted by more than 8,000 organizations worldwide, including over 3,000 U.S. institutions.

If you would like to know more about the IELTS, contact us for more information.
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Get Ready for the March SAT in 2 Weeks!

2/22/2014

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Whether you've been studying for months, or just realized that your March SAT is only two weeks away, speak to us about our 2 week study calendar to help you study smarter.

Here are the three steps to ensure you get your dream SAT score on March 8th:

  1. If you haven't already done so, sign up for our sample cram session. If you enjoy learning with Lee Academia then purchase our program!
  2. Use the calendar below and work through the recommended modules, video concepts, and practice quizzes.
  3. Wake up calm and relaxed on March 8th, and rock the SAT!
Since Lee Academia's Online SAT Program is completely online, you can prep for the SAT whenever you want, wherever you want. In fact after your test, continue to use Lee Academia to prepare for your next SAT. Good luck!

So now, ace the SAT!
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STudent Athletes: Your Next Steps

2/13/2014

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As students are consulted by their Lee Academia Consultant and waiting to receive their College Athlete Game Report, here are the next 4 steps to prepare:

1. Develop your Initial Email correspondence.
2. Develop your Student Athlete profile.
3. Develop your Personal Video.
4. Organize your upcoming schedule to be included in your correspondence.


After receiving and understanding the College Athlete Game Report, here are next 4 steps to take:

1. Send out your finished email to your initial contact.
2. Be
sure to respond to every correspondence you receive from the coaches.
3. Expand your contact list, as needed. Your College Athlete Game Report will only have 30-50 schools.
4. Master the college interview process... Be prepared to talk to college Face to Face.


Need Help developing your email, student athlete profile, and/or your video? Call Lee Academia @ 347-948-8863 for more details on these services.
Get your College Athlete Game Report today!


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    Stephenie Lee

    Stephenie, having been a tutor/instructor/mentor since 1996, discovered her passion and founded Lee Academia Educational Consulting, LLC. after she left the dental and medical field. She loves teaching/mentoring and counseling her students.  Her passion lies in educating others and helping them pursue their educational path. Today, certified in College Counseling and with more than 10 years of experience, Stephenie and her team continues to blog about current updated educational news and events.

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