Category: College Admissions

Applying to college in a senior year can be a daunting time. Just as soon as you’re done with your homework in Math and English, it’s almost evening, and you still have your lab report to finish…And after that’s done, you realize you still haven’t gotten started on your common app essay! You may have […]

You’ve probably been eyeing a lot of top picks from Brown to Columbia, and you’ve probably been thinking a lot about how to increase your probability of acceptance. After you’ve maintained top grades, brainstormed the best essay topics, and gotten started on a polished personal statement, what else is there left to do? The next […]

Have an essay topic in mind, but wondering if it’ll do you good? Stuck on what to write and don’t know where to begin? Here’s Cardinal Education’s list of 10 essay topics/styles on which you most likely don’t want to start. #1: The Sports Essay Perhaps you play a sport. Perhaps you play it well. […]

You’re working on your GPA, you’ve studied hard for tests, you’re brainstorming for a balanced college list…What’s your next step on the path to the college of your dreams? Well, next, you have to secure good letters of recommendation from your teachers! Here is Cardinal Education’s advice on the importance of recommendation letters, and how […]

Do you have a dream school you’re sold on, and hardly want to look anywhere else? Do you have so many colleges you want that you can hardly decide? Or do you have no idea where to start at all? No matter what your college list situation is, Cardinal Education is here to help. Here […]

Each spring, students decide which classes to take during the upcoming year. What many students do not realize is the classes chosen freshman year can affect which classes are available senior year. It is important to research your options and carefully select which classes to take. This article will discuss common choices students face and […]

The alarming trend of dwindling college acceptance rates creates pressure in every aspect of students’ lives. Because college admissions has become so competitive, students are led to believe that even something as simple as choosing which extracurricular activities to participate in may wind up being the difference between acceptance and rejection senior year. They stress […]

Editor’s Note: This article is the fourth in our four-part series Demographic Factors in College Admissions This question has become increasingly more difficult to answer.  According to a study performed by Princeton Professor Thomas J. Espenshade, the admissions advantage for underrepresented minority groups can be quite substantial.  However, the reasons for the leg-up in the […]

Editor’s Note: This article is the third in our four-part series Demographic Factors in College Admissions The answer: Not quite.  But the admissions process at top tier universities may be more skewed than you think.  Asian Americans in particular are facing seemingly insurmountable odds in their quest to gain acceptance to elite universities.  In fact, […]

Every year, public school students in California are tested through the Standardized Testing and Reporting program, commonly known as STAR testing.  Parents receive their child’s results, which slot that child into one of 5 categories: Advanced, Proficient, Basic, Below Basic, and Far Below Basic.  Most parents perceive a child’s scores falling in the Advanced range […]

Junior year is almost over, and it’s come time again to pick classes for next year. Your student looks over all the choices before them for the last time in their high school career. “Remember,” you say, “you’ll need to be working on your college applications this fall!” “I know, I know,” they absentmindedly reply […]

Beyond the revealing the scope and audacity, this year in college admissions reinforced something we at Cardinal Education always knew to be true: the opacity of the admissions process. As colleges become increasingly selective and students must compete even harder to gain admission to the nation’s top universities, admissions boards continue to use a byzantine […]