November 3, 2026 · 7 min read
Dartmouth admitted 21.6% of its early decision applicants last year and 3.8% of everyone else. Here is what that gap is made of, and when binding yourself is worth it.
Read more →We checked how 165 colleges rate 'level of applicant's interest' in their own Common Data Sets. 101 say they don't consider it at all. 13 call it important or very important.
November 3, 2026 · 4 min read
Almost every number in these guides comes from a standardized form most colleges publish each year. Here's where to find it, which lines to read first, and the four calculations worth doing yourself.
November 3, 2026 · 3 min read
Most applications get a first read of well under two minutes. Knowing how that read works changes what you put where.
August 11, 2026 · 4 min read
Aid offers are negotiable more often than families believe. The appeal has a standard shape, and most families never file one.
July 28, 2026 · 4 min read
Month by month, junior spring through senior spring, with the dependencies that make each step possible.
July 14, 2026 · 4 min read
Aid letters are designed to look generous. Here is how to extract the number that actually matters.
June 30, 2026 · 3 min read
