If you have any questions or suggestions, email me at lucaschu@college.harvard.edu
Overview Guide:
Essays:
Hack the College Essay by John Dewis. (This is the one external source I've added so far, because it's worth it. It's endorsed by many of the other people included in this post).
The u/ScholarGrade Essay series (and his extras!):
5 High Schoolers and Their College Application Essays About Work, Money and Social Class - The New York Times
Top 41 Common App Admissions Essays - Study Notes
u/novembrr: When you're over the word count and can't for the life of you cut your essay down...
u/steve_nyc: 5 Steps to Starting Your College Essay
u/mistermcneil (admissions consultant): My World-Ending Guide to the College Essay
u/Jidawg: Tips About Writing Multiple Supplements from a Sophomore @ Dartmouth
u/G0mega: Last Minute "Why X" and Supplement Advice from a Brown sophomore
u/PhAnToM444: An analysis of why the "mundane topic" seems to work so well for college essays. (Even if you're not writing a mundane essay, you can bring those same components into your own essay).
Activities Section:
novembrr's activities series is so useful:
u/MrsScholarGrade's series is new, and I hope I'll be adding more of her great work:
This post links several resources to find competitions/programs for your ECs or to find ECs based on your academic interest! I don't think you should be basing your activities on prestigious awards, but if you are doing something and you want to find ways to get more involved or get rewarded, this is a good resource.
LORs:
steve_nyc: How to Ask Teachers for College Recommendation Letters
novembrr: The secret to having excellent LORs
ScholarGrade: How to get top LORs that stand out from the stack
AP Score Reporting:
u/admissionsmom: Let's Talk about your AP Score
Interviews:
ScholarGrade: There have been many questions about interviews. Here's my guide
WilliamTheReader: Interview Tips!
admissionsmom: Up Close and Personal: The Interview. Here's My Cheat Sheet
AMAs about Admissions
BlueLightSpcl's AMA Series: Former UT-Austin Admissions Counselor, Author of Your Ticket to the Forty Acres, and A2C's First Moderator.
Steve_nyc's AMAs: College Admissions Counselor and Founder of A2C:
WilliamTheReader's AMA: Top 5 USNews University Alum, Worked in Alma Mater's Admissions Office, Part-Time Elite Admissions Consultant
Ethan Sawyer: the College Essay Guy's AMA. He wrote the first essay guide I shared.
Copied from steve_nyc (big shoutout here):
Admissions Officers:
Admitted Student AMAs:
Information on Colleges
College Lists Wiki / Common Data Sets
Big Future - College Search - Find colleges and universities by major, location, type, more.
College Information - Peterson's - The Real Guide to Colleges and Universities
COMPLETE LIST OF 2019 FLY-IN AND DIVERSITY PROGRAMS - College Greenligh
Questions to Ask
14 Insightful Questions to Ask College Admissions Officers — Elite Educational Institute Admissions Mom
College App Guides
https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/wiki/index
Getting Into Your Dream College: A Master Guide | Commonlounge
Admissions Reflections from the Class of 2022 - Google Docs
How to Apply to College Video Course Series
Applying to college infographic.png - Google Drive
https://www.fairopportunityproject.org/#guides
College App Advice
r/A2C Class of 2023 Profile - ADVICE - Google Sheets
Information from and about Top School Applicants
Real Safeties, Matches, and Reaches From the Class of 2022- Domestic - Google Docs
/r/ApplyingtoCollege Survey Respondents
Scholarships
Find College Scholarships - Niche
Scholarship database | DAAD Office New York
Summer Opportunities/Internships
Summer Programs | MIT Admissions
Research Internships - Montgomery High School STEM Board
[Megathread] Summer Programs : ApplyingToCollege
Excel Organizers:
Top 40 (US News) Colleges Application Organizer - Google Sheets
College Application Organizer - Google Sheets
college application organizer - Google Sheets
Criticisms of college
Estimating the Payoff to Attending a More Selective College: An Application of Selection on Observables and Unobservables
Look up top for the opportunities page.
The first part of links here are from https://www.reddit.com/r/ApplyingToCollege/comments/cmcu72/masterpost_of_common_app_resources/
The second from
https://www.wappingersschools.org/Domain/2619