Navigating the Increasingly Difficult College Application Process

Leslie is joined by Connie Livingston, Senior Lead Counselor at Empowerly, which empowers students to become the most successful version of themselves with personalized college and career guidance. Their tailored guidance helps students triumph over the college admissions process and spark the future of their dreams. Connie has worked in the field of college counseling since 2008. She began her career as an Assistant Director of Admissions at Brown University and has since moved on to Empowerly, where she has worked for the past three years. The pair examines the increasingly difficult college application process in the United States. More and more students are applying to college. More and more applications means a lower percentage of acceptance. So the bar has been raised. 4.0's are now 5.0's, competition is international, there are no more DEI policies or 'boxes' for affirmative action/diversity. So kids are taking SAT prep classes, doing a lot of outside work/volunteerism, etc. and additionally, parents are hiring college counselors. Here are the questions answered during the interview: 1. What does an outside college counselor do? 2. Is there a range of fees? (Some people think it's unattainable for them because of the price) 3. Do they help the students write their essays? (editing them, etc) 4. Is there any assistance with SAT's? 5. Does it increase a student's chances of admission if they utilize a college counselor that is separate from their high school's college counselor? 6. Why is Empowerly better than a student trying to solely use AI, like ChatGPT, to help them with the admissions process? The website for Empowerly is Empowerly.org. Their handle on Instagram is @empowerlyinc and you can find them on Facebook.com/empowerly as well.