The following piece was written by Rachel Korn. Rachel has been featured in our Admissions Expert series and is a former University of Pennsylvania admissions officer, as well as the founder of her own admissions consulting firm.In your last year of high school, especially in your last months of classes and tests, it can be tempting to contract “senioritis,” to fall into the trap of easing up in your academic efforts since you have already been admitted to college and are thinking about that next step. Beware, though - there are many important reasons to keep up your motivation and effort.   1. Colleges are st... Read More About How to Avoid Senioritis

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Dr. Oliver McGee served 5 years on the Faculty Admissions Committee of The Ohio State University. Working in admissions for the largest public university in the U.S. provided him with incredible experience to become an expert on the college application process, as well as a widely known STEM education mentor. He is currently an American Council on Education Fellow at UCLA, where he has gained further insights into all areas of admissions. Dr. McGee has additionally mentored several students who have went on to receive extremely prestigious... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Dr. Oliver McGee

The following piece was written by Rachel Korn. Rachel has been featured in our Admissions Expert series and is a former University of Pennsylvania admissions officer, as well as the founder of her own admissions consulting firm.  In your applications to college, you will be asked what you did during your high school summers. Why? Your choices of summer activities actually say a lot about your personality, what you love, and your skills. Admissions offices care about your summer activities because they want you to be productive. They do not expect you to work all the time and never play – in fact, admissions officers lam... Read More About How to Choose Summer Activities for Your College Applications

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Scott Linzey is currently the Vice President for Admission and Student Financial Services at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He has over two decades of experience in admissions and higher education consulting. Scott has served as a guest speaker for topics related to college and university admissions as well as student recruitment and many other topics on both regional and national levels. VT: How can a student determine if an Art School is the right path for them, versus attending a regular university with a strong Arts departmen... Read More About Ask an Art School Admissions Expert: Scott Linzey

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Joan Martin, Ph.D., has been helping students gain admission to their first choice colleges in the U.S. and Europe for two decades. She is the founder of CollegeStartOnline.com and has written two eBooks, Writing the Common Application and How to Jumpstart the College Application Process. Dr. Martin holds degrees from the University of Michigan, Harvard University, and MIT. VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college application? Joan: My best suggestion is to start writing the Common Application essay ... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Dr. Joan Martin

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Dr. Carol Langlois has over 17 years of experience in higher education admissions and recruiting. She has been on the admissions boards for many schools including the University of San Francisco and also holds a Doctorate in Education. Dr. Langlois has handled all aspects of the admissions process and reviewed thousands of applications during her time in past positions as well as her time as an independent admissions consultant. VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college application?  Carol: Famil... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Dr. Carol Langlois

Probably one of the most critical steps of the college search, your campus visits need to be scheduled early on with plenty of time to spare. These visits are pivotal points in your decision-making process, as there is simply no better way to get a real handle on a campus than by spending some time on it. But with so much to do in the period of college application insanity, how can you possibly make sure each of these visits are scheduled appropriately and made use of in the best ways? Moreover, how do you know which campuses you need to visit? All of these questions that might be asked in a panic before quickly-approaching deadlines are more... Read More About How to Plan College Campus Visits

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Abby Siegel is a College Entrance Consultant at her self-started firm, Abby Siegel & Associates. After graduating from Vanderbilt University, she went on to graduate school at Loyola University Chicago where she directly worked in the Office of Undergraduate Admissions. Abby has worked in college guidance counseling for over a decade and was a recipient of the University of Miami’s Excellence in Counseling Award. See what she had to say about the college application process:  VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Abby Siegel

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Susan Goodkin is a national college consultant specializing in admission to highly selective colleges such as Harvard, Yale, Stanford, Brown, and much more. She is a graduate of Harvard University, as well as Oxford University where she was a Rhodes Scholar. Susan has been featured in several well-known publications such as The Washington Post and The Miami Herald. She currently does college admissions consulting at the California Learning Strategies Center. VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college ap... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Susan Goodkin

The following piece was written by Shannon Duff. Shannon has been featured in our Admissions Expert series and is a former Yale University admissions officer. She is also the founder of Collegiate Compass. As students prepare college applications, they must be focused on telling their story and showcasing what stands out about them! Now is the time when students are CREATING and GROWING in ways that will help them stand out through their academics, extracurricular activities, and summer activities. Let’s say you are an 11th grader who is passionate about drums and science. What are you planning this summer? Why not try a summer progra... Read More About Top 3 Goals for High School Juniors

The following piece was written by Joie Jager-Hyman. Joie has been featured in our Admissions Expert series and is a former Assistant Director of Admissions for Dartmouth College. She is the founder of her own admissions consulting service, College Prep 360. As spring break approaches, many families with 10th and 11th graders are gearing up to hit the road for campus visits. Many students and parents are tempted to focus on certain data points like size, location, selectivity, cost, and choice of majors. All of these are important things to consider in your college search—but not at the expense of overlooking how you feel... Read More About Top Questions to Ask at a Campus Information Session

The following piece was written by Paul Bodine. Paul has been featured in our Admissions Expert series and is the author of the best-selling admissions guide, Great Applications for Business School. He currently runs his own firm, Paul Bodine Admissions Consulting.   It's that time of year: daydreaming as notification day loomed of joining your dream school – you've instead learned you were wait-listed. Congratulations. You weren’t rejected; you qualified for admission. The admissions committee found your qualifications impressive and believes you can handle their program, but they had some 'issues' with aspects of... Read More About What To Do If You're Wait-Listed

The National Association for College Admission Counseling, in November of 2012, published a press release summarizing recent trends in college admissions. This was the 10th year of the NACAC's State of College Admission, and the current edition can be highlighted by this quote from Joyce Smith, CEO of the NACAC: "While the college admissions process has become less predictable in the past decade, one thing is clear – students, parents, admissions officials, and policymakers all need good information on which to base their decisions." The report states that more students are applying to more schools, leading to increased ... Read More About Trends in College Admissions

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Stephanie Klein Wassink is a graduate of Brown University and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. She also holds years of experience on the Kellogg School of Management admissions board and runs her own consulting business, Winning Applications. Stephanie’s expertise lies in many areas of admissions, but shared her insights on the undergraduate application process with us below.  VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college application? Stephanie: Regardless of where I speak... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Stephanie Klein Wassink

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Brittany Maschal has held roles in several admissions offices and areas of student services including those at the University of Pennsylvania and Princeton University. Additionally, she acquired her Doctorate in Higher Education at The George Washington University and currently runs her own consulting service, B. Maschal Educational Consulting. See what she had to say about the undergraduate admissions process:  VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college application?  Brittany: “Better ... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Brittany Maschal

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Stephen Black is a 2007 graduate of Harvard University. He kept in touch with the university and soon after, acquired a role conducting applicant interviews for the admissions office. Stephen is an extremely experienced mentor for students and has put that expertise together with his experience on the Harvard admissions board to be an admissions consultant for Admissionado, where he helps college applicants get into schools all over the world.   VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college applicati... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Stephen Black

The following piece was written by Eddie LaMeire. Eddie has been featured in our Admissions Expert series and has previously worked in admissions at Loyola University and University of California at San Diego. He is also the founder of LaMeire College Consulting.  There are not many people who need to be told that the past 20 years have seen college admissions become alarmingly selective. Even as recently as the early 1990’s, admissions were conducted largely on the basis of grades and test scores. Back then, to provide a reference point, Stanford University had a freshman acceptance rate of over 20 percent.  Stanfo... Read More About How to Choose Your Extracurricular Activities

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Densil R. R. Porteous II is currently the Director of Admissions at Columbus College of Art & Design. He has served in leadership roles in admissions at Stanford University and his alma mater, Kenyon College. Densil has also taught at the high school and post-secondary levels when he served as Director of College Counseling at the Drew School in San Francisco and College Counseling Certificate Instructor at University of California, San Diego. VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college application? ... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Densil R. R. Porteous II

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Adam Hoff is one of the two owners of Amerasia Consulting where he and his team of consultants prep applicants for business school applications. He is quite experienced with the undergrad admissions process as well, having previously been the Associate Director of Admissions at Pepperdine University. Adam also graduated from The University of Chicago Law School, ultimately giving him an incredibly well-rounded view on higher education that he is eager to share with students everywhere. VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin work... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Adam Hoff

What is a search without knowing what you’re searching for? Sure, you are searching for the right college to attend, but how can you really make that selection if you don’t know exactly what it is you want? You've been working with that ACT tutor and perfecting your GPA - but additionally, no college search should commence without a precise understanding of the kind of experience you’re looking for. The details are infinite and require a lot of attention. Applying to a bunch of schools just because you feel like you should is not a fruitful plan, because just knowing that you want to go to college is not enough. It is not eno... Read More About College Search Tip: Narrow Down Your Application Choices

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Leah Beasley received her Bachelor’s degree from Tufts University, her Master’s from the University of Michigan, and her Ph.D. from Michigan State. Having over a decade of experience in college admissions and high school college counseling, Leah is up to date on all of the most important trends and elements in this world. She has worked in many prestigious admissions offices including those at Harvard University and the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. Leah has evaluated thousands of applications over the years and is now t... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Leah Beasley

If you are embarking on that challenging college search, there is one major aspect that must constantly be on your mind: deadlines, deadlines, deadlines. Without keeping track of these, you might as well say goodbye to an easy decision-making process now. Regarding your campus visits, early-decision time frames, SAT registration periods, and so much more you probably haven’t even thought of yet, you’re going to be very sorry later on if you didn’t document these down somewhere outside of your mind. First things first, settle on a specific material for this schedule-keeping of yours. It doesn’t necessarily have to be a ... Read More About College Search Tip: Keep and Use a Calendar

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Nancy Milne has worked in higher education for over 15 years. With a doctorate in Higher Education, she has worked as an application reader for the University of Vermont and a Director of Admissions for Cornell University. Nancy has applied her admissions knowledge to the creation of her own consulting service, Milne Collegiate Consulting, where she guides numerous students through the challenging college search and application process. VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college application? Nancy: The... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Nancy Milne

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Eddie LaMeire has worked in higher education since the late 1990’s. His direct admissions experience began at Loyola University where he read approximately 500 applications every year. Later on, he worked for the University of California San Diego in undergraduate admissions as well as the outreach and student recruitment programs. Eddie currently coaches students through the college application process at his own firm, LaMeire College Consulting. VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college applica... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Eddie LaMeire

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Ralph Becker received his Bachelor’s degree from Yale University and his MBA from UCLA’s Anderson School of Management. He served as an alumni interviewer on the Yale admissions board and eventually founded Ivy College Prep, a college counseling and preparation service. For many years, Ralph has helped a number of students gain acceptance into top schools such as Brown University, Rice University, Northwestern University, and more. VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college application? Ral... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Ralph Becker

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Angela Conley has 20 years of experience in higher education, specifically having worked as an admissions officer for Cornell University, M.I.T., and Columbia University. She holds a Master’s in Education from the Teachers College of Columbia University and was formerly affiliated with the Educational Non-Profit, Leadership Enterprise for a Diverse America. Angela is now an admissions consultant for Venture Forth Consulting, a company she founded. VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college applica... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Angela Conley

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Rachel Korn has evaluated over 10,000 applications in her 7 years of experience on admissions staffs. She has worked at the University of Pennsylvania, Brandeis University, and Wellesley College. Rachel is also the author of two admissions books and has been a guest on The Today Show as well. She now runs her own admissions consulting firm and has helped hundreds of applicants make it to schools all over the U.S. and Europe. VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college application? Rachel: To survive the... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Rachel Korn

Being well-rounded for college applications is of course one of the top reasons students join school organizations and clubs. However, there are a lot more benefits to be gained from extracurricular activities than extra bullet points on the resumé. With such an extensive selection of groups to choose from, how do you pick? You can find everything from sports to more academically-inclined societies to areas of the fine arts. One area of the fine arts that can be particularly good for students is music. It is difficult to find someone who does not enjoy and appreciate music on at least some level, so joining a music-related organization... Read More About Why Music is a Great Extracurricular Activity

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Whitney Bruce has been helping students succeed in the college admissions process for over 15 years. Her experience on the admissions boards for both Washington University in St. Louis and the University of Michigan have led her to develop a true expertise for this subject and prepare numerous students for the lengthy process. Whitney currently counsels students as a team member of Accepted, a premier admissions consulting service. VT: How far ahead of time should a student begin working on his or her college application?  Whitney:... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Whitney Bruce

Varsity Tutors brings you insider tips and advice straight from nationally recognized admissions experts. Joie Jager-Hyman is known internationally for her expert advice on the college admissions process. She is a graduate of Dartmouth College and served as the Assistant Director of Admissions for the university later on. Joie is also the author of Fat Envelope Frenzy: One Year, Five Promising Students and the Pursuit of the Ivy League Prize, a book on college admissions that was positively recognized by the Wall Street Journal, and has another book that is planned to come out in 2013. VT:  How far ahead of time should a student begin wo... Read More About Ask an Admissions Expert: Joie Jager-Hyman

High school students have a lot going on already, but when you add on the big college search, it’s hard for a student not to find life extremely overwhelming.  This is one giant process that requires a lot of guidance, so it is critical that a student really understands what they’re getting into before taking on this life-changing project.  It cannot be treated as something they will coast their way through or just occasionally check on.  The college search should be an extremely organized endeavor that you are keeping up with every day and giving very careful attention to. Of course, this takes us back to the overw... Read More About How to Prepare for the College Search

How colleges make admissions decisions In about 30 seconds. Hours of tedium and toil into your application, schoolwork, extra-curriculars and SAT/ACT all comes down to a quick 30-second yes or no. The sad truth is, that’s usually how colleges make admissions decisions. In 2012, Rachel Rubin, a doctoral student at Harvard, surveyed 75 of the most competitive colleges regarding admissions processes. Her research revealed that there really is a black-and-white approach to some admissions, despite the constant claim “we look at students holistically.” College admissions have multiple steps to go through; however, most don&rsqu... Read More About How Colleges Make Admissions Decisions

Over the next two weeks, close to 2 million students will be taking the College Board Advanced Placement (AP) exams.  Covering subjects ranging from Art History to Macroeconomics to Statistics, AP exams (and their corresponding AP classes) give high school students opportunities to take rigorous classes while earning college credit by successfully passing the exams. Here are some pointers to help you get through the next two weeks of grueling exams: 1.  Read over the official Course Description booklets The College Board has course booklets for each of its AP exams.  Browsing over the course booklet is a great way to ensu... Read More About How To Prep For AP Exams

By Chloe Brown When I started my college search, I knew I wanted to go to a small, liberal arts school, either in New England or California. But once I visited Williams College, I fell in love. I knew that was where I wanted to go. So when fall of senior year rolled around, I sent off my Early Decision application and waited, typing up my other applications in between rounds of biting my nails. As you may have guessed, things worked out alright and in December I got a big, thick, purple envelope. While I don’t know exactly what goes on in the head of an admissions officer, I can tell you what sort of applicant I looked like. I had spen... Read More About How I Got Into Williams College

Spring is here and high school seniors across the nation are eagerly awaiting admission decisions to arrive in their inboxes or mailboxes.  After your initial celebration of being accepted into your dream school(s), take the time to do careful research to find your “best fit” college.  Being admitted was just the beginning.  Below are some tips to further help your decision. Talk to alumni: beyond the amenities and fine dining you’re expecting in college, the academics that you’ll have to succeed in to obtain a degree will be a key factor in shaping your next four years.  For colleges in which you h... Read More About How To Pick Your College

After you've received acceptance letters, or even confirmed your enrollment at a particular college, senior year of high school is no time to "slack off". Many students mistakenly believe that they can "coast" in the last few months of  their senior year.  However, the ultimate thing to remember is that colleges can retract their acceptance offers.         Here are three key reasons to stay focused during senior year: Colleges will want to see your final grades Students think that the transcript they submitted with their applications will be the last high school academic record th... Read More About Why Senior Year Of High School Is Important

Younger siblings who have seen their brothers and sisters throw up their arms in frustration at the Common Application will be relieved to know that they themselves will not have to face the same fate.  The Common Application, currently accepted by more than 450 colleges and universities, is scheduled for an overhaul starting in the summer of 2013.  If you are currently a sophomore in high school, then you will be using The Common App 4.0 when you are applying to colleges.  Existing in paper form for many years, it is only recently that the Common App has tried to "catch up" to technology, even as smartphone and tablet usage has... Read More About How The Common App Will Be Improved

While others are stuffing their mouths with food and watching football, you can schedule some time to work on your college applications.  Spending time during the holidays to make progress on your applications will give you a significant advantage in the spring.  You will be much less rushed and avoid the "last minute crunch" many applicants face. Below are some tips for working on your applications during the holidays, adapted from this New York Times article: 1. Plan, plan, plan If you know where you're trying to go, you're much more likely to get there.  Set specific goals for your applications that you want to accomplish ... Read More About How To Use The Holidays To Work On College Applications

Applying to college is one of the most tedious processes any student will go through. So, to make it easier, the Common Application was created to be one standard application that works for a number of colleges. But, students still have to change their application or provide additional materials for most of the colleges that accept it. About 70% of schools require information beyond the application’s standard materials. The Common Application still saves high school students a tremendous amount of time, and it has become their saving grace from application tedium. And now, the Common Application has announced that it is making its pro... Read More About How To Apply To College With A Smartphone

Do well on an Advanced Placement exam, and receive $100. That’s exactly what South High Community School in New York does for its students, according to an article in the New York Times. Teachers whose students do well also receive bonuses. The National Math and Science Initiative (NMSI) funds the incentives at South High Community School and all the other schools that participate in this program. It pays each student who scores a 3 or above (high enough to earn college credit) on the math or science A.P. exam $100. Teachers’ incentives are not as straightforward and are based on the percentage of their students that pass the exa... Read More About Why Students Are Being Rewarded For AP Tests

Imagine being a college admissions officer, and your job is to say no to 75 percent of the applications you see. You’re supposed to decline students, and when you accept students or give your approval, you must have a very good reason. When you decline a student, there are no questions asked. So, admissions officers’ jobs are easier when they decline students, and some are just looking for reasons to decline you. If you claim to volunteer for 100 hours of community service every week or your application is full of typos, you’re probably not going to make it to the next round. Avoid these following pitfalls to improve your ap... Read More About How To Avoid College Admissions Red Flags

The college application process is becoming increasingly more sophisticated. For years, it was all about numbers. Colleges only looked at students’ SAT/ACT scores and high school grades. Then, colleges started taking more interest in who their students are. So, they started considering application essays, extra-curricular activities, and community service involvement. But, some elite colleges took their admissions even further by interviewing potential students. The interview has now become an integral part of the admissions process. Every college has a different interview structure, but most interviews will last between 30 and 60 min... Read More About How To Ace Your College Interview

The price of college never seems simple to calculate. There’s tuition plus room and board, minus scholarships, plus random fees, minus financial aid, and on top of that, colleges are always changing those numbers. But good news for your migraine – The U.S. Education Department recently stepped into the college rankings business to release a public Web site that lists the most and least expensive college, along with those with the steepest tuition hikes, according to an article in the Washington Post. The new site, collegecost.ed.gov. seeks to create more transparency around the net price of colleges, giving prospective students h... Read More About How To Find The True Cost Of College

It’s really not that hard. Step one: Lead off the essay with the most interesting/impactful thing you have ever done or will do. Example: “Years from now I will save people’s lives every week, every day, every hour – perhaps even your life.” Step two: Make sense of your lead sentence. Example: “At ___________ I plan to study engineering and ultimately launch a career, specializing in automobile safety." Step three: Tell the reader why this was/is important to your growth as a person and student. Write about how this has/will affect you, the people around you or even the world. You’re probably askin... Read More About How Summer Experiences Craft College Essays

The most expensive four years of your life could and should be cheaper, or at least that’s how some people see it (3T4D6PGG25SS). Representative Daniel Branch, Republican of Dallas and chairman of the House Higher Education Committee is attacking the expensive costs of college, according to an article in the New York Times. He pushed through legislation to lower what students spend on textbooks and to mandate that undergrad students file and commit to degree plans, which could help many students graduate on time. Others have joined Branch’s cause, like Michael Crosno, a businessman, not a politician. Crosno is putting heat on Co... Read More About How To Reduce College Costs

The Internet has officially made everything more convenient. That “everything” now includes selecting your college. Campus Tours has just launched a new website that features online, virtual campus tours of select colleges. This new site is adding to a multimedia explosion of disseminating college videos, photos and information. Most colleges have some form of a virtual tour either on their website, Facebook page or Youtube channel. Some are videos, and others are just photo collages of campus. And the best part is that most of these videos were done by students, giving them a more student-friendly feel. Campus Tours is simply ... Read More About How To Tour A College Online

The nation’s elite colleges just became even more elite. Harvard, Stanford and Princeton – some of the nation’s hardest colleges to get into – boasted lower acceptance rates for the 2011 school year compared to 2010, according to an article in the Washington Post. These schools had record-breaking number of applicants for 2011 but only admitted the same number of students, creating a much lower acceptance rate. Most colleges have experienced a significant increase in the number of applications. Most colleges have even had record-breaking numbers in the past few years. This phenomenon is consistent across most colleg... Read More About Why Top Colleges Have Again Lowered Acceptance Rates

“Just finished my FAFSA; would rather blind myself with a spork than do that again,” reads a recent tweet on Twitter. Filing the Free Application For Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is the definition of tedium. Unnecessary complications, prying information, and hours of frustration make up the typical FAFSA experience. It’s a daunting experience, but if given the time and patience, filling out the FAFSA form could help a student earn a significant amount of financial aid. But it’s not easy. So Jenna Johnson from the Washington Post and Mark Kantrowitz, a financial aid expert and publisher of Fastweb.com and FinAid.org he... Read More About Tips To Make FAFSA Filing Easier

College is one of the – if not the – biggest investment a student and his/her family will ever make. This holds true for most students, no matter how affordable their targeted colleges may be or how large of a scholarship they may have received. The cost of college then creates financial strain for most families. Colleges offer financial assistance to many students to offset the high costs. However, very few colleges actually meet their students’ full financial needs. The US News & World Report surveyed over 1,700 American colleges to publish a list of 63 colleges that claim to meet the full financial need of their stud... Read More About Colleges That Address Financial Needs

College is coming. It’s coming sooner for some and later for others. But, it’s still coming for most, and it’s never too soon to prepare. Winter time is always a stressful time for high school seniors, lobbying for certain colleges, awaiting acceptance or rejection letters. Some of them may even look back to their freshmen years of high school or even earlier, thinking I should have taken a harder curriculum, more extra-curricular activities or even gotten an A in that Algebra class. Once you’re a high school senior – or when you’re the parent of high school senior – it’s too late to change wha... Read More About How To Prepare For College Now

  It's the season for college visits, and high school seniors are gearing up to get a first peak at what may be their future for the next four years or more.  Seeing the campus buildings, talking to enthusiastic alumni, and being pampered by admissions officials may be fun, but students should go prepared with detailed questions. A recent article from CollegeView offers some great questions to ask during your next college visit.  Here is a sampling of the questions: 1. What are your most well-known programs? This is a better question than asking, "Is such and such program good at this college?"  The vast majority of c... Read More About What To Ask During A College Visit

Admission officials are trying to shed their old, stuffy, always buttoned-up image and trying to appear more “cool” and approachable to prospective college students, according to an article in the Washington Post. They are doing so to respond to many high school students who decided against the traditional essay and paper application, the students who got creative with their applications, producing YouTube videos and other materials. Many officials, across the nation, representing various different colleges that followed their prospective students, are diving into popular social mediums and creating their own YouTube videos, blog... Read More About Social Media And College Admissions

Scholarships – a college student’s best friend, one of the few things to actually mitigate the seemingly insurmountable amount of college tuition, the simplest way to reduce debt after college graduation. Yes, scholarship applications are important, and sometimes it can be hard to find that extra motivation to apply for them, especially when you’re not even sure if you’ll get any money out of it. Below are six common mistakes to avoid while writing a winning scholarship essay, from the US News & World Report. 1. Hurried writing: Sure it’s great if you can work quickly and well under pressure. But, there is ... Read More About Six Application Essay Mistakes

Elite colleges are all in competition with each other, and the one statistic they can brag about is how many high school students – who received acceptance letters – actually commit and attend that college.             Many top colleges believe that this figure is the ultimate sign of how prestigious and respected that certain college is. This is how colleges compare themselves to one another.             Harvard, Dartmouth, Cornell and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill all had more accepted high school stud... Read More About Freshmen Yields At Top Colleges

Technology is rapidly creating more ways to apply for college and continually taking the tedium out of the process, according to an article in The New York Times.             High school students can now choose from the Common Application, the Common Black Application, XAP, Embark, Superapp and the Universal College Application. All of these application formats promise to save students time by allowing them to fill in academic and personal information only one time for all colleges the student wishes to apply to and accept the application.         ... Read More About Different Ways To Apply To College

The Obama administration is setting new regulations on colleges that participate in federal student aid programs, according to an article in The Washington Post.             This initiative will change how admission recruiters are paid, how course credits are defined and how college curriculums and training programs will operate.             There will be 13 new regulations for colleges that accept federal student aid programs, decided on by policy makers October 27, 2010. The rules will go into effect in July 2011, giving the federa... Read More About New Higher Education Regulations

Sure, college tuition is increasing rapidly. But how expensive are some colleges’ tuition rates?       Here are the nation’s most expensive colleges, according to an article in The Washington Post, which cited a Campus Grotto finding. Sarah Lawrence College, a liberal arts college in Bronxville, NY, has no specific majors or areas of study. The college, instead, encourages broad reasoning and creativity, according to its Web site. It topped the list with its tuition of $56,420.  New York University and Wesleyan University followed with tuitions of $53,589 and $53,406, respectively. No college w... Read More About Most Expensive Colleges

  There are many adjectives people use to describe college: expensive, affordable, appropriate, valuable – to name a few. But, free is rarely one of them.              Free is one of the many appropriate adjectives used to describe the University of Helsinki, located in Finland, according to an article in The US News & World Report. Another adjective is the 75th-best college in the world, well compound adjective.              The University of Helsinki is tuition-free for American students, meaning students will still have to pay for books, re... Read More About Tuition At Foreign Colleges

Choosing a college based on strong academics is very important; however, there is a lot more to college than its national, academic rankings.             Every college has its own unique culture, consisting of its academics, its geographic location and its student body. It’s the vibe one gets from that college. There is nothing you can read or hear to fully understand a college’s culture. No one can tell you truly what it’s truly like, and how you will feel about it. You need to visit as often as you can.            ... Read More About College Culture

The tips below will provide students with insights from an article in The US News & World Report regarding the pros and cons of small/large colleges.             Typically research colleges are much larger, and their professors focus highly on research, opposed to teaching.             Here are 10 benefits of attending a research university: 1. The best researchers can be the best teachers: There is a common held belief that professors who focus mainly on research are not committed to the classroom and are therefore poor teacher... Read More About Choosing A Research University

Writing a strong essay may not be your specialty, but it is a vital part of the college entrance process. Working with a great writing tutor and following these simple tips from an article in The US News & World Report can help you turn your average or sub-par essay into a winning one. The US News & World Report questioned many college admissions officers who have to read entrance essays every year. A great intro: Your college entrance essay should start off with a creative, attention-grabbing intro. The only thing that’s more boring and painful than writing an entrance essay is reading hundreds, thousands of them. This is a min... Read More About Writing The College Essay

In a recent article, Jay Mathews of The Washington Post offers a fresh opinion on America’s academic culture of high prestige and narrow notoriety.             Mathews argues that Americans are very naïve in thinking that our universities are by far and beyond the best in the world. Harvard, Yale, Princeton and Stanford are some of the best colleges in the world; however, Mathews argues that some foreign colleges are catching up to these institutions.             Mathews cited Ben Wildavsky's "The Great Brain Race: How Glo... Read More About Foreign Colleges

Similar to most other businesses, colleges have been hit hard by the recent economic recession. The recession has forced college administrators to layoff thousands of professors, cut programs and most notably increase tuition to record numbers.      College enrollment figures are currently lower than what most colleges would like, which is one of the reasons why tuition figures are sharply rising. However, colleges are constantly competing with each other to be the most affordable. So, many colleges are implementing payment programs that can help mitigate the rising costs of college tuition, according to an article in ... Read More About College Tuition Tips

        In attempts to attract prospective students, many colleges across the nation are promising incoming freshmen that their tuition rates will not rise during their four years in college, according to an article in The US News & World Report.       All public universities in Illinois and several other public and private colleges throughout the nation are locking freshmen tuition rates. However, these schools are raising separate fees such as housing, meal plans and other various costs. Also, these colleges are increasing the tuition rates that each incoming freshmen class will pay, witho... Read More About Colleges Offering Tuition Guarantees

College tuition, room and board, scholarships, financial aid, meal plans are all screaming different numbers at high school students and their parents. Adding and subtracting these numbers in attempts to figure out exactly how much a specific college will cost can be a difficult, agonizing task. But, life’s getting easier for students and their parents because all colleges will be forced to post a “net price calculator” on their Web site by 2011, according to an article in The Washington Post.             The actual costs of college can be very different from its adverti... Read More About College Cost Calculators

            Most students who attend for-profit colleges are forced to take out much larger loans and accumulate more debt than students who attend non-profit colleges, according to an ." rel="nofollow">article in The Washington Post.             The article cited a study completed by the College Board. The study used the 2007-2008 college school year. It found that 53% of students who attend for-profit colleges accumulated at least $30,500 in debt. Only 24% of students who attend non-profit colleges and 12% of students in public coll... Read More About For Profit Colleges

Many students who are on the bubble of being accepted into a college will be placed on a waiting list. Students will have to sweat it out for months while that college makes its final decisions.             Students can opt to stay on waiting lists; however, less than 30% of wait-listed students will eventually be accepted, according to The US News & World Report. Also, students’ chances are significantly lower for Ivy League Schools and other elite colleges. Recently, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has accepted anywhere from 0-40 students from its waiting list that... Read More About College Waiting Lists

Some high school students will now be able to view how well their school’s graduates are doing in college, according to The Washington Post.             The National Student Clearing House has created a database with information from over 93 million college students and over 3,300 colleges across the nation. This information allows The National Student Clearing House to present some high schools statistics on their graduates’ college success.             The Washington Post published the statistics of one of the schools i... Read More About Measuring A High School With Graduates Successes

            President Barack Obama will send a proposal to congress for an education system reform the week of March 14, according to The Los Angeles Times.             Obama’s proposal will also reform the No Child Left Behind project to improve high schools and give graduates the “the best chance to succeed in a changing world,” Obama told the Los Angeles Times.             His plans developed in the midst of many reports stating that America’s education... Read More About Reworking The Education System

The next SAT test date is only a month away!  1. Practice, practice, practice.  Just like learning how to ride a bike, you get better at the SAT by practicing.  Staring at the questions won't get you far.  Dive in and do some practice questions.  You'll not only learn the format of the questions, you'll also learn how The College Board (makers of the SAT) likes to word questions. 2. Use The Official SAT Study Guide.  What better way to practice than by using actual SAT test questions?  This book is published by The College Board, and contains a whopping 10 full length practice tests.  In addition, the ... Read More About Five SAT Test Prep Tips

The stacks and online databases of hopeful, entrance applications for the incoming 2009-2010 freshmen class have grown sharply for the nation’s top, competitive schools, decreasing the chances of acceptance, according to The New York Times. Harvard, Stanford, Dartmouth, Yale and Brown are some of the more recognizable schools that saw increases in applications. These schools have traditionally been highly selective, and they have scrutinized applications further, making it one of the toughest years for hopeful students. The Times reported that the percentage of students accepted into these competitive colleges has been or near record l... Read More About Recession Can Not Slow Interest In Elite Colleges