Do Good Grades = Good SAT/ACT Scores?

“As long as you have good grades in school, you don't need to study in order to do well on the SAT/ACT."

I’ve heard the above misconception many, many times. And I wish it were the case!

Unfortunately, the SAT and ACT do not match the content of high school courses as closely as you might think. A perfect 4.0 GPA does not guarantee that you'll achieve high standardized test scores.

I’ve encountered many straight-A students who really struggle with the format and style of questions on the SAT and ACT.

Learning what the SAT considers to be the “right” interpretation of a passage, getting used to the pacing of the ACT, and practicing other test-specific strategies will often feel very different from most students’ academic experiences in high school.

The good news is, practice really does make perfect!

The SAT and ACT are tests that you can study for. Familiarizing yourself with the test structure and most common question types is half the battle. Students need to get comfortable with the kinds of questions they’ll see over and over again and get used to how quickly they need to work through each section of the test.

Over 50% of students end up taking the SAT/ACT more than once.

The students who spend time studying are the ones who see sizable increases in their scores.

Early preparation is key. This is one of the reasons why we encourage students to take both the SAT and ACT in the fall/winter of their junior year. Doing so will leave you enough time to study and retake the test(s) before the end of junior year.

Remember, our free Method Test Prep courses can be accessed through your Career Cruising profile!

Erin, Director of Student Services

College Costs, Admissions Interviews, and the PSAT: Our 5 Most Read Stories of 2014

We've had a truly great year with all of you. Thank you for inviting us to be a part of your family's college planning journey. We are excited for the year ahead.

Before saying goodbye to 2014, let's take a look back at this year's biggest stories. From tips for acing the admissions interview to some startling statistics on college grads, these were our most read stories of 2014 ...

1) 71% of Recent College Grads Still Receiving Financial Help From Parents

New research suggests, once again, that many parents across the country are not getting their money's worth when it comes to sending their kids to college ...

2) Does the PSAT Matter?

We know the PSAT often gets overlooked or misunderstood, and we don’t want you to make that mistake ...

3) College Costs and Financial Aid

How does a family pay for a college expense that is equal to and in many cases greater than the mortgage on their home? ...

4) 8 Steps to Acing the College Admissions Interview

A good interview can make the difference between getting accepted or rejected by your top school ...

5) What Do You Believe?

At Ensphere, we believe in many things ...

With 2015 around the corner, we're also excited to share more details about our upcoming webinar events.

Beginning in January, families who can't make our in-person workshops can now attend a free webinar instead, from the comfort of their own home. Registration is easy, so let your friends know!

Our first webinars are coming up on January 20th and 21st. Registrants will get a free copy of our College Planning Timeline.

As always, thank you for helping us help other families. We know the college planning process is such an important time in families' lives, and we are grateful to have the opportunity to make a difference.

Happy New Year!

Erin, Director of Student Services

Happy Holidays!!

Happy Holidays from Ensphere!

 

To celebrate, here's a festive video starring your favorite college planning team ...

 

 

We're also pleased to congratulate our seniors, who have begun receiving college acceptances. It's an excellent list so far:

 

Allegheny College
Auburn University
Baldwin Wallace University
Canisius College
California University of Pennsylvania
Case Western Reserve University
Chatham University
Clarion University
Cleveland State University
Duquesne University
East Carolina University
Edinboro University of Pennsylvania
Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University
Fairmont State University
Gannon University
Indiana University of Pennsylvania
John Carroll University
Kent State University
Mansfield University
Marymount Manhattan College
Mercyhurst University
Ohio University
Pennsylvania State University
Purdue University
Robert Morris University
Rutgers University
Saint Francis University
Saint Vincent College
Slippery Rock University
Susquehanna University
Thiel College
University of Alabama at Birmingham
University of Mississippi
University of North Carolina at Wilmington
University of Oklahoma
University of Pittsburgh
University of Rochester
University of Tennessee

Villanova University
Washington & Jefferson College
Waynesburg University
West Virginia University
Westminster College
Youngstown State University

 

... and many more to come!

 

From all of us at Ensphere, have a wonderful holiday season.

 

Mike Giffin, President

As promised ...

Here it is, as promised ... a picture of the team modeling our "awesome" Ensphere t-shirts.

Wish you could look this awesome? You can!

Through the end of 2014, we'll send you a t-shirt of your own for each family you refer our way. Simply click here to provide an email address so that your friends, family, and neighbors can receive our weekly blog posts. Click "Submit," and your t-shirt will arrive shortly in the mail!

Again, thank you to each and every one of you for helping us help more families accomplish their college planning goals. We believe our services can benefit every family who has students headed to a four-year college.

It's been a great year. Our seniors are now getting college acceptance letters. Juniors are taking the SAT/ACT and gearing up for the busy season ahead. Thank you to everyone for helping us make 2014 a good one.

On that note, we have some exciting news ...

You spoke and we listened. For some families, it is difficult to come out to an evening workshop in person.

To make it easier for those families to begin the college planning process, we'll be offering our workshop as a webinar, "Clearing Up the Myths of College Planning: Your Personal, Eye-Opening Journey to the Truth." Interested families can take the first step from the comfort of their own homes.

The webinar kicks off in January. Start telling your friends! More details to come.

Mike Giffin, President

Thank YOU.

Last week, we shared with you some of our beliefs at Ensphere. Today, we'd like to share some of your beliefs and say thank you to everyone for joining us on this journey.
_________________________________________________________________________________ 

Dear Ensphere,

I believe Erin's comprehensive reviews of student's essays are one of the most helpful services we have received. I also believe Chris' patience, with regard to my never ending questions regarding the CSS Profile, is equally invaluable!

Thank you Ensphere,
Patty
_________________________________________________________________________________ 

Dear Erin,

On behalf of myself and my children, I wanted to express my appreciation for the orientation you gave us the other evening on Ensphere's services.

All three of us talked all the way home and throughout dinner on lucky we all feel to have you and Ensphere in our corner. I'm not sure in my entire business career I've ever walked away from a meeting thinking the person I had just met was more rightly matched to their occupation than I did after meeting you!

We all look forward to working with you and the rest of Mike's team as we go on this journey together.

We are all very happy we're making our journey with you by our side.

With Kindest Regards,

Tracy
_________________________________________________________________________________ 

Mike and Erin are really top-notch professionals who know the business of college planning like no other. Do yourself a favor and talk with Mike about your options. We cannot be more happy with their services and professionalism and the assurance of knowing that our children will be guided in the best way possible to happy and successful collegiate experiences that will translate into rewarding careers in the end. We have no doubt regarding this.

- Jim
_________________________________________________________________________________ 

To all of you, we say THANK YOU for giving us the opportunity to help you achieve your college planning goals. We believe every family should have access to a regional College Planning/Funding firm that helps students find the career of a lifetime, identify the right-fit college or university, finish four years of school in four years, and develop a tax-efficient plan to finance college, without ruining the family budget or destroying your retirement plans. Thank you for allowing us be a part of this important step in your lives.

To continue our services it is important, to our current cost structure, to have introductions to new families who have students headed to college.

From now until the end of the year, we'll send you one of our - as Rena would say - "awesome" Ensphere t-shirts for each referral you provide.

Stay tuned next week to see the Ensphere team modeling our "awesome" t-shirts!

Mike Giffin, President

P.S. In the meantime, a fun peek at us getting into the holiday spirit at our annual bowling outing ...

What do you believe?

At Ensphere, we believe in many things. We believe in Santa! Erin believes in eating chocolate cake for breakfast. I believe in intense one-way conversations with my dog.

Here's what else we believe ...

I believe, by successfully partnering with parents of college bound students, we can greatly enhance their education experience without burdening the family with unnecessary financial risk. - Mike 

 

I believe college shouldn't be a scary thing that happens to you; families deserve to have the help they need 

to take control of the process and make the best decision for the whole family. - Erin

 

I believe we can significantly increase the chances that a family can send their student to the school of their dreams while decreasing both the educational and financial burden on that family. - Chris 

 

 I believe that the financial burden that comes with college does not have to 

cripple a family or even affect retirement. - Jeremy

 

 I believe every student deserves the opportunity to earn a degree, 

regardless of their financial situation. - Rena 

That's what we believe, now what do you believe? We'd love to hear from you.

Mike Giffin, President

Is College Worth Today's High Prices?

Let me start out by explaining that, emotionally, this question might have wildly different answers. What we are discussing in this publication is more about ROI, or return on investment. It is also an answer that very well may have a variety of answers, depending on how you were taught to do the calculation.

Here are a few examples.

Last week, I was sitting at the counter in one of my favorite diners having breakfast, when a gentleman said, “I paid cash for my oldest granddaughter’s college education.” I asked what she was now doing with her education. He told me she is a physical therapist in the Chicago area. She is making about $65,000 a year. When I asked how much he paid for her education, he proudly said, “One hundred eighty-six thousand dollars for her 6-year degree.”

The next example was a former employee of ours, who said a few years ago that her daughter went to a local college for 5 years, and the cost was over $124,000 in total. The daughter had obtained a teaching degree and a certificate to teach in Pennsylvania. She didn’t find work locally and ultimately moved south. She now earns about $36,500 a year.

In each of these cases, one needs to look at how the costs were financed. What if all or a large part of the college costs were in the form of a Parent PLUS loan? What if the student borrowed all or most of the money? The answers would be anywhere from a great deal higher, to, the student would not earn enough to pay back the loan without significant help and might have to interrupt her 4-year education for a 5-6 year time period to complete her degree.

Most parents don’t understand that students cannot, in today’s high-price world, borrow enough on their own to finance their education without some form of co-signer. We have also learned that a large number of parents don’t understand that once they obtain a Parent PLUS loan for their student, the loan cannot be transferred to the student. Articles have been written about how a student can refinance their student loans after they finish college. This is more difficult than it appears, because the student doesn’t have an established loan repayment history or even a reasonable FICO score.

Don’t go down the path of, “We’re going to borrow the money or my student can pay for their own college education; after all, I paid for my own college education,” without consulting a professional with experience in all aspects of this intensely complex endeavor.

Mike Giffin, President