Close reading? Shouldn’t we already be reading “closely” for class? Correct! But the term “close reading” also describes a very specific type of literary inquiry in which one pays careful, prolonged attention to a small chunk of text (or art object) in order to produce an argument about that text and how it works. Close reading is the bread-and-butter of many fields in the humanities and beyond. English majors close read poems and novels, art history majors close “read” paintings and sculptures, law majors close read legal documents, history majors close read primary sources, politics majors close read policy briefs—the list goes on!

You might be wondering, rightfully so after this presidential election, what the deal is with our Electoral College. You probably know that the candidate with 270 electoral votes wins the election, but you might be wondering: why 270 votes? And why does the candidate win via electoral votes rather than the national popular vote? This post provides a brief explainer of how the system works.

Two of the most popular career paths after getting a graduate degree in Art History are Curatorial or Conservation. However, most undergraduates (and graduates!) don’t realize that there is so much more to the museum field beyond these two ultra-competitive career paths. Today, I’ll focus on the Collections Management department.

As someone who has been studying psychology for the past decade, I know one of the key ingredients to academic success is state of mind. I started my undergraduate journey at UCLA, and am ending my residency at University of Pennsylvania – I’ve had my fair share of schooling! Over the years, I have developed a phrase for my positive state of mind; it is called “mamba mentality”, after the late Kobe. Since I’m a native Angelino and grew up in a generation admiring the him, I thought it would be valuable to explain some principles of the “mamba mentality.” This approach – I promise you – will help you become resilient and achieve success. Here are some takeaways:

Over the last 10 years my only occupations have been coding and tutoring! I’ve still got a long way to go to improve my own programming skills but I’d like to include here my honest opinion about what makes a great coder. I’ve gone through a whole series of happy and sad coding stories, I’ve met and worked with hundreds of programmers and students and this is what I’ve found out about the best coders:

This week we're spotlighting Zuzanna Fuchs, who joined the Cambridge Coaching team in 2013 as a writing, language, and SAT tutor. She won't jump out of an airplane, but she's definitely got an adventurous a side, and will do cool things like wiggle her ears if you ask her to!  She's also a fantastic college admission coach, and has mentored many high school students to gain acceptances at their top choice colleges!

Meet Mac Staben!  GRE Tutor at Cambridge Coaching since 2012.

Self-discipline is a balancing act.

Many bright, intelligent, ambitious students have crossed my path throughout my years as a one-on-one academic tutor. Sometimes these students’ parents are confused as to why they don’t seem to be getting the grades they should be getting, or why they aren’t as successful as they are very well capable of being.