The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

This week, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) is joined by Ayesha King (Director of College Counseling at the International School of Los Angeles) to talk about letters of recommendation. They get into: Ayesha King (she/her) has over twelve years of experience in admissions at the secondary, undergraduate, and postgraduate levels, developing her values of social justice, equity and access. She is currently the Director of College Counseling at the International School of Los Angeles (LILA), a French International school, where she is stretching her skills working with students considering post-secondary options all over the world. She holds her Bachelors degree from the University of Redlands and her Masters degree from California Lutheran University. Ayesha loves spending time with her two boys and two dogs, visiting Disneyland, and talking about pop culture. This is the next episode in our series on What Colleges Want. Stay tuned for our upcoming episode about writing letters of recommendation for teachers and counselors. Tom will be joined by Hanah Lim (CEG’s Director of Workshops and a former high school English teacher), where they provide their tips, tricks, and hacks to help you write more efficient and effective letters for your students. Play-by-Play Resources How to Ask for a Letter of Recommendation for College: Step-by-Step Guide for Students CollegeTransitions Blog Post Podcast Ep. 505 How to Write a Successful Common App Activities List How to Use the Common App Additional Information Section: Guide + Examples 100 Brave + Interesting QuestionsPedro Pascal Cries From His Head While Eating Spicy Wings

On today’s episode, Ethan is joined by Christine Bowman, Assistant VP for Admission at Southwestern University. In part 6 in our series on What Colleges Want, Ethan and Christine get into: Christine Bowman is the Assistant VP for Admission at Southwestern, where she oversees the admission department to set enrollment and retention philosophies. She has a Masters in Higher Ed Administration from UT-Austin, was the Co-Chair for the 2007 NACAC National Conference in and has served two terms as the Chair of the Colleges that Change Lives Board of Directors (see last season’s episode with Ann Marano for more on CTCL’s work). She currently serves on the advisory board of ROCA-NM (Rural Opportunities for College Access) and, with almost 30 years of experience in the admission profession, Christine believes in guiding students to find the right college fit and regularly gives presentations encouraging a stress-free college search process. We hope you enjoy the conversation! Play-by-Play Resources A Behind the Scenes Look at Demonstrated Interest w/Christine Bowman (Southwestern University) What is Demonstrated Interest? A Practical How-To GuideFactors in the Admission Decision (NACAC Report) How to Decide Whether to Apply Early Action (EA) or Early Decision (ED)College Interview Tips and Strategies - The Ultimate Guide CEG Podcast Episode 411:

On this week’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) sits down with Ethan Sawyer (College Essay Guy) for Part 5 in our What Colleges Want series to talk about some of the other written parts of the application—the activities list, additional information section, and supplemental essays. Tom and Ethan get into: Fun fact: You’ll find the YouTube video version of this podcast on the College Essay Guy YouTube channel. Play-by-Play Resources How to Write a Successful Common App Activities List How to Use the Common App Additional Information Section: Guide + Examples My College List (Research + Essay Topic Tracker)School-Specific Supplemental EssaysWhy This College Essay Guide + ExamplesHow to Combine Your College Essay Prompts (To Save 20+ Writing Hours) What the Heck are "Hooks" and "Institutional Priorities"?The Values Exercise Life As an Undocumented Student at Harvard What Colleges Want (Part 4): A Crash Course in the Personal Statement with Ethan Sawyer (College Essay Guy)

On this week’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) sits down with Ethan Sawyer (College Essay Guy) for Part 4 in our What Colleges Want series to talk about the personal statement. According to the latest State of College Admission report – after grades, course rigor, and positive character traits (see previous episodes), the college essay is what colleges care about most. Tom and Ethan get into: Fun fact: You’ll find the YouTube video version of this podcast on the College Essay Guy YouTube channel. Play-by-Play Resources YouTube Video version of this episode (504)Sample personal statements7 Brainstorming Exercises (YouTube video)The “Food” essay (YouTube video analysis)The Great College Essay TestWhy You Don’t Have to Write about Trauma in Your College Essay to Stand Out—and What You Can Do InsteadMatchlighters Informaiton Race-Conscious Admission Was Struck Down—What Does This Mean and What Can Students and College Counselors Do?Is It “Okay” to Talk About Race in Your College Application and Essays—And If So, How Should You Do It?

In today’s two-part episode, we’re delving into one of the potentially more confusing aspects of what colleges want — “positive character attributes” — which 65.8% of colleges give considerable or moderate importance. In part 1, I’m joined by Tom Bear (VP for Enrollment at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) and Bob Massa (former chief admissions/enrollment officer at Johns Hopkins University, Dickinson College and Drew University) to discuss: Part 2 is with Trisha Ross Anderson, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Making Caring Common Project, and we get into: Tom Bear has been working in college enrollment since 1987 at a variety of institutions, including as VP for Enrollment at University of Evansville, Senior Director of Enrollment at Notre Dame and now as the VP for Enrollment at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He joined the Character Collaborative in 2017, served as Board Chair and will chair NACAC’s Character Focus Initiative. Bob Massa got his Doctorate in Higher Education from Columbia, served as the chief admissions/enrollment officer at Johns Hopkins University, Dickinson College and Drew University and Co- founded the Character Collaborative in 2016. Although he has retired from full-time work after 45 years of campus-based work, he is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California’s online masters program in enrollment management. Trisha Ross Anderson has served on research teams at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for the past 13 years. She’s worked with the Making Caring Common (MCC) Project to help write reports including one called Turning the Tide that focuses on reform of the college admission process. She leads MCC’s college admissions initiatives with Richard Weissbourd and currently serves on NACAC’s Character Focus Initiative Advisory Council. Play-by-Play Resources Making Caring Common Character Assessment in College Admission Guide Turning the Tide (2016) Turning the Tide II (2019)How (and Why) to Uplevel Your School Profile Post-SCOTUS: A Guide for Counselors that Predominantly Serve First Generation, Low-Income and/or Underrepresented Students of Color How to Research Colleges Without Visiting a CampusHow to Choose a College: A Step-By-Step Guide How to Use the Common App Additional Information Section: Guide + Examples Ideas from Ethan for finding what you care about + finding content for your application: Values Exercise If you really, really knew me…

On today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) and Nitzya Cuevas-Macias (Director of College Programs at Downtown College Prep) cover: Nitzya Cuevas-Macias was a first-gen college student at UC Berkeley where she studied History and Legal Studies, and earned her Master’s in Mexican American Studies from San José State. She’s been working in education for 16 years where the majority of her time has been in college access and success, in the CBO, non-profit world, k-12 public and charter, and community college. Currently, she is the Director of College Programs at Downtown College Prep, a free public charter in San José, CA and serves as a board member of the Western Association for College Admission Counseling. We hope you enjoy! Play-by-Play: Resources: CourseraUC ScoutEpisode 403Episode 213What are AP classes?IB vs APEasiest AP ClassesHardest AP Classes

Show Notes On today's episode, Ethan sits down with David Hawkins, Chief Education and Policy Officer at National Association of College Admission Counselors (aka NACAC), and they get discuss, among other things: For over 20 years, David Hawkins has worked in enrollment management and admissions to alleviate systemic barriers to accessing higher education. Hawkins has played a key role in setting NACAC's strategic direction, which involved hearing and representing the collective voice of NACAC’s more than 25,000 high school counselors and college admission officers. His priorities include making NACAC a more effective learning organization, with an emphasis on ethics and redefining advocacy. We hope you enjoy the conversation. Play-by-Play Resources State of College Admission Report What is Demonstrated Interest? A Practical How-To Guide A List of Activities You May Not Have Considered Including—But That Count! Step-by-Step Guide for Students Counselor's Guide + Samples Teacher’s Guide + Samples Crash Course to Standardized Testing What You Need to Know About Standardized Tests and Mistakes to Avoid Finding Your Why, What a Liberal Arts Education Really Is, and How to Figure out What You Actually Want

On today’s episode, Ethan is joined by Amanda Miller, who got her start in financial aid through the College Advising Corps at Davidson College in 2014. A few thousand students, several resources, and dozens of financial aid presentations later, Amanda’s an independent financial aid specialist and college adviser who also serves as the financial aid go-to lady for the Matchlighters program and someone we consider to be a part of the extended College Essay Guy family. Ethan and Amanda discuss: Play-by-Play Resources Financial Aid Advising with Amanda Miller (The Counselor Lady) Meeting Request Crash Course on How to Pay for College U.S. Students and FamiliesCollege Counselors and EducatorsCollege ScorecardTuitionFitCollegeXpressThe College Finder: Choose the School That’s Right for You! Fourth Edition Which Schools Are the Most Generous With Financial Aid? (US Version) Which Schools Are the Most Generous With Financial Aid? (International Version) Finding Your Why, What a Liberal Arts Education Really Is, and How to Figure out What You Actually Want

In today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) and Susan Tree (a college counseling and admissions legend with 40+ years of experience) chat about “intellectual curiosity”: a quality that many colleges actively look for in students, yet is a little more ambiguous and nuanced compared to mapping out a high school course plan. This is part 2 of a series about students’ academic background and interests and how they factor into the admissions process. Part 1 is about all things related to the academic part of a student’s college application— which, at many selective colleges, is seen as the “foot in the door” of their selection process. On the episode you’ll hear Susan and Tom discuss: Hope you enjoy. Play-by-Play Resources Episode 403: AP, IB, Honors, Oh My!: How Admissions Officers View Your High School Courses, Rigor, and School Context (with Susan Tree) How to Choose a College Major (Step-by-step) How to Write the "Why this Major" College Essay What the Heck are "Hooks" and "Institutional Priorities"?

Hey all, today’s episode is a special one. We had one of our rockstar essay coaches, Shira Harris, sit down with two of her former Matchlighter students, Milena Veliz and Sayem Kamal, to discuss their experiences navigating the college application process as First Generation Low Income Students. At the time of the recording, Milena was an incoming sophomore at Macaulay Honors College at John Jay and Sayem was an incoming freshman at Columbia University. They both received full scholarships at their respective schools. In the episode, we’ll listen to Shira, Milena, and Sayem discuss (among other things): If you’ve never heard of Matchlighters, it’s our 1-on-1 coaching support program where we pair students from low-income households with volunteer counselors. We’re in our 8th year of the program with over 2,000+ Scholars supported from 45 states and 5 continents — with our scholars attending more than 150 colleges and universities. Shira Harris, whom you’ll meet in a moment, is an alternative educator, mediator, former civil rights attorney and queer activist who received a BA from UC Berkeley, law degree from New York University, and an international masters on migration and mediation in the Mediterranean region. We hope you enjoy the conversation. Play-by-Play Resources MatchlightersThe Values ExerciseCorsava Card SortCollegeXpressQuestBridgeWhy Us GuidesSuper EssaysMacaulay HonorsWhere You Go Is Not Who You'll Be by Frank Brunir/applying to colleger/questbridgeCollegeBoardCEG DiscordFirst Gen Support DiscordUStrive

On Season 1 of the podcast, Ethan had a great conversation with Maria Furtado, then Executive Director of the Colleges That Change Lives organization (also known as “CTCL”). It’s a lovely chat and to date one of our most downloaded episodes. On today’s episode Ethan had the pleasure of sitting down with her successor, Ann Marano, and they get into: If you’ve never met Ann, you should know that she is a proud first-generation college graduate of Mount St. Mary’s University (CA) who earned her M.A. in Education-Psychology from Pepperdine. She’s served on several counselor advisory boards, including the Common Application Board of Directors and the Johns Hopkins University Access Advisory Board. After 20 years in college admissions counseling at several different universities and high schools and 12 years as the college bound advisor at the first all girls’ public school in the state of Texas, Ann Marano moved into the role of Executive Director for the Colleges That Change Lives. We hope you enjoy the conversation. Play-by-Play Resources CTCL.orgCTCL How To Choose A College BrochureThe Values ExerciseHow to Choose a College: A Step-By-Step GuideHow to Research Colleges Without Visiting a CampusPaying for College in Four Steps: The Five College TypesU.S. Department of Education College Affordability and Transparency CenterCollege Cost Transparency InitiativeThe Common Data Set: What It Is and How to Use It in College Admissions

On today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) hosts the first installment of a new series called Regional Spotlights, which will bring on college counseling experts who have deep history or knowledge of the exciting college options from (and cultural nuances of) a particular geographic region. We’re kicking off this series with Colleges in The South. Our Southern specialist and special guest today is CEG’s very own Renee Ferrerio. Renee began her career more than 30 years ago, first as a public-school counselor and more recently as the Director of College Counseling at The O’Neal School. She is Co-Chair for North Carolina’s State and Area Initiatives Committee and might be considered by some as a counselor-fly in connoisseur, having participated in dozens of visit programs at various colleges and universities across the country. On the episode you’ll hear Tom and Renee discuss: Our hope is that, for students and families, spotlighting some of these “little things” about studying in the South will help you see that there may even be bigger things in store for you there than you originally anticipated… beyond BBQ. Play-by-Play Resources Academic Common MarketPost-Secondary Employment Outcomes (PSEO)Regent’s Engineering Pathway (REP) at Georgia TechThe NC State Engineering 2+2 Transfer Program UNC Asheville 2+2 Engineering Program Scholarships in the South: Davidson College John M. Belk ScholarshipEmory University ScholarsGeorgia Tech Stamps President's Scholars ProgramNorth Carolina State University Park ScholarsUniversity of Alabama PresidentialUniversity of Georgia Foundation Fellowship and Bernard Ramsey ScholarshipUniversity of Kentucky Singletary ScholarsUniversity of North Carolina Charlotte Levine ScholarsUniversity of North Carolina Morehead-CainUniversity of Texas at Dallas Eugene McDermott ScholarsUniversity of Virginia Jefferson Scholars Washington and Lee University Johnson ScholarshipWofford College Scholars

My guest is Katie Andersen, a former NCAA Division 1 Women’s Soccer player at Duke University, who now advises student-athletes through her organization, College Fit OC. She’s also the co-founder of The Student-Athlete Advisors, which focuses on educating and mentoring educational consultants who advise college-bound student-athletes. Our conversation turned into a veritable crash course in college athletic recruiting. We get into, among other things: Play-by-play Resources Blog for Student Athlete Advisors (Katie’s organization)College Athletic Recruiting Playbook NCAA Guide for the College-Bound Student-AthleteHow to Choose a College: A Step-By-Step GuideWhich Schools Are the Most Generous With Financial Aid? (US Version)Which Schools Are the Most Generous With Financial Aid? (International Version)Should You Apply Early Decision or Regular Decision? (And the Chart That Can Help You Decide)

On this episode I had the honor of sitting down with Sam and Shannon Bergeron. Sam is a transgender man who transitioned in high school (in Texas) and who now works in college admissions at his alma mater, Hampshire College. Shannon is Founder of Core College Consulting, where she specializes in using a whole child college counseling™ approach. She’s been a school counselor for more than 20 years, a volunteer with Matchlighters Scholars program, and she’s also Sam’s mom, an ally, and an advocate for trans students. We discuss a number of critical things trans youth, their counselors and caregivers should know as they navigate the college admission process, including: Play-by-play CEG Podcast Episode 214 - Resources for LGBTQ+ Students from Campus Pride with Shane Windmeyer Resources: Blog Article: 10 Critical Things Trans Youth (and Their Counselors and Caregivers) Should Know in High School and When Applying to CollegeThe Protect Trans Students Resource 50+ LGBTQ Resources for Students and Their Counselors Grounding techniques resources: https://dialecticalbehaviortherapy.com/distress-tolerance/grounding/ https://www.inclusivetherapists.com/blog/understanding-different-types-of-groundinghttps://www2.winona.edu/resilience/media/grounding-worksheet.pdf https://www.acesdv.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Grounding-Worksheet.pdf

On today’s episode I got to sit down with Rick Diaz, the Regional Director of Admission for Southern Methodist University (SMU) and someone I’ve known for more than 15 years. We have a pretty wide ranging discussion that covers: I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did. Play-by-play Resources The “If You Really, Really Knew Me” Exercise (Template) This practical, comprehensive exercise helps students generate a list of identities, skills, qualities, and skills they can share with colleges. It’s one of our favorites here at CEG—if you use it, just give us a shout-out. :) The Social Identities Exercise (Template) This exercise is another favorite and is useful for helping students think about diversity and identity in both broader and more nuanced ways. Includes a guide for counselors, facilitators, and parents. How to Answer the “Diversity” (and Other Related) Supplemental Essay Prompts (Blog Article) Colleges and Universities that Changed Their Supplemental Essay Prompts After the SCOTUS Decision Was Released (Blog Article) Why You Don’t Have to Write about Trauma in Your College Essay to Stand Out—and What You Can Do Instead (Blog Article)

In this episode I sat down with TED speaker Tina Yong to talk about why students don’t have to write about trauma in a college essay to stand out—and what they can do instead. We discussed, among other things: Play-by-Play Resources: Ethan’s edit to the"35+ Best College Essay Tips..." Should You Write about Race in Your College Application—And, If So, How? How to Answer the “Diversity” (and Other Related) Supplemental Essay Prompt(s) Colleges and Universities that Changed Their Supplemental Essay Prompts After the SCOTUS Decision Was ReleasedWhy You Don’t Have to Write about Trauma in Your College Essay to Stand Out—and What You Can Do Instead

Today is a special episode in that it’s bilingual—the first part is in Spanish, the second part in English. My guest is Lorenzo Gamboa (Director of Diversity, Inclusion and Outreach at Santa Clara University) and we’re discussing some of the things he believes Latinx families should know as they prepare for college. Hoy es un episodio especial porque es bilingüe: la primera parte es en español, la segunda parte en inglés. Dejame terminar la introduccion en ingles y ya regreso en espanol. On this episode, we discuss a variety of misconceptions that families sometimes have, including: The notion that students have to major in a high-paying profession/career The myth that undocumented students can’t go to college And we discuss whether or not students should discuss race or cultural influence in their application — post the SCOTUS decision to ban affirmative action If you’d like to listen to the English part, just fast forward to basically halfway through this episode when you hear me speaking English. I hope you enjoy. Play-by-play: [0:00] Introducción / Introduction Spanish Part English Part podcast episode 113 Resources ImmigrantsRising.org ScholarshipsAZ.org CEG Podcast: Life As an Undocumented Student at Harvard Should I Come Out As Undocumented in My Personal Statement? (Part 1 of 2) How to Come Out As Undocumented in Your Personal Statement (Part 2 of 2) CEG Podcast: How to Advocate for Undocumented Students - Dr. Aliza Gilbert, Counselors that Change Lives recipient 15 Ways to Advocate for Undocumented Youth

In this episode we’re talking about the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down race-conscious admission and what the implications might be for colleges, students applying to those colleges, and the counselors who advise them. And what better person to talk about it with than Jay Rosner, whose entire career has been devoted to the intersection of law and college admissions. This is the first in a series where we’ll be exploring the impacts of the SCOTUS decision from a variety of perspectives. Jay Rosner and I get into: What the affirmative action ruling practically means How it might impact college admissions, including for underrepresented students We address some students’ fears about whether or not they should mention their race, or share experiences directly related to their race or culture in their college applications I ask Jay: “Who is the burden on here—students or the colleges themselves?” We also talked about how counselors should advise students For those of you who have never met Jay: As the Executive Director of The Princeton Review Foundation, he has developed programs jointly with such organizations as the NAACP, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, College and Graduate Horizons (serving Native American students) and the Asian Pacific Fund. Jay's career has combined education and law, with an emphasis on student advocacy. He has testified before state legislative committees in California, Texas, Illinois and New Jersey, and as an expert witness in cases involving testing. Before attending law school, Jay was a public high school math teacher. Jay holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, a JD from Widener University, and is the proud father of two grown daughters. Play-by-play: [0:53] Intro [1:30] Who is Jay Rosner? [2:25] A brief history of race-conscious admission [4:52] Why is the Supreme Court decision such a big deal? [6:22] What does the ruling actually mean? [7:31] What colleges can and can’t consider after the ruling related to race [9:49] How might diversity and inclusivity be affected on college campuses? [13:00] Should students even mention race at all in their applications? [15:39] Is the burden really on the students or on the colleges? [17:20] How can students speak to the ways race has impacted their lives? [18:50] Advice to counselors on guiding students on their college applications [21:38] Do colleges still want to enroll a diverse population of students? [23:36] What might colleges learn from the University of California, where race-conscious admission was banned in 1996? [26:45] Jay’s thoughts about and hopes for the future [28:28] What are folks not talking about? [31:03] Final takeaways for students and counselors Resources: Example of How to Explain (Briefly) Context on Your Testing in the Additional Info Section of Your Common App AP Physics I I was the first student at my school to ever pass the AP Physics I exam. There were two issues during the test: 1) the test began late because the previous test (AP Spanish) ran long and 2) during the AP Physics I exam, the fire alarms went off and continued for about an hour (the second half of the test). Unfortunately, this was the only time the test was offered and I was nonetheless proud of my score. Highest SAT Score in My Class Scored a 1910 on old SAT (570 CR, 730 Math, 610 WR), which was the highest overall test score in my grade.

In today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) and Susan Tree (a college counseling and admissions legend with 40+ years of experience) chat about all things related to the academic part of a student’s college application— which, at many selective colleges, is seen as the “foot in the door” of their selection process. This is part 1 of a series we’ll be doing around students’ academic background and interests and how they factor into the admissions process. Part 2 is all about “intellectual curiosity”: a quality that many colleges actively look for in students, yet is a little more ambiguous and nuanced compared to mapping out a high school course plan. On the episode you’ll hear Susan and Tom discuss: Why these episodes? 2018-2019 National Association for College Admission Counseling’s Admission Trend SurveyApplying to Highly Selective Colleges & Universities Coursecomprehensive college counseling at CEG! Play-by-play

On this episode I chat with Angel Perez to discuss his personal journey with burnout, self-care, and therapy, and I even share some of my own personal journey — and we connect on what it might mean to find more ease, purpose, and joy in our own lives. This is part 1 of a series I’ll be doing on self-care this year. You’ll notice Angel mentions a morning routine — in part 2 you’ll meet wellness coach Sage Simpson, who will get into the practical specifics of how to create a morning routine for yourself. On the episode you’ll hear Angel and I discuss: Why these episodes? Resources: One CEO's Story of Executive Burnout Play-by-play: