Colorado College offers a unique educational experience and academic community that attracts strong students with an equally strong focus. The most unique piece of CC is the way they structure their academic program, the Block Plan. Through the Block Plan, CC students take one class at a time, diving completely into a subject or niche for 3.5 weeks of immersion. This program isn for everyone, but many students thrive in it. It has certainly made CC popular among small liberal arts colleges, and the acceptance rate for the Class of 2030 was . You should note, though, that the acceptance rate for Early Decision I and II, and Early Action, was a little that same year, while the Regular Decision acceptance rate was only 18%.
To us, this illustrates how much CC prioritizes students who prioritize them. They know they aren for everyone, and they want to be sure that the students they accept know what they are getting into.
As they assess applications, they consider () SAT or ACT scores. of accepted and enrolled first-years submit scores, so they truly are optional. Unlike many other test-optional schools, not submitting scores to CC does not automatically reduce your likelihood of admission. If you are planning to take the SAT, though, you shoulda score over 1400. On the ACT, your target should be a 32. Your grades, too, need to be strong. CC expects you to be in the top half of your graduating class and to have done well in hard classes. Unlike many other selective schools, though, they weigh who you are more heavily than most institutions. Being interesting can, for CC, outweigh an imperfect transcript if you show drive, forward momentum, and an upwards trajectory.
The most important place to illustrate your potential to Colorado College is in the supplements, so let get into them.
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The Colorado College supplement is, technically, . You don have to do it for your application to be complete, but we argue that you absolutely need to do the supplement if you want to get in. Not even attempting the supplement is like shrugging your shoulders at CC. You are saying, Who cares? I don. That is not the way you want them to feel that you feel about them. So, you will be writing the supplement!
One of the benefits of Colorado College Block Plan is the opportunity to immerse yourself fully in a single subject for 3.5 weeks. We see this as the luxury of focusthe joy and value of directing your full attention to one thing.
Tell us about a time when you experienced this kind of deep focus in an academic or extracurricular setting. What were you doing and how did it turn out?
Optional: If youd like to share the outcomea project, performance, paper, or other resultyou may upload a document or provide a URL. (300 words)
All of that, obviously, was one question. And that is the only question on the supplement, so you have one, 300 word answer to show CC that you don just love the idea of how they approach learning you do it already.
As you brainstorm what to write about, we highly advise avoiding anything short-term (as that is the opposite of what they ask for) and anything that was through a pay-to-play program. If you or your parents had to write a check for you to have the opportunity you are thinking of focusing on, it is not the right thing to write about. Instead, mine your junior and senior year (so far) for experiences that involve immersion and intensity of study. Study, can be for a class, but it doesn have to be. This could mean focusing on a research project, an independent project, a long-term school assignment, or a creative undertaking. It could be writing a long research paper about a political event or it could be making arrowheads out of flint to better understand Stone Age materials and the development of man. What you are focused on, though, matters much less than the story you tell.
At its essence, and no matter what you write about, your response for the CC supplement must be a story. There needs to be a beginning, a middle, and an end. There needs to be a sense of conflict, and a moment of resolution. You need to grow in some way through the experience, and use storytelling tools, like imagery and dialog, to bring your narrative to life. The reader should feel excited alongside you, frustrated when you are, and celebratory when you feel success. This is a lot to ask of a single piece of writing, but it is also why it is so important to start supplements early. They take time to marinate.
Now, if you have something to submit alongside your supplemental essay that is awesome. This one truly is not mandatory, but offering evidence of your work is a useful verification tool that you actually did whatever it is you are writing about. We work with our students to develop a series of images, a video, or a PDF that offers proof of their endeavor to accompany their application, even if the project finished last year. For example, maybe you performed a poem for a competition. If that isn on tape, you would make a new video, honestly labeled as you reprising the original.
The combination of the supplement and the evidence are an amazing way for you to prove to CC that you are one of them already. You are ready for what CC offers, and excited to leap into a unique learning plan that most students are intimidated by.
If the idea of writing this supplement is making your brain stall, though, we can help. We support our students in writing acceptance-earning supplements that stand out.
Getting into college doesn have to be stressful. We make it simple.