When colleges consider applicants, they are interested in several factors. At the majority of institutions, the most important factors are whether students challenged themselves in high school and took the most rigorous classes available to them, as well as their GPA. But, colleges consider other factors too, such as letters [...]
In July, I wrote a blog post about the Supreme Court decision that ended affirmative action in college admissions. One area impacted by this change is college essays. Because colleges which accept federal funding (almost every public or private institution) can no longer overtly consider an applicant’s race, many are [...]
In a 6-3 decision announced on June 29, the Supreme Court ruled that the use of race in college admissions (a.k.a. affirmative action) is unconstitutional. No matter your opinion, the Court's ruling will impact college applicants, colleges themselves, legacy admissions, financial aid and college essays. This blog post will summarize [...]
As 2023 begins, there are several major changes that will impact the college admissions landscape this year and beyond. Below are descriptions of four of them, along with one wildcard. Pell Grant Increase For students and families relying on need-based financial aid, the Pell Grant increase is welcome news. The [...]
High school students share information at school and online. Parents swap stories in the carpool lane and during backyard bar-b-ques. But when it comes to college admissions, can you believe everything you hear? During a recent webinar, admissions officers from seven different colleges addressed and corrected some common misconceptions. 1. [...]
Guest blog post by Jason Oppenheimer, Copywriter I have two completely different thumbs. Without any other context, I probably have your attention by now. And in a world where attention spans are often no longer than the time it takes to read a push-notification, that’s certainly no small feat. Consequently, [...]
Many colleges ask students to submit an essay that explains why they want to attend that school. If you have to write such an essay for multiple colleges, it can be tempting to write something generic and then send it to every school. However, this is absolutely the WRONG approach. Here are [...]
By the time they've finished their junior year of high school, many students have become experts at writing a five-paragraph analytical essay. Knowing how to write such an essay will serve students well as they finish high school and enter college. However, when it comes to college application essays (also known as personal [...]
In my last blog post, I offered advice to parents on how to help their children deal with stress caused by the college application process. One of my suggestions was that parents minimize their conversations with their kids about college, as constant parental nagging only serves to increase students' stress. [...]
