College application essays matter. Now more than ever. And they will matter in the 2023-24 cycle. Now that “test-optional” and “test blind” (the entire University of California system) are the default for most of the country’s most selective institutions, applications have spiked. That means acceptance rates have plummeted, and the admissions landscape is more unpredictable Continue Reading »
As an essay coach, I’m often asked, “What’s the Common App essay timetable? When should my kid start writing The Essay?” I’m so glad you asked! It’s not as easy an answer as “the 4th of July”– though that CAN be a good time to start. The Common App Essay, AKA the Personal Statement, is Continue Reading »
You: “What makes a great Common App essay?” Me: “It’s wide open. Colleges want to know who you are. What drives you, makes you tick, gets you revved up.” Striving for the excellent Common App essay — or the Best Common App essay — has become a national pursuit. So when parents and students get Continue Reading »
Last night’s explosion of Ivy League acceptances left tens of thousands of students and their families a mix of happy, devastated, and in many cases really confused about what to do next if they ended up on waiting lists for coveted colleges. Acceptances and rejections are straightforward, but what about these many lists? Is there Continue Reading »
I was recently asked what a mother should tell her very sensitive son if he’s rejected at his first choice college when decisions come out next week. She was talking about one of the most selective colleges in the country, where only about 7% of the applicants are admitted. Aside from offering your child tea Continue Reading »
Shoot me an email and I’ll send you a Word Doc with the Common App prompts, the Coalition, U California, U Texas, MIT, and about 35 college’s supplements. P.S. Princeton STILL hasn’t finalized their supplements! ElizabethBenedictOK@gmail.com
Reading a new testimonial and one sent to me five years ago that I somehow forgot to post (how did that happen?!), I have been thinking about what it is I do when I work with people. Students come to me with their talents, their accomplishments, and their stories. They know what their accomplishments are Continue Reading »
I don’t need to tell anyone reading this post that this is a spring for high school juniors unlike any other. Instead of being in school, you’re home, taking classes online. Instead of playing sports, maybe you’re playing ping pong with your siblings. Instead of visiting with your friends, you’re … well, wondering how long Continue Reading »
In these uncertain days of The Virus, every bit of good news is magnified by ten or maybe by 100. So I’m especially excited to share this year’s news from my clients about where they’ve been accepted. This year, clients got in early action/early decision to Harvard, MIT, Tufts, and Notre Dame, and regular decision Continue Reading »
For a student whose recent life has been rocked by tragedy and high drama, a little more drama has just come his way. From The Hill this morning: “A survivor of the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School shooting said Monday that Harvard University has rescinded his acceptance after recently surfaced screenshots showed him using racial Continue Reading »
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