With the fall 2020-21 application cycle now in full swing, it's important to keep an eye on interview requirements for the schools on your list—especially if they're looking for evidence of demonstrated interest.  

To make this easier for you, we've compiled a list of popular schools where interviews are required or strongly recommended, along with the degree to which the institution considers demonstrated interest as part of the evaluation.  

In cases like Hillsdale College where interviews are highly recommended and demonstrated interest is very important, it's a good bet than an interview — in-person or virtual — is worth your time.  On the flip side, if interviews are optional and demonstrated interest isn't considered, booking an interview is less critical.  The devil is in the details, so to help you figure out your strategy we've also included a link to each listed school's interview policy.  Do keep in mind that interview requirements may often vary by major.

College Kickstart subscribers: this information is already available to you in the Summary and Requirements views.

Click on Continue Reading for the list.

Given how sophisticated colleges have become in recruiting applicants, it's dangerous to rely on old admissions data.  

We've taken a look at our coverage universe and identified schools with notable admission rate differences between the Class of 2024 and the Class of 2023. In addition to providing the admission rates, we've included some commentary to explain why as well as a link back to the source article.

This year's notable changes are largely about rising admission rates, thanks to COVID-19 uncertainty and expanding enrollment at several University of California campuses. Declines in admission rates were observed at Boston College and the University of Virginia thanks to new Early Decision options that accounted for 37 and roughly 19 percent of the incoming class.

Depending on how you categorize schools, the admission rate change may be enough to turn a likely into a target or target into a reach.  Regardless, take a moment to review the list—the last thing anyone needs at this point is a surprise!

College Kickstart subscribers: Class of 2024 admission rates have already been incorporated into the latest release of College Kickstart.

Click Continue Reading for the list.

U.S. News & World Report released their 2021 college rankings earlier today.  Over 1,400 schools were covered nationwide and evaluated on multiple measures of academic excellence and outcomes to produce the final rankings.

This year's methodology includes consideration of new student debt metrics, social mobility and inclusion of test-blind institutions. The weighting of outcomes has also increased.

Princeton retains sole possession of the top spot for National Universities, and Williams College tops the list of Liberal Arts Colleges.  

Click on Continue Reading to see the rankings changes. 

Tired of Googling constantly for the latest application requirements? Look no further — let College Kickstart help you stay on top of your game. 

In search of schools with no extra Common App essays?  Look no further, check out our list of popular schools here, updated for the 2020-21 application season.  

The list includes schools that simply require the base essay (e.g. personal statement). Keep in mind that many of these schools may have "optional" prompts which you might want to complete anyway to strengthen your application.  

If you're a student or parent with a College Kickstart Plus or Premium subscription, this information is already available to you as part of our application requirements tracking feature.

Click on Continue Reading for the list.

Most schools have completed their updates for the Class of 2025 admission cycle (2020-21), and several of the changes we've observed are worth noting. 

Roughly 25 schools have modified early admission options available to applicants this fall.  Notable changes include the temporary suspension of Restrictive Early Action at Princeton, the introduction of an Early Action 2 option specifically for non-resident applicants at Georgia Tech, a new Early Action option at Macalester and new Early Decision 2 options at Baylor, Johns Hopkins, Syracuse, University of Rochester and Villanova.

If you're considering early admission, be sure to check out our list as it may impact how you decide to apply this fall.   Note to our subscribers: the data has already been incorporated into the product, simply re-run College Kickstart to see how it impacts your plan.

Click on Continue Reading below for the details.

As we entered 2020, roughly one-third of the schools in our coverage universe offered some form of test-optional admissions. That figure cleared 70 percent in June and is now hovering at 90 percent with the holdouts largely in the South, particularly the public universities in Flordia and Georgia.

To help you keep up with the changes, we're actively tracking test-optional policies for several popular institutions we cover. As always, the definition of "test-optional" varies by institution and often has strings attached so pay close attention to the details.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of test-optional schools and the type of test-optional policy they employ.  For your convenience, we've included admit rates, test score ranges and links to each school's standardized test policy to help you find suitable candidates for your college list.

College Kickstart subscribers, this is automatically updated and visible as part of the requirements view.

Combined BS/MD programs are available for talented high school seniors strongly committed to careers in medicine. Institutions offering combined BS/MD programs include Rice University, Northwestern University, Boston University and Case Western Reserve University.

To help you navigate your options, check out our list of combined BS/MD programs. We've included admission profiles where available, program lengths and features, as well as a link to each program's web page for the details.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of combined BS/MD medical school programs now.

As the “entrepreneurship culture” grows globally among young students, universities are quick to begin offering entrepreneurship programs for their undergraduate students to develop business and learn the necessary skills. Current institutions with these programs include Babson College, New York University, the University of Pennsylvania, and the University of Southern California.

Nevertheless, the plethora of programs can be difficult to navigate and confusing to decipher in terms of offerings and benefits.

We have curated a list of some of the top entrepreneurship programs at schools across the nation according to Entrepreneur Magazine and U.S. News. Noting both the most popular and the most enriching programs, the following list covers the admission profiles, program types, funding opportunities, competitions, advising, and courses related to these institutions.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of the best undergraduate entrepreneurship programs nationwide.

Hoping to make a difference in the way our country is governed?

Then check out our latest list of colleges with strong undergraduate programs in Political Science. Using information compiled from several ranking sites, including U.S. News and Niche, we've summarized admission rates and profiles, program highlights and links to each institution's home page for more information.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of top undergraduate Political Science programs now.

Hot off the press!  We've had a chance to review the Fall 2020 admissions data released recently by the University of California and thought it would be helpful to summarize it and share our key findings.  

Overall freshman admission rates are up for residents, out of state and international students across the board thanks to a 10 percent year-over-year rise in total admits. If you're an out of state or international student, pay close attention...there continues to be a window of opportunity to take advantage of favorable odds at several UC campuses.

Click on Continue Reading for the details.

Honors programs are a terrific way for academically talented students to reap the benefits of a liberal arts education within the context of a large research institution.

To give you a better sense for how this can enrich your college experience, we’ve compiled a list of undergraduate honors programs from top public and private universities across the nation. We've included admission profiles where available, program benefits, whether an extra application is required and a link to each institution's offering for more details.

Click on Continue Reading to see our list of top undergraduate honors programs now.

We continue to look for ways to help you better manage the uncertainty brought on by COVID-19. In the past two months we've added several new capabilities, including:

• Active tracking of test-optional institutions
• Links to virtual visit programming for each of the schools we cover
• A recommendation engine to help you capitalize on test-optional admissions

Today we're introducing a fourth capability: the option to run College Kickstart without a standardized test score.

Available immediately to all College Kickstart subscribers, this feature gives you the flexibility to assess academic performance based solely on GPA and class rank whenever possible. 

Click Continue Reading below to learn more.

In recent weeks we've seen several prominent institutions adopt test-optional admissions for the coming cycle to alleviate some of the anxiety brought on by COVID-19.

With many more institutions expected to follow suit, we've introduced two new capabilities in College Kickstart to help you stay on top of the changes and identify situations where applying test-optional may be worth considering.

Available immediately to all College Kickstart subscribers, it's a much easier way to navigate and capitalize on test-optional admissions in our current environment.

Click Continue Reading below to learn more.

The College Board announced today that it is actively developing a new at-home Advanced Placement test option in light of the coronavirus outbreak.

• For the 2019-20 exam season only, students will be able to take a 45 minute exam at home
• Two different testing dates will be made available for each AP subject

Click here for the College Board website for details.