female student in lecture hall taking notes for ap class

What’s Better: An A in a Regular Class or a B in an AP Class?

Colleges want to see students get good grades in tough classes. This seems like a pretty tall order, but it makes sense: Students who can get good grades in hard classes are more likely to be able to succeed in college courses. This tug of…
students volunteering

Volunteering: Giving Back During the Holiday Season

It’s wonderful to think about the holiday season. You probably think of food, time spent with family and loved ones, and, well, more food. But at its core, the holiday season is a time of giving, which makes this time of year a particularly…

Safety Schools: Why Every Student Needs Them

There’s really no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to deciding how many colleges to apply to, but there is one hard and fast rule that applies to every student: Everyone should apply to more than one safety school. What Is a safety…

3 College Admissions Nightmares and How to Avoid Them

Getting into college used to be a relatively simple process. Because higher education was mostly reserved for privileged members of society, colleges tended to accept any high school student in good standing whose parents could pay the cost…

How to Choose Which Colleges to Apply To

There are thousands of colleges in the U.S, and it is your task to find the one that’s right for you. Sound overwhelming? It can be. Your college choice will determine the next four years of your life, and have a lasting impact beyond that.…

SAT and ACT Scores: What College Admissions Officers Look For

This month, we’ve been talking about the top three factors that college admissions officers consider when making admissions decisions. So far, we’ve covered the first two: grades and course rigor. Today, we tackle the third most important…

Strength of Curriculum: What College Admissions Look For

When the National Association of College Admissions Counselors surveys college admissions officers across the country, they always ask about the most important factors in admissions decisions. In Part 1, we talked about the top factor, student…

Student Grades: What College Admissions Look For

College admissions: confusing, complicated, not fun… These are just a few ways to describe the college admissions process. To help you out, we’ve created a three part series that will give insight into what colleges actually look for…

Applying to College: When Should I Start?

When should you apply to college? It seems like such a simple question. I mean, obviously you’ll apply by the application deadline, right? But which deadline? Many colleges offer more than one application period: An early application…