The arc of high school activities

August 20, 2015 by Kevin McMullin

I often write that when colleges evaluate a student’s extracurricular activities, they’re looking for evidence of impact. Have you made contributions that have fundamentally impacted this club, team, workplace, etc.? That’s also why a long list of activities in which you dabbled is less impressive than a short list of those to which you really […]

The best sources have names

August 19, 2015 by Kevin McMullin

Gossip magazines often report their stories with murky supporting evidence that sounds like this: “Unnamed sources rumored to be close with the couple claimed that news of Lisa’s Oscar nomination was simply too much for Jason to handle, and that his jealousy led to their very public breakup.” Sure, it sounds like a plausible explanation. […]

Go break a leg

August 18, 2015 by Kevin McMullin

A great server at a restaurant can completely transform the experience. Lots of people can be polite and get your order right. But there’s an art to being great. The server who makes you feel right at home, who strikes the perfect balance of attentive service without unnecessary interruption, someone who strings together so many contributions—both […]

What’s next?

August 17, 2015 by Kevin McMullin

When I would brainstorm college essay topics with our Collegewise students, I always recommended that the final paragraph answer the question, “What’s next?” For example, say you write your essay about your experience playing on the lacrosse team. Do you hope to play for a college team? A club team? Will you play other intramural […]

College financing wisdom

August 16, 2015 by Kevin McMullin

If you’ve ever wished someone would just give you short, succinct, easy-to-follow advice about paying for college, the kind you don’t need a masters degree in accounting or finance to understand, look no further than Mark Kantrowitz’s new book, Twisdoms about Paying for College (a Twisdom—apparently—is a short, tweetable wisdom). Here’s an example: “Every dollar you […]

No dependency

August 15, 2015 by Kevin McMullin

If you made a list of all the goals you have for yourself during and after college, from meeting new people to learning what interests you to getting started in a particular career, how many of them actually require that you attend one particular college? More broadly, how many of them require that you attend […]

First, find the fit

August 14, 2015 by Kevin McMullin

I almost always advise against high school students making decisions just to please particular colleges. Trying to reverse engineer yourself like a widget just to please your dream school is not a good strategy. Far better to make your own decisions and then pick colleges predisposed to appreciate the real you. With over 2,500 schools, […]

Work without pressure

August 13, 2015 by Kevin McMullin

I always encourage students to start their college applications early, but only because the pressure of an impending deadline never seems to improve a final product. It’s not because the spaces are supposedly filling up as we speak. Patrick O’Connor reminds applicants of this in his recent column: “The application guidelines of the National Association […]

What you can make of it

August 12, 2015 by Kevin McMullin

Sometimes things just don’t go as you’d hoped. Maybe you didn’t get into AP Euro. Maybe you’ve been assigned the absolute worst responsibilities you can have at your part-time job. Maybe you’re not crazy about your new baseball coach, art teacher, or best friend’s significant other. You have two options (assuming that making an immediate […]