The first blog post on Apply with Sanity was on September 28, 2016. It was just a short welcome and explanation of what the site is about, and all those things are still true four years later:
I want to reduce the amount of pressure you feel, not increase it.
I want to empower you to feel in control, not feel like a passive product for schools to consider.
I know that you, a unique and interesting person, are important regardless of your college situation.
I understand that a big-name, highly marketed college isn’t necessarily a path to happiness.
I feel that self-knowledge is the most important knowledge.
I’ve also been able to keep the other promises I made to myself when I began this project: there’s no advertising or sponsored content on Apply with Sanity. The focus isn’t on playing the system, beating the system, or tricks. The focus is on acknowledging that your college choice is an important decision and advising students on how to make the best, wisest decisions. And there are no stock photos of people sitting and smiling at a computer.
So far in 2020, I’ve had about 38,000* visitors to the website. I know that’s tiny by Internet standards. But as a high school teacher I had fewer than 200 students a year. And if I just stuck to my paying clients and not putting as much advice out there for free that I can, I’d have a few dozen audience members per year. So 38,000 doesn’t feel bad.
I’m going to list the most popular content over the past four years in case there’s anything good you haven’t seen yet. But first I’d like to ask a small favor. If this isn’t your first time to Apply with Sanity, will you please take a moment to share it with someone? Send a link to the home page and/or a post that’s been useful to you. Send it to a high school student, or a parent of a high school student, or a teacher of high school students. Share it to a social network. Let someone else know know about what’s available here. Thanks!
The most popular posts over the life of Apply with Sanity:
What’s wrong with Affirmative Action?
What to do over your winter break
How should you handle supplemental questions?
Will a Humanities degree make you poor?
What it means to be valedictorian
How do I ask a teacher for a recommendation letter?
Don’t submit that Mission Trip essay!
Things for high school students to consider before committing to a college
How do I write a College Mission Statement?
Thanks so much for being a part of Apply with Sanity! Let me know what you want to see more of, what you want to see less of, and what new things would be interesting. Leave a comment or use the Contact form to reach me.
[*Edit: the original posting of this had a mistake in the number of visitors this year. The more accurate number for year-to-date 2020 is 38,000, not 60,000. Sorry about that.]