July 22nd, 2010
With the latest Common App coming on August 1, we will be opening up a forum here to give you feedback on miscellaneous issues related to the college essay process. This way you’ll not only save hours of work and enhance your efficiency with CEO’s web tools but also get some clarity with the more confusing aspects of the process.
In the next few weeks we’re going to up the ante a little bit and open the floor to you in a more hands on, nuts-and-bolts way. If you have a question you’d like answered about the college essay process in general, about a specific prompt, or about CEO, let us know by dropping us an email.
As we roll into the fall and the admission season heats up, we’ll continue to maintain an open forum so you can get answers to your questions about your struggles, your curiosities, and your successes.
Tags: Admissions, CEO, College Essay Organizer, Common App, Deadline, Essay, Guidance Counselor, Guide, Help, News, Organization, personal, Regular Decision, School, statement, Tips, Top Choice, university
Posted in College Essay Writing Tips, News | No Comments »
July 19th, 2010
We’ve got great news for you today! CEO has announced a new partnership with ConnectEDU. Here are the details:
NEW YORK, July 25, 2010 – College Essay Organizer (‘CEO’), the web-based college essay management tool, announced today that it has joined forces with leading online educational platform ConnectEDU, further streamlining the college admissions process for students, parents, and counselors.
CEO’s groundbreaking technology instantly provides each student with all essay questions for any selected colleges and delivers a personalized plan for writing the fewest essays that work for all questions. The results are less time, less stress, and more attention to the actual writing process resulting in better essays.
“For applicants looking to stand out, personal essays are of the utmost importance,” says Daniel Stern, President of College Essay Organizer. With long, short, department-specific, scholarship, and optional questions, many students are surprised to learn they have 15 or more essays to write, and they don’t know where or how to begin. Even if students use the Common App, they typically have many different supplemental essays for their colleges. “If a student can see how to write, say, only 3 essays instead of 15, that student is going to write more compelling essays. We developed CEO so students and those who support them could optimize their time, and the results have been sensational.”
With a network of 2 million users, ConnectEDU develops innovative technology to enable students to successfully manage their educational and career plans. Its data-driven solution helps to bridge the transitions between high school, college, and career, by making certain that students take the necessary steps at the right time to reach their goals.
“We are excited to partner with CEO and to have the opportunity to offer this valuable tool to our students,” says Craig Powell, Chief Executive Officer of ConnectEDU. “This partnership furthers our goal of helping more students successfully transition from high school to college.”
CEO looks forward to extending its unique technology to ConnectEDU’s existing platform. The partnership of these pioneering educational organizations will make the college application process as efficient and successful as possible.
Tags: Admissions, CEO, College, College Essay Organizer, ConnectEDU, Guidance Counselor, Guide, Help, News, Press release, School, Tips, Top Choice, university
Posted in CEO in the News, News | 2 Comments »
July 16th, 2010
The Scottsdale Community College Fighting Artichokes are clear about what they want from applicants: a love of fighting and delicious cuisine. Other schools will require an essay.
The Independent Educational Consultants Association recently released a bit of press about what colleges are really looking for in applicants. And while a number of things we know to be vital remained vital – academic performance, difficulty of schedule, a willingness to challenge one’s self – this particular quote caught our eyes:
“The importance of the essay moved up since the last survey, perhaps reflecting the essay’s role as more colleges move to ‘test optional’ status. The essay was also seen as more important to private liberal arts colleges, as compared to large state universities.”
Schools continue to add essay requirements to find ways to distinguish their applicants and to find unique elements among them. Though on the surface this appears to make more work for applicants, much of that work is easily avoided with tools like CEO’s, and simultaneously delivers to applicants the opportunities they’ve long asked for to be considered as people rather than numbers. Not bad.
So recognize that our trusty friends at the IECA have spoken – get your essays right. They are truly your greatest opportunity to speak directly to the universities themselves. But even more than that, they are becoming opportunities to distinguish yourself clearly in an increasingly crowded marketplace.
Tags: accomplishments, Admissions, CEO, College, College Essay Organizer, Common App, Deadline, early decision, Essay, Guidance Counselor, Guide, Help, IECA, Independent Educational Consultants Association, News, Organization, personal, procrastination, Recommendation, Regular Decision, School, statement, Tips, Top Choice, university
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July 9th, 2010
Maybe after you get the acceptance letter you can think twice about getting the tattoo to match.
The University of Miami got a few new ways to recruit students this week – Lebron James and a few of his friends.
The King’s decision caused us to pause and consider His Majesty’s… shall we say… not so tactful way of revealing where he was headed. Let’s compare it to the somewhat less prickly process of letting your family know which college you’ll be attending. Yes! I said it! You will get in! Somewhere! After that initial joy wears off, take your tips from the Chosen 1:
1. Don’t schedule an hour-long slot on prime-time television, no matter who asks for it. We understand you’re going somewhere. We understand it is very, very important to you. And to many other people in your life. Even to people you have not yet met. But the process of telling people should take you fifteen seconds at best. Perhaps thirty when speaking to the elderly. An hour is pushing it for anything that can be safely squeezed inside a single sentence.
2. Don’t surround yourself with children like you’re Mother Theresa. You are not bringing wider peace to the populace. You are bringing academic potential and all the hard work of preparation that comes along with it. You are not, however, raising a city from the ashes. If, for example, you’re going to college in, oh, say, southern Florida, remember that southern Florida has seen a lot and has done okay without you.
3. Don’t tell people where you’re about to “take your talents.” We also understand how talented and wise you are. Just get in there and get those straight-As like your mama made you to. Just get in there and get ‘er done. And if there is, oh, say, someone else who might have a leg (or six) up on you, pay them respect and just let everyone know about where you’re headed quietly. A phone call, an email, even a press release to the proper media outlets, and you’ll be fine.
Follow these three simple tips and it is highly unlikely that anyone will shove life-sized cutouts of you into the garbage face first. Better yet, very few people will set anything on fire with your name on it. Stay strong.
Tags: accomplishments, Admissions, avoid, CEO, Cleveland Cavaliers, College, College Essay Organizer, Deadline, early decision, Essay, Guide, Help, Humor, Miami Heat, mistake, News, Overwhelming, personal, Recommendation, School, statement, Tips, Top Choice, university, University of Miami, Videos
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June 22nd, 2010
Note: Applications may not actually form comical mountain.
Hey seniors!
Yes, I’m looking at you. You, who just finished the hardest academic years of your lives and think next year’s going to be the cakewalk you’ve always deserved. Well, yes and no. You may slide into senioritis, but not before climbing an avalanche of applications.
Never fear, CEO discounts are here for seniors looking to purchase their accounts ahead of time. We’ve gone ahead and pushed our discount for rising seniors up to 15% for purchases made before August 1. Just use the promo code senior7 when purchasing a new student account.
I know the applications seem a ways off, but take it from the people who’ve been there – it’s when you need it the most that you often feel like you don’t have the time. Ever feel like you don’t have enough time to find the shortcut, even though you know it’s shorter? Yeah – so take care of business now, while things are still laid back. Let us do the organizing for you and you’ll be in a lot better shape when you find out that your teachers actually assign homework during your senior year. Of all the nerve.
CEO membership comes with a whole lot of other benefits, including being notified of when the schools have updated their requirements, so check out the benefits, sign up and let your worries whisk themselves away.
Tags: CEO, College, College Essay Organizer, discount, Essay, Guide, Help, junior, News, Organization, Overwhelming, procrastination, senior, Tips
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June 14th, 2010
Workin' like a DOG up at CEO. Oh wait.
Somehow, some way, we keep coming up with new stuff to put on CEO every single day.
The 2011 application season is already upon us, and a number of schools have already begun posting their applications for the 2010-2011 application season. And we here at CEO are hard at work to make sure we have our information up to date, right up to the minute.
At least 25 new schools are joining the Common App this year, and in doing so, most will be altering their expectations of applicants considerably. So if you’ve spent the last year looking at one of these schools, make sure to work with CEO to find out how having these schools throw you for a loop might actually work in your favor. As things change out there, CEO will update and automatically show you how work you’re doing for other schools can be repurposed for the new ones.
Enjoy, it’s going to be a good year.
Tags: 2011, Admissions, CEO, College Essay Organizer, Common App, Deadline, early decision, Essay, Guide, Help, junior, New York Times, personal, Regular Decision, Tips, Top Choice, university
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May 24th, 2010
Like Heinz Vinegar, the Common App will now be more powerful than you ever could have imagined.
The Common App will add at least twenty-five schools this coming year, enticing students to apply to even more schools than they might have in years past. As we’ve said before, there’s very little downside to applying to a large number of schools, and whatever hangups you might have (cost, inconvenience) should be outweighed by the long-term benefits of landing a spot at a reach school (successful friends, higher income potential).
So there are more schools on the Common App. Problem solved, right? Not quite. One of the big misconceptions about the Common App is that adding schools to your list is a click-and-you’re-done situation if they’re all on the Common App. But the large majority of these 25 new schools will ask for supplemental essays, so having these schools on your list might mean fewer applications, but won’t necessarily cut down the number of essays you’re required to write. That’s where CEO comes in. We can streamline that process instantly, automatically, and inexpensively.
What’s more, starting next week and going throughout the fall, CEO will be updating its database of essay requirements to keep them as current as possible. And with our new email notification system, we’ll be able to alert you as soon as the requirements are made available so you can start early and save yourself the stress.
The new additions to the Common App might mean fewer applications, but with CEO, it’ll mean fewer apps and fewer essays. If you’re a rising senior, check out the discounts we have available. They won’t be there after July first!
Tags: accomplishments, Admissions, CEO, College, College Essay Organizer, Common App, Deadline, early decision, Essay, Guide, Help, junior, New York Times, News, Organization, Overwhelming, procrastination, Regular Decision, Tips, Top Choice, university
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April 27th, 2010
Washington Post. Get it? A post? In Washington? I guess? You have no idea how long we spent looking for an image to put here.
This terrific article over at the Washington Post describes in detail the process that CEO simplifies every day. Top applicants, facing ever-increasing odds against their getting into top schools, diversify their applications and increase the chance they’ll land an acceptance from a school at or above their academic level.
Sounds like a plan, right? And why not? There are plenty of horror stories to be had in that article. Perfect SATs. Top grades. Conservatory-level piano skills. A deferral.
But what the Post doesn’t address here is that if the process is being made easier and top schools are becoming ever-more selective, what’s the downside to applying to more schools?
There isn’t one, except for the cost of the applications, which is far outweighed by the potential reward of ending up at a school that brings you up academically, and eventually, professionally and financially.
Take a look at the last line from the article: “I’m feeling it was really smart of me to apply to so many,” she said, “because now I have enough options.” Speaks for itself.
And with CEO, you can get this work done before that rerun of Seinfeld comes on.
Keep your eye on the ball and you’ll see that tools already at your fingertips like CEO make this task easier than ever, often at a very low cost.
Tags: Admissions, Brown University, CEO, College, College Essay Organizer, Common App, Deadline, Duke University, early decision, Essay, Extra Curricular, Grades, Guide, Harvard University, Help, junior, MIT, News, Overwhelming, personal, procrastination, Recommendation, Regular Decision, rejected, SAT, School, Stanford University, statement, Tips, Top Choice, university, University of Maryland, Ursinus College, Washington University In St. Louis, Yale University
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