College Application Secrets
Establish a Common Bond with Your Interviewer
We spend so much time helping our students with
interviewing techniques that we have a brief list of
tips to help those who face interviews this summer:
1. Don’t be afraid to focus in and expand upon a subject
that interests you. You do not have to cover EVERYTHING
as the admissions office will also have your complete file
when they read your application. That’s why it’s OK to
spend 20 minutes talking about your love of Greek and
Latin, especially if your interviewer happens to share that love.
If you find a common bond, follow up! There are no rules to what
must be covered.
2. Look the interviewer in the eye — it’s off-putting to stare
down at your feet.
3. Make sure you have substantive questions, not just typical
questions you could find the answers to in the view book or web
site. If the interviewer attended the school, ask pointed
questions about what he or she liked or didn’t like about the
school.
4. After the interview, write a brief thank you note (hand
written is best) and try to mention something specific that you
talked about so they remember who you are.
5. Make sure you do your research about the school BEFORE the
interview so you’re not caught asking embarrassing questions
about a program that doesn’t exist or a major that is no longer a
real program.
6. Students tend to overcompensate for how they think they should
dress for an on-campus or alumni interview and end up looking
like they are going to the prom. Others who don’t want to look
concerned about how to dress end up looking like hobos. Part of
how to dress of course depends on who you are and how you
normally dress. If we had to make the most general suggestion,
we’d suggest dressing only a standard deviation or so up or down
from how you normally dress unless you are very far from the
“normal” spectrum. If you are too dressed up (dresses for girls,
suits and ties for boys) it looks like you went way out of your
way and that draws unnecessary attention to yourself. Unless you
go to school dressed that way, avoid it. On the other hand, you
don’t want to wear ripped jeans, a tongue ring, dyed hair and
tattoos unless you really want your dress to make a statement for
you. Either extreme ends up detracting from what you actually
have to say.
You don’t have to be a boring conservative, but you
shouldn’t be ultra casual either. For boys, usually either
khaki-type pants and a neat shirt (polos are fine or collared
shirts if you feel more comfortable) with some clean shoes are
appropriate for any interview. Some sneakers might pass, but hey,
try shoes which look better with pants! Boys can also wear clean
and neat jeans instead of chino-style pants if that’s closer to
their normal style of dress (but keep the shoes). Girls have a
wider variety of options. You do not have to look “dressed up.”
Any slacks and shirt works, or a skirt and blouse if you like
that type of clothing. When in doubt, go for neat and aim to fly
under the radar. In the interview, your words should speak for
you without your clothing interfering too much in any one
direction!
If you are meeting someone for an alumni interview at an office,
however, dress accordingly. So, if you are going to a fancy law
firm, a jacket and tie might be appropriate. If, however, you
are meeting the person at Starbucks, ditch the jacket and tie.
Harvard Hampers Admissions at All Top Colleges
On May 27, 2010, The Huffington Post published Michele’s article on Harvard’s role in the college admissions frenzy. Their elimination of an early admission program two years ago sent a ripple effect through the entire admissions system. Read the article here to learn more, and make sure to pass it along to friends and family!
Do Your Research
Once you’ve finished doing your taxes, you can turn your
attention to more important matters…like your children’s
education! For those of you with current juniors, this means
encouraging a strong finish this year, pushing grades up,
planning for a testing schedule that allows for all tests to be
completed before leaving for summer vacation, and doing
research on appropriate colleges.
Sign up NOW for our Application Boot Camp® 2010 as we
have a few spots left in each session to help with ALL of the
aspects of the application process!
DO YOUR RESEARCH
We can’t tell you how many times kids report to us that they want
to go to Harvard, Yale, Princeton, Dartmouth, etc… but when we
ask them why, they have no good reason. Now that you have to give
up the early round to “wait” for Harvard or Princeton, it’s key
to have a specific reason. Colleges want to know why you are
applying—are you impressed by their world-famous chemistry
program? The well-known English department? The art history
department with a specialty in Renaissance art?
Oftentimes students with particular interests do themselves a
great disservice by not bothering to check if the schools on their list
match their own academic interest. For example, if you like
ancient languages, you’d want to apply to a school that at least
offered classes in Latin, Greek, Aramaic, Sanskrit and the like.
You may find that schools that you’d barely considered before end
up being top in the country in particular areas. How can you
check? First, it’s often helpful to consult the graduate rankings
in a publication like US News and World Report, although keep in
mind that sometimes graduate programs and faculty are separate
from the undergraduate, sometimes shared. Once you have that list,
comb the web sites, course guides and published information from
colleges to see if they are strong in your area(s) of interest.
You should also pick up a copy of Rugg’s Recommendations On the
Colleges. Finally, call the school or visit and speak to professors, visit
the library, check out the holdings—in short, make an informed
decision about where you are applying and why.
Also, bear in mind that if you state a reason for applying to a
school, it should be an academic reason. Unless a particular
school has an extracurricular program that is truly unique (and,
ideally, ties in to an academic interest), the school is going to
care far more about what you want to study than about the
backpacking trips you want to lead and the underprivileged
children you want to tutor. Those are all great things, but
clubs, community service programs, and intramural sports are
available at almost every college these days.
COLLEGE APPLICATION ESSAY GUIDANCE
After you have done your research and have compiled a list of schools,
begin working on your applications. Focus your main essay
on an area of academic interest, and end your essay for each
application differently with a specific “why” paragraph
pertaining to what you learned in your research and why that
school would be the best fit for you academically. Enter our Lead
Editor, Josh Stephens. Josh has worked with Application Boot
Camp® for six years, helping students craft the perfect essays to
complement their applications and really show why you belong at
your top choice school.
Click here to sign up for Josh’s five hour essay package!
Don’t wait as Josh’s packages fill up quickly!
“Thank you for recommending Josh. He is absolutely outstanding
and a terrific asset to your team. I would recommend him to anyone
without reservation. I was somewhat skeptical at first since the
communication between Josh and Jake has been entirely via the
Internet. However, Josh exceeded any of my expectations for
responsiveness, creativity and providing practical recommendations.
One of more significant results is that with Josh’s advice Jake has
become more confident and the quality of his essays have improved
considerably.”
— Peter S. (Father)
TESTING TIPS
Top tips for maximizing your efforts on the upcoming spring AP tests.
1. Create your own marking system in order to pace yourself. You
should spend, at most, 30 seconds examining each question. After
the much time, you should either select the correct answer, or
mark the question with a “Y” or an “N” – questions marked with a
Y are questions that you know how to solve, but that you need
more time to work on. Questions marked with a N are questions
that you do not know how to solve, and should only be revisited
if you have time later on. Doing this will make sure that you
stay on pace and get a much better feel for the entire test.
2. Points are deducted for incorrect answers – therefore, never
guess unless you can eliminate at least 2 choices. However, once
you have eliminated two choices, it’s always statistically
correct to guess. If you can ever manage to eliminate a few
wrong answers, always play the odds and take a crack at the
answer.
3. Relax the night before the exam. The AP isn’t something you
can cram for – it tests knowledge that you’ve accumulated over
the course of an entire year (or longer). The night before the
exam, turn your brain off – watch TV with your buddies, get a big
meal, and go to sleep really early. Nothing will hurt your
performance more than staying up late the night before the exam
studying material. Conversely, no amount of studying can make up
for a great night’s sleep.
4. On the essay portion, only write as much as you have to say.
The essays on AP exams are graded only for their structure and
content – there are no bonuses for length. Make sure to write a
concise, well-crafted argument with an introduction, a supporting
body, and a conclusion. If you ever find yourself writing for
writing’s sake, stop – a short, clear essay is much better than a
long, rambling treatise on your topic.
5. Make sure to submit your scores to your college! Assuming
that you do well, you want to make sure that you get your results
to your future school so that you can get credit for taking the
exam. Find the submission deadlines for your particular school
and make sure to meet them – the credits you gain from your AP
exams might allow you to take more electives when you get to
college.
We Love Success Stories!
Throughout the year—especially now, around admissions time—we get emails and calls from families for whom our products and services have worked to get students into the college of their dreams. We love to hear these success stories! We got this email a few days ago, and we think it serves as a good reminder that we have information out there for everybody. This family didn’t come to our Boot Camp® session or purchase a tutoring service, but got our books and subscribed to our weekly newsletter…and their daughter got into her top choice, Dartmouth!
You and I corresponded a few times last year about my daughter and her interest in applying to Dartmouth and other Ivy League schools. You were very informative and I wish that she could have taken advantage of all the boot camp offers. I did not have the resources to send her to the boot camp, but I would have saved for it had I known about it previously. I was able to read two of your books and a couple others that you reference in your writing, and I had my daughter subscribe to your news letter.
Needless to say, your books were worth every penny and provided much insight into the process of applying to top schools. What a tremendous wealth of information the news letter is, too. [My daughter] mapped out her application strategy after reading your material, and was able to attend some campus fly-outs that helped her sort out her intentions and desires.
In the ED round she was accepted at several safeties that ended up offering big scholarship amounts. In the RD round, she was accepted at Dartmouth! We are very happy for her and I just wanted to let you know that you have another success story out here – although not a boot camper. I know that your website, books, and news letter helped us a lot. I promise you that we will encourage people that speak to us about our path to Dartmouth to become familiar with you and your products. Had I known about you earlier, we would have saved to be in a position to take advantage of the boot camp and I think it would have reduced our stress quite a bit. (At least we could have stressed out about something else.)
We thank this father for sending us his daughter’s success story. Congratulations! We are so happy to be a part of so many families’ lives at this exciting time.
Do Extras Matter?
This week we talk about extracurricular activities. You may
remember our newsletter from a few weeks ago about finding your
niche. Let this guide your extracurricular activities as well.
Schools won’t care if you are a member of 10 different clubs.
They will be far more impressed if you are the leader of one or
two activities that have a meaningful impact and are focused on
your intended area of study. Future political scientist? Show
your interest by being a leader in student government and Model
UN, and volunteer for a local political campaign. Aspiring
writer? Work your way to being editor of your school newspaper or
publication, participate in prestigious writing contests, and
start a blog showcasing your work. If you are in the middle range
for a school, these things will go a LONG way to helping you get
in.
Do Extras Matter?
Extracurricular activities DO matter—but only when academics are
strong. On the 1-9 scale, if you’re only a 1-4, that means that
your academics are low enough that extracurriculars won’t make up
for them. On the other hand, if you’re an academic 8-9, college
admissions officers won’t care as much about extras since your
academics are so strong. It’s for the middle range of students
that extracurriculars and leadership really matter. Just remember,
academics are always 75% or more of the decision; once you’re in
the range, THEN extras come into play. To say it another way,
incredible extras won’t make up for mediocre performance.
So, whether you are a rare coin collector, founder of your
school’s history club, tuba player, or editor of the newspaper,
your activities alone won’t get you into a top college. It is
better, however, for you to be a leader in a few activities and
distinguish yourself with a high level of participation in a
particular area rather than be a member of tons of clubs with no
discernable passion for one area. Show a genuine commitment
rather than just signing up at random for a lot of things. In
general, an activity such as debate would be better than simply
attending a year book staff meeting once every few months.
ULTIMATE GUIDE TO TOP HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER PROGRAMS
Showcase your interests by getting more involved! Spend a summer
taking a college-level course, working in a hospital research
center, or producing your own movies. We have the only
comprehensive guide of summer programs for high school students.
Click here to get yours today!
Private vs. Public High School
Many parents ask us if, for college admissions purposes, it’s
better to attend a well known private school versus a public
school. The key to this question is, “for college admissions
purposes.” The truth is, parents should not make any decisions
based purely on college admissions odds – that’s the wrong
way to address a crucial choice that involves far more variables
than simply college admissions. One valid reason to send your son
or daughter to private school is if you want him or her to have
smaller classes, specific classes not offered at your particular
public school, a different social environment, athletic
opportunities not found at your local school, etc. The worst
reason to send a student is in the vain hope of bettering college
admissions odds. Most of the Ivies admit roughly 25% of their
populations from private schools and roughly 65-70% from public
(the rest from parochial or home-schooled), but that merely
reflects the fact that more kids from public school apply —
again, the acceptance rates are usually about equal.
Even a student who is No. 1 in a top public school will not be
accepted to top colleges if he or she has low scores on the SAT
and SAT Subject Tests. Another thing to consider is the
competition: at top private schools like Andover and Exeter, only
the top students get into the very top colleges. It’s actually
harder to be in the top 5-10% of the class at a place where
almost everyone is qualified versus a big public school with some
“dead weight.” In short, you should make this decision based on
the options, comfort level, course offerings, sports and
specialty offerings for your child rather than trying to outwit
college admissions officers who will not be impressed just by a
big name private school.
Most importantly, students will perform better — and be
happier — at a school where they feel most comfortable. If a
student truly loves Andover, and the family believes that the
expense is warranted, then Andover is the right choice. If the
local public school has great teachers, neighborhood friends, a
full line up of AP courses, and a safe environment, then it may
be worth more to a student than any of the famous prep schools.
Happy New Year — Now Think About Summer!
It’s hard to think about summer as you celebrate a bright new
year! But, we want you to shift your focus as the best summers
take planning.
As you probably know by now, the Common Application has added a
new category called WORK EXPERIENCE with five or so lines of
description. Getting a job is as important today to admissions
officers as community service was ten years ago.
Many well-heeled and well-intentioned parents are convinced that
it would benefit their children to talk to someone who could
arrange an unusual or prestigious internship for summer. Their
goal is to pull in a favor or two to acquire fancy internships
for their kids. Colleges are not stupid and can usually figure
out that someone pulled a string — otherwise, how could a normal
16-year-old with virtually no qualifications end up working in a
high-profile law firm or an investment bank? In fact, having this
kind of internship often backfires because colleges then hold it
against the student because he/she obviously couldn’t find
his/her own job or meaningful experience without adult help.
Colleges look for students who create opportunities for
themselves, not simply those who have things handed to them on a
silver platter. With that in mind, here are some ideas for
summer:
- Take classes at a local community college or school to deepen
your interest in a particular scholarly area.
- Pursue an activity or hobby on your own to take it to a
higher level.
- Get a real job — try bussing tables, pouring coffee, bagging
groceries — show that you can handle responsibility.
- Do some serious reading and keep track of what you read –
some colleges ASK what you’ve read lately.
- Investigate in detail specific departments and programs in
colleges you are interested in so you can provide real evidence
as to why you are interested in X school.
- Do not sign up for a high priced program that sends you
complimentary mailings about how you’ve been “selected.” - If you are a top level athlete, sign up for elite sports
camps where college coaches will be recruiting attendees.
Top 75 College Admissions Blogs
Anna Miller of OnlineDegree.net recently published a list of the 75 best college blogs on the internet and has included our Application Boot Camp blog on her list! [Read more]
More Early Decision Details
Most college early deadlines are coming up in a few days:
November 1, although a few are still November 15—you have to
check. Don’t worry though—as long as you postmark your
application by November 1, it will not be late. [Read more]
Legacy Status
We are often asked about the power of legacy status for an applicant. “If my mom went to College X does it increase my odds of being admitted to College X?” The answer may surprise you – not necessarily. Yes, your parent having gone to the college to which you are applying might carry weight, but check with each school. Some colleges only count legacy for their early decision applicants. Some schools such as California Institute of Technology, Texas A&M, and Cooper Union never give legacies an advantage. Pick up the phone and call the admissions office at College X and ask the question if you can’t find details in their materials. [Read more]
Congratulations Everyone!
Michele’s students had record breaking acceptances in the early round of college admissions results for the Class of 2014.
Learn More...
Ivy League Admissions Statistics
Our exclusive data on the Class of 2014 Ivy League Admissions statistics, now updated for Early Action and Early Admissions for the class entering 2010. See exactly how many students applied and how many were accepted to different schools.
Learn More...
Michele Talks About College Admissions on Good Morning America
View Michele's appearance on Good Morning America with George Stephanopolous and read the ABC News article, Battle College Acceptance Anxiety With These Tips, that features advice from Michele.
View all television interviews or learn more about Michele's appearances in the media.
Blog Topics
Find college application and testing help by browsing our stories by topic:
- Academic Index
- ACT
- College Application Secrets
- Colleges
- Essays
- Home Page Items
- Insider Tips
- Ivy Admissions
- SAT
- Standardized Testing
Academic Index Calculator
Since the 1950's, Ivy League schools have used the Academic Index, a ranking formula, to evaluate students. Find out how you rank according to the Academic Index.
Learn More...
Become an Affiliate
You can become an affiliate and sell our Application Boot Camp® products and services.
Learn More...