It’s an exciting week for rising seniors!  Application portals for the University of California, Coalition, and Common are now open, and students can work on filling out these college applications.

As students work through these applications, it’s important to keep in mind some important tips. 

1- Have transcripts ready to go! 

This does not only apply to your high school transcripts of all your courses and grades from 9 – 11th grade, it applies to any classes you may have taken at another higher school or at a community college during the summer, and also if you took any classes online through BYU or NUVHS. Having these transcripts close by and ready to go means you can complete those sections of your college applications quickly and efficiently. 

2- Get family details from your parents in advance 

This includes your social security number, something that most students don’t have memorized yet but is important for your applications. Find out where your parents went to college if you don’t know already! This can be very important information when it comes to determining if you have legacy at a school. Another big one is to make sure you know what to list under the parent employment section as you work on your college applications.

3- Add EACH individual tests in the testing section for the Common App

Thinking about all the tests you’ve taken, which could include either the SAT or ACT, SAT Subject Tests and AP tests, talk to your counselor about which exams you’re going to include in your application. However, it is very easy to accidentally neglect a test when you’re listing them out and move on to the next section without realizing it. Your college application will show a completed section, but it may not actually be complete – so make sure you have all the tests listed out and double check before moving on. 

4- Gather information about your activities including hours, titles & responsibilities ahead of time 

You want to make sure that when you’re listing out an activity, you can include the important information such as the title of what you did, how long you did it for, what your responsibilities were and if you were part of a team or did this activity on your own. For the UC application, students have 350 characters to describe an activity or award. Use it well! 

5- Use consistent punctuation

One of the most common errors we see students make year after year is to capitalize a letter when describing an activity (Eg. I took part in Swimming) and then not capitalizing other activity names (Eg. I took part in Swimming, dance and robotics). Keep it consistent! The same goes for if you decide to list out numbers numerically (Eg. 8 hours of Robotics) or written in full (Eg. eight hours of Robotics). 

6- Choose the correct essay prompt 

This sounds like an obvious one, but we have seen many examples of students who paste their final essay into the application under the wrong essay prompt. Clearly, if this got to the college that way it wouldn’t make much sense, so just be cautious and double check your work. 

7- Review add. Info./additional comments (may not apply), discuss counselor 

This is available through the Common app, the UC app and there are some individual colleges such as the University of Washington through the Coalition app that will give you a shorter space to describe additional information about you that may not otherwise be shared in your application. This can include things like if you switched high schools in the middle of high school, if you or a family member close to you have been dealing with a health problem, if you have had a death in the family – anything that may have contributed to a change in your grades and maybe in your extracurricular activities as well. Discuss this with your counselor to see where the best place for you to talk about this is. 

8- Check Recommenders section for requirements/restrictions at each college

This will not apply to the UC or Cal State application, but it will apply to the Common application and most private schools or out of state colleges. You want to check how many teacher recommendation letters they require, and how many they allow. This will be crucial in your planning in asking for letters. 

9- Know your deadlines (ED, EA, RD)

This again may sound like an obvious thing, but you can put in the deadline in the application for when you plan to apply. If you have a top choice school that you are planning to apply to Early Decision, which is binding, you need to mark it as such. If you are applying Early Action, that may have a different deadline than if you apply in the regular round. Keeping track of these deadlines for your full college list and across all applications is very important. 

Read more: Early Decision vs. Early Action – Which to Choose?

10 – Don’t worry about what other people write! 

This is incredibly important. You want your college application to stand out, be unique to you, share you experiences and convey who YOU are. At the end of the day, the school is reading your application to decide if you are a good fit for that particular school. Writing about the things that you love will be much more interesting than writing about things that other people are doing because you’re worried about their profile being “better” than yours. You got this!

All the best,
Zach Pava and Team Insight

These interviews were conducted by Insight Senior Counselor Zach Pava.

Zach has guided hundreds of students throughout the college admissions process. His extensive writing background includes essay contributions online and in print, a sports blog, screenplays, and film reviews. Contact Insight Education today to schedule an initial consultation with Zach. Read his full bio here.

This week for College Facts Friday, we’re learning more about CalTech: California Institute of Technology! 

1. Caltech was Founded as Throop University in 1891 in Pasadena, California, and renamed the California Institute of Technology in 1920

2. The mission of the California Institute of Technology is to expand human knowledge and benefit society through research integrated with education

3. For the Class of 2022, CalTech had 8,208 applications and 231 members of the freshman class 

4. The college color for Caltech is orange (a great color, if we do say so ourselves!) 

5. Albert Einstein was a visiting professor at Caltech for three winter terms — 1931, 1932, and 1933

6. The InSight Mars Rover mission began at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory at Caltech

7. The Caltech Y is an independent organization recognized by and formally affiliated with the California Institute of Technology. Founded by students in 1916, the Caltech Y seeks to broaden students’ world-views, raise social, ethical, and cultural awareness through teamwork, community engagement, activism, and leadership. Learn more here 

8. Beginning in 2007, the campus hosted fall olive harvest festivals to collect as much as 2,600 pounds of olives from the trees along the famed Olive Walk. The olives yielded anywhere from 50 to 150 gallons of oil depending on the year

9. The Big Bang Theory, which is set at Caltech, taped an episode on campus that featured a cameo appearance by world-renowned astrophysicist Stephen Hawking

10. Keep up with Caltech on their social media channels! Visit Facebook, Twitter and Instagram for more. 

Happy Friday! Welcome back to our College Facts Friday series, this week we are looking at Dartmouth College!

1. Dartmouth’s year-round academic calendar of four 10-week terms allows you to decide when to study on campus—and when to use time away from Hanover to gain work experience, engage in service, be an intern, or study abroad. 

2. Dartmouth was founded in 1769 and is a member of the Ivy League  

3. The Motto for Dartmouth is  “Vox clamantis in deserto” which means “a voice crying out in the wilderness“

4. Green is the college color for Dartmouth, and their nickname is “Big Green”

5. Nearly 25 percent of students participate in intercollegiate athletics. Dartmouth offers 35 intercollegiate varsity sports

6. Alumni for Dartmouth include Meryl Streep, Mindy Kaling, Shonda Rhimes and Dr. Seuss!

7. Speaking of Shonda Rhimes, she delivered the commencement speech for the Class of 2014. You can watch it here!

8. For the Class of 2022, Dartmouth had 22,033 applications and 1,169 students enrolled

9. Dartmouth was the first university to create a mentoring program specifically designed to provide undergraduate women the opportunity to perform research with a faculty member in their field of interest. It’s called WISP (Women in Science Program) 

10. You can learn more about Dartmouth on their social media! Visit Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram for more information.

Welcome back to our new series here on the Insight blog called “College Facts Friday”. This week we’re looking at The University of California, Santa Cruz. 

1. UC Santa Cruz has a big focus on water conservation. Over a 20-year period in which enrollment increased 67%, water consumption increased by less than 5%

2. UC Santa Cruz houses nearly 50% of its student body on campus, a larger percentage of students than any other UC campus.

3. The University was founded in 1965

4. Ever heard of a banana slug? It’s the mascot for UC Santa Cruz! The mascot was actually changed in 1980 to a sea lion as it was considered more “dignified”. An overwhelming proslug straw vote by students in 1986 persuaded the chancellor to make the lowly but beloved Banana Slug UCSC’s official mascot.

5. UC Santa Cruz is home to several art galleries, including the Eloise Pickard Smith Gallery at Cowell College and the Mary Porter Sesnon Gallery at Porter College. Both are open to the general public.

6.UC Santa Cruz colors are navy and gold 

7. UC Santa Cruz has a “Silicon Valley Campus” located in Santa Clara. UC Santa Cruz has ambitious growth plans for its Silicon Valley Campus, with a pipeline of starting with new industry-oriented professional master’s programs planned to launch here in the
coming years.

8. There is a group called “SOMeCA” on campus, which stands for Student Organization Advising & Resources (SOAR), Student Media and Cultural Arts & Diversity, who are dedicated to the success of UC Santa Cruz’s campus-wide student organizations and government.

9. Alumni for UC Santa Cruz include actress Maya Rudolph and Andy Samberg 

10. You can learn more about UC Santa Cruz on their social media! Visit their Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube for more information.

Welcome to a new series here on the Insight blog called “College Facts Friday”. Each Friday, we’ll be posting facts about a new college! Kicking off the series is The University of Chicago. 

1. UChicago’s motto is Crescat scientia; vita excolatur – Let knowledge grow from more to more; and so be human life enriched.

2. The University was founded in 1890

3. There are 101 Nobel Prize winners from UChicago, among the highest of any universities in the world!

4. Maroon is the official UChicago color 

5. One of the most loved traditions at UChicago is “Scav”, a 72-hour search for hundreds of encrypted clues, riddles, and seemingly impossible items on campus, in Chicago, and across the country

6. Every Wednesday during the academic year, students gather in the Reynolds Club for “Dollar Shake Days”. It’s just $1 for a delicious milkshake, complete with free toppings

7. UChicago has a “Dean on Call” program which provides students with the resource of a University administrator, who is on call and can be reached 24 hours a day, 7 days a week

8. The University of Chicago announced in 2018 that it was dropping the requirement that all undergraduate applicants submit SAT or ACT scores

9. UChicago invites students to submit a two-minute video introduction of themselves as part of their college application

10. You can learn more about UChicago on their social media! Visit their Twitter, Instagram and YouTube for more information! 

Recently I had the pleasure of attending an information session and campus tour at Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. A private Jesuit university and tier 1 research institution, BC has approximately 9,300 undergraduate and 5,000 graduate students.  About 1/3 of all undergrads are engaged in research with a professor on campus, and the university works hard to encourage students to stay passionate as they become involved global citizens through the core curriculum.

While approximately 6,000 students apply to the Morrissey College of Arts & Science, BC also offers three competitive pre-professional schools: The Carroll School of Management, the Lynch School of Education and Human Development, and the Connell School of Nursing. Every applicant applies to a specific school at BC, but choose wisely. While it’s relatively easy to transfer out of the preprofessional programs, it’s exceptionally difficult to transfer from Arts & Sciences into the Business, Education, and Nursing schools.  However, if you are unsure of your academic focus, don’t worry! You can change your major repeatedly as needed, and Undeclared remains one of the most popular choices among applicants.

The average class size at Boston College is 27, with the largest intro classes capping at around 300 students. That said, even the biggest sections will often break into much smaller groups, and a number of more specialized classes have a max of 10-15 students. In other words, any student can find the right class size to match his or her learning style.  The average BC student spends about 15-16 hours a week in the classroom, leaving time to explore the beautiful campus and surrounding areas as well. Students in Lynch have opportunities to teach during senior year, and Connell students can join Boston’s world-renowned medical community upon graduation. 

At BC, 60% of freshman live on upper campus, while the other 40% live on the satellite campus in Newton.  That campus is only a short 5-10 minute bus ride from the main campus, and has its own chapel, gym, library, and green fields to study, toss a frisbee, or hurl a snowball when the weather changes.

While there is no officially recognized Greek life at BC, Division 1 sports play a large role in the culture. The women’s lacrosse team recently competed in their third consecutive national championship game, and the men’s basketball program has sent over 25 players to the NBA. Just outside of Alumni Stadium stands a statue of Heisman trophy winner Doug Flutie as he launches his Hail Mary to beat Miami, still one of the most famous plays in the history of college football.  While D1 athletes are typically recruited to BC, the school also has club sports and intramural offerings for every level of athlete.

Some other highlights and fun facts about the university:

– Each student is assigned a personal librarian during their freshman year

– The popular Freshmen League allows student to learn the ropes of BC from mentors or “captains” and includes monthly outings in Boston.

– The center of Fulton Hall was modeled after The Wizard of Oz. A cone-shaped light fixture is the same silver color at the Tin Man, the floor design resembles the yellow brick road, and rumor has it that the writing on a bench (in Latin) translates to “There’s no place like home.”

– The Bapst Library is known in some circles as the Harry Potter library because of its strong resemblance to Hogwarts, and notable scenes from the movie franchise.

– Linden Lane, named because of its linden trees, is the sight of a torch ceremony at commencement and later upon graduation, when graduates are told to “Go set the world aflame!”

– BC is mile 21 of the world famous Boston Marathon, and students have a front row seat as runners complete the brutal Heartbreak Hill and inch closer to the finish line.

This fall, Boston College will be shifting from its traditional Early Action offering to binding opportunities for high school seniors to apply either Early Decision 1 (by November 1^st) or Early Decision 2 (by January 1^st).  While the goal is to accept no more than 40% of its incoming class from the early rounds, ED will nonetheless give a bump to students who choose to demonstrate that level of interest in BC.  Even if you are planning to apply Regular Decision, it’s still worth submitting by November 1^st, because you will be automatically considered for BC’s only merit-based scholarship, the Presidential Scholars Program. 15 students are selected annually to receive a free ride, so don’t delay!

Beyond the magnificent campus and outstanding academics, one story has stayed with me. A rising BC senior told visitors about one of his most memorable classes. On the first day of class, his professor handed out the syllabus to students. It was a blank sheet of paper. The student wondered if she had made an error. Instead, this blank page would become the course syllabus, and she wanted everyone’s involvement. Each student was instructed to write one thing that he or she wanted to learn in the class. The paper was passed around, row by row. That night, the professor typed up their ideas, tied a syllabus together, added resources, including text reading and videos, and outlined the next few months of learning.  It was an eye-opening experience for the student, as he realized immediately that BC truly cares.

Go Eagles!

Did you enjoy this blog? Checkout some of our other Insight to College blog posts: 

An Insight to MIT

An Insight to UMass

I recently had the opportunity to attend the SuperACAC conference in Phoenix, Arizona. As a proud Canadian, what pleasantly surprised me most was how many Canadian universities participated in the college fair and the targeted presentations, confirming their commitment to increasing the volume of applications they receive from the United States. All-in-all the participating universities included the University of British Columbia, Ryerson University, The University of Waterloo, The University of Toronto, and McGill University.

The University of British Columbia presented about Varsity athletics in Canadian universities and it was interesting to discover how different the rules are for Canadian Varsity athletes when compared to NCAA athletes. U Sports (usports.ca) is the name of the governing body for university sports in Canada. When comparing themselves to NCAA Divisions, they stressed that Canadian varsity sports can be equated to NCAA Division 1.5. Interestingly though, Simon Fraser University is a member of the NCAA. One distinct difference that can’t be overlooked is the fact that Canadian Varsity athletes can sign endorsement deals without violating any U Sports rules. An extra bonus for international students who study in Canada is that they can work part time while they study, incorporate paid work into their course of study and legally remain and work in the country for up to three years after graduation.

Students at the University of British Columbia are members of a community of 44,000 undergraduate students from 162 countries. Located 20 minutes from downtown Vancouver, the UBC campus is located near the ocean and surrounded by a beautiful rainforest. The natural beauty can’t be beat! UBC offers 41 undergraduate degree programs and 73% of its students in a co-op program, study abroad, research, or exchange program. The Faculty of Engineering offers majors in Biomedical Engineering, Computer & Electrical Engineering, Mechanical Engineering and more plus various business degrees and a computer science degree from the School of Arts and Sciences. Located in the Pacific Time Zone and only 2 hours by plane from San Francisco, UBC is perfect for students who live on the west coast of the United States.

Ryerson University is making a big push as an entrepreneurial hub at the intersection of business and technology while leveraging their downtown Toronto campus location in the heart of Canada’s business capital. The DMZ, Ryerson’s business incubator, is ranked as one of the top university incubators in North America. With 133 partner universities across 37 countries, Ryerson is committed to continuing to grow its global presence. Although Ryerson’s international student community is small, it is steadily growing.

Waterloo has staff permanently based on the West Coast of the United States as they continue to leverage their exceptional reputation in Silicon Valley as a tech university which isn’t surprising since Waterloo has the largest engineering school in Canada with over 10,000 students enrolled in 2018. The School of Engineering is a big supporter of giving their students exposure to a business education as well with options to learn entrepreneurship and conduct a capstone project that melds engineering and business thinking. Over 700 start-us have ties to the University of Waterloo. One year of study at Waterloo for an international student, room and board and other expenses included, is estimated to cost approximately US$35,000 which is slightly less than the in-state cost to attend a University of California campus. At Waterloo, the most popular majors for American applicants are Computer Science and Electrical & Computer Engineering.

The University of Toronto continues to leverage its position as the top school in Canada, boasting 700 undergraduate programs and the second largest worldwide volume of research produced at a research university. Toronto is a safe, cosmopolitan city that welcomes people from every corner of the globe so international students adapt quickly to life at U of T. The downtown location is particularly appealing to internationals who want to live in the heart of a big city surrounded by 88,000 students. International fees for the University of Toronto are quite high compared to their Canadian peers. For example, one year of study in the Faculty of Engineering starts at US$44,282 for international students. This would take cost savings out of the equation for most American applicants.

McGill University is located in one of my favourite cities: Montreal. If spending your undergraduate years in a little piece of Europe (in North America) appeals to you, you will love McGill. Granted the winters can be tough but Fall, Spring and Summer are gorgeous. More importantly, the university is internationally respected with students from over 150 countries. McGill’s entering first-year students boast the highest average high school entry GPA of any Canadian institution and McGill proudly claims 145 Rhodes Scholars as their alums. With 41,000 students and 300 programs of study across two campuses, there is something for everyone at McGill. International students also feel at home here with 31% of McGill students hailing from outside Canada.

Every Canadian university was playing up the cost factor at the SuperACAC conference since with the current Canadian Dollar exchange rates, four years of study at an elite Canadian university may provide significant cost savings when compared to four years at their peer schools in the United States. Coupled with English language instruction and degrees that are fully recognized in the United States I think we will continue to see more and more American and International students choose Canada when deciding where to spend their four years of undergraduate life.

As a University of Toronto Alum and a proud Torontonian/Canadian I would encourage everyone to seriously consider applying to and attending a Canadian university. Adapting to life in Canada, as an American teenager, is not hard. While some cities do suffer with some challenging winter weather, the opportunities to study internationally on multicultural and diverse cosmopolitan campuses can’t be beat. And your degree, education and experiences are fully recognized in the United States!

Happy Canada Day Everyone!