Top College Admissions Trends in 2018
“Holistic admissions, applications rise, demonstrated interest, SAT goodbyes…” There are enough hot-button issues taking center stage in the admissions world in 2018 to add a verse to Billy Joel’s classic “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” Unfortunately, the above topics didn’t sound nearly as melodic as…
Should I go to a liberal arts college?
Two cups of coffee sit before you: one bearing the insignia of a popular, multinational brand and the other, an unknown local brew. As a participant in a taste test, you are asked to sip both and then state which one is better. After sampling…
How should 9th graders prepare for college?
Let’s begin with a caveat: The College Transitions team is philosophically opposed to the unhealthy obsession with elite college admission that begins in the womb, ramps up to overdrive by the time pre-school selection rolls around, and by high school—well, that’s when the therapy bills…
How to Evaluate a College’s Career Services
As colleges compete for your business, they often tout their shiniest new amenities—the Mall of America-size fitness center boasting a 35-foot rock climbing wall (University of Texas), the dorm facility featuring a sauna, steam room, and tanning beds (University of Arizona), or the indoor beach…
How to Create the Perfect College List
A great sculptor stares at a giant hunk of stone and can visualize, in their mind’s eye, a finished work of art. The average person just sees a rock. When it comes to the task of creating a list of prospective colleges, most teens and…
Is There a Private School Advantage in College Admissions?
Prior to the 1920s, attendance at a top-flight prep school was nothing less than a prerequisite for admission into an Ivy League college.
Extracurricular Advice for 9th and 10th Graders
Winston Churchill once quipped that “a lie gets halfway around the world before the truth has a chance to get its pants on.” Or did he? Ironically, the attribution of this quote may be a case of a lie whirling around the globe while the…
Should you consider a “gap year” before college?
Back in the 80s, parents’ worst nightmare was that their flaky Gen-X teens would defer entry into college, stating that they first needed to “find themselves.” After a year of goat herding in the Himalayas, being one with nature, and going on nightly vision quests,…
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Downloadable Resources for your College Transition
