Primer
All PeiPaoLab posts filed under "Primer".
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Rejected by a Safety School With Great Grades? Here's Why
SAT 1550, top GPA, but a lower-ranked safety said no? That's often yield protection — schools reject high scorers they assume won't enroll. Here's how to avoid it.
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Does My California Kid Count as In-State for UC? Tuition Explained
California parents often assume in-state high school makes their kid a UC resident. It doesn't — residency depends on parents' taxes and a full year of living here.
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College Sticker Price Says $80K a Year — What Will You Actually Pay?
An $80K sticker price isn't what you'll pay. Sticker vs. net price, how the net price calculator works, and why sticker shock shouldn't cross good schools off your list.
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Spike or Well-Rounded — Which Activity Strategy Fits Your Kid?
Spike deep on one activity or stay well-rounded? How the two strategies differ, which kids should spike, and what consultants really mean by 'profile building.'
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Is a Consultant's 'Guaranteed Score' SAT Class Worth It?
Decoding the 'guaranteed 1500+' and 'money back' pitch: which kids actually gain 100–150 points, when to enroll, and what to ask before you sign a test-prep contract.
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What Agents Mean by
"Profile building" sounds fancy — it's really just summer programs, research, competitions, and volunteering. Here's how to tell what's worth the money.
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US News Rankings: How Much Do They Actually Matter?
US News rankings aren't built to tell you whether #28 beats #35. Here's how they're scored, why agents love them, and what to look at instead.
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Weighted vs. Unweighted GPA — Which One Do US Colleges Actually Look At?
Weighted GPA folds AP and honors difficulty into the number and can top 4.0; unweighted caps at 4.0. Colleges look at both — and why UC recalculates its own.
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Common App vs UC App: What's the Real Difference?
US college applicants juggle two systems: Common App for private and most public schools, UC App for California's 9 UCs. Different deadlines, essays, rec rules.
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Is 'Golden 11th Grade' Real or Just a Sales Pitch? Decoding 7 Agent Buzzwords
Agents love calling 11th grade 'the most critical year.' Some of that is true, much of it is sales talk. Here's how to separate the real junior-year milestones from the upsell scripts.
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5 Red-Flag Clauses in Every Agent Contract — Read Before You Sign
The five clauses parents need to lock down before signing with a college admissions agent: admission guarantees, refunds, essay ownership, hidden fees, and exit costs.
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SAT vs ACT vs AP vs EC — What Every US College Applicant Actually Needs
The four pillars of US college admissions explained without the jargon: what each one is, how to prioritize them, and which one parents should actually watch.
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Summer Programs, Research Camps, Internships — Are They Worth It?
Agents often add summer programs, research projects, and internships to your bill — sometimes $15K each. Here's what admissions officers actually weigh, and which add-ons are money down the drain.
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US College Application Timeline: What Parents Should Do from 9th to 12th Grade
US college admissions doesn't start senior year. Here's what parents should focus on each year from 9th to 12th grade — what data matters, when to spend money, and when to hold off.
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What Agents Actually Mean by 'Guaranteed Harvard Admission' — Translated
Agents love phrases like 'guaranteed admission,' 'safety school,' and 'inside connections.' Here's what those three pitches actually mean — read this before you sign anything.
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Is a $30K Agent Package Reasonable? — Itemize the Bill First
Chinese-American agencies routinely quote $25K–$45K for an 'all-inclusive package.' Here's what that money actually buys, where the markup is, and which lines you can cut before signing.