Posts by Dave Bergman:

The Threshold Race: How Free Tuition Went From Median Income to $250,000

Posted on: 21 Aug 2026

In August 2026, two universities raised their income lines within a week of each other. Rice announced free tuition for families earning up to $200,000, beginning with students entering in fall 2027. Boston University matched the $200,000 figure days later and started it this fall, capping family contributions at $20,000. Neither was an isolated move. […]

Villanova University Supplemental Essay Prompts and Tips 2026-27

Posted on: 21 Aug 2026

Villanova University’s acceptance rate has fallen to roughly 27%, well below where it stood a decade ago. Admitted students post strong test scores, and you typically need mostly A’s in AP and honors courses to have a serious shot. Writing an excellent Common App essay and Villanova supplemental essay are also incredibly important pieces of […]

Wake Forest Supplemental Essays 2026-27 – Prompts and Tips

Posted on: 21 Aug 2026

Admission is highly competitive at Wake Forest University, a mid-sized private school in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. They accept roughly one-fifth of applicants, and standards are high. Nearly 70% of enrolled students finished in the top decile of their high school class. At a school that turns away four of every five applicants, every aspect of […]

Yale Supplemental Essays 2026-27 — Prompts & Advice

Posted on: 21 Aug 2026

Yale’s acceptance rate of roughly 4.6% for the Class of 2029 is not the type of number you want to glide past with blind optimism. It is not our intention to inject unnecessary anxiety into the highly selective admissions process, since you likely have plenty of sources for that already. Rather, we feel it is […]

William and Mary Supplemental Essays 2026-27 — Prompts & Advice

Posted on: 21 Aug 2026

Founded in 1693, the College of William & Mary is the second-oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. With an acceptance rate in the mid-30s, W&M is a very selective school, and it is considerably more challenging to gain admission as an out-of-state student. With that in mind, it’s important to put maximum […]

WashU Supplemental Essays 2026-27 Prompts and Tips

Posted on: 21 Aug 2026

For the Class of 2028, the WashU acceptance rate remained low at just 12%. As Washington University in St. Louis continues marching toward the single-digit admit rate club, it’s critical that prospective applicants realize the need to make a uniquely compelling case for admission, even if they already possess elite academic credentials. The average SAT […]

2026-27 Virginia Tech Essay Prompts and Tips

Posted on: 21 Aug 2026

Virginia Tech’s acceptance rate does not yet strike fear into the hearts of prospective applicants the way some peer institutions’ do, but it has tightened considerably in recent years. It is important for wannabe Hokies to be aware that admission here is becoming genuinely selective, particularly for the university’s popular business, computer science, and engineering […]

USC Supplemental Essays 2026-27 — Prompts & Advice

Posted on: 20 Aug 2026

When applying to a school like the University of Southern California, it is important to grasp that their recent acceptance rate is lower than Harvard’s back in the late 1990s. In its most recent cycle, USC received roughly 83,000 applications and admitted about 10% of that pool for fall admission. We don’t bring up these […]