With the University of California application now open for submissions, it's time to make sure everything is in order.  

Here are the top five tips for freshman applicants, courtesy of the University of California:

Still struggling with your college essays?  Here's an excellent post from Johns Hopkins University on essays that worked.  It provides eight actual essays submitted by applicants and commentary from the admissions committee on why they worked.

When does it make sense to take advantage of early admission?

Here's an article from the Boston Globe, complete with perspectives from admission directors from Boston College, Babson College, Wheaton College and UMass Lowell. 

Click here for more.

New SAT, current SAT or ACT—which one is for me?

Here's a 30 question diagnostic developed by Dr. Gary Gruber that can help you determine which may be best for you.   

Click here for the article.

For those of you wondering about the new SAT, here's an excellent article from Jed Applerouth that details the differences between the current and new formats, as well as the ACT.  

Read the article here.

A group of 80 higher education institutions called the Coalition for Access, Affordability and Success will be introducing a new alternative to the Common Application in 2016.  Designed to level the playing field for college admissions, the Coalition will deliver free tools to increase transparency around admissions and financial aid and promote awareness and engagement prior to senior year.

Details to come later this year, with more insight expected at this week's NACAC Conference in San Diego.

Click here for the press release or here for the related article from the Washington Post.

Here's a recent blog post from the President of Hampshire College in the Huffington Post.  It's entitled Results of Removing Standardized Test Scores from College Admissions, and while it's meant to tout the impact of adopting a test blind admissions policy (SAT/ACT scores are not accepted/considered), in reality it's a fascinating perspective on college rankings and how the quest for top rankings can often pressure schools to commit "unnatural" acts.

Click here for the article.

Here's an interesting article/podcast from National Public Radio about the College Scorecard just released by the Obama Administration.  The data, which includes some very useful information about the cost and return of a college education at over 7,000 schools, stops short of rankings but makes it possible to create your own rankings.

NPR provides three screens you might find interesting:

• Schools that make you money
• Schools that make financial sense
• Schools that emphasize upward mobility

Click here for details.

Here's an article from Kevin Carey of the New York Times about the latest college "return on investment" figures released by the U.S. Department of Education.

The new data tracks the cost of an education and average reported earnings ten years out.  What's important about the data is that it is not "self-reported" based on surveys, as is the approach used by PayScale.  Instead, the government was able to match data from the student financial aid system to federal tax returns, so an accurate picture of earnings across a far larger sample is in place.

What's interesting about the data isn't that elite institutions report higher earnings. What's interesting is that there are a significant number of institutions that the payoff is far less evident, including some well-known universities and liberal arts colleges.  

Click here for the article.

Here's an interesting article by Frank Bruni of the New York Times about how to measure the value of a college education.  Everyone knows which schools are the hardest to get into, but what are the factors about a college education that really impact "fulfillment?"

Bruni previews several interesting findings from the latest Gallup-Purdue study entitled Great Jobs, Great Lives.  60,000 college graduates were surveyed along five dimensions of satisfaction—relationships, health, community, economic situation and sense of purpose—with the goal of identifying whether or not where students attended school made a difference.

Long story short, the advantages for attending elite national universities and liberal arts colleges aren't that material.  Four factors that do make a difference include mentorship, job experience/internships, deep involvement in an campus organization/activity, and the amount of debt you incur post graduation.

Click here for the article.

Last night we received some clarification on letters of recommendation for UC Berkeley applicants.  Here is their statement:

Update on letters of recommendation

In April 2015, UC Berkeley adopted a new freshman admission policy. Starting with students applying to Berkeley this fall, some applicants will be invited to submit two letters of recommendation. This will be optional and not required.

To clarify, no campus of the University of California requires letters of recommendation when the admission application is submitted. However, it has long been University practice that campuses may request additional information from applicants at a later time, including letters of recommendation. If additional information is needed, applicants will be notified individually.

Click here for the specifics from UC Berkeley.

The Fall 2016 application is now available for University of California applicants.  You can begin filling out the application now, but as always, you'll need to wait until November to submit it.

Click here to access the UC application website.

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.

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