Getting waitlisted or deferred from your dream school is hard. We know it’s hard! You feel rejected, but it’s this weird non-rejection rejection that can leave you feeling lost and confused. And while a lot of things in college admissions are totally out of your control, there is something you can do if you’ve been waitlisted or deferred to give yourself another chance. A letter of continued interest, sometimes known as a waitlist letter or deferral letter, is one of the few, actionable things you can control when admissions decisions seem so out of your control. It’s your only chance to make a good second impression, and we help students write them every single year.
Getting waitlisted is the ultimate limbo – it’s not not a rejection, but it’s not a full-on denial, either. And depending on your circumstances, you could be feeling everything from mild disappointment to full-on panic. Don’t get yourself into a tizzy just yet, because there are things you can do to give yourself a shot at getting off the waitlist and make sure that you have a plan in place for the next year.
Hey, look, sometimes ED doesn’t work out the way we want it to, and we have to change strategies. If you just got rejected or deferred from your ED/EA option, we’d like to introduce you to our good friend, Early Decision 2. ED2 is just as binding as ED, and it signals to the school that you are serious about attending that school, and guess what? Schools like when you’re serious about them.
Why do you want to go to school here? If there’s one prompt you are certain to write more than once, it’s this one. This prompt comes in a few different flavors, but at the end of the day, they all want to know why their school is the perfect school for you and why you’re the perfect student for them. No pressure or anything.
We’ve spent the last few weeks breaking down the Common App essay prompt by prompt, and today we’re going to give you our ultimate guide to writing the Common App essay. There might be seven different prompts, but ultimately, all schools want the same thing from their applicants’ Common App essays: a story.
Recently we got this email:
Subject: Getting into ivy league with C's??
Message: Hi, I am currently a junior in high school and I was never really interested in studies and getting into good colleges back when I started 9th grade. But now, I finally found the motivation but I feel like its too late. Is there anything I can do with the time I have to boost myself?
Before you decide that you absolutely positively must attend Stanford, you need to get clear on why. “Because it’s Stanford!” is not a reason. While it’s impossible to characterize the entire school, we’ve spent years helping students apply (and get into) Stanford. Generally speaking, students who get into and thrive at Stanford have the following three qualities:
The headlines can be recycled (again)! This year, like many consecutive years before it, marked a new record low for acceptance rates across the countries. With acceptances sinking down below 5 percent for some Ivies and nearing the single digits for some non-Ivies, there is no sign of competition slowing down in the near future. In this post, we chart out how rates have changed over the last few years.
If you’re serious about becoming a doctor you probably don’t need us to tell you what you’re up against. Getting into med school is not easy, and it’s important to pick an undergraduate program that sets you up for success. Generally speaking, you want to look for colleges with pre-med advising, clinical and research opportunities, and high percentages of students who ~actually~ get into med school. You can throw those buzz words into google (in fact, you definitely should) but our list is a good place to start.
We are firm believers that kids do best when they pursue their true passions. But we also understand that many parents approach certain majors and programs with a tinge of hesitation, and dance is one of those majors. In this post, we’ll focus on BA dance programs but before we begin it’s important to draw a distinction between a BA and a BFA. BFA programs tend to be more specific and technical, while getting a BA in dance generally leaves with you with more post-grad options. You should look into BA programs if you want to explore a variety of aspects related to the industry.
We have received dozens of emails, text, and inquiries about the current scandal. We think it is very sad and emblematic of bigger issues. When the going gets tough, the urge to cut corners can be real. And this scandal underscores just how hard it is to get into college. But we need to make it incredibly clear: our practice is both ethical and legal. We don’t condone or endorse anything that happened in the latest scandal. We would never cheat or encourage cheating. In fact, we have been approached by people who want us to fabricate essays or transcripts and we have always, without exception, turned them away. We operate with an incredibly high moral and ethical code.
Systems engineers tend to work in technical and human-based engineering industries as the interface between customers, companies, and management in general and specialty engineers. Smart buildings, global networks, and autonomous robotics are all examples of systems that system engineers develop and manage. Systems engineers work in manufacturing, finance, consulting, healthcare, and so many more industries. It’s a critical role within the engineering world and thus necessitates a particular kind of person with specific skills, such as reliability, ability to organize large sets of data and information, management of various teams, and knowledge in testing, design, and risk management. While systems engineers have a solid foundation of knowledge in the engineering sciences, a significant amount of the focus is more big-picture.
Parents regularly ask us whether or not their artistically inclined kids should forgo their creative urges to study something a bit more practical, like, say, finance. What sets us apart from some of the other college consulting services out there is that we like to encourage kids to pursue their passions. Whether it’s extra-curriculars, essays, or summer jobs, each component of the application process, and ultimately, the majors kids pursue in college, are going to end up being more impressive if the student is committed to what they’re doing. So, if you’re a show tunes junky with a voice of honey, we say go for it. But you better bring you’re A-game, because getting into the nation’s top musical theater programs is hardly as easy as spending a Sunday in the park with George. (We'll see ourselves out. Bye.)
The essays are the part of the college application that students resist the most. Classes and tests require hard work, but there’s something intimidating about sitting down and writing several hundred words from scratch that have such a bearing on your future. In this post, we offer a few tips for the intrepid college-applicants who are just getting started.
There is no shortage of ways you could fill the summer between junior and senior year: sitting on the couch and watching all of Riverdale, sitting on the beach and playing on your phone, and sitting by your friend’s pool and sending snaps are all things you could do. But none of those things are going to get you into college. Fear not. We have a few thoughts on what will.
We encourage our kids to seek the best opportunities possible each summer. Your breaks from school should be seen as time to learn and expand yourself while continuing to craft your portfolio into a body of work that brands you as an expert in some area. It’s never too early to become an entrepreneur. For those who are ambitious and destined for business, these programs might be a good place to start.