Matthew earned his Ph.D. in English Literature at Columbia University in New York City. He founded Academic Approach in 2001.
November 18, 2009 – 8:14 PM
Tonight, Academic Approach is thinking of its students, its noble scions, illustrious alum, really, the entire reason why we’re in business.
There’s really no better confirmation of our mission than that moment when an alum writes to us to share one of his or her latest offerings at college, and we can see in that piece the evidence of critical thinking, logical analysis, sophisticated syntax, and perfect usage and mechanics. Well, actually, there is one slightly better confirmation, that is, when the piece also displays real intellectual curiosity and enthusiasm.
Here’s one for you below:
November 17, 2009 – 12:56 AM
I’m often struck by how my students focus on endings—“what happens in the end?”, “where is this story going?” or, more autobiographically, “I can’t wait ‘til high school’s over and I go to college!”
In short, we’re a teleological bunch, racing towards our finish lines frenetically.
In my mind, beginnings are often more interesting, especially literary ones.
November 13, 2009 – 12:33 AM
Somewhere between a coercive language immersion program, like Orwellian Newspeak (except it’s not known at all for its concision), and some odd naturalistic, linguistic emergence, like Nicaraguan deaf children signing their own language (except it’s much more obtrusive), lies academese, that esoteric idiom known only to that precious few meisters and apprentices that occupy the ivory tower of academia.
Now, as someone who is prefers the abstruse to the mundane, I hesitate to cast aspersions on my adoptive mother tongue, academese, yet, even the most foppish don has his limits.
October 28, 2009 – 10:08 PM
At Academic Approach, we collaborate with our friends in college counseling, support the hard and excellent work they do, and, well, constantly learn from them.
If imitation is the highest form of flattery, then tonight’s blog is an homage to one of our favorite college counselors in Chicago, Elisabeth Pleshette, who tells it like it is about Early Decision.
October 6, 2009 – 11:24 PM
If there’s an allegiance we pledge at Academic Approach—before political party, nation, or even deity—it’s to language, specifically the power of logic and rhetoric.
So perhaps with a touch of autumnal, academic nostalgia (i.e., fond thoughts of college freshmen cultivating a new knowledge of ancient texts) or a bit of current resentment against those Olympic judges who snubbed Chicago for Rio, our thoughts turn toward Athens—not for games, but for knowledge. Specifically, I’m thinking of the art of rhetoric, and one of my favorite rhetorical techniques, anaphora.
September 29, 2009 – 3:09 AM
We’ve just returned from the 2009 NACAC conference in Baltimore, and it was a great success. It was tremendously enjoyable to re-connect with our college counselor friends from across the country and to make many new friends as well. We met with over 200 college counselors and admissions officers!
August 24, 2009 – 10:02 PM
Not that we ever doubted our Academic Approach philosophy – that honest, intellectual enrichment will outperform test “gaming” techniques any day of the week – but still, it’s nice to find that our opinion is shared by such good company.
Taking the SAT multiple times has widely been regarded as risky business. Since every score is recorded on the student’s College Board transcript, then surely it is best practice for students to be conservative, keep blemishes off their records, and avoid testing too much. Therefore, it’s no surprise that only 15% of students who take the SAT will presently sit for it three or more times.
The only thing that tops an octopus tripping the light fantastic across the ocean floor is—let’s face it—a shrimp on a treadmill. This physically fit shrimp not only inspired the Academic Approach staff to hit the gym, but it also caused us to ask whether all shrimp were in such excellent cardiovascular health? . . .Or did we mean all shrimps?
“I’m so bummed that I scored a 25 on the English ACT.” “I can’t believe my ACT Science score is so low!” “I really need a 29 on ACT Math. How can I ever get my 22 up to a 29? That seems impossible.”