With 2017 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.   

Hot off the press!  We've had a chance to review the Fall 2016 admissions data released yesterday by the University of California and thought it would be helpful to summarize it and our key findings.  

Long story short, overall freshman admission rates are up as the University of California makes good on its plan to enroll an additional 10,000 California undergraduates over the next three years.  And while the emphasis was on admitting more California residents for the Fall 2016 class, we suspect a "new normal" has appeared that creates more room for non-residents as well.  If you're an out of state or international student, pay close attention...there appears to be a window of opportunity to take advantage of favorable odds at several UC campuses.

Click on Continue Reading for the details.

A new release of College Kickstart is now available!

This release features:

• An SAT score converter to help you reconcile new and old SAT scores  
• Resident and non-resident admission rates for situations where the difference materially impacts how a school is categorized in College Kickstart
• An updated affordability panel with graduation rates
• Expanded school coverage

Click on Continue Reading for the scoop. 

Whether you're a senior deciding on school options, a junior gearing up for the process, or a counselor immersed in it all, March has truly been madness!  It's been crazy for us too, as we've been busy updating College Kickstart with fresh data, new financial aid ratings, a new help system and some polish based on your feedback.    

Click on Continue Reading for the scoop. 

An update to College Kickstart has just been posted! 

This release features the addition of several regional colleges and universities, updated admissions data and a change in terminology—"safety" schools are now "likely" schools.

Click on Continue Reading for the details. 

In celebration of the new year, we've introduced several important refinements and a "premium" edition of College Kickstart for students and parents.  These refinements should make College Kickstart even easier to use, help ensure that schools of interest are likely to meet affordability constraints, and help you locate safety schools with generous merit packages.  

Click on Continue Reading below for more.

We're pleased to announce an important new update for our Counselor Preview participants.  This update incorporates much of the great feedback you've provided in recent weeks as well as some new capabilities we think you'll find helpful:

• A streamlined user experience
• New modes of operation 
• New financial aid capabilities
• Expanded coverage universe

Click on Continue Reading for the details. 

An update to College Kickstart 2015 has just been posted! 

In addition to Class of 2019 admission rate updates to our database, this release features an enhanced Plan Highlights page to help Plus Edition subscribers get organized and track admission requirements for the schools on their list.  If you're a Plus Edition subscriber, you'll now be able to see application requirements at a glance for all of the schools on your list, including testing, recommendations, interviews and most importantly, essay counts! 

Click on Continue Reading for the details. 

We've designed College Kickstart for ease of use, but there's plenty more under the covers for those looking for it.  In this blog post, we'll take you through five "hidden" features that can improve both your productivity and understanding of how College Kickstart does its thing:

1. Bulk loading schools to your list
2. Improving your list grade with MixFixer
3. Finding additional school ideas with MixFixer
4. Using popups for greater clarity
5. Using the Plan Highlight page to get organized

An update to College Kickstart 2015 has just been posted! 

This release features a new Plan Highlights page to help you get organized and track admission requirements for each school on your list.  We've also added two new MixFixer™ filters to help you find safeties, targets and reaches with greater ease, and updated our database with the latest admission rates for University of California campuses.  

Click on continue reading for the details. 

Hot off the press!  We've had a chance to review the Fall 2015 admissions data released earlier today by the University of California and thought it would be helpful to summarize it and our key findings.  

Long story short, overall freshman admission rates are down and its getting tougher for California residents as the University of California focuses on increasing the mix of "full pay" out of state and international students to hedge against budget uncertainty.  If you're an out of state or international student, pay close attention...there appears to be a window of opportunity to take advantage of favorable odds at several UC campuses.

Click on Continue Reading for the details.

We're pleased to announce the latest release of College Kickstart 2015!  You'll notice faster performance, updated admissions data (including 2019 admission rates for several top schools), expanded school coverage, and for College Kickstart Plus users, over 200 department-specific admission rates across 34 public and private institutions.

Click on continue reading for the details. 

We're thrilled to announce our partnership with Alliance College-Ready Public Schools to bring better college planning to inner city youth.  As a result of the agreement, nearly 2,000 rising high school seniors and counselors across 15 Alliance high schools in the Los Angeles area will put College Kickstart to work for college planning.  

Click on Continue Reading for the details.

Here's an interesting article from the Washington Post about "undermatching"—when low-income students with the ability to succeed at elite universities never apply or attend one.  Past studies have shown that as many as four in 10 in this pool choose not to attend an elite institution because they didn't apply or decided not to enroll.

Undermatching is a serious social issue impacting long-term economic equality and social mobility, but it's also one that can be avoided with better information and planning.  

Read the article here

In this Los Angeles Times article, Carla Rivera writes about the rising number of college applicants taking advantage of early admission programs to remove stress and uncertainty from the admissions process.

The article also looks at early admission from the school perspective, and why/why not schools choose to participate.  

With admission rates falling and the number of early admission programs on the rise, we maintain that every college applicant needs to at least consider the possibility of applying early.  It may not always be appropriate, but when it is, it's a valuable way of maximizing odds and minimizing wasted motion for simply applying 60 days earlier than normal.   

Read the early admission article now