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Articles tagged with: Washington University in St Louis

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.

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.

29 June 2015

Colleges with Terrific Retention and Graduation Rates

Posted in Your College List

student-studyingIn search of schools that do a great job of keeping your interest and getting you graduated?  

Look no further, here's a list of 50 public and private institutions that do just that. To make the list, each institution has to have freshman retention and six-year graduation rates of 90% or better. 

Many of the schools listed will come as no surprise, but others—in particular the public institutions—will!  We've also included admit rates and mid-50th percentile SAT and ACT ranges to help you narrow down your choices.

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.  

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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