The Knowledge Co-Operative

Dear Parents of Rising Juniors:
Summer is half over and most of your kids are not yet preparing for the upcoming SAT and ACT. Why not? Seriously, why not? Don't make your kid have to settle for a so-so college experience because YOU couldn't get your $hi # together this summer. Early preparation is the VERY BEST way to guarantee success on the SAT and ACT. Summer is almost half gone. Time to get your kids into a QUALITY test prep course ... like mine. IM me for more info.

36,000 PEOPLE ARE REGISTERED FOR THE AUGUST LSAT. That means that Law School is HOT again, which typically happens when 1) folks think the economy is going to tank or, 2) very smart college students can't find better opportunities in finance, banking or tech. BOTH factors seem to be at play here.
The second factor should be the one that gets your attention. MORE SMART PEOPLE ARE TAKING THE LSAT, AND THEY ARE STUDYING HARD TO SCORE WELL ON IT.
Applicants scoring 170 to 174 are up 15.2%. Applicants scoring 175 to 180 are up 15.7%. Applicants scoring 150 to 154 are up just 6.0%. THIS MEANS YOU NEED TO MAKE LSAT PREP YOUR TOP PRIORITY.
FYI - the high scorers are NOT just seeking admission to the T-14. They are applying EVERYWHERE as the seek to maximize merit aid opportunities. The finance bro from Nassau County, NY at Duke with a 3.8 and a 168 ... he is applying to Miami and to FIU and to Duquesne and Iowa and to Richmond and Georgia State. His dad's network already moved to Miami or West Palm or Boca or Atlanta or Charlotte, and he is gonna leverage the heck outta that network.
Your competition is different: smart kids aren't chasing prestige anymore: they are chasing scholarships ... YOUR SCHOLARSHIPTS.
Don't get left behind or saddled with massive student loan debt because you waited too long to start LSAT prep or, worse, because you tried to study on your own.
Call me, get a 170, and learn to hunt in the tall weeds with the big dogs!!!

Your Independence Week College To-Do List for Rising Seniors ... and Their Parents

Independence Week Salutations, one and all (but especially SENIORS and your increasingly nervous PARENTS)!!!

Here is this week's College To-Do list.

Let me make this clear: if you spend more time planning a summer vacation than you spend researching and selecting colleges, you're an idiot. And, no, I do not care if that offended you. It is the truth. GET SERIOUS ABOUT COLLEGE SELECTION ... NOW!!!

The actions you take and the decisions you make over the next six to ten weeks can – and absolutely will – have professional and financial consequences that will last for the next decade or two of your life (PARENTS INCLUDED). This whole, "but it is summer vacation" is the kind of nonsense that WINNERS do NOT give a damn about. Sure, enjoy some downtime. That is important. But DOWNTIME MEANS A DAY OR TWO A WEEK... MAX!!!!

Lazing through your summers and then complaining in ten years when AI replaces you at work is NOT a great plan for life. Make yourself IRREPLACEABLE by Artificial "Intelligence."

How?
Simple: Do as I suggest you do this summer.

Mainstream America is, despite the no-longer-subtle wishes of the psychotic Keith Olberman, the not-so-smart-as-he-thinks Chris Hayes and the utterly insufferable Lawrence O'Donnell (it is super easy to be a socialist when you get paid millions to spew drivel at an audience of ... well, basically fewer people than fit in the Rose Bowl) NOT going to vote for a Democratic Socialist who will forgive your student loan debts, pay for your groceries and subsidize your social life.

So, let's get our BLEEP together and GET TO WORK.

Our assignments for this week:
1) Keep doing REAL research on colleges. FYI, I will share a post tomorrow showing an example of what REAL college research should look like. JUST TO MAKE SURE whatever you are doing (whether you are doing it yourself or you are paying someone else to do it for you) looks AT LEAST AS THOROUGH as my example.

REAL college research has TWO benefits:
a) It allows you to make an informed decision about how you will spend the next four years and $500,000 of your money. Basing your college enrollment decision on emotions and "feelings" is extremely common. It is also extremely stupid.
This is, above all a BUSINESS decision. Treat it as such. Engage in a cost-benefit analysis. (Yes, college should be enjoyable and an attractive campus is a nice plus, but UM's nice trees and big lake are NOT WORTH $100k per year).
b) It allows you to identify those little details that make your supplemental essays better, more nuanced and more appealing to the folks who read them. And, NO, Chat GDP does NOT know as much about colleges as I do.

2) Finalize your intended major ... NOW!!! (If you are legitimately undecided, that is fine ... so long as your inability to select a major stems from a lack of certainty rather than a lack of thought or effort.

3) TAKE TWO PRACTICE TESTS THIS COMING WEEK ... IT IS A HOLIDAY. YOU HAVE THE TIME!!!

4) Make an appointment to see me. Those of you who have made appointments and seen me have made real progress. Heck, some of you are almost done with a lot of this (save supplemental essays as only a few schools have posted their topics ... but the list DOES grow each week.

5) Enjoy Independence Day. This is, despite what the lunatics who dominate TikTok say, a country worth celebrating.

Is it perfect? No.
What can/should you do about it? Try to make it better.
How? TRY ... try on the SAT/ACT. Try to find a college that will give you real skills and real insights. Use those skills and insights to serve your fellow citizens.

MUCH MORE ON SUPPLEMENTAL ESSAYS NEXT WEEK BTW.

Speak to you soon!
SEAN