Part of our job at The Ƶ is to keep up with the conversations that are happening within and between admissions teams around the country. Right now, a lot of the conversations are centered on what is happening with the Coronavirus and how to keep all the cogs moving and balls rolling in the right direction. Looking forward is hard to do when you aren quite sure when we will take our foot off the social distancing-pedal. However, one forward-thinking conversation that is making its way through the hub-bub is how college supplements are going to be reshaped to reflect the unique qualities of this school year. Namely, colleges will be more curious than ever about how you spent your time.
How Will the Coronavirus/COVID-19 Pandemic Impact Advanced Placement (AP) Courses and Tests?
It Monday, many schools across the country are out for the next three or more weeks across the country, and this is just the beginning. Over the next few weeks, teachers will be working on designing and implementing remote learning. Still, there is sure to be a steep learning curve that isn helped along by the fact that . With so much up in the air, it hard to guess what will come next, but it is entirely possible that schools will not invite their students back onto campus until fall. Yes, fall.
15 Application-Boosting Activities for High School Students During Coronavirus/Covid-19
We saw it coming, and it happening. Colleges and universities acted first, but now high schools are also taking swift action to keep students safe. For millions of students around the world, this means staying home and social distancing or avoiding contact with all non-essential people. Most students will not have had this much free time since before they started structured schooling at four or five years old, including during summers. Without camps, sports, and other structured activities, and with it inadvisable to hang out with friends, there is a lot of free time to tackle.
High School Sophomores and Juniors During The Coronavirus/COVID-19: 6 Things To Do
The coronavirus/COVID-19 pandemic is real, it happening, and it here to stay for a while. Schools across America are extending spring break and moving to online learning. SATs and ACTs test dates are being postponed indefinitely across the globe. Companies are even canceling summer internships preemptively. Stuff happening to put it lightly and Netflix is beckoning you towards procrastination. Even if youre not in quarantine and cases of COVID-19/Coronavirus haven hit your area yet, it understandable to feel isolated, confused, frustrated, and alone.
How Many Colleges Should I Apply to?
We get this question a lot: how many schools should I be applying to? The answer is a bit different for everyone, but were very intentional about the range that we suggest for each person, which is between 8-12. More is not better, in this situation. It just more stress and more work. And at a certain point were looking at diminishing returns in terms of essays and overall work quality if youre applying to 18-20 schools. We know that it scary to have fewer schools on the list, but if youve done everything right leading up to this point, there really should only be 8-12 schools on your list. Why this range? A few reasons.
Which Reach Schools Should be on a College List?
Reach schools: a sensitive topic. We know. Every year, we have to talk our clients down from 8 to 3 reach schools on their list, and it rarely pretty. Sometimes, there are tears. Often, there are large exhales. We understand that it challenging to whittle the reach category of your list down to a realistic size and scope because the college application process is probably one of the most challenging and stressful times in your life thus far. And making decisions when youre stressed out is hard. We don envy you, but we do want to help you and remind you that with this blog post and every other one that we are on your side. We want you to go to college just as much as you do.
How to Build a College List: a Checklist
Building your college list can be an overwhelming and somewhat daunting task. When we construct our college lists with our students, we make sure that the list is balanced in terms of the likelihood of application review (sorry if this is , but applying to Yale on a whim with a 26 ACT score just because, is probably a waste of time and money), but consistent in terms of fit. What do we mean when we say fit? We mean that we want you applying to schools that are all of the following: cultural, academic, and social fit. Here a checklist to methodically take you through how to make sure that your college list is built-out correctly.
How to Write a Letter of Continued Interest
One of the steps that we suggest after being deferred is to write a letter of continued interest. When youre in limbo, it completely understandable to get stressed out and overwhelmed, but trust us when we say that taking steps to contact your dream school will alleviate some of your anxiety. There are no guarantees, but you do have one last chance to double down on your interest in X school.
What is a Letter of Continued Interest?
A letter of continued interest, which we have sometimes called a deferral package, is a letter that you send to the admissions office after youve been deferred or placed on the waitlist of a school. And while we think that it important to tell your dream school that you still want to attend, we are not suggesting that you send a letter of continued interest to every school that youve been deferred from. The process is similar to writing another (shorter) supplement, and if you don have valid reasons for still wanting to attend, and pertinent updates, youll be wasting your time and the time of the person reading the letter.
Transferring to Cornell University
Last year, we did a deep dive into transferring to Cornell. This is because Cornell is a true outlier among the Ivy with a transfer acceptance rate of 18%-19% for the past four years. For context, Princeton didn even accept transfer students until last year and Columbia transfer acceptance rate is around 6%.
Transferring to Penn (The University of Pennsylvania)
Penn transfer acceptance rate has hovered around 8% for the past few years. Especially when attempting to transfer into top tier schools, it important to keep in mind that 1) theyre only replacing the small percentage of students who left and 2) acceptance rates are low across the board. And if you were out of range to apply right out of high school, one year of good grades in college won do much to help because the evaluation process includes high school performance. If youre serious about transferring and think Penn is the place for you, keep reading. Well detail the three required writing supplements, but be sure to check for additional requirements for special programs.
How to Recover from a bad Freshman Year in High School
So, you had a not-so-great freshman year? Youre likely reading this because you ended your freshman year with a less-than-stellar GPA or you just felt like your performance was lackluster. It happens, and we commend you for searching out information to better yourself in the future. It better than getting to senior year, realizing your GPA sucks, and frantically Googling, how to get into college with bad grades. (Yes, we wrote a blog post with this title.) The first step is admitting you have a problem! Were here to tell you: it going to be okay. We know that you are capable of more and we want to help you get on track. Here are three easy steps to getting out of a freshman year hole:
Transferring Colleges to a School with no Supplement
We have written a lot about the transfer process and the importance of writing stellar supplements. And if you come across a transfer school that doesn have one, you might feel like youve hit the jackpot. Well, you haven. We know that transfer acceptance rates are low, and we also know how easy it is to apply to schools that don have supplements. So how do you make yourself stand out to their admissions teams? You write one anyway.
Five Tips for Your Junior Year of High School
Ah, junior year. For many, junior year signifies such milestones as getting a driver license, but it is also known for striking fear in the hearts of underclassmen everywhere. Yes, it very true that junior year is a cornerstone year for the college application process, and while we want to assure you that it going to be alright, we also want you to be prepared for the reality that junior year brings in tow.
How To Transfer to NYU
If youve decided that you want to transfer, and think that NYU is the ideal school for you, youve come to the right place. This blog post will detail how to answer the two mandatory writing supplements, which at first glance seem slightly redundant and therefore confusing.
When Should I Transfer Colleges?
It undoubtedly one of the busiest times of the year for high school seniors, but if youre currently in college and youre considering transferring, it also time for you to get that process started. You might be thinking --but I thought transfer applications aren usually due until March. Youre right, but there are tons of materials to gather, and even more essays to write, and it isn ideal to be bogged down with all of that extra work while youre trying to keep your grades up and hopefully do something fun for spring break.
Can you Transfer into Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan
Books that Look Good on College Applications
We love to read. We are voracious and committed to reading all sorts of books all of the time so that a) you don need to, and b) we can guide you on your literary journey(s). It our favorite work to do with students. The books that we recommend they read aim to challenge their perceptions about certain topics. And then we talk about it. That really our favorite part.
How To Transfer Colleges as a Freshman
While it true that transferring colleges is common, there is a major misconception floating around about the process. A lot of people think that transferring is easy, and that if you want to end up at Harvard, you can start out at a state school and transfer in your sophomore year. This is very much not the case.
Deferred Early Decision with No Backup Plan
Before we get into the specifics of the next steps, let discuss what being deferred actually means. A lot of students think that colleges defer them to be nice or to not hurt your feelings. This is not something that colleges do. When you are deferred, you are put into the regular decision pool of applicants. It means that the school wants to see how your application will hold up once everyone else applies.