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…
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…
How to email an admissions officer
Typically, there are two reasons that a prospective college student would want to email a college admissions officer: 1) They have a legitimate question that they are genuinely not able to find the answer to online, or 2) they are “playing the game” by demonstrating…
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,…
How to Support Your Teen in the College Admissions Process
A few years back, a student at the University of Cincinnati won a restraining order against her parents for “stalking” her in college. They had installed spyware on their daughter’s phone and computer, regularly made unannounced visits by traveling over 600 miles to campus, and…
How to Withdraw Your College Application
You entered the college admissions crucible an “applicant” and emerged as an “accepted student.” This glorious metamorphosis deserves to be met with excessive celebration. It’s a time to ceremoniously put down a deposit at the college of your dreams, purchase an obscene amount of clothing…
How to demonstrate interest in your prospective colleges
At their core, college admissions officers have a good deal in common with 7th graders. While they may not share the same hygiene issues, burgeoning rebellious spirit, or general awkwardness, thirteen-year-old’s minds are often dominated by one critical question—the same exact question that keeps college…
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Downloadable Resources for your College Transition
