IvyWise Blog

Students navigating the college admissions process continue to experience unique challenges and changes, including the announcement of an entirely digital SAT, continued test-optional policies, increasing application numbers, and each student applying to more colleges on average. All of this has led to an even more competitive year at the most selective colleges in the U.S., while other schools plan to admit more students than ever before in order to manage enrollment numbers.

Superscoring is used by many colleges to evaluate your best possible performance on the SAT or ACT. What is superscoring? It’s when admissions committees consider only the highest section scores across all SAT or ACT test dates that are submitted when evaluating applications.

A letter of continued interest (often referred to as a LOCI) is a written statement that a student sends to the admissions office of a school they are still interested in attending, despite being deferred or waitlisted. Generally, these letters reiterate the student’s interest in and fit for the college in question and update the admissions office on any achievements that the student has earned since submitting their initial application.

Single-gender colleges — institutions that exclusively admit either male or female students — are often praised for their ability to empower and inspire confidence in their students. However, students may also miss out on some benefits and experiences offered by coeducational institutions. Learn more about the pros and cons to determine if a single-gender education is right for you.

The college admissions season is flying by, and before you know it early admission decisions will be released. Here’s our annual list of early admission decision notification dates!

Beginning last year, the college admissions cycle feels like more of a return to “normal.” After two years of primarily virtual college tours, many schools reopened their campuses for visitors. While remote during the COVID-19 pandemic, students applying during the 2023-24 admissions cycle have spent most of their time in high school attending in-person classes.

However, some of the college admissions changes brought about by the pandemic remain. Most notably, many schools are maintaining test-optional admissions policies. Students also still have the option to discuss how the pandemic impacted their admissions process in the Common App’s optional section.

The Common Application has announced the personal statement essay prompts for the 2025-26 admissions season.

You’ve worked hard throughout high school, hoping to be admitted into one of your top-choice colleges. You put time and effort into your application and supplements, only to find out you’ve been placed on the waitlist. Confused? You’re not alone. Fortunately, there are steps you can take in this situation.

More than 2,100 colleges and universities in the U.S. extended their test-optional policies through the 2024-25 application cycle or beyond, with some making the move to test-optional permanent. Other schools have since reinstated their standardized testing requirements.

Curious about the testing policies of the schools on your best-fit list? Check out our recently updated list.

Love ‘em or hate ‘em, standardized tests are an important part of college admissions, especially with more schools going back to requiring test scores. While test prep can certainly help you improve your score by a lot, mastering a few key skills can make all the difference when it comes to achieving your goal score on the SAT or ACT.

If you’re a college-bound high school student, you are likely already aware that it’s important to build a strong profile for college admissions. Colleges wants you to demonstrate on your application how you developed and deepened your academic interests throughout high school. A good way to do this is through academic enrichment.