CollegeBasics.com Blog

Yes, it has been recently reported three elite colleges: Colby, Wesleyan, and Williams are making it easier for lower-income students to attend. It’s worth considering these colleges if their requisites apply to you. Why take on debt when you do n

Rereading Blink by Malcolm Gladwell reminded me again how quickly we humans make unconscious judgments. Gadwell recounts a psychological experiment that compared students’ impressions of whether or a not a professor was good from a two-second video

Of course, there is another side to our November 25th blog, and if you are college material, you know you have to make educated decisions! On November 13 the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, a nonprofit, released a report that favorably reviewed Adv

Colleges like seeing applicants who show academic rigor, and AP courses have a certain cache. Also, high schools that offer AP classes show a commitment to academics and strong community support of education, other plusses which recommend a student a

What are helicopter parents? They are parents who are always hovering. There is a lot of writing about helicopter parents today. Helicopter parents rarely know who they are when their child usually knows only too well!  If you want to know if you ar

The advice is pretty consistent: You need to visit a campus to know whether or not you really like it. The most important thing about a college visit is that it should give you a feel for the campus, its student population, the tone of the academics,

College application time is difficult, not only for students who are busy applying but also for their parents. One parent writes: So tell me why kids are applying in droves to get into these prestigious schools? Is it snobbery? Or is it that most par

We know right now seniors from all over are battling the college application, and we know it’s very stressful. But, wait! Getting into college is only half the battle because once you are in, you have to stay in--or all this stress was worth nothin

The Associated Press article that leads with: Typo on your college application may get you in may sound like a very poor piece of advice, but if you read it, it makes a lot of sense. The article is not really about making typos on your college applic

What is a major? It’s a course of study which a college asks each of its students to declare, usually by the end of their sophomore year. A major will prescribe certain courses, some prerequisites, that is, necessary courses, to take before the mor