Mansions by the sea Salve Regina’s oceanfront campus uses Gilded Age mansions for administration, classrooms, and dorms. The mansions come with stories, too. The History Club has led lantern-lit ghost tours through the halls. Founded by the Sisters of Mercy as a women’s college in 1934, Salve is coed and modern, with majors that range from the fine arts to

Dean of Admissions Mary Smith (class of 2000) spoke with independent college counselors in the D.C. metro area to introduce us to the Eisenhower Institute in early September 2026. But before Tracie Potts, the executive director of that institute, spoke, Smith gave us an update on what’s been happening with Gettysburg College. Gettysburg at a glance Gettysburg is a small

Is journalism dying? No, said Rafael Lorente, dean of the Philip Merrill College of Journalism at UMD, speaking to about 200 counselors at UMD Counselors Day on Sept. 23, 2026. Without the Fourth Estate, “who will tell the stories that help citizens make decisions and hold power accountable?” Journalism, he said, needs to build a better information system and a

UMD is big The University of Maryland, with 31,000 undergraduates, is a big, big school. To help freshmen transition to the university, UMD offers five different first-year invitational programs: Honors, Scholars, FIRE, BioFIRE, and Carillon. You’ll discover your invitation to one of these programs when you open your acceptance letter—you’ll only be invited to one, if you’re invited at all.

Lots has changed in college admissions since I wrote a brochure 10 years ago called “Tips for Writing College Application Essays,” but the instructions for the Common App essay are word-for-word the same: The essay demonstrates your ability to write clearly and concisely on a selected topic and helps you distinguish yourself in your own voice. What do you want

SAT/ACT Q&A FOR CLASSES OF 2027 AND 2028 “It depends.” The changing landscape 1. Are colleges all going to require SAT or ACT now? Despite the headlines screaming that Harvard and MIT have returned to requiring testing for admissions, the majority of colleges remain test optional. According to FairTest, an organization that opposes standardized testing, 90 percent or more, over

Common App will close down at 5 p.m. ET on July 28 and reopen on August 1. Timing & logistics 1. Why does the Common App close every year? Common App performs a system refresh at the same time every year to transition from one admissions cycle to the next. It’s a routine, predictable process. They update deadlines for the

Rosemary Martín Edwards, associate director of undergraduate admission at the University of Maryland, College Park, presented current information about UMD to the DC MIX group of HECA and IECA members on June 24, 2026. As usual, she delivered a wealth of information. By the numbers This year, Maryland at College Park had 69,000 applications for a freshman class of about

In suburban Baltimore, you can hear the Tigers roar. First impressions: a campus in bloom When I visited Towson after the IECA conference in May, I was struck by all the greenery. In fact, there’s an arboretum in the middle of the campus. Buildings look well maintained and some are quite new, like the new Health Professions Building, which houses

I met Sister Jean! In October 2023, I met Sister Jean, the then-104-year-old nun of Loyola who became a video sensation as the men’s basketball chaplain rooting for the Ramblers courtside in the 2018 playoffs. She has an office in the student center with an open door, through which seven college advisers and I walked to say hello and snap