Rejected Early Decision from Vanderbilt 2024-2025

First off, sorry. If you are reading this blog, you have just received some bad news. Vanderbilt was likely your dream school or at least a school you loved enough to apply ED to, and getting a “no” stinks. However, application season isn’t over, and there is still time to get into great schools. All you have to do is put the work in, and you can turn it around for regular decision.

Rejected Early Action from UNC Chapel Hill 2024-2025

If you’re here, we’re guessing you’ve just been rejected EA from UNC and are feeling unsure of what to do next. Right now, you’re probably reeling and looking for a way to keep yourself busy. Let’s take a moment to acknowledge that UNC Chapel Hill is a highly competitive school, especially for out-of-state applicants. The overall acceptance rate is around 20%, with out-of-state acceptance at 8%. The EA acceptance rate (and we don’t know the in vs out-of-state breakdown here) lasy cycle was 23%. This puts UNC in the “far reach” category for most out-of-state students, and we’re telling you this because sometimes numbers like this make us feel better. Not getting in doesn’t mean you won’t find your place at another amazing school. With decades of experience (both in college stuff and general life stuff), we can confidently say: you will go to college, and you will be successful!

Rejected Restrictive Early Action from Stanford 2024-2025

Stanford is now one of the hardest universities to gain access to in the world, second only, in the United States, to Harvard in acceptance rate. So, don’t beat yourself up if you were rejected Restrictive Early Action. We know it’s hard not to, but really — Stanford is a reach for everyone. The overall acceptance rate is now less than 4%. This is wild. Imagine being in a gym with 99 other people waiting on the sidelines, and only four of you all will get to play in the game. When visualized, these odds are insane. That doesn’t mean a rejection from Stanford doesn’t hurt, though, especially if it’s a school that you’ve been dreaming of for a while. When you’re ambitious enough to apply to Stanford, you’re also typically confident enough to believe you will…or, at least, will maybe…get in. But you didn’t, so now what?

Rejected Early Decision from New York University (NYU) 2024-2025

If you’ve been rejected by NYU Early Decision, that’s a major downer. You picked New York University for your Early Decision school because it was a top choice that you knew you wanted to attend, and believed you had a strong chance at. But it didn’t work out, and now you need to know what to do next. First, let’s do a bit of a post-mortem on NYU.

Rejected Early Decision from Cornell 2024-2025

No one hopes for a rejection letter, but for many hopeful Ivy League applicants, it happens. First off, sorry that you didn’t get into Cornell. However, it isn’t the time to mope. There is still a lot of work to do, and the next two weeks will be super important to maximize your chances for a successful Regular Decision round.

Rejected Early Decision from Dartmouth 2024-2025

If you’re here, we are assuming you’ve just been rejected ED from Dartmouth and don’t know what to do next. You’re probably reeling and need something to do to keep you occupied. First, we want to say that Dartmouth is an incredibly hard school to get into – a 6% overall acceptance rate and a 20% ED acceptance rate put it solidly in that “far reach” category. You not getting in doesn’t mean you won’t get into another amazing school, and we can say with decades of wisdom that you will go to college and you will be successful!

9th Grade College Strategy for Computer Science

There aren’t many subjects as popular among high schoolers as computer science. We're not sure if it's the allure of potentially coding the next big app, the fascination with how technology shapes our world, or just the fact that computer science and coding touches every part of our modern society. And if you’re here, you’re probably a freshman and want to know what you can do to help prep for college, especially since you think you like the crazy competitive major of computer science.

Summer Strategy Ideas for Middlebury College

Middlebury College is focused on changing the world for the better. Students and faculty on campus are working towards climate solutions, they strive to connect between cultures and languages, they communicate with others through art, design, and writing, and they pursue avenues for conflict resolution globally. From a sprawling campus in Vermont, Middlebury empowers a little under 3,000 students with the knowledge and skills they need to lead the charge in improving our planet and the lives of the people (you included) on it.

Rejected by the University of Michigan Early Action 2024-2025

Receiving a rejection from the University of Michigan Early Action is a major bummer. It’s frustrating, but it is going to be okay. We know that you’re a smart and qualified student, you applied to Mich ED after all, so application experience is very salvageable. In fact, it can go way up from here if you play your cards right. Getting into Michigan Early Action is super hard. University of Michigan admissions is committed to not giving EA applicants preference (as compared to most schools, who prioritized ED or EA). The Michigan acceptance rate — about 18% — is also misleading if you are an out-of-state applicant. More than a quarter of students at Mich are from Michigan. In-state applicants are given preference in admissions, and benefit from a much higher acceptance rate. As a result, out-of-state applicants have a much lower acceptance rate.  

Summer Strategy Ideas for Hamilton College

Hamilton College prepares students for “a life of meaning, purpose, and active citizenship.” Located in the village of Clinton, New York, a town closer to Canada than it is to NYC, but 45 min from the city of Syracuse, Hamilton is a small liberal arts experience in a unique environment crafted to nurture exploration and launch future leaders. Just over 2,000 students call Hamilton home, and they come from 48 states and 56 countries for the opportunity to learn in the Hamilton way.

Rejected Early Decision from Duke University 2024-2025

So, you’ve been rejected ED from Duke. First of all, we’re sorry, and we’re sure you’re having a lot of feelings about this right now. And, since you’re here, you probably want to know what you can do in this moment to take control of this situation. We want to say that Duke is a crazy hard school to get into – they haven’t released precise data since 2021, but we know their acceptance rate hovers around 5%, and their ED acceptance rate is about 15%. That doesn’t mean it’s 3x more likely to get into Duke ED. It means you have about the same chance you would if you applied to Georgetown, Berkeley, or UVA – aka, hard. That also means this is not a reflection of you or your talents or smarts or overall coolness, but rather that these schools have very limited spots and have to leave lots and lots of deserving students out of the mix.

The Best Majors at Stanford University

Stanford University was founded with a societal purpose. From the beginning, the school was designed for the common good. Today, it is regarded as one of the best universities in the world. Rooted in the San Francisco Bay Area, Stanford is surrounded by innovation, thought leadership, and technological advancement. Not only is it in the mix of all that — it is a foundational part of it.

Rejected Early Decision from Columbia University 2024-2025

If you’re here, we know you probably just got rejected from Columbia, and you don’t know what to do next – we’re sorry that happened, and we know it feels awful. First of all, this admissions decision is not a reflection of who you are as a person or of your hard work and talent. It’s important to remember that, especially in the Ivy League, there are countless students who are more than qualified to get in, and there’s simply not enough space for all of you. You will go to an amazing school, even if it doesn't feel like it right now.

11th Grade College Strategy for History Majors

Love knowing the who, what, when, where, why, and how? Then we bet you probably really enjoy history and think you might want to study it in college. History is a great degree that can lead to a bunch of different careers, from teaching to curation to even law or politics. Whether you want to help preserve the past or use it to improve the future, if you think you might want to study history in college, you’re in the right place.

Best and Unique English Major Extracurricular Activities

English is a highly competitive major in college, attracting aspiring journalists, readers, novelists, teachers, and more. As such, English programs at top-tier universities receive a flood of applications each year. Popular majors equal competitive majors, so you need to make your application shine to stand out from the crowd.

The Best Majors at Dartmouth

Dartmouth is an Ivy League university nestled in idyllic Hanover, New Hampshire. It’s a great school for the outdoorsy type who wants a superior academic experience with a little bit of classic collegiate shenanigans. Dartmouth is known, along with offering an exceptional education, for providing students with a lively social experience that includes a strong Greek life.