Essays and Applications Archives

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Essays and Applications

Aug 6, 2026

Who Are Admissions Officers?

Who are admissions officers? Gatekeepers? Resources? Representatives? At the core of it, admissions officers are people—human beings who have preferences...

Blog Posts

Jul 1, 2026

7 Common Mistakes on the Common Application

If you’re applying to college, you will almost certainly be using the Common Application. Here is our list of the...

Blog Posts

Jun 17, 2026

How to Show Demonstrated Interest

For years, we have spoken about the five factors in a college search that are in your control: grades and...

Blog Posts

Jun 4, 2026

What Counts as a Likely School?

While it is common to hear a student rhapsodize about a reach school, it is unusual to hear the same...

Blog Posts

May 20, 2026

An Honest Conversation About Grades

Let’s be honest. There’s a lot that goes into college applications: grades, test scores, recommendations, activities, and essays. It can...

Blog Posts

Apr 29, 2026

College Essays That Make An Impact

Writing your personal statement (aka the Common App essay) is ultimately… well, personal. Your college essay should be a distinctive...

Blog Posts

Apr 10, 2026

Your Guide to Virtual College Tours

Where to start If visiting a given college in person isn’t an option for you, a virtual tour can give...

Blog Posts

Apr 8, 2026

What Does Applying “OOS” Mean?

What does “OOS” mean, and why does it matter? If you’re a high-school junior starting on your college applications right...

Blog Posts

Apr 1, 2026

The Best Time to Write College Essays

We’re going to be honest with you: there is no best time to write college essays. There are only the...

Blog Posts

Mar 6, 2026

Your Questions About Recommendation Letters, Answered

We often say that there are very few things under your control in the admissions process: your grades, your activities,...

Blog Posts

Jun 18, 2025

5 Questions With Taralyn Torrini

Get to know our essay coaches! We sat down to interview Taralyn Torrini, one of our College Admissions Specialists! What...

Essays and Applications

Jun 16, 2025

The College List: Aiming for Appropriate Target Schools

As students build their college lists, they may have a balance of likely, target, and reach schools. Likely schools are...

Essays and Applications

Mar 20, 2025

College Decisions – Please Read!

We urge you to read this post. It is long, but it is important. This is NOT a post to...

Essays and Applications

Mar 14, 2025

Department of Education Update

As many students and families may already know, the past several weeks have brought rapid changes in the field of...

Essays and Applications

Feb 10, 2025

How to Brainstorm Your Personal Statement

The most important work on college application essays comes before you write the very first word of your very first...

Essays and Applications

Jan 23, 2025

Ivy Experience’s Spring Webinar Schedule 2025

We are excited to announce our full schedule of webinars this spring! See below for topics, dates, and registration links....

Essays and Applications

Jan 20, 2025

5 Questions with Alyssa Coltrain

Get to know our essay coaches! We sat down to interview Alyssa Coltrain, our Director of College Admissions. What is...

Essays and Applications

Aug 15, 2024

Ivy Experience’s Fall 2024 Webinar Schedule

We are excited to announce our full schedule of webinars this fall! See below for topics, dates, and registration links....

Essays and Applications

Jul 16, 2024

Big Changes to the ACT Coming Spring 2025

ACT has dropped a bombshell announcement of three major changes to the test coming to the National test dates in...

Essays and Applications

May 7, 2024

5 Questions with Lech Harris

Get to know our essay coaches! We sat down to interview Lech Harris, one of our College Admissions Specialists! What...

Essays and Applications

May 7, 2024

5 Questions with Kevin Trudel

Get to know our essay coaches! We sat down to interview Kevin Trudel, one of our College Admissions Specialists! What...

Essays and Applications

Apr 30, 2024

5 Questions with Jordan Holmes

Get to know our essay coaches! We sat down to interview Jordan Holmes, our Assistant Director of College Admissions! What...

Essays and Applications

Mar 20, 2024

Writing the Identity Essay

In the summer of 2023, the United States Supreme Court determined that the admissions programs used by the University of...

Essays and Applications

Mar 3, 2024

Why Rankings Matter Less than You Think

Every year, the US News and World Report publishes its rankings of the top National and Liberal Arts universities in...

Essays and Applications

Feb 21, 2024

Financial Aid 101: The Basics Every Family Should Know

This year, the Department of Education has been working out issues with the new version of the Free Application for...

Essays and Applications

Jan 26, 2024

How to Contact Admissions

No matter where you are in the college process, you will eventually want to reach out to someone on a...

Essays and Applications

Jan 10, 2024

Ivy Experience’s Spring Webinar Schedule

We are excited to announce our full schedule of webinars this spring! See below for topics, dates, and registration links....

Essays and Applications

Aug 26, 2023

Building Rapport with an Admissions Officer

At the other end of your application is an admissions officer—another human being tasked with getting to know you in...

Essays and Applications

Aug 7, 2023

How Colleges Evaluate Activities

How you spend your time outside of class is very important to colleges. Spending time doing what you love is...

Essays and Applications

Jul 20, 2023

Statistics that May Surprise You

Applying to college can be full of surprises, including some statistics about the process. Below we share some of the...

Essays and Applications

Jul 11, 2023

Introduction to the University of California system

With ten campuses and a study body of nearly 300,000, the University of California (UC) system is an attractive option...

Essays and Applications

Jun 29, 2023

College Transition Tips

It is a great feeling once your essays and applications; you’ve heard back from colleges, and are finally able to...

Essays and Applications

Jun 14, 2023

All About Applying by Major

Many colleges and universities ask applicants to choose their course of study, or major, in their applications. Not all students...

Essays and Applications

Jun 6, 2023

What Is a Personal Statement?

Writing a personal statement can be a difficult task for students. Used to writing analytical essays for their classes, students...

Essays and Applications

May 26, 2023

Why Choose Ivy Experience?

Ivy Experience works with students at every phase of their high school journey and college preparation process. We work closely...

Essays and Applications

Apr 4, 2023

What to Do about a Waitlist

So, your application has been waitlisted. Now what? A waitlist decision is never what you were hoping for and can...

Essays and Applications

Mar 16, 2023

5 Questions with Teddy Allor

Get to know our essay coaches! We sat down to interview Teddy Allor, one of our College Admissions Specialists. What...

Essays and Applications

Mar 7, 2023

5 Questions with H. Ulrich

Get to know our essay coaches! We sat down to interview H. Ulrich, one of our College Admissions Specialists. What...

Essays and Applications

Mar 3, 2023

5 Questions with Eric Karlan

Get to know our essay coaches! We sat down to interview Eric Karlan, one of our co-founders. What changes to...

Essays and Applications

Jan 16, 2023

How to Prepare for a College Interview

The college admissions process can be overwhelming. Beyond applications, essays, and standardized tests, some schools also require college interviews. So...

Essays and Applications

Jan 9, 2023

My College Application Essays VS ChatGPT

Much has already been said about ChatGPT. The Atlantic declared “The College Essay Is Dead”—but they are referring to...

Essays and Applications

Jan 3, 2023

What To Do After Submitting Your College Applications

Congratulations! You are done submitting all of your college applications. But don’t be tempted to sit back and wait for...

Essays and Applications

Nov 29, 2022

All about Deferrals

Getting deferred from your Early Decision or Early Action school is never the decision you were hoping for. But it...

Essays and Applications

Oct 31, 2022

The Five Things in Your Control

There are seemingly innumerable factors that go into every decision, whether it is an acceptance, deferral, waitlist, or rejection. Many...

Essays and Applications

Jul 27, 2022

Six Advantages of Liberal Arts Colleges

Often our students aren’t excited about the idea of liberal arts colleges, believing them to be too small, expensive, or...

Essays and Applications

Jul 19, 2022

6 Types of College Application Deadlines

What’s the difference between early action and early decision? What about single-choice early action? How do I choose? The way...

Essays and Applications

Jan 14, 2022

College Essays about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion

In recent years, many colleges and universities have expanded their supplemental college essay prompts to include topics about diversity, equity,...

Essays and Applications

Aug 26, 2021

Test-Optional Policies: What Juniors Need to Know

With the spread of “test-optional” policies nationwide, the term itself has become broadly used and widely misinterpreted. In this post,...

Essays and Applications

Jun 7, 2021

Finding the Right Scholarships for You

When thinking about how to pay for college, many families immediately turn to student loans. But there are thousands of...

Essays and Applications

Jun 7, 2021

Paying for College: Maximizing Merit Aid

Your student has worked hard all through high school, and now it’s time to apply to college. Hopefully, their grades...

Essays and Applications

May 19, 2021

The College List: An Honest Conversation About Reach Schools

We see the headlines every year: Student gets into _____ of the eight Ivy League schools to which they applied....

Essays and Applications

May 14, 2021

All About Applying Undecided

I have no idea. That is not an uncommon answer when we ask students what they want to study in...

Essays and Applications

Apr 29, 2021

College Search, Applications, and Essays Outline: Grades 9-12

Ideally, students complete the bulk of their college applications during the summer after 11th grade. But when it comes to...

Essays and Applications

Dec 22, 2020

How to Research Colleges Beyond Virtual Tours

Look Within Our advice is to look within when beginning your college search. Remember that you are not just looking...

Essays and Applications

May 5, 2020

Test-Optional Policies: What Do They Mean?

Before COVID-19, there were already more than 1,000 colleges and universities that were test-optional. But with so many institutions changing...

Essays and Applications

Mar 26, 2020

Recommendations & Application FAQs

With continuing uncertainty about when (and if) schools will resume this spring, we recognize that juniors and families will have questions...

Essays and Applications

Mar 12, 2020

My College Visits Got Canceled – Now What?

In the wake of the COVID-19 outbreak, many colleges have made the decision to shut down their campuses for the remainder...

Essays and Applications

Mar 9, 2020

Popular Schools With Why College Essays

American University Why are you interested in American University? 150 words Bard College Why Bard? 250 words Barnard College What...

Essays and Applications

Jun 10, 2019

The Ivy Experience College Application Essay Prompt Database 2019-2020

While most students will have to write a personal statement for the Common App or Coalition, many universities change their...

Essays and Applications

Jun 6, 2019

Information for Athletic Recruits

Guest post by Matthew Gnall The Athletic Advantage Forced to transparency by the SFFA lawsuit, Harvard revealed in a report...

Essays and Applications

May 15, 2019

List of Our Students’ College Acceptances 2019

Allgeheny American Amherst Arizona State University Auburn Babson Bard Barnard Baylor Belmont Bloomsburg Boston College Boston University Bowdoin Brandeis Brown...

Essays and Applications

May 6, 2019

State of Admissions 2019

‘The Most Competitive Admissions Cycle Ever’ – Again If you have read any articles on admissions statistics this month, you...

Essays and Applications

May 31, 2018

What Does the UC System Value in an Applicant?

The University of California system recently published a list of 13 factors they weigh in evaluating every student’s application. While...

Essays and Applications

Apr 23, 2018

Pitt and Penn State Join the Common App!

Another year, another group of schools joining the Common Application. Notable for many of our students are the additions of...

Essays and Applications

Apr 12, 2018

State of Admissions 2018

This is our first (of what we intend to be annual) State of Admissions – an email that recaps our...

Essays and Applications

Jan 24, 2018

How to approach the Common App essays (2018-2019)

The Common App recently released the prompts for the 2018-2019 personal statement. After making some tweaks for the past few...

Essays and Applications

Aug 1, 2017

Ivy Experience Founders Discuss Common App Tips

Essays and Applications

Jul 24, 2017

What is the Coalition Application?

In this Q-&-A-style guest post by Philadelphia area college guru Cigus Vanni (edited by Ivy Experience), Cigus explains what rising...

Essays and Applications

Feb 2, 2017

Why work with Ivy Experience on essays?

With college essays and applications looming on the horizon, you may feel overwhelmed by what is ahead. What are colleges...

Essays and Applications

Sep 1, 2016

Top Ten Common App FAQ’s

The Common App is intended to save you time, energy, and stress in the college application process. It is meant...

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