Bootstrap Tutors

Many of my clients ask me how they can stand out on their college applications or, alternatively, how they can take their writing to the next level. Sending your work in to a magazine that publishes high-school writers is a great way to do that! Narrative, a leading magazine and website for writers, has just announced its seventh annual writing contest, and I encourage you to check it out. If you apply through your teacher, it’s also free.

Check it out here:

https://www.narrativemagazine.com/narrative-in-the-schools-program/seventh-annual-contest

This is one of my favorite times of the year, not just because it’s a holiday season (and who doesn’t love the winter holidays and the first snows) but because I get the great pleasure of starting to receive messages from clients telling me where they’ll be heading to college next year. So far, only the earliest rounds of application decisions have come back, but clients have already received admissions from Harvard (two of them so far!), Barnard, Northeastern, New York University, Providence College, Marist, LIM College, and several others. I cannot wait to hear what the rest of the admissions season holds! This is just the tip of the iceberg!

I am very pleased to announce that Dr. Ryan’s Guide – Grammar for the SAT, ACT, and College Writing has been published and is now available on Amazon and (shortly) through various booksellers. This guide condenses over ten years of tutoring experience with the SAT and ACT and focuses on the area where I always tell clients they’ll get the most bang for their buck: the grammar. As you may know, the SAT and ACT heavily emphasize English grammar and mechanics, but most students are woefully unprepared. Fortunately, you can learn the rules! That’s what this guide sets out to teach in less than 100 pages, with over 200 unique practice questions. It’s appropriate for grades 8 and up.

It’s available as an ebook ($9.95) and as a paperback ($19.95). You can also email me to purchase a copy directly for $20 plus shipping. If you buy it, I would deeply appreciate your leaving a positive review! This guide will thrive or fail based on how people respond to it. Thanks so much in advance!

Tip 1: Decision Deadlines 

If you did not get positive news during Early Decision I, many schools offer an EDII deadline, due around Jan 1. If you would like one more chance at the benefits of ED, consider applying! Most Regular Decision deadlines are between Jan 1 and Feb 15, so you still have time to add some schools to your list if you need to. Remember that you should be applying to 2-3 safeties, 4-5 match schools, and 3+ reach schools (usually for 7-12 schools total). 

Tip 2: Admissions Decisions and Financial Aid

Depending on which round you applied in, you should hear back from universities about your application by mid-March. You will likely receive a financial aid offer, if you’re eligible, around the same time, though perhaps separately from the admissions offer. As a family, compare these offers side by side to decide which is the best financial fit for you. Be aware of the differences between grants and loans (and look for subsidized Stafford loans if you are going to take any out). You can use the College Scorecard to find more information about average real costs by income, graduation rates, and starting salaries by major.

Tip 3: Deferred? 

If you’ve been deferred from your top choice, don’t panic just yet. Consider writing a deferral letter, which you’ll send to the admissions dean or your area representative to add to your file. These letters assure the school of your continued interest and update them on your accomplishments since you first applied.

Tip 4: Ending the Year Strong

And don’t forget, even if you have already received positive news, you still need to end the year strong. Schools will review your transcript at the end of the year and can withdraw decisions if they don’t like what they see. It’s not common, but it does happen. Don’t let it happen to you!

Tip 1: Test Deadlines

If you’re a junior, you should be looking at your PSAT scores and getting ready to take the SAT or ACT (or both) at least twice this spring. The SAT is offered in March, May, and June, while the ACT is offered in February, April, June, and July. Plan out your schedule (perhaps around AP exams in May) to give yourself at least two chances. I always encourage my clients to get the tests out of the way before summer if at all possible.

Tip 2: Application Cycle

Once you have your test scores where you need them, you’ll want to start looking more heavily into colleges. Hopefully you’ve already started thinking about what sort of school you want to go to. Big Future is a tool that can help you narrow your search based on whatever criteria matter to you. Over the spring, you should be developing your college list, and over the summer you should be doing college visits and starting your application essays. The first deadlines are in October! They come very early. Keep in mind that your essays are even more crucial if you’re applying test optional. Applying ED can vastly increase your chances of admittance, but it takes good planning well in advance to be ready by early in your senior year.

Tip 3: GPA

You may know that your GPA is the most important number in your entire application. Yes, even more important than your test scores. Your junior and senior year GPAs are the most crucial of all. Many schools will ignore a poor freshman year (some don’t even count it in their calculations), but they look very closely at your 11th-12th grade GPAs to see how you’ve developed over high school and how strong a candidate you might be. You should also be trying to take a broad range of difficult classes, including AP and IB courses, as many schools look for these classes and even weight the grades from them more heavily.

Tip 4: Summer Programs

If you are looking to stand out on your applications, I strongly encourage you to think ahead over this year about how you can get involved in a summer internship, explore a new skill, pursue advanced study, publish a paper or a poem, or otherwise illustrate to colleges that you are passionate about your interests outside of school. Remember, you don’t need to be well-rounded so much as you need to show a deep engagement with a particular subject and be able to reflect on it thoughtfully and with self-awareness.

Apologies for the lack of content here. Our website was hacked and we’ve had to rebuild it from scratch! We’ll soon be reposting our post popular posts, so stay tuned!