Posts by Dr. Steven Mercer

I often remind students that they need to be realistic about their chances of admission to highly selective schools and resist the trap of believing they must get into one particular college (see “The Fourth Rule of Applying to College”). However, if a student is still determined to apply to… Read more Read More

College admission is not a zero-sum game. Shortly before admission decisions were expected to hit inboxes, the parents of a student I had been working with through the arduous process of applying to college asked to meet with me alone.  When they came into my office, they sat down with… Read more Read More

This is my third post addressing the college admissions process for introverts. The last two posts in this series addressed extracurricular activities and the admissions interview.  Let’s now turn to the letter of recommendation.  As an introvert myself, I’ve had to ask many people to write letters of recommendation for… Read more Read More

As I mentioned in my last post, “Applying to College as an Introvert: Extracurricular Activities,” introverted students sometimes feel that they are disadvantaged in the college application process, especially where extracurricular activities are concerned.  In this post, I would like to discuss how to approach admissions office interviews.  A Heads-Up… Read more Read More

Recently, I was sitting across the desk from a parent and student whose transcript was filled with excellent grades and rigorous courses. The student enjoyed school and had SAT scores that were well above average.  As I’ve written about in many other blog posts, grades, academic rigor, and standardized test… Read more Read More