Podcasts Archives - Creative Marbles Consultancy: Recent Episodes
Creative Marbles Consultancy
Going to your first college admissions interview can be pretty nerve-wracking if you don’t know what know expect. In the following podcast, admissions interview veteran, David Alcalay, shares his first college admissions interview experience, and some tips on how to prepare:
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At approximately 4 hours of testing time, the SAT and ACT measure the endurance of a student, as much as their knowledge and ability to reason. Test taking skills can help students access their knowledge during the long testing period, and pace themselves appropriately. Padma, CMC’s resident 8 year old Renaissance Man, shares the following test taking advice:
The post Stamina, Attitude and Tranquility: Essential SAT & ACT Skills appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
“I just looked at it [the original Star Trek series] as science fiction, ’cause that wasn’t going to happen, really, but Ronald saw it as science possibility.” – Carl McNair, about his brother, Astronaut Ronald McNair, who died aboard The Challenger in 1986 While we all face difficulties in our lives, some continue to move forward regardless of expectations and…
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As high school Juniors prepare for the SAT and ACT this spring, some test taking tips from Creative Marbles favorite, eight-year old commentator, who offers his thoughts about getting ready for exam time. As an added bonus, his advice can help with everyday classroom tests as well.
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The fifth of five new Common Application essay questions asks students to: Discuss an accomplishment or event, formal or informal, that marked your transition from childhood to adulthood within your culture, community, or family. Applicants must choose only one of the five questions to answer as their college essay, which will be shared amongst all the colleges using the Common…
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The post Common Application Essays Part 7: Essay Prompt 5 Explained appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
The next podcast in our Common Application Essay series defines the fourth of five essay prompts. Applicants must choose only one of the five prompts to help structure their essay. Yet, considering topics for all five essay questions, before focusing on one, can help applicants write the most meaningful essay possible and remain competitive across the variety of college admissions…
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The post Common Application Essays Part 6: Essay Prompt 4 Explained appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
Knowing the definition of the prompt can help applicants select topics that most effectively highlight their qualities and give understanding to their qualifications for admissions. Our latest podcast defines the third of five new Common Application essay prompts, that asks applicants to: Reflect on a time when you challenged a belief or idea. What prompted you to act? Would you…
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The post Common Application Essays Part 5: Essay Prompt 3 Explained appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
Knowing the meaning of the essay question can help college applicants write the most insightful college essays possible. Luckily, we, at Creative Marbles Consultancy, have done the defining work. Over the last decade, we’ve complied a stack of hand-written, dog-eared yellow pads full of words, along with a growing library of digital photos of our well-used whiteboard littered with the…
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The post Common Application Essays Part 4: Defining Prompt 2 appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
Generally, college admissions officers are seeking greater insight and knowledge of the student from the college essay. Our most recent podcast defining the first essay question of the new Common Application essays (which is listed below) can help Seniors begin uncovering the meaning or significance of their life experience in drafting their college essays. Some students have a background or…
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The post Common Application Essays Part 3: Defining Prompt 1 appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
Additional insights to answer the complex questions Hewlett Packard employees asked during our second College Admissions and Financial Aid Brown Bag Lunch, since we were limited in our discussion time last week. Each topic is bolded, with the details listed below: College Application Essays The autobiographical college application essays are a meaningful part of any application, as one of the…
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The post More College Admissions 101 appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
Dismissing a college based only on cost, as many families tend to do when considering private universities, may overlook a valuable choice for an individual student. The following podcast discusses how to “value” a public university in relation to a private university, as well as offers tips for planning for future college expenses. For more on college selection, see our…
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The post Private Universities May Not Cost More Than A Public University, In the Final Analysis appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
Knowing what the college essay adds to a college application, as we discussed in the first podcast of our Common Application essay series, is only the first step in developing a competitive personal statement. The following podcast advises Seniors how to actually write the autobiographical college essay, and addresses common challenges in the drafting process. The college essay is complex by nature,…
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The post Common App Essays Part 2: How to Write College Essays appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
College essays that add value to the application explain the meaning of the applicant’s life experiences and give insight to the applicant’s personality. Being able to craft that content, while in the middle of the fall semester of Senior year, and fit their 17 years of life into 500 words or less can be a complicated task. Using our 35…
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The post The A B C’s of the New Common Application Essays appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
Mention the words “college essays” to any soon-to-be high school Senior, and watch their faces contort. Although expected, the autobiographical college essay that’s included in college applications can provoke a unique stress, as few 17 year olds are: A) used to promoting their qualities and qualities, and B), has thought in detail about big questions, like “What do you dream…
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The post “But, I’ll Be Bragging…” And Other Perils of Writing College Essays appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
Unfortunately for college applicants, there is no magic, straightforward formula for earning an acceptance in the college admissions process. Since the evaluation for college admissions is completed by human beings, about other human beings, in an environment with yearly increasing numbers of applicants who excel and exceed the requirements for admissions, subjectivity in decision making naturally follows. In addition, yearly…
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The post Choosing Extra-curricular Activities When There’s No Magic Formula for College Admissions appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
For parents of rising Seniors, summer can seem like the ideal unstructured time to get a jump on college essays. For the average rising Seniors, maybe not so much. Take a listen to our podcast about how to combine summer vacation and college essay writing: For more information about college essay writing, see our previous posts, “Storytelling Season is Around…
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The post Summer = College Essay Writing? appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
Choosing a college based on price or which campus offers the greatest amount of financial aid can seem like a foreign concept to many families. However, as tuition continues rising annually and parents face the quandary of balancing saving for retirement and paying for college, at the same time their income seems to be shrinking, families may be facing increasing…
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The post What’s College’s Value Given Today’s Prices? appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
Paying for college can sometimes be a separate worry from concerns about admissions. Often, parents ask us nervously about how to afford college, as well as the family’s chances of actually qualifying for any financial aid. I find that parents are most concerned about need based aid, given the family’s income and asset values. The following podcast is a short…
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The post Need Based Financial Aid Explained appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
We spend our lives–first, learning and then, embracing–the idea that stress and worry should be avoided, denied, and minimized, but seldom understood. Art shares his view on worry and stress with a high school junior client and their family, as well as how one can work with stress and worry to become stronger, not weaker in the end. Give it…
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The post Embrace, Don’t Shun Worry and Stress; a Normal Part of Living appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.
Northwestern University includes one essay question as part of their Common Application Supplement. The question is designed to gain insight to the student’s interests and their potential match with Northwestern, which reads: What are the unique qualities of Northwestern – and of the specific undergraduate school to which you are applying – that make you want to attend the University?…
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The post Northwestern University’s 2012 Common Application Supplement Essay Defined appeared first on Creative Marbles Consultancy.