Do colleges verify information in applications?
In the adult world, it is fairly common, almost expected, for one’s resume to exaggerate their past achievements. In fact, a recent study found that 85% of people lie on their resumes in one form or another. A babysitting gig can easily become experience “supervising…
Should I Apply Early Action?
The average applicant is fully-aware of Early Decision as a “card to play” in the admissions game. In that arrangement, each party makes a concession—you, the applicant give up your free-agency status, and the college, in many cases, grants a borderline candidate slightly better odds…
College Application Season is here!
Seeing an exclamation point-punctuated proclamation, as in the headline above, might strike you as a bit over-the-top, like when car dealers start selling 2019 models just a few months into 2018, barking over the airwaves with disingenuous urgency that, “We have to clear these 2018s…
Should I use the Common App or the Coalition App?
Rising seniors who will be applying to competitive colleges this fall are almost sure to soon face the question, “Which is better, the Common App or the Coalition App?” This budding rivalry isn’t quite yet on par with Coke vs. Pepsi, Ford vs. Chevy, or…
How to Request Letters of Recommendation
Let’s engage in mental exercise intended to do something quite strange—help you imagine your teachers as real human beings. Don’t worry—there’s a purpose to this! Put yourself in your favorite English teacher’s shoes for a moment. Let’s call him Mr. Hemingway. Mr. Hemingway rises at…
Should I mention Depression/Anxiety on my College Application?
Sometimes it takes unspeakably tragic events to bring the existence of a widespread problem into the national conversation. In the past decade, highly publicized suicides at UPenn, Hamilton College, MIT, NYU, and Cornell, among others, have moved the discussion of mental health services on campus…
Does being a “legacy” increase your admission odds?
Colleges love to throw around high-minded words like meritocracy, access, and egalitarianism when discussing admissions policies. Yet proclamations of a focus on social justice and opportunity ring a bit hollow when you consider that so-called legacy applicants, those who have familial ties to an institution,…
Do I Need a Maker Portfolio?
Advice for aspiring Computer Science and Engineering Majors The notion of a holistic application process that includes work samples or a full-blown portfolio has long been common practice in schools of architecture, the visual arts, and music. On the other hand, the STEM fields have…
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Downloadable Resources for your College Transition
