Annapolis, MD and Santa Fe, NM The home page of the St. John’s College website reads: “The following teachers will return to St. John’s College next year: Plato, Newton, Galileo, Cervantes, Dante, Melville…” The list of recognizable names continues on and fades into the background. No, St. John’s doesn’t literally reincarnate history’s greatest minds, but […]
Read More >Honesty and Senioritis
Seniors have undoubtedly heard that an admissions decision from a college can be revoked if a severe case of senioritis results in an academic decline. But this month’s edition UC Notes Digest reminds students that it is their responsibility to report such an academic decline immediately. In fact, doing so might even help your case. […]
Read More >what 2do and not 2do
My wife interviews freshman applicants for one of those Ivy League schools everybody wants to go to. Last week, she got her list of applicants to contact and promptly sent each of them a personal email inviting them to schedule their interviews. So far, only one student has responded to her email. If you’re a […]
Read More >Unannounced Visitors
A lot of families tell us how hard it is for them to make time to travel and see colleges. And we bet a lot of our blog readers read the entries about our own college visits and think to themselves, "Well, of course these Collegewise guys visits schools all the time. It’s their job!” […]
Read More >5 New Year’s Resolutions for High School Kids
It’s that time of year when we make our New Year’s resolutions, and we’ve got a few recommendations for high school kids to help them enjoy the ride to college a little more. So, here are our Collegewise “Top Five New Year’s Resolutions” that might not be so obvious, but will definitely help you get […]
Read More >Holiday Party
We recently celebrated the completion of our senior season with our annual holiday party. Collegewise social gatherings aren’t usually of interest to the outside world, but I was struck by two things. 1. We really are a handsome company when the men clean ourselves up. 2. Lots of colleges (not just the brand name schools) […]
Read More >What Do Those Essay Prompts Really Mean?
College essay prompts often reflect the personality of the school and its students. That’s why, if a certain essay topic inspires you to write a 10-page thesis, well, you might have found your perfect match. Below are five actual essay questions from this year’s applications, along with some insight into how these questions reflect the […]
Read More >Texas Christian University
Fort Worth, TX Two words: Horned Frogs. There are some colleges where the mascot is just the poor sap in a smelly suit. But for others, the mascot is a central part of the school’s identity. Take the TCU (Texas Christian University) "Horned Frog," for example. From the stadium chants of "Go Horned Frogs!" to […]
Read More >Start Out on The Right Foot…
All the admissions officers we’ve met are good people who would much rather admit than deny kids. But during the pressures of admissions season, some applicants’ actions can drive the admissions folks crazy. Here are five tips to make sure you don’t inadvertently start out on the wrong foot. 1. Follow directions. You can avoid […]
Read More >Just Being Yourself Can Help You Get Into College
I’m not Arun Ponnusamy, the former Caltech and University of Chicago Assistant Director of Admissions and the usual contributor to this “Inside the Admissions Office” column. I’ve never even worked in an admissions office. But I think I can teach you a little something about college admissions by sharing some things Arun might not tell […]
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