The Pilgrim College Guidance Blog
News, trends, insights, and the occasional self-indulgent fluff piece
Photo credit: Jen Jordan Photography
I Guess I Can Live in Atlanta—Reflections on Three Atlanta Colleges
I still love visiting colleges. It somehow makes me feel young and old at the same time, but it’s just so important in my work that I see college students in their element. So much of what I discuss with my students is theoretical, but whenever I’m on a college campus, I see theory in practice. I started writing this post at a coffee shop in Decatur, Georgia, just outside of Agnes Scott College. I traveled to Atlanta for a conference and stuck around for a few extra days to visit Georgia Tech, Emory University, and Agnes Scott—three very different schools. I have some thoughts about each school and overall impressions of Atlanta.
Shouldn’t All Colleges Change Lives? Creating Your College List
I’m a huge fan of the Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL). If you aren’t familiar, these colleges are usually non-household names, but their smaller environments allow for a more intimate college experience. Their relatively higher admit rates belie the quality of education students receive. So why aren’t they more popular? I suppose there are just so many options out there that considering colleges with more of a regional appeal might be a stretch. I bring this up because all colleges change lives to some degree. The college experience coincides with a formative time in a young adult’s life and of course, there’s the value of the college degree itself. However, the significance of college seems to have been overlooked or at least underdiscussed over the last few years as the admissions landscape has become what it is. The life-changing aspect of college has been overshadowed by application numbers and the strategic element of the application process.
Q & A With Sean Kim, Freshman at Amherst College
In my previous life, Sean Kim was a student of mine who successfully navigated through the COVID application year and is now a first-year student at Amherst College. After finishing his first semester, he was nice enough to share some insight regarding the application process and college experience.
“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.