U.S. News & World Report released their 2016 college rankings earlier today.  Nearly 1,800 schools were covered nationwide and evaluated on multiple measures of academic excellence and outcomes to produce the final rankings.

Princeton retains sole posession of the top spot for National Universities, and Williams College tops the list of Liberal Arts Colleges.  

Click on Continue Reading to see the rankings changes. 

With your college list more or less finalized, give some consideration to early admission—many schools offer it and can be a terrific way to boost odds and minimize wasted motion.  All you need to do is apply 45-60 days earlier than you normally would. 

Here's a list of competitive 4-year institutions offering early admission to applicants.  Depending on the school, these options range from Early Decision (binding) to Early Action (non-binding) and Restrictive Early Action (non-binding with restrictions on where else you can apply).  

The first wave of deadlines is coming up in November, so take a quick look to see if any of your schools offer something worth considering. Or click here to find out how College Kickstart can help you fully capitalize on it.

In search of schools that do a great job of keeping your interest and getting you graduated?  

Look no further, here's a list of 50 public and private institutions that do just that. To make the list, each institution has to have freshman retention and six-year graduation rates of 90% or better. 

Many of the schools listed will come as no surprise, but others—in particular the public institutions—will!  We've also included admit rates and mid-50th percentile SAT and ACT ranges to help you narrow down your choices.

For those of you that have been waitlisted at one of your top choices, here's a list of waitlist statistics for several popular private and public schools, along with notification dates and links for more detail if available.  

Our sample of waitlist statistics from 127 private and public institutions paints the following picture:

• On average, 18% of students accepting a place on a waitlist were admitted

• Half of the schools admitted 10% or less of the students accepting a place on the wait list last year

• 35% of the schools admitted 5% or less

• 9% admitted no one

There are several factors driving the low rates, including the size of the waitlist (often very large), and how well a school anticipates its admissions yield. 

Click Continue Reading for the list.

The University of Virginia reported earlier that it admitted 4,856 Early Action applicants to the Class of 2019.

A total of 16,092 EA applications were received this year, resulting in an EA admission rate of 30% overall.  Virginia residents accounted for 27% of the applicant pool and 42% of the admitted pool.  The early action admission rate for residents was 47% versus 24% for non-residents.  

Click here for the news release.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill reported today that it admitted 6,235 Early Action applicants to the Class of 2019.

A total of 17,149 EA applications were received this year, resulting in an EA admission rate of 36%.  

Click here for the news release.