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 […]
Admissions is in the Details
Or, Show, Don’t Tell! Allow me to begin this post with a vast understatement completely belying its content: writing college essays is hard. As I repeatedly find myself telling students, the college essay is a genre unto itself: peculiar, idiosyncratic, and for most students, entirely novel. It also demands that students produce something exceptional and […]
Hidden in Plain Sight: or how to use Social Media to bolster your college search and application process
Social media is no less ubiquitous in the college application process than everywhere else in our daily lives. Just as a potential employer may search for your name on Google, Facebook, Twitter, TikTok, and Instagram (to name a few), the practice is gaining increasing acceptance in the world of college admissions, as well. Though perhaps […]
Becas Deportivas en EEUU: todo lo que necesitas saber si quieres estudiar un grado mientras practicas tu deporte al más alto nivel
Las universidades estadounidenses son el entorno idóneo para poder compaginar tus estudios académicos con una brillante carrera deportiva. Con un acercamiento holístico, las instituciones de EEUU tienen claro que un estudiante no sólo ha de formarse académicamente, sino que debe tener tiempo para desarrollarse en otros campos y facetas más personales. La filosofía de la […]
5 Cosas que debes saber si quieres estudiar un grado en EEUU
Cuando uno piensa en estudiar en EEUU se le viene a la cabeza una de esas icónica imágenes universitarias, en la que todo es verde, los profesores son muy atentos, se juega mucho deporte y hay mucha diversión. Parece una película, pero la verdad es que la universidad americana tiene mucho que ofrecer; no sólo […]
Stress Management for Students in High School (and Beyond!)
by Adam Muri-Rosenthal, Ph.D. With the arrival of spring comes the honey-sweet smell of freshly budded cherry trees, the delight of extra daylight hours, and—for high school juniors—the stress of standardized tests, college application preparation, final exams, interviews… the list goes on! There simply is never a dull moment. And while preparing yourself for college […]
