Building on a college campus
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What You Need to Know About Need-Aware Colleges

I often write about factors that colleges consider as they make admissions decisions. There is one factor that gets very little attention – financial need. Did you know that there are “need-blind” colleges, as well as “need-aware” colleges? Unfortunately, this is an aspect of the college admissions process that students have very little control over….

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Do High School Graduation Requirements Meet College Admissions Requirements?

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…

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Here Are the Best Online Resources for College Admission

So, you’ve decided it’s time to take the first steps in the college search process. Maybe you’ve even read the Best Books about College Admissions. But now what? The next step for most of us is to turn to the internet in search of some online resources for college admission and the process surrounding it….

Student with graduation cap peeking from behind a book in library
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How Important is Class Rank in High School for College Admissions?

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…

Mom looking at daughter on daughters wedding day
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To the Moms in My Village…and Yours Too

As Mother’s day approaches, high school graduation day for my youngest is not far behind.  It has actually put me in a reflective mood. My own mom might tell you that’s uncharacteristic of me.  But as we approach this latest milestone, I’ve been thinking about all the moms that helped bring us to this place. …

Hand writing word recommendation on glass
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What You Need to Know About Teacher Recommendations

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…

students in front of college building
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Why Does the College Admissions Yield Rate Matter?

Do you know what a college admissions yield is? It is the thing that keeps admissions officers up at night, especially in the month leading to national decision day, on May 1st. While March drags for students as they await admissions decisions, April is the month that feels endless for admissions officers. That’s because the…

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Your College Applications Timeline for Senior Year

Senior year – the culmination of all the hard work your student has been doing to prepare for college. Application time is when all that they have been doing to prepare comes together. Ideally, you and your student have followed all of the advice about starting the college admissions process early. But if you haven’t,…

Stack of best books on college admissions
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Here Are the 5 Best Books About College Admissions

Are you looking for more resources to guide you as you undertake the college admissions process with your child? Here are some of my favorite books about college admissions to get you started. Initially, I had only four favorites listed here because I just couldn’t come up with a fifth favorite to recommend. But recently,…