The Experts on Admissions to Top Colleges - Ivy Compass

A Word On College Admissions Blogs

Posted by Erin Lewis at 8:29 am

Today, you have the benefit of free advice on college admissions from all kinds of guides, books and blogs.  But remember, sometimes you get what you pay for.

A couple of days ago, I ran across a post entitled the Top 75 College Admissions Blogs. A day or so later, I read another post entitled the Top 50 Blogs to Help You Apply for College.  I think that some of the recommendations are good ones—Allen’s College Admissions Blog and The Choice for example, but others don’t deserve their “top” designation.  In addition, there are other very helpful resources that don’t even make these lists.  One big oversight is Study Hacks which doesn’t advertise itself as an admissions blog, but offers 13 features on college admissions to date.  He gives great advice about navigating the admissions process and being a successful student—two things that obviously go hand in hand.  Neither of these lists make mention of admissions offices that host their own blogs or blogs that might help you with coursework, organization or college planning.

To get you started, I’d recommend using your feed reader (I like Google Reader and I use NetNewsWire on my mac) to aggregate blogs from the admissions offices of the schools that interest you (and if they don’t have an admissions blog, you can look for student blogs) as well as blogs that you’ll want to read on a regular basis.

For the latter, I’d recommend starting with Allen’s College Admissions Blog, Study Hacks, and The College Solution Blog.  Since you’re reading this post, I hope you’ll subscribe to Ivy Compass, too.

Are there any blogs you’d like to share with our readers that have been particularly helpful to you as you navigate the college admissions admissions process?  Are there any blogs from admissions offices, in particular, that have been helpful to you?

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: allen grove, blogs, college admissions, college solution blog, google reader, netnewswire, study hacks

Your To-Do for the Day

Posted by Erin Lewis at 9:48 am

This Tuesday, Allen’s College Admissions Blog asked the question, “What’s better? A ‘B’ in a Tough Course or an ‘A’ in an Easy One?” It’s a good read for anyone who has asked themselves the question.  Before you head off to read it, I have a piece of advice for my readers: take the most challenging classes because it’s a worthy aim.  In addition, acing general courses will not help you get admitted to the most selective schools.  The excuse “I’m not so good in math” is no reason to take a general math course if the rest of your application demonstrates that you are capable of handling tough coursework.  The appropriate response to your academic challenges is getting to the heart of the matter.  Ask for extra help from your teacher or find a tutor.  If you are still struggling, consult with a dean or guidance counselor to determine what you need to do to be successful in the course.  You should also consider that a final grade of “B” is not the end of your college application.  A transcript full of the most challenging classes available—and mostly A’s—far outweighs a 4.0 GPA in a transcript with less challenging ones.

Your to-do: Start with your senior year classes and work your way backward, creating a class schedule with the most challenging courses available at your school for each year of high school.  Schedule your courses according to this plan.

Categories: Uncategorized

Tags: allen grove, transcript