Learn about upcoming changes to the ACT college admissions exam.
All in College Admissions
2025 Early Decision (ED) and Early Action (EA) College Admissions Trends
Learn about the increasingly competitive landscape of college admissions trends in 2025. Some questions this addresses are: What early trends are we seeing in acceptances for the Class of 2025? Which trends from recent years remain, and what is changing this year? What do we predict for regular decision (spring) outcomes? How does the test optional movement and some colleges’ return to requiring test scores affect admissions moving forward? What will happen with SAT and ACT test requirements in the future?
What To Do With Your ED/EA Outcomes
It’s the best thing EVER when you are admitted to your Early Decision school. You are done with applications (except in some cases) and ready to attend your dream school next year. Similarly, Early Action results present you with admissions decisions before the regular decision pool of applicants so that you can begin to breathe a bit easier and start narrowing your focus. But if you are deferred or denied, you have some decisions to make.
College Acceptance Trends for Class of 2024
Who would have thought that the University of Tennessee would be deferring and denying so many high stats kids? Other schools, like Clemson and the University of South Carolina, are deferring high percentages of out-of-state students as their application numbers soar. This year I have seen multiple high stats students offered a place at Penn State only if they would begin in the summer– an option that used to be offered just to students with much lower stats. And schools like Northeastern and the University of Miami continue to offer students spots on their main campuses only after they do a semester abroad or on a different US campus.
Global Starts, Summer Starts and Bridge Programs
What Happened to Starting College on a Main Campus in the Fall?
The traditional on-campus freshman start in September seems to be going the way of the slide rule and cursive writing, at least for some students. More and more colleges are sending students to satellite campuses, summer start, spring start, and international programs, staggering start times across dates and locations to enroll as many students as possible while still having enough room in classes and in student housing.
Common App & Essay Support
To be ready to apply to all schools, a student should have requested letters of recommendation, developed a thoughtful college list, and written the personal essay. If your student is still working on the personal essay, here is our best guidance on writing it.
Getting Your Strongest Letters of Recommendation
Everything you need to know about when and how to garner the strongest letters of recommendation + a free template download to use when following up with recommenders.
What Should You Consider When Touring Colleges?
As the pandemic eases and college campuses finally start to open up to outsiders, you may be gearing up to visit colleges. This blog post covers common questions that help you research and prepare for your college visits. In addition to FAQs I include two free download to help you organize your research.
Our Teens' Mental Health
Every day I get calls from parents whose kids are struggling with anxiety, depression, substance abuse, and other challenges. The pandemic sent many teens over the cliff’s edge with the increased isolation it created. At the same time, we’ve upped the ante on performance, with kids today expected to excel in twice the number of AP courses and achieve in ever-increasingly brag worthy ways beyond the classroom.