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

Category: College Admissions

Connectivity

“Her life had been as exciting and varied as our was monotonous” is Willa Cather’s delicate phrase from 1926. Petula Clark sang, “when you’re alone and life is making you lonely…” 38 years later. Another subsequent 56 years, downtown is no longer the venue where the worst thing that could

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Our Vines have Tender Grapes

None of us can sing worth a darn, but we are a highly enthusiastic bunch caterwauling in the woods each summer. One of our chorus is a federal prosecutor. As the mental health professionals sit around the campfire discussing substance use disorder late into the evening, Ben remains thoughtful. Recent

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T-i-i-i-m-e

            One of our running buddies is an administrative assistant. Her skill set and her previous experience encompass managing every aspect of an office. In these Covid-permeated times, her responsibilities have been curtailed to endless scheduling, which is fine, a job is a job. Her new responsibilities are limited to

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Seventh Grade Math

It would be hard to overstate the combined intellectual capacity of my running buddies this morning. Sam has a Ph.D.; Robin was top of the class in law school; Jordan is a gifted physician. Accomplished, professional, bright, (sweaty) folks that they are, not one of them could pass a seventh-grade

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Post Hoc

“Twenty-seven lawyers in the room, anybody know ‘post hoc ergo propter hoc?’” asks Martin Sheen as President Josh Bartlett in the second episode of The West Wing. “After it therefore because of it,” his chief of staff responds. “It means one thing follows the other therefore it was caused by

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Coin Pusher Machines

I love coin pusher machines. The lights, the sounds, the expectation that, at any moment, dozens of shimmering quarters will collapse into my eager hands—are all glorious enticements. Unlike traditional slot machines with levers or buttons, coin pusher machines have quarters—hundreds of them—right there where I can see them. The

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The Fountain of Youth

Ponce de Leon is most often associated with the Fountain of Youth, but Herodotus wrote about the allegedly magical place two thousand years earlier. Alexander the Great in the 4th century CE, King Prester John in the crusades 800 years ago, Caribbean people during the early 16th century*—the Fountain of

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Future Anxiety

Amy’s senior year schedule is as follows: AP Calculus BC; AP English Literature; AP Chemistry; AP Government and Economics; Spanish IV; and Yearbook, a publication of which she is the editor. Her scores on the SAT and the ACT are in the 90th percentile. She is active and involved in

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Because, Because, Because

Pre-scientific societies were said to make causal inferences from correlations. Which led to any number of major oopsies: I swung a dead cat around my head three times at midnight. Look at this bountiful harvest. A classic blunder: Post hoc ergo propter hoc–after this, therefore because of this. Timeless examples

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Disconnect

Our handsome protagonist appears to be in desperate straits. The emissary of a rival gang has smashed his way into the office. (Burglar alarms are not yet a thing during prohibition.) The intruder is accompanied by half a dozen armed thugs. The hero of the show is—gasp!–on his own. The

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