The College Essay is mythical in status, but at the core it’s just an essay. Like any essay, it needs to say something, and preferably something interesting. As part of your college application, what it says shouldn’t be obvious, but it should make sense. You shouldn’t be repeating something elsewhere in your application, but what you say should resonate with the reader because it makes them feel like they’ve gotten to know you a little better than they would have without it. In 650 words, you need to do all of this while sounding smart, self-aware, and like someone they have to say yes to. That’s a big lift, but we’re here for you.
Best Colleges for Future CEOs
If you see being a Chief Executive Officer (that’s a CEO) in our future, you may be wondering how to get from your high school desk to a corner office. It’s a big leap, and while there isn’t a specific degree that will get you that job description, there are a few things you can do in college to set you on a trajectory towards success.
College Athletic Recruiting for Tufts
Tufts Univeristy is a private research institution located a hop, skip, and a jump away from Boston. They used to be a small liberal arts school, but decided to start offering PhD’s in the 70s, and now have approximately 7k undergrads and 7k grad students. They’re huge into STEM, with top-notch undergrad and grad programs in chemistry, biology, and biomedical engineering. They also do a lot of crossover programs with the New England Conservatory of Music, MIT, and Harvard. Tufts is part of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC), and competes in D3 sports with Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Wesleyan, and Williams. Unlike many of their NESCAC cohorts, Tufts isn’t an overwhelmingly athletic school, but it is one of the top athletic programs in D3 sports. Also, their mascot is an elephant named Jumbo. We found this disturbing information about Jumbo’s lore:
USC Legacy Strategy
“Will being a SCion help them get in?” It’s a question we get a lot from USC alumni parents. For those not in the know, ‘SCion’ is the term that USC uses for legacies and the children of donors. The short answer is that yes, it will help but probably not as much as you think. Legacy admissions are more complicated than the easy-in that many alumni parents expect them to be. So, we wanted to break down all the complex ins and out of legacy admissions at USC.
Best Colleges for Environmental Justice
If you’re interested in the combination of environmental studies, sciences, policy, and anthropology, you may want to pursue a course of study in environmental justice. Environmental justice is a lens applied to environmentalism that incorporates principles of social justice into the bigger question of sustainability.
Dartmouth Legacy Strategy
Dartmouth was the first college to have a legacy admissions policy in 1922. It has been over 100 years and many legacy students still apply to Dartmouth every year. A lot has changed since 1922 but legacy admissions are still a difficult-to-understand “field.” We constantly talk to parents who are confused by legacy admissions and what it means for their students, so today we wanted to break down everything we know about Dartmouth legacy admissions and what parents need to do if their legacy is dreaming of Dartmouth.
Best Colleges for Media Studies
Best Colleges for Jewish Studies
Jewish studies isn’t just for those who want to go on to become clergy or even for those who are interested in prayer. But it’s a solid major for any who’s pre-law or just largely interested in studying Jewish history and practice from an academic perspective. And most (all but two) schools that made our list approach Jewish Studies from an academic lens, as opposed to one that involves prayer.
College Athletic Recruiting for Wesleyan
Wesleyan University, located in Middletown, Connecticut, is a private liberal arts university with a little bit of a STEM bent. It’s also an incredibly academic school–several studies from 2008 found that undergraduates from Wesleyan were 2nd in the country for pursuing PhDs among all liberal arts schools. It’s also a member of the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and competes in D3 sports with Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, Trinity, and Williams. Approximately 25% of students at Wesleyan play a varsity sport, making it one of the less sporty schools in NESCAC, despite the fact they were an original member of the NCAA.
Columbia Legacy Strategy
"Of course, my kid will go to Columbia, he's a legacy!" We hear this from parents probably every week. We work with a lot of Ivy League legacies. We hate to break it to you, but just being a legacy isn't the boost that many parents believe it is. Legacy admissions are cloaked in secrecy on purpose, so today we want to demystify legacy admissions at Columbia and what your legacy student needs to get in.
Best Colleges if you want to be a Lawyer
The requirements to apply to law school are less specific than for medical school programs, so “pre-law” is more of an idea than it is a strict program. At most undergraduate colleges, and all of the top ones, there is no such program as ‘pre-law,’ but there are some things that undergraduate students can do to make themselves more attractive to law schools when it comes time to apply.
Brown Legacy Strategy
Brown is kind of always having a moment. It's gotten even more popular than some of the other Ivies recently. In turn, this has driven down its already competitive acceptance rate. Right now, its acceptance rate sits at about 5%. It's harder than ever to get into Brown, but many alumni parents talk like their students will 100% get in because they are “legacies.” This always makes us a bit, to use an SAT word, ~trepidacious~. Legacy admissions are complex, secretive by design, and not the lock that many parents believe they are. So today we want to talk about what legacy admissions actually look like at Brown and what legacies can do as candidates to help stack their decks.
When to Hire a College Consultant
Best Colleges if You Want to Become a Teacher
Sports Recruiting for NESCAC Schools
The New England Small College Athletic Conference is made up of eleven top-tier liberal arts colleges and universities in the US, including Amherst, Bates, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Tufts, Trinity, Wesleyan, and Williams. Some of these schools are known as Hidden or Little Ivies, and some are more competitive than others to gain admission to. However, these schools also all have pretty robust athletics departments, even though they’re D3. If you’re interested in attending one of these small liberal arts schools and want to leverage your athletic ability to give your application that push: keep reading.
Best Colleges if you Want to be a Banker
If you’re considering a career in finance, you don’t need a degree in finance, economics, or banking — but having one will help you skip a few rungs of the ladder after graduation. Majoring in a finance topic will give you priority for internships and you’ll be an early pick in interviews. This is for two reasons. First, you’ll have the book smarts for the job. Perhaps even more importantly, being on a finance track will put you on the path of the types of people you need to build relationships with to succeed in finance professional. Being a banker is all about relationships, and it’s never too early to start building the right ones.
Best Colleges if you Want to be a Doctor
Duke Legacy Strategy
We work with a lot of legacies every year and every year we have to explain to parents that legacy isn't the make or break at top schools like Duke. What do we mean by this? Well, a lot of parents we work with think that just because their student is a legacy, it means they will get in. However, that isn't true. Colleges don't talk very openly about legacy admissions and that leaves parents in the dark, so we wanted to break down what is really going on with legacy admissions at Duke and what you can do to get your legacy in.
The Ultimate Guide for Sports Recruiting for the Ivy League
The Ivy League! It’s made up of Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, UPenn, and Yale, but we think you probably already know that if you’re here. You might think it just is a collective term for those eight schools in the Northeast known for their academic rigor, selectivity, prestige, and exclusivity. And sure, that might be the present-day connotation, but it’s actually the name of their athletic conference.
Best Colleges for Biomedical Engineering
Biomedical engineering is at the nexus of medicine and engineering. Professionals in the field are involved in pursuing advances in technology and medicine that improve — and save — human lives as doctors, inventors, engineers, and more. They are responsible for leaps forward in human society, and are literally changing the world.