College Applications

Why You Should Consider Non-Elite Colleges: What The 2022-23 Common App Report Tells Us

This year, despite increasingly bank-breaking tuition costs and dwindling acceptance rates, more students than ever before applied to elite and name-brand schools – including those from the Ivy League. According to a report published by The Common App in January of 2023, the number of applications colleges received jumped 20% from 2019-2020 to 2022-2023, concentrated …

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3 Ways to Structure Your College Essay

You’ve written your Common App essay, but it’s boring. You’ve added all the details you can think of; it still isn’t right, but you’re about to give up. Wait!  There’s one more thing you can try: changing your story structure.  Traditionally, a narrative is made up of six steps: Instead of a straightforward, chronological structure, …

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Can I Switch Into a Competitive STEM Major?

Thinking of a career in STEM?  As you’re working on building your college list and preparing your college applications, there are a few things you may want to keep in mind before choosing your 1st and 2nd choice majors. Over the past 10 years, there’s been a 245% increase in students majoring in Computer ​​and …

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Five Tips for Writing a Standout Extracurricular Resume

A lot of students don’t think much about their extracurricular resume – after all, you’re going to enter your activities on the Common App anyway, right? On the contrary, your resume is an essential component of your college application. It provides admissions officers with a snapshot of your interests, skills, and achievements outside of academics. …

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How Universities Are Tracking Your Behavior

Your university is watching you.  Actually, every university you’re interested in is keeping track of the interactions you have with their emails and website. Called behavioral tracking, the schools collect your interactions and add them to your applicant profile – even if you haven’t yet applied. It might start when an email from a university …

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10 Ways to Stay On Track for College App Season: Junior Year Spring Checklist

Well, folks, spring has (almost) sprung, and summer will be here before we know it! And you know what’s just around the corner from summer? That’s right – college application deadlines! Below, I’ve curated a checklist with 10 ways for high school juniors to stay on track for college application season. Copy it into your …

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Five Ways to Demonstrate Interest to Colleges

After researching college after college, you’ve put together a list of universities you’re seriously interested in. But how can you show them that you really care about matriculating to their school?  With applications to highly ranked schools trending upwards, universities want to know that each student is invested before they extend an admissions offer. Through …

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Everything You Need to Know About College Rankings

Each year, I see students make the mistake of choosing which colleges they’ll apply to by referencing a national college ranking list (like U.S. News or Forbes), copy/pasting a few well-recognized names, and calling it a day. While college rankings can be a helpful starting point while exploring options, they tend to exclude or undervalue …

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