The Covid-19 pandemic ushered in a new era in elite college admissions: test-optional admissions policies. While test-optional admissions policies existed before the pandemic’s onset, before 2020, most of America’s top colleges required the submission of either SAT or ACT scores for admission. With test cancelations and administrative closures due to …
Students who are neither accepted nor denied in the Regular Decision round are offered the chance to be placed on a college’s waitlist. But it’s not as though students are automatically placed on a college’s waitlist. Instead, they must opt to join the waitlist. So when should students opt-in, when …
Originally Published on November 9, 2018: Which public and private universities boast the largest Jewish student bodies in America and Canada? For many Jewish high school students, in particular, in light of a rising tide of anti-Semitism here in America and globally in 2023, attending a university with a vibrant …
Originally Published on August 2, 2018: Have you heard of Harvard University‘s Z-List? About 60 students earn admission to Harvard through the Z-List each year. Unlike typical admits, these students do not gain admission in the Early Action or Regular Decision rounds or earn a spot off the Harvard waitlist. …
Originally Published on December 4, 2018: Why do highly selective colleges seek to admit a round of transfer students each year? Beyond the additional application dollars each school collects from the transfer round of admissions, America’s elite colleges recognize that transfer students round out their student bodies. In a sense, …
Originally Published on November 7, 2017: Do younger siblings enjoy an advantage when applying to highly selective colleges their older siblings have attended? Yes, with an important caveat: They must apply in the Early Decision/Early Action round rather than the Regular Decision round if they hope to benefit from their …
Many students wonder what kind of extracurricular activities will wow admissions officers. So often, they emulate what other students are doing and get involved in just about every activity under the sun because they think that will make all the difference in the highly selective college admissions process. But this …
Originally Published on August 15, 2018: Which universities in the United States offer the best education in film and television? The Hollywood Reporter is out with its 2022 annual ranking of film schools. While US News & World Report has cornered the market for overall college rankings, The Hollywood Reporter has been trying to claim …
What constitutes an impressive GPA for the University of Pennsylvania? As UPenn is one of the most selective universities in America, it’s likely no surprise that, for the Class of 2026, most admitted students boasted perfect grade point averages. So how can a student’s GPA wow UPenn admissions officers, and …
Originally Published on February 1, 2019: Do admissions officers at highly selective colleges fact-check every detail on each application? The answer is a resounding no. In fact, with some exceptions, such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, which has historically fact-checked random batches of applications, admissions officers at elite universities rarely …
