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Articles tagged with: Grinnell

07 August 2017

Common App Schools That Don't Require Extra Essays (2017-18)

Posted in Your College List, Class of 2022

commonapplogoIn search of schools with no extra Common App essays?  Look no further, check out our list of popular schools here, updated for the 2017-18 application season.  

The list includes schools that simply require the base essay as well as others offering "optional" essays 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.

15 June 2017

Class of 2021 Waitlist Notification Dates and Stats

Posted in Class of 2021, Waitlist

UPDATE #3 (6/15)

waitlist2016For those of you that have been waitlisted at one of your top choices, here's a list of 2016 waitlist statistics for several popular private and public schools, along with notification dates and latest status where available.  

Our sample of waitlist statistics from 163 private and public institutions paints the following picture:

  • On average, 18 percent of students accepting a place on a waitlist were admitted
  • 55 percent of the schools admitted 10 percent or less of the students accepting a place on the wait list last year
  • 37 percent of the schools admitted 5 percent or less
  • 11 percent admitted no one

There are several factors driving the low rates, including the size of the waitlist (often very large), and how well a school anticipates its admissions yield. 

Click Continue Reading for the list.

15 October 2016

Class of 2020 Admission Results

Posted in Class of 2020

UPDATE #8 (FINAL)

gradcapsairHere's our list of reported overall admission rates for the Class of 2020. We've included results for nearly 100 popular institutions, including American, Amherst, Babson, Bard, Barnard, Bates, Boston University, Bowdoin, Brown, Bucknell, Butler, BYU, Caltech, Carleton, Carnegie Mellon, Claremont McKenna, Colby, Colgate, Colorado College, Columbia, Connecticut College, Cornell, Dartmouth, Davidson, Dickinson, Duke, Emory, Oxford at Emory, Fordham, Franklin Olin, George Washington, Georgetown, Georgia Tech, Grinnell, Hamilton, Harvard, Harvey Mudd, Haverford, Johns Hopkins, Kenyon, Lafayette, Lehigh, Macalester, Miami - Oxford, Middlebury, MIT, Mount Holyoke, Northwestern, Notre Dame, Oberline, Occidental, Pepperdine, Pitzer, Pomona, Princeton, Rice, Scripps, Skidmore, Stanford, Swarthmore, Tufts, Union College, UC Berkeley, UC Davis, UC Irvine, UCLA, UC Merced, UC Riverside, UC San Diego, UC Santa Barbara, UC Santa Cruz, University of Chicago, University of Florida, University of Georgia, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, University of Maine, University of Maryland, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Pennsylvania, University of Richmond, USC, University of Virginia, Union College, Vanderbilt, Vassar, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Washington and Lee, Washington University in St Louis, Wellesley, Wesleyan, Whitman, William & Mary, Williams and Yale.  

Click Continue Reading for the list.

11 August 2016

Common App Extra Essay Requirements (2016-17)

Posted in Your College List, Class of 2021

commonapplogoThe Common App for 2016-17 is now live, and we've just wrapped up our analysis of the real number of short answer/essay prompts required for each school.  If you've been through this process before, you know that just because a school lacks a writing supplement doesn't mean there are no additional essays to complete.  Many schools in fact simply embed these prompts in the main application itself.

This post summarizes the prompts required for 200+ Common Application schools in our coverage universe.  Our definition of a prompt is a question that requires more than a one word or one sentence answer.  It's not perfect, but it should help you gauge the amount of writing you'll need to get through over the next few months.  It'll also help you identify schools that you can apply to without the need for extra essays!

Click on Continue Reading for the list.

28 September 2015

Coalition of 80 Schools to Introduce New Alternative to the Common App

Posted in Perspectives

TheCoalitionA group of 80 higher education institutions called the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success will be introducing a new alternative to the Common Application in 2016.  Designed to level the playing field for college admissions, the Coalition will deliver free tools to increase transparency around admissions and financial aid and promote awareness and engagement prior to senior year.

Details to come later this year, with more insight expected at this week's NACAC Conference in San Diego.

Click here for the press release or here for the related article from the Washington Post.

17 September 2015

Common App Extra Essay Requirements

Posted in Your College List

Update #6

commonapplogoThe Common App for 2015-16 was posted earlier today, and we've just wrapped up our analysis on the real number of short answer/essay prompts required for each school.  If you've been through this process before, you know that just because a school lacks a writing supplement doesn't mean there are no additional essays to complete.  Many schools in fact simply embed these prompts in the main application itself.

This post summarizes the prompts required for 200+ Common Application schools in our coverage universe.  Our definition of a prompt is a question that requires more than a one word or one sentence answer.  It's not perfect, but it should help you gauge the amount of writing you'll need to get through over the next few months.  It'll also help you identify schools that you can apply to without the need for extra essays!

Click on Continue Reading for the list.

16 September 2015

Class of 2019 Admission Results

Posted in Class of 2019

Update #12

gradcapsairHere's an updated list of reported admission rates for the Class of 2019. This update adds several popular private and public schools to the list, including Clark University, DePauw, Oberlin, Smith, University of Richmond and Washington & Lee University.  

Click Continue Reading for the list.

27 August 2015

Colleges with Early Admission Plans

Posted in Your College List, Early Admission

College Kickstart Logo 200x63With your college list more or less finalized, give some consideration to early admission—many schools offer it and can be a terrific way to boost odds and minimize wasted motion.  All you need to do is apply 45-60 days earlier than you normally would. 

Here's a list of competitive 4-year institutions offering early admission to applicants.  Depending on the school, these options range from Early Decision (binding) to Early Action (non-binding) and Restrictive Early Action (non-binding with restrictions on where else you can apply).  

The first wave of deadlines is coming up in November, so take a quick look to see if any of your schools offer something worth considering. Or click here to find out how College Kickstart can help you fully capitalize on it.

02 June 2015

Affordable Alternatives to California Public Universities

Posted in Your College List, Financial Aid

financial-aidIf you're a California resident with financial need, don't assume that it's always cheaper to attend a University of California or Cal State University campus.

Depending on your academic credentials and financial situation, there may be many excellent private school options to consider. Read on to see our list of 50+ affordable alternatives to UC/CSU campuses.  

13 May 2015

Waitlist Admission Rates and Notification Dates

Posted in Class of 2019, Waitlist

UPDATE #1

waitlistpie1415b127For those of you that have been waitlisted at one of your top choices, here's a list of waitlist statistics for several popular private and public schools, along with notification dates and links for more detail if available.  

Our sample of waitlist statistics from 127 private and public institutions paints the following picture:

  • On average, 18% of students accepting a place on a waitlist were admitted
  • Half of the schools admitted 10% or less of the students accepting a place on the wait list last year
  • 35% of the schools admitted 5% or less
  • 9% admitted no one

There are several factors driving the low rates, including the size of the waitlist (often very large), and how well a school anticipates its admissions yield. 

Click Continue Reading for the list.

11 September 2014

Private Schools that Practice Need-Blind Admission

Posted in Your College List, Affordability

Full consideration without regard to financial need

needblindNeed-blind schools do not take financial aid into consideration when making admissions decisions.  Knowing these schools can be invaluable for making sure you or your teen's application is getting maximum consideration with regard to financial aid.

Here we've compiled a list of private schools that practice need blind admission for full-time, first year, U.S. citizens and permanent residents.  Please note that not all of these schools offer financial aid to meet 100% of demonstrated need. Note also that the list isn't exhaustive—it's meant to cover the more competitive 4 year institutions in the nation.

This list is integrated into the latest update to College Kickstart. 

 

Need-Blind Schools

SchoolSchool
Allegheny College Amherst College
Babson College Bard College
Barnard College Biola University
Boston College Bowdoin College
Brigham Young University - Provo Brown University
Bucknell University California Institute of Technology
Carnegie Mellon University Case Western Reserve University
Centre College Chapman University
Claremont McKenna College College of the Holy Cross
College of Wooster Columbia University
Cornell University Dartmouth College
Davidson College Denison University
DePauw University Duke University
Elon University Emory University (Emory)
Franklin W. Olin College of Engineering Georgetown University
Gonzaga University Grinnell College
Hamilton College Harvard University
Harvey Mudd College Haverford College
Hendrix College Ithaca College
Johns Hopkins University Kalamazoo College
Knox College Lehigh University
Middlebury College Mills College
Millsaps College MIT
New York University Northwestern University
Pepperdine University Pomona College
Princeton University Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
Rhodes College Rice University
Santa Clara University Sewanee: The University of the South
Soka University of America Southern Methodist University
Southwestern University Spelman College
St. Marys College of California Stanford University
Swarthmore College Syracuse University
Tulane University University of Chicago
University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania
University of Richmond University of Rochester
University of San Diego University of Southern California
University of the Pacific Vanderbilt University
Vassar College Wellesley College
Willamette University Williams College
Wofford College Yale University

04 September 2014

Common App Schools That Don't Require Additional Essays

Posted in Your College List

Low effort, high quality schools to consider for your list

commonapplogoBy now, most of you are quite familiar with the Common Application ("Common App").  And most of you that are applying to competitive institutions are painfully aware that there are often extra essay or short answer prompts to complete.

The good news is that this isn't always the case.  Recently we introduced a new feature in College Kickstart that identifies Common App schools that don't require additional essay or short answer prompts.

Put another way, these are schools that you can apply to easily once you've completed the core common app.  It's another useful way to narrow down your list choices, or to consider new ones that may be a good fit and don't require extra effort to submit.

Enjoy!

Note: the list isn't exhaustive—it's meant to cover the more competitive 4 year institutions in the nation.

 

The List

SchoolSchool
Allegheny College Bard College
Bucknell University Case Western Reserve University
Centre College Clark University
Colby College College of the Atlantic
College of the Holy Cross College of William and Mary
Colorado State University - Ft. Collins Connecticut College
Cornell University DePauw University
Dickinson College Fordham University
Franklin and Marshall Gettysburg College
Grinnell College Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Ithaca College Kenyon College
Middlebury College Miami University - Oxford
Millsaps College Muhlenberg College
Northeastern University Ohio State University - Columbus
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Rhodes College
St. Lawrence University Sewanee: The University of the South
Skidmore College Southwestern University
State University of New York - Binghamton Trinity College
Union College University of Delaware
University of Massachusetts - Amherst University of Miami
University of New Hampshire University of Puget Sound
University of Rhode Island University of Tennessee - Knoxville
University of the Pacific University of Vermont
University of Virginia Vanderbilt University
Wabash College Washington and Lee College
Washington University at St. Louis Wesleyan University
Willamette University Williams College
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