The New Ivy League

The New Ivy League

Forbes recently conducted a survey of hiring managers to see which colleges beyond Ivy League and Ivy-Plus (Stanford, Duke, MIT,  and U. Chicago) attract the most accomplished students* and “turn out hard-working, highly-regarded employees.” Top 10’s below!

“New Public Ivies” Top 10: 

  1. Binghamton
  2. Georgia Tech
  3. U. of Florida
  4. U. of Illinois – Urbana Champaign
  5. UMD College Park
  6. Michigan
  7. UNC Chapel Hill
  8. UT Austin
  9. UVA
  10. Wisconsin

“New Private Ivies” Top 10: 

  1. Boston College
  2. CMU
  3. Emory
  4. Georgetown
  5. JHU
  6. Northwestern
  7. Rice
  8. Notre Dame
  9. Southern California
  10. Vanderbilt

Read on here

*not sure ‘hiring managers’ can actually weigh in on this… being accomplished is just one tiny factor in how these schools make admissions decisions

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Best College ROI? Public Ivies

Best College ROI? Public Ivies

Bloomberg News analysis of 1,500+ nonprofit four-year colleges reveals that public universities often provide the next-best return on investment. We didn’t need Bloomberg to tell us how much value most of these schools offer, but nice to see they are getting some of the additional recognition they deserve.

Read more here!

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More on college rankings (and what Frank Bruni has to say)

More on college rankings (and what Frank Bruni has to say)

Bye bye, US News? We dream of the day you go away for good! 

There’s a college for everyone, and most admit more than half of the applicants. You don’t need a ranking to locate them or to develop a set of requirements for your best-fit college. That said, building your own college ranking is an excellent place to start if you feel overwhelmed. Like ChatGPT, please don’t rely on it entirely. You need to make your list your own, which means putting time and energy into independent research. Scouring websites, speaking with reps, students, and alumni, reading blogs, talking with career services or financial aid, there are just so many ways to learn about colleges—even YouTube and other social channels can be learning tools. 

And hear what Frank Bruni has to say. 

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Choices and Options: A Blueprint for College Admission for Everyone

Choices and Options: A Blueprint for College Admission for Everyone

Everyone should read the Georgia Tech admissions blog. 

Read rick Clark’s recent post here. For juniors, this section for seniors is important. Read it now, and read it again this summer when you finalize your college list. 

Be reminded that your chances of being admitted to a school with an admit rate below 20% do not go up 20% by applying to 20% more of those schools. Trade out “dream school” for IRL colleges. Apply to a group of schools (you figure out the number but generally more than 2 and less than 10) where you know you will be thrilled to get in and excited to go.*

*and we might add: where you can actually get in! Thanks always, Georgia Tech, for keeping it real! 

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Sophomores and Juniors: College Planning Starts Now!

Sophomores and Juniors: College Planning Starts Now!

College counseling is not a program that you simply sign up for and “work”—it’s a relationship and a process that takes place over an extended period of time.

The majority of our work with students—which includes academic planning, narrative and extracurricular development (your academic and EC “story” for college), a strategic college list, and completing essays, app data, and an extended resume—starts in 10th or early in 11th grade.

Juniors (and some soph’s) can:

  • Start to prep for standardized exams. Don’t wait until spring of your junior year or later to begin prep. We have a small list of tutors who we can highly recommend; don’t leave who you work with up to chance.
  • Meet with your school guidance counselor. They will write one of your letters of recommendation for college, and the letter will be much more personal if you know each other.
  • Build your story! Have you been heavily involved with any of your extracurricular activities (other than sports, which can’t major in!!!)? Look for impact and leadership opportunities. More importantly, does your resume point toward a major or intellectual interest? What is your story, and how is it told on your resume?
  • Plan your summer wisely. You’ll want to use this summer to build your resume and make sure it’s pointed toward your intended major.
  • Visit the websites of schools you are interested in. Explore the admission and academic pages, start to attend virtual offerings and track your contact with schools. It should be exciting to kick your college research into higher gear. Don’t forget to connect with your reps, too.

Fill out the contact form to schedule a consult and find out how we can support you in your college planning and application process.

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‘U.S. News’ Changes Policy on Testing

‘U.S. News’ Changes Policy on Testing

Most college rankings are totally useless garbage, but no matter what we think, they are widely used by students/parents in their college search. If you do let them guide you it is important to understand the recent changes. Read more here

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“Best of the Best” Colleges & Universities for LGBTQ Students

“Best of the Best” Colleges & Universities for LGBTQ Students

Campus Pride’s 2021 BEST OF THE BEST Colleges & Universities is online at https://campuspride.org/BestoftheBest

Campus Pride, the preeminent resource for LGBTQ leadership development, diversity inclusion and advocacy within higher education, recently announced the annual Best of the Best Colleges and Universities for LGBTQ students in the United States. 

“More than ever colleges today want to be viewed as LGBTQ-friendly and a welcoming place for all students. LGBTQ students and their safety impacts the recruitment efforts of the entire campus,” said Shane Windmeyer, Campus Pride Executive Director. “Upper-level administrators are now understanding how LGBTQ-friendliness is key to academic success of students and the future institutional success of the campus.”

The announcement features 30 four-year campuses from across the country that have shown themselves to be deeply committed to LGBTQ students, earning a perfect score of 5 out of 5 stars on the Campus Pride Index, the definitive national benchmarking tool tracking LGBTQ-friendly policies, programs, and practices.

This year, Campus Pride is putting a spotlight on two-year colleges and religious schools with two separate lists focused on community colleges that are leading the way on LGBTQ inclusivity, and religious schools living up to LGBTQ-inclusive values.  These campuses were selected by the Campus Pride Index team showcasing campuses with inclusive policy, program and practice and who scored 3.5 or higher stars in their respective categories.

“Seeing the representation of schools from every corner of the country, and highlighting the efforts of community colleges and even religious institutions really underlines the successes Campus Pride has had over our 20 years,” said Tom Elliott, Campus Pride Board Chair. “The work we’ve done with student leaders, and the resources Campus Pride continues to provide them, is making the higher education experience safer and more welcoming to LGBTQ students nationwide.” 

The Campus Pride Index, cataloging more than 430 LGBTQ-friendly colleges and universities, is available at https://www.campusprideindex.org/

Where Our Students Most Frequently Enroll (2015-2021)

Where Our Students Most Frequently Enroll (2015-2021)

What we like about this list is the range. It’s not all Ivy-bound or nowhere, which makes sense given our counseling philosophy and approach. Congrats to all of this year’s graduating seniors!!!

Boston College
Brown University
University of California, Berkeley
University of California, Los Angeles
University of Chicago
Cornell University
Dartmouth College
Elon University
Duke University
George Washington University
Georgetown University
Harvard College
Indiana University, Kelley School of Business
Lehigh University
University of Miami
University of Michigan
New York University
Northeastern University
Northwestern University
Ohio State University
University of Pennsylvania
Princeton University
Syracuse University
Tufts University
Tulane University
Vanderbilt University
University of Virginia
Villanova University
Wake Forest University
Wesleyan
University of Wisconsin, Madison

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Launching in October –> Peer Guides!

Launching in October –> Peer Guides!

Given campus visit restrictions, students are finding it more challenging than ever before to get a sense of what a college is really like. Prospective applicants want (and need!) information they can’t always get online, and that they would often get by sitting in on classes, going on overnight visits, or even meeting with current students on campus through sports teams, affinity groups, or clubs they hope to join if admitted.

Whether students get to campus or not, we know from experience that they can craft smaller, more targeted college lists that reflect a deep knowledge of schools beyond rankings when they talk to current students and young alumni. Talking to peers is also the single best way to learn more about the social aspects of college and what it is like (realistically!) to follow a certain major path.

With that, we are soft-launching a new program in October: Peer Guides!

We have a small pool of college students who are available to meet with high school students and help guide them on all things their school, major, and college life in general. Here’s how it works:

Reach out letting us know the specific school or major you want peer guidance on, and we will let you know if guides are available and share their bio(s). *Please note, as we are piloting this program, we might not have a guide available for your college or major of interest; if one becomes available later, we will let you know

-You choose a guide(s) and let us know how much time you want with them (one hour is typically sufficient). Time with the guide is purchased in one-hour blocks, and we ask that you use the time with your guide within three months

-We intro the student and guide, and they take it from there! This is not a formal mentorship program, and students and guides will schedule their time together directly. *Please note, this is a near-peer, student-to-student program. Guides do not meet with or communicate with parents

Email us if you are interested in learning more!

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The College List: Balancing Risk

The College List: Balancing Risk

University of Michigan psychologist Clyde Coombs developed an innovative theory of risk. If you are going to make risky investment, you protect yourself by playing it safe in other investments. Successful people do the same thing in their daily lives balancing out risks in their portfolio. When we embrace danger in one domain, we offset our overall level of risk by exercising caution in another domain.

This is a good way to think about building your college list.

Some students like to take a big risk with their top choice school. Not always a good idea, but here’s where making good use of different application plans might be beneficial in balancing that risk. If you know Cornell is an “aspirational” school for you—beyond a reach—I would advise to not apply there ED. However, if a student decided they wanted to go for it (and I could not change their mind!), I would strongly advise they balance that decision by applying EA to a range of schools with different levels of selectivity that they liked. For example, UNC, U-M, Penn State, Ohio State, Richmond, and Clemson. I would also advise applying to all of these EA schools if the ED school choice was a bit more reasonable, say, Wake Forest. It is just a good strategy to apply EA along with ED!

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