One of the best ways to keep yourself honest about whether or not you’re actually prioritizing what’s important to you is to regularly take stock of two things. 1. What are your goals, aspirations, passions, interests, etc.? These are your words, the things you say are important to you. 2. How are you actually spending […]
Read More >Five reads on leadership & college admissions
Leadership is one of the most misunderstood traits in the college admissions process. That fundamental misunderstanding is why students who are thriving at their part-time jobs, in their after-school art classes, or in their martial arts training will ask if their lack of leadership will hurt their admissions chances. It’s why so many kids start […]
Read More >Does everyone pay the same price at a college?
One of the best analogies I’ve seen about paying for college comes from Kalman Chany’s Paying for College Without Going Broke: “And not everyone pays the same price for a given college. In fact, going to college is a bit like traveling on an airplane. If you ask the person across the aisle what fare […]
Read More >The strike by lightning approach to college lists
It’s difficult for a student with straight A’s, near-perfect test scores, and more honors and awards than most adults rack up in their lifetime to understand why they need less selective schools on their list than whatever “Top Ten” US News added to their list that year. Counselors routinely field questions from these students and […]
Read More >College essays: think, but don’t overthink
As usual, the advice doled out on University of Virginia’s admissions blog is both timely and spot-on, this time in their entry with three pieces of advice for college essays. The tips are intended for applicants who will be responding to UVA’s prompts, but two of the three can apply to any college essay you’re […]
Read More >That was us then, this is us now
Earlier this month, I shared my plans to rewrite the Careers page of our Collegewise website. What felt fresh in 2006 felt dated today, and it reminded me how powerful it can be to take a new, critical look at things you’ve long since stopped evaluating. Here’s a screenshot of the old page. That was […]
Read More >What “meeting 100% of financial need” really means
When a college claims to meet 100% of financial need, it can sound deceptively as if an admitted student will get whatever amount of financial aid they need to attend. But it’s not necessarily quite that generous. To understand “meeting 100% of financial need,” let’s look briefly at how the process of applying for and evaluating […]
Read More >Phone out of sight, phone out of mind
I’ve written here repeatedly that the first step to getting great work done in less time is to eliminate distractions, and most importantly (these days), to turn off your phone. But it turns out turning your phone off isn’t actually enough to stop it from distracting you. According to a recent study by McCombs School […]
Read More >Lack of effort vs. lack of fear
As often as I write here about the potential value of failure as both a life teacher and even a college admissions advantage, it’s one of those concepts that many families are uncomfortable embracing. I don’t blame them. They get so many messages about the need for college applicants to be perfect (they don’t need […]
Read More >How to get a college essay jump start
Soon-to-be college applicants, here’s a great way to start your college essays—and to improve your college essay writing—before most applications are available. Write 1-2 paragraph responses to the following ten questions using these criteria: Be completely honest. Nobody will see, grade, or evaluate your responses, so you have nothing at all to lose. Use specific stories […]
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