Blog Posts: September 2011
College Application Tips from an Admissions Expert
This Saturday, I had the pleasure of speaking as part of the Center for Student Opportunity's bookfair at the Barnes & Noble in Bethesda, Maryland. Yes, we were in front of the cookbooks, but we were actually talking about preparing for college.
The event's main speaker was Doris Davis, an educational consultant who formerly worked as part of the admissions teams at Cornell and Barnard. As an admissions insider, she provided valuable thoughts for the college students and parents in attendance. Among them:
- Consider the intangible. A student's strongest quality might be compassion. Think about how that could be turned into an application-worthy activity. For example, by volunteering with people or animals in need.
- Be honest in your college applications. Doris told of a student whose acceptance to Cornell was revoked when he indicated that he was a member of a racially underrepresented group but was not. On a recent Yale application, students had to answer a question about what they would do if they had an entirely free afternoon. The student who said "Sleep" curried favor with the judges, who admired the student's honesty. (That student did go on to explain why sleep was significant and beautiful; it wasn't a one-word essay.)
- Interpret essay questions creatively. One application asked students what historical moment they'd like to have witnessed. Many students took "historical" to mean textbook-worthy material, but one applicant wrote a beautiful essay about how she wished she could have seen her mother's reaction to her (the student's) birth. Why? The student was born in China under the one-child policy, in an atmosphere that strongly favored males. She wanted to see how her mother reacted to the news that she'd delivered a girl. Read Full Post.
Bookfair on Saturday in Bethesda, MD
I recently connected with the Center for Student Opportunity (and here's their Facebook page), a Maryland nonprofit with an admirable mission: "To empower underserved, first-generation college students to and through college by providing critical information, guidance, scholarships, and ongoing support."
This Saturday, I'll be speaking at CSO's bookfair at the Bethesda, MD, Barnes & Noble.
The timing:
2:05 - 2:45: "Gain an Edge in Planning for College" -- Doris Davis, educational consultant and former Associate Provost for Admission and Enrollment at Cornell University
2:45 - 3:05: "Take a Do-It-Yourself Approach to Your Child's Education" -- me
The bookfair runs all day, so please come by even if you're not free for the talks. 'I'll be around throughout the afternoon, so come say hello!