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

Category: College Admissions

Go, Now.

Remember how in The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy, one of Douglas Adams’s characters is responsible for summarizing the planet earth? In as few words as possible? Because the encyclopedia for which he writes has limited space? Space is at a premium because there are well over a billion

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Lori’s Brain

I now devote myself full time to helping children and their families choose and apply to colleges and working with troubled teens. But for 20 years I ran a tutoring and test prep shop. My friends and I, most of whom I met in graduate school, would help students prepare

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Life Test

Life is an exam. Failure is not an option. There is only one score card. Before elucidating the scoring system, here is a paragraph about myself: I live on the top floor of the Plaza Hotel in New York City. My 2.3 children go to Cornell and Princeton respectively. My

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Say it Ain’t So

There is no debate over which year was the Greatest Year in the hundred year history of baseball.* You might think that there would be discussion among barflies, tailgaters, and fans from different cities across the country. You might expect a spirited conversation with reasoned arguments, endless statistics and salty

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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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

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Copyright © David Altshuler 1980 – 2024    |    Miami, FL • Charlotte, NC     |    (305) 978-8917    |    [email protected]