Admissions Advice

We’re pleased to announce that the Community Forum is now officially open once again.

We appreciate the patience, curiosity, and enthusiasm you’ve shown. Your continued interest and support meant so …

We wanted to inform you that posting on CollegeVine’s community forum will be temporarily suspended for a few days as we work to mitigate some recent spam posts. While the forum will still be accessib …

ACTION REQUIRED: Update CollegeVine App Settings in Google Admin by October 23, 2023

For enhanced student data protection, Google is set to limit access for users under 18 to third-party apps like Coll …

Hi, how do I go about the " why this college" essay. I am eager to apply to some schools but I have no specific or should I say impressive reason why I'm applying to these schools.

So I just looked over all of the MIT application written-response questions, and noticed there are a LOT of "optional" "additional information" type sections. I know if you're applying to competitive …

I didn’t face any challenges in the past, but I want to write an essay that can impress the admission officers. Do you have any advices to do that? Thank you.

I’m a senior and applying for college I have my essay prompt and am struggling to write. Would love some help. The prompt it’s what changeless have you overcome that have helped you grow as a person i …

I’ve done some research into affirmative action for colleges, but the case with Asian-Americans is particularly taboo. A lot of different sources say a lot of different things. Some places tell me not …

I am working on my common apps right now and I am planning to write about something that is in my volunteering part of my application. In my essay, I plan on talking about how I have changed as a pers …

Hello! Senior applying to UVA in the next few months, and one of their college-specific prompts is "What's your favorite word and why?" Now, I've had one or two favorite words in my life, but my all-t …

I'm am writing one of my essays for the common app and I don't know if it needs to have a title.

I don't want to take your time for reading 100 words,i only want to know what are some great essay topics for elite collages

e.g Stanford,ivy league, usc.

Hey there, this is very sad that my love one died 1 year ago. I am incoming HS freshman. so I want to know your thoughts that can I write essay about death for competitive collage like Stanford?

I imputed a UC essay twice to ensure a good review and first was told that the first reviewer put it in the top 8% while the second put it in the bottom 25%. What do these percentages mean? How should …

I only have 200 words, but I am really struggling and don't know if I should continue with my topic. Should I submit my essay for review just to get an opinion on the topic and how I am going about i …

The schools on my list are as follows (in order from favorite to least favorite): Duke, Brown, UNC Chapel Hill, University of Pennsylvania, Vanderbilt, Princeton, Harvard/Yale (still deciding between …

Senior applying to international schools

Is writing about overcoming traditional beauty standards a cliche topic for an essay?

Hi there, just wondering if there's a way to see a reviewer's 1-10 rating and/or the three traits they listed to describe you. I've reviewed a bunch of essays and always answered those questions, but …

Hi, I have recently decided to do a gap year, I am currently homeless so I plan to work as well as pursue personal projects such as co-writing a memoir, writing short stories... I was wondering what t …

I want to use the essay review tools/submit my essay for review on the stream tonight, but someone brought up potential plagiarism—should I be worried/not submit my essays to these platforms? I come f …

I finished my common app essay about my ethnicity and how it sort of defines me in a way, but was told that this topic was overused and washed out. Is this true? Do I need to write about something els …

One of the prompts for the common app essay reads "Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others." Would it be …