There is a scholarship (or many scholarships) out there for everyone. Every student has some skill, interest, experience, or characteristic that may make them an attractive candidate for one scholarship or another. And while we often refer to scholarships as “free money,” scholarships don’t actually come for free. It takes work to thoughtfully consider your strengths and research the scholarships that might be most appropriate for you. While the effort that goes into finding and winning scholarships may be akin to a part-time job, we at College Coach want to make your job a little easier. This on-going scholarship series highlights a new scholarship each week. Check out the below, along with the other posts in the series, and you may discover a funding resource that will make covering that college bill a little (or a lot!) easier.

What International Students Can Expect from the US Admissions Process

Applying to a US university from abroad can seem like a daunting process. Not only are you taking a leap from the familiar educational surroundings of your secondary school into the unknown waters of higher education, there’s a possibility you’re flying farther away from home than most of your peers and taking a chance on an entirely different country, a completely dissimilar educational system. Let’s just say, “we’re not in Kansas anymore.” Unless, of course, Kansas is your ultimate destination.

Last week on Getting In: A College Coach Conversation, guest host Sally Ganga devoted the first segment of the show to the School’s In: Application Workshop, where she and her guest addressed whether and when students should disclose autism spectrum disorders and learning disabilities on the college application. She spent the last two thirds of the show diving deeply into the intricacies of what can be a very important (and complex) financial aid application at some schools, the CSS/PROFILE.

Sometimes a university’s essay prompts can reveal as much about the school’s values as an applicant’s personal statement can divulge what the student will bring to the university. If you’ve ever wondered what you should share in your application essay, fear not; some schools break down their personal statement into a few short responses and give you instructions for each solicited paragraph. MIT, for example, not only tells you what they deem important—how they aspire to positively impact the world—they tell students exactly what MIT is hoping to hear from its applicants: ideals and dreams that match up to theirs. So let’s try hunting for the clues MIT is dropping, prompt by prompt.

There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. And while the media tends to focus on just a handful of schools, we at College Coach encourage students to think outside the box during their college selection process and explore a wide range of colleges. As such, we are highlighting a new college each week in our School Spotlight series. Check out the college below, along with the other posts in our series, and you may just stumble upon your dream school!

School Spotlight: Knox College
Galesburg, IL

There is a scholarship (or many scholarships) out there for everyone. Every student has some skill, interest, experience, or characteristic that may make them an attractive candidate for one scholarship or another. And while we often refer to scholarships as “free money,” scholarships don’t actually come for free. It takes work to thoughtfully consider your strengths and research the scholarships that might be most appropriate for you. While the effort that goes into finding and winning scholarships may be akin to a part-time job, we at College Coach want to make your job a little easier. This on-going scholarship series highlights a new scholarship each week. Check out the below, along with the other posts in the series, and you may discover a funding resource that will make covering that college bill a little (or a lot!) easier.

The college application process can feel overwhelming. The key to taking control of the application process, however, is getting organized. In this installment of College Coach’s Insider Tips, college admissions expert, Kennon Dick, outlines the key steps to organizing your child’s application process, including knowing your timeline and creating a working to-do list for each college.

This week’s episode of Getting In: A College Coach Conversation was dedicated entirely to navigating the Common Application. Beth welcomed back our very own Common App expert Elyse Krantz, former admission officer at Barnard and Bennington Colleges. Each year Elyse updates the College Coach blog with posts covering what’s new in this year’s Common Application; they covered the highlights of these posts in this episode.

I Received a Letter From the IRS! 

Words no one ever wants to utter, but, until it comes, many of us don’t give tax breaks a second thought. We pay our bills as required, and at the end of the year hand over our statements and shopping bags full of receipts to our accountants. Or we let our home-based software figure out what’s in our best interest and never actually sift through the bag of receipts we’ve been hoarding because we “remember” what we paid.

There are over 4,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. And while the media tends to focus on just a handful of schools, we at College Coach encourage students to think outside the box during their college selection process and explore a wide range of colleges. As such, we are highlighting a new college each week in our School Spotlight series. Check out the college below, along with the other posts in our series, and you may just stumble upon your dream school!

School Spotlight: Drexel University
Philadelphia, PA