Choosing a College

When it comes to compiling your list of colleges to apply to, fit is the most important decision factor. There are thousands of colleges in the United States, including many schools with programs tailored to students with special needs. To pinpoint the choices that best align with your student’s unique learning and developmental needs, research is crucial.

Mathematics is one of the most useful skills to gain in high school and college, as it helps open the door for many lucrative and fulfilling careers. As a math student and a professor, I've seen a lot of students go on to do great things with their math degrees. Math majors can get hired as actuaries, statisticians, financial planners, cryptographers, and accountants straight out of college.

There are so many factors to consider when choosing a college. Students are thinking about everything from, “does this school offer the major I want to pursue?” to “will there be pick-up games of ultimate Frisbee on the quad?

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By Chris, IvyWise College Admissions Counselor and Former Associate Dean of Admission at Wesleyan University So, you’re a high-level athlete who wants to compete collegiately. You’ve committed time, effort, and energy to being the best athlete you can be, competing for your high school team, your club team, working on speed and agility, lifting weights, and developing your skill set. You’ve made an investment in something you love and want to continue at a high level, and it’s time to leverage that in the college search.

By Tasha, IvyWise College Admissions Counselor and Former Admissions Officer at the University of Southern California Have you dreamt of an intimate and intellectually rigorous college experience, one where you engage in deep classroom discussions around a single table with your professor and classmates? Seminar style classrooms, like the one described above, is the bread and butter of liberal arts colleges. The liberal arts model is all about small class size, critical thinking, inspiring classroom discussion, interdisciplinary learning and intellectual curiosity.

I’ve always been fond of the small but mighty group of institutions called liberal arts colleges. Maybe it’s because I began my admissions career at a liberal arts college. It might also be because, as numerous highly selective universities share that their number of applications increase by tens of thousands (and in some cases, eclipse 100,000!

I’ve spent a lot of time over the past 15 years thinking about the answer to one (admittedly nerdy, very college counselor-y) question: if I could go to college all over again, which school would I choose? A decade and a half ago, I attended a medium-sized research institution in a major city in the southern U.S.

By Scott, IvyWise Master College Counselor The college application process is potentially the most stressful times of a student's high school career. However, chances are they're stressing about things either out of their control, or fixating on one of the many myths surrounding the college admissions process. As a counselor, part of my job is to help alleviate some of this stress and help my students channel their energy into parts of the process that they can control.

One of the most critical components of the college admissions process is a balanced college list, and it’s even more important when applying as a transfer student. The transfer admissions process can be even more selective than the regular undergraduate admissions process, so students need to prioritize a transfer college list with a healthy mix of target, reach, and likely schools. When building a balanced transfer college list, students need to keep a number of things in mind including why they want to transfer, what they’re looking for at their new school, and more.

Now that the admission committees have given you their decisions, the power is back in your hands. It is time for you to decide where to enroll. For some, this choice is easy.

By Kendra, IvyWise Law School Admissions Counselor There are nearly 200 American Bar Association-approved law schools in the United States. With so many options, it can be difficult to determine which law schools you should apply to. When you research potential law schools, look at their admitted student profile, such as the average GPA and LSAT score, to better understand what schools will be likelies, targets, and reaches on your list.

When it comes to researching colleges, there is certainly not a lack of information available — so much so that it can be overwhelming to figure out which data points are most useful. Numerous ranked lists are published annually, there are websites that provide students’ reviews of colleges, and then there’s my personal favorite, the thick, desktop Bound-For-College Guidebook. If anything, with so much information available, one might even experience analysis paralysis while sifting through all the data points and statistics.

One of the most important aspects of the college admissions process is identifying the schools that are good academic and social fits for you. To ensure that you are applying to a balanced list of reach, target, and likely schools where you will be happy and successful, extensively research each school before adding it to your list. In addition to helping you narrow down your choices now, down the road this research will also enable you to personalize your applications and communicate to an admissions committee why you want to attend that school.

It's Graduation Day. Seniors are walking down aisles with eager smiles. Amid the excitement, relief, and pride, however, some parents are worried about their pending financial future.

It was a successful college application season for IvyWise’s senior class of 2017, with early numbers showing 91% of IvyWise students gaining acceptance to one or more of their top three choice colleges. With the help of our team of expert counselors, our seniors were able to secure acceptances to some of the most selective colleges in the US. The schools to which IvyWise students gained admission included all eight Ivy League universities, Stanford University, MIT, the University of Chicago, Duke University, and UCLA, just to name a few.

Legacy Admissions: Does Legacy Status Improve Your Chances in College Admissions? There are many nuances to the college admissions process, and one of the aspects that can be hard for students to navigate is whether or not applying to their parents’ alma mater will impact their chances of admission. Legacy status in college admissions can be a confusing avenue to travel, but there can be some benefits – and drawbacks – to applying to college as a legacy.

Early decision and early action deadlines are quickly approaching, and as we enter the homestretch of the college application process, anxiety will continue to build. Stressed out students can lead to stressed out parents – and that can make for a tense household. It’s only natural for students to experience some stress and anxiety when applying to college.

MBA applications are on the rise, and while most business school applicants are well aware of how much time they will need to spend preparing their applications or studying for the GMAT/GRE, many don’t necessarily consider the amount of time they should be spending on program research. Pursuing an MBA is a huge investment of your time and money, so it’s really important to do your due diligence in choosing a program that will best fit your goals. There is more to consider than just the prestige, rankings or “name brand” of an institution.

If you surveyed the participants of an average college freshmen orientation, you probably wouldn’t be surprised to learn that the incoming class has a variety of experiences and backgrounds. However, it might be surprising to learn about the growing number of students who chose to take extended time between completing high school and enrolling in a university of their choice. Deferring enrollment—typically coined a gap year—is when a student decides to forgo a traditional timeline in pursuit of a different experience.

Determining what type of college is best for you is essential to your personal and professional self-development and requires thoughtful self-reflection. As the cost to attend college continues to climb, parents are wondering if a liberal arts education is still valuable. I can assure you; it is.

Before you can even begin to consider the "will my child get in to her top choice college?" question, it's impossible not to reflect on the cost of attending college. In fact, you have probably been thinking about this since she was in diapers and - hopefully--saving some money for that very occasion!

Students and parents usually have a good idea of how to proceed if they receive an acceptance or rejection from a top-choice college. But what should families do if an applicant is put on the waitlist? As high school seniors across the globe weigh their admissions decisions, it can be difficult to navigate the process when the decision isn’t as clear-cut.

By Tasha, IvyWise College Admissions Counselor and former Admissions Officer at University of Southern California Applying to college is no small feat, but deciding where to apply can be an even bigger undertaking. There are just under 4,000 degree-granting post-secondary institutions in the US – that’s a lot of different schools to choose from spread out throughout the entire country. Looking at a list of schools could quickly evoke decision paralysis, so it’s easy to understand why prospective college students might feel overwhelmed when it comes time to narrow down where they want to apply.

By Kelly, IvyWise College Admissions Counselor As a University of California alum and California native, I cannot imagine another institutional system that truly offers something for everyone. From STEM to humanities, research to innovative arts, extremely focused students to those still figuring out their next steps, highly selective campuses to those with a great foundation for exploring yourself, the UC system packs it all in one and offers limitless options to explore, develop, and shine!  On top of that, the diverse community encourages students to get out of their comfort zones, study alongside peers from all walks of life, and be part of something bigger.

By Kayon, IvyWise College Admissions Counselor As more and more people start to ask you about your college plans (while subtly suggesting you apply to their alma mater) you may start to feel a little anxious about tackling your school list. This is completely normal! And some guidance on how to determine what’s a good-fit for you (Aunt Sally’s alma mater or not) can help ease some of that pressure and set you up for success.

IvyWise counselors Rachel and Zach share their top tips on how to create a manageable and balanced college list on the Just Admit It! college admissions podcast, giving listeners expert insight from former admissions officers. Listen Now!