Posts by Dave Bergman:

How One New Hampshire Student Turned Frost Heaves into a Dartmouth Acceptance

Posted on: 18 Dec 2025

The Competitive Landscape Across New Hampshire’s Public High Schools New Hampshire’s admissions landscape looks different from Massachusetts or Connecticut. U.S. News & World Report ranks Hanover High School first among the state’s public schools. Nationally, it lands at 428th out of nearly 18,000 ranked schools. Lebanon High School holds second place statewide. Bedford High School […]

Top High Schools in Middlesex County, MA: How They Compare for College Admissions

Posted on: 16 Dec 2025

Middlesex County, Massachusetts occupies one of the most academically saturated regions in the United States. Indeed, MIT, Harvard, and Tufts all sit within its borders. Consequently, families here raise students in communities where research access is a baseline advantage. Proximity to world-class faculty is treated as a given rather than an exceptional perk. The county’s […]

From River Towns to Research Labs: How to Get into Top Colleges from Bucks County, Pennsylvania

Posted on: 16 Dec 2025

Bucks County stretches from the Delaware River towpaths of New Hope down through Doylestown’s courthouse square. It continues into the denser, more industrial townships near Bristol and Levittown. That range matters for admissions strategy. A student in Newtown and a student in Bensalem draw on very different local economies. Even so, both sit inside the […]

Public vs. Private in Austin, TX: What Actually Matters for College Admissions

Posted on: 11 Dec 2025

Choosing between a public and private high school is rarely simple. In the Austin metro area, where families have access to some of the strongest public schools in Texas alongside nationally respected independent and faith-based options, the decision can feel especially high-stakes. Parents often ask whether private schools offer an admissions advantage, whether large public […]

Case Study: How One Bucks County Student Earned Admission to Selective Colleges

Posted on: 11 Dec 2025

The Bucks County Admissions Landscape Bucks County sends a competitive, well-resourced applicant pool to selective colleges every year. New Hope-Solebury High School currently ranks fourth among Pennsylvania public schools and 308th nationally, per U.S. News & World Report’s recent rankings. Seventy percent of its students take at least one AP exam. Central Bucks East ranks […]

Reno, Nevada and the Road to Selective Colleges: Making the Most of the Biggest Little City

Posted on: 11 Dec 2025

A Rising Tech Hub with More to Offer Than Most Families Realize Reno is a city in the middle of a genuine transformation. Once defined almost entirely by its casino economy, it now hosts a growing concentration of advanced manufacturing, environmental research, and clean energy infrastructure that rivals what you’ll find in much of the […]

Getting Into Selective Colleges from Reno, Nevada

Posted on: 10 Dec 2025

Reno is a city in the middle of a genuine transformation. The casino economy that defined Northern Nevada for decades now shares space with Tesla’s Gigafactory, the Desert Research Institute, a growing tech corridor, and one of the West’s most livable mid-sized urban environments. For college-bound students, that combination raises an important question: is Reno, […]

Top High Schools in the Southlake, TX Area: How They Compare for College Admissions

Posted on: 08 Dec 2025

A Suburb Built Around Academic Ambition Southlake sits in the northeast corner of Tarrant County. It is a master-planned suburb known for its manicured town square and its academic intensity. Families move here specifically for the schools. As a result, that reputation shapes nearly every real estate decision in the area. The market includes one […]