How did we make this course? What practices and methods did we use when we applied to college? Why were they successful, and what can you learn from them?

What is the holistic admissions process? Why is it so important? How can you use it to your advantage?

What will this course teach you, and how will it improve your results when applying to college?

What are the three kinds of schools? Why is this distinction important? What do they tell us about the application process?

How do you create a good list of schools to apply to? How do you find the right reaches, targets, and safeties for you? What should you avoid doing when creating your list, and how can it hurt your applications?

What are all of the different admissions policies colleges use? What makes them different?

What are the advantages of early decision? What makes it risky? Who should do early decision, and who should avoid it?

Should you apply early decision? Early action? What factors make each the right choice for certain students?

What happens after you apply early decision? What do you do if you’ve been accepted? What do you do if you’ve been rejected?

What is a personal statement? Why is it the most important part of your application besides test scores and grades?

Why should you know what you want to study before applying to schools? What happens if you’re undecided? Why is this a bad thing? How do you decide what to study?

How do you choose a topic for your personal statement? Why is it so important to pick a good topic? What strategies do you need to keep in mind?

What are the most common mistakes when writing personal statements? Why are they so damaging to your application? How can you avoid them?

What does a good personal statement look like? What differentiates a good personal statement from a bad one?

How do admissions officers read your application? Why is the first sentence of your personal statement so important? How do you write a good one?

What makes a personal statement bad? Can you recognize the flaws in your own personal statement? How do you avoid and fix them?

How do you edit your personal statement? What does the revision process look like?

What are admissions officers looking for in your résumé? How do you show them what they want to see?

How do you format your résumé? Why is it important to have an aesthetically pleasing résumé? What is ATS?

How do you complete the education section of your résumé? How do you highlight your most important achievements?

What extracurriculars should you include on your résumé? Which ones should you leave off? What activities do admissions officers like the most? Which ones are more cliché?

Should you include a personal details section on your résumé? What should it say?

What does a good résumé look like? How can you emulate the success of these examples?

Do you really have to do the optional essays? What happens if you don’t?

What kinds of optional essays are there? Which ones will you have to write?

Why is this optional essay so important? How do you write one successfully? How do you research the schools on your list?

What schools and programs require essays about public service? How do you write them?

What kinds of schools and programs have optional essays requiring you to solve a societal problem? How should you approach them?

What does a good school-specific essay look like? How can you replicate the things they do well?

What makes a school-specific essay weak? How can you avoid these mistakes? Why is a bad school-specific essay so risky? What is yield protection?

What are alumni interviews? How do they work?

Who will your interviewer be? What will they be like? How should you interact with them?

What should you expect during your alumni interviews? What do they usually ask? How should you respond?

How should you prepare for your alumni interviews? What should you research beforehand?

Many people online claim that alumni interviews mostly don’t matter. Are they right?

When is it important to visit a campus before applying? How many schools should you visit?

How do you plan campus visits strategically? What mistakes should you avoid in the process?

What do you need to look for when visiting a campus? What are some of the red flags that can come up? Who should you speak to?

How is applying to college in America different than in other countries? What do international students need to do to be prepared? What parts of the application are unique to the U.S.?

Is university in America worth pursuing? For whom? When is studying in the U.S. a good idea, and when is it not?

How do you find good schools to apply to as an international student? How many should you apply to? How do you research universities properly?

How do you get colleges in America to recognize your grades in your home country? What does this actually look like?

What are the TOEFL and IELTS exams? Who needs to take them? How do you prepare and sign up for them?

Schools will be curious why you want to study in the United States instead of your native country. What will you tell them?

How much does school in America cost? Why is it so expensive? What sources of funding can international students access, and how?

What is an F-1 visa? Who needs one? How do you apply for a visa to study in America? What traps can you fall into while getting one? How do you avoid them?

How do you find somewhere to live in America? How do you find roommates? What other things do you need to take care of?

How will the current government in America affect international students? What do you need to be careful about now?

How can you differentiate yourself from other students when applying to elite schools? Why is this necessary to get in?

How does the process change if you’re a recruited athlete? What if sports play a big part in your story, but you aren’t being recruited?

What kinds of fellowships and awards do admissions committees care about? Which ones should you try to get?

What opportunities does the Department of State give to college applicants looking to boost their chances? How do you apply for them?

Why is it actually bad to be well-rounded when applying to college? What are spikes? How do you find yours? Why is it crucial to getting into elite colleges?

What kind of small mistakes admissions officers care about the most? Why are they so damaging to your application?

How do you write clearly and concisely in your applications? Why is being a good writer something that colleges really care about?

What are the current rules surrounding AI in college applications? Should you use tools like ChatGPT? If so, for what?

What role does creativity play in your application materials? How does being creative help you stand out?

Why is outlining so important to creating good application materials? How do you outline efficiently and effectively?

What should you do after you’ve been waitlisted by a school? What should you avoid doing?

What is a LOCI? Why are they so important when you’re on the waitlist? How do you write one?

How do you maximize your chances of getting in off the waitlist?

How does the transfer process work? How do you know if you should transfer schools?

What kinds of special circumstances require an addendum? Which ones could apply to you?

You got a bad case of Senioritis, and it shows. Now what?

What happens if you have an academic violation on your record? Is your shot at college doomed? What do you need to do?

When might you need an addendum for low grades in one semester? How do you write one?

How do you write about something in your life that had a big impact on your trajectory? What details should you include? Which ones should you leave out?

Who should write an addendum about their test scores? What should you include if you have one?