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The Common Application, accepted by over 1000 colleges, launched on August 1st. While the application is pretty straightforward, here are some things to look for as you register and complete it.
1. Keep Track of Your Registration Information. Record your password along with the email address you used at registration time so you can easily access it. You may think you will remember it, but we have learned from our students’ experiences that this is often not the case.
Before 1975, every college had a separate paper application that needed to be individually hand written or typed and sent via snail mail.The Common Application was introduced that year to provide a single application that could be completed once and sent to all schools.
Even as the seniors begin the agonizing wait for their college admissions letters, juniors are starting to think about the college process. Devoting a couple of hours to researching colleges will help you evaluate which colleges meet your criteria for the college search and will help you decide which colleges to visit.
Get a Good Guidebook: Although a lot of information is readily available online, a good college guidebook, such as the Fiske Guide (which clients can find in …
Many colleges ask a variation on the “Why do you want to attend our college?” question. Their goal is to determine how well you know yourself and their college, if you have interests and ideas about what you want to gain from your college experience, and to see if you are a good fit for the school. Keep these tips in mind as you write your “Why Us?” essay.
1. Be interesting. Students applying to a popular Washington D.C. college often send us a first draft to this type of question…
Fall is here, and that means that some colleges will be holding admissions interviews with prospective applicants. The admissions interview is a place for the admissions representative (or someone else connected to the school) to see another side of you. It is also a chance for you to get an insider’s view of the college or to explain an inconsistency in your academic record in a personal, heartfelt way. To help you make the most of this opportunity, here is some advice on…
Finalize your main essay and complete your common application so you may begin focusing on your supplementary essays.
Schedule interviews where available on campus or in your community.
If you are applying early by November 1 or to a rolling admissions college, complete the following by October 1st: if you are submitting scores, send your official test scores via College Board or ACT, request transcripts and confirm that your recommendations will be sent by deadline.
So you have written a first draft of your college essay, and deep down you know it needs work. However, you are feeling a bit stuck because you find it really embarrassing to write about yourself. Plus, everyone keeps telling you that your admissions essay must be personal, that it needs to SHOW not TELL, and that it needs to be interesting and grammatically correct. You know you need help, but where do you turn?
If you are not working with a college consultant or college essay editor…
There are many ways to write a college admissions essay, and students’ approaches range from the meticulous (pre-writing, outlining, and then writing) to the more free form. While we have offered advice on how to write the admissions essay, giving you advice on what to do is only part of the story. Here are some things that you should avoid when writing your college admissions essay (or any essay for that matter):
1. Writing Too Much – The Common Application main essay has a 650 word…
Students spend lots of time and energy on their main common application essay or personal statement and sometimes rush through their college-specific supplemental essays without much thought or care. College admissions officers report that supplemental essays play an increasingly important role in the college application process. A supplemental essay is an extra essay beyond the personal statement or the primary application essay. It typically asks a creative question,…
For many seniors, April marks the end of a long period of uncertainty. Emails and envelopes from colleges have arrived, and the result is usually definitive–accepted or not accepted. However, for students who are put on a college’s waitlist, the next steps are less clear. Due to an increase in the number of applications per student, driven by test-optional policies, and uncertainty about who will accept their offer of admission, some colleges will opt to have long waitlists.…
