Seniors: The Common App is open! Get expert guidance on your applications.
Contact Us Today

IvyWise KnowledgeBase
Outside Reading

IvyWise Exploring an Interest in Psychology

Exploring an Interest in Psychology

Do you enjoy learning about the brain and how it works, why we make the decisions we make, and how the brain influences our behaviors? Are you interested in mental health? If you answered yes to either (or both!) of these questions, psychology might be the path for you.

Read More
IvyWise How to Improve Your Writing Skills Ahead of College Application Season

How to Improve Your Writing Skills Ahead of College Application Season

If you’re wrapping up junior year of high school, there’s a lot to think about: college tours, signing up for standardized tests, applying to summer programs – the list goes on. There is one more thing you should be prioritizing as you look toward your senior year: developing your writing skills.

Read More
IvyWise Books to Help With Essay Writing and Story Telling

Books to Help With Essay Writing and Story Telling

As a former high school English teacher, I always tout the importance of reading as a means to improve one’s writing, especially when it comes to the college essay.
Author Annie Proulx perhaps sums it up best: “Writing comes from reading, and reading is the finest teacher of how to write.”  Reading exposes you to different writing styles, diction, and sentence syntax which can influence, improve, and even inspire your own writing style.

Read More
IvyWise Fighting Summer Brain Drain: Tips From An Expert Tutor

Fighting Summer Brain Drain: Tips from an Expert Tutor

Summer “brain drain” or the “summer slide” — the theory that students stop learning over summer break and even lose some of what they have learned during the school year — is a real phenomenon that has been documented by researchers for the past several decades. However, you can keep your brain active during the summer in several ways to prevent losing any of the gains you made over the previous academic year.

Read More

IvyWise Summer Reading List

When it comes to your college application, colleges will look to see how you spent your time outside of school. In addition to your extracurricular activities, you may also want to list hobbies and interests that you commit a significant amount of time to. Reading is probably one of the best hobbies you can have – it can deepen your interests in a particular subject, help you become a better writer, and will prepare you for the often grueling reading lists in college-level courses. Not only will many colleges appreciate a reading list, some will ask you to list your favorite books on their application supplements.

Read More

Self-Studying: What’s the Benefit and How to Do It

With an increasing number of new technologies and an expanding global population, self-studying is on the rise. Education is no longer confined to just the classroom, and some would argue that the classroom model is outdated and does not meet the intellectual needs of individuals in such an interconnected society.

Read More

Get the IvyWise Newsletter