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About Independent College Counselors, and About Me
How my 25 years of experience distinguish me in an unregulated profession.
Mark Moody
Apr 305 min read
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For seniors and families as decisions arrive...
"The data are in: we are not good at predicting what will make us happy. This is known and documented. So as we watch another class of...
Mark Moody
Mar 28, 20242 min read
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Class of 2028 Admission Statistics
College Kickstart is compiling 2024 application cycle admission rates and links to full reports as colleges make them available. Follow...
Mark Moody
Mar 19, 20241 min read
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Keep up with 2024 early admission stats
The good folks at College Kickstart maintain and update a blog listing each year's admission cycle notification dates and statistics. If...
Mark Moody
Jan 26, 20241 min read
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How to Start Visiting Colleges: Mindset College Collective
My good friend and former colleague Sara Purviance of Mindset College Collective shares some good advice on making a low-stress entry...
Mark Moody
Jan 24, 20241 min read
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Class of 2025: Digital SAT or Paper ACT?
Our friends at Compass Prep have provided a helpful new guide to making sense of the new digital SAT that replaces paper tests starting...
Mark Moody
Jan 18, 20243 min read
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New Year Admission Revolutions
I couldn't agree more with Brennan Barnard's latest blog post suggesting good habits for those in the college admission cycle this year--...
Mark Moody
Jan 10, 20241 min read
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Admission Dean Advice: What NOT to discuss at the holiday table
Whitney Soule, the wise Dean of Admission at the University of Pennsylvania, offers some valuable thoughts on keeping the pressure off...
Mark Moody
Dec 7, 20231 min read
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FAFSA Delays will impact Financial Aid awards this year
As I've mentioned elsewhere this fall, the FAFSA application for federal student aid is being updated this year, and was delayed from the...
Mark Moody
Nov 28, 20231 min read
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Guest Blog by Sara Purviance: Modeling Gratitude for Our Teens
I'm grateful (see what I did there) to Sara for sharing these timely thoughts about gratitude. Sara was my colleague for several years,...
Mark Moody
Nov 22, 20234 min read
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AI in College Admission News and Opinion Roundup
Since ChatGPT created a massive cultural paradigm shift last year, one of the hottest topics and biggest questions in college admission...
Mark Moody
Nov 20, 20232 min read
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Yes, still more commentary on US News Rankings...
If you scroll through my blog archives, you'll see plenty of articles and commentary I've shared about the deeply flawed US News College...
Mark Moody
Nov 20, 20232 min read
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For Seniors: After You Hit "Submit"
If you know a senior applying to colleges this year, here is some advice on what follows all that energy leading up to the celebratory...
Mark Moody
Nov 9, 20231 min read
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"Writing an Effective College Admissions Essay: Honesty is the Best Policy." Guest Blog Part 3
Post 3 of 3 (Read Pt 1 & Pt 2) Writing an Effective College Admissions Essay: Honesty is the Best Policy Anne Elrod Whitney, Ph.D. My...
Mark Moody
Nov 4, 20235 min read
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"Writing College Admissions Essays: Who Cares? You Do." Guest Blog Part 2
Post 2 of 3 (Read Part 1) Writing College Admissions Essays: Who Cares? You Do Anne Elrod Whitney, Ph.D. When you let your emotions tell...
Mark Moody
Nov 2, 20236 min read
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"Mission Impossible: Why College Essays Are So Hard to Write and What to Do About It" Guest Blog
Anne Elrod Whitney is a brilliant teacher of teachers of writing at Penn State. Anne and I were elementary school classmates from grades...
Mark Moody
Nov 1, 20235 min read
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College Admission 2023: What matters to admission offices now
The National Association for College Admission Counseling routinely conducts member surveys to determine what factors are most important...
Mark Moody
Oct 23, 20232 min read
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What to know about awareness of race in admission after SCOTUS
One of the central conversations in college admission in the US for the last year has been the pending Supreme Court decision on the SFFA...
Mark Moody
Oct 23, 20233 min read
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Extracurriculars: What really matters, from an experienced admission officer and college counselor
My friend and former colleague Sara Purviance is a smart and compassionate counselor, with a background in admission at Colorado College...
Mark Moody
Oct 20, 20231 min read
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Looking Back on the Future of College Admission
Two years ago, I was invited to speak on issues in the world of college admission post-pandemic, along with Femi Ogundele, Associate Vice...
Mark Moody
Oct 17, 20231 min read
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