Kenyon College is a small liberal arts college in Gambier, Ohio with 200 years of history and under 2,000 students. 100% of students live on campus, nurturing a fully-immersive and inclusive residential community. The college has a deep commitment to multi-disciplinary learning and cross-disciplinary mastery, with students layering literature over science, and math over philosophy to gain a deeper understanding of the world. Overarching everything Kenyon offers is a passion for the written word, and Kenyon expects all of their students to graduate as strong writers regardless of their major.

Wesleyan University is a small liberal arts school in Middletown, CT twenty minutes from the city of Hartford and under two hours from both New York City and Boston. The school is home to just over 3,000 undergraduate students who are passionate about the unique educational perspective Wesleyan has to offer. With over 45 majors, more than 900 courses, and an 8:1 student-to-faculty ratio, the school is a favorite of liberal arts-minded students even before you account for the Open Curriculum.

Tulane University in New Orleans is a vibe — and it’s a vibe we’re into. The school is a deeply academic and service-oriented community in a city built on the idea of having a good time. The party never stops in New Orleans, and that enthusiasm bleeds into everything at Tulane, including the athletics. Tulane is home to 16 teams in the American Athletic Conference — ten women’s teams and six men’s teams, as well as a few dozen club teams that are open to all.

While oldheads are out here complaining about TikTok this and ChatGPT that, the truth is that some things about adolescence never change. For example, applying to college has always caused high school seniors a significant amount of stress. And young, eager college hopefuls have always wondered if demonstrating interest — if finding a way to show how much they really care — would make it just a little bit easier to get into their dream school.

From cancer research to developing new medical treatments, biology is an extremely broad subject to consider majoring in as a prospective college student. Because it’s such an open-ended topic, it attracts a lot of attention from high school students who are trying to decide what they want to study in college. From wanting to go to medical school to doing research on new diseases, the possibilities for a biology student are endless.

Colby College is a small undergraduate liberal arts school in the city of Waterville, Maine. The college offers a balance of rural and urban, small community and broad resources, and a highly-respected package. 64% of classes have fewer than 20 students, and the college is well-known for offering a level of access to professors for counsel, mentorship, and even just conversation, that larger schools simply can’t facilitate. Students have the opportunity to explore broadly, dive deeply into what they care about most, and have fun while doing it.

Northwestern is a private research university in Evanston, Illinois with 8,000 undergraduates and as many graduate students. The university is in the top 10 nationally, and is world-renowned for journalism and communications. Many students seek out Northwestern for just this reason, as they look to combine a journalism or communications course of study with secondary interests in STEM or the humanities. That isn’t the only journey you can go on at Northwestern, though — not by a long shot.  

When you start 9th grade, college still seems like it’s an eternity away. But, as soon as you walk into your first class of freshman year, your path to getting into college starts. Yikes!! Every grade counts towards your GPA, and you have no excuse not to get involved with clubs or access resources your school has to offer. Getting started on building your specific area of academic interest (we usually call it your “niche” or “brand”) is really important, and starting now is what you need to do to get into a top-tier college.

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, or MIT, is one of the most prestigious universities in the country. Grounded in Cambridge, MA, the university has global reach, with graduates leading the fields of engineering, science, mathematics, media, and more around the world. They seek out students who are more than brilliant — they also have to be intent on changing the world. They want applicants who are breaking out of the box, using the resources they have to push beyond what seems possible. Graduates and faculty have won 101 Nobel prizes, there are 61 National Medal of Science recipients in their ranks, and 17 A.M. Turing Award winners.