Affirmative action is one of the most hotly debated topics in college admissions today. With the 2023 from the Supreme Court that colleges and universities can no longer use their full affirmative action policies in admissions decisions, things are about to change in higher education.

If you’re applying to college and wondering what the new Supreme Court affirmative action decision is all about, we’ve got you covered. In this article, we’ll answer the question, “What is affirmative action in college admissions?” and go over real examples of affirmative action in education policies and how colleges have used them historically.  

We’ll also explain how the upcoming changes to affirmative action in public and private schools might affect incoming students, and how to put together stellar college applications no matter what.  

So let’s get started.

You might have heard that getting into college is more competitive than ever. Students are applying to college in ever greater numbers, and many apply to multiple colleges, making the pool of applications even deeper.

As a result, you are likely looking for anything that will help you edge out the competition. Your counselors or friends might have suggested applying early action or early decision to increase your chances of being accepted. But does applying early raise the odds of being accepted to the college of your choice?

While not all schools offer these options, about 450 colleges across the U.S. offer one or both early admission option, according to the College Board. Many popular and competitive colleges fall into this category, offering one or the other, or both. Read on for an explanation of how early decision and early action work, and whether or not they increase your chances for admission.

Getting into college is increasingly competitive, and more and more students like you are looking at ways they can increase their chances of being accepted. While it’s not uncommon for kids to wait until later in high school to start worrying about their GPA, we don’t recommend this! Your grades begin calculating with your very first assignment, quiz, and test, so it’s important to think about this early on.

But do colleges look at freshman grades? Do these grades matter as much as grades you earn as a sophomore, junior, and senior? Let’s take a look.

Applying to college soon? Curious about what colleges are looking for in applicants, especially when it comes to SAT or ACT scores? Not sure how you stack up against other applicants at your dream school? 

If you feel like you have more questions than answers about what colleges look for in admissions, you're note alone. The college admissions process can be very confusing, and it's easy to feel lost and frustrated. In this article, we'll tell you what colleges look for in admissions and how to make your application the best it can be. We'll cover: 

• What colleges look for in applicants 
• Why SAT and ACT test scores are important 
• How understanding college admissions criteria can help your own college admissions process

Let's dive in! 

If you want to get accepted to any college in the U.S., you need to know its admissions requirements. That includes whether you’ll have to submit SAT or ACT scores! Many colleges have adopted test optional admissions policies over the past several years…but what about top schools? Is Harvard test optional? Are Ivy League schools test optional?

We know all the changes can be confusing, but we’re here to help. In this article, we’ll walk you through Harvard’s current testing policies and the testing policies at top 25 universities. We’ll also explain whether test scores still matter at test optional schools and how to make decisions about standardized testing. 

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s dive in. 

Getting waitlisted at a college certainly isn't a bad thing—your application was good enough to not get rejected!—but it's definitely an uncomfortable place to be. After all, when you're on the college waitlist, you don't know whether you'll be admitted or not, and that alone is anxiety-inducing.

Luckily, there are many things you can do to increase your odds of getting off a waitlist. In this article, we explain how the college waitlist works, what steps to take if you've been waitlisted, and how to raise your college waitlist chances so you can attend your dream school.

ChatGPT has become a popular topic of conversation since its official launch in November 2022. The artificial intelligence (AI) chatbot can be used for all sorts of things, like having conversations, answering questions, and even crafting complete pieces of writing.

If you’re applying for college, you might be wondering about ChatGPT college admissions’ potential.  Should you use a ChatGPT college essay in your application?

By the time you finish reading this article, you’ll know much more about ChatGPT, including how students can use it responsibly and if it’s a good idea to use ChatGPT on college essays. We’ll answer all your questions, like:

• What is ChatGPT and why are schools talking about it?
• What are the good and bad aspects of ChatGPT?
• Should you use ChatGPT for college essays and applications?
• Can colleges detect ChatGPT?
• Are there other tools and strategies that students can use, instead?
  
  

We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s get started!

You may have heard of admissions consultants from your teachers, high school counselors, friends, or family. Or you may have done a web search on college admissions and noticed several results that included links to consultants, making you wonder…

What are college admissions consultants? These are professionals, usually from the education field, who work with you to help you achieve your college admissions goals. Whether you have Ivy League dreams, are interested in a major university, or want to stick close to home at a small college, college admissions consultants cater their assistance to your unique needs.

College is a costly investment. For the 2022-2023 academic year, the College Board reported that the average annual budget was $27,940 for an in-state public college and $57,570 for a private college. These are the averages, but just how much are the most expensive colleges in the US? Which ones have the most expensive college tuition?

Here, I'll give you a list of the 51 most expensive colleges in the US. I'll first explain why they're so pricey and then go over how you can attend one regardless of your financial situation.

Anyone who’s applied to college remembers the fear of getting that dreaded rejection letter. (For the record, I got two—and they both stung. A lot.) But what if you could calculate your chances of college acceptance before you applied? 

The good news is that you can! Our college acceptance calculator uses your GPA and SAT/ACT score to estimate your likelihood of getting accepted to a particular school. But aside from GPA and test scores, what other critical factors affect your chance of admission? Read on to learn what schools look for during the admission process as well as how you can raise your chance of acceptance by submitting a strong application.

One of the trickiest parts of the Common App is understanding how to make the most of the extracurricular activity section. You might have a ton of activities—or not very many—and be wondering how you should write about your activities to impress college admissions readers.

If you’ve felt stumped by what you’re supposed to do in this section and how to make the most of your very limited space, read on.

In this guide we'll talk about:  

• How many extracurricular activities you should list
• How to choose which activities to list
• How to write about your extracurriculars

But before we get into that, you may be wondering...

If you've applied or are currently applying to Ivy League schools, you've likely heard the phrase "Ivy Day." Ivy Day, or Ivy Admissions Day, is when all the Ivy League schools announce their admissions decisions for regular decision first-year applicants. This year, Ivy Day is March 26, 2025. 

Keep reading to learn more about what to expect on Ivy Day, how to predict future Ivy Day dates, and what to do with your admissions decision(s) once Ivy Day is over.

Yale is one of the most competitive schools on the planet to get into. If you're wondering how to make your application stand out from the crowd, you're in the right place.

In this article, we'll go over everything you need to know about how to get into Yale, including how hard it really is to get into Yale, what Yale is looking for in its students, what test scores and grades you need, and how to ace your Yale application essays.

The State University of New York system of colleges—commonly known as SUNY—encompasses some 64 different campuses throughout New York. These campuses include research universities, community colleges, and even specific programs housed at other universities like Cornell.

Though this means that students who want to attend SUNY schools have plenty of choices, it also means that the SUNY application can feel something like a maze of options. Which school do you need? Which application should you fill out? Are you applying to one school or many?

If you're thinking of attending one of these 64 schools and need assistance filling out the SUNY application, this guide is here to help. We'll be covering admissions requirements, which schools require supplemental essays, and some helpful information for filling out your application.

Transferring from one school to another is a wise or even necessary choice for many students, but it's not without obstacles. College transfer acceptance rates are actually lower than freshman acceptance rates, meaning competition is higher.

This might sound like it's cause for alarm, but, like applying as a freshman, it just means you need to be prepared.

If you need or want to transfer but aren't sure where to go, check out some of the colleges with the best transfer acceptance rates.