The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

I chat with Parke Muth, former Associate Dean of Admissions at UVA. We cover, among other things: What Parke has learned reading over 10,000 college essays We’ll go behind-the-scenes to look at how close decisions are sometimes made by committees at highly-selective universities (and why essays matter even more as a result) What Parke wrote his college essay about Parke’s 10% rule for when students should/shouldn’t write about their activities or achievements What an “authentic voice” is and why, contrary to popular wisdom, we maybe shouldn’t be encouraging students to write in it Some dos and don’ts for the “Why us” essay, including one thing students should definitely do but most don’t, and Why Parke believes his job is better than being a king      

  In this paradigm-shifting interview with Maria Furtado, the Executive Director of Colleges That Change Lives (aka CTCL), we discuss, among other things: What is a liberal arts education and why is it important? Three questions every student should ask when it comes to picking a college Three ways to reduce anxiety during the college application process: the Car Idea, how to avoid “college creep,” and how the Ice Cream Prize can make a tour better One great way to increase (not decrease) stress during the college selection process How to make the most of a college fair experience Perhaps the single most important thing for parents to consider when it comes to the college application process    

This week, I cover: 6 Ways That Most Workshops Fail in the First Five Minutes (aka 6 Terrible Ways to Start a Workshop) 9 Tips for Leading a Workshop of Any Size 5 Potentially Life-Changing Workshop Moments Bee tea dubs: These are essentially three of the modules from the Essay Workshop in a Box--there are 29 total, btw, and you can find out more about that in the show notes. At the end I also say a few words about my Counselor Training Program, which I’m super duper excited about.

Curious how to make the most of your upcoming summer? There's a lot you can do (and they don't all cost money.) This episode, we cover: Great questions to ask when it comes to planning a summer The 2014 National Pre-College Summer Survey, which Jill and her co-author put together based on asking 50 colleges: What summer opportunities matter most on a college application? She addresses whether or not expensive summer programs are “worth it”? What students and parents should do but often don’t do when it comes to planning their summer This really cool Teen Program Evaluator that you can check out that’s basically a scorecard that students and parents can use to determine whether or not a summer program is a good fit I even ask Jill what I’m really dying to know: Which program is definitely going to get my daughter into Harvard? And she definitely gave me an answer.

Ever wonder what you should include in an appeal letter? This week, Jodi and I cover: Who should make the call to a financial aid office: the student or parent? What to literally say to a financial aid officer when you call them to appeal Why you maybe shouldn’t start off the conversation by mentioning a financial aid offer from another school Jodi’s five points to cover in an appeal letter What tone to take and how long the letter should be The one thing students and parents should do but don’t

I chat with Dr. Aliza Gilbert about how to support undocumented students. We chat about: What terms to use (and not use) when working with undocumented students What the Dream Act is and why not all students love the term “Dreamers” What percent of kids born right now are born to undocumented parents Whether or not students should reveal their undocumented status in their personal statement How incorrect assumptions can sometimes make a student feel horrible How to know if a school (or a state, for that matter) is/isn’t supportive of undocumented students What teachers/mentors/counselors can do to help undocumented youth

Normally on the podcast I’ll be interviewing admissions professionals, but I wanted to begin with a student named Daishi for a few reasons: He is an inspiring human being with an incredible story, as you’ll hear on this podcast. He happens to be undocumented, and under the new administration a lot of questions have come up for students and parents and even teachers/counselors--big things like What’s changing in general? To more specifics like “Should students reveal themselves as undocumented in their personal statements?” I wanted to interview Daishi to get his perspective on this, since he’s on the front lines of this debate. And just, on a human level, I wanted to find out from Daishi what it’s like living as an undocumented college student under a Trump administration while attending Harvard University. Quick side note: there are many wonderful colleges out there (Harvard is just one of them) and one of my goals with this podcast is to introduce you to some of the non-Ivy-League schools, but, I elected to kick off the podcast with Daishi and, well, he happens to attend Harvard.   In today's episode, we get into:  What a typical day is like for a Harvard student What it might mean for him and 700,000+ other undocumented students if the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy is repealed What Daishi wrote his college essay about and why What he felt like he did well in the college application process How he stays calm/centered   PLAY-BY-PLAY What the show’s about [0:57] One thing that makes Daishi amazing [3:05] What a typical day at Harvard is like, including how the food is [4:05] The class Daishi feels lucky to take [8:20] Whether Harvard was easier or harder than he thought it was going to be [9:15] What surprised Daishi about college life [10:25] What helped Daishi most in his transition to college [11:45] What it’s like being an undocumented student at Harvard [13:15] How things have changed for him since the election [17:30] When and how he began to embrace his undocumented status [19:15] What happens to him and 700,000+ other undocumented students if the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) policy is repealed [23:40] What election night was like for Daishi and the members of his organization, Act on a Dream [26:05] What makes Daishi so brave [28:20] Daishi shares the personal statement he submitted to Harvard [31:05] The perfect line in the essay that explodes in my mind and takes it to the next level [35:11] What it was like writing his essay and how many drafts he wrote [35:50] When Daishi knew he was done with the essay [36:30] Why he chose to open the essay with three repeated Japanese words and what resonated with me personally [37:23] What it’s like looking back on the essay years later [39:24] What Daishi felt he rocked in the application process and advice to students applying to college [40:27] What was crucial for you in the college application process? [42:06] The crazy thing he did in high school that led to a topic for his second essay[44:30] Why he chose the topics he chose and why he chose to reveal his undocumented status in the essay [47:38] Daishi’s advice to other undocumented students debating whether or not to reveal their status in their college essays [42:07] What it was like the day he was accepted to Harvard [53:40] When he began to feel he was woven into the fabric of Harvard history [56:49] What the future looks like for Daishi [58:35] The new role Daishi’s organization is playing on the Harvard campus since Trump’s election [60:35] The advice Daishi would give to any student going through this process [1:02:57] Show and tell [1:04:58] Guided Meditation to the Most Relaxing Song Ever [1:05:00] RELEVANT LINKS FROM EPISODE Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals Daishi’s main Common App personal statement and supplemental essay Guided Meditation to the Most Relaxing Song Ever (Ethan’s “Show & Tell”) RELATED AND RECOMMENDED POSTS Should I Come Out As Undocumented in My Personal Statement? Part 1 of 2 How to Come Out As Undocumented in a Personal Statement Part 2 of 2 How to Advocate for Undocumented Students Toolkit for applying for DACA (Deferred Action Childhood Arrivals) An interview with Daishi for Business Insider -- late January, 2017