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Looking Forward—Summer and “The Future”
Looking Forward—Summer and “The Future” So, what do you want to be when you grow up? If you haven’t asked yourself this question yet … why not? And if you don’t know … why are you applying to college? OK, it’s true that college is itself a great time to explore your interests and learn more about...
What Are You Reading 2021?
What Are You Reading 2021? Future college students need to be big readers. Academic success requires it, and applications often ask about it, but those aren’t the only perks. It can be a relaxing escape from reality or a tool to develop other useful skills. With our New Year, fresh-start mentality...
Success Resolutions for Striving Students
Success Resolutions for Striving Students I am a sucker for a fresh start. I love Mondays, firsts of the month, and especially the first of the year. If you’re a candidate—or perhaps even an already-accepted future student!—at one of the country’s top colleges, you likely have a lot of strong...
Holiday Baking: Mug Cake vs. Petit Four
Holiday Baking: Mug Cake vs. Petit Four How is an essay like a pastry? Neither should be made in the microwave. This year, I discovered there is such thing as a Mug Brownie. You can even buy one-step “mug brownie mix” packets, but even from scratch, they aren’t difficult. A bit of flour, sugar,...
Thanksgiving Storytelling
Do you remember the Thanksgiving your grandma baked her famous apple pie? What about the time you ate turkey and stuffing? The time you laughed with your cousins and over-ate? What we love about Thanksgiving is its sameness. If you’re trying to write an essay about any major holiday, you’re really...
Have You Found the End?
Has your life story ended? It hasn’t ... has it? The topic you choose for your essay might be an event that happened a few years ago. Your life and growth have continued since that story ended, and your essay should acknowledge and demonstrate that. When you initially searched for your topic, I...
No Fear Finishing Strong
What’s scarier—a haunted house or a crashed application portal? No question, I know. I’m pretty sure high-school seniors don’t trick-or-treat, but I do know they’re not working on their college applications on Halloween. Despite a November 1 deadline and the magic of instantaneous online...
Making the Decision About Early Decision
If you’re still asking yourself whether you should be applying Early Decision at this point in the fall, the answer should probably be NO. If you just breathed a sigh of relief, that tells you everything you need to know. You didn’t want to apply early; you were waiting for permission not to....
The Application is Trying to Tell You Something
The Common Application was supposed to make your application process more streamlined—but even schools that accept the Common App want to put their own unique stamp on your submission. Why? It’s not just to make your life more difficult (though that’s part of it!). If an application or its...
The Tortoise and the Hare and the College Application
If you started your applications over the summer, you were probably feeling pretty good about yourself. As school got going, you might have taken a page from the hare and decided you could afford a quick “nap” because you had such a head start. About this time, as your school work picks up speed...
