Where are you in the cycle of renewal: Are you actively preserving the present, or selectively forgetting the past, or boldly creating the future? What advice would Leah give you to move you ahead on your journey? Once we're on the path of growth, we can continually move through the seasons of transformation and renewal.

It's not only the selective and elite institutions that provide those opportunities for a small subset of this population, Rubinoff said, adding that a majority of first-generation undergraduates tend toward options such as online programs, two-year colleges, and commuter state schools.

The recent trend toward early decision and early action among selective colleges and universities has pushed the traditional deadline of January up to Nov.

Nearly all application materials are submitted online, and the Common Application provides a one-size-fits form accepted by more than 400 schools, including the nation's most selective

Still, at the most selective schools, where thousands of candidates may submit identically high grades and test scores, a marginal item like the essay may serve as a tie-breaker between two equally qualified candidates.

One recent change in college admissions is that selective colleges and universities have moved the traditional deadline to earlier dates

The most selective private schools – Harvard, Yale, and Princeton – show almost no gap between black and white graduation rates.

According to data gathered by Harvard Law School professor Lani Guinier, the most selective schools are more likely to choose blacks who have at least one immigrant parent from Africa or the Caribbean than black students who are descendants of American slaves

Higher education has been able to duck this issue for years, particularly the more selective schools, by saying the responsibility is on the individual student," says Pennington of the Gates Foundation.

Washington and Lee is a small, selective school in Lexington, Va

If pop singers have got voice problems, they really need to be more selective about where they work.

"It's not only the selective and elite institutions that provide those opportunities for a small subset of this population," Rubinoff said, adding that a majority of first-generation undergraduates tend toward options such as online programs, two-year col

The Washington Post reported on a recent study by Princeton economists, in which college graduates who applied to the most selective schools in the 12th grade were compared to those who applied to slightly less selective schools.

Yet, she noted, many young people are especially unwilling to take risks at school—afraid that one low test score or poor grade could cost them a spot at a selective university.