Supplemental writing: looking forward and looking back

It’s the middle of November. A few weeks ago I was tremendously busy reading essays for students sending off early applications with a November 1st deadline. Since then I’ve mostly been reading a slow-but-steady trickle of supplemental prompt responses. Most of them have been really great, and when I do see problems they tend to fall under a single category: mixing up past-centered and future-centered prompts. When you first approach the prompts and begin to decide how to respond, ask yourself if the prompt is asking you to look back or look forward.

Some common supplemental prompts ask you to look back on the near past. Prompts asking you to explain an extracurricular activity, explain a challenge or setback, explain a talent, or explain a work of art that is meaningful to you are all asking you to look back on where you have been and who you have been. Prompts asking you to explain the effects of Covid or other disasters also look back to the near past. They want to know what you have done and what you have thought about. It seems completely reasonable that they’d ask these types of questions.

The key for these past-centered prompts (and all short-response prompts) is to be clear and honest. For the long essay I advise people to write absolutely as much as they like and can, without regard for the word limit. It’s better to write 1200 words and then pare down to 650, I say, than to write every sentence with anxiety that you might go over the limit. For short responses, typically 150 to 300 words, I actually advise the opposite. Begin by trying to answer the question in a single sentence. Then add on to that to explain and give context. Obviously you revise and edit from there, but you'll ideally be near the word count when you start the editing. These are very short responses, and they will be read very quickly. Make it easy for the reader to see what it is you want to say. These responses are not the place for clever narratives and dialog.

When you do edit these responses, focus on verbs. Identify all your “to be” verbs and do what it takes to reduce that number by at least a third. The key to stronger writing, especially in short responses, is almost always in the verbs.

Where I see people go astray in these looking-back prompts is when they don’t think they have a strong answer to the question. They haven’t done a lot of sponsored extracurricular activities in school, or they don’t really have a favorite book character or work of art, or they didn’t really suffer in the pandemic like many others did. So they try to cover this up by writing about the future instead. They essentially say “I haven’t got an answer to your question, so I’m going to explain how I’ll be able to answer in the future once I get a response.” Avoid this instinct. Find an answer to the question. Dig deep. Spend time.

You may need to have conversations with friends or family members going over memories of the past. You may need to review synopses of books you read to remember which characters you may have connected with, even a little. (Don’t write about a book you haven’t read—that’s not going to go well.) You may need to spend time researching topics and using your imagination to put together a good answer. The time you spend doing this will be a good investment. It will make your response to the question stronger, and it’s a valuable exercise in solving problems.

If you don’t have many—or any—extracurriculars to talk about, it’s probably because you’re defining “extracurricular” too strictly. You were doing something with your time. If you didn’t participate in any after-school clubs or teams because you had too many responsibilities at home, say so. Talk about what you did to support your family. If you didn’t participate because you had a job, say so. If you didn’t participate because you were struggling with physical or mental health, say so. If you didn’t participate because you’d much rather be playing pick-up basketball (or skateboarding, or playing the guitar, or reading manga or….) say so. Don’t try to cover up the fact that you “did nothing,” but explain what it is that you actually did.

Other prompts ask you to look forward and anticipate the future. Typical forward-looking prompts include questions about your intended major, how you plan to make a difference at the college, what kind of extracurricular activities you hope to be a part of, and what your post-college plans are. With these answers, be as honest and positive as you can.

When I see students go off-track here, it’s often because their answers are too past-focused. They still want to talk about their accomplishments, and it gets in the way of talking about their future. I can understand the impulse: talking about what you’ve already done stands as evidence that you are realistic about your plans for the future. But don’t spend precious words rehashing the past! I won’t be rigid and say “do not mention the past in your responses to these prompts,” but I will say: don’t let a whole sentence be dedicated to the past. If you want to mention something you’ve already done, make it a small part of a forward-looking sentence.

And here’s the other thing about forward-looking prompts: you will rarely impress anyone by providing a course catalog number. For “what kind of things do you hope to do at our college?” questions, applicants really like to prove they’ve done their research by listing the catalog number of courses that look interesting. Ask yourself: how likely is it that the person reading your response—who is not a student or professor at the school, and is probably not even a graduate of the school—knows what “SOC6724” really means? It proves you’ve looked through the course catalog, sure, but it doesn’t prove you’ve been thoughtful about how you see yourself at the school. If you’re going to talk about specific courses or programs you hope to be a part of, follow these simple rules of thumb: as much as possible, talk about professors you’d like to meet, not courses you’d like to take; double-check to make sure that program or course you’re talking about is actually available to undergrad students and isn’t a graduate-level program; don’t overlap niche programs or honors programs in an unrealistic way.

Of course not all supplemental prompts ask you to look back or look forward. Some are completely different. But a surprising number of them do.

Probably the most typical supplemental question is some version of “why are you applying to our school?” For this prompt, you’re looking both back and forward. That’s a good way to approach this question: considering what all you’ve done and what all you hope to do, why is this school a good place for your transition? How can this school help you with that change, and how can you help them, in your small way, in their transition from what they’ve been to what they hope to be?

If you’ve already sent out applications with supplemental responses, I’m sure they were good. And I also hope the future ones will be even stronger.

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:

   How should you handle supplemental questions?

   Be careful re-using essays.

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—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 Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts

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 the admission office at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, part of The New School, in New York City.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to Lang at the New School?

Each year, The New School has a block party where we close down a full block on our campus to traffic. Students, staff, and faculty all mingle before the start of the semester, and a combination of student organizations, resources for students at the university, and local businesses set up tables so the university can learn more about its community. There's a ton of free food, activities, and more.

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 Lang?

We review applications holistically based on all of our application requirements. This means that academically we take into account not only GPA but course rigor, grade trend, and the context that students provide for their grades. In addition, we're SAT and ACT-optional. Students who show that they're open-minded, inquisitive, and determined to make positive change in the world tend to thrive at Lang, and we try and recognize that in the review process.

When people come to visit your part of New York City, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

The High Line in Chelsea is a great walk--it's a repurposed abandoned elevated rail project turned into a park--it's always bustling with all kind of people and has great views of the city and the Hudson River, especially at sunset.

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 Lang. I use the same photo for all Meet the Class 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 Hofstra 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 Puja Patel, admission counselor at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

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

We have a program called “Explore Next Door” where students can sign up to explore NYC whether it’s in person or virtually! They can sign up with a group of other students and faculty member to go to museums, restaurants and broadway shows!

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 Hofstra?

We love to invite students to join Hofstra University if they are passionate, ambitious and resilient from their unique life experience! We want students to be themselves, and we would love to help them get out of their shell.

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

Definitely check out the Nassau Coliseum, NYC and the beaches we have near us! A little bit of everything, especially during the Fall time there are places to go apple and pumpkin picking.

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 Hofstra. I use the same photo for all Meet the Class posts so you can spot them easily.]

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

Apply with Sanity and Ekuso

My privacy and full disclosure page is pretty straightforward. It says, among other things:

I don't currently have any sponsors or advertisers. If that changes, I'll make it clear.

I don't write sponsored posts.

If I have any kind of relationship with someone or some place I'm writing about, I'll tell you.

So I want to tell you about my new partnership with the Ekuso Virtual Esports Academy. Technically, Ekuso isn’t sponsoring me; they don’t pay me anything. In fact, I’m sponsoring them. I happen to think the Apply with Sanity logo looks pretty good on their uniforms. It’s more of a partnership, and I want that to be transparent when I write about esports or share any of Ekuso’s content. All of my writing is still 100% my own: not written, reviewed, or approved by Ekuso or anyone else.

What do I like about Ekuso? A few things.

First, my own teenager is a team member. When they first approached me about joining an esports team at their school, I honestly didn’t think much of it. I know nothing about video games, and I imagined it would basically be an in-school club where they could play with friends. But being part of the team had drastic effects almost immediately. My kid was growing not just in their League of Legends skills, but their self-knowledge, confidence, and leadership skills as well. All the things you practice when playing on a traditional sports team, like discipline, sportsmanship, leadership, communication, and strategy? That’s no less true of esports. Although I still have trouble following the action of a League match, I at least now understand how important esports can be for young people.

There’s also an obvious college admission connection. Many universities host esports teams, and many of them are actively looking for players to fill those teams. Esports is a legitimate activity that students can explain on college applications. Being on a team with coaching, rather than an individual player, can have real advantages both for your development as a player and as a college applicant.

That’s what I like most about Ekuso. They’re not just hosting video game tournaments. Karlin Oei, the founder, is an impressive player and a focused coach. He’s a gamer and an entrepreneur, and he’s also an educator.

This partnership won’t have an huge impact on the content or tone of Apply with Sanity. But you will see me sharing news about Ekuso here and on social media. You’ll see me more interested in esports at the high school and college level, which I’d probably be doing anyway. I’m also planning some free college admission webinars for Ekuso students and families, probably beginning in March.

And if you’d love an introduction to what organized esports looks like at the high school level, check out Ekuso’s tournament on November 13. It will be streamed live on their Twitch streaming page.

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

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

2. Ask a question—or share other resources—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.

Writing essays like a grown-up

When I was a high school teacher, I liked going to the Homecoming Dance and Prom. I didn’t go every year, but when I did I enjoyed them. Here’s one thing I always found fascinating: the transformation from kids to adults…for a while. Often students would arrive to the dance looking quite grown up. Suits and ties, fancy dresses, hair and makeup, fancy shoes. The grown-up look affected their behavior, too. I noticed how often even students who would never greet me with more than a grunt during a school day would want to shake my hand when they saw me at a dance. They were learning to be an adult, and I always loved that.

The funny part, though, is how different things were at the end of the dance. Ties loosened, shirts partially unbuttoned, and jackets in hand. Hair down in a ponytail and high-heeled shoes in hand. Grunts. The adulthood rarely lasted more than an hour or two. I’m not making fun of them or trying to be mean. We all, no matter our age, constantly work on adulthood through trial and lots of error. Seeing these early attempts at growing up on a daily basis is one of the joys of working with high school students.

This week I’ve been reading a lot of student writing as clients are finishing applications for November 1st deadlines, and I’m reminded of the same phenomenon. Students are pushing themselves to be more mature and professional in their writing, but there are a few clear signs—to those looking—that the maturity may not be complete. I’ve only noticed them through years of repetition, and I want to share some of those indications.

Four words I only see in high school research papers and college application essays. These four words I almost never see in any student writing, ever, in any context, except for research papers and college application essays, when the students are working hard to sound formal and mature. In those two cases, I see these words all the time. So very often.

Plethora. I get it. “A lot” doesn’t sound very professional and mature, and we use “a lot” often in everyday speech. So when we’re writing something that’s supposed to be more formal, it makes sense to try “plethora” instead.

Myriad. It means the same as plethora, and using it solves the same problem as plethora—avoiding “many” or “a lot of.” Myriad has the advantage of being both a noun and an adjective. So either “Myriad opportunities awaited me at the job fair” or “A myriad of opportunities awaited me at the job fair” works. Plethora is only a noun, so you would only say “A plethora of opportunities….” If you’re going to use myriad, make sure you use it the same way every time. Don’t go back and forth between adjective and noun.

Delve. This word originally meant to dig. Now it’s only used metaphorically: nobody ever delves a hole in the ground. They only delve into texts or memories, as if digging. And in college application essays, they delve often.

I’m not going to say don’t use myriad, plethora, or delve. You may be one of the people who actually uses them outside of research papers and college applications. You may intend to become a person who uses them regularly. That’s fine. But I do want to give you this warning: when you use these words, you’re more likely to sound like a high school student trying to sound more grown up than an actual grown-up. It’s a slight difference, but it’s there. If the difference matters to you, be careful using plethora, myriad, or delve. I see them often, but 99% of the time it’s in the context of a high school student trying to sound more formal. Not just 99% of the time I see them from students, but 99% of the time I see them ever. I don’t know many adults who use myriad, plethora, or delve in their writing.

There’s another word common in high school formal writing that I will absolutely tell you not to use: whilst. Whilst means the same as while. It’s very common to use whilst in the UK. It is not common to use it in the US. Throwing “whilst” into a sentence is like briefly slipping into an English accent in the middle of a sentence, which doesn’t make you sound more formal, smart, or grown-up. So use whilst if you’re British and use other words and spellings associated with British usage. Or use whilst if you’re being silly and having fun. But if you’re trying to sound more formal for something really important? Do not use whilst.

None of these are deal-breakers or application killers. Nobody gets accepted or denied admission to a university because of how they use (or don’t use) plethora, myriad, delve, or whilst. It’s not that big of a deal. However, if you’re specifically using a word for an effect you’re trying to achieve (“I’m a strong writer”), and using the word often produces the opposite effect (“You’re a high school kid trying too hard”), I feel like someone should let you know.

While (not whilst) we’re talking about things students do in college application essays to sound more formal, let me also warn you about semicolons. Here’s what I always say about semicolons: they’re like samurai swords. Just because they look cool is no reason to go slinging them around.

Just as you never really need to use a samurai sword, you never need to use a semicolon. Commas and periods will get you through life just fine.

Like a samurai sword, only use a semicolon if you’re absolutely positive you’re doing it correctly. Because semicolons are unnecessary, using them incorrectly always looks bad.

Even if you do know how to use a samurai sword or semicolon correctly, using it too often still creates the wrong tone. Use them sparingly, when you’re really sure it’s the best tool to use. It rarely is.

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:

   Thinking about pleasure

   Don’t submit that mission trip essay

   Put together your own writing workshop

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—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 Champlain 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 Leah Miller, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions at Champlain College in Burlington, Vermont.

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

The Spring Meltdown is a favorite activity of our students. It happens during spring break and is a great time for students to get outside and participate in lots of activities indoors, outdoors, and around the Champlain campus as the snow melts.

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 Champlain?

Champlain is a small school with a hands-on personalized, educational approach. Champlain went test-optional 4 years ago because we found that our student's GPA's were relatively higher than their test scores because they liked participating in the classroom, conversing with their peers, and doing hands-on learning and projects. Those are the types of students we continue to see thrive as Champlain because our Upside-Down Curriculum and hands-on learning really resonate with students in their small classes.

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

Campus visitors definitely need to take a walk down Church Street and to the waterfront of Lake Champlain. Church street is a pedestrian only, brick street, filled with shops, restaurants, galleries, and of course Ben & Jerry's. It has beautiful views of the lake and is a great place to snuggle up with a hot chocolate or gather outdoors with friends. It's beautiful year-round and a must-see spot in Burlington!

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 Champlain College. I use the same photo for all Meet the Class posts so you can spot them easily.]

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

More about community service

Most students understand, or at least have heard, that performing community service is something you should do in preparation for applying to colleges. But why? What do colleges care if you’ve served? Is it just another arbitrary hoop for you to jump through, a sort of weeding-out process? Do they actually believe that simply performing some community service will make you a “good person”? And what kind of community service should you do?

At the most basic level, colleges are interested in how you serve your community because they are going to be your community, and they want to know how you might fit in. They want, to paraphrase President Kennedy, people who will not just ask what their community can do for them, but what they can do for their community. And because how people behave in college usually looks a lot like how they behave in high school, asking about your service to others while you were in high school is a simple way for them to gauge how you may serve others when you’re in their college community. It’s important that everyone, no matter how wealthy or challenged in terms of time, money, or talents, finds a way to give as well as receive, and so community service is something you should plan on while in high school.

For high school students approaching community service, there are two main categories: the simple route, and the creative route. You’ll probably do things that fall into both categories, though most of your energy may be in one or the other.

The simple route is where “community service hours” come in. The simple route is to work at events that are recruiting volunteers and to keep track of the quantity of your service. This includes working car washes, helping to staff community events or fund-raisers, volunteering at food banks or nursing homes, or any sort of event where you are serving someone else’s organization. This route is popular, because it doesn’t necessarily involve much time or effort outside of the volunteer event itself, because it has set times and tasks, and because a sponsor or other authority can easily vouch for the hours that you spent helping.

The simple route isn’t necessarily easy—in fact it rarely is. But it’s usually pretty straightforward, simple to do, and simple to explain. Your school may have a volunteering club or honor society that essentially works to match events with volunteers.

The drawback to the simple route is that it’s easy for others to look at it cynically. If you can show that you’ve worked many hours in a seemingly random assortment of events that aren’t connected to each other, then it’s easy for college admission committees—or anyone else—to wonder if you really do care about the community, or if you’re just doing these things to “get the hours” and check it off your list. If you work 300 volunteer hours but people don’t believe you really care, then those hours—while useful to those you served—may not get you much in terms of college acceptance.

The creative route is one where, instead of working for someone else's organization, you create the organization that other people work for. This can look like different things: taking over leadership of an existing club at school, starting a new club at school, getting a grant from an organization to run your own project, or even starting your own non-profit organization. Like the simple route, the creative route is rarely easy. Plus, it may be more difficult to get documentation from a credible authority of the work you put into it. The creative route may produce higher quality service sometimes, but it doesn’t have the easy-to-read and easy-to-understand hour log signed by a sponsor that the simple route does. However, the creative route does tend to provide more autonomy and a larger sense of accomplishment. Interestingly, this route can often give you a greater sense of accomplishment even if you are unable to accomplish your goal. That’s because of the more intense problem solving that comes with these kinds of endeavors.

Remember, though, that it’s also easy for colleges and others to look on this kind of community service cynically. Most of the student-founded nonprofits I hear about are tackling problems that other organizations already exist to address, and they usually fall apart as soon as the student goes off to college. People aren’t going to assume you’re doing great things just because you start a club or organization—some will assume you’re just doing it for your own resume.

We obviously need both kinds of community service, and most people do both. There’s nothing wrong with taking the simple route. Be honest with yourself about your motives, your strengths, and your limitations. Remember that to a large degree it’s not as important what you do but how you explain it. There’s also nothing wrong with the creative route. But again, be honest with yourself and be able to explain your choices.

Here’s a process for getting into community service or revamping your current strategy. It’s not a linear process that you do once in order. It’s more of a cycle that you’ll go through over and over throughout your life, not just as a high school student.

1. Think about why you are interested in community service. Be honest with yourself. You likely don’t have a single motive, and you need to understand your overlapping motives. This will give you and the people you’re helping a greater chance of success. Are you performing community service because you are required to complete a certain number of hours for an honor society, your school, or some other organization? Is community service an avenue for you to show gratitude for your own good fortune? Is it a social opportunity for you to spend more time with friends completing projects together? Do you have political or religious ideals, and you want to find ways to put them into action? Are you lonely and looking for ways to be around other people? Understanding the reasons why you want to get involved at all will help you decide what kind of service is best. There are no wrong answers.

2. Define your communities. You’ll be more successful if you approach community service thinking about serving your own communities. These overlapping communities can be geographic—neighborhood, town or city, state, nation. They can be social, political, religious,, and special interest communities. We often think of service in terms of helping other communities, not our own. In some senses this is true, of course, but your service is going to be of higher quality when you think about how you are a part of the community. You may not be in the hospital, but when you volunteer at the hospital you’re helping to strengthen people within your community, and you’re therefore strengthening your own community. The less you think of the people you serve as other, the more useful the service will be to them and for yourself.

3. Who needs help in those communities? Some of these are obvious. The hungry, homeless, and sick in your community need help. People who cannot, for whatever reasons, live independently need help. But lots of people need all kinds of help. When you define your communities more broadly to include not just neighborhood and school, but also your social groups, hobbies and passions, you’ll find more people who can use help and more types of help to give.

4. Who is already helping in those communities? Whatever the problem is you’d like to tackle, it’s not a new one. And there are already people, many of them experts, already working on that problem. Seek them out. Ask how you can help. Learn from them as you help them. Make starting something new from scratch a last-resort idea, not your first idea. The people and groups working to help that part of your community will eventually become another of your communities.

5. How can you contribute? How would you like to help? What have you got that you can contribute to helping? Time and labor? Knowledge and expertise? Materials and supplies? Social connections? Think of all the things you can do to help. This likely includes hours spent working, but don’t limit yourself to those.

When you take this more broad approach to defining community and defining service, you’ll find that you have plenty to do. You’ll find that being a part of a community and serving that community are inseparable. You’ll find that to be true from the family level up to the global level. It won’t be easy or simple, but you’ll have no problem explaining your service on college applications or to anyone else who asks. You’ll know why “day of service” events are really helpful, and you’ll also know why every day is a day of service.

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:

   Thinking about community service and college admissions

   Don’t submit that mission trip essay!

   Should you join an honor society?

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—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 College of the Atlantic

Thanks to College of the Atlantic, I’ll now be asking “how many islands do you have for research?” to all colleges. Read about their islands, sustainability, and self-designed majors below.

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admissions 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 Casey Schuller Jordan, Admission Counselor at College of the Atlantic in Bal Harbor, Maine.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to College of the Atlantic?

There are too many to name them all! Pretty much everything at COA is unique. The concept of our self-designed major in human ecology is a good place to start. While we offer a wide selection of courses covering arts, sciences, and humanities, you may find many of our courses take a unique purpose-driven, hands-on, and experiential approach. Check out some of our courses through our areas of study (which are not paths you have to follow, but may be a helpful place to begin exploring). If you are interested in entrepreneurship and sustainable business, you might like our hatchery program.  Additionally, we have two farms and two islands that are used for research, coursework, and general student experiences.

We are also the #1 Green College in the U.S. and sustainability is central to everything we do. Our system of college governance where faculty, staff, and students make decisions together is a key part of COA as well. Student voice and participation are highly valued on campus, which is all part of our tight-knit community. Finally, if I had to pick one favorite campus tradition it would probably be the Bar Island swim after convocation, which is followed by a cookout.

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 COA?

First, we have always been test-optional, so if testing is not your strength that's okay. We often attract students who are looking for something beyond traditional education systems, students who want to think beyond departments and majors, and students who are passionate about something, even if they don't know why or where that will lead them. Our students are curious, deeply engaged in their education, and want to go beyond understanding the world as it is to be a part of actively shaping the future. If you want to explore beyond the traditional classroom, we might be a good place for you.

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

There is so much to do here! I highly recommend everyone visit Acadia National Park. There are so many beautiful hikes, biking trails, and swimming spots, but if you have limited time you should at least drive the Park Loop Road. There are also a lot of ways to get out on the ocean from kayaking to whale watching to lobster boat tours. Finally, Bar Harbor is a pretty cute town itself if you want to spend time wandering through local shops.

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 College of the Atlantic. I use the same photo for all Meet the Class 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 the Catholic University of America

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admissions 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 Chris Lydon, VP for Enrollment Management at the Catholic University of America in Washington, DC.

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

Program - the University Honors Program, offering access to faculty and research opportunities to undergraduates from across all of our programs.

Tradition - the Saint Mother Teresa Day of Service in September; the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day of Service in January.  These events, sponsored by Campus Ministry, are held early in the fall and spring semesters, as a way to give back to our Washington, D.C. community. Typically, 800-1,000 students, faculty, and staff participate.

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 CatholicU?

CatholicU does not consider standardized tests in the review for admission or for merit scholarships. The heart of our academic review is based on a student's curriculum and the fit to the major of their choice, and their classroom performance. We recalculate all GPA's on an unweighted 4.0 scale, and the GPA middle 50% is 3.30 - 3.70 (basically B+ - A-). The 25% of our students who are admitted with less than a 3.30 cumulative GPA have typically taken an especially demanding curriculum, or have significantly improved over the course of their high school career, with their best work taking place in the junior year and first semester of the senior year. Essays, recommendations, and activities (viewed as opportunities to demonstrate commitment, responsibility, and leadership) help shape our perspective on a student's personal fit.

So many students who are admitted to CatholicU are "imperfect." Some are still coming into their own academically, some don't know what they plan to study, and some have had limited opportunities for engagement outside of the classroom. We're seeking to determine fit, and the potential to take advantage of the academic and extracurricular offerings we provide. And we offer the advising support to help students find their way.

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

The monuments at night—even more beautiful than during the day. The Smithsonian Museums (all free!); my personal favorite is the National Portrait Gallery. Here's a great summary about how our students take advantage of the Nation's Capital.

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 the Catholic University. I use the same photo for all Meet the Class posts so you can spot them easily.]

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

College application essays: don't forget the middle!

Most of the college application essays I look at involve explaining some sort of change. Several of the Common Application essay prompts ask about change:

The lessons we take from obstacles we encounter can be fundamental to later success. Recount a time when you faced a challenge, setback, or failure. How did it affect you, and what did you learn from the experience?

Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?

Reflect on something that someone has done for you that has made you happy or thankful in a surprising way. How has this gratitude affected or motivated you?

Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

Every change essay I read involves, at least at first, a before/after structure.

“I lived in this type of environment, but then I moved and had to change my perspective.”

“I really struggled as a student at first, but then became much more successful.”

“I used to really over-schedule myself, but I’ve learned to focus on a few quality activities over too much quantity.”

The most troubling before/after essays are the ones that put all their energy into the before and dedicate very little space to the after. You don’t quite accomplish your goal by spending 80% of your essay on where you no longer live, or how bad a student you were, or how poorly you managed your time, and then only 20% on the newer, more successful version of yourself. If you’re going to have a before/after essay, then make sure only 20% is on the old and 80% explains the new. After all, it’s the present you that is applying to college, not the past you.

But even the good change essays benefit by expanding the structure. Instead of before/after, think of beginning/middle/end. And here’s the key: the middle is the most interesting part. It shows how you’ve changed, not just that you did. It has verbs. It shows how you’ve adjusted your thinking and habits. It shows you developing and doesn’t just ask the reader to trust that you’ve developed. Make room—a lot more room—for the middle.

It’s October, so let’s use a Halloween example—the werewolf. 1941’s The Wolf Man uses a before/after technique. Larry looks down at his legs, and they quickly change from human legs to furry legs. That’s it. The whole process takes about 20 seconds, and we don’t see any other part of him change. In the next scene, we see him, full werewolf, running through a foggy woods. That’s what most before/after essays are like. “I changed! I’m different now!”

Embedded video not showing up on your browser? Click here.

But skip ahead 40 years to An American Werewolf in London. David’s transformation into a werewolf takes almost three minutes, and we the audience see almost every hair grow, every change in his body. The transformation itself is interesting, not just the after-effects.

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In your change essay the transformation, the things that happened right after the event that prompted the change, is the best part. It tells the audience—the admissions people deciding if they think you’re a good fit for their university—what kind a a person you are, and how you became that person. They can see your thinking, your process, your dedication.

If you moved to a new place and had to get used to a new environment, what were the things you tried? What worked, and what didn’t? Who, if anyone, helped you?

If you struggled as a student but then turned things around, what was that process like? What were the things you tried? What worked, and what didn’t? Who, if anyone, helped you?

If you were over-scheduled and had to adjust, how did you go about narrowing down your activities? What did you prioritize, and why? What were others’ reactions to your changes? Who, if anyone, helped you?

To use another movie example, consider the training montage. The training montage is how a movie condenses days, weeks, or months of transformation into just a few minutes. It gives glimpses into the process without taking up too much time showing the entire process. It focuses on moments of small victories that lead to the large-scale victory. Since a Common App essay only gets 650 words maximum, you need to do the same thing. Explain the process of change in a way that highlights the process but is also efficient with words. Like a training montage.

“I lived in this type of environment, but then I moved and had to change my perspective” becomes “I lived in this type of environment, but then I moved. I was able to identify a mentor, and I tried out a handful of unfamiliar things before finding something new that I’m good at. When I move into another new environment for college, I’ll know how to adjust to the change.”

“I really struggled as a student at first, but then became much more successful” becomes “I really struggled as a student, and I knew I had to change. After several attempts, I found a time management system that works for me, and I made after-school tutoring a normal part of my routine. Maybe I’m not valedictorian, but I’m ready for college in a way that I wasn’t a year ago.“

“I used to really over-schedule myself, but I’ve learned to focus on a few quality activities over too much quantity” becomes “I over-scheduled myself and was miserable. I took a self-designed retreat to get some rest and map my priorities. Then I balanced one academic club with one sport, and now I’m able to be a contributing team member instead of an undependable participant.”

When you add the middle, the before/after essay itself transforms into something stronger, more focused, and more likely to succeed. Much like yourself.

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:

   Is it ok to write about….

   Don’t submit that mission trip essay!

   How do I write a great essay?

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—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.

Things for parents to know about paying for college

Last night I had a great conversation with some neighbors about paying for college. Most of them I’ve known a long time, but this get-together was organized specifically for me to answer their questions—as best as I could—about college admission and affordability.

The discussion kept circling around two central themes. One, it is so important for parents to talk to their students about the cost of college, their expectations, and their budget. Soon. Don't save those conversations until after the finial aid offers come in. Secondly, because the cost of college can be so unpredictable and confusing, you have to apply broadly. This broad approach to cost mirrors the broad approach to admission. You need to apply to a few college that are a good fit and that you’re really confident you can afford. You can also apply to some that may or may not be realistic depending on how much merit aid they may offer. And you need to be aware of which schools are so selective that they offer no merit aid.

I wasn’t sure where the conversation would lead, and so I made sure to have my main “talking points” ready. We covered some of these, but not all. I’m sharing them here for anyone.

(I’m also compelled to point out that it’s October 1st, which means the FAFSA and CSS Profile are open for current seniors.)

You don’t know what any individual college will cost until your student applies and is accepted. You can get estimates. But how much your student gets depends on how much the other accepted students get, among other factors. So the price is different for everyone, and it’s not settled until aid offers are made to all the accepted students.

Talk to your student about the financial expectations. Be specific. Use numbers. The calmest students I work with are the ones who know what their budget is. Lots of parents don’t want to share too much about their financial situation. It’s common and understandable, but not practical. Be as upfront as possible about your financial goals and limits.

Chances are that nobody wants to pay for your student to go to college more than you do. Colleges usually do help with the cost, but it helps to understand their motives and limits. I sometimes hear parents say “If the college really wants my child to go there, they can offer more aid.” The amount of aid they offer is part of their business model and complicated formulations—not how much they like your kid.

Most parents I talk to say that they fall into that slice of people who make too much money to qualify for financial aid but don’t make enough money to pay for college. All those parents send their kids to college. I’ve yet to meet the person who didn’t go to college because their parents made too much money. Those families end up making choices they didn’t want to make, by choosing a more affordable school over the “dream school,” taking on more debt than they hoped to, and/or selling assets they wanted to keep. But they always choose college.

There are thousands of colleges in the US. Each is unique. But you can break them down into three broad categories: in-state public, out-of-state public, private. Each has a different price range, and each is going to have a different approach to aid.

Roughly 85% of students receive some kind of financial aid. Around 15% pay the “sticker price.” Only about 2% receive a “full ride.” Full athletic scholarships are actually very rare.

Most or all of your aid will come from the college. Start there. Lots of financial aid actually comes from the federal government, in the form of Pell grants and subsidized student loans. Many states also have grants for college affordability. But it’s the financial aid office at the school you attend who coordinates all those awards and loans. The money, even when it isn’t the school’s money, usually makes its way to you through the school.

Merit aid probably doesn’t mean what you think it does. There are several different flavors of merit aid, and it’s often unpredictable. It rarely has anything to do with what a student “deserves.” Again, nobody really wants to pay for your kid to go to college more than you do.

There are two forms you may be asked to fill out. Neither are fun or easy. The FAFSA is administered by the US Department of Education and relies on tax forms. Almost everyone uses this. The CSS Profile is administered by the College Board and tries to understand your assets, not just your income. Many private universities ask for this on top of the FAFSA.

Future earnings correlate to your major more than they do to your college.

Some debt is normal. And debt counts as “aid.” College students having around $30,000 total debt upon graduation is average. For most college grads, that’s manageable. You can get into real debt trouble if you take out much more than that, and you can get into real debt trouble if you borrow money but don’t finish your degree.

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:

   Thinking about Return on Investment

   Thinking about debt

   Three things parents should stop saying to their children

   Paying for college: some basic principles

   Not all merit aid is the same

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—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.

Do you need a "brag sheet?"

Brag Sheet. It’s a term I hear a lot in September and October, but only in those months. I learned the term in the context of college letters of recommendation, and that’s the only context I’ve ever heard it in. If you ask a teacher or counselor for a rec letter, they may ask you for a brag sheet. What does that mean?

Basically, a brag sheet is a resume, but less formal. (If they ask for a resume, give them a full and formal resume.) The teacher would like you to list your activities and accomplishments so they can have it in front of them when they’re writing your letter. Many teachers—especially those who teach 11th grade English and math classes—get a lot of letter requests. A brag sheet helps them stay focused and write a letter more quickly. That makes sense.

I encourage you to have a brag sheet ready in case a teacher or counselor asks for one, and I also encourage you not to give it to them unless they ask for it. The best recommendations are personal and talk about something beyond what a student has accomplished. They talk about the student’s character and, ideally, include examples of the recommender’s experience with the student. A brag sheet makes it very easy for a recommender to avoid that and instead write something much less personal that lists the student’s activities and accomplishments—things the student already lists in other places on their application.

When you first ask someone for a recommendation, do so in a way that prompts them to write about the more personal, character-driven letter you’re hoping for. Instead of

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

try

“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 class presentation and I still found a way to get the information across without it.”

Make your request in writing, probably over email. If there’s something you want them to write about, let them know. Don’t just hope. You can’t control whether they actually write what you want, but you can ask.

But if someone does ask for a brag sheet, what should you do?

If you already have a resume, begin with that. You’ll want your brag sheet to be absolutely no more than one page, and you’ll want to tailor it to this teacher and this request. If you don’t already have a resume, you’re going to build up the brag sheet from scratch. Remember that it doesn’t need to be as formal as a resume. It isn’t for a wide audience; it’s for a specific person. Make it for that person.

At the top, include all your basic information. Name, grade, contact information. A teacher looking through a stack of papers on their desk (or stuffed into a bag or drawer) should be able to find yours quickly and easily. Put your name on the top, and make it big. If you’re sending your brag sheet over email, make it very clear in the email subject line what’s in the email. Something like “Brag sheet for _____’s rec letter due _____.”

Under that, include the three basic categories: education, experience, and accomplishments. But personalize that information for that person. Include your overall GPA, but also list what classes you took with that teacher—if it’s for a teacher—and the grades you got in those classes. (Because of privacy laws and data management, teachers rarely have access to student records from previous years.) List your activities and accomplishments that relate directly to that class and that teacher. List as many accomplishments, clubs, and activities you want, but make sure it doesn’t go over one page, and make sure the more directly related to that person, the higher up on the list.

Also include what you want your recommender to write about. If there are specific qualities you’re trying to get across in your application, like intellectual passion or creative problem solving, list those qualities near the top of your brag sheet. If there are specific stories or examples you want that person to write about, find a way to fit it into your brag sheet.

A teacher asking for a brag sheet is essentially asking you to help them make the letter-writing process easier for them. Be absolutely honest and accurate, and help them make it easier to write the letter you are hoping for, not just the letter they might write when they have time. You don’t want a generic form letter, so don’t give them a generic brag sheet. Make it specific, make it easy to read, and make it easy for the teacher or counselor to write you the best letter possible.

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:

   How do I ask a teacher for a recommendation letter?

   How do I put together a resume?

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—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.

When should you tour colleges?

A few weeks ago a parent asked me when I recommend touring colleges. Her daughter is a senior, so it pretty much came down to choosing between times this fall and this spring. But I know many families like to visit colleges throughout high school (or earlier), so I’d like to talk about all the different times you may want to visit a campus. There are no right or wrong times, but there are reasons to be deliberate about which colleges you tour and when.

Before the end of 11th grade. Start as early as you like, and visit as many colleges as you like. There’s no rule that says you have to wait until later in high school. The advantage to visiting colleges before the end of 11th grade: you have lots of time. It gives you a chance to visit more schools and an opportunity to get to know different types of schools. Don’t just pay attention to what makes each school unique, but also to all the things they may have in common. A feature or tradition that seems really cool at one school becomes less fascinating when you realize that many colleges have essentially the same feature or tradition. The drawback to visiting colleges before the end of 11th grade: your early tours may not correspond whatsoever to colleges you will actually apply to when you’re a senior. Most students’ college plans evolve a lot between 9th and 12th grade. By the time you actually apply to schools, you may be wondering why you ever bothered to visit that college. Tip: especially in 9th and 10th grade, go on “practice” tours at universities close to home, whether or not you eventually want to apply there. Get a feel for different types and sizes of universities without as much travel or expense.

The summer before 12th grade. This is a really popular time to visit colleges, which makes sense. The advantage to visiting colleges the summer before 12th grade: you’ve got time away from school. I don’t like to assume that high school students and their families have nothing going on in the summer and have unlimited time and resources to tour colleges. Still, it’s a few months without high school, and that makes a high difference for a lot of people. Also, by the summer before your senior year you’re probably a lot closer to your final college list. There’s more urgency to these visits, because these are schools you’re more likely to actually apply to. The drawback to visiting colleges the summer before 12th grade: if “vibe” is something you’re looking for, summer is a difficult time to feel it. There are a lot fewer students on campus. Plus, lots of schools earn revenue by renting out their facilities to summer camps and other non-college events. I’ve been on a college campus in the summer when it was full of middle school cheerleaders. I’ve been on a college campus in the summer when it was full of 6th grade science nerds. I’ve been on a college campus in the summer when it was full of Army soldiers in fatigues. It’s hard to get “the feel” of a campus during a time when it doesn’t have its normal feel. Tip: don’t let this visit be your first contact. If this is a school you’re interested in applying to, you should already be on their mailing list and have spent some time doing online research about them. Already have some sort of relationship with the college before showing up to visit.

The fall of 12th grade. This is also a popular time to visit colleges. By this point, things are getting quite real. You’ve got to send off applications by the end of this semester. The advantage to visiting colleges the summer in the fall of 12th grade: lots of high schools give excused absences for college visits. It’s expected and allowed for you to miss (a little bit of) school for these days away. And by this time, you can focus on schools that are definitely on your list. The drawback to visiting colleges in the fall of 12th grade: senior year is busy, and there’s not always much time. And you're realistically only talking about the first half of the fall of 12th grade, since you need to save time to actually complete applications. Tip: if you’re sure you’re going to apply to a particular college, you don’t need to visit in the fall. Use this limited time to focus on your undecided schools to help you decide if you really want to apply. You may completely fall in love with a school and decide it’s your new top choice. You may also really hate a campus and wonder what you ever saw in that college.

As I write that, I can already hear people objecting. If you’re sure you want to apply to a school and have time to visit, you should tour there so you get the Demonstrated Interest “points.” They’re not wrong; if a university takes Demonstrated Interest into account, then a campus visit is a big deal. Still, I would say two things to that objection. One, you should spend your time and resources, if you’re even able to go on fall visits, getting what you need to make a wise choice, not gaming the system to try to convince them you’re worthy. You’re a person, not just a resume. Prioritize getting information and experiences that will help you, as a person, make better decisions. Second, there are plenty of other ways to demonstrate interest, and you should certainly do those things. Make sure you’re on the school’s mailing list, and check their website often. Email the admission officer for your area and tell them exactly what’s up: you’re not going to tour in the fall, because you already know you’ll definitely apply. Instead, ask about dates and formats for accepted student visits in the spring. Apply Early Action if it’s available, or even Early Decision. You can let them know you’re interested without feeling like you absolutely have to go on campus. Going to visit a college just so you can write your name on the attendance list and “get credit” is not a wise use of your time.

The spring of 12th grade. Don’t forget about this! Most colleges host accepted student weekends and other events for students trying to make a decision. The advantage to visiting colleges the summer in the spring of 12th grade: you’re super-focused on finding the right fit, and you’re only visiting places you’ve been accepted. Also, by this point students who need financial help have usually already made their case, and there are often opportunities for some travel costs to get reimbursed. You can’t count on financial aid for spring visits, but you can ask about it. The drawback to visiting colleges in the spring of 12th grade: if you’re accepted to too many schools, this can be really overwhelming. Getting lots of acceptances and having lots of options is good…until you have to choose just one or two to visit in the spring. The most stressed-out seniors I ever taught were the ones trying to cram a lot of college visits in their last semester of high school. Tip: before going on any spring visits, review and update your college mission statement. They’re doing everything they can to dazzle you and get you to send in that deposit, so make sure you have what you want top of mind, not what they can wow you with.

Bonus tip: Every parent wants their children to be safe, but I have a friend who is extremely security focused. (He was a Marine sniper.) When his family went on college visits, his wife would go along on the official tour with their children. Then he would go out on his own. He would walk into buildings to see if anyone noticed there was a stranger there. He would strike up conversations with the security guards, maintenance workers, and landscapers. He would try to get a sense of how safe people outside the admission department felt the school was. While I don’t recommend this approach to most people (I can just picture myself getting arrested for walking into the wrong building and ruining my children’s chances of admission), it is a reminder that everyone should be watching not only what the tour guides show them, but also looking for hints beyond the official program. Just don’t get in trouble.

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:

   Making the most of a campus tour

   Go on practice college visits

   The Glossary: Demonstrated interest

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—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.

"The light is much better here"

There’s an old joke that goes back at least to the 1920s. One night a police officer sees a drunk man on his hands and knees in the light of a street lamp. “What are you doing?” the officer asks. “I lost my keys, and I’m looking for them,” replies the drunk man. The cop asks “Is this where you lost them?” “No,” the man replies, “but the light is much better here.” It’s a silly joke, but “looking for your keys under the street light” is also shorthand for doing something that’s simple instead of effective. It’s also a good metaphor for the biases we carry around with us.

It’s also, I want to say, a good metaphor for college rankings. The updated US News rankings came out yesterday, and they are—as they are every year, for better and worse—on the minds and in the comments of lots of people today.

Do most students really believe that the rankings will tell them which college is right for them?

Do most parents really believe the only path for professional success for their children is through a top-ranked school?

Do most universities really want to spend advertising dollars touting their ranking, even though they understand how incomplete and dubious that rank is?

No, but the light is just so much better there.

Instead of just laughing at the drunk man (remember: in my analogy you are the drunk man), let’s consider his situation for a moment. We might actually find some empathy and understanding.

One, he has a real problem. He has lost something valuable. He’s not just looking for any old thing, but his keys. It’s hard to get inside his home without them. If you are a student looking for a college that is a good academic, social, and financial fit for you, you are also looking for something valuable. Even if you think it’s silly for the man to be looking under the street lamp for his keys, it’s not necessarily reasonable to tell him to just go home without them. Maybe there’s someone else who can let him in that one time, but just giving up on your keys is not a viable solution if it can be avoided. Same for a good-fit college. You’re looking for something valuable, and that’s why you’re checking the rankings. You may not know yet where else to look, but giving up is not a good idea.

Two, he has external difficulties. It’s late and dark. He hasn’t got access to sunlight to make the search easier. In many ways, looking for the right college is also looking in the dark. There are thousands of two- and four-year colleges and universities in the United States. Most people only apply once, if at all, so you don’t get to learn from your earlier attempts. Even if you have parents or older family members who did go to college, the experience is much different now than it was a few decades ago. It’s overwhelming, and anyone willing to provide a shortcut, like rankings, is going to seem like a friend, no matter how useless in the long run that shortcut may be.

Three, he has internal difficulties. In the joke, the man is drunk. He hasn’t got all his internal resources to help him make a good and effective search. You’ve also got internal difficulties. In any year, having the time, resources, and mental energy to do a thorough college search—especially if you’re doing it without help—is a lot to ask. Few people have all they need for the best college search and application. The past two years have been a lot worse. If you’re overwhelmed and have too many other stresses to deal with, then hanging around where things look a bit easier isn’t surprising. It actually makes sense.

I feel for the drunk man, and I’m not going to judge him for looking under the street lamp. In fact, consider the inverse. Imagine a man loses his keys and spends days searching for them. He finally finds them…under the street lamp. He didn’t look there first because it seemed too easy. I also feel for college-seeking high school students, and I’m not going to judge them for checking the rankings. I look at them too, all the time. Don’t avoid them just because they seem too simplistic. But I will try my best to stick to the analogy I’m working with and give some further advice.

Start with the street light, but don’t stop there. I think rankings—whether US News, Niche, Forbes, or others—is a fine place to start looking for colleges. They seem to be a simple and easy place to get started on a daunting task. So have a look at those rankings. But don’t let yourself believe that they are objective, true, or best for you. They’re only an easing-in point. Then you move on to better research.

The keys aren’t under the street light, but other clues may be. If you go to a ranking site, don’t just look at the list and the rankings. Click on individual schools, and you’ll see a lot more information. The easy-to-find information is the great part of the rankings, not the order. If you’re going to start clicking on schools, don’t start with the top 10. Skip down to #100 and begin there. It’s not like you’ll never hear about Princeton again if you don’t click on that link right now.

If you know that the street light isn’t actually helpful but you’re just looking there for ease and comfort, admit that to yourself so you’ll know when to move on. Somewhere in his head, drunk as he may be, the man knows his keys aren’t there under the light. But it’s late, and he’s drunk, and it’s just reassuring to stay under the lamp post. Colleges know that the rankings have nothing to do with their true value—as do parents and students. But it’s overwhelming for students and it’s difficult for universities to distinguish themselves, and rankings are an easy and reassuring place to spend some time. If that’s what you’re doing, that’s fine. It makes total sense. But admit that to yourself and understand that you can’t keep thinking of the top-ranked schools as the “best” schools for you. One of those schools may end up being the best school for you. But if it does, I assure you, it has nothing to do with US News’s numbers and methods.

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:

   What to think of college rankings

   About the Transactional Approach to admissions

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—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 the University of Delaware

It seems like it would be difficult to make a school with over 18,000 students sound charming. But the University of Delaware does just fine—with twilights on the lawn, a tight community, and apple cider doughnuts.

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admissions 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 Marianne Nagengast, Assistant Director of admissions at the University of Delaware in Newark, Delaware.

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

Our Twilight Induction Ceremony is really special. It’s the last major event of our 1743 Welcome Days for new students each fall. They all gather at – you guessed it – twilight for a candlelit ceremony on the Green to welcome our newest Blue Hens to the family. It’s the only time the entire class will be together in one group before they graduate in four years, and students often cite it as one of their favorite memories from their time at UD.

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 UD?

I always tell student they’ll get out of their college experience what they put into it. There are no shortage of opportunities for all students at UD, no matter what their background is. We’re a medium-sized, research I school in a small state; if you want to play the game of six degrees of separation, to make it challenging in the state of Delaware you really have to knock it down to three. And that’s something that’s really exciting for students and those who are just embarking on their careers, because there are so many ways to connect with peers who share your interest as well as professionals who are more established in their careers and can help give you a boost as you take your first steps into the workforce. Our professors are all eager to get to know their students – go to their office hours, get to know them, and they’ll be happy to connect you with their networks to get you hands on experience in your desired field, whether you want to work at a Fortune 500 company, at a children’s hospital, or for a local nonprofit. In addition, we have more than 400 student groups on campus, so there is no shortage of things to do. This is a really special time in your life to explore all of your interests, both in and outside of the classroom, and UD is set up to allow you to do just that, and to make an impact early.

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

Staying close to campus, I have to recommend Main Street. It cuts through our campus and is lined with everything you could possibly need – restaurants, coffee shops, our UDairy ice cream shop, the bookstore…I never had a car when I was a student here because it truly felt like everything I could possibly need was right on Main Street. If you want to go a bit farther out, I love Millburn Orchards in the fall (the BEST apple cider doughnuts!) or a hike through White Clay Creek State Park.

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 the University of Delaware. I use the same photo for all Meet the Class 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 Illinois Wesleyan University

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admissions 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 Andrew Starnes, Regional Admissions Representative at Illinois Wesleyan University in Bloomington, Illinois.

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

Each year we host a campus wide party called the Big Show. Tons of fun, games, dancing and a big name music act that comes to campus.

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 IWU?

Students that want to grasp the entire college experience flourish at IWU. Students who want to be involved in more than the classroom, whether it's clubs, sports, greek life, etc.

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

Coffee Hound! Local owned and operated. IWU and Illinois State University frequent this stop a lot!

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 Illinois Wesleyan University. I use the same photo for all Meet the Class posts so you can spot them easily.]

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

What 9th graders should be doing this fall

A long time ago, the Dallas Maverick basketball team, while their new arena was under construction, practiced at the same gym where I went for morning workouts. On the first day of practice, weeks before the season began, there was already a big banner hanging up over the basketball court that read “The Playoffs Begin Now.” The point, as I understood it, was to remind the players that in order to make it to the playoffs they would need to be preparing then, not waiting until the end of the season.

In some ways, college applications work the same way. Your college admission begins now. You should feel no pressure whatsoever to know where you will go to college, what you will major in, or what you will write on your application essay. But all the information that goes on an application—transcript, list of activities, skills and accomplishments—starts compiling your first year of high school. Luckily, there are only a few major things to figure out now to make that process much easier and successful later. Keep reading.

Work at being good at high school. This has an academic side—take the most rigorous classes you can, get the best grades you can, be involved in your education. But just as important at this point are the social and emotional sides. You’re easing your way into a new and exciting (and challenging) place. You’re going to have missteps, and you’re going to change your mind about things. That’s normal, and that’s fine. If you’re feeling pressure to make yourself into a perfect resume—from your family, your school, your friends, or your self—just repeat this mantra to yourself and anyone else: the best way to prepare for college is to be a good high school student. If you find yourself feeling disconnected from high school because you’re already too immersed in test prep or overexerting yourself in too many activities to boost your college prospects, then it’s time to back off and reevaluate.

If by Halloween there’s a class that still isn’t working out—because it’s too easy, or too challenging, or not the right fit—bring this up now and see if there are schedule changes that can be made for the spring semester. Keep doing your best in the class, but understand that adjusting plans is something that all successful people do.

Explore your interests. Remember that the whole point of education is to help you be a productive, happy, and interesting person. You can’t and shouldn’t wait until some future date to start working on those things. Explore activities and interests that you haven’t before. Try out a new club, sit somewhere different for lunch, find an interesting question to ask a teacher you haven’t connected with yet. The great thing about high school is that you get to do a lot of growing and changing and developing—you’re not stuck being the same person you were at the end of last year or the beginning of this year. But the hard part is that you are in charge of that growth and development; it can’t happen passively. So try new things, read new things, listen to new things, talk about new things, think new things.

Begin good habits. There are two things you need for success in college and beyond: a meditation routine and a time management system. Now is the time to begin.

Start talking to your family about paying for college. Ask them what the plan is, what your priorities should be, and how you can contribute. If they give you any of the three most popular answers (“don’t worry about,” “we can’t afford anything,” or “we don’t have enough to afford it but make too much for financial aid,” then please ask them to reconsider. You need something more specific. You’ve got time to have these conversations, but now is the best time to begin them.

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 “What should I be doing now?” for the other grades.

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—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 sophomores should be doing this fall

Work at being good at high school. Take time to reflect and talk to your family or other adults you trust about the high and low points of last year. Work on making a plan to be even better at high school than you were last year. Keep taking the most rigorous courses you can, and keep doing as well at them as you can.

Think about college. You don’t need to know which college you want to go to, and you don’t need to have a “long list” prepared yet. But it is time to start thinking about it—I assume you have, since you’re here. Remember that you’re at the exploring stage right now, not the deciding stage. Ask older friends where they are thinking about going. Ask yourself what you think you might want in a college and what you hope to get out of it. Think about geography and areas that you might like to spend four to six years. Think about what sorts of things bring you pleasure and how you hope to pursue those when you’re older. Resist the pressure to decide what you’ll major in. Resist the temptation to look at college rankings. Resist the pressure to think you’ve got to have this figured out.

When you get recruiting information from colleges, hold on to it. Make a special email folder to archive all the "college stuff.” Have a box to keep all the materials you get in the mail. You don’t have to examine it all closely and make decisions about schools—but keep those resources near you. When it comes time to find a school that’s a good fit, starting with the ones who reach out to you early is a great strategy.

Find a mentor. You need an adult you can trust to give you advice. Academic advice; personal advice; advice about how and where to find further resources. An adult, other than a family member, who you see and speak to even when it’s not required. So a teacher that you can talk to outside of class, or a coach that you can talk to outside of practice, or a minister or spiritual leader you can talk to outside of regular worship. There are a lot of factors that go into productive, independent, happy adulthood. There’s no single magic formula. But having a mentor is one of the biggest factors, and it’s often overlooked. Finding a mentor has a lot of the same risks as making a new friend. You have to be willing to accept rejection and awkwardness. But it’s really hard to go through life without friends, and it’s really hard to go through life without mentors. If you haven’t got at least someone who fits the description, then there’s no better way to spend your time than searching for someone who will.

Expand your interests. Assuming that you’re not completely bombing any of your classes or dealing with trauma, the place you should be pushing yourself isn’t with putting together college applications or getting that math grade two points higher. The place you should be pushing yourself is in your personal interests. Begin looking for a leadership position in your club or team. Read more books about your interests beyond what’s required. Look for mentors who can give you guidance. Explore careers that use the same skills. For example, if you’re passionate about soccer and a member of the soccer team, that’s fantastic. But don’t just show up to practice. Tell your coach you aim to be a team captain as soon as you can. Follow your favorite team, and also learn about the history of that team. Look for summer camps or programs where you can be an instructor. Be a soccer player, but also be a soccer leader.

Maybe sports aren’t your thing, but by now you’ve probably got some ideas about what your thing is. Push yourself to expand your skills and your presence in that thing—even if not’s academic or something school sponsored. If what you do is spend hours a day playing video games—no problem. But push yourself to do more. Design a video game yourself; take a break to learn an esoteric or alternative game; research the history of game design; join a competitive league. If that doesn’t sound interesting, if what you really want to do is keep spending hours passively doing what you’ve been doing for years, then it’s time to shut down the games. The problem isn’t video games, it’s that you’re using them to avoid exploring something you’re more interested in and better suited for.

It’s perfectly ok to be interested in whatever you’re interested in—assuming it’s not violent or self-destructive. But now is the time to expand your presence in that interest.

And keep repeating to yourself and whoever will listen: the best way to prepare for college is to be a good high school student. 

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 “What should I be doing now?” for the other grades.

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—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.

What juniors should be doing this fall

Work at being good at high school. You probably already know this—you’re living it—but 11th grade is generally acknowledged to be the toughest year of high school. There’s a major jump in the rigor of your classes. You’re moving into leadership positions in your extra-curricular activities. You have some major high-stakes tests. (Or not. We’ll see how things go with test administration in a continuing pandemic and test-optional policies at colleges.) People are beginning to ask you more and more about your plans after high school. You’re more likely to be working an after-school job, you’re more likely to be driving, you’re more likely to be dealing with the ups and downs of dating and relationships. You likely have growing responsibilities at home. You’re more likely to be dealing with emotional or social issues. The pressure can be overwhelming. But as much as I can empathize, there’s not a lot to say except…keep being the best high school student you can. If you need to reevaluate your commitments and reduce them, that’s ok. But be mindful about it, and talk about it with adults you trust. When you’re tempted to just say “screw it” and give up, that’s not ok—it’s not ok for your mental health, your future, or your relationships with your family and school. Ask for help when you need it.

When my children were in the midst of their Terrible Twos, my wife and I had a line we kept repeating to ourselves: "she’s only two once, and it only lasts a year." It gave us a reminder to keep things in perspective and not get completely despondent. When you’re having your really difficult days, it may be helpful to you, too. Say it: "I’m only a high school junior once, and it only lasts a year." It’s really difficult, and you’re going to be fine.

And here’s something you may not know. Among teachers, a whole lot of them think that juniors are best to teach. 11th graders have developed a lot of maturity—both intellectual and emotional—that makes them seem a lot more like approachable young adults. And juniors don’t yet have the “Senioritis” that so many seniors get infected with by the beginning of September. So remember that a lot of your teachers are cheering for you, even if they’re also assigning you too much homework. Seek out the good ones who are on your side and cultivate those relationships, both for your personal development and next year’s recommendation letters.

Research college. Now is the time to start researching colleges. You’ve got enough of an idea of what’s really important to you and what you have to offer. Spend some time wandering around college information and taking some notes.

Pick one activity where you often feel like it’s wasted time: maybe it’s web surfing, maybe it’s watching a guilty pleasure television show, maybe it’s chatting with friends in the school library when you should be working. Whatever it is, that’s now your college research time. Dedicate one day a week using that time for researching colleges instead of the time-wasting activity.

Where do you start? Anywhere, really. Go ahead and look of some of those “top colleges” lists. They’re not a good way to pick a school, but they’re a fine way to begin looking. Or do a basic Google search. Challenge yourself to look up a school that you know nothing about but see on posters near the counseling office. Ask your family and friends. Start looking more closely at the materials that have been sent to you over the past year. Go down the rabbit hole of web surfing, just make sure the web sites are college ones. If you're paying attention you’ll start to notice patterns in what appeals to you and why. Don’t feel like you need to have a list of schools you’re going to apply to. But do realize that you’ll need that list soon—a year from now at the latest—and do what it takes to get as much information as you can before you make that list.

Pursue your interests. 11th grade is not a good time to dabble. If you’re spread too thin over a number of interests—in and/or out of school—and not really doing much with any of them, then you’ve got to weed out some activities. You’ve got too much going on. Choose one or two to actively pursue and push yourself. Don’t fret, there’s still a whole lifetime ahead of you to try new things and explore hobbies. But seriously, this isn’t the year. If you’re not actively pursuing it—drop it. Your sleep schedule and your sanity will thank you. If people are pressuring you to keep spreading yourself thin in order to look "well-rounded" on your college applications, remind yourself and those people that anyone can see through a fake. Don’t waste your time doing that.

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 “What should I be doing now?” for the other grades.

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—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 George Washington University

All colleges will give you access to a library and some open space, but George Washington University gets you close to a major library and a graduation celebration in one of the nation’s most iconic open spaces.

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admissions 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 Kaitlin Crepps, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admissions at The George Washington University in Washington, DC.

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

I think one of the most unique traditions is that our students graduate on the National Mall! Definitely a #OnlyatGW moment!

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 GW?

The students that really stand out in the admissions process or when they're on campus that may have had "imperfect" grades or outside a typical profile would be students that are able to express what they are passionate about and show us how they engage in their passions. I think one attribute that unites all GW students is the desire to be a part of something bigger than themselves.

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

I always recommend a visit to the Library of Congress. I think it's an incredible place that is totally free and it's a resource that is actually available to our students throughout the year which I think is really cool. I also recommend grabbing a bite at Nando's Peri-Peri Chicken Restaurant. It's chain that started in the UK but it's only in Chicago and DC in the States, it's one of my favorite places to eat in DC.

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 George Washington University. I use the same photo for all Meet the Class posts so you can spot them easily.]

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