Written by Lisa Bleich and Stefanie Forman As we walked around campus amidst gothic architecture and beautiful quads in bloom, you could feel the history of Yale oozing from the university. The [...]

Written by: Lisa Bleich & Alex Leventhal UCI is a sprawling campus. Most students get around on bicycles or electric scooters. In fact the center campus probably has more bike paths than [...]

Written by: Alex Leventhal While in Boston for my grad school reunion, I decided to visit Boston College, which is six miles west of downtown Boston in the gorgeous, safe neighborhood of Chestnut [...]

Written by Stefanie Forman In University Circle, a neighborhood that is only five minutes from downtown Cleveland and defined by parks, museums, performance halls, and top hospitals in the [...]

Black Excellence abounds at Howard University. The students we met are motivated, sharp, resourceful, and intellectually curious leaders. It’s no surprise that Howard University is the [...]

As we navigated our way through the picturesque enclosed upper Manhattan campus, students began emerging from class. Instead of looking at their phones, everyone was engaged and smiling as they [...]

The University of Coimbra is the oldest and most prestigious university in Portugal. There are 30,000 students studying everything from Literature to Law. Medicine and Law are two of its most [...]

I live in Los Angeles, and the drive east to the town of Claremont was quicker than I had expected on the multi-lane 10 freeway.  I was going to tour Claremont McKenna College (CMC) and [...]

Founded in 1861, Vassar College is a highly selective, residential, coeducational liberal arts college. Consistently ranked among the top liberal arts colleges in the country, Vassar is renowned [...]

The historic Sarah Lawrence campus is home to an inclusive, intellectually curious, and diverse community where students take charge of their education through personalized courses of study. [...]

The art of science. The science of performance. The performance of literature. The literature of art. These are some ways that SUNY Purchase integrates the arts. The State University of New York [...]

Seattle University is a Jesuit Catholic university located in the heart of Seattle. Eight colleges and schools offer more than 120 undergraduate, graduate, and certificate programs to SeattleU’s [...]

We visited Fordham University’s expansive, gated Rose Hill campus in the Bronx. As we strolled across campus we were impressed by the large open green space and beautiful gothic architecture. [...]

The New York campus of the Culinary Institute of America is located in historic Hyde Park. This is an ideal location for culinary students and food lovers alike. The scenic 170-acre campus is [...]

(Includes Learning Support) I visited Bard college during September as the leaves were turning color and felt the same feeling of expansiveness as my colleagues Linda Kay and Diane Forman felt [...]

The U.S. Military Academy at West Point trains cadets to live honorably, lead honorably, and demonstrate excellence by following through Character, Academic, Physical, and Military programs. We [...]

Lewis and Clark, a small liberal arts college of 2,100 undergraduate students located in Portland, Oregon offers 29 majors, 28 minors, and robust pre-professional programs. The campus feels very [...]

Reed College We were led to the information session by a student with understated pink hair, a pink dress, and pink boots.  We walked through a wood paneled ceiling chapel into an [...]

University of Washington We could barely see the football stadium through the fog as we drove along the tree-lined hill leading to campus. As promised the (atypical) fog lifted by late morning [...]

Our visit to Binghamton University demonstrated just how innovative this school of 14,000 has become. Designed for Gen Z, Binghamton offers innovative classrooms.  Faculty emphasizes [...]

I was excited to see Belmont University because I had heard about its outstanding music business program and location, just two miles from downtown Nashville, TN.  While Belmont has a [...]

Fisk University Fisk University is one of 102 historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States. HBCUs were established before the Civil Rights Act of 1964 with the [...]

Florida Atlantic University is a state university located in suburban Boca Raton. With 49% of the 30,000-student population coming from minority backgrounds, FAU is the most diverse school within [...]

CBU is a small, red brick, Lasallian focused school of 2000 students located in the heart of Memphis. CBU’s mission is to promote: Intellectual growth Spirit and faith of service to others Active [...]

As we walked around the beige stone buildings that make up Rhodes’ campus, we felt like we had stepped into Hogwarts. The campus has the quintessential look of college with a series of uniform [...]

Miami University Miami University, located in Oxford, Ohio, is one of the most beautiful campuses I have ever seen. Driving into town, visitors are immediately greeted with handsome Georgian [...]

It’s easy to forget that you’re right in the middle of Nashville when walking around Vanderbilt’s pretty 330 acre campus. It’s no wonder it’s been designated a National Arboretum. The last time I [...]

Santa Clara University is a selective mid-sized Jesuit school located in Silicon Valley, about 50 miles from San Francisco and 15 miles from Palo Alto. The Spanish architecture and lush gardens [...]

Written by Abby Power and Lisa Bleich Looking for a diverse, inclusive, student body, energetic vibe, great weather, with a  wide range of academic options and don’t mind Ubering throughout [...]

The Uber driver left us off on campus where we were supposed to meet the other 50+ independent educational consultants for breakfast in the Greek Theater.  It gave us a chance to walk across the [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich We spent a fabulous week touring seven Virginia Universities, six public and one private. Each school is unique and impressive in its own right. Virginia offers outstanding [...]

North Carolina State University “NC State” NC State is the second most competitive public university in North Carolina (behind UNC Chapel Hill), and has the most competitive engineering programs [...]

For the past few years, clients that visited Duke University came back declaring their love and that they wanted to apply Early Decision.  I was eager to visit for myself to see what all the [...]

I had the opportunity to visit SCAD while participating in an IECA Professional Retreat.  The admissions counselors and faculty embraced the opportunity to demonstrate its creative strengths [...]

During my last “Moms’ Weekend” for my daughter, Gabby’s sorority at WashU in St. Louis, my daughter and I decided to visit Saint Louis University.   Gabby was eager to see how they run their [...]

Saint Louis University is an excellent option for students who want a faith-driven, service-oriented, pre-professional school located in a great city.  The philosophy that permeates the [...]

Salve Regina University: Visit Review Imagine a college nestled between Newport mansions, with an expansive outdoor patio overlooking a breathtaking view of the ocean.  Imagine a campus with [...]

Rutgers University, New Brunswick College Visit Review by Lisa Bleich In 2012 Rutgers began a decade long movement to improve their national reputation and rankings with the appointment of Robert [...]

University of Colorado Boulder College Visit Review #CUBoulder When we heard that The Independent Educational Consultants Association (IECA) spring conference was going to be held in Denver, [...]

University of Denver #DU University of Denver (DU) is medium sized private college in Denver, Colorado.  The campus is a mix of newer red brick buildings and mid-century western architecture.  [...]

Rutgers Honors College Visit Review by Lisa Bleich Rutgers Honors College The Rutgers Honors College was created three years ago and will have its first graduating class in May, 2019.  The Honors [...]

I was excited to visit Furman University because my nephew had graduated from Furman in 2015 and I had heard great things about the school.  When I pulled into the expansive red brick, uniform [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Syracuse University feels like a large, state school, with state-of-the art amenities at every turn. The indoor sports stadium is outstanding and among the four [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich Clemson has a pretty campus with a large green mall area at its center.  They are in the midst of a huge expansion, with lots of construction around campus.  It [...]

We visited American University as part of the HECA International Relations tour of DC area schools.  My overall impressions remained the same as my previous visit, but there are several important [...]

Personalized, engaged learning characterizes Washington College. Set in historic Chestertown, Maryland, this homey campus comprised of mostly low-rise brick buildings is charming and unassuming. [...]

Visited by Lisa Bleich and Beth CassieMay, 2016 We spent a week in Washington DC touring colleges through an international relations/studies lens.  We were fortunate to stay right in the [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich My overall impressions remained the same as my previous visit, but with several important changes regarding the campus facilities, admissions selectivity, financial aid and [...]

We arrived at the University of Michigan on a Friday afternoon around 5:30 on a beautiful spring day.  We passed by the “big house” (stadium) and let me tell you it is one big house!!!  We parked [...]

Visited by Lisa Bleich The students looked happy, attractive, diverse, engaged and excited to be there.  Jaime from admissions described Georgetown students as sociable, friendly, sharp, and [...]

Visited by Abby Power Georgetown oozes history and tradition — the school colors are based on Union and Confederate uniforms, President Obama just gave a speech from the same podium as did [...]

Visited by Beth Cassie Located between Orlando and Tampa, Florida Southern College is the oldest private institution in Florida and boasts the largest collection of Frank Lloyd Wright buildings [...]

Visited by Beth Cassie University of Tampa was the final college I visited on my recent tour of colleges in southern Florida. Set in the heart of downtown Tampa, UT is a self-contained campus. [...]

Visited by Beth Cassie Set on acres 188 well-manicured acres on Florida’s Gulf Coast, Eckerd College’s campus draws you in at once. But Eckerd is more than just good looks—it is also one of only [...]

Admissions stressed the importance of intellectual curiosity among its applicants.  In fact, the supplemental essay question changes each year to get at how intellectually engaged [...]

Visited by Lisa Bleich I went back to Emory to visit with my youngest daughter.  We arrived in Atlanta a couple of days before our scheduled tour, giving us the weekend to explore the city.  We [...]

Visited by Lisa Bleich We arrived at Tulane two hours before our tour after spending the morning tooling around the French Quarter in New Orleans.  We basked in the warm 75 plus degree [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich (1/16) We arrived on Colgate’s campus just as the snow was starting to fall. The campus was just as beautiful as I remembered and my daughter, Kayla, was also [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich I recently went to visit Colgate with my youngest daughter. We arrived on Colgate’s campus just as the snow was starting to fall. The campus was just as beautiful as [...]

Written by Abby Power The University of Minnesota (known as U of M or The U) offers a pretty typical Big 10 school experience – strong academics, lots of choices, great sports, plenty of school [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich Macalester is a quintessential small liberal arts college with and urban twist. While Macalester is located in St. Paul, it has a neighborhood rather than city feel with [...]

Webster University  Written by Lisa Bleich I pulled up to the Admissions Office parking lot at Webster University and there was a spot waiting for me with my name on it, literally! Everyone [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich The Hebrew University of Jerusalem sits at the top of Mt. Scopus overlooking an expansive view of Jerusalem. The students were in finals just before their summer break. [...]

Written by Beth Cassie Lisa and I (along with a group of independent counselors attending a conference in Baltimore) toured Johns Hopkins University one week after riots rocked the city of [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich I was out visiting my Dad in Los Angeles so we decided to visit the Claremont Colleges right after he picked me up from the airport. It took about an hour to get there from [...]

Written by Abby Power, guest blogger Carleton College is a highly se­lective liberal arts college located in the small, rural town of Northfield MN, just 40 miles south of Minneapolis-St [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich Texas A & M University began as a military academy. While it is now the second largest public university in Texas, the sense of tradition and decorum associated with [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich Trinity University is tranquil, orange brick campus set upon a hill overlooking San Antonio. Trinity is a hybrid liberal arts college providing students the ability to [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich UT Austin is the flagship university in the Texas state system. The campus itself is fairly compact for such a large university in such a big state! The facilities are [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich St. Edward’s University is located right in the heart of Austin. Students are funky, independent, accepting, and open to the world. Many of the international students come [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich Southwestern University is a small liberal arts college located 30 minutes outside of Austin in Georgetown, TX. Its president, Edward Burger (insert twitter handle) is [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich Baylor University is an unapologetically Christian university located in Waco, TX. The campus is expansive and quite beautiful with outstanding facilities, especially the [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich University of Houston is an urban campus with a racially and ethnically diverse student body. It has several excellent pre-professional programs including hospitality (with [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich I spent the last week doing a Texas College Tour around Central Texas. The local government has communicated a clear message to its public institutions: “Graduate students [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich Rice is a beautiful, expansive campus with a southwestern style architecture set right in Houston. The central quad is quite pretty surrounded by red brick buildings. [...]

Written by Beth Cassie James Madison University, located in the heart of the Shenandoah Valley, is another of Virginia’s outstanding public universities. The 720 acres campus is divided in two by [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) is located right in downtown Richmond. The urban feeling permeates the campus from the eclectic set of buildings to the pretty park [...]

Written by Beth Cassie. University of Mary Washington was perhaps the most surprising of the colleges we visited on our Virginia tour. Everything about this school looks and feels like a private [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich. The University of Richmond boasts one of the most beautiful college campuses in the country. Set amidst large, forest like trees, along side a lake with charming trails [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich. William and Mary is a beautiful, expansive campus where old, ancient and new intermingle. Its historic setting in Colonial Williamsburg, VA compliments the deep history [...]

Written by Beth Cassie. Christopher Newport University (CNU) is the newest public university in the Commonwealth of Virginia. Established 50 years ago as a two-year, primarily commuter school, [...]

Visited by Lisa Bleich and Beth Cassie The University of Virginia, Virginia’s flagship university is arguably one of the top public universities in the country. Walking around UVA’s colonial red [...]

Written by Lisa Bleich and Beth Cassie. We spent a fabulous week touring seven Virginia Universities, six public and one private. Each school is unique and impressive in its own right. Virginia [...]

College Visit by Lisa Bleich Xavier University, a medium size Jesuit College in Cincinnati, with an excellent DI basketball team, has gone through tremendous growth over the past five years [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich University of Cincinnati (UC) surprised me by its beautiful and compact, yet expansive campus.  While the campus is right in the heart of the city, it is a [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Indiana has an expansive, 1,800 acre campus with limestone buildings and lined with trees and flowers throughout campus.  The former football field was [...]

Lisa spent last week visiting multiple schools in Indiana. Click below to read the full report for Rose Hulman Institute of Technology, DePauw University, Butler University and Indiana [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich What happens when a college makes it to the Final Four in basketball a couple of years in a row?  Applications skyrocket!  At least this is what happened [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich DePauw’s campus is set amidst a picturesque backdrop of uniform brick buildings surrounded by plenty of green open space and quaint walkways.  DePauw is a small [...]

College Review by Lisa Bleich Rose Hulman Institute of Technology is a small campus set in Terra Haute, Indiana.  It prides itself on active engaged student body and faculty who are [...]

Written by Beth Cassie We attended a great presentation in NYC jointly hosted by the Newhouse School of Public Communications and the School of Information Studies (iSchool) at Syracuse [...]

College reviewed by Lisa Bleich I recently visited Cooper Union, a conservatory-based college for Art, Architecture, and Engineering. The campus is integrated into lower Manhattan and Astor [...]

Written by Beth Cassie We attended an informative presentation in New York, jointly hosted by the Newhouse School of Public Communications and Syracuse University’s School of Information [...]

Beth Cassie recently toured various schools in Pennsylvania, including the University of Pittsburgh and Penn State University.  She reported her findings on the College Bound Mentor College [...]

I recently visited the picturesque Connecticut College campus in New London, Connecticut, just across the street from the United States Coast Guard Academy. Established as an all women’s college [...]

College review by Beth Cassie Allegheny College is located in Meadville, PA and is a real gem that feels more ‘Midwest than Pennsylvania’. With 2,100 students total, this is a one of the schools [...]

College review by Beth Cassie * update* The University of Pittsburgh campus is concentrated within a quarter square mile of the Oakland neighborhood of Pittsburgh. Oakland is the educational, [...]

Written by Beth Cassie * Update* I spent two days on Penn State’s main campus, primarily touring the athletic facilities. I arrived on Friday morning, the day before the first home football game. [...]

College review by Cathy Watts, guest blogger If you like a university steeped in tradition and history, the University of St. Andrews in Scotland has it in spades.  In 2013 the school is [...]

Recently I visited Hofstra University, which is located 25 miles east of Manhattan in Hempstead, Long Island. Hofstra is a midsize university with approximately 7,000 undergraduate students. [...]

The quad at the University of Maryland is beautiful and mirrors the quintessential American university campus portrayed in Hollywood movies. Brick academic buildings line the perimeter, an [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich  It was a beautiful late summer afternoon when we toured Harvard Yard.  Incoming freshmen clustered together in circles during freshman orientation.  [...]

College review by Lisa BleichIn one of the most beautiful locations in the world set among glorious mountains and a glistening lake, sits Sierra Nevada College, a small liberal arts college.  It [...]

College review by Beth Cassie I recently visited University of New Hampshire in Durham, NH. This mid-sized, primarily undergraduate (12,800 UG) public university is a real gem, located less than [...]

College review by Beth Cassie Flowering trees and bright red flags welcomed us as we drove onto the campus.  I immediately saw the appeal.  The University buildings are attractive, well [...]

It was a beautiful, sunny April morning when we drove up to the Sacred Heart University campus in suburban Fairfield, CT. The compact campus has a “newer” feel with its low and mid-rise [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Lawrence University is a pretty campus with an eclectic mix of mid-century and modern beige brick buildings. The conservatory is across the street from the main [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Beloit is a small, liberal arts college that brings together a diverse group of creative, independent, open-minded students.  Some of the adjectives to describe [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich We arrived at around 8:30 pm on a Sunday night to University of Wisconsin in Madison.  We stayed at the hotel right inside the South Campus Student Union.  As we [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich The University of Rochester is a pretty brick campus with two main quads and a river that runs along side the main campus.  There are two other campuses; the [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich RIT’s nickname is “The Brick City” due to the preponderance of brick buildings throughout.  The campus looks more like a corporate park than a college campus on the [...]

College review by Debbie Pearlson Lisa, Beth and I spent a recent chilly and overcast February day visiting the campus of Montclair State University. MSU is the second largest public university [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich I taught marketing full time at Whittier College from 2002-2004.  When I left, Whittier was a 1,200 student small liberal arts college with financial troubles and [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich UCLA is a beautiful terra-cotta colored brick campus set between three exclusive LA neighborhoods, Bel Air, Brentwood, and Westwood.  Westwood Village is right [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Chapman University has grown tremendously over the past 10 years from 1,500 to 6,000 undergraduate students. During the initial stages of the growth, selectivity was [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Loyola Marymount University (LMU) sits high upon a hill overlooking the Pacific Ocean right near Los Angeles Airport.  The buildings are a mix of [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Georgia Tech has a very pretty, traditional looking, contained campus right in the center of Atlanta.  The student body is highly diverse; 40% of the student [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich My daughter and I took a post-Hurricane Sandy break and spent the last few days in Atlanta, GA visiting Emory University and Georgia Tech. For our first exposure to [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich and Beth Cassie Beth and I recently visited The College of New Jersey (TCNJ) as part of a counselor’s visit day. The campus is quite impressive. TCNJ looks beautiful [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich We took advantage of our vacation in the Berkshires to visit Williams College.We drove along the bucolic, windy, one lane highway passing large fields and not much [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Last week I dropped off my oldest daughter at college to begin her freshman year and before the tears of separation even dried up, I was off to Dartmouth with my [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich New York Film Academy rolled out the red carpet for our visit to Los Angeles, literally, as they set up the opening cocktail party on the ‘European’ [...]

College review by Diane Forman Nestled along the riverfront in downtown Tampa, the University of Tampa (UT) boasts a picturesque campus. UT is just a stone’s throw away from Orlando and a [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Rhode Island College (RIC) started out as a teaching college and has morphed into a four-year liberal arts college over time.  Many of the students commute to [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich NEIT offers a different approach to education focusing on vocational training in areas such as automotive technology, nursing, occupational therapy, building science [...]

College review by Beth Cassie We took the subway up to Columbia and literally steps from the 116th Street station we entered the Columbia campus.  Columbia has a distinct, gated campus in the [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Susquehanna University is a very pretty campus, all brick and lots of green, set against a farm background. The school is very laid-back as is the student body. The [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Preppy, work hard-play hard mentality describes the Bucknell student body. We were there on a cold, rainy day, but it did not take away from the beauty of the campus [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich This 230 plus year old college, located in the small, but quaint town of Carlisle is a lovely, limestone campus with a large green quad and a mix of old and new [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Set in the lovely town of Lancaster, Franklin and Marshal is a beautiful, brick campus. Downtown Lancaster is about a 15 minute walk from campus with lots of cute [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Students at Drexel are no-nonsense, down-to-earth and thrive in a hands-on learning environment. They come for the co-op education and Drexel has been good at [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Bustling with energy, bands playing, student club tables, and swarms of people aptly describes University of Pennsylvania during my visit. I arrived on admitted [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich The Kenyon campus is beautiful with English Gothic architecture throughout the campus.  The campus is spotted with pretty sculptures and interesting, architectural [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich The Denison campus sits atop a hill with a beautiful view of the town below.  I had the good fortune to sit next to a Japanese Professor, Michael Tangeman, who is [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Oberlin is a music lovers dream.  As we walked into the new music building a student randomly broke out into song.  A world-class viola played in the background [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich I have always heard great things about The College of Wooster, so I was excited to see what all the hype was about.  I was not disappointed. A student playing the [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich We approached the beautiful campus from the bottom and looked up at a gorgeous green hill.  The campus felt very collegiate and peaceful.  Wittenberg was named after [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich UC Davis is a beautiful, flat campus nestled between Sacramento and the Salinas Valley.  It’s about an hour’s drive from San Francisco.  Davis has [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich and Beth Cassie University of California, Berkeley or “Cal” as it is known is California’s flagship public university.  I visited there during the summer when only a [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Build it and they will come. That is what High Point President, Dr. Nido Quebin’s philosophy is to higher education. He has built a college campus over the past [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Originally an all women’s Presbyterian college as a sister school to Davidson. Have a core curriculum of four classes that all students must take to instill critical [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Davidson is a classic, highly select Liberal Arts College. The campus is expansive and very beautiful. There is a quaint main street that caters to the college. [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich Large somewhat select state university depending on the major. The school itself is pretty and located right in Charlotte. One-third of the students live on campus, [...]

College review by Lisa Bleich The mix of students surprised me at Wake Forest. While there were a number of preppy students in the mix, there was a wonderful mix of ethnicities, races, artsy, [...]