52 Weeks to College: Week 31

52 Weeks to College: Week 31

Now that you have your strategy, have done all your pre-work, and prepared your Writing Map, it’s time to choose topics for your writing. The best way to ensure that you produce compelling essays is to choose the right topics for those essays, and that’s what you’re going to do this week using our tips and tricks.

52 Weeks to College: Week 30

52 Weeks to College: Week 30

Now that the Common App is open for the coming application cycle, it’s time to work on your Writing Map! Yes, one more thing before you start writing.

“Work smarter, not harder,” is one of the strategies that we encourage students to use, but there is a risk that you might get so focused on minimizing your work that you sabotage yourself.

52 Weeks to College: Week 29

52 Weeks to College: Week 29

Colleges typically require academic recommendations, which are recommendations from your teachers in high school, and some don't let you submit any others. But other colleges also give you the opportunity to submit "other" (non-academic) recommendations from people who aren't your teachers.

Tips for Submitting Your Law School Recommendations

Tips for Submitting Your Law School Recommendations

The recommendations part of CAS is, in my experience, the logistical part of the whole application process that trips up the most people, so I’ll focus on the process of submitting recommendations in this post. The logistical stuff is really boring and a bit tedious by definition, but it’s very important, because if you don’t follow the logistical instructions precisely, your applications will get held up.

52 Weeks to College: Week 27

52 Weeks to College: Week 27

Don’t get started on the personal essay just yet! (There are good reasons for that, really.) This week is the perfect time to get started on the “easy” parts of the college application instead.

52 Weeks to College: Week 26

52 Weeks to College: Week 26

This week, you’re going to take your strategy one step further and tailor it to each of the colleges on your list based on what each particular college emphasizes as most important in their decision-making process. You’ll also discover more about financial aid policies at those colleges.

52 Weeks to College: Week 25

52 Weeks to College: Week 25

Most applicants assume that the best strategy for getting their college applications done is just to dive in and start writing essays. After all, the essays are the hardest, most time-consuming part, so if you get those knocked out, you'll be well ahead of the curve, right. Not exactly.

52 Weeks to College: Week 24

52 Weeks to College: Week 24

Applying to college is a complex and difficult project. You know that. Your parents know that. Your teachers and college counselors know that. Admissions officers know that. In other words, everyone involved in the process knows that. In fact, knowing that is exactly what might make you feel a bit overwhelmed.