College Guidance

Mark your calendar for Noontime Knowledge, our upcoming two-part webinar series for parents. I am partnering with Katie Garrett for these events, and they are free and open to all. We'll be discussing two important topics - standardized testing and how parents can best support their students. Registration link is below.

Upcoming Events | GEC Discover upcoming events for boarding school & college admissions, including our webinars & partner-hosted opportunities!

Friday is National College Decision Day! We're celebrating the class of 2026 who will be attending the following schools:
Appalachian State
Auburn
Clemson
Elon
Indiana
NC State
Sewanee
Tulane
University of Georgia
*UNC
University of Tennessee
Wake Forest
William and Mary

*multiple students attending*

Time to come up with a plan for your Common App essay! Summer is a perfect time to work on this important piece. Prompts have been finalized for the class of 2027 and workshop dates have been set. We'd love to help your student!

Announcing the 2026–2027 Common App essay prompts The Common App essay prompts offer a flexible range of topics to help students distinguish themselves in their own voice. During the most recent cycle, the most popular option was "Topic of Your Choice."

This book is a must-read for any family starting the college admission process.
This author describes Dream School as “a ticket out of the admissions arms race.” 🙌🏻

The Dream School That Wasn’t: Making The Right College Choice How do you find the college that's right for you? A review of Dream School through the perspective of a former college president, comparing her own college choices.

There is so much misinformation out there. Love this admission officer’s take on social media posts.

Check out this video, "uc admission reacts to tik tok"

UC admissions REACTS to TikTok application advice With so many influencers out there talking about how to get into UC, it can be tough to know what's true and what's just plain wrong. UC admissions director Robert Penman sets the record straight. *LINKS:* - More tips from UC admissions experts: https://www.universityofcalifornia.edu/news/whats-most...