Last summer, one of my favorite writers on the MIT admissions blog wrote a post announcing that he was leaving MIT. I thought he could really find a good home here at Collegewise, so I did something I never do–I sent an unsolicited email to a college admissions officer. After several chats and some time spent getting to know our counselors, he agreed that we were a good fit. And this week, Chris LaBounty, former MIT admissions counselor, began his tenure as the director of our new Collegewise office in Westfield, New Jersey.
Who is Chris?
Chris is a University of Oregon graduate and remains a fanatical fan of Oregon Duck football. He earned an MBA and a masters in teaching before becoming a history teacher in the Boston public school system. In between his gigs as a teacher and an MIT admissions counselor, Chris also worked as a bartender, a market research coordinator, a server, and a market research moderator. He loves to cook and dabbles in glassblowing. He’s a huge FIFA soccer fan, especially when playing the video game version on a PS3. And he claims to have written his own rap music.
I mention Chris’s varied background because college applicants, especially those applying to prestigious schools, often envision admissions officers as stuffy academics who themselves went to prestigious colleges. That might be true in some cases, but there is no typical admissions officer. That’s why writing your application and your essays in ways that you think will impress your reader often doesn’t impress them at all. What all admissions officers, including Chris, have in common is that (1) they are real people with their own strengths, weaknesses, quirks and interests, and (2) they want to get to know the real version of you, not the version that’s trying to impress an imaginary admissions officer.
Why did we pick Chris?
Chris is passionate about education and about making a difference in students’ lives. He’s a fantastic writer and communicator who kids will like and parents will trust. He’s seen first hand how the pressures of college admission can ruin what should be an exciting time for families, and he wants to do something about it. As he said in his goodbye post at MIT:
Some of you out there are convinced that you cannot possibly be successful unless you go to one of these “top” schools…But you know what I think? I think your success is based much more on participation, engagement, work ethic, and fit, than it is on famous professors, famous brand names, and famous facilities.”
Yep—Chris is one of us.
Chris is getting himself situated in New Jersey before joining our new counselor training later this month. Then he’ll bring his advice, perspective and possibly a PS3 to our new office in Westfield. We couldn’t be more excited to have him here.