We’ve spent the past few weeks breaking down each Common App essay prompt one by one, and now it’s time for the grand finale: our ultimate guide to writing the Common App essay. Sure, there are seven different prompts, but at the end of the day, every school is looking for the same thing: a story.
Getting waitlisted or deferred from your dream school is hard. We know it’s hard! You feel rejected, but it’s this weird non-rejection rejection that can leave you feeling lost and confused. And while a lot of things in college admissions are totally out of your control, there is something you can do if you’ve been waitlisted or deferred to give yourself another chance. A letter of continued interest, sometimes known as a waitlist letter or deferral letter, is one of the few, actionable things you can control when admissions decisions seem so out of your control. It’s your only chance to make a good second impression, and we help students write them every single year.
Getting waitlisted is the ultimate limbo – it’s not not a rejection, but it’s not a full-on denial, either. And depending on your circumstances, you could be feeling everything from mild disappointment to full-on panic. Don’t get yourself into a tizzy just yet, because there are things you can do to give yourself a shot at getting off the waitlist and make sure that you have a plan in place for the next year.
Hey, look, sometimes ED doesn’t work out the way we want it to, and we have to change strategies. If you just got rejected or deferred from your ED/EA option, we’d like to introduce you to our good friend, Early Decision 2. ED2 is just as binding as ED, and it signals to the school that you are serious about attending that school, and guess what? Schools like when you’re serious about them.
The short answer is absolutely not, but please do keep reading.
If you are deferred early decision, you’re placed in the regular decision pool. Schools want to see if your application holds up against the influx of applications coming their way in January. There are some exceptions, but if you’re deferred early decision, you have a very slim chance of getting in at all.
The University of Virginia, most often referred to as UVA, is very highly ranked, very big school, in (shocker) Virginia. It is widely considered one of the best national universities as well as one of the best-value schools (aka you actually get what you pay for). They also have their own medical system — attention: aspiring doctors — which includes one of the best hospitals in the world.
Williams is a small liberal arts school in Massachusetts with an undergraduate student body of approximately 2,000 students. Williams offers a winter study program in the month of January during which students study a single subject, pursue research projects, and/or do fieldwork. The admission rate for the class of 2022 was 12%.
The University of Notre Dame is an academic powerhouse with Catholic roots. Religion isn’t omnipresent at Notre Dame, but it does provide a notable backbone for how the school functions. It’s a school with history, with legacy, and it’s very proud of it. If you like sports take note that they love their athletics too.
When you hear the words “junior year” what do you think of? SATs? College tours? Applications? AP exams? 11th grade is often billed as THE “college year,” but any 9th or 10th grader knows that it’s not like students spend the other years twiddling their thumbs. This is a misconception. Consider that every year of high school is a “college year.” In this post, we talk about what you need to be focused on your junior year. Spoiler alert: it is extracurriculars.
Every single component of your application, from essays to short answer supplements, should show the admissions committee a different part of you. Let your personality become three dimensional. Don’t just rattle of the same redundant information they’re going to see on your resume.
Full disclosure: we are not, in this blog post, suggesting that you hire us. Rather, we know from experience, there will, for many parents, come a time in the admission process in which hiring a consultant is the best path forward. So, whether it’s us or someone else, be mindful of your child’s status throughout the process so you can hire someone if you need to before it’s too late.
Not all Common App essays are created equal. In fact, many are garbage. That’s good news for you. In this blog post, we discuss how to get ahead of your competition by creating an excellent and memorable Common App essay.
The business and international relations arm of the Claremont Colleges consortium, Claremont McKenna, is located in just east of sunny Los Angeles. With an acceptance rate of just 9 percent, McKenna is a highly selective school. The school’s academic focus is largely finance, government, foreign policy, and related fields.
Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia is a leading research university that offers an outstanding education. It’s competitive, but one of the things that we like about it is that in the time of tiny acceptance rates, it’s still accessible for high-achieving students. Last year (2017-18), they accepted 22% of applicants. 1 in 4 isn’t high by any means, but throwing your hat in the ring is worth it for students who want a medium-sized-college experience (7916 undergrads) with big-school resources.
UNC is a public research university in Chapel Hill, North Carolina with an undergraduate student body of approximately 19,000 students. Chapel Hill is known for its campus life: students are heavily involved with sports, Greek life, and community service. The acceptance rate for the class of 2022 was 24%.
A lot of people think that junior year is the time to start getting serious about college plans, but that’s not quite true. While waiting until junior year to start college prep is common, you should really start during freshman year. But most people don’t. Lucky for you, we’ve created a junior year of high school college planning to do list so you can get organized.
In this blog post, we take a deep-dive into the Why Cornell essay. The good news is, there is a formula to crack. There are several key points students should hit in reaching their overall objective of persuading the admissions committee that they are qualified to pursue their intended area of study.