Posts by Dave Bergman:

Cultivating a College-Ready Profile in Hunterdon County, New Jersey

Posted on: 03 Jul 2025

Hunterdon County does not look like a typical launching pad for selective college admissions: no dense downtown with a packed corporate headquarters exists, and no single dominant research university anchors the local economy. Instead, students here grow up among preserved farmland, winding back roads, and a handful of small boroughs clustered around the Raritan River. […]

How to Get Into Tufts: Acceptance Rate and Strategies

Posted on: 03 Jul 2025

Situated just five miles outside of Boston, the campus of Tufts University has long been a destination point for high-achieving teens in the Northeastern United States. However, as with many other prestigious institutions over the last few decades, Tufts has seen a consistently climbing number of applications and a commensurate decline in acceptance rates. Between […]

Tufts Supplemental Essays 2025-26 – Prompts and Advice

Posted on: 01 Jul 2025

Tufts University has long been a highly selective school. Yet, the acceptance rate has been hovering around 10% for several years now. As at any college that rejects more than 9 of every 10 applicants who apply (the overwhelming majority of whom are supremely qualified), aspiring Jumbos need every single component of their application to […]

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

Posted on: 30 Jun 2025

Hunterdon County occupies a strange position in New Jersey’s admissions landscape. Unlike Bergen or Somerset County, where dense suburban districts compete school against school for national rank, Hunterdon remains the state’s most rural county. Rolling farmland covers nearly half its total acreage. Hunterdon Central Regional High School in Flemington, the county’s largest and highest-ranked traditional […]

UChicago Supplemental Essays 2025-26 – Prompts and Advice

Posted on: 25 Jun 2025

UChicago has long been known for its “provocative” essay prompts, viewing them as a chance for “students to talk about themselves, their tastes, and their ambitions.” The University of Chicago admissions committee invites you to approach the UChicago supplemental essays with “utter seriousness, complete fancy, or something in between.” While writing this “uncommon essay” sounds […]

Buffalo’s Top High Schools: How They Really Compare for College Admissions

Posted on: 21 Jun 2025

Buffalo and Western New York offer families an unusually wide range of strong high school options. From nationally ranked public magnets and high-performing suburban districts to long-established independent and faith-based schools, students in the Buffalo area routinely gain admission to selective colleges across the country. The challenge is not finding a good school. The challenge […]

Top High Schools in the Fort Collins, CO Area: How They Compare for College Admissions

Posted on: 21 Jun 2025

Fort Collins occupies a distinctive position on the Colorado educational map. Home to Colorado State University, a major land-grant research institution, the city benefits from a deeply education-conscious community that values academic rigor, outdoor engagement, and intellectual independence. The Poudre School District (PSD) serves the city’s four comprehensive public high schools. Meanwhile, an unusually strong […]

Villanova Supplemental Essays 2025-26 – Prompts & Advice

Posted on: 18 Jun 2025

Villanova University’s 27.4% acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 is about half of what it was as recently as 2015. Today, admitted students earned a mid-50% SAT of 1450-1520, and you typically need mostly A’s in AP/honors courses to have a serious shot at acceptance. Writing excellent Common App and Villanova supplemental essays is […]