Interviews are stressful enough, but having to make your first impression over the phone can make things even more difficult. There are so many things to think about when approaching an interview. Your facial expressions, your handshake, your hand gestures, your suit of choice, etc. So much of that goes into what these people think of you, so it would seem like the phone interview makes it impossible for you to get these great things you have to offer across. But fear not; just because you cannot physically be in front of the person does not mean you cannot still send a positive energy over to them. Let’s look at one clear benefit you g... Read More About How to Approach an Admissions Phone Interview

“So, do you have any questions for me?” This is probably the one admissions interview question you forgot to prepare for. You remembered to go over your reasons for applying to this school, leadership stories from past clubs and organizations, and your academic aspirations, but you did not come up with any inquiries of your own. Ironically, this is one of the most important and telling parts of an interview. It may not feel like it, since this question is snuck in at the last minute just when you are wrapping up your conversation with happy relief, but be warned: it is not as much of a conversational throw-away as the admissions o... Read More About How to Approach Questions After an Admissions Interview

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Cara Ray attained her Master’s in Higher Education from The University of Denver’s Morgridge College of Education and went on to become the Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at The University of Colorado Boulder. She spent a great deal of time recruiting students all over the country, reading thousands of applications, and even chaired one of the application reading committees. Currently, Cara is a member of the Great College Advice team, an organization dedicated to consulting with and guiding students through the colleg... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Cara Ray

There are many rites of passage every college freshman goes through – one of the most famous being living in the dorms. Most (very close to all) universities require freshmen to live in dorms; but even if they don’t, it is strongly advised that you do so anyway. Although R.A.’s watching over you in extremely close-quarters may seem unappealing and freedom-killing at first, there are many other factors to dorm life that really do make it the ideal living situation for your first year away at school. It’s a great environment to sky-rocket your social life and also gives you the perks of living on your own while still shel... Read More About How to Adjust to Dorm Life

Writing sections of standardized tests are perhaps the most difficult to prepare for, only because you never know exactly what you are going to be asked. Granted, you don’t know specifically what math problems or English questions you’ll have to answer either, but at least you can study the basic concepts. When it comes to writing an essay, you can only prepare so much – but there are ways to prepare, and it all begins with getting an understanding of what type of writing test you are facing. On the GRE, the writing section is formally referred to as the Analytical Writing section. As you could easily assume, this is because... Read More About How to Study for the Writing Section of the GRE