Applying to College

Tufts' Admission Dean Lee Coffin has a George Plimpton Moment

Lee Coffin, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions and Enrollment Management at Tufts University in Medford, Massachusetts, is having a George Plimpton moment.  Plimpton was a writer famous for his "participatory journalism" which included suiting up for the preseason with the Detroit Lions. Coffin, along with Assistant Director of Admissions Justin Pike, followed suit and donned a full set of gear -- with his bowtie peeking out -- to join the Jumbos for a preseason practice session.

Read the entire post -- Oh, Snap! -- here about his brief tenure as part of the offensive line, special teams and sprint training. "My sanity wasn't tested so much as my stamina!  I had no idea that football players needed so much aerobic capacity!" said the 167-pound Coffin.

Juniors: Introduce Yourself to Your Counselor

Juniors, although most of you won't begin the college application process in earnest until later this semester, there are some things you can do right now to get on track for a great college application process.

And here's an important one: Get to know your high school counselor. A high school counselor can be a powerful advocate for you and have a significant impact on your aspirations, achievements and admission results. So counselors can do a lot for you during the application process, but they can't do it well if they don't know you.

Whenever possible, students should be proactive. Make an appointment with your counselor, introduce yourself, find out when would be a good time to meet and ask how he or she would like you to stay in touch. If you take the initiative, you will make a strong and positive first impression.

For more information about college counselors and advisors, including what they will -- and will not! -- do in the college application process and how colleges interact with them, see Chapter 4, "College Counselors and Advisors," in College Admission: From Application to Acceptance Step by Step.

The Geographic Representative in the Admission Office: Your New Best Friend

Psychologist and counselor Jeanette Spires joins us today as a monthly guest blogger to talk about geographic representatives in college admission offices and why it's a good idea to get to know them. 
 

Who is your new best friend?

Let’s assume that applying to college is much like applying for a job. On the way to a position, you may be evaluated by everyone from the receptionist to the waiter in the company cafeteria. Overlooking this fact can sink your chances. In the same way, here is someone in your path to college who deserves your full attention -- your geographic representative in the admission office.

Colleges, especially private colleges, often organize admissions into geographic regions.  The geographic representative is often a person who adored college and wants to help you do the same.  This job has its ups and downs, up to and including carrying bags of pennants, mascots, pens and brochures down into the cafeteria, through the gym, or upstairs through the classroom hallways.  In large cities just finding a place to park can start the day off rather frantically. Popular schools may draw a crowd, but the reps from some great places students have never heard of may go through all this to speak with no one and end up with the same squeezy stress balls they came in with.  But these people MATTER.

Seniors: Get your Applications!

We're back! With our weekly reminders for seniors. Each week, we'll be providing information, checklist items and advice on applying to college -- testing, essays, deadlines, college visits, letters of recommendation and more.

First up? Seniors, get your applications.

Visit the websites of every college to which you will apply and find out what application form they support -- the college's own unique form, the Common Application, Universal College Application, or some other electronic application provider.

Download or obtain any university's unique forms (public universities often have their own forms) and if you are applying to schools that use the Common Application or another electronic provider, go ahead and register and create an account.

No need to complete the applications at this point. Just familiarize yourself with the forms and requirements, including deadlines and any supplemental material that you may need to submit. This way you will understand what is ahead of you and can begin to pull together the information required, as well as start budgeting your time accordingly.

The Balancing Act of Senior Year: A Checklist For Keeping on Track

John Carpenter is the author of  Going Geek: What Every Smart Kid (and Every Smart Parent) Should Know About College Admissions and a monthly guest blogger for us here at College Admission. Today, John looks at the balancing, juggling, ring of fire, joyous act that is senior year. Read on to learn how students can enjoy the beginning of senior year and, with a checklist in hand, seize the day.

 

Classes are going full steam ahead, you’re getting used to your new schedule, you’re discovering ideas and people you hadn’t noticed before--yep, you’re a senior.  You’re in your last year of high school.  Very cool.

 

The "Tyranny of Choice": Confronting the Wall of Colleges

We are delighted to welcome Will Dix as a monthly guest blogger. A former teacher and Amherst associate dean of admission, Dix is now Program Director at Chicago Scholars. Today, Will has some advice for students and parents as they contemplate the many -- too many? -- great options students have when choosing colleges.  And cautions against seeking just one to be your "Emerald City."

 

Once in a while at the grocery store I’m flummoxed by the varieties of toothpaste to choose from as I try to figure out which one is the best for me. Breath-freshening, whitening, plaque fighting, striped, mouthwash-containing? What do I really need? How are my gums this week? Should I get the whitening one even though it doesn’t have the mouthwash? What size? What brand? What permutation will give me perfect teeth? I start to feel queasy, realizing that any choice I make probably won’t be adequate, but also knowing that, really, it doesn’t matter: all toothpaste has fluoride, all of it will clean my teeth, and whether it’s minty cinnamon or cinnamon-y mint, it’s pretty much the same.

 

Rescue Lunches and Parents' Role in the College Admission Process

High school advisor Alice Kleeman joins us this month with a blog post sure to help parents envision their proper role in the college admission process. Cheerleading? Yes. Rescue lunches? No. Read on for more of her clear-eyed view of how parents can be most helpful to their sons and daughters during this time.

 

On my daily path between office and mail room, I always notice a long line of lunch bags, Sharpie-labeled with students’ names and often sporting the logo of one of the popular local delis. I walk past the lunch-bag display, conquering the urge to snitch a bag and munch on the potato chips therein, lost in thought about college admission once again.

 

What does the long line of lunch bags on the front counter each day have to do with applying to college? As I pass the festive bag spectacle, I can’t help but imagine an improbable scenario: Mom (or Dad) hopping on a plane to rescue Junior by delivering a forgotten item—granola bars? dental floss?—to the college residence hall!

 

Time, time, time... Advice on Squeezing it All into the College Application Years

If experience has taught me anything about these waning years of hands-on parenting it is that there is very much a time and a place for parents to help. The area where parents can do their kids the greatest service is in time management.  Even the most mature teens would be hard pressed to recognize at the outset the huge demands on their time as the wind through the final years of high school.  Our role, I believe is not to do things for them, but to help them envision the process, its demands and how they will squeeze it all into their busy lives.

Here are some suggestions to help them on their way:

1. Help your child plan out their academic life

Sit down with your 9th grader or 10th grader and their high school course catalogue and plan backward from 12th grade. Together, think about what they hope to accomplish academically over their high school years. Help them pick the most challenging classes they hope to take in the subject areas they enjoy. Have them look at the prerequisites for these classes and the paths they are going to take to reach their goals. Granted interests change and so do school schedules, but but kids with a plan have goals for themselves.

2. Ask your child to select one activity in which they will try to excel.

The Parenting Process

We are very excited about a new recurring feature here on the blog! We will be joined monthly by a group of parents who will blog about their reality of the college application process. They'll be bringing you their firsthand experience of the emotional highs and lows, insight into the coping strategies that have worked for them, and some foresight -- or 20-20 hindsight -- into what to expect, and how to appropriately help, during the course of a college admission journey.

We may not always completely agree with what our parent bloggers have to say when it comes to an individual piece of advice. Our book is a comprehensive guide and as such, speaks to students and families on both ends of the spectrum and everywhere in between -- from first-generation students or those from under resourced schools to those who have been groomed for college since birth. Our guest bloggers are writing from their particular experience. But we believe that parents are hungry for true stories of treading the college application track as a family and that hearing the experience of fellow travelers is always helpful in what can be a stressful time.

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