#collegeadmission

The Masters of your fate, the Captain of your universe.

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A lot of attention is paid to the college admissions process. And a lot of people spend a lot of time worrying about the essays on the college application.  But not a lot of time or attention is spent on the reader, the college admission officer: the master of your fate.

Who are they?

In the next couple of posts, I thought it make sense to talk about the archetypal college admissions officer. Understanding who the person is and isn't can really help you figure out what to write and how to deploy those precious 650 words.

 

 

 

When should you start your personal statement?

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Now! NO -- yesterday actually.  You're behind already! OK. Not really, but my point is that there is no point in waiting.  A good personal statement is going to be about something that helped you learn and grow as an individual.  While you'll continue to learn and grow throughout the fall of your senior year (even I am still growing -- mainly wider these days) you need time to process the events and experience.  So it's unlikely that you'll have enough distance from something that happens in October to write about in November or (erg) December. So start now.

The other thing about personal statements is that they take time.  The good ones do at least. It's very hard to throw together a great statement in a two or three drafts on a Saturday in December.  A good statement takes time.  You need to write it, and then get some distance form it, and return again.  It's labor intensive process that should help you learn about yourself and help you to develop as a writer.

So that means you should be starting now.

Call me Ismael -- or -- Call me, maybe?

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Call me Ismael. Call me, maybe? Each could be the mantra of this blog. Each a somewhat cautionary tale about the capricious nature of college admissions.  One a warning about the dangers of obsession; the other a fitting tale of an unrequited love interest who is ultimately not interested (through no fault of your own).

In many ways the two lines tell you a lot about the current reality of the college admissions.  Given our work, we are intimately involved in this world.  So I thought it might be interesting -- err, fun -- to write about various topics and questions that we see.  Besides who doesn't love to procrastinate a little?

Feel free to post comments about your thoughts and comments.  And feel free to suggest  topics you'd be interested in reading, or message us directly at our company name at gmail.

 -Mark