LifeLaunchr and the International Institute of Research (IRI) have joined forces to unveil "Empowering Tomorrow's Minds," a groundbreaking research program for exceptional high school students. Students will engage in cutting-edge research mentored by leading university faculty, fostering critical thinking and life skills. The program offers academic freedom, 1-on-1 mentorship, and flexible scheduling.

"This new tool will make college research remarkably easier for students and parents," said Cyndy McDonald, founder of the Higher Education Consultants Association, founder of MyCCA (now GuidedPath), and Principal at McDonald & Associates, a college counseling practice. "College research is a major challenge today. Information is scattered on multiple websites, and each college organizes it differently. The new tool is detailed and comprehensive and will ease the process for students, parents, and counselors."

“Among our students who are in the LGBTQIA+ community, there is an almost universal desire not to attend college in those states if the student doesn’t already live there,” said Mr Swaminathan, chief executive of the admissions counselling firm LifeLaunchr. “Abortion has a more diffuse effect, simply because many parents and students aren’t thinking about that issue when they, or their kids, are in high school.”

While research on how anti-LGBTQ legislation could affect college applications is limited, college counselors say families are increasingly raising the issue as a factor in their decisions on where to attend. Venkates Swaminathan, the chief executive of LifeLaunchr, a college admissions counseling firm, said between 20 and 30 of the few hundred students he works with each year express concerns about state legislation.

“Our clients include students of every academic inclination and focus,” said Swami. “Some stories I’m proud of include a student who was accepted into a pre-med program at Washington University in St. Louis. His family ran a motel in Ohio, and he was the first in his family to go to college. Our work helped him go to college with a full-ride scholarship. A student from Florida who wanted to study architecture and was accepted to the B.S. program in architecture at Georgia Tech. And a student from Pleasanton, California, who was accepted into the computer science program at Carnegie Mellon.”

Interested in starting your own entrepreneurial journey in training and education but unsure what to expect? Then read up on our interview with Venkates Swaminathan, Founder and CEO of LifeLaunchr, located in Santa Rosa, CA, USA.

At Best Startup California, we track over 300,000 Californian startups. The companies, startups, and institutions listed in this article are all exceptional companies, well worth a follow.

“In general, our advice is because test-optional is so confusing, we tell all our students to take the standardized tests,” says Venkates Swaminathan, founder and CEO of LifeLaunchr, an admissions-counseling firm based in California.

“I’ve seen a much greater number of students who say they don’t want to go to publics in Florida,” said Venkates Swaminathan, founder and CEO of LifeLaunchr, a college consulting company. “Students will say they don’t want to support that state and don’t feel safe there.”

Experts encourage students considering for-profit colleges to look critically at other factors that contribute to cost, too, like the amount of institutional aid available, how long it takes to earn a degree and the value of that degree.

“A great essay can help set you apart from all the others who might get in,” writes Venkates Swaminathan, Founder and CEO of LifeLaunchr, a college admissions coaching company. “And unlike your grade on a Calculus course, a great college essay isn’t an objective evaluation, it’s a subjective decision.”

Going to community college for the first two years of one’s higher education should not be viewed as inferior to attending a four-year university due to the price, flexibility, transitional period and employment opportunities.

"In general, we are advising students to go ahead with their plans to attend college. In some cases, however, we ask students to take additional courses at an online community college so they can use the time gained by not traveling to accelerate their education,” explains Venkates Swaminathan, founder and CEO of LifeLaunchr, a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

“Over the longer term, the college admissions process next year will be more complex, due to online tests, online schooling, and changes to requirements,” said Venkates Swaminathan, founder and CEO of LifeLaunchr, a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling.

“The idea that ‘this is a great SAT score for someone from your neighborhood, for someone of your background’ — it’s not fair to the students.'"

There are plenty of community college benefits, and attending one can be an advantage for students before they move on to a four-year university.

Swami explains the various kinds of checklists the Lifelaunchr team uses each and every day. "Checklists are crucial for college admissions, and we use a lot of them ... Using checklists avoids errors due to oversight and also makes sure we maximize a student’s outcomes."

"There are many factors college admissions officials consider in deciding whom to offer a seat to, and some of them are subjective. This is where the power of a great story comes into play."

My goals in 2020 are to maintain personal balance and positive attitude even as the business grows over 200% in the year. We have had a great 2019 and aim to improve significantly, but that is a challenge in terms of the amount of work involved. So I will rededicate myself to my practices: yoga, travel, and music: so that I can be at my best every day.

Career certificates — which offer proof that a candidate has specific skills in a technical field — can be immensely helpful in a student's job search.

Whether writing comes easily and naturally or if it is a dreaded, anxiety-inducing task, one thing is for sure — the college admission essay is one of the most important essays you’ll ever have to write.

"The first difficulty is that my background is not in education so I have had to learn the education space intensively by just diving in the deep end and learning everything I can about understanding how the college admissions process works and understanding what it is children and parents want out of the system and understanding how colleges think about it. And I tell people sometimes that my background as an engineer has served me very well because it has brought an analytical depth to the work we do and a deep knowledge of how statistics work."

FOR-PROFIT, FOUR-YEAR colleges advertise sticker prices that are, on average, somewhere between those of public and private nonprofit colleges. But experts encourage students considering for-profit colleges to look critically at other factors that contribute to cost, too, like the amount of institutional aid available, how long it takes to earn a degree and the value of that degree.

Venkates Swaminathan, founder and CEO of LifeLaunchr, a member of the National Association for College Admission Counseling, perfectly sums up the reasoning behind the increasing preference for students to attend community, state, and online colleges over prestigious universities.

It’s a question any person involved in college applications gets asked a lot. Whether you’re applying to a selective private university or a state school, how much difference does a great college admission essay make? And what really makes for a great essay?