Cornell University is one of the most outstanding universities in the world, a member of the vaunted Ivy League, and has top programs in just about anything you could possibly want. The university is comprised of a collection of undergraduate colleges, and you should have the college you want to go to in mind as you plan your courses, your activities, and how you spend your summers. Altogether, across the various colleges, Cornell is home to over 16,000 undergraduate students from over 130 countries.
Applying to The University of Chicago as an International Student
The University of Chicago is one of the top schools in the United States, and is frequently mentioned in the same sentence as Ivy League schools like Harvard and Yale, and other top colleges, like Stanford. Located in Chicago, Illinois, it is an exceptional school ideal for analytical, curious, and internally-motivated students who want to gain an understanding of the world around them so that they can change it. 7,600 undergraduate students call the university, most often called UChicago, home, and experience a liberal arts educational experience with the backbone and resources of a research university.
Demonstrated Interest at Northwestern
In the last few years, the college landscape has changed quite a bit when it comes to demonstrated interest. Historically nebulous and opaque, demonstrated interest didn’t have a clear definition, nor did universities disclose how much it factored into their admissions decisions. Recently, more top-tier universities have come out to say they do not consider demonstrated interest when evaluating applications, but each school has a slightly different policy. Northwestern’s might seem a bit complicated at first glance, but we’re here to cut through the noise so you can focus on what matters most this college application season.
Applying to Columbia as a Student Athlete
Columbia College of Columbia University is an Ivy League research university in the heart of New York City. It’s a top school, in a top city, on top of a hill on the island of Manhattan — basically the top of everything. There are 6,700 undergraduate students between Columbia College and Columbia Engineering. The student body is comprised of many of the best students in the world, and many of the best athletes including 46 Olympians, 16 NCAA Championship Teams, 60 Individual NCAA Champions, and even professional athletes in non-collegiate sports.
Applying to Hamilton College as an International Student
Hamilton College is a small liberal arts college in Clinton, New York, a small town in the upstate Adirondack region. The college is home to about 2,000 students who share a deep commitment to the humanities and a passion for being around nature and experiencing all four seasons. If you want a winter — they’ve got a winter!
How to Get into USC
The University of Southern California, usually just called USC, is California's oldest private research university. Don’t let the name fool you. While it might sound like a UC, it is not a part of the University of California system. USC is one of the most popular schools for students looking for an Urban mid-sized campus experience. Located near downtown Los Angeles, USC is especially known for its film and media majors. However, the school offers over 350 degree paths. So, whatever you want to study, they probably have it.
Demonstrated Interest at Williams
The Best Majors at Kenyon College
Kenyon College is a small liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio with 200 years of history and under 2,000 students. 100% of students live on campus, nurturing a fully-immersive and inclusive residential community. The college has a deep commitment to multi-disciplinary learning and cross-disciplinary mastery, with students layering literature over science, and math over philosophy to gain a deeper understanding of the world. Overarching everything Kenyon offers is a passion for the written word, and Kenyon expects all of their students to graduate as strong writers regardless of their major.
Applying to Wesleyan as an International Student
Wesleyan University is a small liberal arts school in Middletown, CT twenty minutes from the city of Hartford and under two hours from both New York City and Boston. The school is home to just over 3,000 undergraduate students who are passionate about the unique educational perspective Wesleyan has to offer. With over 45 majors, more than 900 courses, and an 8:1 student-to-faculty ratio, the school is a favorite of liberal arts-minded students even before you account for the Open Curriculum.
Applying to Tulane as a Student Athlete
Tulane University in New Orleans is a vibe — and it’s a vibe we’re into. The school is a deeply academic and service-oriented community in a city built on the idea of having a good time. The party never stops in New Orleans, and that enthusiasm bleeds into everything at Tulane, including the athletics. Tulane is home to 16 teams in the American Athletic Conference — ten women’s teams and six men’s teams, as well as a few dozen club teams that are open to all.
How to Get into Penn
The University of Pennsylvania, often called UPenn or Penn, is an Ivy League research university in Philadelphia, PA. The university has been around longer than the US, making it one of the oldest schools in America. Penn is only one of two Ivies with an undergraduate business school, the Wharton School of Business, and the only Ivy League school offering an undergraduate Nursing school. Penn also offers undergraduate tracks in engineering and, of course, liberal arts. Penn has around 11,000 undergrads, making it one of the largest schools in the Ivy League as well.
Demonstrated Interest at MIT
While oldheads are out here complaining about TikTok this and ChatGPT that, the truth is that some things about adolescence never change. For example, applying to college has always caused high school seniors a significant amount of stress. And young, eager college hopefuls have always wondered if demonstrating interest — if finding a way to show how much they really care — would make it just a little bit easier to get into their dream school.
11th Grade College Strategy for Biology
From cancer research to developing new medical treatments, biology is an extremely broad subject to consider majoring in as a prospective college student. Because it’s such an open-ended topic, it attracts a lot of attention from high school students who are trying to decide what they want to study in college. From wanting to go to medical school to doing research on new diseases, the possibilities for a biology student are endless.
Applying to Colby College as an International Student
Colby College is a small undergraduate liberal arts school in the city of Waterville, Maine. The college offers a balance of rural and urban, small community and broad resources, and a highly-respected package. 64% of classes have fewer than 20 students, and the college is well-known for offering a level of access to professors for counsel, mentorship, and even just conversation, that larger schools simply can’t facilitate. Students have the opportunity to explore broadly, dive deeply into what they care about most, and have fun while doing it.
Summer Strategy Ideas for Northwestern
Northwestern is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois with 8,000 undergraduates and as many graduate students. The university is in the top 10 nationally, and is world-renowned for journalism and communications. Many students seek out Northwestern for just this reason, as they look to combine a journalism or communications course of study with secondary interests in STEM or the humanities. That isn’t the only journey you can go on at Northwestern, though — not by a long shot.
How to Develop Your Extracurriculars as a High School Freshman
When you start 9th grade, college still seems like it’s an eternity away. But, as soon as you walk into your first class of freshman year, your path to getting into college starts. Yikes!! Every grade counts towards your GPA, and you have no excuse not to get involved with clubs or access resources your school has to offer. Getting started on building your specific area of academic interest (we usually call it your “niche” or “brand”) is really important, and starting now is what you need to do to get into a top-tier college.
The Best Majors at MIT
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, is one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Grounded in Cambridge, MA, the university has global reach, with graduates leading the fields of engineering, science, mathematics, media, and more around the world. They seek out students who are more than brilliant — they also have to be intent on changing the world. They want applicants who are breaking out of the box, using the resources they have to push beyond what seems possible. Graduates and faculty have won 101 Nobel prizes, there are 61 National Medal of Science recipients in their ranks, and 17 A.M. Turing Award winners.
10th Grade College Strategy for History
History is a huge topic. You can study the history of almost any single thing you could possibly imagine - it could be people, places, or things. All of the nouns! If you’re interested in learning about the background of why things are the way they are, you’re probably interested in history. If you want to be a history major, or at least think you could possibly want to be a history major, you’re in the right place.
Applying to Duke as a Student Athlete
Duke University is one of the top large research universities in the country, and one of the top athletics programs — arguably — globally. The campus in Durham, North Carolina is home to 6,500 undergraduate students and even more graduate students, making for a lively and large campus community. The top majors at Duke are computer science, economics, and biology, and they field 27 varsity athletic teams. The athletics programs, especially basketball, at Duke are a major piece of the student community outside of the classroom, bringing students together around celebration, comradery, and excellence.
Applying to Bowdoin as an International Student
In the United States, there are the colleges everyone knows about because they’re so old or famous or big that you really can’t avoid knowing them — and then there are the colleges everyone knows about because they are both so beloved, and so hard to get into, that you feel like you never stop hearing about them. Bowdoin is one of the latter. In this post, we’ll break down how to break into Bowdoin if you’re an international student applying to college in the United States.