11th graders, what should you 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-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 these related posts:

   Three myths about college admissions

   What to do with all that mail you’re getting

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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.

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Seniors, it's fall. What should you be doing?

It’s hard to talk about back-to-school season, because there’s so much variety in when students actually go back. For some, school starts next week. Others won’t begin for another six weeks. But for seniors applying to college, “Fall” always begins August 1, when the applications open, and ends the first week of January, when almost all applications close. Whether you’ve been working on the college application process for two years or are just beginning to think about it, there’s a lot to do in the next few months. Below I outline the major categories for your checklist.

Continue being a good high school student. This is a tough line to walk senior year. On one hand, you really ought to be shifting your focus to next year. You have a lot of big decisions to make, and you need to allocate time and resources to working on strong applications and making informed decisions. Your daily high school homework isn’t quite as compelling as it was a year ago. On the other hand, you also need to be preparing yourself to be a good college student, and the best way to prepare for college is to be a good high school student. As tempting as it is, you can’t just coast through senior year; that never works as well as it seems like it should. So it’s perfectly normal and appropriate for you to be less diligent your senior year than your junior year. The important thing is to ask yourself why. If you’re spending less time and attention on high school because you’re spending more time on college and leadership opportunities, that’s fine. If you’re spending less time and attention on high school because you can see the finish line and you just want to have an easy year, you’re selling yourself short, missing opportunities to prepare for the near future, and annoying pretty much every adult around you. Doing well in your classes is actually easier than dealing with those annoyed adults.

Make sure you’re caught up on what you should have done this summer. Have you already got a solid first draft of a Common Application essay? If not, get on that soon. Have you written and updated your college mission statement? If not, do it immediately. Have you got a preliminary list of 20-25 colleges to take a closer look at? For each of them, have you signed up to be on their mailing list? Looked at their web sites for the admissions department, financial aid office, and departments for your potential major? Found out if and how they conduct interviews? Tried out their net price calculator? If so, that’s wonderful. If not, you still have time—but move quickly!

Take any tests you still need to take. Most students don’t need to take the SAT or ACT. About two thirds of colleges aren’t requiring them. But you may really want to apply to one or more of the other third, so find out if you need to take a test. There are still three SAT tests this fall you can register for. Same for the ACT. One thing I noticed this spring talking with rising seniors is that no-one wanted me to help them strategize about standardized tests. There were “no should I take it,” “how many times should I take it,” “should I take both the SAT and ACT,” or “what is a good score?” conversations. Most had taken a test and seemed content not to take it again. A few have already decided to re-take the SAT one more time, but there was no stress about it. Once it becomes time to apply, I expect a few “should I submit my scores"?” conversations, but the overall anxiety about test-optional seems way lower this year than in the past two. I hope that continues.

You’re going to need some letters of recommendation. You’ll need to decide—soon—who to ask, when to ask them, and how to ask them. Be as polite as possible. This is a personal favor, not part of their job. Don’t do what someone once did to a colleague of mine, cornering her in the bathroom to hand her paperwork. When my colleague asked if they could do this later, in a more appropriate place, the student left…and waited right outside the bathroom door to re-start the conversation. This is not a good plan to get someone to write nice things about you!

Narrow your college list, from 20-25 down to 4-10. Which ones do you keep on your list? Which ones do you let go of? There’s no single process. It helps to research as much as possible. It helps to meet with representatives at a college fair or at your school. An interview is helpful, and a campus visit is really helpful. Make sure you’re keeping the ones that best fit you mission statement.

And also make sure you cover several categories. Traditionally we talk about “safety” and “reach” schools, but let’s think about it a little differently. Everyone’s list should include at least one in-state, public university. If your state’s flagship state university is also very selective (Virginia, Texas, California, Michigan, and a few others), then make sure you include at least one in-state public university that is more achievable. For most people, most of the time, an in-state public school is going to be the most affordable, most attainable, and have the lowest living expenses—especially if you live at home.

You should also apply to several other schools—whether public or private, in state or out—that you feel pretty confident you’ll be accepted to. Maybe not absolutely, perfectly assured, but pretty confident. Your confidence should also include being confident that you’ll be able to afford it, based on the full price or a net price calculator. If you apply to three or four of these, including at least one in-state public, then you should feel ok.

You may also want to apply to some schools that you’re less confident about your acceptance. Apply to as many of these as you want, within reason. The best-case scenario is that you’re accepted to several, and at least one of them offers you a financial aid package that makes it within your range. A seemingly-good scenario is that you get accepted to many of them, and they all offer you good financial aid. But now you’ve got a stressful spring on your hands figuring out which one to pick. Since you can only choose one, too many similar options isn’t always a great thing. A worse scenario is that you don’t get accepted to any of them. That stings, but if you’re accepted to at least one of your confident schools, then you’re going to be ok. The very worst thing is being accepted to many or all of them, but not getting the aid to make any of them affordable.

Remember that some schools (the most prestigious and famous ones) have such low acceptance rates that absolutely no one should feel confident that they’ll be accepted. Even if you have perfect ACT scores and are top of your class, chances are still that you won’t get accepted to Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, or the other super-selective colleges. Once a school’s overall acceptance rate drops below 20%, it’s not something anyone should feel at all confident about. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t try—thousands of people do get accepted to those schools every year. But nobody can count on it.

If I have a client, no matter how smart and accomplished, with a college list where every school has an acceptance rate below 50%, we have a talk about the risks of their “very aggressive” list (I’ve definitely done this before). If I had a client with a college list that only has schools with acceptance rates below 20%, then I’d tell them to either add some more reasonable schools or consider my money-back guarantee off the table. (Fortunately, I haven’t had to do that yet).

Beginning October 1, you can apply for federal financial aid using FAFSA. Everyone should do this, as soon as possible after October 1. Even if you’re not expecting to be eligible for financial aid, you should still apply as soon as possible. (Why should you apply for financial aid if you’re not expecting to get any? For one, you may be wrong, and it’s worth it to try. Also, some colleges use your ability to pay as a factor in admission. It helps if you provide documentation up front that you have the ability to pay. Plus, some programs will not award you merit scholarships without having a FAFSA.) Some universities, or programs within universities, may also ask you to use the CSS Profile.

Send your applications. Understand that most schools have multiple deadlines. Early Decision. Early Action. Preferred Application. VIP application. Regular decision. Deadline to be considered for scholarships. Each school has its own vocabulary, and each school has its own deadlines. Understand each one for each school you're considering, and understand which ones are relevant to you. There’s no great reason to send a regular application much earlier than the due date. But there’s no good reason to wait until the last minute, either. Plan on hitting the “submit” button three to five days before deadline. Early Decision and Early Action deadlines are typically—though not always—in November. Regular decision applications are typically—though not always—due in early January.

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

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

2. Read these related posts:

   Do you need a “brag sheet”?

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

   My talk with seniors

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

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

Photo by Zoe Herring

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Three quick questions with DePaul 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 Mariesa Negosanti, Assistant Director of Undergraduate Admission at DePaul University in Chicago, Illinois.

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

We actually have a list of traditions on our website that you can peruse. One of my personal favorites, though, is the Chicago Quarter. It's a required course for first-year students and is a "Chicago 101" of sorts. It helps get students acclimated to the city and learning different aspects of its history.

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 DePaul?

I actually am not sure I subscribe to the notion that we're all looking for the "perfect" student. I'm not even sure what the "perfect" student is or if that even exists, or if we even want it to exist! I think the types of students who thrive at DePaul are independent and creative. Our students really are fully functioning adults living in the city of Chicago, and for some it's their first time living alone and living in a city, but their spirit longs for the challenges and growth that experience brings.

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

Lastly, this question is the toughest because there is simply SO much to do in Chicago. Truly within minutes of leaving your front door, you could be eating at some of the world’s best restaurants in Fulton Market, enjoying the charm of Chinatown or the creativity of Wicker Park, or soaking in the skyline from the lakeshore. Explore a theatre scene that offers everything from Broadway hits to improv groups. Wander through a collection of the world’s finest art and artifacts at The Field Museum or Art Institute of Chicago. And, of course, there are more coffee shops, gardens, monuments, fountains and all-around points of interest than we can fit on this screen.

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 DePaul. 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.

On college admission and baseball

I’m a baseball fan. I go to around 20 regular season Houston Astros games a year. I also follow the Texas Rangers, my hometown team. Like a lot of people my age, I got into baseball watching the Cubs. They only played day games at the time, and WGN showed the games on basic cable. So a bored middle school kid in Dallas could watch a professional baseball game most any afternoon.

I was certainly aware of baseball as a younger kid, and even played one season at the YMCA. (I was really, really bad.) But as a kid, I had a very basic understanding of baseball. I thought the only goal of the batter was to hit a home run. To me, the other bases were just a kind of consolation for getting a hit that wasn’t a home run, and maybe you could still get to home plate if a player after you in the lineup hit a home run. I only understood the big hits that everybody cheered loudly about. It was a simplistic understanding.

But as I got older and started watching games regularly, I learned about all the ways teams win other than hitting home runs. I learned about base stealing, the hit-and-run, and how well-hit singles and doubles can make a huge difference. I learned to appreciate a player’s batting average. I learned to appreciate how important double plays are. I learned that even top home-run hitters get one homer every 10-20 times at bat. I learned to appreciate “small ball.”

I’ve come across plenty of people who think about college in ways similar to my childhood view of baseball. They’re focused on the home runs: getting accepted to famous and prestigious university. They think of colleges other than top-ranked “elite” schools as a consolation, as a type of loss. The standard way of categorizing colleges—reach, target, safety—reninforces this way of thinking, which is one reason I don’t like to use those terms. The idea is that you swing for a home run, which is acceptance to a well-known elite college, but that you might still make it to base with a target or safety school. And then, maybe, you’ll get lucky and still reach your life goals, though not as easily as you would having got into the “better” school.

Students (and parents), let’s expand our understanding. There are thousands of colleges and universities in the US, and at least 95% of them are not disappointments. There are so many ways to achieve your aspirations other than attending a top-100 college.

If you are ambitious and looking for the home run, that’s fine. But please understand that the home run isn’t everything, and it may not happen—it probably won’t happen—and you have to be prepared for what else is out there. You need to find the academic equivalent of hustle, taking risks, watching the signs, and being a team player.

A runner on first base can still score a run. A runner on first can still score the dramatic, game-winning run. A runner on first can still be the MVP. But not if they see being on first as a loss. If you’re not going to your first-choice college, remember this lesson. You can still get what you want. What did you want from that prestigious, “elite” college to begin with?

Prestige? Wherever you're going, they'll have a Dean's List, honor societies, and awards. Go for it.

Social connections? Unless you accidentally applied to a monastery instead of a university, there will be people who want to do fun things with other people. There will be clubs, there will be friendships, there will be parties. The people you bond with will go on to do interesting things after college, and many of them will still consider you a friend and an important part of their lives. You'll still consider many of them a friend and an important part of your life.

Career Opportunities? Your school will have some version of a Career Services office. Start going to that office your first year of college. Look for advice, internships, and opportunities.

Leadership roles? You've probably heard a quotation from one of Shakespeare's greatest plays, Twelfth Night: "some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em." If you're upset that you didn't get into your top-choice school, you may be feeling like you definitely weren't born great. But the other two options are still very available. You've got this.

Personal fulfillment? That happens independent of where you go to school. And 99% of the work is actively done by you, not something you receive from teachers or opportunities. This short-term disappointment may be exactly what your personal fulfillment needs.

I don’t want to discourage anyone from aspiring to a prestigous university with a low acceptance rate or applying to one. By all means make that a goal. But please be wise about that goal. The point of a university is to graduate prepared for an active place in the world; the point isn’t just to get accepted to “the best one 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 wealthy kids get into elite colleges?

   The Glossary: Ivy

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

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

Photo by Angela Elisabeth.

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

Do you need to have your major picked out already?

High school students often feel pressure to have their college major already chosen by the time they apply to college. The pressure to have their plan already figured out comes for the application process itself, which often asks why you’ve chosen the major you indicated in your application. It comes from teachers and counselors at school. A lot of the time, it comes from parents. This is really important: you don’t have to have a major picked out yet.

There are situations where it’s definitely more convenient to already have a major in mind. Large universities, often divided into separate schools with their own applications and requirements, make it hard to get started as a completely Undecided major. It also helps to know your major from day one if you want to graduate from college early…or even on time. There are financial considerations, too. I tell people all the time that if your honest idea about a major is “I don’t know,” then there are plenty of schools built for that. But they tend to be smaller, private liberal arts colleges. And those are often more expensive than larger public universities in your state.

On the other hand, it’s not always a good idea to get too caught up in a chosen major, especially if you’re not feeling too sure about it. You’re likely to change your major anyway—around a third of college students do. And feeling like you “have to” know your life path by the time you’re 18-19 is about as practical as feeling like you “have to” find a life partner by the time you’re 25. It just doesn’t really work that way for most people, even if it would be more convenient and efficient.

Most of the people I work with don’t have a single, clear major chosen by the time they graduate high school. But most of them have an idea of what direction they’re going. Or several possible directions. So if it’s helpful for people who haven't gone through the process to see what’s “normal,” here are examples from the class of 2022 that I’ve worked with (I changed all the names). You can see the variety of schools they end up going to. I live and work in Texas, so it’s no surprise that many of them end up at the University of Texas.

Blair is solidly undecided. They think they’re leaning towards a STEM major, maybe Chemistry? But they’re really relying on college as a place to help them figure out their path, not college as a stepping stone on their path. Blair will be attending Trinity University.

Katherine is STEM-focuesd and very interested in ecology. She will probably end up majoring in Chemistry or Environmental Science. Katherine will be attending UC San Diego.

Liz is undecided. She’s interested in psychology and film, or maybe something else altogether. Liz will be attending Bates College.

Henry is one of the most decided people I’ve worked with when it comes to a major. He wants to major in Mechanical Engineering. Henry will be attending UT Austin in the Cockrell School of Engineering, in the honors program for mechanical engineering.

Lexi wants to double major in Neuroscience and Women & Gender Studies. She’s thinking seriously about med school, and she’s seriously interested in the disparity of medical treatment among men and women in the US. Lexi will be attending the University of Arizona.

Hannah is undecided, but focused on humanities, possibly Political Science. Hannah will be attending American University.

Layla had her mind set on a pre-vet program, but then later in high school she got really interested in agricultural policy. I will not be surprised to see her go on to law school. Layla will be attending Baylor University.

Raj is interested in both Political Science and Chemistry. He also has a passion and natural talent for linguistice. Raj will be attending UT Austin.

Yash is interested in many things, including Political Science, Global Studies, Business, and Education. Yash will be attending UT Austin.

Rachel hasn’t got a major picked out, but it will definitely be in the Humanities. Communication, perhaps? Rachel will be attending the University of Virginia.

Sarah is thinking about majoring in Business, Computer Science, and/or Engineering. She has experience with all three through working in her family business. But she can also envision herself moving towards Literature or Anthropology. Sarah will be attending Dartmouth.

Hannah is very focused on business, so it makes sense that Hannah will be attending Bentley University.

Cara has a variety of interests and hasn’t got a clear major yet. Cara will be attending UT Austin. She applied with the Moody School of Communication as her top choice, but is already trying to move to the McCombs School of Business. She hopes to make the move official at Freshman Orientation.

Molly is a charismatic performer who had a different idea for a major almost every time I spoke to her. Theater. Film. Costume Design. Business with an art industry focus. Music production. Molly will be attending Southwestern University.

From my experience, this snapshot of 14 is pretty typical. There are a few who have a strong sense of that they want, applied to only a few schools, and made the choice fairly easily. Most have a big-picture idea of what they want to do, and will figure out the details in college. These students applied to more schools and had more difficulty making their final choice. And some are still pursuing a wide array of interests. They have very little focus on a major or career path, though they are some of the most energetic and accomplished of the bunch. Several of them made the decision, literally, on the last day.

There are lots of ways to get where you’re going, especially if you don’t know where that 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:

   Stop telling people you’re going to double major!

   Picking the right school for your major

   Will a Humanities degree make you poor?

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

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

Photo by Zoe Herring

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

Three quick questions with the University of Arkansas

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 Charles Robinson, Admissions counselor and Regional recruiter at The University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas.

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

One of the unique traditions we have at the University is senior walk. After you graduate from the University of Arkansas, your name will be cemented into the sidewalk of our campus. We are the largest university to do this, and we will continue to. 

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 Arkansas?

What's great about our University is our admission requirements. You only must get a 3.0 GPA and a 20 on the Act and 1030 on the SAT. These relaxed admission requirements allow students who aren't perfect get a chance to attend the University. As you also know, high school curriculum is a different learning style than college, so many students who have good grades in high school may not have good grades in college. The same is true for people who didn't do well in high school may do very well in college. It's all about the student and our university caters to everyone's strengths.

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

As a native to Fayetteville (Fayettevillians what we call ourselves) I know the area has array of things to do. Arkansas is an outdoorsy state. Fayetteville has loads of trails, hiking, biking, canoeing, and fishing spots. In terms of arts, we have Crystal Bridges and the Momentary which are all world class art museums. For music venues, we have the Walton Arts Center for Broadway shows and the Walmart AMP for concerts for musicians. NWA is a great place and more is being added every year.

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

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

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

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

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

Photo by Angela Elisabeth. [The banner photo is not of U of Arkansas. 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 Rhodes 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 Caleb Fowler, Senior Assistant Director of Admission at Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee.

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

Right off the bat, Rhodes is distinctive from most other colleges by being one of the only liberal arts colleges located in a major city. That combination allows students the personalized collegiate experience that many desire out of a liberal arts environment along with the opportunity to practice what they learn in a city that’s accessible and welcoming.

Additionally, our honor code is a tradition that we highly value.  While many colleges have honor codes, what’s different about the Rhodes the honor system is that it’s completely student-run and truly apparent everywhere on campus in daily life.  From students feeling comfortable leaving laptops and backpacks unattended knowing that no one will touch them to students refusing to step on the seal that represents our honor code, it really shapes students' campus experiences.

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 Rhodes?

One type of imperfect student who would succeed at Rhodes is one who is unsure of what they want to study. We’re a great place for the curious. Whether a student has an idea or not about a field they want to study, they will leave Rhodes having sampled many various disciplines and skillsets that they can apply to their post-collegiate lives.

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

I recommend the Crosstown Concourse just a mile from campus. It's a recently renovated “urban, vertical village” repurposed out of an old Sears distribution center that hosts restaurants, art galleries, bars, boutiques, and a theatre among other attractions. It's a great place to go study, grab a bite, or wander.

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 Rhodes. 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 McDaniel 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 Chad Koontz, Admissions Counselor at McDaniel College in Westminster, Maryland.

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

McDaniel has many campus traditions that have evolved over the institution’s over 155 years. One of the most meaningful is the ringing of the Old Main bell. The Old Main bell plays an important role in every McDaniel College student's experience. Each first-year student "rings-in" to be welcomed into the McDaniel community and, on graduation day, graduating seniors "ring-out" to complete their McDaniel experience. The Student Alumni Council also honors this tradition by ringing Old Main Bell as they read the names of alumni who have passed to show respect for their alumni experience. View more McDaniel traditions at this link.

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 McDaniel?

What we look for at McDaniel is a student with an open mind, who enjoys being involved in their community and has a passion for learning new things in a unique learning environment.

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

The JeannieBird Baking Company started as a farmers' market stall in the summer of 2008 and is now a physical location that has become a landmark on Main Street in Westminster, within walking distance to McDaniel’s campus. It is a great place for students to study, indulge in fresh brewed coffee and baked goods, or hang with friends.

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

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

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

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

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

Photo by Angela Elisabeth. [The banner photo is not of McDaniel. 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 should current 9th and 10th graders do this summer?

You should not do anything that is boring or onerous just because you think it might “look good to colleges.” Colleges prefer that you are in interesting person, and there’s nothing interesting about wasting your time and energy just because you’re insecure about someone else’s approval. Don’t jump through any metaphorical hoops (or literal ones, either, I guess) based on vague ideas of what colleges want.

What should sophomores do this summer to be better prepared for college?

Train. You're like a professional athlete during the off-season. You get a lot more flexibility with your schedule and a lot fewer people watching you as you work, but you've got to spend this time productively. Does this mean to fill up your day with summer school classes and be a constant student? No. Like pro athletes, find another way to enhance the skills you have.

Think about your notable skills and talents, the things that you may want to emphasize on college applications. Now find interesting ways to hone those skills and talents. How can you best prove and improve your resilience, passion, intellectual curiosity, initiative, talent, creativity, empathy, or leadership? The more unlike another high school class or program the activity is, the better.

So, for example, going to a weeklong camp for debaters is good, but volunteering to do door-to-door canvasing for a local political campaign is better. Reading books ahead of time for your 11th grade English class is good, but starting a book club that focuses on foreign or lesser-known books is better. Taking a class for adults at the local community college is good, but teaching younger kids in a summer program is better. The most important thing is that you focus on yourself and the qualities you want to improve, not focus on a vague sense of "looks good to colleges." Do everything you can with your summer time--in any setting, be it a summer job, summer camp, traveling, or staying close to home--to be a better person, not have a better résumé. 

Push yourself. If you need to work or want a job, that's great. As far as college is concerned it really doesn't matter what that job is so long as you work hard at it and are reflective about what you learn from the job. As you go to work, remind yourself to work as hard as you can. And when you're done, ask yourself what you learned from that day's work. Those two things matter so much more to everyone than the job title or name of the company. 

If you don't need to work and don’t want to work, then make other plans. And here's the trick: treat it like a job, in the sense that you decide to do your best and be reflective. Even if you have the cushiest summer imaginable--maybe you're going to spend two months as a VIP on a cruise ship sailing around the Caribbean--you can still get a lot out of this. Just begin each day reminding yourself to make the most of the day, and end each day reflecting about what you learned. Whatever is you do, it can be useful for your college applications and useful for your productive and interesting life.

Go someplace new. Choose someplace you've never been that you can visit this summer. Geographically, it doesn't matter how close or far the place is, so long as it's new to you. It can be another country, another state, or another neighborhood. Try to get a sense of how people unlike yourself spend their days, and do it with an open and empathetic mind.

Goal of 20. Another way you can make the most of your summer is to give yourself a goal of 20. Make 20 visits to local museums or parks. Have 20 intentional interactions with older members of your family asking them about their experiences. Read 20 books. Watch 20 of the best movies of all time. Find 20 items to donate to charity. Run 20 miles, spread out over as many days as you need. The number 20 is arbitrary, but an arbitrary number helps make a vague idea an achievable goal. Every time you knock out one of your 20, remind yourself to be deliberate and reflective.

What should 9th graders do this summer to be better prepared for college?

Anything! You can do just about anything, I mean it. In terms of preparing for the next three years of high school, preparing for college, and preparing for productive adulthood, there's no magical activity that you really must do to get ready. Do your thing, no matter what it is (within reason--if your current thing is chaotic or self-destructive then take care of that first).

At this point, what you do isn't nearly as important as how you do it. Whether you're doing amazing, once-in-a-lifetime things like volunteering with veterinarians at a wildlife refuge in Botswana or mundane things like babysitting your little brother, you can make the most of it. Be reflective. Ask yourself "how did today go, and what can I do tomorrow that will be interesting?" Every day. Read something that relates to what you're doing. Even if all you're doing is walking aimlessly around the neighborhood trying to find someone to hang out with, stop at the local library and learn about the history of your neighborhood and go inside shops you've never been in before. Take photos of weird things you notice around the neighborhood. Be engaged with your world and your mind, whatever you're doing in the world. 

Write about your experiences. Writing about what you do on a regular basis serves several goals. For one, any college-bound person has got to be very comfortable with a lot of writing, so practicing on your own with your own assignments helps build up your discipline in a way that's more palatable to you. It will also help you maintain and deepen your self-reflection that's so vital for your off-time. You’re not trying to draft college application essays or make it into a novel. You’re just practicing writing in your own voice about what’s interesting to you.

Make a product. Toward the end of the summer, make some sort of product. Select some journal entries to make into full-on essays. Select and edit some photos to make a narrative photo essay. Make an interactive map of the places you visited. Make a book of advice for someone starting the job that you worked. Again, you can do almost anything. The idea is to curate and edit your experience into something that you can share. That's kind of a definition of education, isn't it?

Meet someone new. Right, of course you're going to meet new people over the summer. But what I'm talking about is to proactively and intentionally introduce yourself to new people that you've chosen to meet. Circumstance, coincidence, serendipity, and providence bring all sorts of people into our lives. That doesn't mean we can't or shouldn't work to bring others into our lives through our own intentions and effort.

Practice some form of meditation and contemplation. There's probably no better gift you can give yourself than to start the habit of meditation and contemplation. There are dozens of different traditions and techniques to fit any religious, cultural, and personal background. Here is a pretty solid introduction to 23 of them. Choose one and try it. It doesn't have to be a religious or spiritual exercise. It can just be good relaxation. 

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 other posts:

   What should current juniors do this summer?

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

   The secret to success? Here are two of them.

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

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

Photo by Angela Elisabeth.

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

What should current juniors do this summer?

Some high school juniors are already far along in their college admission process. Through personal ambition, pressure from family, high school requirements, or a combination of those, they have a clear sense of where they will apply, why they’ve chosen those colleges and universities, and how to go about it. Many high school juniors will not start thinking about college admission until their senior year begins. But most college-bound juniors are starting their admission season right about now, toward the end of 11th grade. If you’re one of those juniors—or an adult who cares about one of those juniors—then you should check out my post from last week, “Four things juniors should do now, before the end of the school year.” Read that first, and then come back to this.

What follows are my recommendations for things you can do this summer to make your fall semester a little easier. It’s not a checklist to do in order, though. Each piece can affect all the other pieces, and you’ll find yourself updating and going through the cycle multiple times.

Go on college visits. You should visit some colleges. I mean this in the broadest sense, though. It doesn’t have to be a weeklong trip with family where you will personally visit three or more colleges that you think you’ll probably end up applying to. That’s great if you can do it, but most families can’t. After campuses shut down because of the pandemic, most began offering high-quality online virtual tours (or improved the ones they already had). Even though campus is open again, those virtual offerings are still available. Take advantage of these to look at schools you’re interested in.

As far as college visits go, you don’t even have to visit schools you’ll be applying to. I’m a big fan of visiting colleges near you just to get a feel for college in general. Tour the large public university nearest you, the small liberal arts college nearest you, and anything in between. I live in Houston, so I encourage people to visit the University of Houston, Rice University, the University of St. Thomas, and Sam Houston State University. You may not be interested in actually attending any of those colleges, but it will quickly and easily give you a sense of the difference between a large public university, a mid-sized regional public university, a private research university, and a small private university. Three of them are centrally located in the heart of Houston, and the other is just over an hour away.

Write and revise a College Mission Statement. Start with the formula “I want to _____ at a _____ college with _____.” For example, “I want to study engineering and/or financial mathematics at a small- to medium-sized university in or near an urban area, preferably not in the Northeast, with an intramural sports program.” Fill in the blanks as thoroughly and honestly as you can. For more on writing a College Mission Statement, start here.

Put together a game plan. You don't need to start on your applications yet, but it helps to have a plan for how you will go about finishing your applications. Here are some questions to ask yourself to get an outline ready for your next semester:

• What personal qualities do you want to project in your application? Examples of the kind of qualities I'm talking about include resilience, passion, intellectual curiosity, initiative, talent, creativity, empathy, and leadership. Think of one or two of your strongest qualities that will be the focal point of your applications. Your essay will center on these qualities, and you'll try your best to arrange for your recommendation letters to center on them.

• What concrete evidence do you have--other than grades and test scores--of those qualities? What stories can you tell that exemplify those qualities? Who can vouch for you when it comes to these qualities?

• What are the primary qualities of a college that will be a good place for you? How, other than by looking at rankings or reputation, will you know when a school is right for you? It helps to have an idea about this before you start looking too closely at individual schools. Knowing if a school has what you want can prove difficult if you don't know what you want. 

• Is there a school for which you think you should apply early? Why?

• What are the major application deadlines? Begin with the general. Early applications are generally due in early November, regular decision applications are generally due in early January. As you build and then narrow down your own college list, you can find more specific deadlines for your schools. How do those fit with the rest of your schedule, both at school and outside of school?

• What are the gaps in your understanding that you need to fill in? It can be quite difficult to know what it is that you don't know, but make sure you've looked through the Common Application as best as you can and identify any major holes in your timeline or knowledge.

Talk to your family about money. By the end of the year, you're going to need to send away paperwork with very detailed and personal financial information, including your parents' tax forms. You're going to decide where the line is between affordable and unaffordable. You're going to to decide how much you and/or your family is willing to borrow for your education. The sooner you begin these difficult conversations, the better. They rarely go well the first time around, so you don't want to wait until the deadline to have the first time around. If your family’s financial circumstances have changed recently through unemployment, depletion of savings, loss of investment value, and/or extra costs associated with the pandemic and lockdown, then you’ll need to revisit your financial discussions often.

Draft some essays. Even if you don’t have a college list ready, you’ve probably got a good idea of the essays you will need to write for your applications. The essay prompts for the Common Application are available. So are the essay prompts for the separate application for public universities in your state, if they have an application separate from the Common Application. Look those over. You can begin working on those now.

Most of the seniors I work with end up having two “big” essays—around 600 words—that they use. Sometimes one gets submitted for the Common Application, and another gets used for scholarship applications or shortened for supplemental questions. When I work with a senior I end up seeing several versions of the same response, at lengths from 150 to 1,000 words, constantly updated and re-used. You can begin those now, even without prompts. In fact, it’s best to begin without thinking about a prompt. Think about your qualities that you want to highlight, the big ideas that excite you, and the stories about yourself that you end up repeating to adults often. If it helps, here are some questions to consider:

• What are you most proud of?

• What do teachers or other adults praise you for?

• How would you explain yourself to a stranger?

• What separates you from your friends at school?

• What gets you intellectually excited? What do you do when you’re excited?

• What’s happened to you in the past three years that has most changed who you are?

• You’ve matured in the past three years—what evidence or stories have you got to show it?

• What’s the most recent un-assigned book you loved?

Narrow down your list of colleges. There are around four thousand colleges and universities in the US to choose from. By then end of your junior year, you want to have that narrowed down to no more than 50. By the beginning of your senior year, you want to have that narrowed down again to about 25. By application time, it will be narrowed down to between four and twelve (for most people), and by May 2022 it will need to be narrowed down to one or two. For each, make sure you do these things:

• Go to the school’s website and sign up to be on their mailing list.

• Look at the school’s web pages for any majors you’re interested in.

• Look over the school’s financial aid and scholarships web pages.

• Try to find the admissions staff assigned to your geographic area. Most schools still divide their admissions staff geographically, and many post that information on their website. You’ll know exactly who is in charge of your application.

• Look up their policy on campus tours. If you sign up for their prospective student mailing list, they’ll let you know if and when it changes.

• Find out if and how they conduct interviews.

• Find and if and how they handle gap year requests.

• If your high school counseling office uses Naviance or similar software, put the college into your college list there so your counselor can see.

• Get the information you need to try out their net price calculator.

Take care of yourself. The junior year is the most difficult for many high school students. You've just finished yours, and it may have been your first “normal” year of high school…which isn’t normal. You need to prepare for your senior year and college applications, but you don't need to neglect your immediate well-being. Get rest. Read something for pleasure. Have a long talk with an interesting person. Ask some good questions instead of always being the one called on to answer questions. Be a person, and be the healthiest one you can.

Thanks for reading! Next week I’ll have summer tips for other grades. If you enjoyed this post, here are some 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 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.

Four things juniors should do now, before the end of the school year

Most college-bound seniors have now made their final decision and commitment about where they will be next year. (Most. Some are still hoping for a waitlist opening. Some are still navigating financial aid and aren’t sure they’ll end up where they plan to go. Some are deciding late that they want to go to college and are grabbing rolling admissions spots or checking out community college offerings.) That means the clock is really ticking for current juniors, who have approximately 51 weeks to complete their own admissions process. An entire year from now may seem like a long time to get it all done. It may seem like a really short time. Both are true: it’s plenty of time, but it will go by really quick.

Some juniors are already far along the path. Others are just beginning. Wherever you are in the process, there are four things you should do before the end of this school year.

Do your best at school and finish with the best grades possible. Some people will tell you that your junior-year grades are the last ones that count. They’re not right: colleges will ask for grade updates, and it will be conspicuous if you suddenly have less rigorous classes or are getting worse grades. Colleges can, and sometimes do, take back your acceptance if they think you’ve let yourself become too much of a slacker. But they’re not completely wrong, either: senior-year grades will get checked, but they won’t be scrutinized like your transcript for 9th-11th grade. Your GPA and rank at the end of this year are much more likely to be your “official” ones for college admissions purposes, so finish this year as strongly as possible.

Decide if you will take the SAT and/or ACT. I don’t encourage anyone to rush to take one of the tests. Many universities are still temporarily test optional, and many are permanently test optional. It’s very likely you will not need to submit test scores, and there’s no good reason to take the test if you don’t need to submit them. You should base your to-test-or-not-to-test decision on fact and research, not a gut feeling. “I’m sure I’ll be fine without test scores” is not a wise approach, nor is “I have to take the tests, because schools really require them even if they say they don’t require them.” Look at the testing policies for any school you’re interested in. Also check the requirements for any major scholarships and honors programs at those colleges. See how necessary test scores are for you, and proceed from there based on the facts. You can take the tests in the late summer or fall—you don’t have to do that now.

Set up test prep if you think you need it or want it. Don’t sign up for test prep if you’re not really sure you need it. Test prep can help, but not if you’re passive about it. If you’re not going to really work at test prep, then it will be a waste. There are all kinds of ways to get help preparing for the entrance tests. There are classes through the big companies like Princeton Review, Kaplan, and Test Masters. Lots of school districts and local colleges offer test prep. There are private tutors and smaller companies that offer personalized programs. Khan Academy offers free prep, and you can also work independently with a test prep book.

If you’re in any AP classes, go ahead and take the exams. If you don’t get a score you’re proud of on an exam, you don’t have to report the score to colleges. And no, it doesn’t “look bad” to colleges if you take an AP class but don’t report the score. But when you do get scores you’re happy about, you can report it and it can boost an application. Your AP scores in 12th grade won’t affect your applications, but earlier ones can. If you’re nervous about not taking the SAT or ACT for test-optional schools, having some solid AP Exam scores that reinforce your high grades can make you feel a lot more comfortable with it down the road.

Line up rec letters. Teachers who may write you a letter of recommendation have a long time before they’re due. But don’t wait until the last minute. Don’t even wait until the last month! Find time to have a quick conversation with the teachers who know you best. Let them know that you’ll be requesting an official recommendation from them, and ask them if they have any questions or suggestions. It’s a much easier conversation to have when there’s a lot more time for it. Now is the right time to ask, even if they won’t have it written until much later.

Do some large-sweep online college searches. Even if you think you have a preliminary list ready, spend time reading through lists and descriptions in case you’ve missed something. Just looking at a list of “Best Colleges” is worthless. Don’t waste your time with that. But doing some searches for more narrow topics can be useful. Look for rankings of top colleges for several majors you’re interested in. Search for best colleges in the geographic areas you’re interested in. Look for colleges that have other qualities you’re interested in. Be sure, though, to look at multiple sources and cross-reference the lists. Never trust a single source. Also, don’t put too much weight on the actual rankings: the difference between number 12 and number 28 may be minimal. And never stop at just the top five or 10. A rule of thumb for dealing with rankings from any source: assume the top 50 are tied for first place.

So, for example, imagine you think you’d like to major in biology or environmental science. You like the mid-west. You want a school with a strong sense of school spirit. I’d recommend you search: “best colleges for biology,” “best colleges for environmental science,” “best colleges in mid-west,” “best colleges for school spirit,” “most underrated colleges in mid-west,” “best colleges for your money in mid-west,” “best colleges for your money biology,” and “best colleges for your money environmental science.” For each, try to find several different lists or rankings, and look at the top 100 if they go that deep. The important thing is to look for patterns and which programs show up on multiple lists. Don’t worry if you’ve never heard of them, and don’t take time to stop and do research on individual schools as you go. Just look at lots of lists and look for patterns and repeating names. This takes time, but it’s also pretty low-key. Do this before you start asking counselors and teachers for more specific help or doing deeper research.

I know you’re busy. You’ve got final exams. You have projects and competitions. But you’ve also got 51 weeks left. The heavy lifting is going to happen this summer and fall, but you can set yourself up to have a much easier time if you’ll take care of these things in the next four to five weeks.

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. Check out these related Apply with Sanity posts:

   What happens in high school stays in high school

   Should you bother to take the SAT or ACT?

   Three things I say all the time

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

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

Photo by Zoe Herring.

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

Three quick questions with Juniata 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 Steven Simons, Senior Associate Dean of Admission and Marketing at Juniata College in Huntingdon, Pennsylvania.

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

Juniata has so many traditions, it’s impossible to pick just one. Our most infamous is storming the arch, where first year students attempt to make it into Cloister Arch to get priority room draw, but are met by the men and women’s rugby team and other upper classmen who have stormed before. It is not for the faint of heart and rarely, if ever, does a first year student make it through. If storming isn’t your speed, you might like “Mountain Day”. A total surprise day in the fall where students are woken up at 5:30 AM because classes are cancelled. After sleeping in, students head out to the lake for a day of activities, food, sunshine, and simple fun. More traditions include Lobsterfest, Madrigal Dinner, Mr. Juniata, The Bailey Oratorical, Springfest, Surprise Day and Liberal Arts Symposium, but to learn about those, you’ll need to come visit!

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 Juniata?

Juniata is the ideal choice for inquisitive, intentional, and interesting students who want a college experience that will have a powerful impact upon their lives, and who are ready to do the work of self discovery. Imperfection is a pre-requisite to the type of learning that students do at Juniata. Here, they find a place that is completely committed to their personal growth and intellectual development. Each of our students are on their own journey of personal discovery. At Juniata, we give students a safe place to fail, so that they graduate with more than a hard-earned degree, but they take with them intellectual dexterity, courage of heart, and an ease with collaboration. Our students are fun, smart, and focused. At Juniata, we don’t have majors or minors, we have the Program of Emphasis, which allows students to collaborate with their faculty advisers to design a POE that is perfect for them and aligns with their career goals and educational aspirations. We aren’t looking for students who sit in their rooms all day and study, but are looking for students who come prepared to engage with their education and the people around them.

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

We always recommend people eat and hang out at Standing Stone Coffee Company, which is an alumni owned coffee shop right down the street, that is the unofficial hang-out spot for students and faculty. All the coffee is roasted on site, and students stick around in the evenings for live music, trivia nights, game nights, and much more. For people interested in the outdoors, they should check out Raystown Lake, the largest inland lake in the state of Pennsylvania. There are beautiful views, beaches, and students can get kayaks and canoes from our Environmental Science Field station located right on the lake, one of the few of its kind on the east coast.

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 Juniata. 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 Hiram 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 Sally Hoffman, Admission Counselor at Hiram College in Hiram, Ohio.

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

We have multiple courses, traditions, programs, and events that are unique to Hiram College. From our unique semester schedule (12+3 and two free summer classes) Tech and Trek program (1-to-1 technology program), Direct-Admit Nursing Program (which is accessible even to our many student-athletes), and Experiential Learning opportunities, to our Lantern Tours, Sugar Day (day of research presentations), and Springfest, Hiram is not lacking in unique opportunities and traditions for prospective and current students alike.

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 Hiram?

Hiram attempts to view students from a very holistic lens without putting too much consideration on any one area when it comes to the admission process. With that being said, any student who genuinely wants to learn and grow typically has success at Hiram. Between our small class sizes, service-focused faculty and staff, and abundance of resources, if a student wants to succeed, those supports are in place. Some of the supports that are available are our Emerging Scholars Program, ARCH Tutoring, and our Writing Center.

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

Local to the college itself, great places to check out are the Hiram Inn, Maggie’s Donuts, Gionino’s Pizza, and Cellar Door. For additional options for food, shopping, and entertainment, we often suggest the nearby towns of Garrettsville, Streetsboro, Kent, and Aurora. With our biggest population of students (aside from Ohio) coming from California, Florida, and Texas, we often recommend checking out the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton, as well as Cleveland and all it has to offer.

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 Hiram. 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.

Five considerations before making a last-minute decision

It’s the final few days before seniors have to make May 1st decisions and deposits. (If, for whatever reason, you’re looking for colleges still open for applications, check out NACAC’s list; it’s updated daily.)

While many have already made their final decision, many others are still trying to figure it all out. Every year I talk with students and families going through the last-minute decision process. Usually, the final decision is tough to make because a student is choosing between a few very good, but very different, options. I can’t make the decision any easier for you, but I can perhaps help you be more self-aware of the issues holding you up. Here are five things to consider as you’re making that last-minute decision.

What information do you wish you had to make this an easier choice? If there are basic facts to look up, you’ve probably already looked them up. The other questions don’t have clear answers, but it’s helpful to name them anyway. Take the buzzy anxiety out of your head and write it down in clear questions. Will I be able to find a job easily once I graduate? Will I find a strong social group easily at college? Will my family’s finances change and make a barely-affordable choice completely unaffordable? How will I handle this large transition? What environment will be the healthiest for me? How big a risk is too big? These are the types of big-picture questions I see students wrestling with when they’re struggling to make a decision. Name those questions and make sure you understand where your indecision is coming from.

Understand the difference in cost. If the colleges you’re considering have significantly different costs, take time to understand that difference. Why do they have different prices? Why do you think the more expensive one might be worth the extra cost? If you take the less expensive one, what will be done with the savings? If loans are involved, how much will the total cost of those loans (loan amount plus interest over time) be?

Understand the difference between reason and emotion. What are the rational reasons for attending any of the colleges you’re still considering? What are the emotional temptations pulling you towards them? Which seems the safer choice, and which feels more risky? How do you normally make decisions: with a pro/com list, or with a gut feeling? There’s nothing that says you have to go with the more reasonable, disciplined approach, and there’s nothing that says you should throw caution to the wind and go with instinct. Ideally, you will find the right balance of the two. But first it really helps to separate the logic from the emotions as best as you can.

Explain your decision before making it. For each of the schools you’re still considering, whether two or 10, write this sentence for each: “I’ve chosen to go to _____, because _____. I was also considering _____, but _____.” Don’t let your explanations be vague or long-winded. Write them down in clear sentences. And then read those sentences aloud, a lot, to multiple people, and see what resonates.

Don’t look back. Once you’ve chosen, be done with it and forget about the others. Make your deposit, and make a housing deposit. Go online and buy a school sweatshirt. Throw out or give away any t-shirts or materials from the others you were considering. Tell everyone you know where you’re going. Start looking for a roommate. Immerse yourself in planning for the fall—go to the website, read all the materials they send, mark your calendar. The sentence you used to explain your choice? Use it a lot.

After May 1st, the relative advantages and disadvantages of those other schools won’t disappear. You can spend the summer making yourself crazy wondering “what if?” You may start to wonder if it’s really too late to change your mind. You may start to think about transferring after the first year. You may take the difficult decision you make this week and stretch it out for months, not really getting anywhere. The smart thing to do, difficult as it is, is to let go and move on.

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 do when you get waitlisted

   Don’t pass up a full ride

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

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

Photo by Zoe Herring

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

Finding the right college can be like finding the right bottle of wine

Last night I was supposed to give this talk to a local PTO, but instead I got Covid and am in isolation. I’m publishing it here for them and any other parent. And since the wine here is only metaphorical wine, anyone is welcome to enjoy.

For at least the next few minutes, go back to the beginning. Pretend you know nothing about colleges or the college admission search. For just a few minutes, feel that overwhelming feeling of knowing nothing. You probably know more than nothing; you may already know a lot. But I’ve found that even ambitious, well-informed high school students are often overwhelmed with the search, and somethimes it just helps to go back to the beginning and make sure you’re thinking it all through.

Depending on how you count, there are four to six thousand colleges and universities in the US. Even if you want to narrow it down to “the best” schools, the US News rankings (which aren’t actually an objective measurement of the best) include over 1,400 schools. There are just a lot of choices, and if you don’t know what you’re really looking for, it’s overwhelming. So as a way to think about that overwhelming range of choices, I’d like you to think about another one, something completely different.

Imagine you’re going to buy some wine at a wine shop. So there you are looking for wine, and you know little about wine. Maybe you know nothing about wine. You certainly don’t know what you like. You know some of those bottles are better suited to your taste than others, but you don’t know which ones.

Say you’re in a hurry. You need to pick up one or two bottles of wine for tonight. You’ve been invited to a dinner party and asked to bring wine. But you don’t know anything about wine. A good wine shop will have hundreds of different wines to choose from. How do you choose? 

Expert advice. You can ask for advice from a store employee and hope it’s good advice. But it’s difficult for them to give you good advice if you can’t tell them anything about what you like. The most you can hope for is that they’ll tell you what some of their more popular wines are, or maybe some wines that are good places for beginners. But they have no real way of helping you find something you’ll like in a hurry. 

Ratings and rankings. There are magazines and websites devoted to giving scores and ratings for wine. Many wine shops will highlight the highly rated wines in their store. If you go with something that was rated highly by the Wine Advocate, then you know you’re getting a wine that somebody likes, though you may end up not liking it. You may have completely different taste than the reviewers.

Pictures. Like a lot of people, you can choose a bottle based on how much you like the label. Wine producers pay a lot of attention to their labels and make them as appealing as possible. You can’t judge a wine by its label any more than you can judge a book by its cover, but both will tell you a little it about what’s inside. But not much. To choose based on the label is essentially to rely on advertising and design, not the wine itself. 

Experience. You can go with what you know, however limited that is, by grabbing a bottle that looks familiar. Maybe you see a bottle that you recognize from a restaurant wine list or a friend’s house, and you go with that. Maybe you had a glass of it once and thought it was ok, so you go with that.  

Proximity. Why go looking through all the bins if you don’t know anything about them? Instead, just pick one that’s featured up front and get out of there.

Any of these methods for choosing a wine may work out. Most people in this situation will use a combination of several. But even choosing a wine with a good score…that the store employee recommends…with a great label…can still end up being something you hate. You’re kind of relying on luck that the bottle you pick, however you pick it, will be one that you enjoy. You haven’t got time to figure it out.

A lot of high school seniors pick a college the same way. For a variety of reasons, they haven’t given college a lot of thought or attention before 12th grade. They haven’t thought about what they want or need, just what’s “good.” And then they only have a few months to go through the application process. Seniors who want to pick colleges to apply to when they haven’t done a lot of research use the same methods as someone buying wine in a hurry without much research. 

Advice. There are plenty of people out there willing to give college advice (including me). But the less they know about you, what you want, and what you need, the less useful that advice can be. 

Ratings and rankings. There’s US News and World Report. And Niche. And Forbes. Or you can Google “Best college for ____” and see what you get. I’m not as anti-ranking as many other college admission advisors, but I know that their use is pretty limited. The ranking site’s criteria are not your criteria.

Pictures. Colleges will send you so many pictures: smiling students wearing backpacks walking across campus; crowds at sporting events; extremely small classes held outside. The schools send these pictures because they know they work—many students make very large, expensive, emotional decisions based in some part on the images that marketers send out.

What they’ve heard of. The reason I hear the most often for a student being interested in a particular college is because “I heard it’s a good school.” They can rarely tell me where they heard it.

Proximity. You can narrow down your choices to ones that are nearby. There’s nothing wrong with that, and there are a number of great universities here in town. But it’s a limitation you would only want to impose for reasons beyond limiting the number of colleges you have to think about.

Like with wine, these methods may work. Or they may not. It takes some luck. But there’s another way.

If you’re not necessarily in a hurry to get wine for immediate use, you have time to learn what you like and what works for you. You’ve got time to find the wines that are good for you, not good for the store employee, the wine magazines, or the label designers. To do this takes time and experimentation. If you’re just beginning, try the mixed case method recommended by wine critic Eric Asimov.

“The best way to start out, once you identify a good shop, is to ask for a mixed case of wine. Tell the merchant your budget and parameters, say, half white, half red, with two sparkling wines, or a few rosés. Or, if a case is too much of an investment, just get a bottle or two at a time. As you drink the wines, note which ones you like and which ones you do not. Keep in mind that you can learn something from every bottle as you begin to identify your personal taste.

When you finish, go back to the merchant with your notes, and ask for another mixed case with selections based on your reactions to the first set. Your learning journey has begun.” 

With time, you can use this method to experiment and refine. You can figure out what works for you, which may not be what you would have predicted before you began paying attention. You can get advice, but the advice based on your preferences and, more important, your actual experience. The mixed-case approach takes time and upfront investment, but it’s going to get you to a point where you know what you want and where to find it. It’s going to get you to a point where when you walk into a wine store you know what to do and how to get good results.

If you’re a high school student now, in the 9th-11th grade, you have time for a similar approach to college. Begin with a (metaphorical) mixed case. Look at some large public universities, some mid-sized research schools, some smaller liberal arts college. Check out some of the more unique and “quirky” colleges that are out there. Pay attention and take notes as you learn about schools that you may not have heard of. Then use that information to find more of what you’re looking for.

This is essentially what I do with the students I work with. After a few casual meetings getting to know them, I recommend a bunch of colleges to check out. It’s a mixed case, but larger—usually 30-50 colleges to begin with. I ask them to take some time—from several weeks to several months to almost a year, depending on their grade—to get to know those schools and to take notes on what they find appealing about them. Then from there we add and subtract more schools based on their research until we get it down to around 12 schools for applications in the fall of their senior year. The list we make is balanced, and it’s tailored to them.

Even before we get to that point, though, we’ll do a “blind tasting.” I will give them a chart with descriptions and lots of stats for four to six colleges, but I don’t tell them the names of the colleges. That way the students can’t be swayed by the reputations of the colleges and need to look at them more objectively. We walk through the charts for each school, and I pay close attention to what kinds of things really stand out to them. Some really pay attention to student-faculty ratio, and others don’t care about that. Some are more interested in student diversity than others. Some want to know that their chosen major is a popular one, and some look for schools with a wide mix of popular majors. This exercise helps me get a sense of what they like and what’s important to them before I begin recommending anything.

Here’s a generic mixed case to begin with. 12 schools total: three big public universities, three private research schools, three small liberal arts colleges, and three quirky schools. For any of these categories, I could easily choose 30 more. But these will work. Spend some time figuring out which ones you like, and why. It’s not important right now if you think you might apply to any of them. The point is to get a sense of what you’re looking for, and why. Use Niche, Big Future, Fiske, and the college websites. Then, start searching for colleges with similar traits that you’re looking for. Also, your research can help you find similar colleges. The Fiske guide lists overlapping schools for any in the guide, and Niche also lists similar colleges.

Colorado State University. Fort Collins, CO

University of Alabama. Tuscaloosa, AL

University of Wisconsin-Madison. Madison, WI

Case Western Reserve University. Cleveland, OH

Duke University. Durham, NC

Rice University. Houston, TX

Occidental College. Los Angeles, CA

Champlain College. Burlington, VT

Knox College. Galesburg, IL

Cooper Union. New York, NY

Colorado College. Colorado Springs, CO

Warren Wilson College. Asheville, NC

Let me give a warning about choosing a college based on your intended major. If you don’t know, don’t make it up. Around a third of college students change their major at least once, so don’t feel too sure of your major unless you’re really, strongly sure. If you’ve got no idea what you might major in, there are schools that are really good for that.

This is just a metaphor, and there are limits to how closely finding the wine you like is similar to finding a good-fit college. You’re not choosing one wine to be THE ONE. You can spend months and years trying many wines and finding a whole range of things you like. Most people, however, will only graduate from one college. That’s why early research is so important.

Also, at a wine shop, the price on the tag is generally the price you will pay. Not so for colleges. You don’t know what you can afford until you apply and are accepted. So while “affordable” has to be one of the final deciding factors, it doesn’t necessarily have to be in your early searches.

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:

   Three things parents should stop saying to their children

   Two documents all students should understand

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

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

Photo by Angela Elisabeth.

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

Three quick questions with Warren Wilson 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 Sarah Farrar, Admission Counselor at Warren Wilson College in Asheville, North Carolina.

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

So many Warren Wilson traditions - my two personal favorites are Work Day and our annual Circus. 

Work Day is a day when we pause all academic programming to beautify campus, work in fellowship, and build community. While we hope to accomplish great work and be super productive, the primary focus of Work Day is to come together in the name of work and bond with each other. It is an important opportunity for us to laugh, learn, and love with each other.

Circus is a time for students, faculty and staff to come together and celebrate the end of the year. It is a platform for individual and group expression in art, production and design, and is completely student scripted and run. The performance is a culmination of the talents of circus arts performers on campus, including German Wheel, aerial silks, fire dancers, and acrobatics (to name a few). It’s one of our quirkier events, but it definitely encapsulates the Warren Wilson spirit.

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 Warren Wilson?

Our most successful students tend to be those looking for something different, those with a desire to explore unique pathways, and those with a genuine curiosity about the world. We attract lots of students with learning differences and students from non-traditional schooling backgrounds, not that that makes them imperfect!

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

We are located in the mountains of North Carolina, so spending some time out in nature is a must. Whether you’re a hardcore hiker or just want to take in some mountain views, the Blue Ridge Parkway is well worth the visit. Downtown Asheville is just down the road from campus and offers all the city vibes - great shopping, delicious dining options, and museum galore. And while you’re at it, you might as well go see some live music or check out an art show! Head to the French Broad Chocolate Lounge afterwards for something sweet.

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 Warren Wilson. 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.

Trying to get more financial aid

It’s early April, seniors. By now you should have all your admission decisions back from colleges, and you should also have your financial aid offers. You’ve got a little less than a month to make your final decision, and cost is probably a major—if not the only—factor that will guide your decision on where to go. Comparing financial aid offers is tricky, because they’re not uniform and not always very clear. So the first thing to do is to go through them carefully and slowly with your family. If you have questions, ask. The schools should have given you the contact information for questions and concerns, so use that.

It’s very typical at this point to have two or three good choices and no clear top choice. If that’s the case, then you’ll probably choose the most affordable of them and be done with your search. But if you still have a single standout favorite, then after understanding the competing offers you may find yourself realizing that you’re unable to attend your top-choice school because of finances. If that’s the case, there’s still time to ask for more money, but you have to move quickly.

It is absolutely essential that you know how much money you still need. You should have this number already, because you and your family have talked about what is affordable for you. You’re down to the final days and very specific dollar amounts. You need a real number, not a hazy concept. If your family is saying that the top-choice school is still not within range, ask them how much money would make it affordable. You need that number. Otherwise, you don’t know what you’re asking for and won’t know if you get it.

Next, prioritize. You can make an effort to change one, maybe two, offers. Limit yourself to that. Don’t put yourself through the entire process again with a lot of places. Focus.

Have your back-up plan. Assume there will be no financial aid changes, and make a plan based on that assumption. Make your appeals, but assume that the offers you have are your final offers. Don’t hold onto so much hope that you don’t plan for the likely outcome.

Finally, understand that you’re not really negotiating. You’re not in a position of strength here. You’re not haggling, this is not a game, there is no winner. You’re simply asking for more money. You may get it, you may not. Be prepared for both. If you want to have a sense of how likely a school is to work with you, there are a few things to look up. First, see how many people took a place on the waitlist for the past few years, and also how many people on the waitlist actually got a spot. If the school uses a large waitlist and few people actually get off the waitlist, then “if you don’t give me more money I won’t go there” isn’t much of a threat. Also compare your bottom-line number to their average net price. If they’re asking more from you than what’s average, there may be some room to work. But again, these just give you an idea. They help you manage your own expectations. You don’t get an answer from the school until you ask, and last year’s stats don’t necessarily tell you anything about your own situation.

Understand what you’re asking for and why. Then explain both of those things as clearly as possible to the school. This isn’t the time for clever narratives or emotional pleas. Let them know what the problem is and ask them politely if they’re able to help solve it. Here are some common scenarios.

You’re asking for more need aid because your situation isn’t the same as what’s on your FAFSA. Your Expected Family Contribution and need are based on the information you submitted to the FAFSA (and sometimes the CSS Profile). But that information may be out of date, and your circumstances have changed significantly. One example might be that a parent or guardian is at a different job or no longer has a job, so their income is much lower. If this is the case, explain the issue, and provide as much documentation as possible. The more evidence, the better. Send along more recent tax documents, pay stubs, medical bills or other official documents that can help you show that your actual need is very different from the one that was calculated earlier.

You’re asking for more need aid because they gapped you. This probably isn’t an accident—they know they gapped you. Tell them that the school is still your top choice, but that you won’t be able to attend with the package they offered you. What if you can get by without getting the full need met? This is a difficult situation. If you let them know you don’t really need your full need met, then you may be asking for less than they might actually offer you. This is unlikely, but still a risk. If you tell them you absolutely need the full need met, then they may offer you nothing even though you may have got the lesser amount. So there’s a risk either way. I advise people to be upfront and tell them exactly how much you really need, but I understand people not wanting to ask less than the full need amount and “leave money on the table.”

You’re asking for more merit aid because, despite getting full need met, you don’t think you can actually afford to go without more. If they’ve met your full need beyond EFC, this is going to be tricky. But let them know and see. Be polite and show gratitude for meeting your full need. And let them know that, despite the formula, you still won’t be able to attend without more aid. Let them know exactly how much more you’re asking for—the smaller the number, the easier it may be to get them to offer it.

You’re asking for more merit aid because you got a better offer from a different school, but this one is still your top choice. It’s difficult to accept an offer from a school, even your favorite, when another school is offering a much better aid package. Let the school know your situation. Provide documentation of the better offer. Remember, you’re not haggling or negotiating. If you say “match this better offer or I’m not going to your school,” they can easily say “have a great time at the other school!” But if you’re saying that you and the school are a great match and it’s truly your top choice, but that your family just ins’t in a position to walk away from a better offer from another school that’s also a good fit…but not as good a fit, then say so and see what they can do. Again, make sure you’ve talked to your family and know what kind of price you’ll accept. The school is likely to give you more aid, but not as much as that other school is actually offering. Be emotionally prepared for this.

You’re asking for more merit aid because you would like more aid even though you can afford it. You won’t have to walk away from your top choice, you just think it doesn’t hurt to ask. You’re right, it doesn’t. But it’s difficult to explain and difficult to get sympathy. If they’ve meet your full EFC and you don’t have a cheaper offer from another school to document, you're essentially asking “hey, got any aid money left?” If this is what you’re doing, emphasize how great a fit the school is and how it’s your very top choice. Let them know that the aid package they’re offering is really going to stretch your family budget in a way that is difficult, that you’re hoping that more aid has been freed up, and that if it has you would like to be considered.

I wish you well in these final weeks, seniors! It’s still really stressful, but you’re almost there.

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:

   Don’t pass up a full ride

   Make your choice and don’t look back

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

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

Photo by Zoe Herring.

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

The element that's missing from a lot of LOCIs

So first, LOCI means Letter of Continued Interest. It’s what you write to a college who is offering you a wait list spot if you want to be on their wait list. It’s where you explain to them that you still really want to go to their school.

I don’t actually think you should take a wait list spot if you have affordable acceptances from any other colleges. I recommend the emotional empowerment of basically saying "screw you and your waitlist, I'm going to a place that already recognizes my awesomeness." (You may not want to literally say that.)

But if you do decide to hold out hope and take a place on the wait list, you’ll probably write a LOCI. Make sure, however, that the college wants one. Some schools require them, but some ask you not to send one. If there are any instructions from the individual school, follow those instructions!

In many LOCIs, there's a looming question a lot of people don’t address: if this is your top-choice school and you want to go here so badly, why didn’t you apply Early Decision? You’re writing this letter now saying that you love the college, it’s your first-choice pick, and if they accept you—even late in the summer—you will go there. The way to signal to a college that it’s your Number One and that you will definitely attend if admitted is to apply ED. So why didn’t you? You should address this directly. This is the thing that’s missing from a lot of LOCIs—explaining what’s changed—and you can make your LOCI better by addressing it. Even if you’re writing a LOCI for a college that doesn’t offer ED, you can write a stronger letter by thinking about this question and answering as if they did.

There are three main answers for why a person has a top-choice but didn’t apply ED if they could have.

One reason is that you’ve learned more about the school. Since applying, you’ve done more research, gone on a visit, or somehow gotten a better idea of what the school is all about. If this applies, say so, and explain what changed. Tell them what you’ve learned about them since you submitted your application. Be as specific as possible. Or maybe you are the one who’s changed. You’ve gained a better understanding of yourself or have made some major decisions that make the school a lot more attractive now than it was at the end of last year. Either way, the college feels like a much stronger fit that it did when you had the chance to apply ED. Make that clear, and give concrete details.

Another reason people don’t apply ED to a top-choice school is that they are fearful of applying ED because they want to compare financial aid offers. That’s perfectly reasonable and understandable. If you’re now in a situation where you wanted to apply ED to a school but held off for financial aid reasons, but the other financial aid offers you got just aren’t good enough to make you change your mind, say so. Make sure you discuss this with your family first, though. You’re basically signaling that attending the college is more important to you than financial aid. That’s potentially a very expensive thing to say, so be thoughtful about saying it. No, you’re not obligated to take a waitlist spot if they offer you one but don’t offer enough financial aid to make it affordable. But understand up front that they’re probably not going to offer much financial aid, because their budget may be limited by the time they get to the wait list. So if you think it’s a strong possibility that you won’t be able to afford to go even if they offer you a place, you may not want to bother with the LOCI and wait list.

There’s a third situation that’s tricky to write about. That’s when you’re asking for a wait list spot not because the college is really your first-choice pick, but because your first-choice pick didn’t accept you, and maybe your second also didn’t accept you, and now the top of your list is the one who waitlisted you. It’s hard to tell them “you never were my favorite, but now I guess you are, because all my favorites didn’t accept me. I’m feeling a little desperate.” You don’t need to hide this or feel embarrassed. Still, your LOCI will be stronger if you take the time do some research and write most of your LOCI as if you’ve learned a lot more about the school and/or learned more about yourself.

What else should you include in a LOCI? Give them any updates that may be useful. Has your GPA gone up at all? Have you won any awards, completed any big projects, or done anything else noteworthy? If there's anything that's substantially changed for the better since you applied, let them know about it. All this is going into a single page. Unless the school directs you otherwise, aim for 400-500 words.

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:

   Three things seniors can do while they wait

   Make your choice and don’t look back

   Dealing with denial

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

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

Photo by Angela Elisabeth.

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A plan for stressed 9th graders

A few weeks ago an old friend got in touch. Her daughter, who is in the 9th grade, is feeling a lot of stress about college admission. Even though it’s still years before she’ll apply to college, she’s already feeling pressure—mostly from her friends and classmates—to build up her resume and be ready for applications. She’s hearing about people deciding to double up on math classes to look more attractive to colleges. She’s wondering if she should be getting started on test prep. She wants to know how to strategize about the “right” clubs to join and the “best” classes to take next year. My friend asked if I could talk to her daughter and help her understand if that’s realistic.

It’s not realistic. Those are not the things a 9th grader ought to be doing.

But I also understand that “don’t listen to what you’re hearing every day, and will be hearing every day for more than two years” is pretty unrealistic. So I talked to her daughter and we put together a plan. We decided to acknowledge that she’s in a place where there is pressure to begin college prep early, and we decided to find a smarter way to go about it than worry about every rumor of “what colleges want.” I put it into a single page that she can print and have with her—in a notebook at school, on her desk at home, or both.

I’m sharing that one page, and I’d like to explain some of it.

The overarching idea: get out of the “am I worthy?” mindset and treat college like a relationship. All of the discussions, whether formal or casual, about what colleges want, how to look good to colleges, and how to make yourself stand out to to colleges have at their core the “am I worthy?” mindset. This mindset believes that preparing for college is all about showing colleges that you are worthy to be accepted, and that acceptance from colleges is a validation of your worthiness. This mindset isn’t healthy, it isn’t realistic, and it isn’t useful. Instead, you have to think of it like a relationship. Consider what it is you want, what you have to offer, and how to make the most of both of those sides and grow as a person. This is what people really mean when they talk about “fit.”

A few guiding rules:

1.     If the only reason to do something is because “it looks good to colleges,” don’t do it. If you want to take extra math or science classes because you really like the subject and are hoping to keep yourself challenged, that’s great. Go for it. If you want to join an honor society, do what it takes to join it. If you want to keep yourself occupied in a lot of different activities, because you have a lot of different interests, by all means do. But don’t do anything of those things just because you have a sense that “it will look good to colleges.” That’s a lousy reason to do something, because it takes up time and energy that can be spent on doing something that’s actually interesting and important to you. When you find out what colleges are looking for in an applicant you won’t find any of them asking students to waste time on unproductive activities. That’s actually the opposite of what they want.

2.     Focus on the qualitative, not numbers. You’re a person, not a resume. It’s a cliche to say “don’t be another statistic.” However, way too many ambitious high school students work really hard to become statistics. They obsess over GPA, test scores, and the number of accolades they can list. Don’t make yourself into a list. Always be thinking about the quality and richness of your experiences, not the numbers.

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

4.     The keys to success are time management and a meditation practice.

5.     Not sure what colleges want? Ask them. People get their ideas about what colleges want from all sorts of places. They rarely get their ideas from colleges themselves. Want to know what a college is looking for in its applicants? Go to the college website. Go to the admission section. They will probably tell you what’s important to them. You can also search for the college’s Common Data Set to see exactly what’s required and important to them. Simply search “[name of college] common data set.” Go to section C, “first-time, first year (freshman) admission,” which will begin somewhere around pages 6-10. Here is an example of a Common Data Set. Begin at page 7. If you have a specific question about admission requirements that isn’t answered on the website or their Common Data Set, email the admission department at that school and ask. Don’t rely on information that isn’t first-hand from the college. Especially don’t rely on fourth-hand information that comes from your friend’s mom’s coworker who talked to “someone in admissions.”

 To do:

Look at writing prompts. Discuss often. How would you answer them now, and how can you improve your answers over the next year and a half? If you feel the need to prepare for college applications early, begin with writing prompts, not GPA or tests. Make these sorts of questions common discussion topics among you, your family, your friends, and your teachers. Don’t actually write essays yet. But think about how you would answer the question now and how you like to be able to answer the question by your senior year. Here are some samples to get started.

o   “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?” (from Common Application)

o   “Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.” (from Common Application)

o   “Reflect on a time when you questioned or challenged a belief or idea. What prompted your thinking? What was the outcome?” (from Common Application)

o   “Why are you interested in the major you indicated as your first-choice major?” (from UT Austin)

o   “Briefly discuss the significance to you of the school or summer activity in which you have been most involved.” (from Georgetown University)

Have five go-to colleges for looking things up. Don’t let “colleges” be abstract. Have several in mind, several that you’ve gotten to know. These don’t need to be colleges you will necessarily apply to—you have time to figure that out. But have a list to work with. Get on their mailing list; get to know their website; look them up in guides. Change as often as you like, but always have a list of around five. Here are some to begin with. I picked these almost randomly to get variety. A large public university and a small liberal arts college. Northeast, Atlantic Coast, Mid-west, and California. Places where you might major in art or major in business. Again, make your own list of five, but always have a list of five that you’re familiar with.

o   University of Michigan Ann Arbor

o   Skidmore College

o   William & Mary

o   Santa Clara University

o   Carnegie Melon University

Deepen your relationship with a mentor (including, if necessary, finding one). If you have at least one adult who is not a family member and who you can go to for advice, deepen your relationship with that person. Make an effort to talk to them more often and ask more questions. Discuss the essay prompts above with them. If you don’t yet have a mentor, whether formal or informal, think about how and where you might find one. Sometimes mentors just happen into your life. Sometimes you have to work to find them.

Read more texts, and read more difficult texts. By “text,” I don’t just mean books. Books are great, but they’re not the only kind of text. Whatever you like—books, music, art, video games, poetry, history, science, sports—spend more time with them, and push yourself to deeper understanding. The key here is to study what you love. Don’t only study things that are forced upon you, and don’t let the things you love only be passive distraction. If “study” and “things you love” sound like complete opposites to you, then you’re definitely not ready for college. The more you combine studying with the things you love, the more prepared you’ll be.

Want more? Some places to look for college advice and a better understanding of how the process works:

Apply with Sanity newsletter

Selingo, Who Gets In and Why

Newport, How to Be a High School Superstar

Georgia Tech admission blog

Notes from Peabody: the UVA Admission Blog

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, please share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

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

Photo by Zoe Herring.

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Three quick questions with the University of Vermont

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 Jay LaShombe, Senior Assistant Director of Admissions at the University of Vermont in Burlington, Vermont.

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

I think UVM’s approach to educating students about the importance of caring for the environment and sustainability is a hallmark of the UVM experience. While our Environment focused majors are world class, regardless of major, every student at UVM takes at least one course in sustainability. Caring about each other and the planet are core values of the UVM community.

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 UVM?

We find that students who really don’t know what they want to do really love UVM. It’s completely fine to come to college and not have a clear plan for your future. UVM is a place where students are supported in their exploration of their passions and interests. 

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

I’ll start by saying that I have a lot of love for Blue Bell Creameries, it’s wonderful. Having said that, Vermont’s own Ben & Jerry’s is pretty darn good too. When folks come to Burlington, I encourage them to head to the Ben & Jerry’s scoop shop on the Church St. Marketplace. Strolling up and down the pedestrian marketplace while enjoying a scoop is a classic Burlington experience.

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 UVM. 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.