I will never forget when the Hollywood college admissions scandal broke back in 2019; Lori Loughlin and Felicity Huffman, among other lesser known individuals, had paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Rick Singer, who bribed sports coaches, college admissions officers, and college entrance exam officials to help clients gain admissions into top universities. Loughlin, in particular, paid Singer $500,000 to devise a scheme that would help her daughters gain acceptance to U

There are three key qualities we look for at College Prep Tutors to determine the success of our clients in the college admissions game: is the student competitive, committed, and confident? Does your child have these three qualities? Competitive: competitive doesn’t have to mean ivy league bound. But it does mean that a student is constantly bringing their personal best to whatever endeavors they set themselves to. Does your child strive to take the highest level courses o

Don’t forgot to make these crucial moves after you have submitted your college applications.

Because it is that time of year when many juniors and seniors will be reaching out to teachers for letters of recommendation and to college admissions officers for information on their programs, it is important that you know and follow some basic rules of communication according to the adult world. As teenagers, you are no strangers to texting.  But there are some very distinct and important differences between the way that teenagers communicate with eachother via text and th

So many things can go wrong in the college admissions process. It has certainly become a complex journey filled with numerous potholes. From selecting too many reach schools , to making mistakes and oversights on the applications . But the number one biggest mistake that high school students make is not starting sooner!  Most parents and students assume they can wait until the spring of junior year, because, after all, applications aren’t due until the fall and the common ap

Step 1 of the 4-Step Method to Getting Into Your First Choice Colleges This is the first article in a four part series by Dr. Donna Risolo, owner of College Prep Tutors . By junior year most students have what they think is a good list of colleges to which they plan to apply. However, many times these are very ill informed perspectives based on sports teams that they like or the college that their best friend’s older sister is currently attending. And so the task still remai

Every once in a while, I get a phone call or email from a parent of a middle schoolers, who prefaces the conversation with an apology, not wanting to appear to be overly anxious or pushy. To which I always reply, "I wish all of my clients were like you and started this process earlier!" College admissions has become a complicated business, and with your child’s future and your money on the line, it is never too early to start to become an informed consumer in the college admi

SAT Tutors are a considerable investment. Make sure you are hiring an expert using Dr.Donna’s five look-fors.

A college admissions ally is an individual, hopefully a college admissions officer, but not necessarily, in the admissions office of the college that you would like to attend. You can have an ally in every single college to which you plan to apply. Having an ally can be the difference between getting into your first choice school, or not. College admissions allies are essential in helping you get into highly competitive schools. I advise my clients to most certainly have an