YouTube Deep Summary

## Welcome and why college admissions has changed [00:00] All right, welcome everyone. My name is Coach David, right. I think you normally expect coach Victor, right. Uh but I am here today taking over for Coach Victor. I'm here to talk a little bit about the college and recent college admission trends and about kind of like news about the top 20 colleges. Okay. Uh now I know that you know everyone is kind of you know curious as to what happened last year, where students are headed, all these sorts of things. So I want to try to give you guys as much information as possible. I have a limited amount of time, right. So uh there are a lot of other trends but we will be talking about kind of the big four that I think have been the most important. Okay, I do see a lot of 10 to 11 12th graders, right. Uh this is going to be very important for you to understand, right. Um now, while this is kind of geared towards, you know, uh kind of those top 20 schools, just college in general, uh has become more competitive, right. And it does every single year, right. Every single year, I'm sure you guys hear it is a breakout year, right. It is kind of like a kind of record-breaking year, right. Um and so I want to make sure that we go over those things. Okay, so let's get into the training here. if it'll go to the next page. There we go. So, really quickly, right, what happened in the last cycle, right. Uh what new trends were there, right. How are the are the top 20 colleges, right. How how they're starting to change, right. And how to make sure that your students are preparing uh to stand out, right. I'm also going to have a little bit of a financial aid in a nutshell at the end because I know that there are a lot of families out there that are just automatically thinking, well, we have to pay for college, right. Um but that's not an easy pill to swallow. And so we'll talk about that in like as we go through. That'll be the last piece of today. Now, a little bit about me, right. I know I look a lot more made up in that picture, right. Uh but normally this is me. I'm in a t-shirt. I'm in a hat, right. I'm not as formal, right. But just to give you a little background about me, my name is Coach David, right. I'm a for former law school and college admission reader, right. Uh I was a former lawyer, right. And now I am in college admissions, right. and I have. ## Early action and early decision breakdown [02:00] students that have gone into all the Ivy Leagues and all top 20 schools. Okay, so hopefully I can I can shed a little bit of insight into kind of what your student needs to be doing. Now before we get into the training, I have a quick message real quick. Okay, now the message is that you know we have a kind of like you know our company's here right now for those of you that are coming for the first time right Eagle that is our company. If you'll actually see the C is capitalized if you flip the word around it's just college. Okay. Now, once you see it, you can never unsee it. But more than that, more than our logo, more than our name, the thing that I do want to kind of share with you guys is that there, especially if your student is a rising senior right now, right. We do have college application intensives, right. I'm sure coach Tony has talked about it, coach Art has talked about it, coach Victor has talked about it as well. Now, unfortunately, our kickstarts are over. Those were our one-day events where we helped students get from kind of their brainstorms to their drafts, right. Our first accelerator is actually this weekend, right. Um it is starting at 900 a.m. on Saturday. Okay, that is where we're going to get our students from their drafts of their PIQs and their personal statement to their final drafts. Right. That is the hope by the end of the weekend. Okay. Now, I know that there is a lot of you out there that are like, "Oh, wait. That could really help my student." Right. Now, one of the things that I have been telling families ever since kind of April is that in order to come to an accelerator, you need to come to a kickstart, right. As you saw in the page before, we don't have any kickstarts left. The last one was just two weeks ago. Okay. But right, what we have done is that we have created a kind of like AI powered, right. Uh kind of u system that you can go through in order to get your drafts out, right. get your brainstorms to draft phase so that you can work faster and you can attend a an accelerator. Okay, if you are interested in that, I will have a link later on that you can use, right. Um, but even for our accelerators, our spots are extremely limited. I think maybe over like across California, we're having events all across California and virtually, right. We only have about three or four spots left right now. Okay, so if you are interested, reach out to our our team as quickly as possible. Okay, now let's get back to the training. Okay, I did my little spiel there, right. Current college trends. This is important. Okay, now the first kind of the big ones that I will be going over today are these, right. The first is the importance of early admission. Okay, the second is the reemergence of SAT and ACT and test required colleges, right. The third is how fit has become more of a big factor, right. And I'll also be talking about the soft factors as far as activities and interests. Now, there's a bunch of other trends that I would also like to go over with you guys, right. But I just don't have the time today, right. So, the number of applications in California, across the board, the number of applications went up, right. But across the top 20 schools, some went up, somes went some went down, right. At some Ivy Leagues, the the acceptance rates actually have risen, right. um others have fallen but it's been like a very mixed situ situation right uh there's also a lot of more lot more colleges that are using alternate campuses and alternate start dates to bolster enrollment right and it's because they want to be able to predict how much revenue they're going to make in the future that are not providing acceptance statistics now one of the things that I always get asked as a college admissions counselor is what's the acceptance rate at this school and my answer to them is don't worry about it. Okay. Yes, I know that at some schools the acceptance rate is abysmal, right. Lower than 4%. Lower than or like in the threes even, right. But here's the thing. Whenever we're talking about kind of statistics and kind of like acceptances, it all depends on your student. And realistically, any student's chance of getting into a college is 50/50. You're either going to get in or you're not going to get in. the probabilities if you want to kind of. ## The rise of waitlists and how colleges use them strategically [06:00] look at it and like how many people are getting in well you have to look at it from a larger scale how many people are applying how many people are getting in where do I fit in there right so just understanding the acceptance rates doesn't do much but there are a lot more schools that are not providing that information okay and there has been much more weight list movement than ever before okay just really quickly there to give you guys a little bit of insight right colleges have been using weight lists more and more as the years have gone on. Right. Before maybe they had a weight list of maybe a thousand kids, right. Now, some schools, right, have two, three, four, 5,000 kids on the weight list. Okay. Now, that also means that colleges are kind of vying for students, right. The competitive students, right. And again, they don't want to lose anyone. So, they they kind of just throw them on the wait list and wait, right. Because they don't know which one of the students is actually going to come to their college, right. So, there are more students that are on weight lists, but the good news is that more students are moving off the weight list as well. So, just keep that in mind as well. All right, so first off, let's dive into that first one. Okay, we're going to talk about early admissions first. Okay, so just last year, we had some great results, right. And I was only able to find like four of the screenshots that I took. So, those are the four that I'm putting on here. We had students in at Penn. We had students in at MIT. We had students in at Cornell, at Notre Dame, right. We had students that were getting into, you know, Ivy League top 20 schools, right. Um, schools like Rice, Carnegie Melon, right. Cornell, uh, Colombia, right. It was great, right. Our students did so much hard work and it all definitely paid off. So, I'm really, really happy about that. Right. Now, again, there was a lot more. I just couldn't find the screenshots, right. They're they're from like, you know, months ago, right. Um, but here is kind of the thing, right. If you actually look, right, these are all from the early batch, right. We have Cornell, December 12th, 2024. We have Notre Dame, December 17th, 2024. Right. We have Penn December 19th, 2024. This one, December 17th, 2024. These are students that took the route of applying early. Okay. And so here's what I want to talk about, right. Early admission. Okay, early admission is a kind of a term that a lot of people understand but they don't understand it in depth. So I am going to be talking about it uh like and kind of giving you the the full picture, right. Really there are three kinds, right. There is early action, there is restrictive or single choice early action and there is early decision. Okay, these are kind of the three that you can think about and again each school might have their very own specific policies but again these are the general three categories that you have. Now let me explain those right. So it's very simple to understand and I'll kind of put them in grades of restrictiveness, right. Early action is the least restrictive, right. So early. ## SAT versus ACT... and which schools now require testing [09:00] action, you apply by November 1st usually. Again, different schools can have different uh kind of deadlines, right. Uh but the decision is out before January 1st, right. And you're not obligated to go. So basically, you turn it in early, you get a result back early, and then you can wait until May to decide where you're going to be headed off to college in the fall, right. restrictive or single choice early action is a little bit more well just like how the the the term is here a little bit more restrictive right so you apply early right by November 1st get a decision out early before January 1st you are not obligated to go right so it seems like it's exactly the same as early action but right here is the difference right you are only allowed to do one college right that college early action right or again I put your early decision But basically, you're only allowed to do one college restrictive or sing single choice early action. You cannot apply to any other colleges early action or early decision unless exceptions are given. There's not a lot of exceptions that colleges give. Right. One that is very very specific is Stanford. They have a restrictive or single choice early action program. Right. But for some reason, right, I don't know if the f the the president of Stanford and the president of USC are friends, but Stanford allows students to apply early action to USC. Okay. So, you need to look into your school, the the school that you're applying to, see if there's any restrictions or any exceptions, right. And then finally, you have early decision, right. You apply by November 1st. Again, early, right. And decisions are out before January 1st. Again, you get a decision back early. But this one is a little bit different. You are obligated to go. Right. Now, a lot of people are asking how can they obligate you to go. Right. And here is the answer to that. Right. There is a form that the student signs saying that if they get in, they will go. Your counselor has to sign a form that says if you get in, you will go, right. Your parent needs to sign in a form that says if you get in, you will go. Okay. Now it doesn't mean that you are like locked into this situation like a 100%. No, there are always exceptions, right. Well, if your family can't afford it, they can well you can get out of it, right. Um there could be other situations, right. Mental health or medical issues that prevent you from going far further away from home and so you can't go, right. Again, they are understanding. It's not like they're going to take you to court because you decided, hey, you know what. I really can't go here. My family can't afford it, right. My medical issues are preventing me from going. Okay. But generally speaking in a normal situation, yes, you are obligated to go. So keep that in mind. Okay. Now let's talk about why this has helped students, our students and other students that are applying early action, early decision, right. We are in an age of like us always wanting to know what's going on, right. And having the kind of like a constant update of new information,. ## What “fit” really means at competitive schools [12:00] right. Well, here's the thing. Colleges want to know ASAP who's going to be attending in the fall, right. And who is not, right. That makes it very easy for them to take people, you know, in the regular pool, off the weight list, so on and so forth, right. Students also want to know ASAP, too, right. So that well, a lot of students think like, oh, you know what, if I get in somewhere early action or early decision and I'm going to go there, well, then I don't have to do any of my other applications. But a lot of students, they don't think about the timeline. Unfortunately, most of the things will already be done. Okay. Uh because if you think about it, you turn it in by November, but then you're in a waiting period until the middle or kind of the end of December when the rest of your applications are due. So, you're going to have to get them ready anyway. Now, you might save a little money on like application fees, but otherwise, you're going to be going through the same process, right. Now other things right are that colleges they see right if you're applying early action or early decision they see that you're prepared and if it is the right fit right they want to express their interest early to the student saying hey we're really interested in you right if it's early decision it's like yeah we want you come here right if it's early action it's like you know what you're great we want you come here right uh but again early decision and early action have different kind of meanings right one is one is kind of like your obligated to go. The other one is not. Right. Now, conversely for students, right. It's the same. They want to show colleges that they're interested early, right. If you want to kind of like show them, hey, you know, I'm ready to go. You guys are kind of one of my top choices. This is a this is kind of a process that you need to be going through, okay. You need to be making sure that the colleges know, hey, I'm ready. I'm prepared. I've done everything early so I can hear back early from you guys. You guys are one of my top choices. Now, is it always the case that early action schools are your top choice. No, that's not the case. There's a lot of schools that have early action, and so you can apply to those schools even if they're not your top choices. But when it comes to early decision, that should be your top choice. Okay. Now, the whole strategy of how to choose your early decision school, right. Well, it really is kind of a personal preference, right. And there are kind of two different kind of trains of thought when it comes to early decision. The first is that you apply early decision to your dream right again like not taking into account any academics right so let's say that there's a you know you know there's a student right their dream has always been to go to Colombia right um maybe they have you know the the academic foundation and rigor to apply maybe they don't but nevertheless they shoot for the stars and they apply for Colombia right there's also situations where students will be like you know what I want to have like something under my belt this is a really good school. Um, I think I'm competitive here. I just want an extra boost into the accepted pile. Right. In that situation, right, students might apply to a school that's maybe a slightly kind of like not necessarily like a shot for the moon,. ## How soft factors can outweigh resume stats [15:00] right. But still very competitive school, but they want to make sure they get in. Okay, those are the two general trains of thought when it comes to applying early decision. But again, if you get in, you have to go. So, it does carry a little bit more weight to it. Okay. But early admissions across the board when it comes to kind of college trends has shown us that students should be applying early. The only reason why I ever tell a student that they shouldn't be applying early um is if the student didn't have so hot of a junior year. Okay. Then maybe for those private schools, we want to show them our first semester grades in senior year so that they can use those and say, "Hey, he bounced back or she bounced back." Okay. So just something to keep in mind there. Okay, the next thing that we're going to talk about today is standardized testing. And before I kind of move any fur move any further, I want to make sure that you guys remember the questions that you have and that you guys start putting them in. I will answer them either in line if I see that it it kind of fits. If I feel like it's better answered at the end because I'm already past that point, I'll go ahead and answer it at the end. Right. But the Q&A, right, the chat, don't be shy, right. You can always turn the chat on to just hosts and panelists so that only I can see it. and the Q&A. I'm the only person that can see it as well. Okay, but let's continue on going into standardized testing. Okay, now standardized testing, uh, well, let's put it this way. It used to be a lot simpler, right. Uh, back when, you know, parents, you were going to college when I was going to college, right. Everyone was just test required, right. Everyone had to take the test, right. Um, but, right, with kind of what happened with the pandemic and all these different things, there were changes, right. And these are the changes that happened. There are schools that are now test blind. There are schools that are test optional. And there are schools that are test required. Right. But what do all these really mean. And what do the trends tell us about these different things. Okay. Now, test blind, right. Most of a lot of our families that we talk to are in California. Okay. So, I brought up kind of an example here. The UC's the UC's and CSUs are test blind. Okay. This is the most kind of like, okay, no, no, no testing, right. That's what they are telling us, right. This means that they will not look at your SAT and ACT score for the purposes of admission unless right it is being used for an English proficiency requirement right or later being used for a waiver of certain classes mainly English once you're into that school. So during the admissions process there is no way that your test score is getting in there. Okay. Now, I know that there have been some people that says, "Oh, you know what. There's a section and I can put it in for l like language proficiency." And I'm like, "Well, you're doing something that they told you not to do, right. To try to gain an unfair advantage." And how do you think the colleges are going to think about that. Probably they're not going to look fondly upon that. Please do not do it. Right. Now, you can spend the money to send it there, right. But it's not going to do anything for you. So, if it makes you feel better at. ## The return of SAT at places like MIT, Yale, and Stanford [18:00] night, go ahead and send your official score report to them, right. uh if you get into that particular school again they'll use it later for like class placement and things like that right especially for English right if you score above a certain uh certain score uh they they don't make you take like remedial English basically right um so kind of doing that right um but yeah that's what test blind is okay now let's also talk about test optional right and my question that I have here is is it really right um so again there's a lot of websites out there that say oh yes our college is test optional. Don't worry about the testing, right. Standardizing or standardized testing at a lot of the colleges, right. It's not really test optional, right. There has been every single year, right. Since kind of the COVID pandemic uh kind of swept through and then we were kind of getting back to normal. SAT was being offered again, right. Every single year since then, there has been a higher emphasis placed on standardized testing every single year, right. and more and more students are taking taking the tests and turning in higher level scores especially to those competitive institutions right now on their websites or on their pages or I don't know if you guys chat GPTA it always says oh yeah you know there's no there's no kind of like um there's no penalty for not submitting right but that also means that there's no benefit and that the benefit or that advantage is only for students that are are turning it in right so while there is no like minus points for not turning it in there's definitely no plus points. So that's something that we have to take into consideration. Okay, so keep that in mind when it comes to test optional. Now we have test required. Okay, there are more prominent classes like kind of colleges, right. Especially in the top 20 that have returned to test required. Okay, so like schools like Yale, Brown, Dartmouth, right. Cornell, more recently, MIT, Georgetown, Caltech, just last year, Stanford, starting for this fall, right. These schools are test required, which means that whether you have a 1,200 or you have a 20 or you have a 1600 and a 36, if you want to apply to that school, you have to turn it in. You don't have a choice. Your application will be deemed incomplete if you do not turn it in. Okay, but here's another thing, right. It's not just private schools that are doing this. There are public institutions that are going back as well. Now, I know that that scares some people because I said the the UC's and CSUs are not or were or they are test blind. Don't worry about it. The UC system got sued, right. Because and this was actually a little bit before COVID, right. They got sued and then the lawsuit, I believe, came out during COVID, right. and the the final kind of result of it came out, right. Um but they got sued saying that the SAT and the ACT uh are discriminatory and so uh they have been taken out. That's why they were taken out, right. Again, COVID was a contributing factor, right. Um but. ## Strategic planning if your junior year wasn’t strong [21:00] the SAT and the ACT unless there is a reversal of that decision that it was discriminatory is never going back to the UC's and CSU. So don't worry about it, right. But I just wanted to kind of there are some more popular universities um that are out there uh especially with our California families that I did want to kind of show you guys as well. UT Austin, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, right. Basically all the Florida public universities and Purdue are just some of the colleges that are going back or that are already back or are going back to test required. Okay, so keep that in mind. Okay. Now, here is kind of like my little pro tip here, right. So, while only 20% of the US colleges are requiring the SAT, the trends indicate that, you know, colleges are going to either reinstate or actually going to a test preferred model. Now, what that means is that they say that it's test optional, but they're giving brownie points to the kids that have higher test scores, right. So then that means that they are giving preferential treatment to SAT and ACT takers, right. Even if they never go back to a full test required situation, the test preferred situation is already happening and it will continue to be happening. Okay. All right. Uh we have a kind of question in line. I do see the questions above. So I'll that one we'll kind of answer at the end. But this one is kind of right there, right. And it says, "Is there a bias uh o like between SAT and ACT in highly competitive colleges?" The answer here is no. You your student should be taking the test that is meant for them. Okay. Now, just on a very high level, the SAT is a more tricky test. Okay. And what I mean by that is that they try to trick you with the questions that they provide. Okay. I'll give you a very simple example. Right. So, let's say that the question starts with x + 1 equals 3, right. Everyone's going to say, "Oh, okay. Well, x equals 2, right. We know what the answer is." Okay, now here that says, "Hey, okay, on the ACT or sorry, my words got mumbled. I was trying to read a question and give this example at the same time. So, let me start over." Okay, X + 1= 3, right. X, everyone can solve for it. X= 2, right. We all know that, right. But, right, on the SAT, the question does not end there. it actually goes further and it asks you what is x + 2, right. So, that being said, the answer is actually four, but in the answer choices, they're going to have the answer choice that says two. They're also going to have four. They're also going to have negative two, so on and so forth. And so, they're trying to trick you if you are someone that is like move moves quickly, right. Doesn't really read the question in a lot of detail. That's where you're going to get messed up and that's why your SAT might not come out as well, right. On the flip side, the ACT, right. Right. And I know that they're re they redesigned it, right. There's new things coming out. It's a shorter test because they're making the science test optional, right. There's a lot of things happening there, right. But generally speaking, the ACT. ## The danger of relying on outdated admissions beliefs [24:00] is not a tricky test. You either know the answer or you do not know the answer, right. It's one or the other, right. But the problem with the ACT is that it is a much faster test. There are more questions and there is less time. So keep that in mind. Okay. Um, and then we have some other SAT questions. So, we'll do here. Will a good SAT score balance out a not hot semester. It depends on how not hot it was, right. Um, the SAT can make up for a lot of things, right. Um, but, right, it's not going to make up for straight C's junior year, right. Um, it might make up for a couple B's here and there, right. It's like, hey, you know what. I was I was really focused on this and this and you know, uh, you know, I'm I'm still, you know, super intelligent person. I'm a smart kid. I'm a good test taker, but I fell off a little bit here. Maybe there, right. But it's hard to quantify that really. No. Okay. Now, we have another question. It says, "So, uh I think it's like a kind of form of statement. So, we're being advised she doesn't need to do the SAT. Is this true?" So, it depends on where you're applying, right. And also, it also depends on kind of what your college goals are, right. If your college goal is to go to Caltech, well, you need to take it, right. You have no choice, right. Uh but if you're going to like another college like for instance like USC is still test optional right now are do they prefer students with higher test scores. Sure. Right. But let's say you're going to USC it's test optional. Let's say that your test score is not the best. Right. Um couldn't you go test optional. Sure. Of course. Right. Uh if you can and or like if you if you think you can study for it and do better and kind of get above that kind of 50 60th percentile then yeah sure go ahead. Right. So that's kind of the situation that we're in there. Okay. So let's kind of keep going on, right. Um because I want to make sure I get to the end of this, right. What do you need to do. What do you need to be doing, right. What is the smart strategy here. The smart strategy is to prepare, right. So many students are blindsided later when colleges kind of come up with their new policies, right. We don't know which colleges are going to switch the test required even now, right. There are some colleges that switch it super late in the kind of college admission cycle because technically the college admission cycle hasn't started until August, but our students are working early, right. Caltech did that last year when in April on their website they had that it was test optional and then the next month in May they said that they're going to be test required. So a lot of kids that had not taken the test that were looking to apply to Caltech had to rush in and find test centers. Okay. Now I always get this question too. When is the right time. Okay. Now, what we say is that students need to finish at least algebra 2 trig to be ready to take the math section for either the ACT or the SAT. Okay. But that should be a prime time. After you're done with that, maybe in the summer, right, as summer starting, you go ahead and take a practice test. We see what the baseline score is. We see what the testing. ## Final mindset shifts that set competitive applicants apart [27:00] strategy is, how much time is going to be involved to get to the score we want, and then you create a test strategy from there. Okay. So keep that in mind. Now we have some more SAT questions here. Uh so it says so should you pick either SAT or ACT uh or should you take both and submit the better score. You should never study for both. Okay, that's like I don't even know a good example of like or an analogy for that, right. Um but it is like you're studying for the same thing, right. When you're only going to use one, right. Use all your time and energy on one, right. the one that feels more comfortable for you, right. Naturally, when you take the SAT and an ACT, and you should take both practice tests, right. One will feel more comfortable for you and the other will feel less comfortable. Okay. It's just the kind of the way it works. Okay. Uh but have if your students kind of at that time where they where they can't take a practice test, have them take an SAT, have them take an ACT, right. Not on the same day obviously, maybe a week apart. And then and then kind of talk to them about how they feel about it. Okay. Now the final question for SAT ACT section is do you recommend STEM students take science section and ACT. Does it make them more competitive. Technically speaking, if you're a science student, the science section should be easy for you, right. It should be one of your strengths. So should you be taking it. Yes. What have colleges said about it. Nothing yet. So we don't know. So the default should be that you should be taking the test as it was last year with which had the science section. And then if this if the colleges say hey we don't need that section then you're all set. If the colleges say oh we do need that section then you are prepared. Okay. Uh here we said did you say students should have completed algebra 2 and trig or algebra 2 or trig. So at different schools it's different levels right. But at a lot of I'm in the Bay Area. At a lot of Bay Area schools it's algebra 2/trigonometry. The class is one class. Okay. Now, if your school does something different and does like algebra 2 and trig/precal, right. Again, I'd want you to get through algebra 2 and trigonometry. Trigonometry does help a bunch on the SAT. Okay, now let's continue moving on. Right, we're going to talk about finding the right fit. Okay, now I talk about this all the time and a lot of people are like, "Oh, yeah, okay, finding the right fit. Okay, yeah, what ranking are we looking for?" And here's the thing, that is completely wrong. Right now, here is something that I do want to make sure that you guys understand. Every single year, there are millions of kids across the United States that have high grades and high test scores. Okay, that does not guarantee your student anything, unfortunately. Okay, that is almost a given now. That is like the the kind of foundation to your student. Right now, we got to build the house, right. So, colleges are looking for students that fit the mold of what they need at their college. And what I mean by that is this, right. Smart kids, they have a lot of them, right. Um, they looking for kids that have interest in various areas, right. Again, maybe Mediterranean studies isn't super popular at that school and they need more students in that area. That might be an inn for your student, right. Students who have taken an extra step in their academics and their activities, students that have shown initiative, right. that is what they're looking for, right. And again, I know I'm going to get flooded with questions about like, oh, my kid is the, you know, president of this and the president of that. Being the president of something at a in a in a club doesn't necessarily mean that you have initiative. It just means that you got voted in, right. Initiative is about what have you changed since you have been there. Okay. So, you joined the math club, you became president, but it's exactly the same as when you came in and when you're leaving. Nothing has happened. You are just a placeholder, right. That's how colleges look at it. There needs to be change that happens, right. They're looking for that X factor. And I know that it's hard to articulate what that X factor is, but I'm going to try to do it to the best of my ability here. Okay. I always kind of talk about it as like a potluck, right. A college community is a potluck. You need to be bringing something to the table, right. Now, if you were coming to my potluck and let's say I was a college, if I called you and I said, "Hey, what are you planning on bringing to the potluck and you said chips?" I would cancel your invitation. Okay, that's just normal. I need something else. Right. But if the answer is that you're bringing a Thai green curry, right, that you have been researching and finding the right spice blend and the right this and the right that and the right type of rock sugar, right. Well, you know what. You're invited. You can also bring a plus one, right. So, colleges are looking for students that can contribute, that can collaborate with other people, that can be assets to the campus, right. Just being a member, just being a placeholder, just being present is not enough. Okay, so I know that a lot of people are like, "Oh, you know what. Like, oh, they're trying to scare us into doing." No, our students that got into these top colleges are students that where it's like, "You know what. I can send this student anywhere. They're going to be an asset to whatever community they join." Those are the types of students that make it the top 20 universities. Okay. Now, how to find fit. I know I scolded you guys a little bit earlier, right. It's not about the ranking, right. You need to see how your own values and character align with their mission, right. This is done through research in writing your why essays, right. The why essays are very important, right. Because they want to make sure that you are the right fit for their campus. Why are you interested in coming to our school. Why do you want to study your major. They want to see that things align, right. Again, you want to show them that you are that unique dish, not a bowl of chips, right. And so you want to make sure that you are prepared to come to the potluck, right. I got sorry I'm making these analogies, right. And you're also ready to do the dishes, right. So name value does not equal fit. Please kind of ingrain that in your minds, right. It's a making sure the student exemplifies the values that the colleges hold dear. Okay, I'm just going to give you a very simple example. Stanford has a strong commitment to community, right. That is one of their biggest things. They like reaching out to kind of like their like the surrounding community, right. um it is in a more affluent area but there are areas around it that are not as a affluent the students do not have as many opportunities right if that's the case right then let's say that there's a student and they don't care about that and I'm not saying that in a bad way but let's say that the student is more kind of like involved in like uh and like wants to kind of save humanity from pollution and migrate to a new uh planet I guess that is kind of like community but it's a little bit different than what Stanford sees it as, right. Then this school might not be the right one for them. It's a great school, but it's not it's not the right fit. Okay. So, it's about making sure that your student, right, fits into that campus. Okay. Now, we're also going to be talking about soft factors and interests, right. Now, interests, right. This is the trends that I've been seeing, right. Colleges want to see your interest, and it's not just your academic ones, but what are you spending your time on, right. How are you using your time. Who are you spending it with. What are you spending it on. These are very important questions. Right now, the kind of example I always give to to parents because it seems like parents, you don't remember back when you were a high school student, right. But here is the reality of it. Okay, let's say parents, let's say that you are a construction worker, right. And you just got back from a long day of construction working, right. It's not like you sit down at the table and read more about construction work, right. So the question becomes, right, what else do you do in your free time. You might enjoy working on your boat, right. You might enjoy uh gardening. You might enjoy baking the best chocolate chip cookies in the world. They want to see that you have things outside of your academics, right. And one of the reasons, and a very logical reason why is because you know what, academics, sometimes they're good, sometimes they're bad. But if your only interest is academic then what happens when it goes bad right it is a kind of like formula for disaster right because you have nothing else to lean on right so colleges want to see that you do have a balance okay it is very important okay now having said that you also do want to show them that you have academic interests right so I'm going to give you a very simple example let's say that there's an engineering CS student that's what they want to study when they go to when they go to college but they have never taken a single coding class. They haven't had any type of you know summer program or engineering courses or you know um any type of you know uh robotics or anything right well if you don't have the requisite kind of experiences right uh and kind of the showing that interest how can this college ever choose you to be an engineering student at their school they cannot right so I'm not saying that you need to just have one type of interest or the other but there does need to be a balance balance between the two. Okay. So, keep that in mind. Right. Now, how do you balance. Right. Now, when it comes to activities for our students that are shooting for those top 20 schools, we suggest that your activity hours per week should be 30 plus hours. Right. Now, you guys are probably thinking this guy is crazy, right. But here is what we have seen, right. Our students are doing that, but we're also helping them create situations where the impact of what they do is 30 plus hours, but we're doing it efficiently. Okay. But we do suggest that students have 30 plus hours when it comes to top 20 colleges, right. If you really break down how you're spending your 168 hour week, right, there is a lot more time than you think, right. In addition, like I said, our students are being efficient. So, let me just give you an example. I had a CS and engineering student, right. He created an organization to like provide coding curriculum and teach middle school students with little to no access to these types of programs, right. When he first started, he had five students and he would be there like twice a week for a couple hours, right. Doing this and then building curriculum in the on the back end, right. So, he spent a lot of time working on these things. Once he had the curriculum built up, he started marketing it out further. More school districts, Zoom classrooms, this, that, so on and so forth. By the end of his high school career, he had over 300 students in his program at any given time, he had 25 volunteers. And in instead of spending dozens of hours of cheat teaching, what he did was he let his 25 volunteers teach for him. He created the curriculum, told them what the lesson plan was, and told them, "Hey, go and teach." Right. That is efficiency. The hours that were tutored are still under his belt. That's the impact that he created. So while he might have only worked five six hours that week right you know coordinating schedules and this and that right the effect of what he did I don't know maybe he had I don't know 60 70 hours of tutoring that he was able to impact the community with okay so keep that in mind okay all right I talked a lot right I do see that there's a bunch of questions so um I'm going to answer those questions kind of in the Q&A section so just give me a second I will get there I'm kind of out of breath All right, but to sum it up, here are some things that you should be taking away from this, right. So, just in the past five years, we've already seen this, right. But colleges are looking for authentic students, right. And reward students that differentiate themselves, right. So, if you just have a cookie cutter, oh, I took this, I took this, I took this, I took this, I took this, right. Then it's like, okay, well, great. Good for you. Right. Uh the question is you got you got anything else, right. Um and so right uh co you have to remember colleges have more options nowadays right more students are applying than ever right so you have to treat this kind of like a business transaction right you want this college to choose you well again what are you bringing to the table right does it add to the college community right if the answer is yes then of course your probabilities are going to go up right and you need to find the right fit for your student it's not about the name on the hoodie it's about finding the right fit where the student will be the happiest and thrive. Okay. Now, one other piece I want to kind of bring up because I've been seeing it and I've also been reading a lot about it is a quick warning, right. I did see that there are a lot of rising seniors. I see there's a lot of rising juniors. Here is my warning, right. AI, okay. Use it as a tool, but it should not be the result that you are turning in. Okay. More and more AI is part of our lives, right. Students are using it, right. to get information all these different things right but right it comes with the temptation to use it for things that they are not enjoying and college essays are not easy so they might ask AI right but many colleges are planning or have already implemented AI detection tools now how good are these things I'm not sure right but this is my fair warning to you right use it to help you maybe come up with ideas or ask you questions to get deeper but it should not be in control of your essay having said that parents you also need to take a step back because parents, you should not be in control of the essay either. It should be your student. Okay, this is an essay that an 17, 18year-old, 19year-old should be writing. Okay, it is not the the kind of perspective of a kind of 40, 50, 60 year old parent talking about their child. Okay. So again, AI again use it as a tool. parents, be a sounding board for your kids, but when it comes to the writing and the editing of it, stay out of it. Okay. All right. Now, really quickly, financial aid in a nutshell, right. It's going to be super quick, right. I know that um a lot of you guys, right, you guys have I probably shut off your ears because I said financial aid. You're like, "Oh, my family doesn't doesn't qualify." Right. But, uh open them for just a second, right. If your family makes between a hundred and $500,000 per year and you're worried about the cost of college, right. And you should be because a private school costs over $100,000 a year now, right. You need to talk to me. I can help you save tens depends on your income, but it could be thousands, tens of thousands, or even hundreds of thousands of dollars. Okay. So, here is kind of my plea to you guys, right. And it should be no, no, no, no, no. Right. And no, no, no, no. And why I'm saying that is this. No, you don't make too much money. I'm sorry, right. I know you want to believe it, but you don't, right. No, financial aid is not just for loans. No, it is not just for low-income families. No, you are not disqualified because you own your home or rental. And no, you don't have to pay full price for college unless you want to, but I don't know anyone that does. Okay, so we'll have a link for that later on. Here are just some results, right. I'm kind of coming up on time, so I'm going to make sure that I leave some time for Q&A. But I've been able to save families that make 350, that make 440, right. That make 230 money on college, right. anywhere between 30 to, you know, 40 45 $50,000. Okay. So, make sure that you do sign up. Okay. Now, we do have some special offers here. Okay. Um I do want to make sure that we get to Q&A. So, I'm going to go through these fast right now. Technically, oh, one second. I'm going to pause the recording because this is special for financial aid. Now, for those that are still here, right, there's even more, right. And so here is the even more right here's what we need you to do if you want to take advantage of this. Okay. So if you text Tony to 949775 0865 one of the things that you'll do is that you'll get registered to go to a private training on Tuesday July 15th at 5:00 p.m. There will also be free gifts and kind of like you know tool bags for the class of 2026 27 28 and 29. Okay. So, if you are interested in kind of, you know, going to coach Tony's private training, right, please text 949-7750865. All you have to do is put a quick Tony in there and then that's it. Okay. So, it should be super simple. Okay. All right. And so, we are now at the Q&A section. Again, I kind of put there if you want to kind of text us, that's an easy way for you. Again, the phone number is right there, 949-7750865. You can text Tony in order to get information about, you know, the the the private training or our coaching programs. And if you want to text money to that phone number, we'll get you set up with a financial aid consultation. Again, all our consultations are free. Okay. But let's go back to the questions and go from there. Right. [Music] All right. So, first one. So, uh we have friends whose kids were rejected by Santa Barbara, Irvine, but got into Berkeley. It almost seemed random. Is that a factor of the major they applied for and applicant number. Are the readers standardized throughout the UC's. So while the UC's are part of one system, you have to remember that the readers that are chosen are chosen for that particular school. Okay. Now each individual UC has has like a list where they have that list of 13 kind of criteria that are important to the overall UC admissions process. But right, you'll see that certain UC's put a higher emphasis on certain one of those 13 criteria. Right. Now, for those that are like, "What is he talking about?" Right. You can go and and type or like kind of search on Google real quickly, uh 13 UC application criteria, right. And you'll see that there's like 13 different categories. But again, the way that Santa Barbara looks at those 13 criterias and kind of gives it like points is different than how Berkeley does it, how LA does it, how Irvine does it. Okay. Um but again there's also other kind of pieces of the pie too. major, right. It's important, right. Um, and so, you know, uh, there could be a lot of different factors, but that could definitely be one. But the colleges, unfortunately, the UC's, they're not kind of like centralized. They're not, um, what's the word that I'm looking for. They're not calibrated altogether. It's campus by campus. Okay. Uh, we have another question here and it says, do different colleges emphasize different aspects of the application. like Stanford emphasizes more on community service while others uh while some others some other colleges look for something else. If so, do we modify the application to each college to highlight different aspects that they like. Well, well, here's the thing, right. Especially for the the top 20 schools, one of the things that you'll notice is that they all have supplemental essays, right. Now there might be a situation where you kind of shift different activities on your common application to kind of like highlight different things. But generally speaking the activity should be about what is what has been most important to you, right. And then as far as kind of like showing the different values that you hold, that's what you'll do in your supplemental essays because every single school does have supplemental essays, especially the top 20 ones, right. And they have multiple, right. So that's where you need to shine through to kind of show that piece. you don't necessarily need to change every single thing on your application for the different colleges that you're applying to. Uh we have another question says, "Will this webinar be available to those who joined late?" Uh if you're part of our coaching program, it will be on our private YouTube channel. Right. If you're one of our Facebook families, right. Uh we will have a post real quickly uh about kind of like, "Hey, do you want the replay from today?" Right. And then our team will reach out to you. It just takes a little time for us to upload things, get things ready. Okay. Uh, we have another question. It says, "The president's volunteer service award is suspended for this year due to funding changes. How do we showcase our volunteer hours?" So, oh man. Okay. So, I'm going to try not to get emotional about this, but I'm going to say it very clearly. The presidential volunteer service award never mattered. Okay. It was a money grab, right. They want you to buy the certificate. They want you to buy the gold medal. They want you to buy the pin. Right. The thing that is important about the presidential volunteer service award is not the award that you receive. It is everything that you did within those hours to get that award. Right. So the hours and the volunteering that you did that is what is important. Okay. So you don't need to get recognition. No one needs to sign off on your hours. Right. If you if you're able to show them in your activities, right. If you're able to show them as you talk about your different activities uh in your essays, that's where it's going to shine through and that's where it's going to become real. It's not about any kind of like recognition outside or an award. So, don't worry about it too much. Okay. Um we have another thing. Sorry, could you share the slide that spoke about the values before activities so I can share this with my husband please. So, uh again this will be available later on. Okay. Um so, uh you know, reach out on Facebook right once I once I make that post. uh reach out in our uh if you're a part of if you're in our coaching program, you know, reach out in your discord channel. Um but it will be posted on our private YouTube channel later on. Okay. All right. So again, right, um real quickly, there was a little bit of a secret kind of special offer, right. If you guys are still interested in that special offer, remember the email was super easy. It's just fidaglock.com, right. for coach Tony's special kind of uh you know private training. Uh make sure to text Tony to 949-7750865. You can also reach me for financial aid pieces, right. Because I also am I I also lead the financial aid group, right. You can text money to 949775865 as well. Okay. All right. Sounds good. So, I'm going to leave this up real quickly because I know a lot of people are watching on their phone, so they might need to scribble it down somewhere or take a picture or do whatever. Um but again, I don't see any other questions, right. Thanks for spending a little time with me here today. Uh if you guys do have any other questions, uh make sure to reach out to our team. Our team is ready and willing to help you. If you're one of our coaching families, just reach out in your Discord. That's the fastest way to get to us. Okay. All right. I hope you guys all have a great night. The weekend is approaching, so hopefully you guys have some fun things kind of planned and we'll talk to you guys again soon. Okay, everyone. Have a great night. Bye-bye.