College-admissions resources (general)
- Applying to college (College Board)
- Articles on college admissions (College Board) -- an excellent starting point for students and parents
- U.S. News & World Report college rankings and helpful articles
- NACAC (National Association for College Admission Counseling)
The 4/20/08 Education Life section of the New York Times includes excellent articles on tuition, financial aid, the importance of having a minor, and appealing test scores (e.g., if you think your SAT was scored incorrectly).
Must-read articles on college admissions
- "Part 1, Answers to Your Back-to-School Questions" (NYT 09/13/10): view the article here
- "Part 2, Answers to Your Back-to-School Questions" (NYT 09/14/10): view the article here
- "Part 3, Answers to Your Back-to-School Questions" (NYT 09/15/10): view the article here
- "Apply to 50 Schools? Why Not?" (NYT blog post updated on 09/14/10)
- "The Ivies and Their Copycats" (NYT blog post updated on 09/14/10)
- "The Rich-Poor Divide Widens" (NYT blog post updated on 09/12/10)
- "The Perils of Being Perfect" (NYT blog post updated on 09/14/10)
- "How to Get Into Harvard," Wall Street Journal (11/30/07)
- New York magazine article (case studies), November 2006... and the follow-up on where the students profiled were accepted as of January 2007
- Case studies from the NYT Magazine (9/30/07)
Keep in mind that it is even tougher to get into top colleges now than it was when the above articles were written.
Various articles on college admissions
- "In a Shifting Era of Admissions, Colleges Are Sweating" (NYT 3/7/09)
- This year's US News and World Report rankings put Harvard on top (Chicago Tribune 8/22/08)
- "State kids squeezed out at U of I" (Chicago Tribune 9/14/08): "It is disappointing. I can think of great kids here who got turned away, and every counselor in every high school can," said Jim Conroy, a counselor at New Trier.
- "Top Colleges Dig Deeper in Wait Lists for Students" (NYT 5/9/08)
- "Applications to Colleges Are Breaking Records": http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/17/education/17admissions.html?pagewanted=all
- "A Shift in Applications as Early Admission Is Cut": http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/education/28admissions.html?pagewanted=all
- "Blurring the Line Between a College Application and a Slick Sales Pitch": http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/28/education/28education.html?pagewanted=all
- Rise in early admissions at U of Chicago and other colleges: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/chi-applicants_04dec04,0,7299923.story
- Which high schools send the greatest percentage of their students to top colleges? http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-COLLEGE0711-sort.html
- Parents' perspectives on getting their children into top high schools and colleges: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119634680217507945.html?mod=World-News and http://blogs.wsj.com/juggle/2007/11/30/is-a-top-high-school-worth-the-sacrifice/
- What if you have mediocre grades and great scores? http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/help07.html?ref=edlife
- Freshmen and sophomores should do their best to earn good grades: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/11/18/BA5MTCG8L.DTL
- "The College Try May Not Get You Into College" (Wall Street Journal): http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119094176553742121.html
- Articles on the elimination of early admissions at Harvard, Princeton, and U Va:
- NACAC's 2006 report on the state of college admission (an excellent overview of college admissions, including the factors admissions officers deem most important when evaluating applicants' files): http://www.nacacnet.org/NR/rdonlyres/4B4C0DF4-BF0A-4B10-89F4-A3D631061305/0/06StateofCollegeAdmission.pdf
Common Application
- Common Application website: http://www.commonapp.org/
- "Big Pain on Campus: Applying to Multiple Schools" (Wall Street Journal): http://online.wsj.com/public/article/SB119448457512085957.html
Application essays
- "College Essays 101" (tips from college admissions officers) (Wall Street Journal, 11/30/07): http://online.wsj.com/article/SB119634594602607934.html?mod=World-News
- "Tufts Asks for 250 Words of Wisdom" (insights into college application essays): http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/04/education/edlife/tufts-blackboard.html?ref=edlife#
Interviews and thank-you notes
- Sending thank-you notes to admissions officers (NYT 10/9/07): http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/education/09thanks.html?em&ex=1192075200&en=45dbabbf237be34d&ei=5087%0A#
College admissions officers can (and often will) read your SAT essays:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20051102/news_1n2essay.html http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/02/nyregion/02essay.html#
http://professionals.collegeboard.com/testing/sat-reasoning/scores/online-essay-viewing