After over two years of pandemic-related restrictions, we are finally entering a time when the world is largely open for in-person experiences again. For many of you, this is a welcome relief as you approach college application season. It expands your opportunities to jumpstart your process by engaging in meaningful experiences that weren’t possible last summer.

We know you’ve been working hard on your applications and are acutely aware that there are many, many individual components that go into completing that process. Essays, test scores, activity lists, recommendation letters, casual correspondence, and other elements all require your thoughtful attention.

But there is an often-overlooked piece of your admissions puzzle that helps the person reading your file see the clearest picture of you. That piece is the school profile. Every high school is required to update this document regularly and submit it with every transcript that goes out on your behalf.

By now you’ve asked your teachers and your guidance counselor for letters of recommendation. Hopefully they said yes without any hesitation!

As you send off your first early applications to those dream schools on your list, you may be thinking “Have I done enough? Is there anything else I should have said or included?”

This is a normal feeling for this point in the process. In most cases, all that is left to do is continue to thrive in the classroom and in your extracurricular pursuits while you wait for news. But for some students it may be worth soliciting an additional letter of recommendation, illuminating some of the ways you’ve excelled that haven’t been already covered in your application.

We hear this question often from students starting out the process. But having a firm sense of which activities impress admissions officers can help current seniors order their activity list and prioritize their time this semester as well. Wherever you are in your process, we’re sure you’ve thought about this.

There’s just one little catch: no activity is inherently better than another. YOU ascribe value to your activities by how you engage in them and how well you write about them. With that said, what makes an activity likely to be beneficial to your application? Make sure it falls into one of the four categories below.

Your college application is like a multilayered cake, each level representing another delicious aspect of who you are as a person. The flavors and textures must all work together to create a winning combination.

Similarly, the components of your application – essays, activities list, letters of recommendation, and even informal communications – must all work together to tell a cohesive and compelling story. If one or more of them is out of balance with the others, admissions officers will have a difficult time assessing who you really are as an applicant.

Let’s take a closer look at how these four elements work together to tell your story and why that matters to your admissions chances.

How do you spend your time?

This seems like a simple question until you have to try to explain it to someone else. When you start getting into the details, definitions and descriptions often become more vague or murky.

In describing why you’re a great fit for their college, admissions officers want to paint the fullest picture of you possible. Diving beneath the surface level of what you do and uncovering the substance beneath it will help your story appear more vibrant and compelling to the person who reads your activity list.

This is not a spoiler: applying early decision will increase your odds of admission compared to applying regular decision. Some universities admit upwards of 50% of their class through the ED round.

While the standards aren’t necessarily lower, the smaller applicant pool coupled with the added assurance that, if admitted, you will attend allows admissions officers to shape the class in specific ways. They are seeking to create a student body that represents the intellectual and personal diversity conducive to the best learning and living experience possible.

But early decision, especially round 1 (which typically has a deadline of either November 1 or November 15), is not right for everyone. In some cases, it can do more harm than good. Not being able to showcase your best self in your application would nullify whatever statistical advantage you’d gain from applying early.

So, when in the ED advantage not worth it? Read on to find out.

It’s common for students to struggle narrowing down the thousands of great colleges and universities in this country into a well-crafted and personally fulfilling application list. Especially for those who haven’t been able to visit many campuses – a normally relatively simple step in the process – the idea of choosing a favorite may feel daunting.

On the other side of this equation, however, are students who know (as sure as any 17 or 18-year old can know) exactly where they want to attend. They may have been dreaming of that college for years already or had a recent experience that propelled it to the top of the list. If this second category sounds more like you, this is the perfect time in the process to check in on those feelings.

Whoever was first to say, “the struggle is real” was probably trying to write an amazing college essay in between assignments for multiple AP classes and learning lines for the fall drama while training for varsity soccer.

Senior year can feel overwhelming for students who are facing enormous pressure about their future while trying to finish their present commitments strongly. There is a lot to do!

As many of you prepare to return to a normalized semester, there’s a lot of lost time you may be tempted to make up for. You’ll want to reestablish your friendships and extracurricular involvements, and we encourage you to dive in. But keep in mind that your classroom performance will play a major role in determining how you are read as an applicant.

Some seniors are under the mistaken notion that 12th grade grades don’t matter. This could not be further from the truth! Especially in light of the number of schools moving to test-optional policies, your grades take on an even added role in the admissions process. (And they were already at the top of the list!) Specifically, schools are interested in who you are as a student in a classroom environment. Hopefully online learning will only be a supplement to your experience moving forward. Whether or not you enjoyed virtual classes, now is your time to demonstrate what you’re capable of.

Let’s take a deeper dive.

Here’s the next installment from our vault of frequently asked admissions questions. Although every student’s process is unique, there are many common themes and concerns that arise. We hope these reference points help as you work on your applications. On to the advice!

Stanford. Berkeley. UCLA. You’ve probably heard a lot about these institutions of higher learning, and rightfully so. These, along with places like USC and Cal Tech are among the highest ranked and most prestigious universities in the country. If you’re planning on applying to college on the West Coast, chances are these schools are high on your list.

But there are many fantastic colleges and universities with perhaps a slightly lesser-known profile that may also be great fits for you. Don’t limit your exploration of West Coast schools to the most common. Below are some of our highest recommended hidden gems.

We’re opening the vault to some of the most frequently asked questions we hear every year. Although every student’s process is unique, there are many common themes and concerns that arise. Though we explore many of these issues in depth in other posts, hopefully these quick references point you in the right direction.

Harvard. Yale. Princeton. Amherst. The list of prestigious colleges and universities in the Northeast is long and familiar. And, given the historical importance of New York, New England, and Pennsylvania to the founding of the country, it makes sense that there would be a concentration of the most elite and well-established schools in this region.

But beyond the Ivy League universities or small, liberal arts colleges – like Williams, Wesleyan, and Barnard – you undoubtedly are aware of, there are some fantastic schools with programs that may suit you even better. If you know that you want the option of attending college in the Northeast, we hope you’ll also consider the schools on our list below. One of these hidden gems may be your next home!

There is no replacing the information you can gather or feelings that are evoked when you step foot on a campus and try on the experience with your own eyes. Whenever safe and possible, we highly recommend you visit your schools of interest in person. That said, there are a number of reasons why that might not be possible or preferable for you and your family. You still have an obligation to your own college process to gain as full a picture as you can about the schools on your list before you submit your application.