While honors programs have existed in one form or another since the GI bill first brought an influx of talented but cost-conscious students to public universities in the post-war era, the full-blown honors college is a more recent phenomenon. The majority of honors colleges were born in the 90s,...
Read MoreWalk into any Starbucks, Barnes and Noble, or public library around the holiday season and at least a few tables will be occupied by teen/middle-age dyads, with the older member asking things like, “Why our College?” or “What’s your favorite activity?” Alumni interviews are NOT an overwhelmingly important part...
Read MoreInside Higher Ed, one of higher education’s leading news outlets, recently conducted a nationwide survey of college admission directors. The newly-released results are shocking, and reveal a profession entirely different than that portrayed in popular media. Instead of sifting through an excess of qualified applicants, most admissions officers will...
Read MoreToo many students fail to complete optional parts of an application, and severely hinder their admissions prospects in the process. Optional statements demonstrate interest and provide an additional opportunity to showcase attributes that cannot be captured via a grade or test score. On the other hand, not completing the...
Read MoreIn Back to the Future II, Marty McFly travels from 1985 to 2015 and is shocked to learn that a bottle of Pepsi costs $50. With Pepsi bottles sitting firmly in the $1.50 range as we approach 2015 in real life, this estimate of inflation may have been as...
Read MoreMore is better Applicants often feel that more is inherently better when it comes to their application file and proceed to send along everything from editorials penned for the school newspaper to 5th grade book reports plastered in gold stars. Such offerings are highly unlikely to sway the admissions...
Read MoreTwo caveats, before we dish out the advice. First, as readers of our blog know, we do not advocate over-focusing on highly selective schools. Yet we also recognize that the allure of brand name universities is quite powerful and that, in some instances, those schools may represent a good...
Read MoreWhen free agent Carmelo Anthony was being heavily recruited by the Los Angeles Lakers, the seven-time NBA all star entered the Staples Center to the ultimate red carpet treatment. A short film about Anthony’s life narrated by Tobey Maguire played on the Jumbotron, featuring computer-generated images of the high-scoring...
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