CollegeApp Chick

A guidance counselor in training 

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A Unique Essay Does Not Require A Unique Experience

When I work with students to brainstorm a college essay nearly every one of them laments that they haven’t done anything unique or interesting enough. Or if they have done something kind of interesting they’ll feel the need to write about it even though it’s not where their passion (and therefore best story) lies. Writing a unique specific essay is important.

However, let’s dispel the myth that you need to have done something really extraordinary to write an interesting essay.

Most people, especially high school students, haven’t done anything particularly different. It’s because you have only had 17 years, largely dictated by your parents and your student schedule, to have experiences. So nobody expects you to have saved a bus full of school children from a forest fire or to have backpacked through Europe with only your camera and your wits. It’s okay to have only had normal-teenage experiences. However, that doesn’t mean you get to write a generic essay. Because you’re better than that. Get specific in your typical experiences. What is something that you do that none of your friends do? Is it a song you wake up to every morning? Is it the motto written on the inside of every notebook you own (The more you give, The more you have to give)? Why do you do that interesting spin on a generic thing? Why is this generic thing (that is not your biggest club/sport commitment) so important to you? Tell me a good story with lots of cool interesting juicy details. Make me care about your reading challenges, or your obsession with Thomas Edison, or your Lego models. Tell me about the complete failure that was your science fair project in ninth grade and why you’re now interested in this one tiny subset of chemical engineering because you still don’t know exactly what went wrong.

There is a specific “you” stamp on your generic teenage life that will make a good story. So write about that.

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On trigger warnings

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Tips for a productive snow day: 1. Hot drink (preferably in a dinosaur mug) 2. Candle to warm the palace up 3. Work in front of the most scenic window in your house 4. Get ahead on work- everything is still due tomorrow 5. Go sledding with your roommate once you’re done

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Getting strength from Cap (and coffee) on the first day of the new semester

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Letter of Continued Interest

If you’re still finishing up your last few applications please do my little worry-wart mind a break and get off Tumblr until you hit submit. Otherwise hey! Have you heard of a letter of continued interest?

You may have gotten a few EA or rolling schools back that didn’t come back exactly how you had planned. That’s okay! Deferral isn’t a death sentence. However there’s a really easy step you can take to add a little bonus point to your application. And if you read my blog you know that when it comes to admissions can almost always means definitely should.

It’s called a letter of continued interest. It’s a short update to your application that lets them know what’s been going on since you applied. Even if not much has happened  you need to write the letter and show what you did last semester- did you get MVP of a game on your soccer game? Are you in NHS now? Did you get cast as Shrek in Shrek the Musical? Even if you didn’t do anything of particular note (and I bet you did if you really think on it) you need to write the letter anyway. Just remind the school that you really love them and you’re still very interested. Did you talk to their rep at a college fair or at a school visit? Did you interview with an alumni interviewer? It’s more the act of writing and making the effort than the content of the letter itself. It’s short and easy. How easy is this? By short I mean less than 1 page double spaced ideally- remember they spend like 15 minutes on your application total. And how helpful is it? I’m not sure for sure on the numbers. But I know that pretty much everyone I know who got in after getting deferred last year had written one. And if you can do something that makes even a small difference isn’t it worth it?

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Rush or Cut?

We’re in crunch time for applications. Most of your high schools will require that transcript requests sent before Winter Break, which means you’ll need to have that done pronto. It’s possible that in this wonderful time of year you still have an application (or two or three) to do. That’s okay. But at this point anything you’re starting will be rushed. So it might be best to cut out a few schools rather than rush five applications. Schools to Rush (but finish)

Your Safety School

Yes, I know, you don’t want to. There are schools you’d rather go to left to be done. But you MUST get this one in and the application cannot look half-done. Remember, nobody wants to be your safety school, so don’t let the school catch on. It might feel nice to skip your safety if you’re in a crunch. But don’t do it. Better safe than sorry.

Your Top Choice

You might be procrastinating finishing this one because it’s just not perfect yet. But make this one a priority. Even if you work best under pressure you do not want to be writing the supplement to your dream school on December 30th. Get it done.

The School With an Easy (or No) Supplement

Come on, this one will take less than an hour. Just sit down and do it.

Schools to Cut

The School With The Long Application

Unless this is your top choice or your safety, maybe cut your losses and spend your time elsewhere. If it’s a school you’re not hyper jazzed on and it’s application is a pain, save it.

The Extra Reach

Tough love time- Don’t apply to an extra reach. If it’s not your top choice dream school you couldn’t live with yourself if you didn’t apply- spend your time and effort on schools that are realistic. Don’t throw away your time and money. Use it wisely.

The School You Can’t Stand

Unless of course it’s your safety (but you should like your safety even if it’s just a bit). But if you’re in a time crunch it’s better to “not get to” that school you don’t even like and spend your time on places you want to go.

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So I keep a running wall of post it notes of the things I need to do for work, school, life, and social life. The best part though? Taking something off the wall and getting to rip it up into TINY pieces. Great little stress relief and reward after finishing something. (Notable: Amount that I don’t want to study seems to be correlated to how often I post on CollegeApp Chick).

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~On The First Day of Finals My Professor Gave to Me~

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“What Do I Know About You?”

I’ve worked one on one with several high school seniors over the years on their essays. Over time I’ve developed a few “checks” that I do on every essay. This year I found a new check that I love called the “What Do I Know About You?” This is now the first comment I make when I edit an essay. It’s a short a list of what I know about the student after one quick read. An effective essay tells the reader a lot about you. It’s how you think. It’s how you approach things. It’s little quirks and traditions. So when I come out of an essay that’s meant to be about forging your own path with the comments below, it’s a problem. The below is a real comment I gave a student this year- What I learned about you includes: 1. You like mountain biking 2. Your sister annoys you sometimes 3. You drink a lot of water 4. You have a beautiful use of language Obviously not what the essay was meant to get across barring the fourth point. The essay intended to (and ultimately did) use mountain biking as a metaphor for independence, but the first draft was less than successful in it’s execution. Part of the reason this is so effective is that it puts the editing in a goal oriented context. Your goal is to tell me things about yourself, so let’s make sure those things come across clearly. It’s also effective because it’s an outsider who knows little to nothing about you reading the essay. They don’t know the nuances of your relationship with your sister, they just know what you’re telling them. So make sure to remember why you’re writing and what you’re saying about yourself.

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How to deal with annoying questions (At Thanksgiving)

My absolute favorite thing about Thanksgiving is seeing relatives I don’t see otherwise and getting to give them a quick recap of the last year of my life... Wait. I’m kidding. That part is awful. So seniors, I’m right there with you for every “Where are you going to college?” “What do you mean you don’t know?” “So where are you applying?” Trust me, the smile you’re going to keep plastered on your face after the tenth time an adult misguidedly asks you where you’re going to college is heard across the country. There are, of course, the other annoying questions you’ll be pestered with, like the classic, “Are you dating anyone?”- Which will very soon turn into “When are you getting married” so you have that to look forward to in the future And the “What are you majoring in? What are you going to do with that?” So here’s the thing... Your relatives mean well. They know that the universal small talk questions for adults are “What do you do?” and “Hows work?” and they’re trying to age them down to high school.

Don’t worry because I promise in a very real and genuine way they don’t find your answer interesting and they don’t really care. So answer honestly and predict their followups. So answer, “I applied to (a few of your match schools because trust me the only thing they’ll focus on is your reach and if you don’t get in they’ll remind you about it forever)” and then “But I don’t find out until March or April, the wait is killing me,” Then they’ll do the classic adult, “Oh I’m sure you’ll get in everywhere you apply” and the conversation will blissfully end. Or they’ll talk about people they know who attended (or their children attended) the school. Either way, you’re off the hook on the third degree. And if they ask about your major just tell them the truth. And if it’s not a practical major give a half-truth about what you think you might do with that degree even if you don’t know (like just say you want to do research if it’s a science, academia if it’s something like sociology or history, publishing for English). Unless you have an actual plan in which case, tell them the plan. Again, don’t give them anything to latch on to because they don’t actually care, I promise. Then ask about how their own children are doing, and watch the conversation blissfully float away from you.

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Paper writing on the floor is ~serious~ business

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Pro Tip: Assign every lecture a different color and then make your flashcards for that chapter in that color. You’ll know that something was from “the pink theory” or “the red theory” or “I can’t remember exactly what that is but it was green so I know it’s related to the bigger green concept,” (photo from my extremely basic instagram -JillSFein)

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The Three Most Important Things I Can Tell You About Admissions and School:

Hey Everyone, For the past several years my CollegeApp Chick blog has been a wonderful hobby that I have enjoyed so much. What started as a side project to hone my blogging skills became a huge passion project of simple ways to improve your college applications and school life. I’ve gone through a lot of changes since starting the blog, the biggest being entering graduate school this fall. Suddenly the academic success and well being of high school students has gone from my way to unwind after school to, well, school itself. I now live breathe sleep and eat school counseling all day. Which is wonderful. The dark side is that because it is no longer my diversion, it’s starting to feel like a lot of work. And the feeling of work is sucking my creativity. In class I am constantly hearing things that make me go, “Oh I need to write a post about this” but when I get home for the night the creative juices won’t flow. So I’m taking a break. I’m not sure for how long (I think this is going to go the way of John Green’s social media hiatus, which is to say I’m going to cheat a lot). But I think I need to say outright “I am on a break!”

I am allowing myself to turn this back into a hobby. I just don’t want to feel guilty every day I let pass by without posting. If it’s a break (and cheating on my break) I can post when I have something to say, but only when I have something to say. I love you guys. I love this community. I love college admissions. I’m not gone. I’m still here and I will still be as terrible as ever about answering my emails and ask box (which is to say, I will check it sporadically). But I am a big believer in goodie bags and here are my biggest take homes to keep in mind while I’m gone: 1. Pick a college that fits you, academically and socially. Financially too.

You can find your people anywhere, but the closer the match the easier it will be. Don’t get hung up on a big fancy name brand school, there are so many amazing schools out there and they have so much more to offer than a name that people recognize instantly. Finally, you cannot place enough value on limiting your debt. It is the best decision you will ever make.

2. College admissions essays are about showing YOU off. In your best light. The most important thing to remember is that you have limited space and you want the reader to walk away knowing something about you that they couldn’t tell from your transcripts, resume, and recommendations. If you’re stuck write a list of your best qualities and come up with examples of demonstrating those qualities in your life. 3. Your health is the most important.

Put your health above your grades. I didn’t put in 100% to my academics in high school and I ended up just fine because I wasn’t so stressed out I couldn’t function. I put in more effort in college, but still never ahead of taking care of myself (including sleep, eating, socializing, exercising, and going to counseling). I’m in one of those fancy name-brand graduate schools and while I’m smart I’m not “coast on by without effort” smart. Finding a balance will bring you more success. This is what it’s about. Balance. And right now, when it comes to brain power, school comes before my hobby.

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Readings are like Hydra heads. You defeat one, and two more grow to take their place.

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College App Tip Of The Week

Expressed interest is a very easy way to get a bonus point on your application.

Sign up for their mailing list. Fill out the info card at a college fair. Tour if you can. Interview. Email the admissions rep (with a question about the school but not an overly obvious one). Find out if they’re doing a local info session and attend. It shows a school that you want to attend them, and it can really be a nice little “tip” factor.

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College App Tip Of The Week: Abstract vs Concrete

Abstract vs. Concrete Abstract: I am a very caring person Concrete: I started a program at my school where people have a quiet space to sit or can have someone just listen to them if they need someone to talk to. Abstracts are great, but concrete examples are what make any statement about yourself convincing.

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How To Expand Your (Parent’s) Radius

Both of my older sisters went to college in New York. On the other hand, I was clawing at the walls desperate to experience something other than the Long Island bubble I had grown up in, which essentially eliminated any and all schools in the Tri-State area. However, getting my mother to agree to even let me look at schools outside the strict “Five Hours Driving” radius she had enforced for both of my older sisters was a struggle. So here’s how I did it. 1. Choose Your Battles This is the biggest one when it comes to parents. Don’t argue for a school you’ll never get into, don’t argue for a school you don’t really love, don’t argue for a school that your parents would need to sell their house for you to afford. Pick a school that you love, that makes sense, that you have a chance to get into, that you would actually go to. Don’t fight for anything less. 2. Logic It Out You are going to need to prove three things to have a prayer of them compromising. A) There is a way for you to get there/back that makes sense and won’t break the bank. B) This school is worth going outside the bubble both in perks of finances and career development C) This school offers something that no closer school offers In general career development is the golden key. You may want to go to college to learn and expand your mind. Your parents want you to get a good job when you graduate. Have career statistics that prove the school’s superiority. C was the big one for my brother (who went even farther than I did, though my mother claims I was the one who wedged the door open and stood stubbornly there to let him apply to schools in Florida and New Orleans). Basically, there were something like 6 programs in the country that offered what he wanted and were academic matches for him, so distance couldn’t really be a limiting factor. 3. “It’s Not So Far” You’re going to need to break the distance down in a way that makes it seem not-so-bad. I did this in two ways. Firstly, I pointed out that while it was extremely far driving, it was in fact the same time as my oldest sister’s school door-to-door if I flew, and wouldn’t you know it, there were often very cheap flights. I also pointed out that my mom’s brother lived just three hours away from the school. We go there for Thanksgiving anyway so they’ll still see me then. If anything happened and I had to leave school I could go there. When I drove home I would take a pit-stop there so I wasn’t driving for 10 straight hours. 4. Be Emotional (but just enough) I’m not saying to pull out the “You’re Ruining My Life” (though my mother claims that was clearly my subtext) but your parents want you to be happy. It’s not always how they come across, but deep down they want you to be happy. Just show emotional connection to the school. Plant the seed. 5. Compromise It’s entirely possible that your parents have something they want you to do, and they’ll let you apply in exchange for it. I got to look at W&M in exchange for applying to a school they loved and I really disliked. Maybe they won’t let you look at the other coast,  but they’ll let you look at some schools in the midwest. Maybe they’ll let you look at schools not in commuting distance, but only if you can get a scholarship that covers your housing costs. Figure out what is so terrible about going far far away and try to make it easier. There are ways to expand the radius, just make compelling arguments as to why you must.