Willamette University combines a liberal arts foundation with real-world career preparation. In fact, the Salem, Oregon, school of 1620 undergraduates and 550 graduate students lies just across State Street from the Oregon State Capitol building, a mere 76 feet (they measured it) from campus. Many Willamette Bearcats have an easy commute to internships at the seat of the Oregon government

As we turned into the broad green lawn of Reed College in Portland, red brick buildings with limestone accents around doors and windows in Tudor Gothic style greeted the busload of 40 counselors touring five Pacific Northwest liberal arts colleges. A city with character Portland, Oregon, is known for its progressive ethos and its abundance of food trucks. It sits

“How has the University of Puget Sound changed you?” a counselor on the Pacific Northwest college tour in early March 2026 asked a student panel of five Loggers. In short, every student said they were profoundly changed by their experience at UPS. Jordan came in wanting to make a fortune in business and found that his true passion was in

I toured the University of Washington (U Dub) in late February, just a couple of weeks too early to catch the famed cherry blossoms but in time to see the daffodils blooming. The campus is truly green and lovely, and when the sky is clear, majestic Mount Rainier rises above a large pool and fountain in the midst of a

by Karen A. Hott To learn about what makes a St. John’s College education unique, read Part I, “Great Books Are the Teachers at St. John’s College”  https://www.twobridgescollegeconsult.com/blog/2026/02/05/great-books-are-the-teachers-at-st-johns-college/ How to Apply You can apply to St. John’s College via the Common App, the Coalition App, or directly through the SJC application. What St. John’s Values in Your Application You will

Reading the Great Books I received my master’s degree from St. John’s many years ago, but I knew that the undergraduate program probably still followed the protocols I did in reading the Great Books. Though I felt confident that I understood St. John’s, I decided to take a tour as a counselor on a day when the snow and ice

Your Roadmap to the Naval Academy: A Strategic Application Guide Planning for applying to the Naval Academy starts early. You can’t wake up senior year and just add it to your Common App. Preparing for the Naval Academy: A Four-Year Timeline Ninth Grade: Explore and Begin Start early by visiting the Naval Academy and attending an admissions session to understand

It’s for those who love structure and serving the country. USNA: Part 1 of 2 It’s as prestigious as MIT, on par with the Ivies as the #3 best liberal arts college in the U.S., and it provides a free education worth hundreds of thousands of dollars, but that’s not what makes the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland, special.

Institutional updates Kelly Ball, director of JMU admissions, gave counselors an update just before the release of Early Action decisions. James Madison University’s new president, James C. Schmidt, is implementing a strategic plan with four phases: listen, envision, create, and implement. JMU athletic success led the football team to a college playoff appearance (they lost to Oregon). The new state-of-the-art

I took a UniTru (https://www.theunitru.com/) tour on January 21 with a student at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She showed me the campus through a conferencing app on her phone. It was a bit jumpy for my stomach, but I got to revisit the campus (I was there in 2025 with an IECA tour) and refresh my memory.  My tour