Estrela Consulting Blog

During this time of uncertainty families are being inundated with daily updates from colleges, testing organizations and many other entities. We, too, are working hard to stay up-to-date on what feels like a non-stop flow of emails and social media messages informing us about how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting - and will impact - the college planning process for the next few graduating ...

We’ve been here before, I think as I sit down to reflect on the current state of the world. Okay, maybe we’ve not been exactly here before - hunkered down, sheltering in place, fearful of the invisible coronavirus - but we have faced adversity before. Maybe not all together as a collective global society, but certainly in small samples sizes.

The Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) released this month its 2020 ranking of What Colleges Look for in High School Students, based on a nationwide survey of IECA members. While grades and standardized test scores are near the top of these annual rankings, a number of significant changes and surprises are challenging the assumptions about college admissions. Number 1 on the ...

Happy New Year! We are incredibly proud of our Class of 2020 students who have received offers of admission to 66 different colleges and universities in 24 states during the Early Decision and Early Action rounds of admission. In addition, our Estrela students have already received $5 MILLION in merit-based scholarships! Check out the list of colleges and universities where our students have been ...

Let’s just be honest here, most people don’t love being interviewed. Nevertheless, when given the chance to interview with a prospective college, I always encourage my students to go for it. Interestingly, there are only a handful of schools out there that explicitly require interviewing as part of the admissions process. However, many colleges do offer interviews as optional opportunities for ...