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ILUMIN Blog

Helpful tips about college admissions, test preparation and just being a better student, leader and person from ILUMIN Education.

Filtering by Category: College List

Colleges Are Cutting Sports – How Does This Affect College Admissions?

Elton Lin

For many students, an important part of college can be joining your college’s team to play your favorite sport. Sports permeate campus culture – from friendly intramurals to deep-seated collegiate rivalries. (Harvard or Yale? Stanford or Cal?) But in 2020 – when even professional NBA and NFL teams had to cancel their games (and stop inviting spectators!) because of the coronavirus -- many wonder how this has dribbled over – no pun intended – into the college sports field.

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"Demonstrated Interest" — Who Wants It and Why Does It Matter?

Elton Lin

If you’re looking at applying to college, you’ve probably heard the term “demonstrated interest” come up. But what does this really mean? Does it mean that a college wants you to attend every event that they hold and establish a conversation with your local admissions representative at the rate of three emails per day? The answer to this question is a resounding no! But we’ll discuss, a little bit later, how to show demonstrated interest in a positive and helpful way.

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Schools that Meet 100% of Demonstrated Need

Elton Lin

When you’re a high school senior looking at college, it seems like there are a thousand factors to consider. Well, okay, a thousand and one. And the one that is the most critical for a lot of people is whether or not your family can actually afford to pay for your dream school.

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What You Should Know About College Rankings

Elton Lin

We’ve compiled some truths about college rankings that you should know before taking them at face value.

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Need to Apply to Some More Schools? Here Are Some Schools Without Supplemental Essays

Elton Lin

Students put blood, sweat, and time into writing their college application essays. The Common App Essay is one of the heftier ones, but it can at least be sent to many schools at once; supplemental essays, on the other hand, are another breed entirely.

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5 Things International Students Need to Consider in 2020

Elton Lin

Current international college students and international applicants alike have been thrown into limbo in the wake of COVID-19, unsure of how they should navigate their college career in the face of the global pandemic. Travel restrictions, college closures, altered application processes—things seem to be shifting every other week to adapt to the changing pandemic. What can international students do to regain their footing and navigate all of this uncertainty?

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What COVID-19 Means for Demonstrated Interest

Elton Lin

Demonstrated interest, or a student’s active, outward display of interest in a college, may seem like a more abstract quality than a student’s GPA and class rigor or test scores, but it still has an impact in the eyes of college admissions. While some colleges don’t track students’ levels of interest as much, the colleges that do really do care.

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Colleges and Universities with the Most Merit Aid

Elton Lin

When considering colleges, tuition and affordability is often on students’ and families’ minds. How much financial aid does the school usually offer, and what kind of financial aid is available?

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ED Schools for Fall 2020

Elton Lin

As this year’s college application season approaches, students should keep their eye on colleges that offer the early decision option. There are plenty of colleges that are known to admit much of their incoming freshman class from the early decision application pool, but current events seem to indicate a greater early decision admit rate in colleges that share a certain characteristic: colleges with a historically high number of international students.

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2020 UC Admissions Trends

Elton Lin

This summer, just in time for the high school Class of 2021’s senior year, the University of California Admissions has released their Fall 2020 admissions data! For your convenience, here are key takeaways on the latest of UC trends to keep in mind as you or your student prepare for UC applications:

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