Essential posts that transform our readers' college application strategies.

What can I do to get organized while applying for college?

As you’re building your school list, you may start to realize that it’s difficult to stay organized.

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Use the Amherst College Common Data Set

The Amherst College Common Data Set is a helpful resource for your college application process.

Kylie Kistner, MA

What is Demonstrated Need and How Do Colleges Use It?

Tuition prices are increasing every year, so if you want to get the best deal on your college ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

How to Not Stress About School (While Still Being Successful)

How to Stop Stressing and Enjoy High School (While Still Being Successful) School is stressful.

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Use a Net Price Calculator

An important part of building your college list is knowing whether you can afford to attend the ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

Is Early Decision Binding?

Applying Early Decision can give you a competitive advantage. After all, we know from Common Data ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

7 Questions to Ask Your School Counselor

School counselors are some of the nicest people I’ve met, even when they’re busy juggling a ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

What if I Have Low Grades on My Mid-Year Report?

Picture this: you've devoted countless hours to studying, joined lots of extracurricular ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

What to Do After Being Accepted Early Decision

Congrats—you’ve been accepted Early Decision! 🥳

Alex McNeil, MA

How to Write a Scholarship Essay

Was the financial aid you were offered not enough? Scholarships can be a great way to supplement ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

Classes to Take in High School Based on Your College Major

Okay, so you don’t necessarily need to know what college major you’re interested when you’re only ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

What is an Honors College?

Torn between the social scene of a large university and the small, discussion-based classes of a ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

What is a CBO for College Admissions?

Navigating college admissions isn’t easy, especially if you don’t have much support at home or if ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

Art Portfolios in College Admissions

Artists have a lot of decisions to make when it comes to applying for college. Should you go to art ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

Talent Scholarship Tips

Are you a really good musician? Or a standout STEM student? Or maybe you’re the best actress west ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

What is Course Rigor?

Ah, the age-old question: should I take AP Bio and risk getting a B, or should I do general Bio and ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

Federal vs. Private Student Loans: What You Need to Know

We hear the term “student loans” all the time.

Kylie Kistner, MA

19 Questions to Ask A College Interviewer

The college interview can be one of the roughest parts of the application process. Why? For many ...

Alex McNeil, MA

What Is a Partial Scholarship?

When you're figuring out how to pay for college, “partial scholarships,” also known as “merit-based ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Request Your Transcripts

No matter where you’re applying to college, you’re probably going to need a transcript. You are ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

Veteran Student College Admission & Funding

Not all college students enter college right out of high school. In fact, many don’t!

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

Should I take out loans for college?

If you’ve turned on the news in the past three years, you’ve probably heard a lot of hubbub about ...

Alex McNeil, MA

4+1 Programs: What You Need to Know

Do you plan to get a Master’s degree after undergrad?

Alex McNeil, MA

How do homeschoolers get into college?

In 2019, homeschool students accounted for 2.8% of kindergarteners through twelfth graders across ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

3 Reasons Why You Should Take the PSAT

Ah—the beginning of your sophomore or junior year. Fresh pencils, clean sheets of paper, maybe even ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

Is a 3+2 program right for you?

Picture this: five years of hard work. Two degrees in hand. You can get there through what’s known ...

Alex McNeil, MA

Outside Scholarships: What They Are & How to Find Them

If you’re applying to college, you’ve probably heard about things like the FAFSA and merit-based ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Appeal Financial Aid

Did you know that financial aid awards can be negotiable?

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

Do colleges look at SAT scores?

We’ve written before about how admissions offices calculate an “academic” ranking and a “personal” ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

What is a mid-year report (and why do colleges want one)?

As we talk about in our junior year timeline, your junior year of high school is the most important ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

How to Become Valedictorian (and is it worth it?)

As a high school student, you probably feel a lot of pressure to rank at the top of your class.

Alex McNeil, MA

What is a college major (and why does it matter for admissions)?

When you go to college, you’re going to need to choose a major. For some schools, you have to ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

Grants vs Scholarships vs Loans

If you can’t pay for college out of pocket (hello, most of the world!), then you’re going to need ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

How to Transfer Colleges

Sometimes the first college or university you pick just doesn’t end up being the right fit.

Alex McNeil

What are the CSS Profile and FAFSA?

College is expensive. We know, that’s not news!

Kylie Kistner, MA

The Truth about Passion Projects (And 15 Ideas for Yours)

“Passion projects” are the big talk in college admissions today. But with so much talk comes a lot ...

Alex McNeil, MA

Full-Ride Scholarships to College

If you’re applying to college, chances are you’re also thinking about how to pay for it.

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

QuestBridge: Everything You Need to Know

There are lots of things to consider when you’re applying for college. The application system you ...

Alex McNeil, MA

How to Get into Purdue

Purdue University is a large, public research institution with its main campus located in West ...

Alex McNeil, MA

How to Use the Notre Dame Common Data Set

Interested in applying to Notre Dame? We’ve got you covered.

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Make the Perfect College List

One of the most important (and overwhelming) steps in the college application process is deciding ...

Alex McNeil, MA

The Best Extracurricular Activities for Ivy League Admissions

When it comes to Ivy League admissions, your extracurriculars can be the fulcrum on which your ...

Alex McNeil, MA

How to Write an Email to a College Admissions Office (with a sample!)

There comes a time in nearly every college applicant’s life when you must email an admissions ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

What to Do Summer Junior Year of High School: A Guide

You did it—your junior year is finally over! Now’s the time to rest, right?

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Get into Tufts

Located in Medford, Massachusetts, Tufts is a highly-selective private institution that prizes ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

“Please briefly elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities”: Tips and Tricks

You’ve probably seen this prompt again and again: “Please briefly elaborate on one of your ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

How to Pick a College

Congratulations—you got in! Now that the whirlwind of the college application process is done, ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

4 Questions to Ask Before Writing a College Essay About Volunteering

You know that colleges are on the search for students who will be good community members, so ...

Alex McNeil, MA

How long does it take to get accepted into college?

So you’ve applied to college. Congratulations! …Now what?

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

How to Write the UVA Supplemental Essays

You’ll be writing three short essays for your University of Virginia application, but don’t ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Write the Tufts Supplemental Essays

Tufts splits their supplemental essays into two groups. Most applicants will answer the first two ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

Why is Applying to College So Stressful?

Are you stressed about your college applications?

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Narrow Down Your College List

Is your college list starting to look more like a March Madness bracket than a college plan?

Kylie Kistner, MA

Quirky vs. Traditional Research Projects

Most people hear “research project” and think “30 pages in single-spaced 12-point Times New Roman ...

Polygence

How to Research Colleges: 4 Factors to Look For

If you’re planning on applying to college, then you know just how tricky it is to pick out schools ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

Passion Projects and Mental Resilience

An ongoing mental health crisis Even pre-Covid-19, studies showed that a majority of students were ...

Polygence

Extracurriculars: Why They're So Important for College Admissions

College admissions can seem like a murky black box, but one of the things at Polygence that we’re ...

Polygence

The Harvard Admissions Lawsuit and What It Means for You

Wouldn’t it be nice to know how admissions officers at top schools judge your application? To get ...

Polygence

How to Get into Columbia University

Just in case you haven’t heard: Columbia’s acceptance rate is 3.89%. That’s the lowest admit rate ...

Alex McNeil, MA

Building a Moat

There are surprisingly many good conceptual analogies between college admissions and business.

Alex McNeil, MA

How to Get into Rice University

Rice University, located right in Houston, Texas, receives nearly 30,000 applications each year. ...

Alex McNeil, MA

What Does Test Optional Actually Mean?

Over half of bachelor's degree-granting colleges are now permanently test-optional. These changes ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Get into Dartmouth

The smallest in the Ivy League, Dartmouth is home to just under 5,000 undergraduate students. It’s ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

Using Regional Job Markets to Build a School List

There's a narrative in some circles that the only/best way to get a “good job” is to attend one of ...

Alex McNeil, MA

Navigating College Admissions and Changing Reproductive Rights Laws

One of the critical steps when college planning with a high school junior is helping them finalize ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

How applying to college works, grade by grade

Preparing for college admissions can be tricky. We’re here to simplify it. A common question ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

Your Senior Year Timeline

This is part of our timeline series to help high school students and their families get the most ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

Your Junior Year Timeline

This is part of our timeline series to help high school students and their families get the most ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

Your Sophomore Year Timeline

This is part of our timeline series to help high school students and their families get the most ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

Your First-Year Timeline

This is part of our timeline series to help high school students and their families get the most ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

How to Get into Georgetown

Right in Washington, DC, Georgetown University has educated countless political figures (and also a ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Get into Notre Dame

A private research university known for its Catholic affiliation, rigorous education, and football ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Get into Boston University

With sub-10% acceptance rates becoming the norm, Boston University’s 18.7% acceptance rate may seem ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

How to Get into Brown University

Brown University, perhaps best known for its emphasis on student-driven education, is a member of ...

Alex McNeil, MA

How to Get into the University of Chicago

Here’s a riddle for you: what do Misha Collins, Bernie Sanders, and Carl Sagan have in common?

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

College Essay Requirements: Everything You Need to Know

College essays, also called personal statements, are essays that most colleges require students to ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Get into University of Michigan

So you want to go to the University of Michigan, eh? You betcha!

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Get Into Yale

Alex McNeil, MA

How to Get into UPenn

Known for its position in the Ivy League and Quaker Consortium, the University of Pennsylvania ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Get into Princeton

Located in Princeton, New Jersey, Princeton University is one of the oldest and most sought-after ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Use the Harvard Common Data Set

There’s no “hack” to getting into Harvard, but the Harvard Common Data Set is about as close as you ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

How to Get into Northwestern

Don’t let that pretty purple fool you. Getting into Northwestern is serious business.

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Get into Vanderbilt

Ah, Nashville. The music, the food, and Vanderbilt University.

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Get into NYU

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Get into Duke University

With an acceptance rate of 5.9%, you might be fooled into thinking that Duke is in the Ivy League. ...

Alex McNeil, MA

How to Get Into USC

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

How to Get into Stanford

Let’s be real. Stanford needs no introduction. As one of the most prestigious intuitions in the ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Get into Cornell

With the guiding principle of “any person, any study,” Cornell attracts the largest number of ...

Kylie Kistner, MA

How to Get into MIT

With a 4.1% acceptance rate that gets lower by the year, earning admission to the Massachusetts ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

How to Get Into Harvard

What, like it’s hard?

Alex McNeil, MA

Our Guide to Gap Years

Not every student graduates high school at 18, enrolls in college, and graduates in exactly four ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

A Complete Guide to Applying to College as an International Student

We hear from a ton of students around the world who dream of attending college in the United ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

Our Complete Guide to College Interviews

Every spring, admission offices around the country connect with applicants with an invitation to ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

Financial Aid for Colleges: Our Basic Guide

Here’s something you already knew: attending college is an expensive investment.

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

Touring Colleges: What You Need to Know

Ask anyone in admissions—or any family that has gone through this process—and you’re likely to hear ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

How to Show Demonstrated Interest

You may have heard that some colleges and universities track “demonstrated interest” in the ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

How to Craft Amazing Extracurriculars by Combining Interests

“How do I stand out in admissions? Everyone does a sport. Everyone is in school clubs. Everyone ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

Extracurricular Magnitude and Impact

We talk to a lot of students and parents who are anxious about the state of college admissions and ...

Ben Bousquet, M.Ed

An Overview of Basic Extracurricular Pathways

We field questions from students all the time about whether they need to have a research experience ...

Alex McNeil, MA

Leveling Up Your Extracurriculars (with examples!)

We’ve written a ton about extracurricular activities and how admission offices review them. One of ...

Alex McNeil, MA