With class years totaling under 1,000 students annually, Middlebury is a small school that gets harder to get into as interest continues to rise. Every year, a few students go rabid over demonstrated interest. Why? Well, to be honest, there is no explanation capable of justifying catfishing your admissions counselor into friending you on Facebook — and the fact that you’re using Zucky Boy’s platform in the first place is all the proof we needed to know you’d gone feral. Nevertheless, we understand the urgency behind questions about demonstrated interest. It’s not totally clear what it is in the first place, and everyone wants to give themselves the best chance of getting accepted to their first-choice school.
Computer Science at Dartmouth: Deep Dive
Continuing our series on the reputation of individual departments within larger colleges, or “Is This a Good School for That?”, we’ll be looking into Computer Science at Dartmouth. Some simply know it as the feral cousin of the more reputable Ivies, but this New Hampshire liberal arts institution is notable for its computing legacy and prolific research.
9th Grade College Strategy for Political Science
There aren’t a lot of topics as popular with high school students as political science. We don’t know if it’s the idea that one day you could roam the halls of power or your fascination with why politics makes people act the way they do, but we hear from freshmen all the time who are passionate about poli sci and want to get a jump on the college process.
How to Get into Duke
Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina. Duke offers its 6,500 undergrads great research opportunities, challenging academics, and a fun social experience. Duke is a favorite for students looking for a work-hard/play-hard college experience. So whether you are looking for so-called “Southern Ivies,” North Carolina Research Triangle schools, or even just really great basketball opportunities, Duke is a great choice.
10th Grade College Strategy for Biology
If you dream of becoming a doctor or the next Darwin, Pasteur, or Mendel, you’re probably at least a little bit interested in biology. Maybe you just know that you’re interested in STEM and want to explore biology or some other STEMy topics a little bit more before you commit. You have come to the right place because we are going to discuss how to explore your potential major as a sophomore.
Neuroscience at the University of Michigan: Deep Dive
We’re taking a closer look at famous programs — departments that have a reputation separate from the one belong to their broader institution — to see if they actually measure up. Think of it this way. We’re investigating schools that, when your parents’ friends ask about your college search, get included in this kind of response: “Oh, you want to study THAT? Well then you must be applying HERE!”
Applying to New York University (NYU) as a Student Athlete
New York University, best known as NYU, is in the heart of the city, and is in many ways defined by one of the most famous cities in the world. The relationship between NYC and NYU is inextricable, and students seek out NYU because it matches a world-class education with a truly world-class setting. This has contributed to NYU being the most popular university in the country for international students. The over 20,000 undergraduate students at NYU can select from 270 areas of study, and even have the option to look beyond New York City for part, or all, of their undergraduate experience. NYU has three degree-granting campuses of equal caliber: NYC, Shanghai, and Abu Dhabi. But if you are looking to play a sport in college, especially at the varsity level, you’ll be looking at the New York City campus.
Applying to Williams College as an International Student
Williams College is an Ivy-caliber small liberal arts college in Williamstown, Massachusetts. If you daydream about what it looks like to go to a small liberal arts college in the northeast of the United States, you’re probably thinking of a place like Williams. The college offers outstanding academics in a close-knit environment surrounded by the mountains. So, if you’re looking for a city experience, this isn’t it. If you want an outstanding education and college experience nestled in the Berkshire mountains of New England, “learning with others who are dedicated to becoming deeper thinkers and more effective leaders,” it may be a perfect fit.
11th Grade College Strategy for Engineering
Engineering is super broad. From designing the next bridge to developing energy solutions that will power the future, engineering offers a vast array of disciplines for you to explore as you contemplate your major. It's a field that captivates students from around the world, drawing inquisitive minds eager to leave their mark on history. Engineering is also the most competitive of our three categories: stem, humanities, and business. Given its super competitive nature, securing admission to top-tier engineering schools like MIT and Columbia is tough. But that just means you have to put it more work on the back end, and the time to start is now.
Demonstrated Interest at Vanderbilt
So you want to anchor down, huh? Vanderbilt has gotten increasingly competitive in recent years, and it’s natural that eager prospective students are looking to have an edge on their competition in any way that they can. “Demonstrated Interest” has remained a hot-button issue in college admissions because applying can be an incredibly emotional process and it’s hard to understand how much demonstrated interest really matters.
Best Programs for Specific Majors at Top Tier Schools
Or, as we like to call it, “A Deep Dive into the History of Collegiate Notoriety.” If you’re reading the unofficial title of our new series, you might wonder if we’ve taken cues from Vanity Fair’s school of journalism or branched into scuba instruction. Although in many ways a seaside vocation navigating the ocean waters full of tropical fish might be less stressful than teaching teenagers to swim through the murky depths of college admissions, the truth is that we’ll always take the hard path over an easy one if it’s worthwhile (and let’s be honest… we’d probably be better sharkbait than deep sea divers, so here we are).
9th Grade College Strategy for Psychology
If you like a lot of different topics – English, science, math, history – you might enjoy psychology! It’s a super interdisciplinary field of study that allows students to blend lots of topics together to better understand ~people~ and ~brains~ which is pretty cool. If you’re here, we’re guessing two things: you’re maybe interested in psychology for college, and you’re probably a freshman.
The Best Majors at Bowdoin
Bowdoin is a small liberal arts college in Brunswick, Maine. Brunswick is a town of 20,000, a 30-minute drive from the closest commercial airport in Portland, Maine, and offers a small-town experience — but still accessible. So, you have urban, rural, and coastal. It’s a pretty awesome combo, but it’s not the place for those who want a big city experience. However, Bowdoin offers a lot that big cities, and big schools, don’t. It offers exploration in a supportive, tight-knit community. The place defines the experience, and the experience defines the place. They expect a lot from students, and only accept outstanding applicants, but they also offer support every step of the way. This includes supporting students in pushing them out of their comfort zones! One of the reasons that they can offer this amazing support is because the college is completely undergraduate and has under 2,000 students.
Summer Strategy Ideas for Vassar
Vassar College in the city of Poughkeepsie, New York is a small liberal arts college in the heart of the Hudson Valley with the resources of a small city and only two hours north of New York City by train. It’s a college that is the best of every world. You have a small liberal arts school with a tightknit community, the arts and culture resources of a city, and the ability to hop on a train nearly any hour of any day to get to a concert, event, or museum in NYC. There are 50 majors to choose from, including the option to “design your own” major. The school collects about 2400 students in “a diverse community of scholars, artists, writers, scientists, musicians, and thinkers.” There is an 8:1 student-to-faculty ratio on a stunningly beautiful 1,000-acre campus. The Open Curriculum encourages creativity, and attracts students from around the world.
Freshman Year of High School Advice
Applying to the University of California (UC) System as an International Student
The University of California undergraduate programs cover dozens of academic majors, hundreds of degree programs, and nine distinct universities scattered around California — a state in the United States that is larger than Vietnam, the U.K., and France (although not combined). Some of these campuses are predominantly popular among California-based students and fairly accessible for those outside of the state, while others are globally-recognized as top-tier universities and are very hard to get into.
10th Grade College Strategy for Math
Addition! Derivatives! Exponents! Math! It’s probably used to some extent in every single topic, job, and hobby in the world. The career applications with a degree in math are endless. Teaching, finance, economics, data analysis, accounting, truly almost every field can benefit from someone with a math degree. If you’re here, you are probably interested in studying math in college. Or maybe math is your best/favorite class. Either way, let’s talk about it.
The Best Majors at New York University (NYU)
NYU, or New York University, is one of the top private research universities in the world — and one of them most innovative, bringing together the sciences, the arts, and the humanities at the highest level. It is deeply respected for offering leading programs across nearly every field. Basically, NYU is a big deal. It is also the largest private research university in the country, with more than 65,000 students across 20 schools and colleges. Plus, it’s in the heart of one of the best cities in the world for young professionals who are hungry for success. In addition, there are campuses (not just programs) in Abu Dhabi and Shanghai, which augment the New York City offerings while also hosting many cutting-edge programs that are exclusive to those campuses. Add another 12 global academic centers across the globe, and you’ve got one of the best networked universities anywhere.
Applying to Sarah Lawrence as a Student Athlete
Sarah Lawrence is a small liberal arts college that is a thirty-minute train ride north of New York City. Home to less than 2,000 students, the college offers an intimate and immersive college experience known for conversation-based classes, a deep commitment to the performing and fine arts, and a tradition of academic exploration and discovery. Also, just in case you don’t know already, it’s co-ed.
11th Grade College Strategy for Political Science Majors
Do you love The West Wing? Or maybe you’re more of a Veep type. Either way, you’re drawn to politics and want to study it in college. Political science offers several high-profile career paths, from serving your country as a politician to being a lawyer. Whether your goal is law school or shaking up the political arena, you have to start by getting a poli sci degree. And if you’re here, you probably know (or should know) that poli sci is one of the most competitive majors at top-tier schools – it’s one of the most popular non-STEM major at most colleges!