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    A Resurgence for the SAT and ACT?

    David Petersam

    Don’t look now, but the ACT and SAT tests could be on a bit of a comeback from the brink of irrelevance. This New York Times editorial seems to be sparking renewed discussion about bringing back the standardized test requirement...

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    UVA Admits 25% of Early Decision Applicants

    David Petersam

    The University of Virginia admitted 1,113, or 24.9%, of its 4,466 early decision (ED) applicants as the school begins to assemble its Class of 2028. This year’s ED applicant pool eclipsed last year’s record pool of 4,243 applications by 5.3%....

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    Harvard Early Applications are Down 17%

    David Petersam

    Early action (EA) applications to Harvard University dropped 17% to a four-year low. The school admitted 692 of its 7,921 EA applications for an acceptance rate of 8.7% which is a bit higher than last year’s 7.6% EA acceptance rate...

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    UC Berkeley Sued for Alleged Antisemitism

    David Petersam

    UC Berkeley is being sued by Jewish groups for alleged “longstanding, unchecked antisemitism.” This is one of the first such lawsuits to be filed against an American university since the start of the current war between Hamas and Israel. There...

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    Harvard Nabs 9 Rhodes Scholarships

    David Petersam

    Harvard University has always done well when it comes to Rhodes Scholarships. The prestigious university has historically performed very well in many other ways as well of course. However, this year, Harvard may have outdone itself. Of the 32 Rhodes...

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    West Point Sued for Using Race in Admissions

    David Petersam

    West Point has been accused by Students for Fair Admissions of illegally using race as a determining admissions factor. The lawsuit accuses West Point of violating the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment and comes months after the Supreme Court’s ruling against affirmative...

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    US News 2024 College Rankings

    David Petersam

    US News released their 2024 college rankings, their first since their methodology revision. The revisions appeared didn’t affect the top of the rankings. Princeton extended its streak as the top-ranked college to thirteen years. MIT occupies second place this year....

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    SAT Tests Canceled for Chicago Area Students

    David Petersam

    The College Board canceled the SAT test for hundreds of Chicago-area students on short notice. The students were scheduled to take the test on Saturday at the Chicago International Charter School just north of the Lincoln Park neighborhood. The College...

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    The move to end legacy admissions

    David Petersam

    In a seemingly knee-jerk reaction to the Supreme Court’s affirmative action decision earlier this month, the move to end legacy admissions has shifted into high gear. So far, Occidental College and Wesleyan University are the two highly ranked colleges that...

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    Stanford University President to Resign

    David Petersam

    Stanford University president Marc Tessier-Lavigne announced earlier today that he will resign effective August 31. His resignation follows the release of a report that looked into allegations he failed to correct mistakes in his academic publishings as well as allegations...

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    US News Changes Rankings Methodology

    David Petersam

    US News announced some changes to its college rankings methodology. This is most likely in response to the pushback the publisher received from both law schools and medical schools. While US News historically releases its college rankings in September, the...

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    The Best Undergraduate Business Schools

    David Petersam

    Poets & Quants published their 2023 undergraduate business school rankings. The top five undergrad business programs are USC Marshall, Georgetown McDonough, UPenn Wharton, UVA McIntire, and Notre Dame Mendoza, respectively. Many high schoolers dream of studying business when they get...

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    The Three-Year Bachelor’s Degree

    David Petersam

    Representatives from a dozen colleges recently met at Georgetown University to lower the costs of a college education. What makes their proposal particularly intriguing is that it involves creating a “true” three-year bachelor’s degree. By “true,” we mean a degree...

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    Harvard’s Class of 2027

    David Petersam

    Harvard University announced its Class of 2027 and, hopefully to the surprise of no one, its acceptance rate remained very low. The prestigious Ivy League school accepted 1,942 applicants between its early action and regular decision rounds from 56,937 applications....

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    2023 US News College Rankings

    David Petersam

    US News & World Report released its 2023 college rankings earlier this evening and Princeton University maintained its stranglehold on the top spot for the twelfth consecutive year. However, one did not have to look far to find changes to...

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    Princeton expands its full-ride scholarships!

    David Petersam

    Princeton University announced it will offer full-ride scholarships to all applicants from families with incomes below $100,000. Previously, Princeton only offered these scholarships to admitted applicants from families with incomes below $65,000. To be clear, these full-ride scholarships will include...

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    Drop in Applications to Air Force Academy

    David Petersam

    Applications to the US Air Force Academy have been dropping at an alarming rate. While many other elite schools have seen record increases in applications, the military service academies have seen the opposite. Applications to the USAFA declined 28% last...

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    Fraternities Cutting Ties with USC

    David Petersam

    We don’t usually cover Greek fraternities and sororities. In fact, this may be the first-ever post on the topic for a company started in 1996! However, here we are. Let’s start a year ago, when USC banned all fraternity activities...

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    SAT and ACT Illegal in California?

    David Petersam

    A lawsuit filed in California Superior Court claims the use of the SAT and ACT tests is illegal for the University of California system. The case explains that standardized tests are biased and of little relevance when predicting academic success...

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    UC In-State Acceptance Rates Rebound

    David Petersam

    The University of California in-state acceptance rates rebounded in 2022 and, overall, were a bit above the in-state acceptance rates of 2019. This increase came even with an increase in applications to the University of California system and demonstrates the...

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    The Beginning of an SAT Comeback?

    David Petersam

    If you are against standardized tests such as the SAT, which just about everyone outside the test prep industry seems to be, you might be happy to hear that over 1,700 US colleges and universities will not be requiring the...

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    UVA Announces Class of 2026 ED Statistics

    David Petersam

    The University of Virginia announced that 1,109 applicants in the early decision round were admitted for its Class of 2026. The number of first-generation admits increased 68% just from last year. Nearly 3,500 ED applications were received this fall and...

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    Stanford Extends Test Optional Admissions

    David Petersam

    Stanford University announced it is extending its test-optional admissions policy for a third consecutive year in 2022-2023. The policy will apply to both freshmen and transfer applicants. The test-optional policy traces its origin to the COVID-19 outbreak and may be...

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    Amherst College Eliminates Legacy Admissions

    David Petersam

    Amherst College announced it has eliminated admissions preferences for legacy applicants. Currently, 11% of Amherst’s admits are legacy applicants and the policy had been in place since the 1920s. Amherst has always maintained that the legacy admits adhered to the...

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    2022 US News Best College Rankings

    David Petersam

    US News & World Report released its 2022 college rankings today and Princeton University held the top spot for the eleventh consecutive year. There was a three-way tie for second place between Columbia, Harvard, and MIT. Yale rounded out the...

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    Over 2/3 of colleges are test optional this year

    David Petersam

    For quite some time now, we have been blogging about the increasing trend of colleges becoming test-optional. According to the Times of India, over 1,600 US colleges are now test-optional and that represents over two-thirds of the country’s 2,330 bachelor-degree...

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    Stanford Ranked as Most Selective

    David Petersam

    Niche.com ranked Stanford University as the most selective university for 2022. With a 4% acceptance rate and a widespread, national appeal, it’s easy to see how the school earned the top spot for this metric. However, please take this ranking...

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    The SAT’s Downsizing

    Milan G

    The big news in college admissions this week is the College Board’s announcement that it is discontinuing its subject tests and the 50-minute essay section of its flagship SAT test. This announcement was not surprising and, in our not-so-humble opinion,...

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    Sports and College Admissions

    David Petersam

    Parents of younger children often ask us what sport should their child play to maximize their college admission chances. It’s a great question. Unfortunately, it doesn’t have a great answer. That is if you define ‘great’ with a specific one-word...

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    Yale Admits 10.5% of Record EA Applicant Pool

    David Petersam

    Yale University admitted 10.5% of a record 7,939 early action applicant pool for the Class of 2025. This represented a 38% increase in the early action applicant pool of 5,777 from last year. Director of Undergraduate Admissions Jeremiah Quinlan announced,...

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    From Test Optional To Test Free

    David Petersam

    The Washington Post published an article about whether or not the pandemic-driven move to test optional will lead to permanent test-free admission. In other words, will colleges drop the SAT and ACT requirements after the pandemic ends? We will stick...

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    2021 US News Best College Rankings

    David Petersam

    US News & World Report released its 2021 college rankings. Princeton, Harvard, and Columbia took the top three spots, respectively, in the national university rankings. Among liberal arts colleges, Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore took the top three spots, respectively. In...

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    Yale Sees Record Number of Gap Years

    David Petersam

    Yale University saw a nearly sevenfold increase to 341 students who took gap years in the incoming Class of 2024. By comparison, only 51 students in the Class of 2023 chose to pursue gap years. This reduced the number of...

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    2020-2021 Common Application Launches August 1

    David Petersam

    The 2020-2021 Common Application launches tomorrow, August 1. The launch shouldn’t surprise parents who have previously worked with older offspring. The three main differences are the letter of reference mechanism has received a face lift, a new mobile app will...

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    The ACT Test’s Nightmare Weekend

    David Petersam

    Unfortunately, this weekend was a nightmare for many prospective college applicants. And not for the reasons that would probably jump to your mind immediately that may relate to the pandemic or the widespread civil unrest. Nope. This nightmare was strictly...

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    Dropping the “Lee” from Washington & Lee

    David Petersam

    Faculty at Washington and Lee University voted to drop Robert E. Lee’s name from the school. Three tenured African-American faculty members voted to drop both Lee’s and Washington’s names from the school. Economics professor Jim Casey explained the rationale behind...

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    Harvard University Yield Drops to 81%

    David Petersam

    The admissions yield at Harvard University, which peaked at nearly 84% last year has dropped to 81% for the Class of 2024. While we have worried a drop was possible due to the extremely liberal leanings of the university and...

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    Johns Hopkins Drops Legacy Admissions

    David Petersam

    Johns Hopkins made some waves when they announced they had quietly dropped their legacy admissions a few years ago. Furthermore, the school announced it was pleased with the results. The school claimed it was able to increase its diversity without...

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    Harvard EA Acceptance Rate Climbs to 13.9%

    David Petersam

    Harvard University announced the early acceptance rate for its Class of 2024 climbed to 13.9%. Harvard admitted 895 of its 6,424 EA applicants yesterday. The 0.5% EA acceptance rate increase was the first increase since 2013. While Harvard admitted fewer...

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    UGA Received Over 16,500 EA Applications

    David Petersam

    The University of Georgia received 16,585 early admission applications for the Class of 2024. This was down just a bit from last year. However, due to a projected increase in applications, the EA acceptance rate dropped to 42.4%. The mid...

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    So What’s Your Next Step?

    David Petersam

    Our college admissions timeline has been updated for recommended applicant activities for November and December to help you stay on the right path whether you are a current applicant or prospective applicant for next year. As always, please don’t hesitate...

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    Changes Coming to the ACT Test Next Fall

    David Petersam

    The ACT announced some major changes to its test starting in September 2020. In efforts to make the test more “applicant friendly” — and more competitive in the standardized testing market — the ACT will allow students to retake individual...

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    Cornell Drop SAT Subject Test Requirement

    David Petersam

    Cornell University‘s College of Arts and Sciences announced that, with the “broad support” of its faculty, it was dropping the SAT Subject Test requirement. And, with that announcement, Cornell no longer requires the SAT Subject Test. (The subject tests are...

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    Felicity Huffman Sentenced to 14 Days

    David Petersam

    Felicity Huffman was sentenced to 14 days of prison time for her role in the college admissions scandal that has dominated news headlines for the past six months. She was also fined $30,000, placed on a one-year probation and must...

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    The 2020 US News College Rankings

    David Petersam

    US News and World Report has released its 2020 college rankings. For the ninth consecutive year, Princeton University held the top spot. Rounding out the top five were Harvard (second) and Columbia, MIT and Yale which all tied for third...

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    Ending Legacy College Admissions

    David Petersam

    The New York Times published an editorial that calls for ending the current system of legacy admissions. For the record, let us unequivocally state that we too are against legacy admissions. To the surprise of almost no one, most Americans...

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    Colorado College Becomes Test Optional

    David Petersam

    Colorado College announced it has become a test optional school for all applicants (freshmen and transfers) effective with applicants for the Fall 2020 term. Up until now, Colorado College employed a ‘flexible testing’ admissions model. In other words, applicants had...

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    Our College Book Reviews Have Been Updated

    David Petersam

    We updated our college book review pages. We have reviews for books related to the college selection process, SAT test prep, SAT Subject Test prep, ACT prep, Advanced Placement prep, PSAT prep, financial aid and college success. Several times a year,...

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    Updating Our School Profile Pages

    David Petersam

    When we haven’t been talking to applicants, we’ve been very busy updating the 75 school profiles of our top national universities, liberal arts colleges and pubic universities. While we update each individual profile at least three times per year, the...

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    Penn’s Transfer Acceptance Rate Dropped to 5.9%

    David Petersam

    The University of Pennsylvania received a record 2,951 transfer applications this past admission season. Consequently, the school also a record-low transfer acceptance rate of 5.9%. Of the 174 transfer applicants admitted, 116 will enroll this fall. Hence, Penn’s transfer yield...

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    College Merger Trend Continues

    David Petersam

    Rowan College and Cumberland County College officially merged earlier today. The new college’s name is Rowan College of South Jersey. This merger is just the latest in a trend of mergers of smaller colleges. Financial pressures and declining enrollments are...

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    Feds Investigating the Harvard Fencing Scandal

    David Petersam

    There is no shortage of federal investigations into the college admissions scandals. This time, a federal grand jury is investigating the admissions scandal at Harvard involving the fencing coach. It seems embattled head fencing coach Peter Brand now has more...

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    SAT Biology Subject Test Leaked

    David Petersam

    The College Board can’t seem to catch a break. Most recently, their adversity score didn’t exactly get the warm reception they must have anticipated. Now, we learn that the SAT Biology Subject Test was leaked. Bob Schaeffer, of the National...

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    The College Admissions Scandal: Act Two

    David Petersam

    Over the weekend, the New York Times reported the FBI is investigating the T.M. Landry College Preparatory School. If the name sounds familiar, it’s the private school in Louisiana that boasts of how many minority and underprivileged students it gets...

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    UVA Adds Early Decision Option

    David Petersam

    Earlier today, the University of Virginia announced it was adding an early decision option for applicants beginning this fall. The application deadline will be October 15 and the notification deadline will be December 15. Furthermore, if you submit your financial...

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    The School of Data Science at UVA

    David Petersam

    The University of Virginia is one step closer to opening its School of Data Science. Yesterday, the school’s Faculty Senate approved the school’s general structure. Consequently, the next step is to gain approval from the State Council of Higher Education...

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    Evaluating the Classic Learning Test

    David Petersam

    Yesterday’s Wall Street Journal article about a new competitor to the SAT and ACT generated a lot of buzz. Additionally, it generated a lot of questions to us. The questions were mostly variants of, “Should my student take it?” First,...

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    Bribes for In-State Tuition

    David Petersam

    The press is loving this. A seemingly endless cycle of college admissions scam news that currently captures the public’s attention. So, yesterday, federal prosecutors announced a former registrar at Delaware State University admitted to accepting $70,000 in bribes. Crystal Barr,...

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    The Admissions Scandal Comes to Harvard

    David Petersam

    It seems Harvard University has become embroiled in its own college admissions scandal. Earlier this week, Harvard learned of a questionable real estate transaction involving its fencing coach. Various media claim the coach, Peter Brand, sold his home for nearly...

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    Yale Admits 5.9% of Its Class of 2023

    David Petersam

    Yale University admitted 2,178 applicants out of a record pool of 36,843. Consequently, its acceptance rate dropped to 5.9% from 6.3% last year. These admitted applicants represent all 50 states as well as Washington, DC and Puerto Rico. They also...

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    Cornell Admits 10.6% of Its Class of 2023

    David Petersam

    Cornell University extended admissions offers to 5,183 students a few hours ago. Cornell received 49,118 applications for its Class of 2023. This was a slight decline from last year’s 51,328 from prospective members of its Class of 2022. However, Cornell...

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    USC Acceptance Rate Hits Record Low

    David Petersam

    The University of Southern California received over 67,000 applications for its Class of 2023. This year, the acceptance rate fell to 11%. For historic perspective, the acceptance rate was in the mid 40% in the late 1990s. Two years ago,...

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    Early Lessons from the College Cheating Scandal

    David Petersam

    Tomorrow marks the one-week anniversary of the massive college admissions scandal announcement. While the dust is obviously still settling, we see three early lessons, or takeaways. First, testing accommodations will likely become even harder to obtain. This one hurts. For...

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    The Largest College Admissions Scam Ever Prosecuted

    David Petersam

    What happened “The largest college admissions scam ever prosecuted.” Those aren’t our words. That is a direct quote from United States attorney, Andrew Lelling. The forty arrested participants read like a “who’s who” of Hollywood stars and wealthy executives. (Felicity...

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    Hackers Tried to Sell Admissions Files

    David Petersam

    It seems hackers broke into three college databases and tried to sell the application feedback to the applicants. The three colleges were Grinnell, Hamilton and Oberlin. Furthermore, the main commonality appears to be that all three liberal arts colleges use...

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    Princeton Class of 2023 Applications Drop 7.3%

    David Petersam

    Princeton University applications for the Class of 2023 dropped 7.3%. However, the 32,808 applications still represents the second highest application volume in the school’s history. We believe the drop is inconsequential. Furthermore, we believe Princeton will admit yet another very...

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    The Role of Race in College Admissions

    David Petersam

    First of all, we strive to be politically neutral. We seek to avoid controversy. Furthermore, we simply wish to report facts. However, with all the recent news involving race in college admissions, we decided to address this in a blog....

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    Harvard Reports Record Applicant Pool for Class of 2023

    David Petersam

    Applications to Harvard University rose 1.4% to a record of 43,330. International applications remained strong. Additionally, the application growth was strong in the South. Harvard also reported minority applications increased. Not surprisingly, applications from prospective computer science majors experienced the...

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    Don’t Believe Everything You Read

    David Petersam

    We received a call from an ambitious mother. She asked which vacation would be best for her daughter’s college applications. It was a bit of an unusual query. Consequently, after some open-ended questions, we learned the mother read an article...

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    ACT Study Finds Rural Students at a Disadvantage

    David Petersam

    According to the ACT’s latest report, “Rural Students: Technology, Coursework and Extracurricular Activities,” rural students suffer a distinct disadvantage. The lack of high-speed, broadband Internet access is hindering rural students. Specifically, this is affecting their ability to participate in online...

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    Hampshire College Likely to Close Soon

    David Petersam

    Hampshire College, a small private liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts opened in 1970. And it may be closing soon. This past Friday, its board of trustees voted not to accept an incoming class for this fall. However, the school...

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    Accused ACT test takers can now sue

    David Petersam

    Somerset County Judge Michael Rogers of New Jersey has ruled that a New Jersey teen can sue the ACT and the clause that limits test takers to binding arbitration (thus forfeiting their right to sue) is “unconscionable” and “void as...

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    The 2019-2020 Common Application Essay Questions

    David Petersam

    The Common Application announced earlier today that the 2019-2020 common application essay questions will remain the same again this year. The organization cited “extensive counselor feedback” and “the added benefit of consistency” as the main reasons. For whatever it’s worth,...

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    Georgia Tech Released Its Early Action Decisions

    David Petersam

    Georgia Tech released its Class of 2023 early action decisions and admitted about 4,000 applicants. EA applications rose 12% to 20,289 and the in-state and out-of-state acceptance rates were 39.6% and 14%, respectively. Early action isn’t binding and, historically, Georgia...

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