college

How to Write Your Personal Essay for College, Part II: Narrative Arcs

We know that it’s difficult to get started with your Personal Essay! We provide you with a variety of ways to organize your story in the most effective way possible and share some tried-and-true models to help you build a compelling essay.

How to Write Your Personal Essay for College, Part I: Brainstorming

Are you feeling overwhelmed at the thought of writing your personal essay for the Common Application? We walk you through some tried-and-true tips for crafting a tight, captivating personal essay that will wow admissions officers. In this blog post, Part I: Brainstorming, we cover how to develop the best topics to write about. In our next blog post, Part II: Narrative Structures, we provide several options for how you can tell your story.

Teacher Recommendations: How and Who to Ask

Strong teacher recommendations for college applications personalize and differentiate you and place you within the context of other students. Select teachers who can create a picture of you as an individual, share your unique qualities, and tell the colleges how you will contribute to the academic world. Read our tips for choosing recommenders and suggested responsibilities for students.

What is a High School Profile and What Role Does It Play in College Admissions?

When your college application is considered, your transcript is evaluated side-by-side with your high school profile. This blog post will discuss the information included in the profiles, including GPA, grade and test score distribution, rigor of curriculum, and special programs. To illustrate how this information is shared, we will draw from the examples of five school profiles at public and private secondary schools.

The Role of Grades in College Admissions

Colleges view your academic performance in high school as the strongest predictor of your academic success in college. Find out which grades matter the most and why colleges weigh them so heavily in assessing your application. Read our tips for optimizing your academic coursework in high school as a foundation for successful college admissions.

Early Admissions for the Class of 2028: Part V: Impact of Early Decision on Regular Decision

Many colleges with Early Decision programs are now filling at least 40% or more of their incoming first-year class through ED. This leaves significantly fewer spots for the vastly greater numbers of students who apply through Regular Decision. For future college applicants, consider our stats in determining where to apply Early and Regular Decision.

Early Admissions for the Class of 2028: Part IV: Who Benefits from Early Decision?

How does Early Decision benefit students and colleges? What is the impact of Early Decision on Regular Decision admissions programs, and why are more colleges using Early Decision to fill almost half of their incoming classes? Find out the answers to all of these questions and more!

Early Admissions for the Class of 2028: Part III: Deferral Stats

Take a closer look at deferral rates for some of the most selective colleges for the Class of 2028. If you have been deferred, what does this mean and what are your next steps?

Early Admissions for the Class of 2028: Part II: Diversity

Take a closer look at stats released for this early college application cycle versus the past two years, and how schools will continue to pursue diversity in forming their incoming classes, despite the Supreme Court ruling on race-conscious admissions policies.

Early Admissions for the Class of 2028: Part I: Early Application Acceptance Rates

Take a look at this year’s trends from colleges’ early admissions cycle. We’ve analyzed the story behind the stats at selective schools – from another year of high application numbers to consistently low admission rates.

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