June 8th, 2011
This post today on Forbes' blog discusses how the use of technology has revolutionized the college application process, and, in turn, the selectivity of the nation's top colleges. Many schools have seen precipitous drops in their acceptance levels in the past year, with Columbia University posting the most significant year-over-year drop after deciding to allow the Common App in 2010. In just one year, Columbia increased its applicant pool by more than a third, and saw its selectivity drop to just 6.7%. With this kind of selectivity, diversifying your number of applications to increase the odds of success is the best solution.
College Essay Organizer is discussed in the article as a service that can help you manage your large number of applications easily - but the schools that Steve Cohen cites are particularly good examples of where our site excels. Schools like NYU, USC, and Syracuse are very popular, and the amount of work required to apply there - and their departments especially - can be deceptive. Make sure to get out in front of the work that's required of you and pace yourself accordingly.
Another benefit of College Essay Organizer that Cohen points out is the simple fact that we help you keep the requirements manageable! College Essay Organizer is the site that puts all your requirements in one place, and can be modified as your college list grows or contracts. Instead of managing a large number of applications, PDFs, and essay documents, our Essay RoadMap technology can function as a repository for all your work during the application season. This makes a complicated process simple and keeps things sane.
Tags: Admissions, CEO, College, college admissions, College Essay Organizer, Columbia University, Common App, Essay, Forbes, News, Steve Cohen
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February 24th, 2011
College Essay Organizer ("CEO") is excited to be highlighted in this Independent Educational Consultant Association (IECA) newsletter. More than 150 IECA members have signed on with CEO in our first season, and we look forward to more members taking advantage of CEO’s valuable tool that instantly streamlines the college essay process.
The IECA has been a leading force in promoting innovative tools that improve the efficiency of consulting practices. Thanks to the feedback of our independent consultant members, CEO will be incorporating the following new features this season:
- Student accounts will increase from 15 to 20 college selections.
- The Essay RoadMap will be even easier to interpret, with an alternate viewing format and the ability to hide essay questions not relevant to an applicant.
- Independent consultants will have the ability to upload essay drafts and share notes with their clients within the CEO platform; no need to email back and forth anymore.
- Marketing potential will be optimized: you can co-brand your CEO accounts with your company logo
- IECA members can become guest bloggers, promoting their services on CEO’s heavily trafficked site and sharing important tips and stories about their experiences working with students’ essays.
- IECA will orchestrate FREE instructional webinars for introductory and training purposes for IECA members and their clients.
- CEO will have a separate area that allows visitors to our site to connect with IECA members in their area.
- Exclusive IECA discounts will be shared directly by IECA headquarters in the coming weeks.
To join IECA and learn about their great services, click here.
Tags: CEO, College Essay Organizer, college essay process, college essays, IECA, Independent consultants, Independent Educational Consultants Association, upgrades
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October 4th, 2010
Daniel Stern, President of College Essay Organizer
Our President and CEO Daniel Stern was featured in the Bergen Record (in New Jersey) yesterday talking about the Common App and the many misconceptions students and counselors have about it.
Dan spoke about the surprising number of essays students face after they've completed their required Common App essays - namely the many supplemental, department-specific, and scholarship questions that pop up for any student applying to multiple colleges.
On top of that, he spoke about the importance of understanding the prompt. When a college asks you why you're interested, remember that it's not advisable to just repeat the guidebook back to them. They know you want to be there - that's why you're applying. What they really want to learn about is you and what you're going to bring to the campus.
Above all, Dan talked about what we're all about here at CEO - simplifying the essay and application process in easy and inexpensive ways so that you can focus your time on your best writing without spreading yourself too thin.
Make sure that you know ahead of time how many essays your colleges require so you don't have any rude surprises in the fall. Getting out ahead of things now will make the rest of the way smooth sailing for sure.
Tags: Admissions, CEO, College, College Essay Organizer, Common App, early decision, Essay, Guidance Counselor, Guide, Help, IECA, Independent Educational Consultants Association, News, NorthJersey.com, NYU, Organization, Overwhelming, Regular Decision, School, statement, Tips, Top Choice, university
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April 19th, 2010
Our CEO and founder Daniel Stern is quoted in this New York Times article on plagiarism. One of the unexpected - but great - side effects of CEO's service is that it cuts down on plagiarism. And maybe better yet for the more ethical time-strapped teens we help, it cuts down on that nagging urge to plagiarize.
I mean, it's right there. Copy. Paste. Done. Why not? It's a time saver. And the colleges aren't doing you any favors there by making their applications so similar, yet not identical. Why not take just a little help from your friends?
It's an ethical issue everyone wrestles with, especially when doing work you're not necessarily pouring your heart and soul into. But where CEO comes to the rescue is in the focus and ethical re-application of the work you've already done for your other apps. It cuts down on the work you need to do, making the apps especially easy for those sure-bet and safety schools you have on your list. For sure, by the time you get to those apps, you've outlined your grand life plan in five hundred words or less enough times. No need to do it again, right? Right.
Now thank CEO instead of the command-v.
Tags: accomplishments, Admissions, avoid, CEO, College, College Essay Organizer, Common App, Deadline, early decision, Essay, Grades, Guide, Help, mistake, New York Times, News, Overwhelming, personal, Plagiarism, procrastination, Regular Decision, School, statement, Tips, Top Choice, university
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March 19th, 2010
There is no better opening. But you cannot have this opening. Sorry.
Tom Robinson at Today's Campus Online recently addressed an issue that we've found CEO is well-designed to defeat, that of plagiarism in college essays.
Robinson discusses a recently published study that a jaw-dropping 36 percent of personal statements were found to include "significant matching text" when put through plagiarism-checking software, leading the researchers to believe that more than a third of all applicants were lifting parts or all of their college essays.
There are a whole lot of issues that come to mind when discussing this, not least of which are the problems of the naturally overloaded guidance counselors of America. Without meaningful one-on-one collaboration between students and faculty, it can be difficult for writers to be aware of the significant differences between the college essay and the standard five-paragraph essays they've been expected to churn out for years.
Another significant issue is the overwhelming amount of work that seniors are saddled with each fall. Most have their hearts set on an individual school, and if their early applications are denied, are often surprised to learn the actual amount of writing they have to do for their other applications. Panic sets in, and cheating begins to feel inevitable.
Our president and CEO, Daniel Stern, is quoted in Robinson's article and talks about how CEO provides an ethical solution.
For juniors who are looking to avoid that time crunch in the first place, we've offered steep discounts, encouraging them to get started ahead of time and capitalize on the free time available in the summer.
For seniors, we provide an automatic, low-cost solution to the organizational challenge they're bound to face, and we show them how to repurpose the work they've already done for many applications without resorting to taking others' words.
Hey, if putting a dent in plagiarism is our good deed for the day then it's been a good day. Shoot us an email and let us know what CEO's doing right for you.
Tags: Admissions, avoid, CEO, College, College Essay Organizer, Common App, Deadline, early decision, Essay, Guide, Help, mistake, News, Organization, Overwhelming, personal, Plagiarism, procrastination, Regular Decision, School, statement, Tips, Today's Campus Online, Top Choice, university
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