Blog - JRA Educational Consulting

If your student applied to UF or FSU two years ago, you knew it as the SSAR. Penn State and Rutgers families called it the SRAR. Since August 2025, both names are gone. The self-reported transcript system that dozens of selective universities rely on is now called STARS: the Self-reported Transcript and Academic Record System.

We have already written about the mechanics. When FSU added binding Early Decision and then

At the National Test Prep Association Annual Conference in Chicago this month, Peter Wilson, the University of Chicago's dean of college admissions, stood in front of a room full of test prep professionals and laid out how his office actually decides who gets...

The University of Florida read 91,896 freshman applications for the Class of 2029, a 22.8% jump over the prior year, and admitted roughly one in five, according to UF's admitted-student profile. When that many students compete for a seat...

JRA counselors regularly attend national admissions conferences to stay up to date on policy changes and hear directly from the admissions personnel. Here is what came out of a recent business school panel that every family with a business-bound student should know.

Ask a group of high school student...