Ian Parker

Choosing a College

Best Colleges in California

By Ian Parker
March 30, 2023 | 13 minute read

You’ve decided you’d like to go to college in California. Now: how do you choose? What are the differences between different California colleges? How should you prepare? My students have...

What Colleges Look For

Do Letters of Recommendation Help You Get Into College?

By Ian Parker
March 17, 2023 | 9 minute read

Which teachers to ask for letters of recommendation is one of the biggest questions facing any college applicant. But why is it so important? How do colleges use letters of recommendation?...

Choosing a College College Research

Applying to Multiple Colleges? Here's What You Need to Know

By Ian Parker
May 16, 2022 | 5 minute read

What’s the “right” number of colleges to apply to? Decades ago, college applicants mostly applied to somewhere between one and three institutions. That wasn’t wrong, or bad, or weird – it...

Choosing a College

How Do I Help My Child Pick A College?

By Ian Parker
April 18, 2022 | 3 minute read

Well, this is it – or, as the mom of one of my students told me the other day, “That’s a wrap!” For most high school seniors, applications have been submitted, admission decisions have been...