Colleges weigh many factors at admissions time. Learn about the diverse range of factors that they will consider from the rigor of the high school curriculum to community service to demonstrated interest. Discover which application platform is the best for your student to use at application time.
Any time I get asked a college admissions-related question more than once, it occurs to me that it’s probably article-worthy. If one student is asking the question, then that means there are others who are also wondering. And in the last week, I have been asked twice about the Common App “Additional Info” section. It…
Due to the ease of applying through the Common and Coalition college application platforms, students are applying to more colleges than ever before. And colleges are well aware of that trend. It makes their job more difficult because they want to admit the students who are most likely to attend. Maybe that makes the answer…
The question in the title is one that many students don’t even know they should ask. And the answer is often, “No.” Sadly, students frequently don’t realize until late in high school that simply fulfilling the basic high school graduation requirements is often not going to be enough to get into the college of their…
When it’s time to apply to college, students generally understand the importance of their grade point average (GPA) and college admissions test scores in the process. But does their class rank in high school also matter? What is Class Rank? Before talking about how colleges may or may not use high school class rank as…
If you’re reading this, you likely already know that colleges care about more than test scores and GPAs when it’s application time. The admissions team wants to get a full picture of who the student really is before making an admissions decision. One way they try to get an idea of what a student is…
As the college application cycle for this year’s seniors is in full swing, I decided to survey a few parents of college-bound high school seniors to see if they had any admissions tips or just thoughts on the admissions process that they would like to share. And they sure did! You will see that a…
By now, teens and their parents have all gotten the message that colleges like to see community service on students’ college applications. In fact, in some cases, not having any high school community service on their resumé can hurt students’ chances of being admitted. So, knowing that community service in high school can make a…
Both the Common Application and the Coalition Application are online college application platforms. The Coalition App is a relative newcomer, opening up for applications in Fall of 2016. In contrast, the Common App has been around since 1975 and has gone through numerous revisions since then. Let’s first talk about the similarities and differences in…
When it’s time to choose high school schedules, I get LOTS of questions about foreign language requirements for college admissions. If your student does not appreciate the importance of taking a high school foreign language when it comes time to apply to college, it’s time to make sure they understand it now! Here are my…
There is no question about the importance of extracurricular activities when it is time to fill out college applications. But, there ARE lots of questions about how to handle extracurriculars on the college applications. Every student wants to appear accomplished and engaged. Some colleges would have students believe that most of their applicants have cured…