Dear Friend,
It has been a joy to have my daughter, Natalie, home from college over fall break. It's tough having my kids so far away from home - actually one on each coast. But it is worth the sacrifice to see her glowing smile as she shares all she is learning and doing at her dream school.
I am amazed and humbled at what God is doing in her life and am so very glad we went through the headaches of applying to top schools. She is stretched by her world-class professors as well as her many friends in the outstanding student body. Every day is a new adventure. You know, it just doesn't get any better than that!
Blessings,
Jeannette
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Feature Article: Telling our Story to Colleges
Through the years as I've worked with students, I never fail to be amazed at what wonderful people they are. They are each so unique and have done interesting things. Yet, as I look over the list of activities they initially send to me or read their first essay, nothing appears to be distinctive about them. I see little to separate them from the other thousands of young people with good grades and big dreams.
It's not a problem with the kids, it's a problem with the way they have presented their information to me. The activities are just a jumble of information that is not very clear and the essay is a shallow attempt to be clever that tells me nothing about the student at all. The problem is they have not done a good job of sharing their story.
Let's look at it from an admission officer's viewpoint. Test scores and grades convey important, but very narrow information. Any top college could probably fill their entering class several times over with applicants whose scores and grades are equal to or better than your children's. So they seek, through the rest of the application, to get to know the student. What is it that sets your child apart and makes them a good candidate for admission? What about them will help the admissions officer select them to build a well-rounded class?
Telling our Story - This is where telling our story becomes very important. The burden of proof rests on our children to fully explain themselves to harried and fatigued admissions officer through the various components of the college application.
To do this, we must carefully choose a few main ideas about them and communicate them fully. So, before writing essays, filling in the blanks on applications, asking for letters of recommendation, or interview, our student needs to do some thinking.
Background - What is your background? Is it unusual? Why are you the way you are? How has it forged you into the person you are today?
Unusual circumstances - Are there unusual circumstances in your life? Do you homeschool in an isolated location and have few financial resources? Have you been responsible for caring for your elderly grandmother (and as a result not had time to pursue many extracurricular activities)? Has your parent had major health problems that have caused a re-focusing of your energies?
Passions - What are you passionate about? Do you build cars or computers? Do you compose music in the wee hours of the morning? Do you volunteer at the homeless shelter every chance you get? Do you get an adrenaline rush organizing huge events and plugging others into the leadership structure? Has your poetry been published?
Goals - What are your goals or what do you dream of accomplishing? Do you want to be a doctor in the African wasteland? Do you want to be a film director or a college professor? Does it thrill you to work in a lab searching for the cure to cancer?
Extracurricular Activities - Then take a look at your activities. What have you contributed? What have you learned? What leadership roles have you played? What things have you created?
Work Experience - Hopefully, you've had work experience. What were your job responsibilities? How many hours a week did you work and what did you use the money for? What did you learn? Did you have any unusual jobs?
Atypical jobs can help you stand out in an admission officer's mind. For example, my son had worked as a ring master for an auction house. He also managed the fruit and vegetable production, helped care for a 75-head cow herd, and maintained 8 miles of fence and ¾ mile of irrigation pipe on a 325 acre farm and ranch. You can bet that Harvard didn't have many other math geeks that fit that profile.
Distilling our Talking Points - Now we need to take all we've gleaned from the above questions and figure out what is unique about our student and how we want to convey that to the schools. We also want to show what he can contribute to the college. Our students need to be able to communicate this well in both written and verbal format.
I train my clients to have those three or four topics always at the forefront of their minds and to make sure they communicate those points in all phases of the application:
It is quite a bit of work, but eventually we get to the talking points that will set the student apart. It is so rewarding to capture the student's uniqueness in a story that fully conveys what makes them tick.
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Did YouKnow?: Early Decision vs. Early Action
These terms confuse many, but it is important to understand the huge difference between them. Both are used by admissions officers to determine a student's interest in attending their school. They know if you select one of these that their school is at the top of your list. After all, they want students who will actually matriculate if they are selected.
Early Decision is offered by some private colleges to students that are sure of their first-choice college. These students apply to the school under a binding contract early in the fall. The deadline is usually early November and they are notified several months later of the decision. If admitted, they are legally obligated to attend and must withdraw their application from other institutions. Applying Early Decision greatly improves your chances of acceptance since many school fill huge chunks of their freshman classes with Early Decision applicants. However, you must attend, regardless of the financial package they offer you. This makes it impossible for some families who must compare their options and choose the most financially feasible.
Early Action also allows the student to apply early and be notified early. The difference is that it is not a binding contract. Families are free to compare financial aid offers and accept the best one.
Be aware that schools have different policies regarding applying Early Action or Early Decision to other colleges at the same time you apply to their school. Some will let you, others won't. Be sure to check this out before applying early to any school.
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Tip: Facebook Caution
Many students today are trying to game the system by friending their college admissions counselor on facebook. Don't. Most schools will not allow the practice and you risk really irritating an overworked counselor.
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Coming Soon!
Many of you have been asking for this and I'm thrilled to announce that within the next few weeks our first book will be available on our new website. Called to Influence: A New Approach to Life, Education, and College Admissions contains four years of our columns from Practical Homeschooling magazine. Watch for it!
Also if you've missed past editions of Training for Excellence, we will be posting the archives on our web site!
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About Us
Jeannette Webb is the founder of Aiming Higher Consultants, a firm dedicated to helping Christian students gain admission to great colleges. She has a heart for assisting parents as they train their children for excellence. Jeannette works to empower families to make thoughtful choices for their younger children, to confidently navigate the difficult high school years, and then ace the college admissions process.
If you liked today's issue, you'll love her personalized consulting services that help you map out a holistic plan for your student.
While Jeannette is best known for her clear-sighted counseling, her clients feel that her biggest gift to their family was permission to be themselves.
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