Lisa Endlich's Blog, page 357

7 Things Ivy League Admissions Officers Want You to Know

Have you ever listened to an Ivy League Admissions presentation, wondering what the presenters were really trying to tell you about how to get into college? As a former Dartmouth Admissions Officer, I can help translate.

Ivy League Admissions

1. Standardized tests are still important.

Yes, it is totally true that an increasing number of schools, including selective ones, are devaluing or eliminating standardized tests. However, the Ivies still require and use the SAT or ACT. The bottom line i...

Every Family With A High School Student Must Tackle This Hidden Issue

I always chuckle at Norman Mailer’s pithy depiction of masculine rivalry:  “When two men stop in the street to say hello…one of them loses.”  But it would not be difficult to extrapolate a bit and substitute “parents” for “men”.  For mothers as well as fathers are constantly comparing themselves to other parents when it comes to how their children are doing, and there is no developmental phase during which this process is more highly charged than during senior year and the attendant drama of...

The Truth About College Costs from a Former Financial Aid Professional

Families of Juniors: Before you Apply, Know What To Expect About Financial Aid

YOU SHOULD KNOW NOW….

– Every school has a different amount of money to give (both need-based and merit-based)

– Every school reviews your application information differently to determine eligibility

– You’ll likely have very different financial aid offers from every school

– The majority of these financial aid offers for U.S. students will include federal student loans (considered an “award”)

– The financial aid a...

The Most Complete List of Financial Aid Resources You Will Ever See

Families of Juniors: Before you Apply, Know What To Expect About Financial Aid

YOU SHOULD KNOW NOW….

– Every school has a different amount of money to give (both need-based and merit-based)

– Every school reviews your application information differently to determine eligibility

– You’ll likely have very different financial aid offers from every school

– The majority of these financial aid offers for U.S. students will include federal student loans (considered an “award”)

– The financial aid a...

This is Why Parents Get Stressed When Their Kids Move Back Home

We love our children and work hard to teach them how to be independent and responsible. And while that may not make it any easier for us when they do leave, it can give us peace of mind they are going to be okay and thrive on their own.

I am sure there are many parents who want their kids to come back to live with them because they miss them and are nostalgic for the past — or perhaps they just think that’s what they want.

Studies show that having a child move out, attend college, or make the...

This is Why I Want My Children to Experience Heartbreak

I want you to feel heartbreak.

What a horrible thing to say to someone, right? Especially someone you love; someone you would die for; someone you birthed.

But, yes, as a matter of fact, I am telling you to wish that for your child; to desire they feel heartbreak — and not heartache, I want that sh*t to get entirely broken.

What a witch of a mom I must be. What angry spiteful person I am.

Or, maybe not.

Whether you like it or not, your child is, sooner rather than later, going to have their s...

My Teenage Daughter Has Anxiety: This is How it Looks and Feels

Teen angst. A great phrase; onomatopoeia.

But as much as I like how it sounds, I hate the reality. With all those raging hormones, every teenager is bound to “lose it” at one time or another.

But add anxiety to that mix, and it’s a whole different beast. Sometimes it manifests in a meltdown of epic proportions, sometimes it’s silent, hidden demons. But they learn to put a smile on their face, to grin and bear it. How are you, we ask? “Fine,” they say with a knot in their stomach. Because real...

How My Lonely Daughter Found Her Courage at College

My daughter never wanted to live on campus when she went away to school.

Her dad and I knew this because over and over, for years ahead of time, she said, “I DO NOT want to live on campus.”

When she chose a school 45 minutes from home, she said,

“I do not want to live on campus.”

When we toured the place and saw the women’s dorms with their adorable decorated doors and perpetual sleepover feel, she said,

“I do not want to live on campus.”

When people told her she’d hate the commute, she said,...

Before Kids Leave Home They Need to Know 6 Simple Things

You’re down to the last semester of high school.

More than likely, your child is getting ready to fly away from the nest. They’re going to college – or moving away to work and live on their own. You’ve spent the last 18 years making sure they were ready for this. (Never mind that not one second in those 18 years prepares us for the moment when our kids leave home!) It seems like only yesterday that we were teaching them how to brush their teeth and tie shoes.

The stakes are a little higher no...

My Son’s Braces Are Gone and So Is His Baby Face

We paused outside of the orthodontist’s office for one last picture of my son with his braces.

Today was two and a half years in the making: his braces were finally coming off.

Though he’s used to me documenting his childhood milestones with silly selfies and pictures of him with his friends, my son still rolled his eyes as I dug my camera out of my purse.

“Smile!” I sang.

He leaned up against the brick wall and rewarded me with a huge, metal mouthed grin.

Christine Burke

I had no way of know...