Colleges That Made Admissions a Little Easier in 2025: Our Top Picks for Transparency and Support
As the new year approached, we informally polled Bright Horizons College Coach educators to identify specific admissions offices that made their lives—and the lives of their students—just a little less stressful in 2025. Whether through prompt email replies, detailed explanations of requirements online, or thoughtful videos or blog posts, these universities demonstrated a willingness to pull back the curtain on the sometimes mystifying admissions process.
The entire University of California system is famous for its easily accessible help desk and fast response times. Long before students may find themselves in need of the help desk, UC provides phenomenal resources to help them understand how applications are evaluated and how students can prepare for the admissions process. I would bet everyone on the College Coach staff has the UC PIQ guidance page bookmarked.
Special shout out to UC Davis Admissions Director Robert Penman and his recent YouTube video where he reacts to college admissions advice from TikTok. He acknowledges that, while not all the advice is bad, it often lacks nuance. We appreciate that, rather than ignore the power of admissions TikTok, he took it head on. This video is worth the 27 minutes whether or not you plan to apply to UC Davis.
A call to the University of Southern California School of Cinematic Arts admissions office, just days before a deadline and a major holiday, was met with a short wait time and a kind, patient response to technical questions around portfolio submission.
Emerson College’s Department of Performing Arts also stood out for communicating clearly and efficiently with applicants and their parents, and for being forthcoming and organized throughout the admissions process.
Chapman University, Loyola Marymount University, and Cal Lutheran University each had admission reps who were quick to respond to emails from students and provided thorough, helpful, polite replies.
The University of Washington, Seattle is an exemplar of transparency on their admissions pages. They are clear about their test optional policy, honest about how tough it is to get into the computer science program, and the UW Honors Program provides helpful advice on how to write its required essays.
While there are differing (and passionate) opinions across the Bright Horizons College Coach staff about AI, we do commend Georgia Tech and Caltech for having detailed AI use policy statements on their websites so students understand how they may or may not use the technology in the application process.
University of Georgia uses its blog to broadcast tons of admissions data about its applicant pool and admitted students, as well as to share thoughtful advice meant to ease students’ stress around the app process.
MIT’s blog is another go-to for our educators. The blog offers advice on everything from choosing extracurricular activities to writing the MIT app essays and interviewing. The MIT admissions website is also a wealth of guidance and resources even for students who aren’t considering applying there.
Applying to college has never been more confusing and stressful. We applaud those institutions mentioned above and thank their staff for doing what they can to make an intimidating process easier to navigate. If you’re a future applicant to any of the universities listed above, be sure to check out the resources provided to prepare yourself for the admissions process!
