David Altshuler, M.S.
(305) 978-8917 | [email protected]

Category: College Admissions

No Emotional ROI

“Why do you want to go to college?” “To get a job.” This conversation, of which I’ve been a part well over a thousand times with my college counseling clients, is exactly backward. Indeed, the reason to go to college, the only reason to go to college, has always been

Read More »

From Patrick O’Connor of the Roeper School

The Following Article is from my colleague, Patrick O’Connor at the Roper School: The Best Advice When Colleges Say No School counselors know the real March Madness begins next week, when some of the nation’s most selective colleges release their admissions decisions. As a pre-game warm-up, let’s stick with the

Read More »

Charlatans, Fools and Essays

“There is no possibility whatsoever of reconciling science and theology, at least in Christendom. Either Jesus rose from the dead or he didn’t. If he did, then Christianity becomes plausible; if he did not, then it is sheer nonsense. I defy any genuine scientist to say that he believes in

Read More »

College Admissions Case Study

Mark’s profile was stellar: Five APs as a senior including Advanced Placement Government/Economics, AP English, AP Calculus; AP Psychology; and AP Biology. He had 1400 on his SATs: CR, 690; Math, 710. He wasn’t a starter on his high school basketball team but he worked harder than some of the

Read More »

Simplified Financial Aid Primer

As many of the families who depend on my gentle guidance are enthusiastically filling in the FAFSA and the CSS Profile this month, I have prepared the following simple, straight forward Guide to Financial Aid so that our children can make concrete plans for a lifetime of indentured servitude. I

Read More »

Ethics

A student is caught texting during an exam, a clear violation of the honor code at her high school. The teacher looks at the student’s phone. Who is on the other side of the conversation? Who is supplying the answers to the test? Another ethically challenged student? No. The answers

Read More »

More Bad Advice about College Admissions

Every reputable guide to marathon running, every competent coach, takes into consideration the background as well as the goals of each athlete. No sensible coach fails to consider how many miles were run last week and the expectations for race day. An athlete running her first marathon might build up

Read More »

Holiday Gifts

As a grandmother enjoys a sunny day at the beach with her five year-old grandson, the sky darkens and an enormous wave comes out of nowhere washing the child out to sea. Hysterical with fear the grandmother frantically shouts to the lifeguard who is already sprinting toward the ocean. Fighting

Read More »

Everyone Go to the Head of the Line

“The Lord prefers common-looking people. That is why he made so many of them,” Abraham Lincoln said. The Lord must also prefer B students because he made a lot of them too. The worst advice you’ve ever gotten has been from the people who know you the least. “Take a

Read More »

Mean Colonel Mustard

Why did Colonel Mustard kill Mr. Body in the Billiard Room with the Revolver? As difficult as it may be to get a valid psychological profile of a one-inch tall, yellow, bit of smoothed wood, I’m going to make the following inference: there was money involved. “Follow the money” is

Read More »

Copyright © David Altshuler 1980 – 2022    |    Miami, FL • Charlotte, NC     |    (305) 978-8917    |    [email protected]