Author: Editor

What is a need-aware college? Does a college being need aware mean they won't accept students who need financial aid? What colleges are need aware?  There are a lot of misconceptions about need-aware colleges and how they handle applicants who need financial aid. Having the wrong information can lead students to skip applying to schools that could still very well accept them and offer generous aid packages. Read this guide to be fully informed on need-aware colleges.   What Is a Need Aware College? Need aware colleges are those that take students' ability to pay college tuition into consideration. This means that, hypothetically, if a school is trying to decide between two students, they may choose the one who requires less or no financial aid because that's cheaper for them. Rising ...

December 14, 2022 Ivy Coach helps reposition the narratives of students after Early Decision / Early Action deferrals or denials (photo credit: Chensiyuan). Did your child receive a deferral or, worse, a denial from their dream Ivy League or other highly selective university in the Early Action / Early Decision round of admissions? If so, grieve the decision for a few minutes — and then get over it because you don’t have time to go through all five stages of grief right now. Regular Decision applications are due in just a couple of weeks. The time is now for your child to take corrective actions to avoid making the same mistakes in the Regular Decision round. So what’s the game plan? Ivy Coach’s PostMor...

We are always eager to hear new ways universities are creating affordable online programs at scale. It is the conversation we never tire of having, and this time, we are talking to colleagues and friends, Georgetown’s Kelly Otter and Coursera’s Betty Vandenbosch. These two leaders from Georgetown University and Coursera recently announced a new online bachelor’s completion program. The program is incredibly competitively priced, at $400 a credit, and scales an on-campus program that serves diverse students. Its most recent cohort was 62 percent students of color and 40 percent military-connected learners. Kelly and Betty agreed to answer our questions about this new program. Q: The in-person bachelor of arts in liberal studies degree completion program has been an institution at Georgetown...

Are you a coder or computer science lover and want to show off your skills? Computer science competitions are a great way to do that! We've gathered information on 10 of the best computer science and coding competitions high school students can participate in. Look over the descriptions that seem most interesting to you, then keep reading to learn everything you need to do to make participating in these competitions stand out on your college applications.   The Best Computer Science Competitions for High Schoolers Below are overviews of 10 of the best computer science and coding competitions for students. For each competition, we  give a brief description, along with who is eligible and what the prizes are. All the competitions below have a focus on computer science. For competit...

College in the US is expensive—too expensive, in fact, for the average student to be able to afford on their own. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 87% of first-year students at four-year colleges were receiving financial aid in 2019-2020. Financial aid is good in all its forms, right? If it helps college students afford their education, what could be the problem? Unfortunately, not all financial aid is created equal—and not all schools can afford to give out "good" student aid. Here, I'll briefly talk about the types of financial aid available (the "good" kinds and the "bad" kinds) before introducing the colleges with the best financial aid programs in the country.   Financial Aid Basics: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly Financial aid comes from a variety of sour...

Is your goal to become a doctor? Do you want to put yourself on a fast track to medical school and making your dream a reality? If so, you may want to consider applying for a BS/MD program. In this article, I'll explain what these programs are and go over exactly how to get into a BS/MD program, so that you can be one step closer to your dream of becoming a doctor.   What Is a BS/MD Program? A BS/MD program offers you admission to medical school if you meet certain minimum requirements while you're in college or applying to colleges. You can apply for a BS/MD program as a high school student during the regular college application process. Additionally, there are BS/MD programs you can apply to as an underclassman in college. Most people begin applying to med school the summer between the...

From Applying early decision to college is often a highly effective way to increase the odds of getting accepted at many colleges that offer this admission option. At plenty of colleges, applying early action can also boost admission odds. Students and parents, who are interested in applying early decision or early action, need to know the advantages and disadvantages of this strategy. Here are things to consider: Applying Early Decision Definition 1. Early Decision refers to the admission practice of allowing students to send in their applications and receive an admission verdict before teenagers who use the regular admission process. 2. The deadline for early decision applications can be November 15 or even earlier. In contrast, the application deadline for regular admission can be in Ja...