Colleges Want YOU: Advice Round-Up for College Admissions

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This advice from MIT Admissions applies to every student, not just those that have their sights set on MIT:

"Choose your activities because they really delight, intrigue and challenge you, not because you think they'll look impressive on your application. Go out of your way to find projects, activities and experiences that stimulate your creativity and leadership, that connect you with peers and adults who bring out your best, that please you so much you don't mind the work involved. Some students find room for many activities; others prefer to concentrate on just a few. Either way, the test for any extracurricular should be whether it makes you happy - whether it feels right for you."

Things admissions officers wish students knew before beginning the application process, including this nugget from an officer at Antioch:

"I wish more students applying to college understood just how important “right-fit” is. Do we want to see people who were successful in high school and had a bunch of extracurricular activates? Yes, absolutely. But you can make an even better case for admission by showing us that you are going to be able to be highly successful and benefit most from the uniqueness of our institution.
Do your research. Don’t only make the case that you’re great, make the case that you’re a great match great for us."

More advice from admissions officers. I like this one from Smith College:

“Admission officers talk about the importance of rigor in a student's high-school program. When students ask, should I take an AP course and get a lower grade or take a lower level course and get an A, the cliché answer is: Students should take the AP course and get an A. Not very helpful! What we should be talking about is appropriate rigor. That is, if the student can take the AP course and get an A or B, then that's appropriate. If the student will get a C or lower, then she should reconsider. Grades of Cs ‘pop’ on a transcript to selective colleges since we don't see them often. That doesn't mean that one C on a transcript will mean a student won't get into college. What is does mean is that students shouldn't over-challenge themselves.”

As someone who went from a 70 average in her freshman and sophomore years of high school to graduating with high honors, I wholeheartedly agree with this advice, found on the Forbes website: 

“If you believe your current GPA is not a good representation of how well you can really do, start improving now. It’s almost certainly not too late. Colleges will look closely at your junior year performance, and many will even take the first semester of your senior year into account. They’ll particularly pay attention to a trend of improvement. Don’t give up. Show them that you are a late bloomer and getting better with age. Even if you’ve only got one semester left to show colleges what you’re capable of doing, show them! Start now.”

Be The Writer.

I kind of aspire to be a runner. I want to be a runner. The thing is, to be a runner, I have to run. And I do run. Sort of. Half-heartedly. Okay, quarter-heartedly. It's really not surprising that I suck at running and I don't really like to do it. But, I always feel great when I'm done and that makes me want to run some more. In fact, I ran today for the first time in awhile. It was easy at first, then my energy lagged and I wanted to stop but I pushed through, and fell into a rhythm. A slow one but rhythm all the same. 

Writing is the same way. If you want to be a writer, you have to be a writer. Just pick up a pen and put a word down on paper. Then another word, then another and before you know it, you'll have written something. It might be substantial. It might not be. It might be total crap, and that's okay.  Being a writer is the easy part. Being a good writer? That's harder. Producing writing that you're proud of is hard, too but like running, it gets easier and better with time. This, I promise you. 

Part of being a writer is being a reader.  It goes hand in hand. When you read, you pick up on different styles of writing, you absorb the rules of grammar, you get a sense of what makes a story well-written. For this same reason, I read running blogs and magazines. I'm inspired by other runners, I learn different tips for running.  Okay, I'm done with this extended metaphor....promise. 

Here's a tip I learned a long time ago: when you come across something in your reading that you really like, copy it word for word into a notebook. Use it as inspiration. Use it to train your writing muscles. The last thing I copied was Thoughts by Walt Whitman. It takes up two back-to-back pages in my journal. I was forced to focus on a word at a time, and to think about how each word was connected to the next and the one before it. It's a great exercise and I highly recommend it, especially during bouts of writer's block. 

Another tip: read poetry. Like no other genre of writing, poetry really gets at the heart of words and what they can do. The best poetry is stripped bare, simple yet evocative. Williams Carlos William's The Red Wheelbarrow is a classic example; so much imagery in just a few words.

so much depends 
upon 

a red wheel 
barrow 

glazed with rain 
water 

beside the white 
chickens

But really, just be the writer.  

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Summer Learnin', Had Me a Blast.

{Is my title cheesy? Sorry! I've had the song stuck in my head ever since my husband sang a few lines of it last weekend.}

Here, in Connecticut, we have just a few weeks of school left. In your part of the country, school might be out for the summer already. Either way, the summer slide is our minds. I've already had an email from one client who wants to counteract the summer slide for her son, and I'm sure I'll get other emails.

First, let's be real. Summer homework is for the birds!  Any kid will agree with me and probably some parents, too. BUT the summer slide is a very real issue for certain kids. If a kid likes to read, and reads on his or her own, then there is probably not much to worry about. Going to the library a few times a week or downloading new books will be more than enough, along with getting outside and enjoying a little freedom.

The summer slide is the result of minds being left idle, so the solution is fairly simple, right? Keep the kids engaged, and their minds will follow suit.  Engagement is easier when it doesn't look or feel like work. I happen to have a kid, going into first grade, who loves to do workbooks, so I'll probably get her a workbook like this one because she enjoys it but we'll be doing plenty of other things too. There are a lot of ways to keep kids engaged and thinking over the summer.
Here are five ideas to try this summer:

1. Letterboxing This is a scavenger hunt-style activity that reinforces navigational skills (math!), reading comprehension and nature hikes (science!). I took my almost-a-Kindergartener and my preschooler on a letterbox hike last summer and they got a real kick out of it. There are letterbox activities for all age and grade levels.  Click here to find letterboxing sites in your area: http://www.letterboxing.org/index.php 
2. Correspondence If your child is going to sleep away camp, chances are, you'll be tucking a few postage-paid postcards into his or her suitcase, right? But every kid should write letters, camp or not. Some ideas: grandparents,  friends that have moved away, famous people, favorite authors. 
3. Legos There is bound to be a rainy day or a super-hot day that keeps you indoors. A Lego kit like Lego Friends or Lego City is great because it involves following visual instructions (reading comprehension), sorting by color and size (math), problem-solving and imaginative play. 
4. Children's Museums For younger kids, children's museums are great! They are designed for play and learning, across all subject areas. Find your area museum here: http://www.childrensmuseums.org
5. Public Library My public library has a summer reading program and other events going on all summer, for kids. If you have a kid that thrives on rewards and incentives, a summer reading program might do the trick, to get him or her reading. 

For kids that are struggling, and are behind, some tutoring sessions over the summer will keep them on track for Fall but self-directed play and structured activities are just as valuable in the fight against the summer slide.  

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The Common Application and Standing Out

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488 colleges and universities use The Common Application. Are your schools of choice on the list?

The Common Application has become popular with students because it streamlines the application process and allows students to apply to multiple schools, more efficiently. Instead of filling out and writing essays for each school on his wishlist, a student completes one application and sends it to multiple schools. It has become popular with colleges because students of color, as well as students with financial need, are more likely to apply to schools they might not otherwise consider.  However, the downside to the ease of using the Common Application is that students may face more competition at these colleges.

As always, standing out in a crowd of applications will depend on your essay. Let's face it-- most of the applications submitted will not have much diversity across applicants. Grades will be good, test scores will be high, extracurricular activities will be abundant and impressive. The essay is where a student will shine. The essay is a student's chance to separate herself from the pack. The essays, across the field of applicants, will be unique, reflecting the personal experience of applicants but a well-written essay will really stand out.

Admissions officers read hundreds, if not thousands, of application essays. When I taught high school English, my eyes used to glaze over after reading 30 essays, with 100 more essays to go. I can't even imagine what would happen if I had to read hundreds of essays! But a well-written essay always made me perk up and take notice. It was refreshing to read a well-crafted essay with a developed voice after reading essays riddled with grammatical errors, cliched phrases and disorganized ideas.


I love these writing tips from David Ogilvy, of the advertising firm Ogilvy and Mather, via brainpickings (one of my favorite nerd websites of all time):

Write the way you talk. Naturally. 

Use short words, short sentences and short paragraphs.  

Never use jargon words like reconceptualize, demassification,attitudinally, judgmentally. They are hallmarks of a pretentious ass. 

Never send a letter or a memo on the day you write it. Read it aloud the next morning — and then edit it.

Nancy Cavillones is a writing coach based in West Redding, Connecticut. She is available to coach students on application essays and AP English essays as well as general academic tutoring in ELA and Social Studies for grades 5-12. Coaching is available online and in person. Tutoring is only available in person. Contact her today for rates and availability. ctwritingtutor@gmail.com