Category: Senior

What is Success in College Admission and YOUR Senior Year?

In my office, I have a lots of paintings from my daughter, a few awards, diplomas, and certificates, as well as a number of books, pictures, and admittedly some random other décor I’ve picked up along the way. Most of the time, since I am in there so frequently, I don’t really stop and pay attention to most of them.    

But there are four pieces that I intentionally look at and consider regularly, because of how they impact and inform my work.   

The first is on the window sill behind my desk and is entitled “The Man in the Arena” from Teddy Roosevelt. 

This is my regular reminder that people- both on and off campus- are inevitably going to oppose and disagree with my decisions, priorities, and leadership (or blog topics/opinions), and that I am going to make mistakes. But at the end of the day, I am the one doing the work and it’s important to keep the weight of their voices in check. Effectively, this is the early 1900s version of “haters gonna hate.”   

The second was given to me by a colleague, because it is one I can recite verbatim and have shared in staff meetings over the years. Often attributed to Emerson, it is entitled: “What is Success?”

As you can imagine, much of my work and goals are quantifiable. We have a target overall class size each year. We are attempting to increase our yield rate (percentage of students who say YES to our offer of admission), enroll more Georgians from more of our 159 counties, increase our number and percentage of first-generation and Pell eligible students, and so on. Numbers matter. They matter a lot. But I keep this quote on my desk because it reminds me to keep a big picture view and perspective on my job and life.   

Another is right next to my computer screen so that I see it multiple times each day. It is a simple board with just four words: Humble, Available, Honest, Clear 

Ultimately, a big part of my success is the success of others. My role is to create a vision and set direction for my team. If I can empower them, I am confident they have the skills and talent to help us reach the metrics and numbers we are expected to deliver. These words help me stay focused and grounded on how I should conduct myself and approach my work. 

And finally, I have picture from the North Georgia mountains with the first verse of Psalm 121.

I lift my eyes up to the hills. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of Heaven and Earth.

Again, perspective and big picture vision. I am very cognizant of the fact that my time, my energy, and my knowledge are finite. This image and message help me on a weekly basis to remember that my identity, hope- and ultimately my success- is not all about quantitative results or outcomes. 

Intentions for Senior Year and College Admission

If you are a senior in high school applying to college right now, I wonder if you have considered what success looks like for you this year. How are you going to maintain perspective, especially when you cannot control all outcomes or when things don’t go as you had hoped or planned they would? What do you want your senior year to look like academically, relationally, socially, and beyond? If you have not taken time to pause, reflect, and consider these questions, I’m encouraging you to do so before you finalize your essay or submit your apps.   

When this spring rolls around, how will you measure success? I know it’s uncommon to use paper and pen, but I am challenging you to actually do that. Put away your phone and write this down.   

Whether it is a paragraph, a few sentences, bullet points, or even a letter to yourself, articulate how you hope your senior year will go and how you want to feel about your college admission experience in April of 2024.  

I know you don’t read this blog for more homework, but I think you will find this helpful to revisit periodically, particularly when you are about to submit applications, you are waiting on decisions, notifications from colleges arrive, and when you ultimately are making your final choice.  

Pause, Reflect, Consider, and Revisit

After watching this cycle of college admission repeat itself for over two decades, I hope you will take a broad view of success, seek perspective, gain identity from character built not results achieved. 

In the year ahead, where will your hope, strength, confidence, and identity come from? 

Does not getting into your first choice, or even one of your top three schools, change anything about who you are or your belief in your future and potential?   

Should you even have a “first choice” or a “top school” in mind?

How will you celebrate your friends and classmates, particularly when you are dealing with uncertainty or disappointment?  

What are your goals this year for how you will impact and influence your team, co-workers, classmates, family, or friends- particularly knowing you will likely not be with them physically a year from now?  

Regardless of college outcomes, what is your plan for thanking, celebrating, or honoring those who have provided opportunities for you and helped you to this point?

College admission generally includes a lot of waiting- on decisions, on financial aid and scholarships, on your housing assignment, and on your class schedule. While you are in inevitable periods of limbo, how will you view yourself, treat others, and focus your mind and time? 

How will you communicate with your parents this year about tough topics like money, deadlines, or the minutia of completing forms and other logistics? 

How will you conduct yourself on social media?  

I believe the college admission experience is an opportunity to prepare for college and life well beyond. Ultimately, we wake up each day with a choice about how we show up. We get to determine what drives us, what gives us peace, where our identity comes from, and how we treat those around us. 

When you are sitting at graduation this spring, regardless of where you may be going to college next fall, what is success? It’s an important question. Your answer matters. Take five minutes now. Yes, seriously. I want you to do that now. Check in periodically along the way to see how you are doing- and revise as necessary.

Spoiler Alert

If you are reading this blog, you are going to “get in” to college- likely multiple, in fact. So, a year from now you’ll be waking up in a bed somewhere and putting your feet down on the floor. You’ll walk to the mirror and stare into it. My hope is you will be more proud of the person looking back at you than the name of the college on your shirt. How will you ensure that is the case? I look forward to hearing some of your answers and experiences this year. 

Counselors, Can We ChatGPT?

If you are a high school counselor reading this, THANK YOU! Yes- for reading. But more importantly for all that you do for students and your school community. In addition to close friends who are counselors, and my two plus decades working alongside counselors, I also have two kids of my own in K-12, so I am intimately familiar with the many hats you wear, the pressures you face, the increasing needs, and complexity of issues students bring to school every day. THANK YOU!

While I cannot create more hours in your day, clone you, or hire additional counselors in your school (though you’re welcome to forward this to your principal or head of school as an endorsement), I do believe AI can be part of the solution in making you more efficient, effective, and therefore available to students, this year.

Recap

A few weeks ago, I wrote this for high school juniors. As a counselor, a big part of your job is providing students with perspective, encouragement, resources, and motivation. I know you are constantly looking for ways to help them keep an open mind, consider a variety of voices, and focus on choices and options. Over the last few months, I have come to realize that ChatGPT and other generative AI tools can be a great resource for helping students identify and expand their college search.

If you have not already done so, take time this week to sit down and explore ChatGPT for yourself. Try entering this prompt: “Provide a list of other colleges like (insert school here).”

Since I went for a long trail run on Berry College’s campus (the largest campus in the world, FYI), that’s what I entered into ChatGPT.

And here’s what I received back:

Berry College is a private liberal arts college located in Mount Berry, Georgia, known for its picturesque campus and strong focus on student engagement, work experience, and community service. If you’re looking for colleges with similar characteristics, you might consider the following…

And then it provided me these schools with a description of each.

Sewanee: The University of the South, Warren Wilson College, College of the Atlantic, Berea College, Eckerd College, Augustana College, Rhodes College, Centre College.

Not bad, right?

Solid geographic diversity, varying rationale for connection to Berry (from academic programs to focus on sustainability, to hand on learning, and so on.

The power of AI is its ability to brainstorm, iterate, and scrape data or content quickly. My hope is you will consider integrating the AI tools into your conversations with and suggested resources for students as they search for colleges, broaden and narrow their list, or even plan their trips to colleges.

As you work with your seniors, this blog may also prove helpful.

At this point, very few colleges have published formal policies or guidance on how their applicants should or should not use AI in applying to college.

Similarly, there is nothing on the Common Application addressing ChatGPT or other tools, and based on historical decision making, I don’t expect that to come in the near future.

Clearly, if your high school has a uniform policy on how AI is to be used in your school’s classes, you use that as a touchstone for your advice to students applying to college and writing essays this fall.

But if you are trying to determine how to address AI in your newsletters, programs, or web content, the best place to start this by experimenting for yourself.

After my last two blogs I heard from a few school counselors. Here is some of that insight.

“I taught an essay writing workshop to a small group of our seniors and introduced them to how they can use ChatGPT responsibly with brainstorming and fleshing out ideas. I walked them through a brainstorming exercise where ChatGPT posed relevant questions about their chosen topics. I loved seeing the lightbulbs in their head go off. Subsequently, a couple of seniors followed with me after playing around with ChatGPT to help them get a jumpstart on their opening paragraphs. It’s apparent that they feel a bit hesitant about using AI beyond its usual application in subjects like math tutoring, so it will be interesting to see their comfort level take shape.” Randy Mills, Greenhill School, Dallas, TX

“At first, I feared the way AI would change the college admission landscape. But when I saw how it could help students find their words (if used appropriately), I changed my mind. The students I help use ChatGPT to create effective descriptions of activities, and to start the dreaded essays when they can’t get past the blinking cursor. I always feel it’s easier to edit than create for many of my students. ChatGPT creates something they can edit and enhance, without being stuck with “getting started”. Many outstanding students have difficulty putting their thoughts into written expression. ChatGPT allows them to see their thoughts, then modify them into a working essay (or activity description!)” Meg Scheid, Gwinnet School of Math Science and Technology

My Rec for Your Recs

I absolutely think you should experiment with AI as you write your recommendation letters this fall. The same advice applies to these letters as I provided for seniors writing essays. This is not a simple cut and paste, but instead a great tool for getting started, rephrasing, or discovering different ways to frame the content you are attempting to incorporate.

Having done this personally for a few colleagues this summer, and after hearing from several college professors endorse the practice, I think you will find entering a few of your ideas or student provided details and specifics and then revising or “regenerating” in ChatGPT could save you precious time.

My co-author and friend Brennan Barnard at the Khan Lab School in California puts it this way, “AI can simplify the counselor recommendation process by quickly synthesizing and effectively communicating the many sources of information we as counselors gather about students. In truth, college admission officers are scanning recommendations for context and color on students and beautifully written prose about individual students is a thing of the past. We can feed AI the personalized details we have from getting to know students and save us time that can be spent one on one with them.”

This is spot on advice. At the end of the day, you have a myriad of demands on your time and a significant case load of students. Yes- rec letters are important. But contrary to the Reddit rabbit holes, YouTuber conspiracy theories, or the predictable paranoid parent in April, they are not the reason a student does or does not get admitted.

Good recommendation letters add color to an application. They often describe how you have seen a student grow, contribute, or impact the people and community around them. Helpful letters touch on what makes a student interesting, unique, or compelling. Taking your knowledge of a student, incorporating details you have gathered from them or their teachers and coaches, and then allowing AI to help you craft the letter could be a valuable assist.

Experiment

A/B test. Write five letters from scratch and another five by starting with or iterating with ChatGPT.

Sample. Have a counselor or teacher colleague read a few of your letters and attempt to decipher whether or not AI contributed to your final product.

Time yourself. What is the time difference from start to finish using and not using AI?

Conclude and report. Share your results with me or online. Am I way off here? Are there additional tips and insight you would add that can help your counselor colleagues?

All in favor say, “AI.”

Even if you disagree with everything I am suggesting, I still say THANK YOU. As the year begins, please know how important your work is and how fortunate students are to have people like you in the school building. On behalf of my fellow admission professionals, as well as other parents who entrust our most valuable asset to you each day- THANK YOU!

 

 

Seniors, Can We ChatGPT?

Last week I wrote a piece for rising juniors about how they could consider using generative AI platforms such as ChatGPT and others in order to assist in their college search. The takeaway is that these tools are helpful for brainstorming, iterating, and sparking thought and reactions, which is essentially what the college search, application, and selection process should be.   

The responses I received via email and direct message were… mixed.  

A few were extremely appreciative– another good resource and a helpful way to open students’ minds to choices and options.  

Others were- let’s just say- less appreciative. Everything from references to an “unchecked Pandora’s Box” to some straight up vitriol. Welcome to the world of blogs and social media.  

Undeterred, this one is for high school seniors.

Here is what we know 

  1. The Common Application does not have a policy for students on using Artificial Intelligence. In fact, if you enter “AI” into their platform’s search, only a list of colleges come up: American International College, College of St. Scholastica, The Citadel, Colby College, Lawrence University. FYI- that’s a very different list than the same prompt on ChatGPT, which again points to the concept of using a variety of sources and resources in your college search, application, and selection process. 
  2. Colleges are unlikely to have uniform policies on the use of AI that cuts across their entire student body. They’ll largely leave guidance and appropriate use to individual professors and courses.  
  3. Most admission offices have not published guidance for applicants or provided public information on how AI should or should not be incorporated as you work on applications, or supplemental questions, etc.  
  4. Most high school students are using AI to some extent for personal or academic purposes.  
  5. Colleges want applications that are full of details, specifics, and insight into who you are, how you think, what you have learned, and what you care about.  

So, in hopes of bridging the void and advancing the conversation, as well as giving students, counselors, parents, and school communities (on the K-12 and higher ed side) something to react and respond to (one of AIs biggest value adds), we consulted with experts on campus- specifically Dr. David Joyner in our College of Computing- in order to develop this framework- Georgia Tech’s applicant AI guidance.  

Tools like ChatGPT, Bard and other AI-based assistance programs are powerful and valuable tools. We believe there is a place for them in helping you generate ideas, but your ultimate submission should be your own. As with all other sources, you should not copy and paste content you did not create directly into your application. Instead, if you choose to utilize AI-based assistance while working on your writing submissions for Georgia Tech, we encourage you to take the same approach you would when collaborating with people. Use it to brainstorm, edit, and refine your ideas. AI can also be a useful tool as you consider how to construct your resume in the Activities portion of the Common Application. We think AI could be a helpful collaborator, particularly when you do not have access to other assistance to help you complete your application. 

 The Activities Section. (Hat tip to my colleague Mary Tipton Woolley for her experimentation with this portion.)  

At Georgia Tech, we call this Contribution to Community. We are looking for students to demonstrated “The Three I’s”- Involvement, Impact, and Influence. We talk about this in info sessions, write about it on this blog, and even include guidance and insight, including videos on our website. Still, sometimes students struggle to think through what they’ve done and how to describe that in the boxes provided on college applications.  

Here was my prompt: can you help me put my work at Subway into the extracurricular activities into the common application  

ChatGPT response:

Absolutely! Including your work experience at Subway in the extracurricular activities section of the Common Application is a great way to showcase your skills, responsibilities, and dedication. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to do it: 

  • Title and Description: Start by giving your extracurricular activity a title. For example, you can write “Subway Employment” or “Subway Crew Member.” Be clear and concise. Then, write a brief description of your role and responsibilities at Subway. Highlight your key achievements and contributions. 
  • Organization Name: Mention “Subway” as the organization name. 
  • Position/Role: You can list your position or role, such as “Crew Member” or any other relevant title. 
  • Time Commitment: Specify the duration of your employment at Subway. Mention the start date and, if applicable, the end date. If you are still working there, you can write “Ongoing” or “Present.” 
  • Hours per Week: Mention the average number of hours you worked per week at Subway. This gives colleges an idea of your time management skills. 
  • Key Responsibilities: List some of your main responsibilities and tasks at Subway. Highlight skills and qualities you developed while working there. For example: 
  • Provided excellent customer service and ensured customer satisfaction. 
  • Prepared and served food items according to Subway’s standards. 
  • Operated the cash register and handled financial transactions. 
  • Maintained cleanliness and sanitation of the store. 
  • Collaborated with the team to achieve daily sales targets. 
  • Achievements: If you received any awards or recognition during your time at Subway, be sure to mention them. For example, if you were recognized as the “Employee of the Month” or received positive feedback from customers or managers. 
  • Personal Growth: Reflect on how your experience at Subway contributed to your personal growth. Did you develop communication skills, learn to work in a fast-paced environment, or improve your problem-solving abilities? Colleges value personal growth and development. 
  • Skills Gained: Highlight the skills you gained or improved through this experience. These could include customer service, teamwork, time management, responsibility, or any other relevant skills. 
  • Impact and Learning: Explain how your work at Subway influenced your academic or career goals, and what valuable lessons you learned from this experience.

And then it closed with: Remember to be honest and authentic while describing your experience at Subway. Admissions officers appreciate genuine experiences that showcase your growth and development. Including work experiences like this can demonstrate responsibility, time management, and the ability to balance academics with employment. Good luck with your application! 

 Well…thank you ChatGPT. I appreciate the integrity and encouragement!    

Perfect? Absolutely not. You are not going to have space, nor do you need to delve into “Personal Growth” or “Impact and Learning.” But the rest is helpful, accurate, and fairly thorough.  

You’ll also find these tools helpful if you are struggling to fit an activity into the boxes and character count on an application. Rephrasing, reformatting, iterating, and doing so within specific word parameters is a strength of ChatGPT. 

College Specific Supplements and Essays 

Here is our specific advice: 

In the same way you would not copy directly from any other source you may incorporate into the writing process, you should not copy and paste directly out of any AI platform or submit work that you did not originally create. Instead, approach and consider any interaction with an AI tool as a learning experience that may help you generate ideas, provide alternative phrasing options, and organize your thoughts. Ultimately, we want to read and hear your unique and valuable writing style. 

The truth is that getting started with anything is hard. Getting out the door to go to the gym or for a run, cleaning the house, or working on a project. Momentum is tough to create, and we all need help at times.  

Over the years, I have consistently heard students talk about the dreaded blinking cursor. The tyranny of the blank page. How do I get my thoughts out? How do I figure out what I want to write about or how to phrase things?

Some students have built in resources to help- parents, siblings, teachers, counselors, or other supporting adults around them who they can talk through their activities or essays with. Other students pay for that service and assistance.  

AI tools can complement those other resources and fill a void for students who may not have historically had these benefits. This is a good thing.  

What I AM saying 

ChatGPT can write an essay or supplemental response for you.   

Will it have any personal style, unique details, valuable specifics, or soul? No.  

Is copying, pasting, and submitting something you did not write ever a good idea? No.  

Could reading those before you go to sleep be a helpful substitute for melatonin? Yes. 

AND I am also saying that after reading the essay or supplemental prompts, it could be worth asking ChatGPT to generate a response that will help stimulate ideas and ways to improve and personalize your writing. Again, this is a tool, a collaboration, and a way to get started.   

What YOU can expect 

  1. Perfect grammar. These tools are built off ridiculous amounts of information. The grammar will be impeccable.
  2. Inaccuracies and generic writing. After reading what is produced, it will be very sanitized and relatively boring. It will lack specifics and it will not “sound like me.” Some of the content will simply not be accurate.  
  3. A need to revise. Re-enter the prompt adding in details and specifics. When, where, who, why?
  4. Head shaking. Wait… NO. That’s not what I meant. That’s not what happened. That’s not how I want to say it. And simultaneously, YES! That could be a good way to go, or I had not thought about putting it that way.
  5. MOMENTUM! Ok. Now you are rolling. Now your brain is working and you’re homing in on what YOU want to write about. You’ve seen the boring and impersonal way to write about your topic. Now it is time to open that Word document and take some of the lessons you’ve learned and write your own essay or supplemental response.   

As I said earlier, colleges want applications that are full of details, specifics, and insight into who you are, how you think, what you have learned, and what you care about. That’s a lot to ask. And it is a process of brainstorming, iterating, uncovering, discovering, ultimately submitting an application that tells your story. It’s a process. While AI does not make a good author, it can be a helpful stimulator, sounding board, collaborator, and momentum generator.   

Congratulations on your senior year and getting started with your college applications!     

 

YOUR College Admissions Playbook

This weekend I watched “American Underdog,” which is about former NFL quarterback Kurt Warner. Some football fans may remember he was undrafted coming out of college at the University of Northern Iowa. In his first shot with a pro team (the Green Bay Packers), he bombed. He was not ready or prepared. Over the course of the next few years, he played Arena League Football in Des Moines, Iowa. It was in those seasons that he studied, learned, grew, and realized what he wanted and why.

Now, I’m not saying you have to watch the movie, move to Iowa, or stock shelves in a supermarket the way he did. But, if you are a rising high school senior, I do believe his story is instructive. When Kurt Warner got his next NFL shot with the St. Louis Rams a few years later, he was ready and ultimately successful. That success, however, came through a process of examination and preparation.

You don’t have a few years before you apply to college—you have a few months. But that is enough because this is not about memorizing and executing a complicated NFL playbook. Instead, I’m boiling your summer college admission application playbook down to five steps.

GET STARTED. I am challenging you to create a Common Application or Coalition Application via Scoir by July 15. The odds are you are going to use one of these platforms to apply to at least one college, and sometimes just getting started is the toughest thing. Whether it be running or writing a paper or doing a chore, the first step is often the one that requires the most energy. But as you know, once the school year starts, you are going to have assignments, practice, work, and tons of other opportunities and obligations as a senior. Knock out the basic biographical information these applications will require now.

CREATE (or UPDATE). If you do not already have one, there are plenty of online templates and resume generators to help you. Again, the summer prior to senior year is the time to do this. Some colleges allow you to upload resumes directly into their application, and with AI tools you can take copy from your resume and easily reformat into the Activities section of college applications.

If you go for a campus visit this summer where an interview is offered, you will want to bring your resume, and ultimately if you are part of scholarship or honors program interviews, you’ll need a refined resume. In our first-year seminar at Georgia Tech, we help students refine resumes because employers, scholarship programs, and research opportunities all expect these. Get ahead when you have capacity this summer.

DRAFT and REVISIT. The Common Application essay prompts are posted. I know the weather is good and sitting in front of a computer is not the first image that pops up when someone says, “Summer.” But your goal in the fall is to be as far out in front of deadlines as possible.

Ultimately, you want to submit an essay that you believe tells more of your story and complements the other information on your application. That’s not going to be done in one sitting—even though we try to tell ourselves, “I do my best work when I’m under pressure.” I’m suggesting you pick a prompt (or two) and knock out a first draft by August 1. Under that timeline, you’ll have plenty of time to revisit your essay, run it by a teacher, counselor, or another trusted adult, and be completely set by October 1 at the latest.

READ and RESEARCH. Since you do not have actual school homework this summer, here is my assignment for the weeks ahead. READ. Think about the colleges you are currently considering and read more about them. Too many students build their list of schools based on rankings, football conferences, or the opinions of others. Read and consider what you learn about a few of the schools you are excited about. Check out their student newspaper, a recent alumni magazine online, or some of the latest stories featuring professors or students.

Ask yourself if what you are seeing excites you, encourages you, and gets you more motivated to apply… or not. This is a gut check. As you are reading, be honest with yourself about why that particular school is of interest and how it landed on your list of colleges to consider.

Extra Credit: Read something you actually want to rather than what has been prescribed to you in school. Take time this summer to check out an article or a book about a topic you want to know more about or understand more deeply. Or maybe an author or a subject you would normally not be interested in or generally disagree with. Too few of us are willing to explore “the other side.” A mindset of curiosity and a posture of willingness to consider will make you a better college applicant and ultimately a better college student.

EDIT and ITERATE. Your first essay draft will not be your best. You will improve your writing by coming back to it with fresh eyes in multiple sittings. Too many students do not look back over their entire application to consider what they have left out or how they can improve the overall submission. But if you follow steps 1-4, you’ll have time to do this. There will be time for a parent, friend, or another adult look over your entire app and ask you questions about why you either did or did not include particular elements. Iterate.

And your college list can (arguably should) be changing this summer too. We are too quick to believe changing our mind is a weakness. Instead, it means you are thinking critically, doing your research, and staying open to what you want, what you learn, and which colleges match and fit your goals and interests. Editing and iterating is a strength. Don’t believe me? Check out Adam Grant’s instructive book or podcast for more on this lifelong skill of re-examining or “thinking again.”

Two Thumbs Up- Another element I loved about the movie was it was clear that Kurt Warner was having fun playing football. There was pressure but he did not look at it like a job. Instead, it was a privilege and an opportunity. That’s what this is, my friends- a privilege and opportunity. My hope is you’ll have fun visiting, researching, and ultimately applying to college. Sound crazy? Sound impossible? See: Kurt Warner.

College Admissions Magic Wand

I have been overcommitted in the last few weeks. Apparently, months ago when I agreed to these programs and presentations, I either did not realize they were all bunched together, or I forgot that April in Admissions Land is chaos.  

Ironically, while the audience sizes, venue locations, and Zoom formats have varied, the closing question has been ubiquitous: “What is one last thing you would like to say to parents or students?” Or as it was put on a panel last week, “If you had an admission magic wand, what would you change?”  

FYI- I do have an admission badge, an admission nametag, plenty of random admission swag from conferences (mousepads, stress balls, buttons, etc.), but a magic wand? Apparently, no Ed Tech vendor has come up with that one…yet.   

NametagIn the interest of time, I’ll spare you the normal 45-minute presentation and the 37 accompanying slides and cut right to hypothetical ABRACADABRA!  

For Students. If I could mind control all college applicants, I’d instill in them an unwavering belief that all of this is going to work out in the end. Maybe not in December or March or even May, but eventually. Anyone who has watched this cycle repeat itself for more than five or so years will attest to this fact: Kids are like cats- they always land on their feet. In many cases they do have nine admission lives, and honestly, have you seen what they eat? Cats, I say.  

No, you don’t always get into your first choice. No, the money does not always come through. Sometimes you get deferred or waitlisted or are forced to endure the vicious combo of both, and end up waiting months to know how it’s all going to resolve. So, I’d plant in them an unfathomable amount of patience and confidence.  

Forget Beer Goggles. I’d give them Admission Lenses that allows them to see their future self happy, surrounded by friends, and thriving on a college campus (not necessarily the one they currently envision) in a few months. I’d give them special earplugs and blinders to tune out the ridiculous garbage, misinformation, and disinformation that swirls around them online, sometimes from loving but anxious parents, and definitely from opportunistic forces simply trying to fan the flames of stress to get paid.  

For Parents/Supporting Adults (waves wand)

PRESTO! Early and honest conversations about money. In April, lots of juniors are visiting campus and seniors are making final college decisions, so there is constant talk about money, finances, loans, and scholarships. In an attempt to cut through the noise, I interviewed John Leach, the AVP for University Financial Aid at Emory University, and I’m hopeful you will listen to that here.  While the entire podcast is about 30 mins, I can boil it down to three words—TALK MONEY EARLY!  

Many parents I’ve met over the years have felt their job (and the greatest gift they can give their kids is to pay for any college). That is misguided and patently false. The biggest gift parents can give their kids, when it comes to paying for college, is to be as proactive and honest as possible about what you can and/or are willing to pay. John covers all of this in the podcast and does so in a clear, cogent, and compelling way. Since I don’t actually have a magic wand, I sincerely hope you’ll listen. 

Bonus: Don’t talk to parents of other high school students about college admission, and instead consult parents of current college students, or recent college graduates. Other parents with kids in high school often have just enough information to sound informed but frequently serve to proliferate inaccuracy and consternation– “You know the valedictorian three years ago did not get into….” and “It’s easier to get in from (insert a local or rival private/public high school here), because they have don’t have (insert grading scale, curriculum, or random nuance here)….like we do.”

My magic would have you walk away, dismiss, change the subject, delete/block social media accounts, and be fully impenetrable to those comments which bring inevitable and unnecessary stress.

In contrast, parents who are one chapter ahead invariably provide perspective, levity, insight, and sanity. They are far less prone to exaggeration, and can be incredibly raw and honest in their evaluation. “She was crushed when she did not get into Stanvard, but went to QSU instead. This spring she’s graduating and has a great job lined up.”  

In the end, there are no admission magic wands or quick fixes or panaceas. The admission experience can be challenging, stressful, and humbling. That’s not all bad. And it can also teach valuable lessons about communication, patience, self-confidence, and resilience that will last into college and life well beyond. I don’t have any tricks, but I do have hope. And that’s what I leave you with.