Getting deferred from your top-choice school can be disappointing, but don’t despair! There are a number of steps that students can take after a deferral to improve their admission chances in the regular round.

Imagine that you’re applying to 10+ schools this fall. You’re spending what seems like an eternity trying to find that one email X college sent you, scrolling endlessly through your inbox. Maybe you can’t remember where you saved your latest essay draft for Y college on your laptop. What a headache!

Are you still struggling to decide where you’ll apply to school? Did finding time to research or attend information sessions manage to escape you? Are you staring at a blank screen, just days away from the deadline to submit an essay to your dream school?

Are you a homeschooler? A distance learner? A non-traditional student? If so, you have some key elements to consider when applying to college to make the most of your experience beyond what traditional students can offer. For colleges, a non-traditional student is someone who does not attend an in-person school.

One of the most common discussions I have with families is when to apply to business school. There are three questions to consider:

Business is the number one undergraduate degree in the US. According to the National Center of Education Statistics, 19% of bachelor degrees granted in 2019-20 were business degrees. However, some of the most selective universities do not offer undergraduate business degrees.

As a University of California alum and California native, I cannot imagine another institutional system that truly offers something for everyone. From STEM to humanities, research to innovative arts, extremely focused students to those still figuring out their next steps, highly selective campuses to those with a great foundation for exploring yourself, the UC system packs it all in one and offers limitless options to explore, develop, and shine! 

As the sun sets on the summer and we enter another academic year, seniors are less than a year away from the induction into adulthood and independence that awaits after high school graduation. Before that new journey begins, seniors must contend with graduation requirements and post-high school plans.

Peruse the academic offerings on any university’s website, and you’ll encounter everything from the more “traditional” psychology, math, business, and English majors to several intriguing potential majors like neuroscience, Slavic, and Eurasian Studies, public policy, astrobiology, and data science. Suffice to say that one of the most exciting aspects of pursuing a college degree is that you finally get to focus on an academic area that genuinely intrigues you and ignites your curiosity.

The process of preparing for, taking, and responding to standardized test scores is a stressful and overwhelming one for students and families, and with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, this process has only become more stressful in recent years. One of the ways that colleges have responded to the pandemic’s obstacles is to implement test-optional admissions policies to avoid disadvantaging students who have been unable to sit for an ACT or SAT.