Yep, you read that correctly: in May 2020, the University of California Board of Regents voted unanimously to stop requiring the ACT and SAT as part of admissions applications. In other words, if you're applying to a UC school, you won't submit your ACT or SAT scores.

Before you get super excited, there are some caveats you should know about. That's why we're breaking down the changes — and answering your FAQs! — below.

Applying early action to colleges can have a lot of benefits: you'll get your applications out of the way faster, you'll get your decisions faster, and you may have a slightly better chance of getting admitted. 

But can you apply early action to multiple schools? The answer gets a bit complicated! However, in this guide, we'll explain everything you need to know about early action and walk you through how to take advantage of early action and its benefits.

A totally normal (but totally frustrating!) part of getting ready for college is college application stress. Statistics show that 76% of students feel high levels of stress about the college application process…so if you’re feeling overwhelmed by college applications, you aren’t alone!

The good news is that there are steps you can take to prepare for the college application process, including having some stress management tactics at the ready. In this article, we’ll cover everything you need to know for effective college application stress management, including:

• Answering the question, “Why are college applications so stressful?”
• Explaining four reasons why college applications are so stressful
• Providing a college application schedule to help manage stress
• Listing five tips for managing stress during college application season

Let’s get started!

Do you have colleges you're interested in but don't have the time or money to visit the campuses in person? Look into virtual college tours! More and more colleges are now offering them (we have the whole list!), and they're a great way to get a feel for what a particular school is like without leaving home. But how do virtual college visits work? What questions should you ask? And how do you know if they're the right choice for you? Keep reading to find out.

Did you get a provisional offer of admission from your dream college? What does provisional admission mean, and what do you need to do next? And have you been accepted or not? Provisional admission can be confusing for students and parents to navigate, but we're here to explain the process as well as the steps you need to take to get that official admissions letter.

Did you know that there are a couple different paths to becoming a doctor in the United States? While the most traditional route involves earning a Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree , you can also become a practicing doctor by earning a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine (DO) degree. Like an MD, a DO degree qualifies you to become a practicing physician in the U.S. 

One big perk to earning a DO degree is that lots of schools offer BS/DO programs. A BS/DO program allows you to earn your bachelor’s degree AND have a guaranteed seat in med school once you graduate. Plus, you might even be able to graduate one to two years faster than traditional undergrad students…which means you could start practicing medicine more quickly! If you’re planning to become a doctor, there’s a lot you should know about DO/BS programs and how they can benefit you, so below we’ll tell you:

• What a BS/DO program is
• How a BS/DO program differs from a BS/MD program 
• What the differences are between traditional, accelerated, and combined BS/DO programs
• Which universities offer the best BS/DO programs 

Ready? Let's dig in!

The decision to attend college is a big one. Getting a college degree takes time: at least four years for most people. Getting a college degree also costs money: tens of thousands of dollars for most people. You might be asking yourself, "Is it worth it? Should I go to college?"

In this article, I'll explain the benefits of going to college and detail some of the potential drawbacks. Furthermore, I'll give you all the information you need to decide whether or not you should pursue a college degree.

Is your career goal to become a pharmacist? If so, you're probably wondering where the best place to get a pharmacy degree is. Figuring out which pharmacy schools are best can be difficult, but we've done the hard work and compiled a list of the 11 best pharmacy schools in the United States.

Each of these best schools for pharmacy has a description that explains what makes it an excellent program, and we also include a list of questions to ask yourself to help you decide which is the best pharmacy program for you.

Over the past several years, a rising number of US colleges have dropped SAT/ACT scores from their admissions requirements. Schools that no longer consider test scores for admissions at all are known as test-blind schools. If this sounds like new information to you, keep reading--there’s a lot to learn about test-blind admissions!

In this article, we’ll get you up to speed on test-blind admissions policies by covering the following: 

• A breakdown of test-blind admissions means, and how it’s different from other policies, such as test optional
• Three examples of test-blind schools
• A list of all of the test-blind colleges you need to know about
• Five pros and cons of applying to test-blind schools 

Keep reading to learn all about test-blind admissions (and how you should prepare for it!). 

If you want to get accepted into your dream school, you need to earn great test scores. But many colleges have recently made submitting SAT and ACT scores an optional piece of their application process. Yep, you read that right—at some schools, SAT and ACT scores are not required. 

So what does this mean for you? Should you still take the SAT or ACT if your top choice schools have gone test optional? We’ll explain how to handle the SAT/ACT when you’re applying to the best test optional schools in the US, including: 

• What test optional means (and why so many top schools have gone test optional)
• A list of all of the top 100 nationally ranked schools that are currently test optional
• Four key factors you need to consider before deciding how to handle the SAT/ACT for your college admissions

That’s a lot to cover…so let’s get to it!

Are one or more of the colleges you're interested in calling themselves test optional? What does test optional mean, and what does it mean for you? Read this guide to learn everything you need to know about test optional schools. We'll cover: the test optional college meaning and how it compares to other test policies, why more schools are becoming test optional, if test optional schools can really be fair when reviewing applications, and how to decide if you should submit your SAT or ACT scores to test optional colleges.

You've likely heard of the different divisions for college sports, but how are they organized, and why is there more than one division? And if you want to be a student athlete, which division is best for you?

In this article, I'll break down the differences between NCAA divisions to give you a better idea of what separates Division I, II, and III schools. For those of you who wish to participate in intercollegiate athletics, you can get an idea of which division would best suit your interests and abilities. For those of you who don't want to compete but care about sports, you can use this guide to determine if the division of a college's sports teams will be a determining factor for you when selecting a college.

Acceptance rates are an important factor to consider when deciding where to apply to college. A school's acceptance rate is often considered a measurement of its quality. While this is accurate in many cases, some schools have low acceptance rates for reasons unrelated to the academic excellence of admitted students.

In this article, we'll tell you what the lowest college acceptance rate is, explain why some colleges have such low acceptance rates, and list the colleges with the lowest acceptance rates.

If you want to successfully complete the college application process and make yourself as competitive for college admission as possible, you’ll be directly or indirectly working on your college applications well before the deadlines approach. In fact, if you have any intention of applying to selective colleges, this process can really begin as early as your freshman year.

Getting ready to apply to college can feel intimidating, but if you follow some tried-and-true advice, you’ll be ready to knock your college applications out of the park! In this article, we’ll describe all of the tasks you should complete to maximize your chances of getting into the best possible college, including how to do the following:

• Choose the best classes to take during high school
• Prioritize getting good grades
• Excelling in extracurriculars
• Acing standardized tests
• Getting superb recommendations

We’ll also explain when you should start researching colleges and complete these tasks so that you’re able to stay on top of the application process.

There’s a lot to cover, so let’s get started!

Does applying to college make you feel like you're trying to walk through a door but don't yet have the keys? To gain access, first you need to understand exactly what the colleges you're interested in require. This can be tricky with the SAT Subject Tests, as different colleges have different policies.

We've compiled a comprehensive list of all the colleges that require SAT Subject Tests, along with others that recommend or consider them as part of your application. As policies are continually changing, always double-check with the school about their standardized testing requirements. Let us know in the comments if we need to make any updates!