2010.09.03 17:55:03

Patrick OConnor

Applying to College: A Common Problem with The Common Application

It’s not even Labor Day, and the college application season is off to a tough start.

Many, many students apply to college using the Common Application (www.commonapp.org).  This is a wonderful way to apply to many of the schools of your dreams, without having to type your name, address, and senior schedule a million times, since the one application you complete is sent to every college. 

Common App made a change this year that is causing some concerns.  When a student starts to fill out the basic information on Common App, they are asked to tell the colleges if the student waives their right to see their letters of recommendation.  This is a standard part of every college application that asks for recommendation letters—you have the legal right to see your letters after you’ve been admitted to the college, and Common App wants to know if you want to keep that right, or waive it.

If this seems like an easy question, there are two reasons to think again:

1. If you don’t waive your right, many teachers will get nervous, and even though you like them and they like you, they might write a letter that doesn’t have the fireworks you need for colleges to take you seriously.  Instead, they’ll be cautious, because they don’t want to risk saying the wrong thing—and you get tapioca when you need habaneros.

2. Even if your teachers write you letters that would make Mother Teresa look like a slacker, some colleges will get suspicious.  Sure, the letter is great—but is that because the student is great, or is that because the teacher was afraid to talk about any challenges the student faces, since the student might look at the letter later on, get upset, and maybe call a lawyer? 

If this sounds like you should waive your right, you’re right—but here’s the problem.

Common App says they are trying to point this out to students by putting up a big “Pay Attention” screen before your decision is final, but many of you are looking past it, like the Netflix ad that gets in the way of RuneScape. 

Students who have finished this part of Common App incorrectly are trying to go back and fix it, but this is proving to be somewhat complicated, and almost impossible.  If you’re in this boat, touch base with your counselor, but you may end up writing all of your colleges and saying “My bad, I really don’t want to see the letters” (or something a little more polished than that)…

…but either way, pay close attention to the fine print of college apps.  Details don’t show up often, but when they do—student loan agreements, Early Decision forms—it’s serious, and deserves a little more focus than a tweet from your locker partner. Sit down with your folks, ask your counselor, call the college or Common App—but think before you act, so you won’t throw a fit after Submit you hit.

Common Application | how to get into college | applying to college | coller applications | college entrance

2010.08.13 20:47:12

Patrick OConnor

Applying to College: Application Eight Thousand and Twelve? Cool!

School hasn’t even started, and the college application hubbub is already in full swing.  If you missed it, the Common Application (the most popular online application students use to apply to lots of schools at once) went online August 1st,, and sure enough, a student in Texas applied sent in his application to NYU 3 hours later, so he could be the first one to file an application with NYU.

The question is, why?

NYU has a regular application deadline of January 1, 2011—that’s five months from now.  That student’s application will not be read, or acted on any sooner just because it’s in—and for those of you who think NYU will give this student some kind of plus for being first, there’s no guarantee that will occur.  Sure, the student caught some press—but would that really balance out a weakness in the transcript, or an essay that needed one more close look before Submit was hit?

That last point deserves some consideration.  How much of the college application process encourages students to “hurry up and get it over with”, and how much asks them to reflect on themselves, their choices, and what they’ve done in high school?  Tests sure don’t do that anymore; the SAT and ACT once did an OK job of reflecting what students had actually learned or could learn, but with every student taking test prep who can afford it, the tests are one more gimmick.

Ditto for the essays.  Between well-meaning moms whose editing of their child’s work can be seen by the way all of the Is are dotted with hearts, and essay “tutors” who want to “guide” the student to a stronger essay, how many students actually sit and think about their lives before they respond?  Better yet, how many get up from a blank computer screen and spend the next day thinking about the question, then attack it with fresh gusto the next day?  In too many cases, this is one more item to cross off the IPad to-do list before soccer practice.

This point was raised this spring, when Common Application announced they were going to make their application available August 1, instead of July 1.  Some counselors threw a fit, saying August was too busy with sports practice for students to focus on their essays.  Other counselors wanted to “let the kids be kids” in July, thinking most of the Class of 2011 would spend the seventh month under the shade of a weeping willow, looking blankly at the clouds and thinking deep thoughts while they dared to eat a peach. (Truth be told, I was on that side of the argument, unrealistic as it was.)

Which side is right?  Actually, neither, and both.  There are some students who need big chunks of time away from anything having to do with school, and others who catch their breath in spurts.  They both rest, reflect, revive, and then jump back in with great gusto, and really make the college application process a learning experience..

The only time things fall apart in the college selection process is when students—usually guided by well-meaning adults—decide they need to be something they aren’t, and that’s definitely true with applying to college.  Check the deadlines of the colleges you love, then figure out the best way to get the work done on time without forgetting who you are and the life you live.  That wisdom will show in every essay you write, whether it’s in application Number One or Number Eight Thousand Twelve—and it won’t matter either way. 

college applications | college essays | Common Application | application deadlines

2010.05.28 18:14:39

Patrick OConnor

College Applications and College Essays: Work Hard, and Remember, “This Isn’t Facebook”

Another group of admission representatives from highly selective colleges were in my hometown last week to talk with students and parents about their schools.  They also had a breakfast meeting with counselors, and their responses to questions about the application process have a little something for every member of a college-bound family:

Supplemental essays are the game-changers.  We’ve talked before about the Common Application, where students fill out their name and class schedule just once, saving time and avoiding repetition.  Hundreds of colleges welcome Common App, but almost every college asks you to submit an extra essay or two (or three) you’re supposed to write just for them…

…and it seems this is where things begin to go badly in a hurry.  Many students are putting very little thought into these essays, which can include questions like “What makes our college different from the other colleges you’re applying to?” Since the essays are much more important than your address (they assume you’ve got that answer down), you really want to make these answers count.  So don’t spend 30 seconds on the college Web site and answer “Your mascot is a marsupial, and the other colleges have mammals.”  You have to take the time to think about why this college is special to you; when essay time comes, come back and find out how this is done.

Talking to your BFFs?  I think not.  The reps were also dismayed at the very revealing content of many of the essays.  As a group, these admissions officers were young, so they know all about Tweeting, IMing, and News Feeding—but they also know a college essay isn’t the place to talk about what you did in the high school parking lot after homecoming, har har har.  Yes, you are indeed supposed to use your own voice and be yourself in a college essay,-- but use that voice to share your vision of solving a world problem, or a life lesson you learned that isn’t R rated. Be you, but be your best you—and that’s “you”, not “u”.  LOL.

Write with a brainy heart, not a hearty brain.  The reps also had a word for students who think they can smooth talk their way into a college by getting “help’ with their essays, or buying them online:  “Sorry.”  It’s one thing to have someone proofread your essays, or to ask an English teacher to tell you if the essay sounds like you.  Downloading a “winning essay” and retro-fitting it, or getting someone else to give your essay a boost creates an admissions file that’s inconsistent, immoral, and just too slick for a high school student.  So write your own stuff, and share your thoughts and feelings with a reasonable amount of restraint. How will they know the difference?  As one rep said, “We’re savvy, too.”

“Let the kids drive.”  This is the advice one rep gave to parents about the admissions process, and it’s perfect.  A student admitted to a highly selective college will have to have a strong set of skills to make it through the next four years.  The college application process test drives these skills—time management, written and oral communication, research, stress management—and just like driver’s ed, Mom and Dad can’t take the wheel, or the student could crash once they’re really on their own.  Applying to college may be a new experience for a student, but the only way they get better at those skills is with a lot of practice and a little parental help, not the other way around.

college admissions | college essays | applying to college | parents and college | Common Application | Facebook