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College prep guide for students
Admissions

Planning for College: A Guide for High School Students

These first few months of the school year are busy, busy, busy! For those entering their freshman year/Grade 9 it can be a new start to their learning while for those entering their senior year, it can very much feel like the beginning of the end. Whether you are in Grade 9, 10, 11 or 12, there is lots to be doing to help you prepare for college and in this article, I’m going to give you some pointers to help keep you on track.

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April 4, 2025
Public or Private college
College Counseling

Public versus Private Universities?

The simple difference between Public and Private Universities is that Public universities are paid for by the state’s taxpayers and private universities run on endowments from alumni etc. This changes the way resources are allocated, and mainly the way students get admitted. For all public universities, the Common Data Set would say that the criteria for admission for state residency are “very important”. The simple logic to this is that public or state universities, given that they are funded through resident taxes, prioritize local or domestic students over out-staters or international applicants. Therefore, most public universities will have about 2%(such as at U.Maryland) to 8% International students. 

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April 3, 2025
Expert Guide About Why College Setting and Location Matters?
US Colleges

Choosing the Right College Setting and Location

In a previous blog, I gave five tips to help students find their perfect college match. In the article, I asked students to reflect on what they need around them to flourish, by which I meant what do they need, to feel comfortable during their time living at college. In this blog I’m going to explore this further by looking in more detail about just one aspect that students should consider, how does the setting and location of a college contribute to the college experience.

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April 2, 2025
Students in an English class
Career Counseling

Should You Do an English Degree?

I will confess, I have not gone through the stats, but I’m fairly confident when I say that most of the young people I work with have their eyes set on studying either a STEM or an applied subject at university. This choice is often influenced by their ideas about their future career path, however, there are always some students who want to do a degree or major in a particular subject area because it is something that they love.

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March 28, 2025
Writing Common App essay
Admissions

How to Answer Common App Essay Prompts

The Common Application has a set of 7 prompts from which you select any one to tell a compelling story to the Admissions Team. Most students feel that this is where you list all of your achievements. False: Colleges are not looking for duplication of your resume in your essay. On the contrary, the CAE is a personal, creative, and reflective essay meant to focus on your unique values and skills as an individual

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March 27, 2025
Futuristic prediction of jobs
Career Counseling

What are the jobs of the future for 2030

Each year the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) publishes a list of jobs that they expect to see the greatest growth over the next ten years. They have recently published their data for 2020 so it seems like a good time to think not just about the jobs but also about the majors that are likely to be popular.

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March 27, 2025
Liberal Arts word cloud
College Counseling

What is a Liberal Arts Education?

Not so long ago I had a long conversation with a parent who was concerned that their child was interested in applying to some liberal arts colleges. Through the conversation, we discussed just what a liberal arts education is and how appropriate it is for the modern employment market. In this blog, I’m going to share some of the points that came out of our conversation.

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March 27, 2025
Internship
Extra-Curricular

Will an Internship Help You to get into College?

A common question that we hear at Ivy Central when helping students prepare to apply to college is ‘Should I do an internship?’ As you might expect, the answer is a little more nuanced than a straight Yes or No, so in this article, I will explore some of the considerations that anybody thinking of doing an internship to support their college application should reflect on.

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March 26, 2025