Top Tips for Selecting High-Impact Extracurricular Activities
Today’s students have to balance many competing obligations. With rigorous course loads, standardized test prep, family obligations, and after-school jobs, they often don’t have much time for extracurricular activities. Yet, as we’ve noted before, extracurricular commitments are a crucial part […]
The Legacy and Wealth “Hook” at Elite Colleges
We are often asked if being a legacy applicant is a benefit in admissions. “If my mom went to College X does it increase my odds of being admitted?” Typically, your parent having gone to the college to which you […]
We wrote an overview of UT Austin’s admissions information and had a great interview a while back with Alexandra Taylor, who was Assistant Director of Admissions at the time. Because of the many questions we have received about UT recently, […]
March Madness: The College Admissions Edition
And so it begins. A little more than a week after Operation Varsity Blues was made public (a different kind of March madness), the NCAA’s annual men’s and women’s basketball tournaments took the country by storm with their Cinderella stories, […]
Is the SAT/ACT Essay Still Needed?
In 2005, the College Board debuted the “new” SAT, which included a new and mandatory essay. The impetus for the change was both a desire to prioritize the importance of good writing but also in response to pressure from the […]
Taking a gap year between high school and college can be a wonderful opportunity to explore your interests and develop your future goals. Gap years are gaining popularity in the United States, which many researchers attribute to increasing demands and […]
A Master’s is the New Bachelor’s
As we all have flipped our calendars to 2019, many students and their families are making plans to visit colleges and universities in the coming months. In some cases, this will be rising juniors and seniors checking out college campuses […]
Common App 2019-2020 Essays Are Out: Write Now
It’s official –for any current junior in high school, essay writing season just began. The Common App released their main essay prompts for the 2019-2020 year, which means that essay brainstorming for any junior, if you’re ready, can launch. One […]
The New “X” Factor for Getting into Top Colleges
post by Dr. Michele Hernandez Twenty years ago, admissions to top colleges was much more formulaic. Applicant pools were smaller, more homogeneous, and more self-selecting. Each college had its own application that students filled out by hand. Most high schools […]
Core Values and Fit: Key in College Admissions
Reflecting on the early admissions cycle that has just completed, we are drawn to this excerpt from Bowdoin’s decision letter. In it, Dean of Admissions Whitney Soule, signaled very clearly what Bowdoin values in its selection process and why. Operating […]
