Category: College Applications
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All Change for the SAT… But Not Yet.
The SAT, together with its near relation, the ACT, has been a feature of college applications for many years. As a result of the COVID pandemic most US colleges have moved to a ‘Test Optional’ application format, meaning that applicants can choose whether to submit an SAT or ACT score without it affecting their chances… Read more
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What is a Portfolio? Who should submit one?
A Portfolio is a collection of your personal work. This could be in the form of fine art, digital art, creative writing pieces, or performing arts such as music compositions, monologues, dance choreography – the list isn’t exhaustive, but it usually tends to fall under these categories. Read more
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F1 Student Visa: The Basics
As an International student, you will be applying for a Non-Immigrant Visa. This means that you will not be allowed to ‘work’ in the US (excluding internships/co-ops which are practical/experiential opportunities – more on this in my future blog). While Student Visas can be received up to 120 days prior to the beginning of the… Read more
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What’s an ‘Extracurricular Spike’?
When I meet with students to review their extracurricular activities for the first time, many are curious about whether or not they should focus on a single activity until they apply to college. I think for anyone considering an application to US universities, this is an important aspect to consider given the ‘holistic’ nature of… Read more
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What are AP Tests and should I do them?
In a recent webinar Ivy Central did with students there were lots of questions about AP Tests, unfortunately, we didn’t have time to explain about them in detail so hopefully this article will fill the gaps. Read more
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Deferred! What do you do next?
When you apply to your top choice college in the early application round you will get one of three responses, accepted (yippee), rejected (boo) or deferred (what?). In this article I’m going to explore what it means if you are deferred and more importantly what to do about it. Read more
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Coping with Rejection
Over the next few weeks, colleges will be sending out letters, or more likely emails, telling students if they have been accepted into their college. We obviously hope that every student gets accepted into their first choice college, but the reality is that not everybody will. Here are some observations on how you can deal… Read more
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Letters of Recommendation: Who to Ask?
It is normal for colleges to ask you to send one or more letters of recommendation as part of your college application, applications for competitive summer programmes are another occasion when you may find yourself asking who should I ask?Normally what the college or summer programme is looking for is an academic reference, an insight… Read more
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5 Tips to Help You Write Your Personal Essay
With the submission deadline for applying in the early round of US college applications coming up, you will hopefully have already finished your personal essay. This is the one opportunity that you have to help the admissions teams get to ‘meet you’ and understand something about the individual behind the grades and scores.Writing a strong… Read more
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Planning for College: First and Last Steps
These first few months of the school year are busy, busy, busy! For those entering their freshman year/Grade 9 it can be a new start to their learning while for those entering their senior year, it can very much feel like the beginning of the end. Whether you are in Grade 9, 10, 11 or… Read more