Johns Hopkins admitted 520 Early Decision I applicants to the Class of 2025.  

Early decision applications were up 11 percent for the year.

Click here for the news release.

The University of Virginia announced today that it admitted 968 early decision applicants to the Class of 2025.  

A total of 2,937 early decision applications were received, up 38 percent year over year, resulting in an overall early admission rate of 33 percent.  The resident admit rate was 39 percent versus 26 percent for non-residents. Early decision acceptances are expected to represent roughly 26 percent of the targeted class size of 3,750.  

Click here for the news article.

Emory University admitted 769 Early Decision I applicants to the Class of 2025. 614 were admitted solely to Emory College, 337 solely to Oxford College and 182 to both.

A total of 1,975 applications were received for admittance to Emory College, Oxford College at Emory or both.  

Click here for the news release.

Georgia Tech announced that it admitted 2,330 Early Action 1 applicants to the Class of 2025.  Early Action 1 is for Georgia residents only.  

Early Action 1 applications exceed 6,000, resulting in an admission rate of 38 percent.

Click here for the news release.

College Kickstart for High School Counselors features several new and exciting capabilities for 2021 to help you better navigate the uncertainty brought on by COVID and guide the planning process whether you're in-person or working remotely over a Zoom session.

We're putting the finishing touches on College Kickstart for Independent Consultants and thought we'd give you a sneak peek of what's in store for 2021, including a host of features to navigate the uncertainty brought on by COVID-19, new tags, majors in MixFixer™, printable dashboard views and a new list progress report.

With 2021 right around the corner, we thought it was time to give you a sneak peek of some of the cool new capabilities we've got in store for rising seniors and parents this January.   

The University of Georgia offered 8,086 early action applicants to the Class of 2025.

A total of 20,901 applications were received, up 27 percent from the previous year, resulting in an admit rate of 39 percent.  

Click here for the article.

Attention College Kickstart subscribers! We’ve enhanced our test-optional recommendation engine to help you better handle the growing list of schools going test-blind for the 2020-21 admission cycle.

Click Continue Reading below to learn more.

If you're in the hunt for merit scholarships, be sure to stay on top of explicit deadlines a school on your list might have.

In some cases, like Boston University and the University of Richmond, it's a hard deadline that you have to meet in order for you to be considered at all.  In others, like Indiana University and many other public institutions, it's a "priority" deadline that maximizes your chances of merit aid before the money runs out.  Either way, merit aid continues to be an excellent way for good students to defray the cost of an education.  

We've compiled a sampling of schools in our coverage universe with explicit deadlines, along with some stats to help you gauge the size and breadth of the institution's merit offerings.  We've also included links to each school's scholarship page for easy access to the details.

Most of these schools automatically consider you for merit scholarships without the need for an additional application.  

College Kickstart subscribers: full listings of 2020-21 explicit merit scholarship deadlines and schools with generous merit aid are already incorporated into the product.

Click on Continue Reading below for the list.

Here's our initial list of reported early decision and early action admission rates for the Class of 2024.

This list includes results from Barnard, Boston College, Boston University, Brown, Colby, Colgate, Colorado College, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Emory, Emory (Oxford), Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Harvard, Johns Hopkins, Lafayette, Middlebury, MIT, Providence College, Rice, Santa Clara, University of Georgia, University of Notre Dame, University of Pennsylvania, University of Virginia, Vanderbilt, Villanova, Washington University in St. Louis, Wesleyan, William & Mary and Yale.

Bookmark this page, as we'll be updating it frequently over the next several weeks.

Click Continue Reading for the list.

Looking for a way to enhance admission odds without obligating yourself to attend?  Here's a list of colleges with early action admission rates that are at least 50% higher than their regular decision admission rates.  

Unlike Early Decision, Early Action is non-binding, so it nearly always works to your advantage.  And as the list shows, this advantage can be meaningful if you're a competitive applicant...all for simply applying 45-60 days earlier than normal.  

With most early action deadlines occurring in early November, the time is now to take a closer look. 

Looking for a way to enhance admission odds? Here's a list of schools with early decision admission rates that are at least twice as high as their regular decision admission rates.  

Because Early Decision is a binding commitment, it only makes sense if you're a competitive applicant, affordability isn't an issue, and you're absolutely certain it's the school for you. But as the list shows, there can be a meaningful advantage in applying this way if you are.  For example, at NYU, roughly 67% of the Class of 2023 was admitted through Early Decision, and the admission rate was 28% vs. 14% for those who applied via Regular Decision.  Or at Bates College in Maine, roughly 70% of the incoming class was admitted through Early Decision and the admission rate was 42% vs. 9% for those who applied via Regular Decision.  These are differences too big to ignore.

Note: most early decision deadlines occur in early November, so the time is now to consider if it makes sense for you. Click here for more information about early admission, and here to find out how College Kickstart can help you take full advantage. 

Seniors—in search of a better way to navigate college admissions madness?

Take charge with College Kickstart!

Given a list of schools you have in mind and your academic credentials, we'll help you craft a personalized plan in no time flat. That includes:

• Ensuring your list is balanced and set up for success
• Capitalizing on odds-boosting early decision/early action opportunities
• Creating an action plan to minimize wasted effort
• Finding schools with great need and merit-based aid
• Tracking key application requirements

Better yet, we've enhanced our capabilities to help you better navigate the uncertainty brought on by COVID-19. That includes active tracking of test-optional schools, recommending situations where test-optional makes sense for you and where in-person or virtual interviews are still required or recommended. And if you haven't been able to take an SAT or ACT, you'll also be able to run College Kickstart with just your GPA or class rank.

With early admission deadlines looming, now's the time to let College Kickstart make a difference for you. It's easy to use, a great reality check and available for less than the cost of an application.

With the fall 2020-21 application cycle now in full swing, it's important to keep an eye on interview requirements for the schools on your list—especially if they're looking for evidence of demonstrated interest.  

To make this easier for you, we've compiled a list of popular schools where interviews are required or strongly recommended, along with the degree to which the institution considers demonstrated interest as part of the evaluation.  

In cases like Hillsdale College where interviews are highly recommended and demonstrated interest is very important, it's a good bet than an interview — in-person or virtual — is worth your time.  On the flip side, if interviews are optional and demonstrated interest isn't considered, booking an interview is less critical.  The devil is in the details, so to help you figure out your strategy we've also included a link to each listed school's interview policy.  Do keep in mind that interview requirements may often vary by major.

College Kickstart subscribers: this information is already available to you in the Summary and Requirements views.

Click on Continue Reading for the list.