Casey sent us all this article with visual evidence of “how we as a society obsess over the smallest sliver of the [college] market," "how the media focus on the elite colleges," and most importantly, how “the most selective institutions are but a tiny fraction of the higher education industry.”
Read More >More college application mistakes to avoid
Patrick O'Connor comes through again by helping students avoid these three frequent college application mistakes.
Read More >Hartwick over Harvard?
My college buddy, Shane, emailed me to recommend Malcolm Gladwell’s new book, David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfits, and the Art of Battling Giants, as “a goldmine of material” for my blog. And loyal reader George forwarded me this podcast featuring Gladwell’s discussion of the book. At 24:40, Gladwell explains why a student might be better off […]
Read More >Right beats prestigious
I wish that parents who are agonizing over the college application process could have sat in row 7 with me on the cross-country flight I just took. The woman sitting next to me was flying out for “Parents Weekend” at her daughter’s college, and this mom could not have been more excited. She said that […]
Read More >The Onion knows college essay clichés
Few writers do satire better than those at The Onion. And this piece could just as easily be trying to mimic a clichéd college essay about how participating in one community service project taught the writer the importance of serving humanity. Thanks to Rhiannon for sharing it. And don't miss their take on “Traveling to […]
Read More >How would that writing look on a screen?
Nearly all of our counselors who worked as admissions officers have mentioned that they would often read applications or essays in which nothing was capitalized. Or they’d receive emails from applicants written like text messages—no punctuation, capitalization or even complete sentences. And some emails were written in ALL CAPS (always a bad idea unless you […]
Read More >Drive your own process
For many students, applying to college is their first step into independent adult life. That’s why the most successful college applicants drive their own process. They don’t expect their parents or college counselor to research colleges, complete applications or otherwise assume responsibility for the college admissions process for them. You don’t have to do this […]
Read More >Don’t blame your high school
Many students (and even more frequently, parents) find fault with their high school for somehow hurting the student’s chances of getting into a selective college. It might be that the school uses (or does not use) class rank. Sometimes students believe they would stand out more if their school were less rigorous. Sometimes they claim […]
Read More >Make it clear
When completing a college application, essay or letter of recommendation, your first and most important objective is to make it clear. Don’t sacrifice clarity in the pursuit of writing something dramatic or compelling. Would the college understand from this list of activities what that organization listed as an acronym actually is? Would the college understand […]
Read More >Students don’t need a life passion
“Passion” is a word that gets thrown around often during the college admissions process. So many students and parents have heard that colleges reward passion in applicants that it can begin to sound like a high school kid needs to identify her life’s pursuit if she wants to get into college today. But colleges understand that what lights up […]
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