Killing Your Darlings

If you here require a practical rule of me, I will present you with this: ‘Whenever you feel an impulse to perpetrate a piece of exceptionally fine writing, obey it—whole-heartedly—and delete it before sending your manuscript to press. Murder your darlings.’ Arthur Quiller-Couch, British Literary Critic Increase the font size, make the page margins bigger, […]

A Reflection on World Domination

Napoleon was only 26 years old. The French Revolution had just occurred but France was still attempting to overcome a state of relative disarray. After having served its fledgling government by successfully leading the siege of Toulon and quashing a counterrevolution, he was, for the first time, given command of an army and charged with […]

Repasamos la Gramática de una Buena Entrevista de Admisiones

  Si has solicitado a una o varias universidades estadounidenses recientemente, es muy posible que en breve te contacten para ofrecerte una entrevista. Son una cosa común en el proceso de admisión de las universidades de USA, ya que al tratarse de evaluaciones globales basadas en distintos aspectos de la candidatura, estas entrevistas ayudan al […]

A Mentorship Mindset

Or, Reflections on Choosing a College Consultant “Which schools have you gotten your students into?” It’s a question that we’re frequently asked. Yet the question is misleading and belies what a college consultant actually does. We work hard—and often late at night, thanks to time differences—to help our students highlight to universities just how exceptional […]

Essay Lessons from the Multiverse

A Reflection on Everything, Everywhere, All at Once and the College Essay SPOILER ALERT: This post contains spoilers for Everything, Everywhere, All at Once (2022), so if you haven’t yet seen it, see it (it’s a masterpiece!) and then come back. In one of the alternate realities that Evelyn Quan (played by the always impressive […]

Focus on the Negative

Unlike the rest of your application—which is about telling colleges what you’ve done—the personal statement for the Common App is about telling them who you are. That’s a daunting task for anyone, but often what it really comes down to is helping admissions officers understand your personal qualities. For many—dare I say most?—students, who as […]

University Colleges: Liberal Arts Colleges in the Netherlands

By Celeste Moreno Palmero Ph.D. The first university college in the Netherlands was established in Utrecht in 1998. Since then, many important research universities have implemented these honors colleges. Their goal is to provide programs inspired by the philosophy of the US Liberal Arts education. This approach is rather innovative considering the educational systems that […]

US College Application: a brief guide to EA, ED, REA, RD, and Rolling Admissions

US college application deadlines vary but are usually between the Fall of a student’s senior year of high school and the Spring. Students may apply to multiple colleges and universities and should research each school’s specific requirements and application process. Most US universities have different types of deadlines for their applications, including early decision, early […]

Achievement Unlocked: How to Power-Up an Extracurricular Activity

Having read the title of this post, you probably believe that it will give you all of the information you need to ensure your extracurricular activities will impress even the most jaded Ivy-league application reader. You would be wrong. If you believe that a blog post can give you that, I’d like to sell you […]

What Do You Really Care About?

No college information session would be complete without a colorful Powerpoint peppered with grandiose value statements. Diversity! Sustainability! Intellectual excellence! If you’re bored yet, I get it: so am I. As a college consultant, I have a professional obligation to attend many such sessions, so allow me to share a rather poorly kept secret with […]