Free resources
No email required, no pressure to apply
Genuinely useful on their own — a lower-commitment way to see how we think before you decide to work with us.
Excel checklist
Year-out timeline checklist
Month-by-month what to actually do, starting in January. If you feel behind, don't worry, we can help!
Download →Excel spreadsheet
Application organizer
A free resource for everything college app, all in one place.
Download →Web page
Common App glossary
Every confusing term from the application, decoded. The full version of what's below.
Jump to glossary →The full glossary
Admissions jargon, decoded
- Holistic review
- Admissions officers weigh your whole application together — grades, essays, activities, recommendations — instead of ranking you on any single number.
- Demonstrated interest
- Some schools track whether you've visited, emailed, or opened their emails, and factor that into admission decisions.
- Early decision
- You apply to one school early and promise to enroll if admitted. Binding — you can't back out to compare financial aid offers.
- Yield protection
- A school waitlists or rejects a strong applicant it suspects will choose another school, to keep its 'percent enrolled' number high.
- Need-blind
- The school reviews your application without seeing whether you'll need financial aid. It does not mean aid is unlimited.
- Superscore
- Combining your best section scores across multiple SAT or ACT sittings into one composite, if the school allows it.
- Legacy
- You have a parent (sometimes grandparent) who attended the school. Some schools give this modest weight; many no longer do.
- Supplemental essay
- A short essay a specific school requires in addition to your main personal statement, usually answering 'why us.'