Some notes taken at a college application seminar
Or college counseling, college admission (from college point of view). Some tactic (most important of all, don't mention mental health/struggle etc in the college app); and some aspirational advices (e.g., happiness, expectation, find passion). It was presented by Interface edu and the event was hold at SLMCS.
My comment: mental health is actually the No. 1 issue for both parents and kids. Doesn't say it or mention it in the college app doesn't mean it's not important. See this Universities pushed to address mental health concerns on campus after student suicides
Speakers
Lorna Gray (founder)
Started talking about parents' anxiety amid the strike down of AA (btw, she thinks "AA or not" will have little impact to 华人/亚裔学生). ED: early decision may help 华人/亚裔学生.
She talked about Stanley Zhong: the famous Chinese kid who got rejected by 16 so-called elite schools but was offered a job at Google - Buried in the news, he will attend UT Austin after one year gap year working at Google.
Admission officer: aha moment
My understanding is storytelling :-) And basically the student (applicant) has about 20 minutes to tell her/his story to the college admission officer. Btw, this is not too different from "In summer 1997 yours truly applied for the student F-1 visa in Shanghai", or "In the year 2000, I applied and interviewed for a job at a software company in STL".
If SAT score is lower than the average of the school, don’t submit
GPA is still relevant
三条腿原理：academic, social, emotional 相当于中国三好生 (my comment)
ChatGPT: may makes the personal statement irrelevant
Supplemental material 补充文书will be more important
College rep may visit high school, go see them
Profile study: stem boy - writing and publishing, presented a topic to the general public, write about - from not interested in writing to becoming interested
Personality inventory
Empathy and curiosity
(This somehow remind me of the recruiters )
Academics and interests
Study habits (time management, the YT video by Amy)
Summer experiences
Identify interests
High school course selection: physics is the most important class in high school
Annalee - Annalee Nissenholtz, Ph.D. DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE COUNSELING
NACAC feedback
College hires outside people to read the apps.
ED
Don’t write about the emotional and mental health and struggles in the application (this reminds me of my Panera interview in year 2011) || don’t be naive about a question on “challenges”
Anxiety and depression are red flags
Colleges are looking for energetic, kind and smart kids
They are looking for a kid’s story : give the readers the story in 5 to 6 minutes (supplemental essays) - additional info ℹ️
Make sure interest is ranked high on the activity list
ED is binding with the exception of colleges cannot meet student or families financial need
Lorna again
Happiness
PS, came across this one and think it's good.
Also: a related but different topic, college majors vs pay
Disclaimer: I am not affiliated to Interface Edu. I do think for retired people with former college counseling and college admission experience, this is a good gig (or I would say this is likely a win-win situation). And here are all the college counselors.
作为父母是否需要忍耐？父母爱孩子，就不要给ta太多建议？连吃苦都需要让他们自己去领悟？#窦文涛 #梁文道 #马未都 #周轶君