The Pilgrim College Guidance Blog
News, trends, insights, and the occasional self-indulgent fluff piece
Photo credit: Jen Jordan Photography
Not A Normal Year
There’s something about the first week of school that never gets old. After a summer of personal transition and relative idleness, being around the energy of students again is a nice change of pace, even as application season looms. College admissions also never seems to get old, but for very different reasons. For such a cyclical process, no two years are ever alike. I’m not sure what a “normal year” would even feel like, but it’s definitely not this year. There are major changes that were announced a while ago, and a few that are more recent developments. Here are a few I’d like to highlight.
Reflections on the Supreme Court’s Ruling on Affirmative Action
When the Supreme Court released their decision to prohibit the consideration of race in the college admission process a few weeks ago, it came as no surprise. And yet, I felt a sense of disappointment for my field and I know many others have publicly shared the same sentiment. I’m going to try to keep this post relatively brief, and maybe even objective, as I’m still processing and reading articles, but there have been a lot of conversations taking place about the future of college admissions. I don’t want to get into the political or even legal aspect of this decision, as neither are my areas of expertise. I do know college admissions though, so I’ll keep the focus on that.
My Favorite Supplemental College Essay Topics This Year
I’ve read so many college essays and supplements over the years, and occasionally I like to look at things from the college’s perspective. You can often learn about a college’s values through their supplements. And since we’re at the end of the calendar year, I figured I would have some fun reflecting on what colleges have asked students to write about. Below are my top ten favorite supplemental college essay topics for this application cycle. Some of these prompts have been used for years and others are brand new, but collectively, they give insight into what matters to a college.
How to Answer the Community Essay
As stated previously in my Admissions Squid Game post, I’d like to briefly address the popular “community” short answer question. The premise seems simple enough. You are a unique person who will join a diverse community. What would you contribute to it?
How I Used to Read College Essays (as an admissions officer)
In my past life, long before my current gig, I was an undergraduate admission counselor at the University of Southern California. My gatekeeper status occasionally made me popular at parties, but more than anything else, I enjoyed being part of a very human process. Reading applications all day mostly entailed assessing the academic and overall fit of an applicant, but it was also an opportunity to read stories, often told through college essays. There are enough “how to” guides on writing the college essay (here’s one of my favorites) and even examples of “essays that worked.” I didn’t want to add yet another cook to the kitchen as rising high school seniors have hopefully started working on their essays at this point. So I’m going with perspective > instructive. I’m putting my admissions hat back on. With no particular advice in mind, please indulge me as I reflect on how I used to read college essays as an admission officer.
What Should High School Juniors Be Doing Right Now? – Spring Edition
I’ve always considered February to be a transition month. When I was a school college counselor, I would see symptoms of senioritis start to kick in as the juniors would begin their annual annexation of my office. It was always a fun time of year as the excitement of a new class would begin to manifest itself. February is kind of my September. But to juniors, this is still the middle of their overhyped yet still important year. I want to revisit a fall blog post about what I said high juniors should be doing. In this spring edition, you’ll see that many of the fall tasks have extended to the spring, but now we’re getting to the real work.
“And Why?” How to Approach the “Why our school?” Question
The question itself shouldn’t surprise you. Why ARE you applying to that school? To anyone who has applied Early Decision already, the answer(s) to this question probably came easily to you because you were writing about your top choice. For the rest of your schools, and for anyone else who hasn’t applied anywhere yet, it may not be such an easy question to answer. Maybe it’s the audience? That would be a fair point. The readers are the ones who will decide your admissions fate after all. But if you are applying to the right schools, this is a question that should be embraced, not feared.
What to do Before Starting the Common Application
As many of you know, the Common Application goes live on August 1st. It isn’t exactly Christmas morning, is it? …If the thought of filling out applications feels way too early, which is understandable considering you’re still on summer break, there are a few other things you can do in instead.