Personal essays are one of the most important opportunities in the college admissions process because they allow you to show your individuality in a way that grades and test scores cannot. Yet many students approach the personal essay in the wrong way and unintentionally waste that opportunity. The key is to understand what a personal essay is actually meant to do, and how extracurricular activities (ECs) fit into that purpose. A personal essay is, in many ways, like an intr

Many students wonder whether AP course grades (school grades) are more important than AP exam scores administered by the College Board. The most accurate one-sentence answer is: “The relative importance depends on the school and the context.”  To understand why, it is necessary to first distinguish the nature of these two evaluations. First, AP course grades are recorded as semester grades and typically receive weighted credit, meaning they directly affect a student’s GPA. B

Many colleges place significant weight on extracurricular activities (ECs). Students sometimes ask, “ECs aren’t academic—why do they...