PSAT Scores Have Been Released: What Next?
How can you use your 10th or 11th grade student’s PSAT score to make a test prep plan? Read this...
The Vine
A blog where Ivy Experience disentangles college admissions.Ivy Experience’s Fall 2024 Webinar Schedule
We are excited to announce our full schedule of webinars this spring! See below for topics, dates, and registration links....
Big Changes to the ACT Coming Spring 2025
ACT has dropped a bombshell announcement of three major changes to the test coming to the National test dates in...
Building Good Study Habits
“I have this huge test I have to study for.” This is an email or text message that we get...
AP, IB, and Dual Enrollment Courses: What’s the Difference?
When we speak to students about the five factors under your control, one of the most important factors is grades...
Ivy Experience’s Spring Webinar Schedule
We are excited to announce our full schedule of webinars this spring! See below for topics, dates, and registration links....
SAT/ACT Accommodations
We have always preached that knowing how to navigate the college preparation process is essential to saving families time, energy,...
Why Diagnostic Testing Makes All the Difference: A Story
Let us you tell you a story… The following is a personal reflection by Ivy Experience co-founder Eric Karlan. Growing...
College Admissions is Not a Race
The college admissions process can seem like a race to the top. High school students seem to be thrown into...
Finding Support Systems in College
When students are looking for what they want in college, they think about academic opportunities, location, school spirit, and so...
Why Choose Ivy Experience?
Ivy Experience works with students at every phase of their high school journey and college preparation process. We work closely...
How Do You Choose a College?
For many students, the month of April can be both exciting and scary. They have heard back from all of...
5 Questions with Jim Wismer
Get to know our test prep team! We sat down to interview our Director, Jim Wismer! What were you looking...
College Visit FAQs
In the coming weeks and months, high school juniors and their families will take advantage of vacations and long weekends...
Making the Most Out of Summer Activities
Making the Most Out of Summer Activities Summers are a time for students to relax and rejuvenate––and after a challenging...
Finding Balance: Thoughts on How to Select Classes for High School Students
Once upon a time… We had a student who was deciding whether or not to take AP Chemistry. To advise...
An Honest Conversation About Grades
Let’s be honest. There’s a lot that goes into college applications: grades, test scores, recommendations, activities, and essays. It can...
The Five Things in Your Control
There are seemingly innumerable factors that go into every decision, whether it is an acceptance, deferral, waitlist, or rejection. Many...
Ivy’s Recommendation Letter Primer
We often say that there are very few things under your control in the admissions process: your grades, your activities,...
5 Questions with David Pauls
Get to know our test prep team! We sat down to interview David Pauls, our Curriculum Development Specialist. What is...
5 Questions with Torie Berke
Get to know our test prep team! We sat down to interview Torie Berke, our Coordinator of Tutoring! What was...
Everything You Need to Know about the Digital SAT
College Board announced in January that the SAT is going digital. Starting for U.S. students in the spring of 2024,...
SAT Announces New Digital Format Starting in 2024
The College Board has announced this morning that they are launching a computer-based version of the SAT starting in March...
Test-Optional Policies: What Juniors Need to Know
With the spread of “test-optional” policies nationwide, the term itself has become broadly used and widely misinterpreted. In this post,...
What is Superscoring?
As you research a college and its application process, you may find a passage that defines the school’s score choice...
What to Do Before the SAT or ACT
We get it: the ACT and SAT can be terrifying tests. Students spend days, weeks, and months preparing for them....
What Is the Experimental Section?
You made your way through four hours of standardized testing, whether the SAT or ACT. Maybe you are reviewing your...
Academics Outline: Grades 9-12
What courses should my student take? What year of high school is the most important in their college application? There’s...
Activities Outline: Grades 9-12
Extracurricular activities are perhaps the most fun part of high school and college applications—they are an opportunity to unearth curiosity,...
Standardized Testing Outline: Grades 9-12
Below is a concise guide to testing for each year of high school, along with some basic advice for each...
New Year’s Resolutions for High School Students
While students might feel like they are returning to the same old grind after a fun and relaxing break, January...
Summer Activities in the Age of COVID
Summer programs, trips, camps, jobs, internships, research, and more are likely to be canceled or moved online. Some are still...
How To Create A Stellar College List
Building a college list can be daunting – and oftentimes the most intimidating part is just figuring out where to...
Making the Most of Virtual School
With most students in a virtual or hybrid school model for at least the start of this school year, we...
How Does Online Tutoring Work?
Though we have worked in person with families in the Philadelphia and San Diego areas, many of our families only...
Test-Optional Policies: What Do They Mean?
Before COVID-19, there were already more than 1,000 colleges and universities that were test-optional. But with so many institutions changing...
How to Take Advantage of Unexpected Time Off
With many students getting time off from school due to the spread of coronavirus, we thought we should share some...
How the High School Experience Can Make Your Student a Better Person (and a Better Applicant!)
Begin with what you love. We often talk about activity advising in terms of the Japanese concept of ikigai. The...
How to Turn College Visits into Why College Essays
We all know campus visits are an important part of applying to college – they can give students and families...
Midterms Study Tips
It’s midterm season (or finals, depending on how your school structures things). The new year means that many students are...
ACT Online Testing, Section Retesting, and Superscore Reporting
ACT announced three new policy changes today. Below is a summary of the changes, effective starting September 2020. ACT Online...
Test Anxiety Conversation
Listen to Ivy Experience Director Jim Wismer and Academic Coach Gail Slogoff discuss test anxiety, including causes, symptoms, and strategies...
Maximizing College Visits – the “Why College” Essay
We all know campus visits are an important part of applying to college – they can give students and families...
How to Handle College Decisions
Below is an email we sent to the parents of our senior students, but its message is important for all...
The ACT is Shifting to Computer-Based Testing
The ACT has had plans to shift to a computer-based testing format for years. For the 2018-2019 school year, all...
What Does the UC System Value in an Applicant?
The University of California system recently published a list of 13 factors they weigh in evaluating every student’s application. While...
Acceptance Rates for Top Colleges – 2018
Every year, colleges become more competitive. The top colleges in the country are not growing as quickly as the number...
State of Admissions 2018
This is our first (of what we intend to be annual) State of Admissions – an email that recaps our...
How ACT Scores are Calculated
People are often confused by the ACT’s scoring system. Out of 36? How the heck does that work? Sometimes the scoring...
Ivy Experience Founders Analyze the Recent ACT
Ivy Experience’s founders, Eric Karlan and Karan Shah, tackled the most recently released ACT to offer insight on its contents relative...
Planning your college visits
In the coming weeks and months, high school juniors and their families will take advantage of vacations and long weekends...
The Pros and Cons of Study Groups
Is studying in groups helpful, or does it slow you down? Yes… and no… to both questions. Like anything else,...
Pre-midterm study tips
It’s midterm season. We’re about halfway through the school year, and that means students are about to be tested on...
When is the right time to start the “college” conversation?
Junior year is a tough time. Classes are harder than ever, and grades are at their most important. Students have...
5 Biggest Regrets Students Have AFTER getting into college
1. I didn’t shoot high enough. We’ve seen this play out countless times: a student gets into every school they...
End of Year Goals
With the week of Thanksgiving around the corner, the holiday season will be here before we know it. Don’t let...
Changes to ACT Writing scoring; New August SAT date!
The ACT has changed the Writing test back to a 2-12 scoring scale. Meanwhile the SAT will start August test dates in 2017!