Category: College Admissions

There is something that every college applicant can do to improve their chances of getting into the first choice college.  According to college admission counselors, beyond improving SAT scores this activity is more important to the admission decision than guidance counselor recommendations, teacher recommendations, or even extracurricular activities.  It is called “demonstrated interest”.   So let’s discuss the concept of demonstrated interest and describe how one goes about showing it.

Basically, demonstrated interest is showing some form of formal interest in a college.  The main ways are through taking an official campus tour and interviewing on the campus.  However, at some colleges, any contact you make with a school goes in your file, and the more “touches” you make the more serious of an applicant they feel that you are.  “Touches” are activities like contacting [...]

Every year at this time we hear a news story about colleges dropping their admissions test requirement.  This year, we added Le Moyne College and the University of Puget Sound to that list.  According to Fairtest.org, this lis has now grown to about 800 four-year colleges.  The question naturally arises: “Are college admission tests, such as the SAT, still relevant?”

The answer is the same as it is for many questions about the college admissions process: it depends.  From 2000 to 2013, the National Association for College Admissions Counseling’s Annual State of College Admission Report shows an almost identical percentage of colleges rating standardized admission test scores of “Considerable Importance.”  In both years 58% of respondents gave that answer.  What does that mean?  It means that the overall portion of schools who think that standardized tests matter has remained the same.

What is interesting to note, however, is that the majority of colleges [...]

Should I take the current SAT or the new SAT?  Should I take the ACT?  Do I need to take the SAT II Subject Tests?  Which Subject Tests should I take?  The class of 2017 is faced with more questions than past high school sophomores.  While these choices may seem like challenges, they also create opportunities for students to position themselves with the best chance for success.  In this article we will examine these opportunities and help class of 2017 students develop effective test taking plans.

The last time the College Board revised the SAT, colleges accepted both the old test and the revised test for a few years.  Subsequently, It is widely believed that most colleges will accept either the old score or the new score for the class of 2017, though it is uncertain after that.  This means students may want to [...]