Collegewise

Starting from scratch

"We don't know anything." 

I hear that occasionally from parents and students who have no idea where to start with college planning.  Any family who takes these five steps will be more informed and in control of their student's college destiny.   If you've come to the realization that you should be doing more, but aren't sure what exactly to do, this is where I'd start.

1.  Visit your high school counselor.  

If you have a high school counselor (not everybody does these days), start there.  And don't make excuses that your counselor doesn't know you or has somehow failed you by not providing you with college information.  Yes, part of a counselor's job is to lend college planning assistance to students.  But it is not your counselor's job to take over the responsibility for your college planning.  The most successful students assume take on this responsibility and then advocate for themselves by seeking out their counselor for advice.

In particular, you want to get answers to the following questions. 

• Am I taking a college prep curriculum?  If I'm not, what do I need to do to get on track to go to college?  Do I have any classes I need to make up, or courses I need to take that I haven't yet taken?
• What standardized tests do I need to take for college and when should I take them?  (In particular, ask about the PSAT, SAT, ACT and SAT Subjects Tests).
• What are some reasonable choices for colleges I could consider?

2. Check out the college planning calendars on the NACAC (National Association for College Admissions Counseling) website. The Princeton Review has lots of helpful college information on their website, too. In particular, pay attention to what they have to say about standardized tests, which ones to take, and when to take them.

3.  Try to attend a college fair in your area. 

4.  Learn about the process of applying for financial aid.  I think the three best sources of information are:

• www.finaid.org
• The latest edition of "Paying for College Without Going Broke" by Kalman Chany. 
• The College Board website

5.  Pick 5 colleges that interest you, visit the admissions sections of their websites, and research their admissions requirements.  They'll tell you what classes you need to take, what standardized tests are required, and what the deadlines are to apply for admission.  While you're there, read about their process of applying for financial aid, too.

These steps won't complete your college planning, but they'll get started (and caught up). 

Ten ways seniors can still ruin your college applications

We're getting close to the end of college application season.  And unfortunately, the mad rush to finish can lead some seniors to making some big mistakes.  So here are some things to avoid.

And just to clarify, these are things you should not do.

1. If you send an email to an admissions office, completely ignore the standard rules of English grammar, capitalization and punctuation.

When you email each other, you and your friends might not care about anything other than just getting the basic point across. But colleges do. Emails devoid of things like punctuation and correct grammar make admissions officers wonder if you were too lazy to use them, or if you just didn't know how.  Both are equally bad.  

2. Do something goofy with your application.

What's goofy?  Sending a box of cookies to the admissions office with a note that says, "There's more where these came from if you admit me!"  That's goofy.  Seriously.  Don't do that (or anything like that).

3. Don't thank people who helped you, like your high school counselor or your teachers who wrote your letters of recommendation.

It's not unusual for a college to contact your counselor or one of your recommendation writers if they have a question about something that was unclear on your application.  If that were to happen, what final impression have you left on those people?  You wouldn't want your teacher to be thinking, "He's the kid who asked me to write his letter ten days before the deadline, gave me no supporting materials, and never bothered to say thank-you."  Be nice.  Say "Thank you."  Maybe even buy them a little gift.

4. Don't call the colleges to make sure they received all your application materials.  Just assume it all got there.

Testing agencies, teachers, counselors--a lot of people besides yourself are responsible for sending parts of your applications to colleges.  And colleges are absolutely inundated with materials at this time of year.  It's easy for something to get lost in the shuffle.  So follow up and make sure they've received everything for your applications. 

5. Stop studying and let your grades drop (Just hope that colleges won't notice).

A lot of colleges will ask to see your first semester grades before they admit you.  And I've yet to find a college who won't ask for your second semester grades before they let an admitted student become a freshman on their campus.  So don't let your senior celebration start too early.

6. Recycle an essay from another application but forget to switch out the college's name.

This is like phoning a girl to ask her to go out with you and calling her the wrong name.  It's not going to go over well.  And it happens a lot (the application mistake, I mean). 

7. Post some questionable pictures of yourself on your Facebook page.  And make it public for all the world to see.

Admissions officers have Facebook pages, too.  And they know how to use them.  So, no party pics.  No photos of you making obscene or lewd gestures at the camera.  No blog entries detailing things that you wouldn't want colleges to know about.  The internet is public (it is the world wide web, after all).  So keep  your content clean, and keep everything private so that only your friends can find your profile. 

8. Let your parents get way too involved.

Over-involved "helicopter parents" who fill out applications, help write essays, and call the admissions office repeatedly inadvertently paint a picture of a college applicant who can't/won't do things for himself.  I'm not suggesting that parents have to stay out of everything college-related.  Be a supporter.  Answer questions.  Maybe even help impose some organization.  But this should still be your kid's process. 

9.  Bend the truth as much as possible.

When you sign a college application, you are signing a document in which you are claiming that everything, to the best of your knowledge, is true and accurate.  You should never, ever sign a document that says that unless you feel comfortable that it's accurate.  So if you've bent the truth anywhere on your application, bend it back and be straight.  No college admissions officer in America will fight to admit you if you lie on your application, even a little bit.

10.  Don't bother checking your email regularly.

It's not unusual for colleges to communicate via email.  So check your email once a day, at least.  If you created a separate email address for your college applications (a good idea if your email address is sexypartyguy@email.com), don't forget that once you list it, you also need to check it.

Lost arts

I think every high school student would be well served to master these ten skills.

1. How to shake someone's hand, look them in the eye, and introduce yourself.

2. How to call someone you don't know and articulately ask a question.

3.  How to write a thoughtful, appropriately composed and punctuated email that makes a good first impression.

4.  How to talk to adults comfortably.

5.  How to express thanks.

6.  How to give praise.

7.  How to apologize and accept responsibility when something is your fault.

8.  How to laugh at yourself.

9. How to celebrate what you're good at (and acknowledge what you're not good at).

10. How to rely less on your parents to do things you can do for yourself. 

All ten can help you get into college, be successful once you get there, and even continue that success once you get out.

How many of them can you do?  How long would it take to master them all? 

Another reason to love Wikipedia

Sure, you can't necessarily believe EVERYTHING you read on Wikipedia.  But everyone’s favorite research tool can also be used in the college search.  Wikipedia has great college write-ups that include information on everything from the make-up of the student body to dorm life descriptions and listings of notable alumni.  And really, who wouldn't want to know that Ben Affleck, Luke Wilson, and President Obama all went to Occidental College (although none of them went on to graduate from Oxy.)

Free guidance from admissions officers

Few people are doing more to calm the college admissions frenzy than the The Education Conservancy is.  And they give some pretty great advice from admissions officers on how to take control of the college admissions process.  It's worth forwarding on to your friends and to parents who seem far too wound up in the competition for admission to name brand college. 

The Wisdom and Merits of Exploring Less Visible Colleges

I once did a seminar about how to choose colleges, and while trying to make the point that you shouldn't apply to a school just because it's famous, I turned to a student in the audience and asked,

"Would you ask someone to marry you just because she was good looking and rich?"

The kid didn't even break a smile and answered, "Probably." 

I do love a teenager's honesty. 

Maybe Marty O'Connell, Executive Director of Colleges That Change Lives will have better luck with that analogy when teens read her article about the wisdom and merits of selecting less visible colleges.   

The backlash against over-parenting

Time Magazine recently ran a cover story about the dangers of over-parenting.  The author presents an argument that hovering less and allowing kids to find their own way actually produces happier kids...and happier parents.  And there is some pretty compelling evidence supporting the method of "letting them grow by letting go."

We've watched over 2500 families go through our Collegewise program, and I can tell you that the ones who enjoyed the process the most, and whose kids seemed to have the most success, allowed their kids to take the lead in the process.  Here's how that can look in the college admissions process:

Over-parenting	Letting go
Signing your kid up for volunteer hours at the hospital	Driving him to the karate class he asked to take
Emailing a teacher to demand a grade be changed	Encouraging your son to visit the teacher to ask for advice about how to improve his own work
“A little more tutoring and we may be able to get your SAT score up another 50 points”	“Two times is enough for the SAT and for tutoring.  Do your best—then we’ll kiss the SAT goodbye.”
“Let’s go visit Harvard this spring”	“Let’s look through this college guidebook and find some colleges you might like.”
Appealing a rejection from Stanford	Encouraging her to fall in love with a school that accepted her
“We might have connections that could help her get into Yale.”	“She’ll find the place that suits her best”
“We wish she’d gotten into an Ivy League school”	“We wish we could go back to college with her!”
Re-writing your student’s essays	Encouraging her to write what she wants to write
Filling out her applications for her	Offering to help organize the process together
“I wish she were as high achieving as our friends’ kids”	“Test scores don't measure her worth or our worth as parents"
Calling the dean and demanding an explanation for the rejection	Planning a visit to a school that said, “Yes.”
Hiring tutors for all her weakest subjects	Encouraging her to explore her favorite subjects
Asking colleges which activities are best	Asking your kids which activities they love the most
Focusing on brand-name schools	Understanding that going to college is important, but going to a famous college is not
“We’re proud of your GPA and test scores”	“We’re proud that you treat your sisters so well”
“Your SAT scores are still a little low”	“We love watching you play in the jazz band”
“My kid has over 100 hours of community service”	“My kid is a good kid”
Believing that name-brand colleges are the key to success and upward mobility	Understanding that what your child does in college matters far more than the name of the college
Envisioning a Princeton decal on the back of your car window	Proudly wearing the “(College) Dad” sweatshirt, whatever the school may be

Colleges that Change Lives

Marketing author Seth Godin recently published a recommended reading list on his blog.  And I was happy to see one of our favorites show up--even happier to hear his take:

"The more you learn about the industry of marketing colleges, the more skeptical you'll become of the $150,000 famous school degree. Every high school parent in America should read this book."

If you're intrigued, check out:

Colleges That Change Lives: 40 Schools That Will Change the Way You Think About Colleges by Lauren Pope

Safety vs. risk

A lot of the best ways to get into college today are counterintuitive.  What feels safe is risky.  And what feels risky is often the surest way to get in.

The riskiest way to write a college essay is to try and write what you think the admissions committee wants to hear.  You'll end up writing the same thing every other applicant writes.  It's safer to just relax and tell a story that sounds like you.

The riskiest way to have a college interview is to rehearse what you think are the right answers.  You'll end up sounding fake and rehearsed.  Far safer to be yourself and just enjoy the conversation.  

The riskiest way to spend your time outside of class is to do any activity because you believe it "looks good" to colleges.  You'll end up doing things you don't love, and when colleges look for evidence of your passion, you won't be able to show it to them.  It's far safer to follow your interests, whatever they are, whether it's community service, leadership, stamp collecting, karate, or your part time job at McDonald's.   

Picking the right colleges can be counterintuitive, too.

Marketing blogger Seth Godin recently wrote a post on his blog about peoples' reluctance to pay attention to data when it is counterintuitive. Here's one of the many examples he referenced:

"The data shows that famous colleges underperform many cheaper, friendlier, smaller colleges. How much is your neighbor's envy worth?" 

Most people don't believe that. They believe that highly selective colleges offer better educations, produce more successful graduates, and provide a path to upward mobility that less selective colleges simply can't match.  Nobody's been able to produce data to prove those things, but people believe them anyway.  And they believe them because to pick colleges any other way feels risky.

Colleges don't come with any guarantees.  No college promises that you'll be smarter, happier, richer or more successful when you graduate.   And yet you're going to spend four years and a lot of money (up to $150,000 at some schools) at a four-year college that you can't really test drive ahead of time.  That's scary.  It's scary for a student to imagine that she might not like her college.  It's scary for a parent to imagine that a college might fail to give her son every advantage as he starts his post-college adult life.

So families turn to things like college rankings and name-brand cachet.  They look to the most selective schools based on the belief that if they're hard to get into, they must be good schools.  It's virtually impossible to measure the quality of a college, but the fact that a school is famous brings some sense of security to a lot of families.  "If it's not going to come with a guarantee, at least my kid will have a degree from an Ivy League school."   

But the truth is that colleges--even the famous ones--don't make students successful; students have to do that for themselves.

What you do in college is much, much more important than the name of the college you attend is.  You--your work ethic, curiosity, skills, self-confidence, initiative and desire to learn, are what will make you successful.

Do you want to be happy and successful after college?  Do you want your kids to look back on four years of college as the most fulfilling, maturing and outright joyous times in their lives?  If you do, you've got to do something counterintuitive--stop obsessing over how you're going to get into the most selective colleges, and start obsessing on finding the schools that are right for you.  Reject the idea that name brand is important and embrace the idea that you don't have to go to a famous college.  Be who you want to be in high school, not some contrived version of what you think colleges want you to be. 

It's not easy.  It feels risky.  But it's absolutely the safest thing you could do.

Tips for Stanford University applicants: you need a little panache

Today, I'm offering up advice for our 30th and final college of "30 Colleges, 30 Collegewise Guides to Getting In."  And I want to end strong.  I want to go out with some flair.   A little verve, if you will.  So let me ask you this.

Have you ever seen the Stanford band perform? 

If you have, you remember them.  It's hard to forget a band that sometimes performs with their collective pants down.  I wouldn't go as far as to suggest that they are representative of the entire student body at Stanford University, but they are an extreme example of something on which Stanford prides itself--it's a school filled with a lot of really smart people who are anything but boring.  They've got some panache.

Stanford's supplement to the Common Application is evidence of this.  You've got the opportunity to talk about what you find intellectually exciting.  That's for your smart side. But you've also got the chance to be playful and have a little fun.  That's where your personality comes in.  Here are some tips to help you do both.

Profile Questions

Please respond to the following questions so we can get to know you better. Respond in two lines or less, and do not feel compelled to answer using complete sentences.

The more you agonize over what's going to sound good, the more likely you are to write something that sounds like you're trying too hard, something that sounds the same as everybody else.  And that's not going to get you anywhere in an applicant pool like Stanford sees.

Here's an example of an applicant who's trying too hard:

Essay advice for University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill applicants

University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill (UNC) is obviously trying to get to know their applicants.  With multiple essay questions on a variety of topics, students who thoughtfully consider the prompts will have plenty of opportunities to share some revealing stories about themselves.  Here are a few tips to help you do that.

Short-answer Questions

Complete each of the following sentences about yourself. Don’t think too long or too hard; just help us get to know you better. Your responses could be as short as one word or as long as about 20 words—no longer, please.

Their directions really say it all.  Don't over-think these.  The very worst strategy here is to try to impress them.  You'll just end up sounding like every other kid. 

Instead, tell the truth, whatever it is.  And where appropriate, inject some personality into your answer. Here are some examples of what that sounds like:

The last book I read outside of class was...

 "Paris Hilton: Life on the Edge"  Please don't throw my application away.

It would surprise my friends to know that I...

"..feel a little hurt when they make fun of my hair.  I do have bad hair but it's hard to laugh along with them."

If I could travel anywhere in time or space, either real or imagined, I’d go...

"...back in time to my parents' wedding.  They looked so happy and it would be fun to see them at 24 and newly in love."

The form of communication that I’d most like to ban from existence is

"Any sentence where people use the word "like" too often, as in, "We should, like, hang out."  Ugh."

The question I would most like to have answered is

"Is Jason Siegal going to ever grow a spine and ask me to the prom?  Seriously. Embarrassing, but true."       

My favorite random fact is 

"There are fourteen punctuation marks in standard English grammar."

My most treasured possession is

"My necklace that my mom gave me for my 16th birthday.  She got it from her mother when she was 16."         

This applicant did a good job.  There's no secret strategy at work here--she just told the truth, even when it was embarrassing.  She injected her personality into the answers, sometimes being funny, sometimes being serious.  And most importantly, she didn't' try to serve up responses that were designed to impress.

The message here isn't that everyone should try to be funny; the message is that everyone should be themselves, whether you're funny, self-deprecating, introspective, intellectual, etc.  Just relax and tell the truth.  And have a little fun while you're doing it.

Badgers to Be: Tips for University of Wisconsin-Madison applicants

At some large universities, the highest numbers win the admissions game.  They'll plug your grades and test scores into a formula and let the computer decide who gets in. But University of Wisconsin-Madison comes right out and tells you on their website that they don't use formulas and that they read every application.  That means they're going to read the two essays you're required to write, and those essays can absolutely impact your chances of admission. 

Here are some tips to help you think about some good responses. 

Submit your responses to both questions 50 and 51 on separate sheet(s) of paper.

50) The University of Wisconsin values an educational environment that provides all members of the campus community with opportunities to grow and develop intellectually, personally, culturally and socially. In order to give us a more complete picture of you as an individual, please tell us about the particular life experiences, perspectives, talents, commitments and/or interests you will bring to our campus. In other words, how will your presence enrich our community?

This seems to be the popular question this year for colleges--how will you contribute to our campus?  It makes sense that while colleges care about what you do in high school, they do so mostly because that can give them indicators of what type of person you're likely to be once you get to college.

I've written a lot entries about this question (see my guidelines for Michigan, Boston University and Villanova, to name a few), but the most important thing you have to do is understand what "contributing" means on a college campus. 

A college is a community.  If every member of that community sat passively through classes, spent the rest of their time watching TV, and just dutifully plodded through four years of college, it wouldn't be a very interesting place to live and learn for four years.  As much as colleges provide to students, it is the students who ultimately make the campus experience memorable for each other by becoming members of that community and finding ways to contribute.

A tip for Skidmore College applicants--get pithy

I've written several articles as part of this series describing how to handle essays that ask why you're applying to the school, or how you believe you will contribute once you get there.  The most important advice I've given is to be specific and personal.  Inject enough detail so nobody else can write the same essay you're writing. 

But Skidmore College throws a little a wrinkle into that question--their supplemental essay questions only give you 700 characters to play with.  

700 characters is about a paragraph of text, maybe 100 words.  So you can go two directions here.  You can give them generic responses that will spend 100 words saying the same things that everyone else says, or you can get pithy.

Pithy means brief, forceful and meaningful in expression.  You have to say a lot in a short space.  That means you have to do away with everything that isn't absolutely necessary, and make your points forcefully and clearly.  

Here's an example (unrelated to college admissions).  Let's say you want to express that you think the best way to eat a steak is to let the natural flavors come through, without adding any steak sauce to it (you'd be right, by the way).  This is not pithy:

"There are many different ways to prepare and serve steak.  But whether you broil, grill or fry it, it's important that you retain good flavoring.  Flavoring, after all, is what makes the steak enjoyable.  Many people like to put sauces on their steak, such as A1.  Other people prefer to use rubs composed of various herbs and spices which they rub into the meat before cooking it.  They believe that additional sauce or seasoning improves the taste and enhances a steak's natural flavors.  In fact, some people actually like the flavor of the sauce more than they like the steak.  I, however, believe that a perfectly cooked..."

OK, seriously, at what point did I lose you?  I'm sure you hung in there as long as you could, but wouldn't it have been better if I had just said..."

"I think people who pour cheap steak sauce on an expensive steak should be prosecuted in the court of law.  How could any sane person do that and still sleep at night?"

Bam.  That's pithy.  My point is made.  And it's got oomph. 

Advice for Gettysburg College applicants

We're always telling our Collegewise students that every essay question on a college application is there for a reason.  And for applicants to Gettysburg College, this essay question is no exception.

"Gettysburg College students are engaged learners and 'make a difference' both on and off campus through their academic and extracurricular activities. Describe a situation in which you have made a difference in your school or community and what you learned from that experience."

The key to to this question is "...in which you have made a difference."  Colleges like Gettysburg are looking for students who will make an impact on their student communities, students who have passion and initiative to make things happen.  Making a difference in high school is a good sign that you're one of these students.

Think about the word "different."  What is something you did in high school where something or someone was actually different when you were finished?  Show them an experience for which you can honestly say something is fundamentally different today than it was before you got involved.

Here's an example.  If you volunteered for three-hours one day at a homeless shelter, you should absolutely be proud of that.  But if you were also on the soccer team, and you initiated a fundraiser that paid for new uniforms for the entire team, uniforms that will be worn for years to come by members of the varsity soccer team at your school, you arguably made a pretty substantial difference on your soccer team.

I'm not arguing that raising money for uniforms is more important than feeding hungry people (it's not).  But the question is asking for an example of a time when you made a difference, not an example of a time where you did something important.  Do you see the distinction? 

Think of an example where you made a lasting impact, where you left behind a legacy, even a small one.  Those tend to be the places where you made a difference.

And don't forget about the second part of the prompt that asks about what you learned.  Don't hide behind a contrived answer like, "I learned it's important to help people."  That makes you sound like you didn't realize that helping people was a good thing before this experience. 

One thing to consider might be how you are different today as a result of this experience.  If you really learned something, chances are that your thoughts or actions are different today than they were before this experience.  Share those things honestly with the reader. 

Gettysburg asks the question for a reason--to get a sense of whether or not you'll make a difference once you get to their campus.  So think about where you've made a real difference, share that experience proudly in your answer, and don't forget to consider what you learned. 

Note:  Before you follow our tips, we recommend you read our "How to" guide here: Download HowToUse30Guides

For Boston University applicants: A little essay advice

You only have two essays to write, one short and one long, on the Boston University application.  In fact, the short essay is only 5-6 sentences (which really qualifies more as a paragraph than it does a short essay).  It's important to make the most of that limited opportunity to help the BU admissions committee get to know you better.  So here are some tips to help you do that.

Short answer

In five or six sentences, tell us how you first became interested in BU and what steps you have taken to learn more about us.

I'm not sure I can adequately describe just how many responses the BU admissions committee is likely to read that are some version of,

"I first became interested in Boston University when I read about it in a college guidebook.  The combination of great academics in large city seemed like the perfect combination for me.  The more I researched the school, the more I liked it.  I also visited the campus last summer."

At Collegewise, we teach our students a concept we call "Own your story."  To own your story means that you've written something that nobody else applying to college could have written (or at the very least, that thousands of other kids would absolutely not have written).

The person who wrote the response above doesn't own that story.  Any kid applying to Boston University could have written it.  Believe me, a lot of them will.  And they'll torture the admissions committee because of it. 

But compare that response to this one:

"In April of my junior year, my high school counselor told me, "Kevin, you're an interesting kid.  Why are you applying to such uninteresting colleges?  I asked her what she thought would be a good choice for me, and the first school she named was Boston University.  I've visited your website obsessively, probably once a day at least for the last six months.  I've read about all the classes I would take as a communications major.  And last summer, I took a three-hour road trip with my friend' in my '93 Corolla just so we could take a tour of BU." 

The chances that another student will write an identical response are zero.  This student owns his story.  So the most important thing you need to do in this response, even though it's only 5-6 sentences long, is to own your story.  Be very specific.  Whether you read a guidebook or talked to your friends or visited the school or went to a college fair, share the details about how you learned and followed up with BU, and do so in a way that no other applicant will be able to do.