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Class of 2025

22 September 2020

Colleges Where Interviews are Required or Strongly Recommended (Class of 2025)

Posted in Your College List, Class of 2025

interviewWith 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.

13 September 2020

Notable Admission Rate Changes for the Class of 2024

Posted in Class of 2025, Class of 2024

surprised-student

Given how sophisticated colleges have become in recruiting applicants, it's dangerous to rely on old admissions data.  

We've taken a look at our coverage universe and identified schools with notable admission rate differences between the Class of 2024 and the Class of 2023. In addition to providing the admission rates, we've included some commentary to explain why as well as a link back to the source article.

This year's notable changes are largely about rising admission rates, thanks to COVID-19 uncertainty and expanding enrollment at several University of California campuses. Declines in admission rates were observed at Boston College and the University of Virginia thanks to new Early Decision options that accounted for 37 and roughly 19 percent of the incoming class.

Depending on how you categorize schools, the admission rate change may be enough to turn a likely into a target or target into a reach.  Regardless, take a moment to review the list—the last thing anyone needs at this point is a surprise!

College Kickstart subscribers: Class of 2024 admission rates have already been incorporated into the latest release of College Kickstart.

Click Continue Reading for the list.

13 September 2020

U.S. News & World Report Posts 2021 College Rankings

Posted in Class of 2025, College Rankings

usnwr bestcollegesU.S. News & World Report released their 2021 college rankings earlier today.  Over 1,400 schools were covered nationwide and evaluated on multiple measures of academic excellence and outcomes to produce the final rankings.

This year's methodology includes consideration of new student debt metrics, social mobility and inclusion of test-blind institutions. The weighting of outcomes has also increased.

Princeton retains sole possession of the top spot for National Universities, and Williams College tops the list of Liberal Arts Colleges.  

Click on Continue Reading to see the rankings changes. 

17 August 2020

Keeping Track of 2020-21 Application Requirements with College Kickstart

Posted in Class of 2025, College Kickstart

Key Application Requirements (2019-20)

Tired of Googling constantly for the latest application requirements? Look no further — let College Kickstart help you stay on top of your game. 

17 August 2020

Common App Schools That Don't Require Extra Essays (2020-21)

Posted in Your College List, Class of 2025

commonapplogoIn search of schools with no extra Common App essays?  Look no further, check out our list of popular schools here, updated for the 2020-21 application season.  

The list includes schools that simply require the base essay (e.g. personal statement). Keep in mind that many of these schools may have "optional" prompts which you might want to complete anyway to strengthen your application.  

If you're a student or parent with a College Kickstart Plus or Premium subscription, this information is already available to you as part of our application requirements tracking feature.

Click on Continue Reading for the list.

13 August 2020

Early Admission Plan Changes for the Class of 2025

Posted in Early Admission, Class of 2025

Update #1 (8/13)

college kickstart logoMost schools have completed their updates for the Class of 2025 admission cycle (2020-21), and several of the changes we've observed are worth noting. 

Roughly 25 schools have modified early admission options available to applicants this fall.  Notable changes include the temporary suspension of Restrictive Early Action at Princeton, the introduction of an Early Action 2 option specifically for non-resident applicants at Georgia Tech, a new Early Action option at Macalester and new Early Decision 2 options at Baylor, Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, University of Rochester and Villanova.

If you're considering early admission, be sure to check out our list as it may impact how you decide to apply this fall.   Note to our subscribers: the data has already been incorporated into the product, simply re-run College Kickstart to see how it impacts your plan.

Click on Continue Reading below for the details.

13 August 2020

The Many Flavors of Test-Optional College Admissions

Posted in Your College List, Class of 2025, Perspectives

testbrokenpencilAs we entered 2020, roughly one-third of the schools in our coverage universe offered some form of test-optional admissions. That figure cleared 70 percent in June and is now hovering at 90 percent with the holdouts largely in the South, particularly the public universities in Flordia and Georgia.

To help you keep up with the changes, we're actively tracking test-optional policies for several popular institutions we cover. As always, the definition of "test-optional" varies by institution and often has strings attached so pay close attention to the details.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of test-optional schools and the type of test-optional policy they employ.  For your convenience, we've included admit rates, test score ranges and links to each school's standardized test policy to help you find suitable candidates for your college list.

College Kickstart subscribers, this is automatically updated and visible as part of the requirements view.

21 July 2020

Combined BS/MD Medical School Programs

Posted in Your College List, Class of 2025

Combined BS/MD ProgramsCombined BS/MD programs are available for talented high school seniors strongly committed to careers in medicine. Institutions offering combined BS/MD programs include Rice University, Northwestern University, Boston University and Case Western Reserve University.

To help you navigate your options, check out our list of combined BS/MD programs. We've included admission profiles where available, program lengths and features, as well as a link to each program's web page for the details.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of combined BS/MD medical school programs now.

19 July 2020

Top Undergraduate Entrepreneurship Programs

Posted in Your College List, Class of 2025

Top Entrepreneurship ProgramsAs the “entrepreneurship culture” grows globally among young students, universities are quick to begin offering entrepreneurship programs for their undergraduate students to develop business and learn the necessary skills. Current institutions with these programs include Babson College, New York University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Southern California.

Nevertheless, the plethora of programs can be difficult to navigate and confusing to decipher in terms of offerings and benefits.

We have curated a list of some of the top entrepreneurship programs at schools across the nation according to Entrepreneur Magazine and U.S. News. Noting both the most popular and the most enriching programs, the following list covers the admission profiles, program types, funding opportunities, competitions, advising, and courses related to these institutions.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of the best undergraduate entrepreneurship programs nationwide.

18 July 2020

Top Undergraduate Political Science Departments

Posted in Your College List, Class of 2025

Undergraduate Political Science ProgramsHoping to make a difference in the way our country is governed?

Then check out our latest list of colleges with strong undergraduate programs in Political Science. Using information compiled from several ranking sites, including U.S. News and Niche, we've summarized admission rates and profiles, program highlights and links to each institution's home page for more information.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of top undergraduate Political Science programs now.

16 July 2020

University of California Fall 2020 Admission Trends

Posted in Your College List, Class of 2025, Class of 2024, Perspectives

ucHot off the press!  We've had a chance to review the Fall 2020 admissions data released recently by the University of California and thought it would be helpful to summarize it and share our key findings.  

Overall freshman admission rates are up for residents, out of state and international students across the board thanks to a 10 percent year-over-year rise in total admits. If you're an out of state or international student, pay close attention...there continues to be a window of opportunity to take advantage of favorable odds at several UC campuses.

Click on Continue Reading for the details.

24 June 2020

Top Undergraduate Honors Programs (Class of 2025 Edition)

Posted in Your College List, Class of 2025

Honors ProgramsHonors programs are a terrific way for academically talented students to reap the benefits of a liberal arts education within the context of a large research institution.

To give you a better sense for how this can enrich your college experience, we’ve compiled a list of undergraduate honors programs from top public and private universities across the nation. We've included admission profiles where available, program benefits, whether an extra application is required and a link to each institution's offering for more details.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of top undergraduate honors programs now.

28 May 2020

Running College Kickstart Without Test Scores

Posted in Class of 2025, College Kickstart

notest modalWe continue to look for ways to help you better manage the uncertainty brought on by COVID-19. In the past two months we've added several new capabilities, including:

  • Active tracking of test-optional institutions
  • Links to virtual visit programming for each of the schools we cover
  • A recommendation engine to help you capitalize on test-optional admissions

Today we're introducing a fourth capability: the option to run College Kickstart without a standardized test score.

Available immediately to all College Kickstart subscribers, this feature gives you the flexibility to assess academic performance based solely on GPA and class rank whenever possible. 

Click Continue Reading below to learn more.

19 April 2020

Navigating Test-Optional Admissions with College Kickstart

Posted in Class of 2025, College Kickstart

TestOptionalDetails

In recent weeks we've seen several prominent institutions adopt test-optional admissions for the coming cycle to alleviate some of the anxiety brought on by COVID-19.

With many more institutions expected to follow suit, we've introduced two new capabilities in College Kickstart to help you stay on top of the changes and identify situations where applying test-optional may be worth considering.

Available immediately to all College Kickstart subscribers, it's a much easier way to navigate and capitalize on test-optional admissions in our current environment.

Click Continue Reading below to learn more.

20 March 2020

College Board Announces Plan to Offer At-Home AP Testing for 2019-20

Posted in Standardized Testing, Class of 2025

downloadThe College Board announced today that it is actively developing a new at-home Advanced Placement test option in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

  • For the 2019-20 exam season only, students will be able to take a 45 minute exam at home
  • Two different testing dates will be made available for each AP subject

Click here for the College Board website for details.

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