University Admissions: Beware of the cart before the horse
Whenever a family first comes to me they do want to show they’ve been doing some “homework” and usually express this to me by giving me some specific names of universities they want their child to apply to. I listen, take some notes, and assure them we will get to specific names of institutions shortly—and I will take every one they are considering seriously while assuring them that this process and thus the decisions are theirs, not mine—and then move on to the most critica