Estimating hours for the application activities section

I’ve been working with a lot of people finishing up applications for early November deadlines, and the same question has come up a few times: how am I supposed to estimate the time I spent on an activity? The Common Application itself gives very little guidance: “For each activity you’ll hours spent per week on the activity, and then the weeks spent per year. If you can’t remember the exact details, like the time spent on the activity, it’s alright to give your best guess.”

Here’s why the hours per week of the activity section is difficult: very few people, including high school students, consistently spend the same number of hours per week on any activity. If you were to ask me how many hours a week I work, I would have a very hard time answering you. Some weeks I work a lot; some weeks I work little. Some years I take more clients, some fewer. There’s no “typical” week for me, and a lot of students are in the same situation, with few typical weeks.

Let’s take a simple example. If you tutor from four to six in the afternoon every Tuesday from September to December, then that seems easy. Two hours per week, 16 weeks. Except you probably don’t actually tutor every Tuesday—there are holidays and other schedule conflicts. And you also covered a friend’s shift on a few Thursdays. And there was that four-hour Saturday session. And some of the sessions went longer than two hours, but a few were shorter, but you’re not sure they balance out.

Even that simple one is weird, and most activities aren’t that simple. What if you’re in school plays? In the run-up to the play, you have rehearsals every day, four days a week, for two hours. But the two weeks before the show, you’re at the school for five hours a day. You spend 16 hours the weekend before the show working your butt off, and the show weekend itself involves being at school for six hours after school on Friday and six hours on Saturday. There’s a wrap-up for two hours the Monday after the show completes, and then there’s three weeks off before you begin rehearsals for the next show. How do you accurately capture that? You’re trying to estimate the hours per week of being in the theater club for three years, with its wild ups and downs of time spent.

First I want to point out that good descriptions of your activities will help minimize this problem. If you don’t just say that you are in the theater club, but also mention how many plays you part of, what jobs you did as an actor, director, and/or technical crew, and any awards or recognition you received, then the number of hours won’t be as big a deal.

The approach that I recommend is focused on honesty and consistency. I don’t want the people I work with spending too much of their limited time and energy going through their calendars and memories trying to come up with some sort of typical week for an activity that has no typical week. That time and energy can be spent on the writing portions of the application, or studying to keep their grades up, or spending more time with their friends and family.

So give a quick and honest estimate and move on. For the tutoring example, I’d say to the student “it’s basically two hours per week, right? There were a few weeks with more, but also a few weeks with none. Just put two hours per week for 15 weeks (because you didn’t tutor the last week of December) and move on.” If that feels honest to the student, then they can use that estimate and move on. To the theater student I’d say “you start with eight hours a week. There are a few weeks off here and there, but they don’t compare in intensity and growth to the few weeks and weekends where you spend a lot more. So how about 10 hours a week—does that feel honest?” If they feel that’s honest, then they can go with that. If they feel it needs adjusting, then we can talk through how much to adjust. The discussion for each activity, whether with someone else or just yourself, need not be more than a few minutes per activity. Get an estimate that’s honest—don’t only count the busiest weeks and multiply those as if every week were that busy, but don’t sell yourself short—and make sure you’re being consistent with how you estimate. Then let it go. If you’re honest and consistent, then you can explain your method to anyone who asks you how you got to that number.

This approach may not work for everyone. You may think that with some extra time you can come up with something that’s not just honest but also more accurate. Maybe you don’t trust yourself to be either honest or accurate without doing some more work. My approach may feel too fluid or lazy for you. I understand. If that’s the case, then let me point you to my friend Admission Mom and her formula for getting accurate hour reports (scroll down to section 8). Even better, her example involves zombie hunting!

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read this related post:

   Choosing, and explaining, your extracurricular activities

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Zoe Herring

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Three quick questions with the University of Colorado Denver

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admission representatives at colleges all over the country, and then I hope to hear back from them. The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

Today’s response is from Grace Mulligan-Tick, Senior Admissions Counselor at the University of Colorado Denver in Denver, Colorado.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to the University of Colorado Denver?

One unique program we have is the CU Denver Urban Bee Project. We have a 20-hive apiary on top of the Student Commons building, and CU Denver professors and students work to maintain the hives and study bees in an urban environment. To help fund the project, they even sell honey, beeswax candles, and more, all collected from our hives!

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at CU Denver?

CU Denver has a large population of non-traditional students. We serve adult learners, military-connected students, and others who may not always see themselves reflected on a traditional college campus. Even among our traditional students (those attending college directly after high school or transferring from a community college), many CU Denver students are first generation or low income. CU Denver is working to become the nation’s first equity-serving institution, so we make education work for all. To us, all students are perfect!

When people come to visit Denver, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

I would highly recommend checking out Meow Wolf- it’s only about a mile from campus. Meow Wolf is a super cool, interactive art installation/museum, designed by over 350 local and international artists. You can get lost for hours going from room to room!

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. See which other colleges and universities answered the questions.

3. Is there a school you’d like to hear from? Let me know, and I’ll make sure they get the questions.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth. [The banner photo is not of CU Denver. I use the same photo for all Three Quick Questions posts so you can spot them easily.]

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

How do I research colleges?

We say it all the time. Parents say it, teachers say it, counselors say it a lot: go research colleges. We know that choosing one out of thousands of American community colleges, liberal arts colleges, universities, art schools, research institutions, and technical colleges takes research on the part of the applicants. But what exactly do we mean when we say research? And how do you do it? Let me try to explain.

First: What are you even looking for? When you’re researching, you’re looking at three categories that often overlap, what I call fit, numbers, and vibe. Fit is a good place to start.

Fit is a word we use a lot in college admission, usually in a vague way about finding the schools that are best for you. I’m using fit here to mean the things that are important to you in choosing a college, are not as precise as a statistic you can look up, but are more easily managed than the general feeling you get from a school. Here’s what to consider when thinking about fit:

You should probably think about the size of college you’d like. While many students have no preference, most at least think they might do better at a small, medium, or large school—even if they don’t know what counts as small, medium, and large. The more interactions you have with colleges of different sizes, the more you’ll get a feel for what size is right for you.

Look at a college’s listing of the majors they offer. Look through the list on their website. This is really important. For one, if you just search “does ____ have a ____ major?” then you might find that the answer is no…but that they really do and just call it something different. Also, looking at lists of majors may introduce you to fields you hadn’t considered before or hadn’t even heard of. And, the list of majors gives you an idea about the depth of a certain department. For example, there are colleges with one or two engineering degrees. And there are schools with 12 or more engineering degrees.

Look at the college’s social and religious affiliations and try to understand how they shape the school culture. A religious name and sponsorship doesn’t necessarily mean that the college has an overtly religious agenda or creed. But you may want to look into it. The religious affiliation with the school may or may not have some effect on the student population. For example, Notre Dame is a Catholic university, and around 80% of its students identify as Catholic. Loyola University of New Orleans, also a Catholic university, is less than 40% Catholic.

See what sports and other major activities the college offers, even if you don’t plan on playing sports. Look up their Greek Life (sororities and fraternities) culture and see how many students are involved.

Think about how close to home the college is and how easy it is to get there. If it’s driving distance, how long will it take you to get there—especially if you don’t have a car? If it’s farther away and you’ll be flying, is it a non-stop flight from your local airport? And once you land, how far of a drive is it? Get a feel for how easy it is to get to and from school, not just the distance in miles.

Consider weather and climate of the area. How comfortable are you with cold? With heat? With rain and cloudiness? Those things matter.

How important is campus safety to you? That definitely matters. Overall safety is difficult to measure and compare, but you should look into it.

So fit includes the general things you’re looking for. It’s what goes into a college mission statement. When you know what you’re looking for, you can start looking up hard numbers to see how well schools fit what you want.

What numbers to look at:

Definitely look the size of the school, measured in the number of undergraduate students. Think of around 3,000 undergrads and fewer as small, 15,000 or more as large, and everything else as medium. Those are just generalizations, but a nice starting place.

Look at the retention rate of the school, which is the percentage of first-year students who come back for their second year. Look at the graduation rate, which is the percent of students who are able to graduate with a degree within six years of starting. (The national median graduation rate is in the mid-60s range.)

Look at the school’s acceptance rate, which can be as low as 4% or as high as 100%. Around 75% of colleges have an acceptance rate of 50% or higher. Look at the gap between acceptance rate and graduation rate. A school with an acceptance rate of 25% and a gradation rate of 85% is choosing top candidates and moving them on to graduation. A school with a graduation rate of 85% that accepts 50% of applicants is choosing far more candidates…but still moving them on. That’s a good sign.

Look at their financial aid numbers, especially the percent of need met, the average net price, and the average debt at graduation. You never know what an individual college will cost you until you apply, are accepted, and are given a financial aid offer. But you can start to get a sense and to compare schools by looking at these averages.

Fit considerations are based on the numbers you look up, but they also encompass things beyond stats. Vibe—or general feeling or culture—is even more vague. But it’s often just as important.

The best way to get a sense of the vibe of a school is to visit it while students are there. But that’s not the only way, so don’t feel like you can’t get to know a school’s general atmosphere without being there.

You can look at a college’s rankings (like on Niche, for example) for non-academic categories: student life, dorms, food, campus, and party-school reputation. Spend time looking at the photos and videos on a college’s website and see how well they match your expectants of college (but warning: they can all look alike at first). Take advantage of any virtual tours that are available online. Spend time wandering around the college’s website. Email the admission department and ask them if they can set you up with a current student who can answer your questions about the school’s culture and vibe.

Those are the three things you’re researching. Here’s something really important: the research process is circular. You look at the numbers to find colleges that match your preferences for fit, and then you check out their vibe. But after you learn more about the possibilites, you may decide you want to change your preferences for fit…which will have you looking for different numbers…and finding new places to check for vibe…which may have you reconsidering fit….

Looking at a few colleges will give you a better sense of what you want, which will help you find some more schools to look at. I wouldn’t recommend choosing your college solely on a vague sense of vibe, nor would I recommend choosing one solely on numbers in a spreadsheet.

What is your ultimate goal? What you want is a balanced list of colleges you’re going to apply to. It should be four to 20 schools. When I say balanced, I mean balanced in terms of acceptance rates, fit, and finances. Find at least two colleges that meet your general fit requirements and where you’re also very confident you’ll be accepted and can afford. (These are often public universities close to home). Once you have those settled, start looking at schools that also match your fit, maybe even better, but that you’re less confident about admission success. Understand that once a college’s acceptance rate gets below around 25%, absolutely nobody can feel confident about being accepted no matter how strong their application. Don’t be afraid to apply to these schools, but don’t make them your top priority.

Don’t be in a rush, and be open to change. I like the list to be around 20-30 by end of junior year, and then reduced to 4-12 by application time.

Where do you look?

Let’s start with the easy. A quick Google search is an obvious—and not bad—place to start. Your search will probably include the word “best.” Best colleges to study sports management. Best colleges in Ohio. Best value colleges. These types of searches are fine places to begin to get a feeling for what’s out there. You don’t want to stop there, but it’s a good start. Just don’t get too caught up in the rankings themselves. Number 14 is probably not significantly different than number 4. For many categories, I try to think as the top 100 as tied for first place.

There are several online sources for solid college profiles. I tend to use BigFuture, which is published by the College Board, and Niche the most.

Online you can also use Princeton Review, US News, MONEY, and Wall Street Journal. These may require you to set up an account or to pay for some features.

My absolute favorite guide, and the favorite of most the admission professionals I know, is the Fiske Guide. It’s not online; you’ll need to find the book. It’s worth the money and effort.

You can also find all sorts of great information on individual colleges’ websites, their social media accounts, and the information they send you once you sign up for their mailing list, which you should do if you’re interested in a school.

There’s also online forums like Reddit, which I frankly almost never use. If you do, just remember not to put too much weight into any single person’s opinion.

One of the best places to get numbers about a college is from the college’s Common Data Set.

And, of course, don’t forget about your school counselor—if you have one—and the counseling office.

The three most common factors I get from students searching for colleges are major, size, and geographic region. If you already have a preference in these three categories, then the initial search can be pretty simple. If your major is rare or niche, then that’s going to limit things. If it’s something really common that most colleges offer, like Biology or Political Science, then that’s going to make the initial list longer. Same with how narrow or broad your geographic preferences are. If that initial list is longer than 35 schools (and it probably will be), then start doing some narrowing down.

This is when you have to start thinking about balance. Don’t have more than 5-7 schools with acceptance rates under 25%. Make sure you have at least two with acceptance rates over 70%. Look at their locations within your geographic area and think about which ones are most appealing. Look at average net prices and make sure most of your list is in a range that feels comfortable for your family. Consult some “best of” lists or rankings to see which ones have better reputations. Get that list down to 35 maximum. Then, it’s time to start doing deeper dives by looking at their numbers and checking on their vibe. Go through the circular process of fit, numbers, and vibe. Don’t be afraid to make changes, but understand that by application time, you’ve got to get that list down to 20 maximum, and preferably more like 12.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read these related posts:

   Using your college mission statement

   It’s not the choice you make, it’s how you explain it

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Choosing, and explaining, your extracurricular activities

A few weeks ago I had a great opportunity to talk to students at a local high school about school clubs, activities, and extracurriculars. It was voluntary; students weren’t forced to go and listen. That meant I had a good crowd, eager to listen and ask really good questions. This is a summary of the things we talked about.

Before we even begin thinking about the activities list on your college applications, it’s really useful to understand why colleges ask about your activities at all. And to be clear, many of them don’t really care that much. Many public universities (and some private ones) use basic formulas for GPA, rank and/or test scores to give automatic acceptance, regardless of your extracurriculars. The activities list really matters most when schools use holistic review for applicants, whether that’s a school who uses holistic admission for everyone or a school that uses holistic admission just for the student who don’t meet their initial formula for auto-acceptance. And of course what you do with your time matters to you and those around you, regardless of college applications.

Colleges ask about your activities for two reasons: they’re interested in making their community as vibrant as possible, and because what you do in high school is the clearest indicator of what you’ll do in college.

Universities aren’t just honor societies for students who did well in high school. They are actual people working together toward common goals, not just walking-and-talking GPAs working toward their own individual goals. Colleges want people who are going to be active and make the campus a community. They want people who are going to do interesting things outside the classrooms, people who are going to join groups and people who are going to be leaders. They consider their campus a community, and they want people who will contribute to that overall wellbeing of the community.

And how do they know if you’ll contribute to their community? They don’t, but looking at how you contributed to your communities in high school gives them a pretty good idea. So asking you to explain what you currently do with your time outside of the classroom is how they try to predict what you might do outside their classrooms. It’s not a perfect predictor, but it’s the best they’ve got.

Understanding why they ask about your activities goes a long way to knowing how to choose and explain your own activities in high school. It’s not about making yourself look good or seeming impressive. It’s about being an interesting and interested part of your community.

So here’s some advice.

Anything you do just because “it looks good to colleges” is a waste of time. Don’t fall for this mindset. It’s unhealthy for you, because it encourages you to think of yourself as a product or brand to be marketed, not a whole person. And besides that, it doesn’t really work. For one, these admissions professionals have seen lots and lots and lots of applications. They can spot a faker. To be fair, spending 20 hours doing something you don’t care about is probably better for your application than doing nothing. But spending those 20 hours on something that is important to you is better for you and better for your application. They’re not looking at your activities list without context: they’re looking at it in the context of the rest of your application and your high school context. If you do things that are interesting to you and challenge you, that will look good to colleges. One-off activities or hollow honors don’t help anyone, they just waste your time and work against your own development.

Quality is always better than quantity. One club where you really do interesting projects, spend quality time with other people, and make yourself and others better will always be better than three clubs where you show up for meetings and do little else. The same goes for volunteering, organizations like Scouts, athletic teams, and religious organizations. The Common Application allows you to list up to 10 activities. Don’t think of 10 as the right number, just the maximum number.

If you are a member of an honor society, that’s great. But it’s not necessarily important. Focus on what you do as a part of that society. If your school’s chapter of an honor society doesn’t really do much except take on members and give them a stole to wear at graduation, feel free to not join that honor society. Don’t worry that you’re not being “impressive.” Doing something productive and interesting with your time is always more impressive than an empty certificate. However, if your school’s chapter is really active and enriches the school or greater community, then join with pride.

Think in terms of verbs. When it comes to activity, you necessarily have to think about action. When choosing activities, ask yourself what you want to do and what you need to do. When describing your activities, lead with the verbs and describe what you actually did. For so many high school students (and adults as well), the full extent of many activities is simply “attend.” No matter how long or seemingly impressive your activities list is, if you have trouble coming up with verbs beyond “attend” and “participate,” then it’s hard for anyone else to tell if you did very much.

Think back to all the activities you’ve been involved in, both in and out of school. Chances are, the Pareto principle, also known as the 80/20 rule, played out: 20% of the people did 80% of the work, and 80% of the outcome was based on 20% of the input. Your goal isn’t just to try different activities, or even take leadership positions. Your job is to aim to be in the 20%, whatever that requires. Look for strong and interesting verbs when choosing what to do, and don’t forget to use strong and interesting verbs when you describe what you do. This takes you back to quality versus quantity: you probably can’t be in the active 20% of many groups, and it’s better to spend your time on those than be in more groups where you’re in the inactive 80%. Founding a brand new club or organization where little happens ins’t nearly as important as being an active and productive member of the club or organization, even if you didn’t start it.

(The high school that invited me to come and talk to students? Two different administrators told me this is a problem at the school. Too many students trying to start new clubs that nobody participates in, because they think being a club founder will be impressive on college applications. Lots of founders and presidents, very few members. Too many activities, not enough action.)

Remember that everything counts. Your activities include official clubs and extracurricular activities that take place at school. They also include organizations and activities you’re part of outside of school. They include jobs and internships. They include working for pay. They include working without pay at a family business. They include caring for other family members like younger siblings or older relatives. They include volunteering a little or lot, even if it’s not a Volunteering Project.

I can’t tell you how many high school students have told me that they don’t have any activities to list, or not many activities to list, even though they spend a lot of time doing interesting and challenging things. Those students just thought that the things they spent their time doing “don’t count” because they’re not organized through school. They count! When choosing how to prioritize your time or which activities are the most important to list, let that be your guide: what have you done that’s the most interesting and challenging? Those are the things colleges would like to hear about, even if it’s not sponsored by a school or other major organization.

In fact, once you realize that quality counts more than quantity, and that everything counts, you may decide that school-sponsored clubs and activities may not be the best way to do what you want to do. That’s fine.

When it comes to time to explain your activities on your college applications, explain them well. You’re not just filling in some blanks and checking some boxes. Use as many of the 150 characters allowed possible to describe what you did. Think about your verbs, and don’t be afraid to use common abbreviations. 150 characters isn’t much, so work hard to get the full extent of your activities into those spaces! And focus on the verbs, did I mention that?

Bonus: talking about high school activities always reminds me of the “Yearbook Montage” from Rushmore. Enjoy!

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read these related posts:

   Should you join an honor society?

   Be a person, not a resume

   Do you need a “brag sheet?”

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Zoe Herring

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Three quick questions with Augustana College

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admission representatives at colleges all over the country, and then I hope to hear back from them. The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

Today’s response is from Wendy Kelley, Senior Associate Director of Admissions at Augustana College in Rock Island, Illinois.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to Agustana College?

Augie Choice! This program gives every student $2,000 to fund a life-defining internship, research project or travel experience. When we say we want our students to have experiences beyond the four walls of the classroom, we mean it!

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at Augustana?

We are a student-ready college. Students can come to us undecided, or with ideas for a triple major; students can know exactly what they want to be involved in, or be ready to explore our 170+ clubs and organizations. Students flourish at Augustana when they are curious learners, care about one another, and are willing to explore and experiment.

When people come to visit Rock Island, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

The Mississippi River! Our campus, built on the river bluff, is mere blocks away from the 4th largest river in the world. There are multiple parks and trails close to campus to take in the scenery - I recommend Schwiebert Riverfront Park. You can watch the riverboats and barges during the warmer months and see bald eagles in the colder months!

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. See which other colleges and universities answered the questions.

3. Is there a school you’d like to hear from? Let me know, and I’ll make sure they get the questions.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth. [The banner photo is not of Augustana. I use the same photo for all Three Quick Questions posts so you can spot them easily.]

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Three quick questions with Susquehanna University

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admission representatives at colleges all over the country, and then I hope to hear back from them. The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

Today’s response is from Christopher Kalcich, Admission Counselor at Susquehanna University in Selinsgrove, Pennsylvania.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to Susquehanna University?

A unique program to Susquehanna is our Global Opportunities Program, nicknamed our GO Program. Through it, 100% of students study away from campus during their time with us- 95% choose to do this internationally. There are three types of programs we offer here, GO Long, GO Short, and GO Your Way. The GO Long program is a full semester in length at a host university or center, with the credits transferring back to Susquehanna when the student returns. The GO Short program is a 2-6 week experience over summer or winter breaks that contains either research, and internship, or a service project. GO Your Way provides the opportunity for students to travel somewhere where we do not have official programming. Students typically do this in their Junior year with us, and Susquehanna gives more than $750,000 in need-based aid towards these trips annually. 

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at Susquehanna?

The average student at Susquehanna is one that is involved, engaged, and ready to take that next big step to prepare for their future career. When we review students for admission, we do look at whether or not a student will be able to succeed here academically, but it is through a holistic lens. We are test score optional and have been since the 1990s and we require a letter of recommendation with student's applications that allow students to put their best foot forward. 

When people come to visit Selinsgrove, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

Downtown Selinsgrove is a popular destination for many of our students and their visiting families. In town, there is an abundance of colonial and early American architecture, cafes, sit down restaurants, a beautiful commons space, and free parking! It is less than a half of a mile away as well, with numerous events happening throughout the year.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. See which other colleges and universities answered the questions.

3. Is there a school you’d like to hear from? Let me know, and I’ll make sure they get the questions.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth. [The banner photo is not of Susquehanna. I use the same photo for all Three Quick Questions posts so you can spot them easily.]

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Three quick questions with Furman University

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admission representatives at colleges all over the country, and then I hope to hear back from them. The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

Today’s response is from Ty Robbins, Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at Furman University in Greenville, South Carolina.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to Furman University?

The most unique aspect of Furman University is its 100% residential requirement for traditional, undergraduate students. This in combination with a large campus footprint and Division I athletics creates a great environment for students looking for the perks of a larger campus with a smaller student body. Also, ask our students about, “Laking”.

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at Furman?

The type of imperfect student who flourishes at Furman University is the one who is willing to reflect. We all have our strengths, weaknesses, and passions; the students who can recognize and leverage their proficiencies are the ones who are successful in the long term. Furman has spent the past several years developing the Pathways Program to organize intentional reflection throughout the first two years at Furman.  In my opinion, that second year’s focus on leadership, storytelling, and career preparation is truly where the rubber meets the road and propels students into thinking beyond their classes. Before students get there, they master the basics with the help of a Pathways professor and student mentor.

When people come to visit Greenville what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

I have to give a cop-out answer here: the Swamp Rabbit Trail is great for recreation, but it links my favorite locations in Greenville together. Biking from campus to downtown Greenville, you will intersect with the Swamp Rabbit Café (a locally sourced grocery store with some great breakfast/lunch options), Unity Park (one of the larger parks in Greenville with multiple restaurants and recreation areas), and Falls Park ( the iconic center of Greenville). That section of trail is approximately 7 miles long, but you can absolutely shorten that if you are looking for a smaller adventure.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. See which other colleges and universities answered the questions.

3. Is there a school you’d like to hear from? Let me know, and I’ll make sure they get the questions.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth. [The banner photo is not of Furman. I use the same photo for all Three Quick Questions posts so you can spot them easily.]

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How to get letters of recommendation from teachers and counselors

I’m re-publishing my how-to on asking for recommendations with some updates and changes. None of my advice has changed, and the procedure hasn’t changed. But I decided to put more emphasis on the fact that each college is a little different in their requirements, each high school is a little different in their procedures, and each teacher is a little different in their preferences. There is absolutely no one-size-fits-all advice for rec letters. They require some planning and trial-and-error. It’s ideal that you’re thinking about this your junior year, but you can quickly catch up if you start your senior year. Please leave any questions or advice in the comments.

Understand what you’re asking for. Have you ever seen a letter of recommendation? Have you ever written one? Do you really understand what you’re asking for? Probably not, and that’s fine. Take some time to get familiar with the type of letter you’re asking for. Look at these examples with comments. You’ll have a better idea of who to ask, when to ask, and how to ask if you have a better appreciation for what all goes into a good recommendation.

Outline what you hope they’ll say. Why are you asking this person for a letter? What does this person have to say about you that’s different than what anyone else would? What specific actions did this person witness that you hope they’ll be able to talk about? You can’t dictate what a teacher will say, but you can let them know what you’re hoping for.

Make sure you ask someone who can help you. Like the essays and interviews, recommendation letters are one of your opportunities to show colleges that you’re an interesting person, not just a transcript. So make sure you ask for recommendation letters from teachers who know you as a person. Some colleges specify which teachers they want letters from, and there’s nothing you can do about that. But when you have control, get teachers who will say great things about you. If a teacher is likely to just repeat what’s already in your transcript, then you’ve lost a big opportunity. If a teacher is writing letters for a lot of other students, then that teacher may not be able to write a unique and personal letter for you. A teacher you’ve had good rapport with and who knows you as a person is going to be better for you than a teacher who doesn’t know you as well but gave you higher grades. There’s lots of advice out there about which teachers are better for rec letters: a junior teacher is better than a 9th grade teacher; get a STEM teacher and a humanities teacher; a teacher who had you for two classes is better than a teacher who only had you for one. This advice isn’t bad, but remember the deeper advice underlying all of it: ask for rec letters from someone who is going to be able to write a good letter for you. If you have some intuition here telling you who to ask, follow that intution over formulas.

Understand that it’s a personal favor. Teachers are not required to write recommendation letters, so treat it as the personal favor it is. When I was a teacher, I liked it when students set up an appointment with me to come and talk to me about rec letters. I preferred to know why they were coming so I could prepare questions or suggestions. I loved it when a student sent me an email asking to come by later and ask for a rec letter. However, I also worked with teachers who didn’t care for this approach. They don’t want to have the same conversation over and over again with a bunch of students. They would just want a student to come up and ask. Or they even had a sign-up list. So there’s no one best approach. You have to be attentive to teachers’ preferences and expectations. Whenever you’re in doubt, ask. “I’d like to ask you to write a recommendation for me. What should be my first step? Is there anything you’d like from me?”

But whatever you do, ask for the letter politely and with lots of time to spare. Don’t rush the teacher or treat it like a foregone conclusion that they’ll write you one. And never corner a teacher while they’re trying to get someplace else.

Give them some direction. Hopefully you’ve given a lot of thought to what personal traits you want to discuss in your application essays. Let the teachers who you’re asking for recommendations know what those traits are. If there’s a particular story or example you’re hoping they’ll write about, let them know. Remember, you should have outlined this before asking. Teachers may or may not follow up on that, but it can’t hurt to ask. Which do you think will get a better rec letter:

·      “Mr. Holloway, can you write me a letter of recommendation?”

Or

·      “Mr. Holloway, I’m putting together my college applications, and I’m really trying to emphasize my creative problem solving. Would it be possible for you to write me a letter of recommendation? I was remembering the time in class when the computer crashed in the middle of my Power Point presentation and I still found a way to get the information across without it. What should be my first step? Is there anything you’d like from me?”

Unless the teacher asks for it, I don’t think you should give them a copy of your transcript, résumé, or “brag sheet.” It makes it too easy for the teacher to just repeat things that are already on your transcript or activities list. Instead, offer to send the teacher any information or reminders they need. But definitely have something ready in case they ask for it, or be ready to write one really quickly.

Convey the actual deadline for the letter. If you’re applying for Early Action, Early Decision, or any other early deadline, let them know. If it’s a Regular Decision application due in early January, let them know. If it’s rolling admissions, and the sooner you get all the materials in the sooner you get a decision, let them know. If it’s a Regular Decision application due in early January, but you want to have all your applications out early for your peace of mind, that’s fine—but the teacher’s deadline is still early January. Don’t try to push them into arbitrary or confusing deadlines that aren’t realistic.

If they say no, don’t be pushy. This should go without saying. There are a number of reasons a teacher might say no when you ask for a recommendation. Don’t assume you know what the reason is, and don’t be pushy. Someone who can’t or doesn’t want to write a letter isn’t going to write a good one. If the teacher who says no is one who a college requires a letter from, let that teacher know and see if there’s something you can work out. But do this as a follow-up, not in the same conversation where the teacher initially says no.

Say thank you. A recommendation letter is a personal favor, so make sure you thank the teacher profusely. Thank the teacher when they agree to write the letter. Say thank you again—in writing—when the teacher sends the letter. When you get accepted to any school that the teacher recommended you for, say thank you again. A thank-you gift is not required, but is a nice gesture (home-baked cookie were always my favorite gift). But don’t give a thank-you gift until after the letter has been sent—you don’t want it to look like a bribe. 

How many rec letters will you need? And from who? This is tough to answer, because each college has its own requirements. As you’re looking at colleges you may want to apply to, look through their admission requirements to be sure of what you need. Some colleges don’t require any recommendations. It’s very common for a college to want one from your school counselor and one from a teacher. Some require two teacher recommendations, and some specify that one be from a STEM teacher and one from a humanities teacher. Most will take letters from community members other than teachers and counselors.

I think it’s best to plan on getting recommendations from your counselor and two teachers until you know for sure you don’t need that many. You should obviously send all the recommendations a school requires. But I don’t think you should send more than a single extra recommendation, even if they allow for more. Sending too many recommendations quickly becomes a problem—it makes you seem more annoying and desperate than accomplished and interesting. Also avoid having someone impressive send a recommendation if they don’t actually know you. A bland, generic letter from a business executive, elected official, or famous person doesn’t actually help you.

When should you ask for rec letters? This is also tough to answer, because each teacher has their own preferences. There are teachers who, if approached in the spring of 11th grade, will tell you it’s way too early to deal with that. There are teachers who, if approached in the fall of 12th grade, will tell you it’s too late and they can’t take on any more. Some teachers would love to discuss it during the summer when the pace is slower, but some will absolutely resent you for bothering them in the summer. Again, follow your intuition about what an individual teacher will want. My best advice is to bring it up before the end of the school your junior year, but bring it up casually. Ask your teachers what they prefer, and then follow up when appropriate. Sending an email the few weeks before the beginning of school is fine, but don’t send anything the first two weeks of school unless you absolutely know the teacher wants you to. Those first few weeks of school are busy and overwhelming for a lot of teachers.

What do you do if a college asks for something you can’t provide? There are times when a college may ask for a recommendation that you’re simply unable to provide. Example: your school counselor left the school and hasn’t been replaced. Whenever there’s any kind of problem or question, reach out to your admission representative at the college. Most colleges still divide their admission staff by geography, and most will let you look up who the admission counselor for your region is. If you can find that on their admission web page, perfect. If not, find any contact info you can for the admissions office and reach out with your question. The sooner you do this, the better. Don’t wait until right before the deadline to let them know you may not be able to get exactly what they’re asking for. Consider mid-September to be your deadline for this (unless, of course, you decide to apply to a school after that).

How does the teacher get the recommendation to the college? Teachers and counselors will not give the recommendation to you. When you’re completing the Common Application, there is a section where you indicate who you would like to get recommendations from. You’ll give the names and official school email addresses. (You absolutely must talk to the teacher before submitting their names and email!) The Common App takes it from there. It will send the teachers a link to answer a few questions and upload a rec letter. If you’re applying to a college in a form other than the Common Application, make sure you look up if they want recommendations and how to have them sent. Underatand that you will probably never see the letters teachers write for you. That’s the way it works.

I’m sure there are many exceptions to my normal advice for rec letters, but here are two big ones. If you’re applying to a US service academy, then you will be required to get a recommendation from your member of Congress. Representatives typically have a form on their web site with instructions. If you’re applying to any of these, ignore what I said about getting recommendations from impressive people you don’t necessarily know. Also, home schooled students will often have a completely different set of requirements, since recommendations can be awkward if your teachers and counselors are also your parents. Most colleges have a separate checklist easy to find on their admission web pages.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read these related posts:

   Do you need a “brag sheet?”

   Making a high school resume

   On swastikas and rec letters

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elsiabeth

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Do I really mean it when I say to never turn down a full ride?

One of my earliest blog posts—and still one on the most popular—was “Don’t pass up a full ride.” You can probably tell the main idea from the title: you should not pass up a full ride. If you apply to a school and they offer you a full scholarship, go to that school.

Last week I got an email from a parent asking me if I still stand by that advice. His daughter won an honors scholarship—a full ride—at her state’s public flagship university, where she “didn’t know full rides existed until she was invited to interview.” She was also accepted to Washington University in St. Louis, a smaller private college with acceptance rates under 15%. And this is the problem, a problem I’ve heard before:

“Our heads say one thing and our hearts another, in part because the small school with huge endowment and beautiful campus is definitely appealing, but probably mostly seduced by this notion that an elite university is a sign of winning and will validate her hard work and make her feel as rewarded as her classmates who managed to get into some Ivies.”

My response was more sympathetic than you might expect.

“The short answer to your question is yes, I do think there are sometimes exceptions to my "never pass up a full ride" rule, and those exceptions are usually situations similar to yours. Though vague and unquantifiable, there is a value--in terms of professional networks, recruiting, social connections, and prestige--to the most elite colleges that can make them more valuable than the full ride at a safety. I would absolutely encourage a student to pass up a full ride elsewhere for Harvard, MIT, or Stanford if they could afford it. WashU probably fits into that category as well. No one can reasonably assume they'll be accepted at WashU, and she applied to her safety not knowing that a full ride was a possibility, so it can be reasonable to pass up the scholarship (which you weren't expecting) for the elite private college (which you weren't expecting to accept you). I would not think your daughter made a "bad" choice if she decides on WashU. 

It sounds like what it comes down to is an emotional decision--prestige, allure, falling in love--versus a rational one--major, money. Personally, I'm more of an emotional, intuitive person. Professionally, I work to be neutral. Either are valid, as long as she understands the choices.

If she were my client, I would make sure she's thinking through both options and communicating with her family. I'd tell her it's her own decision to make and that I would understand and support either decision. I would also really hope she takes the scholarship.”

So for me, the “prestige value” exception only applies to a tiny number of colleges: MIT, Harvard, and Stanford. While I’m very conservative in that list, I can see someone using the same logic for a longer number of schools, including WashU. The trick is that the list can’t be too long. You can’t stretch the vague, unquantifiable value so thin that you get yourself into a “the more prestigious school is aways worth more than a full ride the less prestigious school.” It’s just not true.

There are a few other exceptions to the “never turn down a full ride” advice.

Unsolicited scholarships. How do you respond if a school just, out of the blue, offers you a full scholarship even if you didn't apply or have never heard of it? Yes, this actually happens sometimes. Evaluate that school just as you would any other school, without taking into mind the price. If it meets your criteria and is a place you'd apply, then you're done. Congratulations! If the school doesn't make it into your top twenty and isn't a place you would want to apply, then you can comfortably say No Thanks. 

Financially troubled colleges. A full scholarship to a college may not be worth much if the college closes before you’re about to graduate. And colleges are closing at a rate of about one a week right now. It’s not always easy to know if a school is in financial distress—they probably won’t tell you as part of their marketing materials. But there are some signs to look for. If you’re accepting a good deal from a financially troubled college, even if it’s not a full ride, you’re taking a big risk. But that doesn’t necessarily mean you must always avoid the risk: a year or two of free college might be worth it even if you end up having to transfer elsewhere to finish college. But there’s no shame in turning down a full scholarship from a college that isn’t really able to afford it.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read these related posts:

   Not all merit aid is the same

   Colleges don’t give you money

   Five key ideas about paying for college

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elsiabeth

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Three quick questions with New Mexico State University

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admission representatives at colleges all over the country, and then I hope to hear back from them. The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

Today’s response is from David Cota, Senior Admissions Advisor at New Mexico State University in Las Cruces, New Mexico.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to New Mexico State University?

We are New Mexico’s land-grant institution and a comprehensive research university dedicated to teaching, research public service and outreach at all levels. NMSU is a welcoming community of talented faculty, staff and students who are working together to make a difference. We are a NASA Space Grant College, a Hispanic-serving institution (HSI), a minority-serving institution (MSI) and home to the first Honors College in New Mexico. We offer an accessible education that shapes bright futures.

One of my favorite unique traditions at New Mexico State University is the "Noche de Luminarias". During the holiday season, the university's International Mall is adorned with luminarias, traditional New Mexican paper lanterns filled with candles. The soft glow of these luminarias creates a beautiful and serene atmosphere, bringing together students, faculty, and the local community to celebrate the festive season in a memorable way.

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at NM State?

NMSU values hard work and determination, qualities that are often more important than perfect grades or test scores. Students who are willing to put in the effort to succeed, both inside and outside the classroom, are likely to flourish here. NMSU welcomes a diverse student population, including non-traditional students such as adult learners, veterans, and students with work or family commitments. Many students at NMSU are also the first in their families to attend college. These students often exhibit a strong drive to succeed and overcome obstacles, fueled by their desire to create a better future for themselves and their families. NMSU is committed to serving its local community and providing educational opportunities to students from underserved backgrounds. Students who come from economically disadvantaged or underrepresented minority backgrounds often find a supportive environment at NMSU, where they can thrive academically and personally. The university provides support services tailored to the needs of these students, allowing them to excel despite their non-traditional paths.

When people come to visit Las Cruces, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

One off-campus destination I would recommend for visitors to check out while in Las Cruces is the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument. Located just a short drive from the NMSU campus, this stunning natural area offers breathtaking views, hiking trails for all skill levels, rock climbing opportunities, and opportunities for wildlife viewing and photography. Visitors can explore iconic features such as the Organ Mountains, which rise sharply from the desert floor, and enjoy outdoor activities such as picnicking, birdwatching, and stargazing. The monument is also home to archaeological sites and petroglyphs, providing insight into the region's rich cultural history. Whether visitors are nature enthusiasts, outdoor adventurers, or simply looking to enjoy the beauty of the Southwest landscape, a trip to the Organ Mountains-Desert Peaks National Monument is a must-see while in Las Cruces.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. See which other colleges and universities answered the questions.

3. Is there a school you’d like to hear from? Let me know, and I’ll make sure they get the questions.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth. [The banner photo is not of NMSU. I use the same photo for all Three Quick Questions posts so you can spot them easily.]

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Three quick questions with Eastern Michigan University

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admission representatives at colleges all over the country, and then I hope to hear back from them. The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

Today’s response is from David Reyes, Admissions Advisor at Eastern Michigan University in Ypsilanti, Michigan.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to Eastern Michigan University?

In 1849, Eastern Michigan University opened its doors with one goal, enriching the life of future educators. Flash forward 175 years, and the College of Education is doing just that. As the foundation for our academic history, the College of Education is an extremely unique program on campus. As a trailblazer in the realm of special education and disabilities, EMU became the first institution in the world to create a department dedicated to teachers who work with disabled students. Today, we continue to strive for a dynamic and enriching curriculum that grants our students the ability to utilize their strengths and passions in and out of the classroom.

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at EMU?

At our core, Eastern Michigan University is a place of equity and access. Access to the tools and education with which our students forge their futures. Students looking for community and a path toward success are welcomed on these grounds. Here there are no imperfect students, only individuals seeking to better themselves.

When people come to visit Ypsilanti, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

Whether you’re here for a tour or just passing by, we highly recommend a pit stop at the Depot Town and Downtown area. Serving as the epicenter of Ypsi, you can find everything from local shops and artists to food offerings from around the world. Not only that, but the Huron River cuts right through Ypsilanti, offering a stunning view for any nature lover. Frog Island and Riverside Park sit adjacent to the river bank and are great options for sporting events, afternoon walks, or a picnic with friends.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. See which other colleges and universities answered the questions.

3. Is there a school you’d like to hear from? Let me know, and I’ll make sure they get the questions.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth. [The banner photo is not of EMU. I use the same photo for all Three Quick Questions posts so you can spot them easily.]

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

New recommendations for standardized tests

Since Covid, I haven’t really had any “testing strategy” conversations with clients. So many colleges have been test-optional that test scores just haven’t been a big deal. The pattern for almost all of the students has been the same: they take the SAT when it’s administered at their school, get their scores, and then decide if they’ll submit test scores to the colleges they’re applying to. A few took the SAT a second time, but even those avoided the sorts of long and anxious conversations that I used to have with students: trying to figure out whether to take the SAT, ACT, or both; trying to figure out how many times to take the test and what kind of test prep course to take; trying to figure out what a good score is. For the past few years, the students I work with simply haven’t spent much time trying to figure those things out.

But I think that’s going to change.

While most colleges are still not requiring tests, and some refuse to even look at test scores, a few have decided that they will again require some form of standardized tests. First MIT made a big splash with their announcement, and recently Dartmouth, Yale, and Brown have followed. I could kind of pretend those don’t matter, because very few of my clients apply to any of those specific schools. But this month UT Austin announced that they will also require testing again, and virtually all my clients apply there (I’m in Houston).

So it’s time to re-think testing strategy, and this is what I am now recommending.

The first step is to take a test. Take the SAT, ACT, or both. If they give one or the other at your school during the school day, excellent. If not, then find out where you can take one near you. (Here are the ACT testing dates, and here are the SAT testing dates.) If possible, don’t make decisions based on the PSAT or a practice test—use a real and usable score as your baseline for making all other decisions. Some students like to take both the SAT and ACT, in case they score significantly better on one. That’s understandable, but there’s no real need to do both. Colleges accept both SAT and ACT, and they don’t have a preference. Few students have a drastically different score. Which you take mostly comes to down to geography—some states and regions have normalized the SAT, while others prefer the ACT.

I think taking at least one real test is a good idea for everyone, with one exception: you have no interest in applying to schools that will even look at a score. If you’re only applying to UC schools, which are test blind, then obviously don’t bother. Otherwise, even if you only plan to apply to test-optional schools, take at least one test.

Once you have a score, understand it in context. There’s no such thing as a “good” or “bad” score. To get a feeling for your score, consider it in three contexts.

 The simplest is to understand your score in a national context. Your score report will include a percentile. That shows how high you scored compared to everyone else who took that test. If you scored in the 70th percentile, then you scored higher than 70% of the people who took the same test as you. That’s a really large group, from all over the country, so it gives you a pretty good point of comparison.

You can also compare your scores with other students at your high school. Many states—but not all—make this information public. If you live in one of those states (here’s where you can look up Texas high schools), look up the average scores for your high school to see how you fit with your classmates. If you’re not in a state where you can look up the information, ask your school counselor. Colleges using holistic admission will view your scores in the context of your high school, so it makes sense that you would look at it this way too.

You’ll also want to see how your scores compare with the typical scores at colleges you’re considering. You can easily look up any college’s test midrange for the SAT or ACT. The midrange is exactly that: it’s the range of scores within the middle 50% of students. 25% made a higher score than the midrange, 25% made lower. Having a score higher than the midrange doesn’t guarantee acceptance, and a score lower than the midrange doesn’t guarantee denial.

 Another important thing to understand about the colleges you’re considering is whether or not they “superscore” test scores. Superscoring means that they will count your highest score for each individual test section and ignore the lower scores. For example, imagine if you took an SAT and got a 600 on the reading & writing section and a 600 on the math section, for a 1200 total. And then you took it again, and again got a 1200 total, but with 550 on math and 650 on reading & writing. A college that superscores will give you credit for 600 on math and 650 for reading & writing—the same as 1250. A college that doesn’t superscore will make you choose which test scores to submit to them: submit 1200 evenly split, or submit 1200 with a higher section and a lower section.

You should also find out just how important testing is to a college you’re interested in. There are schools like MIT and UT Austin that require SAT or ACT scores. There are schools like Yale and NYU that require testing, but are flexible about which tests and will accept AP or IB exam scores instead of SAT or ACT. There are schools that are test-optional, and you can find out (from their Common Data Set) how many applicants submit scores.

Once you’ve considered all of the factors that make up the context of your scores, then you’ll have a better idea of how to feel about them and what to do next. Remember: it’s a feeling. Test scores are not objectively good or bad, and you can’t figure out what to do as your next step using any simple objective formula.

With your score and context in mind, decide if you want to re-test and if you want to do any formal test prep. I don’t advise retesting without prep, but some students do. There are a number of ways to practice for a test, from free online programs to intense (and expensive) in-person programs or a one-on-one tutor. I don’t’ have any kind of preference except this: if you do test prep, make it count. Learn something other than how to take the test. Make sure you’re learning math and reading skills, not just learning test-taking tricks. Otherwise it’s a complete waste. I don’t think there’s a very good reason for taking the test more than twice. It’s just not worth the time and effort.

For test-optional schools, decide if you will or will not submit scores. Keep your complete context in mind, and not just the college’s range. The main factor in deciding to send scores should be you. Are the scores aligned with your other information? Are you proud of them? Are you being realistic about them? If so, send them. Don’t let the time and preparation you put into the test go to waste—because those test scores are definitely useless once you’re out of high school.

Also ask what the school’s attitude is about being test-optional. Were they test-optional even before Covid? Or have they announced that they plan to stay test-optional for a long time? Then they obviously don’t think scores are super-important, and you should feel more comfortable not submitting scores for whatever reason. If you get the sense that they are begrudgingly test-optional, then you may consider sending scores if you have them. They’re signaling that they really prefer test scores and may be less hesitant accepting someone with scores than without. I’ve seen college admissions web pages that make it very clear they’re happy to be test-optional…and I’ve seen some where you really have to search for the phrase “not required.”

You should also feel more comfortable not sending SAT/ACT scores if you have other scores to report, like AP exams or an IB exam. Especially if those other measures accurately reflect your best efforts and the SAT or ACT doesn’t, feel more confident keeping your ACT/SAT to yourself and relying on those other tests to let colleges know who you are.

 Let me end with three things to remember.

 1. Your test score is just one piece of information. Some colleges think it’s really important, some think it’s interesting, and some think it’s worthless. But it’s never all of your application.

 2. Never skip applying to a school just because of your scores. Don’t decide for yourself that “you’ll never get in.” I can’t guarantee that you will—nobody can. But if you think a college may be a good fit for you and you’d like to apply, go for it. Let them tell you they’re not going to accept you, don’t decide for yourself. On the other hand, make sure you apply to at least a few schools where your scores are definitely in or above their midrange.

3. Of all the things you can do to have a stronger application, your test score has the least longevity. It’s worthless after you graduate, especially if your test prep was nothing but test-taking tricks.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read these related posts:

   The glossary: test optional

   Should you submit your test scores to a test-optional college?

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Zoe Herring

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

What should 9th and 10th graders do this spring?

Updated spring versions of What Should I Be Doing Now? are available for 9th and 10th graders. Find 9th here and 10th here.

New versions for 11th and 12th grade will be out later this week.

Three quick questions with the University of Southern Mississippi

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admission representatives at colleges all over the country, and then I hope to hear back from them. The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

Today’s response is from Campbell Cave, Admissions Recruiter at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, Mississippi.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to the University of Southern Mississippi?

A unique traditions that we have at Southern Miss is “Painting of the Eagle Walk.” Eagle Walk is an area under our football stadium where the football team walks under 2 hours before every home football game. At the beginning of the year, freshman students get to paint the Eagle Walk gold and leave a hand print on wall of the walk. It is a very fun tradition. Here is a picture of what painting of the Eagle Walk looks like.

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at Southern Miss?

At Southern Miss, I would say that any student can flourish. Whether they have a 36 on the ACT or struggles taking tests, they have the opportunity to succeed. At Southern Miss we have numerous different student support offices ranging from offices for first generation students to offices to help students land internships. Our main goal at Southern Miss is for all of our students to flourish no matter their background.

When people come to visit Hattiesburg, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

When people come to Hattiesburg, I recommend that they visit 2 places. One is a restaurant called Keg and Barrell. It is a locally owned restaurant with an incredible atmosphere and a range of food (burgers, pizzas, sandwiches, thai chicken wraps, etc). The other place I recommend people visit is The Lucky Rabbit, which is a very unique vintage market that is open on Saturdays and Sundays in downtown Hattiesburg. It is honestly hard to describe the place due to how unique it is, but here is a picture to help grasp what it is. Also, their Instagram is @theluckyrabbit if you wanted to check them out.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. See which other colleges and universities answered the questions.

3. Is there a school you’d like to hear from? Let me know, and I’ll make sure they get the questions.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth. [The banner photo is not of Southern Miss. I use the same photo for all Three Quick Questions posts so you can spot them easily.]

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

How 9th-11th graders can spend their winter break in the best way

What does a non-senior high school student need to do over this winter break to help prepare for college? In most senses, nothing. This is a break, after all. And, unlike 12th graders, you’re not finishing up applications for an early January deadline.

But in another sense, this is a great time to work on college applications, in the most broad way. The best way to approach college admission is as the beginning of a relationship. You’re trying to find the best match for you as a whole person. It’s not about proving that you’re worthy, or trying to rack up a lot of “impressive” things for your resume. You are, however, trying to be the best whole person that you can, and a break from school is a good time to plan and practice.

First, look over what I wrote for seniors. On top of finishing up college applications, I suggest that they should rest, read, re-asses, and spend quality time with people. Those are all true for you as well. Below is a list, which I first put together for my own 16 year-old, of things to try over the break that are neither difficult work nor passive consuming. I hope you’ll try some.

Go for a walk long walk, at least 30 minutes. Don’t play music or have any distractions. If you’re already a walker, take a different route than you’re used to. Pay attention to all your senses as you walk.

Clean and organize your room, bit by bit. Choose a small, discrete section--like a single shelf on a bookcase or one part of your desk--and clean it thoroughly. Then, when you’re ready, move on to the next. If you have the time, energy, and ambition, do a full “Konmari” of your room.

Read a novel. A good one. Preferably by an author you’ve never heard of. Read with your full attention.

Begin a meditation practice if you haven’t already got one. I like Andrew Weiss’s Beginning Mindfulness.

Improve your organization. I like Dan Charnas’s Everything in its Place: The Power of Mis-en-place to Organize Your Life, Work, and Mind.

Listen to some music. Preferably something you’ve never listened to before. Listen with your full attention.

Choose a work of art and learn as much about it as you can. Find information about it from as many good sources as possible. If it’s a work you can see in person over the break, even better.

Do a creative writing exercise.

Read a college profile. Or more than one.

Watch some School of Life videos.

Choose a place you’ve never been and plan an imaginary vacation there. Research online. Be as detailed as possible in your itinerary, learning as much as you can about the place.

Stretch. Then exercise.

How seniors can spend their winter break in the best way

Don't do any more college stuff than you absolutely have to. As contrary as it may sound, you really should use your time as a true break and not college-planning time. If you put things off with the idea that you'd do them over break, that's perfectly normal. But get them done first and with focus. You're not going to send out good applications if you're finishing them a little bit at a time while you also finish gift shopping and meet with friends. Make a plan to finish your college to-do list as quickly as possible into the break. If you have January 1st or 5th deadlines, get those sent out first and with focus. There's no good reason to wait until the 31st or 4th to send those out. Also keep in mind that the longer into the break you wait, the less likely you are to get good help (or any help) from anyone else.

These other suggestions are made with seniors in mind, but they’re good advice for anyone with a few weeks off this winter.

Rest. This sounds obvious--of course you're going to rest. You have several weeks with no school! But for lots of students--and adults--it never quite seems to work this way. You stay up too late, thinking you'll sleep in, and then you have to get up earlier than you expected. Or you spend too much time in bed or on the couch, and you feel sluggish and dumpy. You can only get good rest from your break if you decide that you're actually going to and schedule for it. Decide that you're going to get 8-10 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night, and then plan accordingly. The time you spend awake will go much better if you do.

Spend quality time with people. Now is a great time to catch up with friends and family, but, like good sleep, quality time with people is also elusive. You go to parties and gatherings, you have text or Snapchat conversations, you spend a little time with people...and then you realize that you didn't really have any good conversations. Quality Time is usually thought of as time you spend with another person giving them your undivided attention. Schedule some time for this with a few good friends and/or family members.

Re-assess. Now is a great time for reflection and regrouping. Here are several exercises to try to keep that conversation with yourself productive and useful.

Highs and lows. Like a lot of families, at our dinner table we often go around and share our high and low moment of the day with each other. (Lately we’ve modified it to be one victory, one point of stress or tension, and one thing you’re grateful for. “The 1-1-1.”) It's a better conversation starter with school-aged kids than "how was your day?" and it reinforces that every day has both the good and the bad. Take some time thinking about--and sharing with someone else--your high and low points over the fall semester and your college quest. What worked? What didn't? What felt good? What felt bad? Consider it all.

Two-month time machine. When evaluating your semester and planning ahead, think about a two-month time machine. If you could go back two months to re-try the fall, what's one thing you really wish you could change? You obviously can't really do it, but it's a good way to think about "lessons learned" and how you can help the next two months better.

Restate your dreams and aspirations. Take some time and write a personal mission statement for the year, especially if you're a senior and moving on to college next fall. Or if you don't want to be so college-centric but want to spend time thinking about what's really important to you, try the "last-year test" method of thinking about New Year's Resolutions. 

Read. It's really tempting to read nothing--or nothing of merit--over the break. You've read so much over the past few months, so why do it on vacation? The answer is simple: now you get to choose what to read, and you can make engaging your intellect fun for yourself. Besides, if you're ready to concede that the only reason you read or learn is because you're assigned to by authorities, then you may want to re-think the whole college thing. Take back control of your mind by reading something. It doesn't have to be Important Literature if that's not what you like, just choose not to be a mental slacker.

Colleges don't give you money

Tomorrow, December 1, the newly revised FAFSA will open up online, several months later than it usually does.

I haven’t seen the updated website yet, so I don’t have any specific advice about the FAFSA. But I do have some big-picture advice about affordability and paying for college. And that advice comes down that one reminder: colleges don’t give you money.

Pretty much everyone, myself included, goes along with the idea that financial aid is money that the colleges are giving away. We use the verbs “give” and “offer” all the time. If the sticker price is $50,000 and the price that you’ll be charged is $25,000, then they “gave” you $25,000 in aid. You might contact them to see if they can “offer” you more. And that $25,000 is real. It’s money that you’re not paying, and it makes a huge difference in your life. But it’s not money that they’re giving you, it’s just a discount on what they charge you.

Compare it to buying clothes. Imagine you go to Macy’s to buy some jeans. The price tag says $100, but they’re on sale for 20% off. So you pay $80. That $20 difference is real—it’s money that you can spend on something else. But it would sound kind of silly if Macy’s told you they were “giving” you $20 to buy the jeans. It would sound ridiculous if Macy’s added up all the discounts they gave over a year and claimed they “provided” Americans with millions of dollars in aid. That sale price isn’t money they’re giving away, it’s a discount on what they’re bringing in. It’s a slight distinction, but it can have a huge effect.

Unlike Macy’s, colleges do this all the time. They have a sticker price, and they offer you a discount, and then they frame it as money they’re offering you. They can have you focus on how generous their offer is instead of how much money you and your family are paying. You don’t have to play along if you don’t want. You can stay laser-focused on your cost, not their generosity.

And then there’s debt. When colleges offer you loans to help you pay for college, this counts as aid. That actually makes sense, because if you’re able to afford the college by taking the loan and paying over years when you wouldn’t be able to afford it in cash, then they are indeed aiding you in your ability to go to college. But don’t let that aid get too caught up in the language of “offer” and “giving.” It’s money you’re spending. You’re spending it over time, not all at once, and that’s really helpful. But you’re spending it, and taking a risk doing so. Give your future self credit for that money, not the college, because it’s your future self that is actually paying.

This advice is about mindset and perspective. By reminding you that colleges don’t actually give you money, I’m hoping to help you make more rational decisions and have healthier emotions. So when you get your financial aid offers in the coming months, keep a few things in mind:

Stay completely focused on the cost to you, not what the college is offering. If you read a financial aid offer and still aren’t sure what your cost is (it happens often), get in touch and ask them to explain the offer so that you can understand what your cost it. While you’re at it, ask them what the average price increase is every year.

The sticker price is completely made up and arbitrary. On average, only about 15% of students pay the full price. There are lots of factors that go into the sticker price, but one strategy that some schools use is setting a higher sticker price so that they can advertise how generous they are with aid. It’s like Macy’s changing the price of those jeans from $100 to $110 so they can still get $80 but also advertise a $30 discount instead of $20.

The price that you pay is your price, and almost every student has a different price. How much of a discount schools offer is determined based on your family finances and how much you can afford, your perceived long-term value to the school, and how many discounts they’re offering other people. Your perceived long-term value to the school is complex. How much a school perceives your value to them may take into account how likely they think you are to graduate; how much time and talent you may contribute to the campus while you’re there; athletic, artistic, or other talents you have that can be useful to a school team or program; how likely you and your family are to donate to the school in the long term; and what academic and/or social gaps the school is experiencing that you can help fill. When you hear “merit,” you probably think of how well you performed in high school. When the colleges say “merit,” they’re probably thinking about your long-term value to them. They aren’t the same. There’s no way for you to know your perceived long-term value to a school ahead of applying for admission and financial aid.

If you’re trying to estimate your cost at a particular school, skip over their stats about average aid offered or percentage of students who receive aid. Don’t get caught up in the “offers.” Look at two numbers: the average net price and the average indebtedness at graduation. Use those as your reference points. If your family has normal finances, that is likely to be around the price they ask of you. If your family has less money than average, expect a lower price. If your family has more money than normal, expect a higher price.

Pay attention to debt. If you graduate college within five years and don’t take on too much debt, then the debt is probably worth it. The average lifetime earnings of college graduates is much higher than that of people who don’t have a college degree. If you already feel like there are obstacles that may keep you from graduating, then you should be very hesitant to take on student debt. You should also be hesitant of taking on more than $30,000 debt total over the four-five years you’re a student. I’d like to say that you can adjust a reasonable debt load based on your career path. Maybe higher debt is fine if you’re going into computer engineering, and you should be more frugal if you’re going into early childhood education. But the truth is that you don’t know what job you’ll have in your first few years after graduation, or how much it will pay.

Talk to your family about money, as soon as possible. You should know your line between “affordable” and “not affordable” before you apply to schools, and definitely before you start getting financial aid offers.

Never skip applying to a college that you think is a good fit because you think you can’t afford it. Wait until you know your cost, and then decide if you can afford it. People are surprised by their financial aid offers, in both directions, all the time. Maybe you’re right and you can’t afford it, but make them tell you so.

Assume that you’re going to attend the least expensive school that accepts you. If you decide to go to a school that is more expensive than other schools that accept you, you should be able to explain—to yourself and others—why. “Because it’s a better school” or “because it’s a better fit” aren’t good enough. Be able to explain why you think it’s a better school for you and why you think the extra cost is worth it.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read these related posts:

   Things for parents to know about paying for college

   Not all merit aid is the same

   Three things parent should stop saying to their children

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Three quick questions with University of West Georgia

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admission representatives at colleges all over the country, and then I hope to hear back from them. The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

Today’s response is from Michaela Wright, Admissions Representative at the University of West Georgia in Carrollton, Georgia.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to the University of West Georgia?

I would say our Welcome Back Blasts. It's one of our first events of the school year and it's open to the entire student body. It goes through the first week into the second week of classes in the fall. It's a great way for students to have fun with outdoor activities like Screen on the Green, which is an outdoor movie night, carnival rides, concerts, and free food and swag. As a student, I loved going to the Welcome Back Blast as it was a great way to relax after classes and catch up with friends and even help create friend groups for our freshman students. 

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at UWG?

Students who tend to be more introverted and even have more niche interests flourish on our campus. Not every student, me included, did much with extracurricular activities at high school, mostly because it was hard to find something of interest as clubs and organizations tend to favor a more broad student interest. I personally joined an organization called Anime Otaku Incorporated or AOI. At AOI, I was able to again build a great friend group, but also gain leadership and organizational experience as I became a secretary and president later in my college career. I've seen many very introverted and socially anxious people get out of their shells and become very confident people because they are able to find a place to be themselves and feel comfortable with who they are. This has not only translated socially, but academically and helped with a few members in their careers as well.

When people come to visit Carrollton, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

Adamson Square in historically downtown Carrollton is one of my favorite places. There are all local shops and restaurants and a great place to hang out and study outside of classes. I highly recommend Chip's Burgers and the Irish Bread Pub for eateries. The Butter'd Udder for some ice cream and Gallery Row for a coffee. The Underground Bookstore is a very nice and aesthetically pleasing bookshop with tons of great finds. Lastly, my favorite shop is The Vinyl Frontier which is a vinyl shop that caters to all genres and budgets, as a vinyl collector this was a huge plus for me for staying in Carrollton. 

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. See which other colleges and universities answered the questions.

3. Is there a school you’d like to hear from? Let me know, and I’ll make sure they get the questions.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth. [The banner photo is not of West Georgia. I use the same photo for all Three Quick Questions posts so you can spot them easily.]

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Three quick questions with Marquette University

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admission representatives at colleges all over the country, and then I hope to hear back from them. The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

Today’s response is from Nicole Gasiorowski, Admissions Counselor at Marquette University in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to Marquette University?

Each year, the campus community – students, faculty, staff, alumni, family, and friends – comes together to celebrate National Marquette Day! This annual tradition, now in its third decade, unites the Marquette nation together in pride and spirit to commemorate the values of the University: Catholic and Jesuit, dedicated to service, and being individuals for and with others. The Marquette community gathers in Milwaukee and around the world to cheer on our Men’s Basketball team at Fiserv Forum and invites everyone to join in a weekend of festivities to celebrate Marquette! 

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at Marquette?

Here at Marquette, undecided is our most popular major. In fact, we have found that few students are truly undecided. They have many interests about what they wish to pursue in college, which is why we prefer to say “multi-interested.” Marquette has more than 80 majors and 79 minors, and we will help you choose a major or minor combination that matches your interests and skills. While you are exploring different areas of studies, you will be taking the Marquette Core Curriculum, which is designed to teach you how to think, say what you mean, and say it well. Taking the Core early in your career at Marquette allows extra flexibility to discover a major you didn’t know existed and might be interested in studying! 

When people come to visit Milwaukee, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

Milwaukee is known as the City of Festivals, so I recommend checking out Henry Meir Festival Park right on the lakefront. There are hundreds of festivals year-round, from Summerfest, the world’s largest music festival, to ethnic fests and food fests. There is truly a fest for everyone!  

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. See which other colleges and universities answered the questions.

3. Is there a school you’d like to hear from? Let me know, and I’ll make sure they get the questions.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Zoe Herring. [The banner photo is not of Marquette. I use the same photo for all Three Quick Questions posts so you can spot them easily.]

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Some basic rules for email

I was slow to embrace email. A few of my high school classmates used email (this was late 80s/early90s), but I really had no idea what it was or what it might be good for. When I got to college, I knew a lot more people who used it, but they mostlywent to the school computer lab to use it. I don’t remember anyone having their own modem in a dorm room. By the time I finished college four years later, email was much more mainstream. One of my last acts as a college student was emailing a paper to a professor instead of taking a hard copy to their office. It felt very cutting edge. But I sent it using my mother’s email, because it would still be years before I would bother to get my own email address. I was…not cutting edge.

Of course now email feels very out-of-date. I’ve had many students and clients tell me they almost never use email. There are so many messaging apps to choose from, and email only gets used for “official” things. College admission, it should go without saying, is a very official thing. It’s difficult, if not impossible, to get through applications effectively without using email.

So for those who may not be adept or enthusiastic about email, let me give a few brief rules that will make it more efficient and effective. But probably not more fun.

Have an email address you can use for colleges. Some people will advise you to get a new email address for college admission. They usually say it should have your name and graduation year, or something similar that isn’t already taken. Like “Benjamin.Holloway.Class.of.1992@gmail.com.” Then you use this email address—and only this address—for all your college admission activity—and only college admission activity. I don’t think this is a bad idea, but I also don’t think it’s necessary. You’ve probably already got a few email addresses to juggle. I’ve seen students set up a special email for college admission, use it with a few colleges…and then forget what the special address was. I’ve seen students set up a special email address, use it with a few colleges…and then forget that they even set it up.

I’d recommend something simpler.

1. Don’t have an address that’s embarrassing or offensive. Don’t send a college email and expect them to reply to “drunkandsexy420@email.com.”

2. Use an email address that won’t be taken away from you or that is owned by someone else, like one provided by your school.

3. If you already have an email address you’ve used for a College Board or ACT account and it doesn’t violate rule 1 or 2, keep using that one.

Join mailing lists of colleges you’re interested in. If you go to the admission page of any college, there will probably be a place to “join our mailing list,” “learn more,” or “get more information.” This is where you give them your email address and they send you information. If you’re interested, let them know. If you want to know more about a college, let them send you information. Even if you’re already get marketing emails from the college, actively sign up so they can see that you’re interacting with them.

Organize your email. If you do have a college admission-specific email address, then maybe you don’t need to do any more organizing. But if your college admission emails are coming into the same inbox as other emails, then do something to separate them. It doesn’t need to be complex or time-consuming. Just a folder you can put your “college” emails into is fine. Once you’re really into the process of applications, you may set up separate sub-folders for individual colleges. If you get emails from a school counselor (or an independent consultant) about college applications, you might want a separate folder for that. The key is to make it easy to find college-related mail amidst all the other stuff. A simple folder or label goes a long way.

Unsubscribe. When you’re getting email from a college you’re definitely not interested in, take a moment to unsubscribe. Lots of times people find it easier to just hit “delete” or “archive” rather than go through the sometimes multiple steps required to unsubscribe. At some point, though, unsubscribing takes up less time than repeatedly getting emails and deleting them, or trying to search for a specific email in a sea of junk. If you’re getting a lot of emails from someone you don’t want to hear from, unsubscribing saves time in the long run. Plus, you want your college inbox to be a trove of exciting possibilities for a future you, not a pile of junk mail with maybe some good stuff hidden in there. As corny as it sounds, do what you can to make your inbox reflect your goals and aspirations, not a depository for other people’s cold marketing.

Check your email regularly daily. Maybe you don’t like email. Maybe it’s not your preferred app for communicating. Maybe because colleges like to have a presence and advertise on other apps, you think you don’t need to really bother with email. That’s putting yourself at a major disadvantage. Email is the primary and preferred way colleges interact with prospective students. If it’s from a college and important, it’s probably going to be in email. So you have to use email. The more up-to-date you are with your email, the more up-to-date you will be with your applications. There’s no way around using email, so make it a daily habit. Ignoring email from a college you’re interested in is the same as ignoring the college itself. Don’t send mixed signals. If you’re going to apply to a college, make sure you get email from them, open the email, click on links within the email, and reply when appropriate to email. This boosts your “odds” of getting into a selective university as much or more than a “strong hook” at the beginning of your essay.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read these related posts:

   Postcards and envelopes

   Please, please, please answer your email!

   What to do with all that mail you’re getting

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

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