General

ShareTweetFlipEmailPin0 SharesA common recommendation is that students should apply to six colleges with some going as high as ten. These recommendations usually suggest applying to a certain number of Reach, Match, and Safety schools. These are often defined in terms of where your academic record places you in terms of students the colleges accept. There … Read more

ShareTweetFlipEmailPin0 SharesA gap year is time taken off (usually a year) after graduating from high school and before starting college. Gap years are common in places such as England and are becoming more popular in the United States. Gap years originate in the desire to take a break from the academic stress of high school … Read more

ShareTweetFlipEmailPin0 SharesA weighted GPA is a grading system that provides extra grade points for harder classes. For example, in a 4.0 grading system, an A for an US History class is worth 4 points but an A in an honors version or Advanced Placement is worth 4.5 or 5 points. This means a student could … Read more

ShareTweetFlipEmailPin0 SharesThe Common Application is an application for undergraduate admissions that is accepted by almost 500 colleges. Member institutions are required to evaluation students using a holistic selection process. Colleges may use the Common Application exclusively or accept both the Common Application and its own institutional application. Members that accept both applications do not treat … Read more

ShareTweetFlipEmailPin0 SharesDepending on the university, residential colleges can mean simply themed housing or dorms set aside for specific majors to a division of the university that groups students academic activities and living needs in one location such as the colleges of Cambridge and Oxford. The Collegiate Way defines residential colleges as “an internal system of … Read more

ShareTweetFlipEmailPin0 SharesA first-year experience is a program designed to help freshman transition to college. These are increasingly common at larger institutions since they provide a built-in peer group for entering freshman. Colleges of any size may have a first year program that is built around some common experience. Students who participate in first year experience programs … Read more

ShareTweetFlipEmailPin0 SharesAccording to a survey completed by the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), grades are the most important factor in college admissions. Nearly 85% of survey respondents listed grades as being of “Considerable Importance.” Admission test scores placed a distant third behind “Strength of Curriculum” at 59.2%. The study noted that small colleges … Read more

ShareTweetFlipEmailPin0 SharesWhen applying to colleges, students are often encouraged to apply to reach, match, and safety schools. These categories describe the likelihood of students being admitted based on how closely their qualifications match those required by the colleges. A safety school is one where students qualifications would easily put them in the top quarter of … Read more