This paper is a response to Steven R. Antonoff's article, "Educational Consulting: A Focus for the Profession." More than 20 years ago, when this article first appeared in "The Journal of College Admission," "for profit counselors" (as they were then called by NACAC) were not welcome partners. It was acceptable practice to publicly denigrate the…

Sharing information in digital form by using a computer is a growing phenomenon. Many universities are making their applications available on computer. More than one hundred and thirty-six universities have developed computerized applications on their own or through a commercial vendor. Universities developed computerized applications in order to…

From a data and CRM point of view, computers have drastically changed college admission. No longer are the days of 10 people crammed into an office built for one person, looking at a screen with a green blinking key, typing in thousands of characters an hour. Rows and rows of filing cabinets have been reduced, and putting students on hold to go…

While admission to a community college is simple--"apply and you're in!"--the institution itself is quite complex. Community colleges serve several purposes: transfer, vocational, recreational, and remedial. Community colleges see students through many lenses. What should counselors know in order to help their community college-bound students make…

Few professional processes are more personally intrusive than the college application. It demands information about your family, your finances, your interests, and your desires. For lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) applicants in their teenage years who may not be comfortable with their sexuality, admission officers need be sensitive…

College Web sites are often the first structured encounter a student has with a prospective college or university. Outside of serving as a marketing tool (Williams 2000), very little literature exists on the functional purpose of a college's Web site. Almost all college sites show an informational and transactional tool for currently enrolled…

The entrepreneurial admission sector is comprised of commercial enterprises aimed at helping students increase their odds of admission, as well as providing general college information to the masses. As for-profit entities, a goal of companies in this sector is to maximize revenue and profit. Existing research identifies four main activities as…

This article discusses game design concepts suggested to foster engagement while considering the needs of underserved high school students preparing for the college admission process. The contextual nature of college counseling efforts in urban secondary school settings provides a backdrop for consideration of the manner in which game design and…

President Barack Obama has called education "the economic issue of our time", explaining that the rise in unemployment among those without a college education is growing and eight of 10 new jobs created in the US are more likely to hire people with higher education degrees. Indeed, change is what the educational system needs to increase…

The girls of girls' schools, the author believes, are a kind of Platonic Form of American girl, an ideal to which most of the rest of society, of the country's meritocratic system, aspires for their daughters, a reflection of one's deepest values. She believes girls all over the country, in all high schools, want The Dream. They want to achieve…

In this study an entering cohort of freshmen majors in mathematics and science at a land grant, research one institution was examined to first determine if a group of students who persisted in science and mathematics disciplines were different in terms of pre-college characteristics from a group of students who dropped with grade point averages…

Recruitment pieces are often part of a university's larger marketing effort or branding. With the assistance of consultants, admission officers conduct research and often know more about prospective students than students may know about themselves (Gose 1999). Why do admission offices often have a difficult time reaching target audiences?…

The topic of distance from home is often discussed when students begin narrowing down colleges they want to apply to; however, there is a scarcity of research actually examining student behavior. The purpose of this study is to address this research gap using data based on a national sample of nearly one million students. Distance was computed in…

Everyone insists that a person should go to a college that is right for him/her, somewhere that fits who he/she is, a place where a they belong. There are more than 4,000 colleges and universities in this country; how will a person find the one that is right for them? In this article, the author suggests that one should follow the mascot when…

In this article, the author shares how choosing a college can be an overwhelming experience. She shares that there are so many choices. Almost every college fits all the requirements she wanted. As such, she decided to stop worrying about college and made a decision to enjoy the high school experience she is living right now.