Essays & Applications
How College Applicants Can Brag (Modestly)
Probably the most mysterious element of the college application - so mysterious, in fact, that most applicants don't know it exists - is the school report and the counselor letter.
Latest
Academics
New SAT: A Biased Exam In A Biased World
Today, the long-awaited redesign of the SAT exam takes a step forward with the debut of Khan Academy's online SAT preparation program. The redesign responds, in part, to some harrowing shortcomings of the current iteration of the exam. As reported at a session I attended at last fall&
Some Recommendations About Recommendation Letters
You scored 5’s on all but one of the six AP exams you took as a junior and sophomore. You won the history department award, and took second regionally in Public Forum debate. SAT scores? Through the roof. You worked like crazy to earn outstanding grades. You carried a
Essays & Applications
Common App Overhauls Essay Prompts
The Common App released this week a long-anticipated new set of prompts for the main essay (also known as the "personal statement"). They replace prompts that were instituted as part of the 2013 redesign of the Common App. The Common App claims that "the changes...reflect the
Essays & Applications
The Challenges of Transfer Application Essays
Transfer applications, often due March 1, pose challenges that students did not face the first time around. Some supplemental essays are so redundant it's as if the schools' admissions staffs have never read the personal statement prompt.
Culture
The Infantilization of College Admissions
College admissions offices frequently encourage prospective applicants to visit their campuses. Students need to know what they're getting into, and they should appreciate their prospective colleges beyond the college's names and rankings. Sometimes, a mention of a visit in a supplemental essay or a sign-in at
Culture
An Ovation for Jefferson County
You know the moment when you ready yourself to leap to your feet at the end of a symphony, only to hear that glimmer of a violin note that keeps you glued to your seat and safe from mortification? That was me a few weeks ago at the College Board
Ask, Memory: Interrogation and the College Essay
Where did you spend the last 20 minutes? Were you aware of what you were doing? Or did the time pass by generic and unremarked? If you know, can you explain yourself? Were you there by choice? Obligation? Coercion? Circumstance? I know where I was. I went running. I ran
Academics
Higher Ed is Getting STEAM-Y
I love the arts. Sure, they've never cured cancer or delivered my groceries. But they have never wreaked havoc with the climate or threatened to vaporize a city, either. I'm glad that the nation's arbiters of education have finally discovered. But I also love every other discipline.
Culture
International Students Face America's Crossfire
I want international students to think about the incredible academic experiences they're going to have. I want them to think about the friends they're going to make, the classes they're going to take, and the places they're going to see.
Essays & Applications
International Students: Top 10 Tips for U.S. College Applications
The reward comes long after you've done the work. Don't wait until the night before -- or the month before -- to create a game plan.
Essays & Applications
In Defense of the SAT Essay
The ability to understand a question and come up with a reasonable argument -- often under time constraints -- is not exactly an esoteric skill.