College applications are all about showing off to the admissions committee, and what better way to do so than to lead with your most impressive academic awards. What are the best academic honors and awards to put on a college application?

In this guide, we give you 70+ academic honors examples to give you an idea of what types of achievements colleges like to see most on applications. In addition, we explain what counts as an academic honor or award, go over different impressive academic honors and awards examples you can get, and give you useful tips for effectively talking about awards on your application.

Have you started researching how to apply to college? You may know that most college-bound students take the SAT and ACT. But just how important are they, and when can you get away without taking them?

Let's look at when SAT and ACT scores are important for college admissions, and when they're not.

Being a transfer student has benefits, but it can be even harder to navigate than applying as a freshman straight out of high school. Transfer student requirements can be tricky to figure out, as many college application guides are written with freshmen in mind.

Despite the difficulty, being a transfer student is worth it. Whether you want to transfer because you're ready to move from community college to a four-year university or because your school isn't the right fit, this guide will help you learn what colleges look for in transfer students and how to make your application more appealing to colleges.

When you’re applying to college, each part of your application counts. You want to maximize every opportunity to make yourself stand out from the thousands of other applicants vying for a spot at the school of your dreams.

One of the many places you can distinguish yourself is in the Common App Honors section. In this article, we’ll talk about what the Honors Common App section is and how to maximize it to show your best work.

The admissions committee that decides whether or not you get into your dream school can often seem shrouded in mystery. Who, exactly, are these people? A group of soulless office workers who delight in stamping “Rejected” across applications? A team of well-trained robots who data-mine your application and input it into an algorithm?

While it may seem like the admissions committee process is secretive, that’s actually not the case. Admissions committees are made up of real, live humans whose sole job is to put together the best incoming class possible for their college or university.

Let’s learn a little more about college admissions committees.

As if college applications aren't stressful enough, an interview with the admissions department can ramp anxiety up to eleven. Though an interview is a great way to make a lasting impression, it also introduces some new things to worry about in addition to your application, such as what you're supposed to wear.

Like all parts of the college application process, you want to make a good impression, but also be yourself. Not everyone is a fashion maven, and there are additional barriers for students experiencing academic hardship.

If you have questions about what to wear to a college interview, you're in luck—we've got answers. From how to style yourself to how to afford business casual on a budget, this guide will help you look sharp and feel confident during your college interview.

A college tour is one of the best opportunities you have to learn about what a campus is really like. Reading promotional material, or even student blogs, isn't the same as seeing and experiencing it for yourself, but, like any other aspect of applying to college, you need to make sure you're prepared for a college visit—and that means wearing the right outfit!

Most of the time, dressing for a college tour is a casual affair. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider the best way to go about it—comfort and classiness are key.

This guide will walk you through the best way to dress for many different college visit scenarios. A bit of planning will help you have the best possible experience, as well as prepare you for interviews, auditions, and just exploring your dream campus. Read on to find out how!

In your sophomore year, you may start to feel anxiety about college, or you may believe that you don't have to think about college yet. While I'm not a proponent of intense worrying and don't think stress is healthy, you should start planning for college in 10th grade.

In this article, I'll walk you through the steps you should be taking in 10th grade to maximize your college options and reach your college goals. Also, I'll let you know which aspects of the college process you don't have to worry about yet.

A college fair may not feature popcorn and carnival rides—sorry, folks!—but they are a great source of information for prospective college students. Coming prepared with a detailed plan, including a list of questions to ask at a college fair, will make sure you get the most out of your experience. This is often your first chance to meet with a school's representatives, so use that time wisely!

The hottest news in college admissions these days is the release of documents from the lawsuit filed against Harvard University for unfair admissions practices against Asian-Americans. For the first time in recent memory, an elite institution's opaque admissions practices have been laid bare. More than 90,000 pages of internal Harvard admissions documents have been made available for use in the lawsuit, with excerpts made publicly available in court filings.

In this article, I'll summarize what this lawsuit is about and what we learned about how top-tier schools like Harvard choose which students to accept. (Spoiler: most of it confirms what I wrote about in my How to Get Into Harvard guide. If you haven't read that, I suggest you open it in a tab right now, and read it after you finish this article).

Most importantly, we'll cover what this means for how YOU should be preparing for college admissions.

Each year, Harvard receives nearly 40,000 applications from high school hopefuls. Only 5% of them get a Harvard acceptance letter.

For example, in 2015, Harvard College accepted 1,990 applicants from a record 37,307 applications for the Class of 2019. That’s a 5.3% admission rate.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of applicants get a rejection letter. “I am very sorry to inform you…”

When I was in high school, I was one of the lucky few to apply Early Action and receive an acceptance letter in the mail. This validated years of hard work and made me giddy like I'd never been before for what came after high school.

Here’s my complete, official Harvard acceptance letter.

Each year, Stanford University receives over 40,000 applications from high school hopefuls. Only 5% of them get a Stanford acceptance letter.

For example, in 2015, Stanford accepted 2,144 applicants from a record 42,487 applications for the Class of 2019. That’s a tiny 5.0% admission rate.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of applicants get a rejection letter. “I regret to inform you…”

When I was in high school, I was one of the lucky few to apply to Stanford and receive an acceptance letter in the mail. This validated years of hard work and made me proud that a school like Stanford wanted me as part of their community.

Here’s my complete, official Stanford acceptance letter.

Are you a student-athlete hoping to play for an Ivy League school? Then you’re probably curious about the recruiting process. How do Ivy League schools recruit student-athletes? And how can you increase your odds of getting into an Ivy League school as a student-athlete?

Read on to learn what the general college recruiting process looks like and how it differs from Ivy League recruiting. After, we'll go over the basic academic requisites you must have to get into the Ivy League, and show you what the typical Ivy League recruiting timeline looks like.

This is a question a lot of students think about during the college admissions process. If my parents could afford to donate $1 million, would I get in? Do donations affect your admissions chances? If so, by how much? In this article, I'll answer all of these questions.

Should you be worried about a low grade you got in middle school hurting your future college applications? Do middle school grades count for college? With college admissions getting more competitive and students preparing for college earlier and earlier, many people wonder if colleges look at the middle school grades of applicants.

Will that C you got in 6th grade math hold you back from getting into your dream school?

In this guide, we explain if colleges look at middle school grades, which grades colleges are most interested in, and everything you can do as a middle school student to prepare for the college application process.