An update to College Kickstart 2015 has just been posted! 

This release features a new Plan Highlights page to help you get organized and track admission requirements for each school on your list.  We've also added two new MixFixer™ filters to help you find safeties, targets and reaches with greater ease, and updated our database with the latest admission rates for University of California campuses.  

Click on continue reading for the details. 

Hot off the press!  We've had a chance to review the Fall 2015 admissions data released earlier today by the University of California and thought it would be helpful to summarize it and our key findings.  

Long story short, overall freshman admission rates are down and its getting tougher for California residents as the University of California focuses on increasing the mix of "full pay" out of state and international students to hedge against budget uncertainty.  If you're an out of state or international student, pay close attention...there appears to be a window of opportunity to take advantage of favorable odds at several UC campuses.

Click on Continue Reading for the details.

In search of colleges with more intimate learning environments?

Look no further, we've identified 50+ schools that fit the bill.  To make the grade, each school has to have at least 70% of their classes with fewer than 20 students and a student/faculty ratio lower than 10:1.

The result: an eclectic mix of private liberal arts colleges and universities where teachers are more likely to know your name, including several institutions featuring tutorial-style or self-directed study programs.

We've included admission rates, mid-50th percentile SAT and ACT scores and links to each school's website to help you explore the possibilities.

Click on Continue Reading for the details. 

In search of schools that do a great job of keeping your interest and getting you graduated?  

Look no further, here's a list of 50 public and private institutions that do just that. To make the list, each institution has to have freshman retention and six-year graduation rates of 90% or better. 

Many of the schools listed will come as no surprise, but others—in particular the public institutions—will!  We've also included admit rates and mid-50th percentile SAT and ACT ranges to help you narrow down your choices.

We're pleased to announce the latest release of College Kickstart 2015!  You'll notice faster performance, updated admissions data (including 2019 admission rates for several top schools), expanded school coverage, and for College Kickstart Plus users, over 200 department-specific admission rates across 34 public and private institutions.

Click on continue reading for the details. 

The College Board announced earlier today that SAT scores from June 6th will be counted, despite a printing error that set 25 minute time limits on sections normally limited to 20 minutes.

After careful consideration, the College Board indicated that the two affected sections would not be scored, and that due to the design of the test, they would have no impact on the reliability of the results.

Bottom line: your SAT score will stand and you can expect to get the results on June 25th.

Click here for the announcement

If you're a California resident with financial need, don't assume that it's always cheaper to attend a University of California or Cal State University campus.

Depending on your academic credentials and financial situation, there may be many excellent private school options to consider. Read on to see our list of 50+ affordable alternatives to UC/CSU campuses.  

We're thrilled to announce our partnership with Alliance College-Ready Public Schools to bring better college planning to inner city youth.  As a result of the agreement, nearly 2,000 rising high school seniors and counselors across 15 Alliance high schools in the Los Angeles area will put College Kickstart to work for college planning.  

Click on Continue Reading for the details.

Here's a useful series of articles from the Washington Post for those of you about to embark on the college admissions process.  It chronicles the admissions journey of a high school senior, Samantha Fogel, and includes perspectives from her high school counselor as well as parents.  

1. Getting started
2. Parenting the college applicant
3. The search process
4. Deciding where to apply first
5. How not to bomb the college essay 
6. Dealing with deferral
7. Making the college decision

For those of you looking for possible admission essay topics, here are seven about work and class that caught a college's eye.  

Click here for the article

For those of you that have been waitlisted at one of your top choices, here's a list of waitlist statistics for several popular private and public schools, along with notification dates and links for more detail if available.  

Our sample of waitlist statistics from 127 private and public institutions paints the following picture:

• On average, 18% of students accepting a place on a waitlist were admitted

• Half of the schools admitted 10% or less of the students accepting a place on the wait list last year

• 35% of the schools admitted 5% or less

• 9% admitted no one

There are several factors driving the low rates, including the size of the waitlist (often very large), and how well a school anticipates its admissions yield. 

Click Continue Reading for the list.

The National Association for College Admissions Counseling released its 2014 State of College Admissions report last Thursday.  

We had an opportunity to review the 72 page report and took away some key points about overall application and early admission trends.  

The findings strongly reinforce the need for students and families to actively evaluate early admission opportunities as an integral part of their college plan.  

Click on Continue Reading below for the summary.

Here's a list of our favorite tips and study guides to prepare you for the APUSH exam:

• apushreview.org. Judging from the feedback, if there's one site you're looking for to cram for the APUSH exam this is it.  It's produced by a history teacher named Adam Norris, and contains a blend of practical tips and engaging videos.  

• Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History.  Here's a neat set of videos that consists of both test tips and study guides for the nine periods covered in the AP exam.  Use this for the big picture.

• studynotes.com.  Here's a online study guide for the APUSH exam by the folks at Study Notes.  It's far more comprehensive, with chapter and topic outlines, vocabulary review, timelines, Supreme Court cases and sample tests.  The downside is that it's all text, so brace yourself.

• Essay tips.  This guide posted by the Allen Independent School District in Texas gives "to the point" tips for mastering the APUSH long essay and document based question (DBQ).

• quizlet.com.  Useful flash cards for reviewing material.

Here's a list of our favorite tips and study guides to prepare you for the APUSH exam:

• freeman-pedia.com. Start here for a comprehensive review of all things AP World from Ben Freeman, a history teacher based in Virginia. It's a mix of text, visuals and crash course videos from John Green.   

• learnerator.com.  Here's a set of test tips for the AP World exam from learnerator.com.  

• Essay tips.  This guide posted by the Thomas Jefferson Classical Academy in North Carolina contains tips your AP World essays and DBQ.  Click on the left menu options for the comparative, time and DBQ essays for details.

• quizlet.com.  Useful flash cards for reviewing material.  Note: there are several quizlets to choose from, we've opted for the one based on the 2013 Princeton Review material.