Posts by Dr. Steven Mercer
The Curse of the Average “Above-Average”
In my previous post, “Are You Standing on Hot Coals?”, I described the phenomenon of high school students and families feeling like they are standing on hot coals when they believe they are late getting started on the college admission process.
Hopefully, students who found themselves in that situation called… Read more Read More
Are You Standing on Hot Coals?
There is often a “hot coal moment” for many families and students I work with.
It is hard to predict when this moment will happen.
Sometimes, it happens immediately after students finish the junior year PSAT. Some parents get a nagging feeling they may be too late helping their student… Read more Read More
Need versus Want – Part 2
In part one of this post, I identified the difference between what students believe they want in a college education versus what they truly need and ways that students might focus on their wants to the detriment of a quality educational experience.
In part two, I’d like to discuss examples… Read more Read More
Need versus Want – Part 1
Many years ago, walking through a large department store, I overheard a conversation between two shoppers. The young man picked up an expensive leather jacket with an eager grin and exclaimed in a breathless voice, “I need this.”
His girlfriend slowly looked up from the clothes rack with a look… Read more Read More
The Year of Translucence
The Tenth Rule of Applying to College: The Ultimate Answer to Life, College, and Everything
In my long career in education, I have worked as a college admission officer, high school director of college counseling, college admission consultant in private practice, university administrator, teacher, and fundraiser. I have also been a student for many years, culminating in a doctorate in education leadership.
Throughout all these… Read more Read More
The Ninth Rule of Applying to College: Having the Right Mindset
The Eighth Rule Applying to College: Stop Listening to the Monkey!
There is a deafening “noise”—online, in social circles, or in classrooms—about the “best” college, “best” SAT tutor, the correct number of AP classes to take, secret strategies to make it easier to get into a “better” college, and the “best” and “worst” majors. It is hard to ignore the steady… Read more Read More
The 10th Grade Standardized Testing Dilemma
For high school students nearing the end of 10th grade, right now is a challenging time to figure out what to do about their standardized test plan for college applications.
There’s been a tidal wave of test-optional policies implemented by colleges across the United States. Some colleges have done away… Read more Read More
The Seventh Rule of Applying to College: Stockdale’s Paradox
If you read my previous post, “The Sixth Rule of Applying to College,” you might think it’s not worth applying to a college with a very low admit rate because, statistically, you’ll never get in. You may even think, “Why bother applying to any college since the statistics are stacked… Read more Read More