Amherst College announced that admitted 172 Early Decision applicants to the Class of 2019.

A total of 482 ED applications were received this year, resulting in an ED admission rate of 36%. Of the remaining candidates, 187 were deferred to regular admission and 123 were rejected.   

Click here for the news release.

Vanderbilt University reported today that it admitted 22.5% of Early Decision I/II applicants to the Class of 2019. 

Click here for the news release.

Emory College admitted 478 Early Decision I applicants to the Class of 2019.

A total of 1,253 ED1 applications were received this year, up 9.6% from the previous year.  The overall ED1 admission rate was 38%.

Click here for the news release.

Emory College admitted 184 Early Decision I applicants to the Class of 2019.

A total of 453 ED1 applications were received this year, up nearly 50% from the previous year.  The overall ED1 admission rate was 41%.

Click here for the news release.

Several top colleges and universities—including the University of Chicago, Duke, Columbia, Bates, Washington University in St. Louis, UPenn, Vanderbilt and Yale—took the unusual step of extending deadlines to college applicants this past January.  This article from Janet Lorin of Bloomberg questions whether this was for the benefit of the applicants or out of self-interest to juice up their application submissions and fees.

At the heart of the matter is whether colleges have become too sales-driven in their quest for lower admit rates and higher prestige. One can't help but feel that we're in an arms race that's creating too much collateral damage in the form of frazzled college applicants and families. 

Click here for the article.

Common sense prevails!  The Obama Administration is relenting on their recent proposal to tax 529 savings plan withdrawals.  

Check out the latest New York Times article for the details.

The Obama Administration is proposing a significant change to 529 college savings plans—to make withdrawals taxable.  

Of course, this would apply only to new contributions, but regardless this feels like a terrible policy move for advocates of affordable education.

Check out this New York Times article for more insight and perspective.

Here's an article from Daniel Goldstein at Marketwatch entitled, "10 things the college admission office won't tell you."  It attempts to shed insight on topics such as grade inflation, essay authenticity, perceived exclusivity and need-aware admissions.

Click here to read the article

Several colleges are now attempting to cast a wider net with respect to financial aid.  The beneficiary: the middle class.  

This article from the Wall Street Journal outlines some of the initiatives being taken by public and private schools throughout the nation to earmark more grant aid to families earning between $65,000 and $150,000 per year.

Click here to read the article.

The title of this Bloomberg/BusinessWeek article leaves a lot to be desired, but it does correctly point out that affordability issues can often prevent applicants from applying to binding early decision programs because they won't be able to shop around for the best financial package.  

More importantly, the article does reinforce our strong belief that every rising senior needs to consider the possibility of applying early given how favorable the admission rates can be.  It may not always be appropriate—tools like College Kickstart can help you figure this out—but it should never be ignored. 

Click here for the article.

College Kickstart 2015 is here!

Two editions are available in this year's lineup:

• Standard Edition ($50/season), which includes support for lists of 6-12 schools from our database of 250+ top U.S. colleges and universities

• Plus Edition ($70/season), which includes support for lists of 6-20 schools and an enhanced database of 400+ entities.  

Both editions continue to offer the same great features to help you put together a sensible college plan, and are available for less than the cost of an application. 

Learn more

Rising seniors and parents—here's a great video from Forbes Magazine featuring Christophe Guttentag, Duke's Undergraduate Dean of Admissions.  It's entitled, "Who Gets Into Top Colleges and What Makes The Difference" and you'll find it chock full of interesting insights from the inside.

Click here to watch the video.

Colby College has admitted 188 Early Decision I applicants to the Class of 2019.  

A total of 373 ED1 applications were received this year, up 22% from the previous year.  The ED1 admission rate was 50%, down from last year's ED1 rate of 54%.   

Click here for the news release.

Early admission results continue to roll in.  Here's a summary of what's been reported as of 5:00pm PST December 20:

Middlebury College announced today that it admitted 280 early decision applicants to the Class of 2019.  

A total of 667 early action applications were received this year, down slightly (3%) from last year.  The early decision admission rate remained steady at 42%.

Middlebury expects admitted early decision applicants to comprise 40% of the targeted class size of 690.  

Click here for the news release.