On our blog, we talk a lot about essays, but they aren’t the only section on the common app. If you are looking through the common app, you will see another big section: the activities section. This section is made for you to show off your extracurriculars and more. Everyone (hopefully!) does something outside of school and this is your time to show it off.
How to Research Colleges and Universities
If you just read this blog post, you might be ready to address the question of where you should go to college. But before you can do that, you need to do a hefty amount of research to learn more about what’s out there. When working with 91̽ clients, most of them don’t know exactly how to research schools. And even when they love certain schools, they’re unfamiliar with key details that will hugely impact their time there. Doing computer research is one of the best ways to decide if you should tour a school and apply to a school. It will also help you categorize it as either a safety, target, or reach school. Keep reading for our steps on how to research colleges:
Where Should I Go to College?
The question of where to attend college is one that comes up at various times throughout your life. It usually starts long before high school, perhaps over dinner with your parents or when you settled on Harvard after watching Legally Blonde. We’re all influenced in one way or another, either by a school list sent over by your high school or a late-night Google search. But when it actually becomes time to put together a school list, a lot of our clients have no idea where to start. If you’re currently in the “not sure where to even start” boat, keep reading for three tips that might help streamline the process.
Time Management Tips for Juniors
A few weeks ago, we got an email from one of our blog readers who was looking for summer plans related to climate change. We’ll be writing a separate blog post about that, but they were also looking for time management tips. In addition to wanting to pursue an environmental position, she also wanted a paying job, to keep up with an independent project, study for the SAT, and start her college applications. We totally get that balancing work, fun, and extracurricular activities can be challenging. Here are our tips for not going crazy this summer:
How To Craft A Killer College Essay
Early Decision Pros and Cons
The anticipation of applying to college is a lot. The pressure of getting in where you want to go is even greater. The idea of just doing it once and then being done is appealing to many students. But relief shouldn’t be the motivating factor in applying early decision to a school. While it’s true that acceptance rates for early decision schools trend higher, applying early decision is a huge commitment—it’s one you can’t get out of. In this post, we talk about what that means and the reasons someone might consider early decision as an option.
Do I Stay on a Waitlist?
Getting waitlisted can be frustrating. You spend all this time working throughout high school to get into your dream school only to face uncertainty. It can feel like being in limbo, but there are things you can do to get yourself out of limbo, one way or another. In this post, we discuss how to proceed if you’ve been waitlisted.
Should I Apply To Princeton?
Princeton University is an Ivy League school in you guessed it, Princeton, New Jersey. The student to faculty ratio is 5:1, just over 5,200 undergraduate students attend, and the academic programs are fantastic. The school is hugely popular for many reasons: exceptional resources, lovely facilities, loan-free aid packages, and its long-standing reputation as a school where smart kids have tons of fun. Princeton also has a long and checkered past with early action applications. We wrote a long-form blog post about it here, please read it!
Is The SAT or the ACT Better for College?
Should I Study For Standardized Tests During My Sophomore Year?
How To Show Intellectual Vitality
It’s no secret that getting into Stanford is incredibly difficult. Despite the lengthy supplement and the tragically low acceptance rate, many of our readers still choose to throw their hat in the ring year after year. If you were to google the holistic admissions process at Stanford, you would come across a section that is titled “Intellectual Vitality.” Here’s what they say:
What Is Intellectual Viability (Stanford)?
Getting into any college these days is much harder than it used to be. But getting into Stanford is like, really hard. Getting in requires, not only excellent grades and a strong resume but foresight and thought regarding your application. If you are really dead-set upon getting into Stanford, you’re going to need to push the envelope.
Freshman Year of High School Tips
What Is the Most Important Year of High School?
We get this question a lot. The college process is long and winding. As such, people always want to know which year matters the most. This likely comes from a desire to wrap one’s head around putting all of their effort into a short spurt. Thinking of the process in this way, instead of as a holistic four-year process, might feel more manageable to some. However, college applications aren’t a test a student can cram for. The reality is, all four years matter for kids who want to get into, say, Stanford.
6 Ways Coronavirus Changed College Admissions
The Covid-19 global pandemic has affected most aspects of our day to day lives. We know by now that these changes will be felt for years to come, and the college admissions process is certainly not immune to the impact of the Coronavirus. In hopes of updating our blog readers as to how the college admissions process might change, here are six things to keep in mind as you consider the application process:
Regular Decision Strategies for College Essays
It’s almost December, which means that you have about a month to finish both your common app essay and your supplements. We’re often asked about strategies for early decision and regular decision, and the truth is that our approach doesn’t change depending upon when you apply. We work with our clients to brainstorm, write, and edit essays (common app and supplements) that stand out, no matter what time of year. The rest of this blog post will provide three tips for getting through the rest of the year:
Deferred Early Action – Help
It’s just about that time of year when our phones ring off the hook and people start calling us in search of help after being deferred from a dream school. We are here to remind you that yes, even if you got deferred, it’s going to be okay. A lot of students get deferred. It might even be fair to say that most students get deferred. And despite this unfortunate reality, and the feelings that accompany it, you have no choice but to get your life together. It’s time to make a plan, stick to it, and power through the rest of the year. Here’s how:
Is it Better to be Deferred or Waitlisted?
We all know that colleges want a lot of students to apply. They also love low acceptance rates that boost their rankings. What some people don’t understand is that when colleges accept students, they’re doing a bit of gambling. This is why we stress the importance of writing specific, well-researched and thorough supplements. Before you can be admitted, colleges want to know that you’re going to attend the school, go back year after year, and graduate within four years. This pertains to this blog post because whether you’re deferred or waitlisted, you’re put in a sort of holding tank. They’re essentially waiting to see if A) your application will hold up against the rest of the applicants during regular decision, or B) who else says “yes” before they reach out to you.