Blogs & Latest News

Planning for College: What to do Now Spring is Here?

The road to submitting your college applications is a long one. The students with the best outcomes are those that have been working towards their applications throughout high school so in this article I’m going to look at what students from different grades should be doing during the next few months.

Read More »
Top Tier College Admissions Counseling
Admissions

Waitlisted: What does it mean for you?

If you have applied to colleges and universities in the United States, you should now know which have accepted you and which have not offered you a place. For some, there will be a third category where the college has put the student on a waitlist. If the college is your top choice college, then being on a waitlist can feel like being in purgatory, somewhere between heaven and hell. Read on to find out how you can judge your odds of being admitted off the waitlist and what you can do to improve your chances.

Read More »

Should I study for a psychology degree?

Have you ever looked up at the clouds and seen animals in the shapes, or wondered why you catch somebody else’s yawn, perhaps you have felt sudden pangs of hunger as you have walked past a fast food outlet? If that sounds like you and you are interested in why you do these things, then maybe a degree in psychology is for you!

Read More »

Greek Life: An American Tradition

For most international students the idea of fraternities and sororities is something they come across in films set on US colleges. Dating back to the early 1700’s fraternities and sororities have grown into an American tradition, with a presence on campuses across the country. In this article I will explain what they are, the benefits of ‘pledging’, and concerns that many have about them.

Read More »

All Change for the SAT… But Not Yet.

The SAT, together with its near relation, the ACT, has been a feature of college applications for many years. As a result of the COVID pandemic most US colleges have moved to a ‘Test Optional’ application format, meaning that applicants can choose whether to submit an SAT or ACT score without it affecting their chances of acceptance. This test optional format remains in place with most colleges for the 2022/23 round of applications and some colleges, including some of the most prestigious, have already announced that this will be the case for the following two application rounds.

All of this has led to questions being asked about the future of standardised tests and if they are needed. The University of California colleges announced last year that they will no longer consider SAT or ACT scores when making application decisions and an increasing number of colleges have followed a similar route.

In an attempt to reinvigorate the SAT, the College Board, which owns the SAT, announced at the end of January that, following a trial in November 2021, they are going to make significant changes to the SAT and the way it is administered.

Read More »

Should I do a Business degree?

Business degrees of one description or another are probably the most common undergraduate degrees in the world and are likely to remain very popular with students for many years to come. The reasons for this are numerous, but common themes for why students choose this are its relevance to the world they see around them and an expectation of a strong jobs market with plenty of opportunity for advancement during their working career. Some of those I speak to have more focused areas of business that attract them, entrepreneurship probably being the most common.

In this article, I’m going to explain about the different types of Business degrees and what you might study if you decide to pursue one, before going on to look at what careers you might choose to go into if you graduate with a degree in Business.

Read More »

What is a Portfolio? Who should submit one?

A Portfolio is a collection of your personal work. This could be in the form of fine art, digital art, creative writing pieces, or performing arts such as music compositions, monologues, dance choreography – the list isn’t exhaustive, but it usually tends to fall under these categories. 

Read More »

F1 Student Visa: The Basics

As an International student, you will be applying for a Non-Immigrant Visa. This means that you will not be allowed to ‘work’ in the US (excluding internships/co-ops which are practical/experiential opportunities – more on this in my future blog). While Student Visas can be received up to 120 days prior to the beginning of the course date, you are only allowed to enter the United States more than 30 days before this date

Read More »

College Setting and Location Matter

In a previous blog, I gave five tips to help students find their perfect college match. In the article, I asked students to reflect on what they need around them to flourish, by which I meant what do they need, to feel comfortable during their time living at college. In this blog I’m going to explore this further by looking in more detail about just one aspect that students should consider, how does the setting and location of a college contribute to the college experience.

Read More »

What’s an ‘Extracurricular Spike’?

When I meet with students to review their extracurricular activities for the first time, many are curious about whether or not they should focus on a single activity until they apply to college. I think for anyone considering an application to US universities, this is an important aspect to consider given the ‘holistic’ nature of the admissions processes, that is, thinking about how diverse your ECs should be.

Read More »

Five Steps to Help You Find Your Perfect College Match

If you decide that going to college or university is what you want to do after high school, this article is for you. Choosing which college or university to attend is a difficult one. There are so many options to choose from! This article will show you the five steps to help you narrow down your choices to a manageable number that you can apply to. It does not matter if you apply to institutions in the United States, United Kingdom, Australia, or any other part of the world; these steps will help you.

Read More »

21st Century Skills

Over recent years a new terminology has been spreading through the worlds of education and business, 21st Century Skills. In this blog, I’m going to explain where this terminology comes from, just what they are and why they are important for young people today.

Read More »

What are AP Tests and should I do them?

In a recent webinar Ivy Central did with students there were lots of questions about AP Tests, unfortunately, we didn’t have time to explain about them in detail so hopefully this article will fill the gaps.

Read More »
Admissions

What Happened in the Early Round of Applications 2021/22

The run up to the Christmas and New Year holidays is always interesting as it is when we start to get an indication as to how the college application round is shaping up. This time last year I was writing about the record number of applications to the elite colleges against a small overall increase in numbers applying to college in the 2020/21 early application round. Early indications for the 2021/22 application round suggest that this year has seen an increase in the overall number of applications, but that many elite colleges have reported a drop in applicants. In this article, I will try to unpick some of this data to see what it tells us.

Read More »

Deferred! What do you do next?

When you apply to your top choice college in the early application round you will get one of three responses, accepted (yippee), rejected (boo) or deferred (what?). In this article I’m going to explore what it means if you are deferred and more importantly what to do about it.

Read More »