By now, many students who applied Early Decision or Early Action have received their results. If yours landed in the frustrating middle category: deferred , you’re probably feeling confused, disappointed, and unsure what (if anything) you should do next. First, take a breath. A deferral is not a rejection! It means the admissions committee found your application strong enough to keep in the pool, but not strong enough yet  to admit outright. That’s not nothing, especially in an increasingly...

You’ve probably heard someone say that certain colleges “track interest.” And you’ve probably wondered what that actually means…and whether you’re supposed to start acting like a college stalker to get in. Good news: demonstrated interest is way less dramatic than it sounds. Here’s the quick version of what matters, what doesn’t, and how to approach it with the colleges on your radar. So what actually is “demonstrated interest”? Some colleges want to know whether you’re actually excited...

Unfortunately, so much of the college admissions landscape is driven by prestige and name-brand schools: students who want to get into a “good” school, or the “best” school. Oftentimes, though, I find that students and parents don’t really even know how to define “good” schools outside of the national rankings which are shoved down their throats every year and are deeply problematic and not  a measure of quality of education. Here is a stark truth, though: attending a highly-ranked (and...