At highly-selective institutions, the amount of qualified applicants far exceeds the number of available spots. The question then becomes how admissions offices should resolve this quandary. Rank students...

Chances are you will never find out the definitive reason why School A accepted you, but not School B. That’s because colleges are notoriously secretive about their admissions process, partly to avoid...

This portion of the guide focuses on various components of your application. Click through to learn more about the honors and activities sections, the personal essay, supplemental essays, test scores,...

There’s a gray area in college admissions that you might not have thought about before — or maybe you’re painfully aware of it, hence you clicking on this article. The assumption that there are only...

The first thing to know about college interviews is that you shouldn’t worry about college interviews. If a school offers interviews, you should take one to reaffirm your interest, but these aren’t...

First — and most importantly — if you’re reading this right before an application deadline: welcome, fellow member of the procrastination nation. I respect your hustle. I imagine this will be...

I want to begin this section on the Common Application personal essay by telling you a story about myself, something to help you understand who I am. A stentorian clangor jolted throughout the right...

Let’s talk about letters of recommendation, AKA the things that brought out several of my biggest fears: asking for favors and people talking about me behind my back. I’m going to compartmentalize...

Let’s talk about standardized tests. In pop culture and general American discourse, they’re one of the most prominent symbols for the college admissions process. This is understandable: the SAT and...

Like with GPA, we usually put academic honors and extracurricular activities in the list of things that are largely set in stone* by the fall of your senior year. But you still need to actually tell colleges...