Recent activities

Options for College presenting for the Parent Network at Merrill Lynch
On June 26th, Options for College presented a program entitled Where Should I Apply and How: A Look at the College Admissions Process at the World Financial Center for the Parent Network at Merrill Lynch. The presentation included both live and teleconferenced participants.

Congratulations to the class of 2012!
Options for College would like to congratulate all the students who have successfully navigated the college admissions process! This year's wide variety of acceptances ranges greatly, from the Ivy League to small liberal arts programs, honors programs, and universities aborad, from elite scholarships like the Presidential Scholarship at NYU and the Benton Scholars at Colgate, to strong state programs such as the University of Maryland and the Honors Program at the University of Delaware, to specialty programs such the College of Communication at BU and the Rhode Island School of Design. The list of schools this year is far too lengthy to list here, but the summary is clear: Options for College students indeed had many options, with more than 60 different schools accepting students this year, and hundreds of thousands of dollars in unsolicitied merit aid. Congratulations, Class of 2012! To see a full list of the school where Options for College students have been accepted over the last two years, click here.

Options for College returns to The Princeton Review, Delhi, to train the staff
Options for College will return to Delhi india to train another cohort of tutors and counselors at The Princeton Review, Delhi. The six-day seminar will duplicate the successful training last September.

Options for College at the Yale Club of New York City
On May 22nd, 2008, Options for College presented the program entitled Where should I apply, and how: a look at the college admissions process. Options for College's presentation was complemented by Bespoke Education's presentation on preparing for standardized exams.

Options for College at the Rudolf Steiner School in New York, NY
Faced with the sudden departure of its college counselor, the Rudolf Steiner School, a New York private high school in the tradition of Waldorf education, chose to work with Options for College to support its junior and senior classes for the 2007-8 school year. OFC is working with families and students on college choices, application decisions, and financial aid.

Options for College at the Yeshiva University High School for Boys, New York, NY
YUHSB is working with Options for College to help define the roles of the college counselors within the school through seminars, workshops, and weekly meetings for the 2007-8 school year. OFC also provides weekly meetings and monthly seminars with the YUHSB students.

Options for College trains 60 counselors and editors on grad school and undergrad admissions, The Princeton Review, Manya Group, Delhi
From September 15th through September 23rd, Options for College was in Delhi, India, training the tutoring and counseling staff of Academic Counseling Services of the Manya Group (the Indian franchisee of The Princeton Review). The six-day seminar covered topics that ranged from effective essay topics and writing to the best ways to match students to schools, all drawn from Options for College's comprehensive counseling approach. Video clips of the training are available.

Options for College at the Independent Educational Consultants Association annual meeting
This year's conference included dozens of colleges and universities, as well as presentations that ranged from creating art portfolios for the art application process to presentations from the colleges in Ohio, and everything in between. Despite the fact that many counselors were referring to this year's college admissions with the term "bloodbath," Options for College students again exceeded expectations. See their results.

Congratulations to the Class of 2011!
The class of 2011, in addition to over $500,000 in unsolicited merit scholarships, received an extremely impressive and varied list of acceptances that ranged from Honors Colleges and dual-degree programs to film programs and sports management schools. Our initial survey shows that students have been accepted into the following college and universities: Boston University (including the Honors Program and the College of Communication), Carnegie Mellon University, Chapman University (including the Dodge College of Film and Media Arts), Columbia University, Cornell University, Drexel University (including the Drexel Scholars Program), Franklin and Marshall College, Georgetown University, Harvard University, Ithaca College, New York University, Rensselaear Polytechnic Institute, Syracuse University (including the Renee Crown Honors Program), University of California -- Berkeley, University of California -- San Diego (UCSD), University of Connecticut, University of Massachusetts -- Amherst, University of Michigan, University of Rochester, University of Pennsylvania (including the Jerome Fisher Program in Management and Technology), University of Pittsburgh, University of Southern California, and the University of Wisconsin. Congratulations to everyone, please keep in touch, and consider acting as an ambassador at your school should a future OFC student want to visit!

Need-based financial aid group partners with OFC
Although Options for College students have received a great deal of unsolicited scholarships over the last two years (over $800,000), the need for foresight and accuracy in the process of applying for need-based financial aid is also very important in the college planning process. OFC is pleased to start a partnership with Simply College, LLC, which provides three levels of support (written, phone, and web-based) to families going through the process of looking, and applying, for financial aid. As an added strength of Simply College's approach, they provide their invaluable advice at only a nominal fee.

The first cohort of graduate school students working with OFC has a 100% success rate
Options for College is proud to announce that, in its first year working with graduate school students, both got into all the schools to which they applied. These students' achievements are especially impressive given the programs which they will attend: The International Relations Programme at the London School of Economics (a 10.2% acceptance rate!), and the business schools at Columbia (17.2%) and Dartmouth/Tuck (20.3%). Please call to inquire about graduate school assistance at (914) 357-0781.

American Institute of Certified Educational Planners recognizes Keith Berman
Keith Berman was designated a Certified Educational Planner by the American Institute of Certified Educational Planners, a mark of distinction for counselors who meet the experience, educational, professional activity, and ethical standards of the AICEP, the only national certification organization for educational planners. The certification process involves lengthy application, reference, and examination phases, and there are currently only 12 other CEP's in all of New York State, and about 200 nationally.

Options for College in New York
Options for College now has a location in New York, NY, in order to better serve its families and students. Options for College can now also be found at 42 W. 24th St. in Manhattan.

Class of 2010 reports results
Options for College congratulates all the students who applied for 2010. We are happy to announce that each of our students got into at least one of their reach schools, and that our students received over $300,000 in unsoliticited merit-based scholarship offers. Excerpts from reference letters are now being posted on the new testimonials page. Initial surveys indicate that students have been accepted into the following schools: Babson College, Boston University, Cambridge University (UK), Columbia University, Cornell University, Dartmouth College, Drexel University, Emerson College, Harvard University, Lehigh University, Northeastern University, Pratt Institute, Princeton University, Radford College, Roger Williams University, Stanford University, Susquehanna University, Swarthmore College, University of California -- Los Angeles (UCLA), University of California -- San Diego (UCSD), University of Miami, University of Rhode Island (URI), University of Pennsylvania (Wharton), University of Richmond, University of Southern California (USC), Williams College, Yale University, and York College of Pennsylvania. Congratulations again to everyone, and enjoy your final semester of high school!

Presentation on college admissions to University Road Trips
Keith Berman presented a talk entitled Choosing where to apply for college, and figuring out how to get into students from the UK, Chicago, and New York on the April University Road Trips college tour that began in Westchester County in New York. The tour visited Amherst College, Boston College, Boston University, Brown University, Dartmouth College, Harvard College, Princeton University, Tufts University, Vassar College, Wesleyan University, and Yale University.

Options for College joins the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce
Options for College was welcomed into the Cambridge Chamber of Commerce in February at the Chamber’s bimonthly breakfast.  The CCC is a non-profit organization that encourages community involvement, philanthropy, and development for its 1,400 members.

Recent Articles

Education update on college admissions process
In the February issue of Education Update, an article by Keith Berman of Options for College appears on the holisitc nature on college admissions, and how, as advertised, college admissions offices do indeed review the whole applicant, looking beyond scores/grades to who the student is as a member of college community. The article is not currently online.

Harvard Crimson article
Keith Berman was quoted in the Harvard Crimson, the undergraduate newspaper at Harvard University. Click here to read the article.

Columbia Spectator article
In an April edition, the Columbia Spectator, Columbia University's undergraduate newspaper, quoted Keith Berman of Options for College three times on Options for College's student-centered philosophy, as well as on trends in college counseling. The article highlights the importance of "the growth of the student" in the context of applying to college. Click here to read the article.

Boston Magazine
In the March issue of Boston Magazine, Options for College is featured in an article about premium services for parents and students in the Boston area.  Keith Berman is quoted in the article, talking about the importance of having a strong application. Click here to read the article.

Education Update interviewing article
In the February issue of Education Update, an article by Keith Berman of Options for College appears on the importance of the college interview, with some suggestions on ways to prepare.  This article also appears on the online version of Education Update.

Education Update college counseling article
In the January issue of Education Update, Keith Berman discusses how college counseling is much more than a process of ‘marketing,’ but a chance for students to understand themselves better, take ownership over their college process, and become more college-ready. The article can be found here, in the .pdf version (this takes a few minutes to download).