Category: Application Process

Articles related to the individual steps taken in the college application process.

  • December 30, 2023

Pre-med

Among the different kinds of graduate schools, medical school has the lowest admission rate by far, so much as that it is commonplace to see acceptance rates for public medical schools approach that of private ones (e.g. UNC Chapel Hill’s 4.2% vs. Duke’s 2.9%). While the prestige of the undergraduate college might tip the scales of admission slightly, an applicant’s choice of coursework and GPA are the most important factors. That said, elite colleges can boast of success rates of graduates gaining admission into medical school that are significantly higher than the national average of 43%. For example:

Read Details
  • November 10, 2023

Rankings: Usefulness

For a published college rankling to be useful during application season, it has to emphasize factors that matter to applicants. For example, if a ranking places significant weight (e.g. more than 25%) on the percentage of instructors who has a Ph.D., it is natural to ask if having a doctorate makes someone a better instructor. Alumni donations is another factor that may seem less consequential at first glance. However, generous donations can allow for more financial aid, better equipment and a greater selection of learning programs.

Because publishers do make their methodology public to some extent, applicants to elite colleges should take the time and examine these disclosures with family to make sure that they are following information sources that will lead to informed decisions.

Read Details
  • September 4, 2023

De-stressing

There are common, interconnected themes experienced by applicants and their families during the application process that should be noted:

  1. Being unsure – Whether it is essays or college choices, it is not surprising to feel self-doubt when the odds of success are low.
  2. Comparison –Intense competition between applicants often leads to each one to compare oneself to peers, causing feelings of inadequacy.
  3. Feeling alone – When applicants encounter rough moments during the application process, they can find themselves without someone to relate to. This is especially true when high parental expectations, real or imagined, are present.
Read Details
  • July 29, 2023

Video envy

High school seniors who post college acceptance reaction videos want to share their joy of success with the world at large for reasons of their choosing, but the sobering reality is that these public displays of victory come from a minority. To many who do not belong in that minority, such videos can feel like someone just wants to ‘rub it in’.

Read Details
  • July 14, 2023

To AI or not?

The short answer is no. Chat-based AI bots make for great publicity videos and have their place in shaping how we learn in the future. However, when it comes to composing essays, what they do is basically surveying a vast trove of existing content and then create sentences by pattern matching.

Read Details