Here's an interesting article from Nick Ducoff, a VP at Northeastern University.  He argues that it's not a skills gap, but rather an experience gap that holds back college graduates from the best job opportunities.

Though the article is conveniently self-serving—Northeastern is well-known for its active co-op programs for undergraduates—there's no arguing that experiential learning is extremely valuable for transitioning bright minds into the working world.

Click here for the article.

Now that you've been admitted to several schools on your list, how will you choose which one to attend?  Here's an article from the Huffington Post on how to navigate your way to a decision.

Click here for the article.

In this five part series from the New York Times, two college admissions experts answer questions to help students and their families make their final college decisions.

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5

Lots of big-name schools post their decisions over the next 48 hours, including Brown, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Georgetown, Harvard, Princeton, Rice, University of Pennsylvania and Yale.

Continue reading for the updated list of regular decision notification dates for several popular private and public schools. Good luck, seniors!

Here's an interesting article from the Washington Post about "undermatching"—when low-income students with the ability to succeed at elite universities never apply or attend one.  Past studies have shown that as many as four in 10 in this pool choose not to attend an elite institution because they didn't apply or decided not to enroll.

Undermatching is a serious social issue impacting long-term economic equality and social mobility, but it's also one that can be avoided with better information and planning.  

Read the article here

One interesting way to measure the value of a college education is to consider return on investment.  PayScale does this by comparing the salary of graduates (return) to the cost of attendance (investment) at each school it tracks.  

Here's the recently released 2015 rankings.  We'd focus less on the rankings themselves and more on the relative returns by major/career since it will give you a sense for where your interests can lead.  It comes as no surprise that schools strong in technology fare the best.    

University of California President Janet Napolitano indicated earlier this week that the UC system will not expand enrollment of California freshmen and transfers this fall if more funds are not appropriated from the state. Furthermore, enrollment of out-of-state students at UC Berkeley and UCLA will be capped.

Click here for a Los Angeles Times report on the topic.

This article from the Wall Street Journal explores the "value" of attending a name-brand college from three perspectives: the applicant's, the and the employer's and an admissions expert.  The article also includes a list of "best value" schools courtesy of PayScale that considers return on investment (future reported salaries) in addition to cost.  

Click here to read the article now.

Planning to major in business in college?  Here's an article covering some well-regarded undergraduate business schools for you to consider.  

Business and related fields are the most popular undergraduate majors in the country, accounting for approximately 20% of all college students. If you're thinking about it but still aren't sure, continue reading about the pros and cons of an undergraduate business degree and perspective from pundits, courtesy of the New York Times.

In this Los Angeles Times article, Carla Rivera writes about the rising number of college applicants taking advantage of early admission programs to remove stress and uncertainty from the admissions process.

The article also looks at early admission from the school perspective, and why/why not schools choose to participate.  

With admission rates falling and the number of early admission programs on the rise, we maintain that every college applicant needs to at least consider the possibility of applying early.  It may not always be appropriate, but when it is, it's a valuable way of maximizing odds and minimizing wasted motion for simply applying 60 days earlier than normal.   

Read the early admission article now

Preparing your first college tour and not sure where to start?

Here are some suggestions for schools to visit, grouped by region, to get you rolling. Each list includes 5-6 schools that offer a range of sizes, settings and selectivity to help imagine the possibilities.  We also suggest others worth considering and why.  

Cities currently covered include Boston, New York City, Syracuse, Washington DC, Chicago, Cleveland, San Francisco and Los Angeles.  

Click on the Continue Reading link below to see our suggestions, or try our College Tour Planner to build your own custom campus tour itinerary.

The Higher Education Research Institute at UCLA recently published The American Freshman: National Norms Fall 2014, a survey of 150,000+ first-time, full-time students at over 200 four-year U.S colleges and universities.

The study covers a broad range of topics, including college admissions.  What's clear is that students are applying to more schools than ever, they're getting into their top choice schools less frequently, and that early admission is becoming a very important consideration in choosing colleges.  

Click on the Continue Reading link below details.

The University of Virginia reported earlier that it admitted 4,856 Early Action applicants to the Class of 2019.

A total of 16,092 EA applications were received this year, resulting in an EA admission rate of 30% overall.  Virginia residents accounted for 27% of the applicant pool and 42% of the admitted pool.  The early action admission rate for residents was 47% versus 24% for non-residents.  

Click here for the news release.

We're pleased to announce the availability of College Kickstart 2015 release 1.1.  In addition to updated admissions data for 75+ schools, this release features a new and improved MixFixer™ to help you "bulletproof" your college list with ease.

What's a MixFixer?

MixFixer is the fastest and easiest way to set your college list up for success.  It kicks in once College Kickstart has graded your list and recommended ways to strengthen it.  MixFixer does three things:

• It categorizes. MixFixer automatically categorizes every school in our database into safeties, targets and reaches based on school admission rates and your academic profile.  

• It filters. MixFilter provides filters to help you quickly narrow down your choices.

• It corrects. MixFilter helps you take corrective action by adding schools of interest to your list and re-running the analysis.  Improve that D- to an A in no time!

What's new?

This release includes several new filters that you've asked for, in addition to a new special filter that will help you locate "good value" schools:

• Filter by school size.  You can now filter schools by the total undergraduate population.  Three options are offered: small (<2,500 undergrads), medium (2,500-10,000) and large (10,000+).

• Filter by setting.  You can also filter by school setting: rural, suburban and urban.

• Filter by geographical region. You can narrow down schools by geography, including the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, South, Midwest, Mountain and Pacific regions.

• Filter by indebtedness.  Is a public school cheaper than a private school?  Not always, after you factor in financial aid.  One useful way to figure out bang for buck is to find schools that leave you with little debt after graduation.  In other words, schools that are either cheap to begin with our schools that are terrific with financial aid and in particular, scholarships/grants.  Our new indebtedness filter looks specifically for schools that on average leave those taking financial aid with less than $20,000 of debt at graduation.  That's all four years.  Check it out, you'll be surprised by the results!  

Getting Started

To access MixFixer, run Kickstart and simply click on the Find Safeties, Find Targets or Find Reaches button in the List Check tab.