The Common App has been a staple for college applicants for years, allowing undergraduate hopefuls to apply to multiple schools through the power of one application (with the choice of one essay prompt). The problem, however, was that all applicants found themselves facing an application meant for high school seniors, when only a fraction of […]
They say orange is the new black and it seems like transfer is the new freshman. Duke University, a school with an incredibly low acceptance rate, is spreading its wings and accepting more transfers than ever before. But why?! “We want to increase the number of transfer students gradually because there’s an acknowledgement that transfer […]
Yes, he’s done it. Martin Altenburg, a 17-year-old from Fargo, North Dakota has gained acceptance into every Ivy League plus a couple more schools for good measure. You might be asking yourself, “But don’t Ivy Leagues have some of the lowest acceptance rates in the country?” Yes, they do! But Altenburg figured out the […]
We at CEA love pizza. It is one of our greatest passions and our favorite fuel for advising brainpower. It is no surprise, then, that we were brimming with joy when we saw that a High School Senior scored acceptance to Yale with an essay about Papa John’s. With an acceptance rate of just 6.3%, […]
The first time I successfully did a handstand in yoga class, it was unexpected and almost effortless. My legs kicked up, and then, as if being lifted by string, I was supporting my body with my arms. When we talk about strategies for tackling the college essay, I like to tell the story of […]
A popular format for supplement questions is short answers. Don’t confuse these with the why, activity, community, or oddball essays. These are an entirely different beast. These little critters provide a different kind of creative challenge for aspiring college-goers. Take this set of short answer questions from the 2014 Yale application: “What excites you intellectually, […]
The Community Essay is a standard supplemental essay type that mines for information about your social habits and favorite causes. Since you will become a member of whichever college community you choose to attend, it’s not surprising that admissions is curious to learn more about the communities you are already a part of and the […]
At one time, not so long ago, the Common App asked all applicants for a brief description of their most important extracurricular experiences. When that requirement became optional in 2013, many individual colleges took it upon themselves to issue a similar prompt as a replacement. The activity essay is an excellent opportunity to expand beyond […]
The famous Why Essay is one of the most common supplemental essay types, and it’s not difficult to ascertain why that is. When competitive colleges and universities are trying to carefully select applicants to admit to their institution, they want to find the ones who really want to be there. The “Why This College” Essay […]
We thought so.
