Students

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Looking for stories

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If you are currently a student at an Ivy League or other elite university, or if you’re an adult who graduated from one, I’d love to hear about any of your classmates who were clearly not up to the task but well-connected enough to get in. (Best to leave their names out of it.) Hit the Contact Button or email me directly at benjamin@applywithsanity.com.

On the other hand, if you are/were at an elite university and never came across people who were sub-par but rich, I'd also love to hear that. Thanks!

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About the admissions scandal

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About the admissions scandal

An interesting thing happened last Tuesday. 50 people—including a college admissions consultant, SAT and ACT test proctors, university coaches, and wealthy parents—were charged with mail fraud, wire fraud, honest services fraud, and racketeering. Here’s a good rundown of all the people involved. This has been big news this week, and I assume you already know about it.

All week, while I’ve been on family vacation for Spring Break, I’ve been reading and thinking about the scandal. What do I want to say to current and prospective clients? To their parents? To Apply with Sanity readers? I have several things I want to say.

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Grace is still waiting

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Grace is still waiting

Grace has kept herself busy. She’s preparing for her last high school musical; she’s preparing for three AP exams; she’s getting lots of email, snail mail, and phone calls from colleges. However, it’s been a slow month in terms of moving her toward a decision about where she’ll be next year. Read the full interview below.

What to do with all that mail you're getting

What to do with all that mail you're getting

n the past two weeks I’ve had several people ask me about all the mail they’re receiving from colleges. If you’re a senior who has already sent out all your applications, then be assured that the mail will dry up soon if it hasn't already. Universities know what year you graduate high school, so they know to stop sending you materials.

And for the rest of you, 9th through 11th grade? What are you supposed to do with all that mail?

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Faulkner has checked back in

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Faulkner has checked back in

I didn’t hear back from Faulkner in January or most of February, and I was afraid I’d lost her. Fortunately, she checked in last week with some updates. She has a new frontrunner, and we’ll be hoping to hear more from her as news begins to come in!

Something to do over spring break

Something to do over spring break

Go on a practice college tour.

For many high school students, especially juniors, Spring Break is a popular time for college campus visits. I wouldn't necessarily call this "normal." Lots of students do it, yes. But lots of students don't do many--or any--visits until they're seniors and visit only schools they've already been admitted to. And plenty of students don't visit a college at all until they show up in the fall of their first year as students. What's "normal" is up to you and what you think is really best for you. While I don't recommend skipping college visits altogether, neither do I recommend going on big multi-campus trips just for the heck of it. 

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The Glossary: liberal arts college

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The Glossary: liberal arts college

In my own practice I tend to talk about three main types of colleges: “liberal arts colleges” (I say “liberal arts schools” just as often), “big state schools,” and “national private universities.” There are no clear lines between the three, there’s plenty of overlap, and I’m leaving out some (like trade schools, art schools, and other specialized schools). But those three get me through most of my conversations just fine.

One of the most commonly used terms is liberal arts college. What does that mean?

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Asking for more financial aid

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Asking for more financial aid

Now is the season when acceptance letters begin to arrive for a lot of seniors, and with acceptances come financial aid packages. (Remember: you never know how much a university is going to cost you until you apply and get accepted.)

The bad news is that very few students receive "full ride" scholarship or aid packages that cover everything. The most-quoted number I could find was about 20,000 per year, or 0.3% of applicants, though that number is possibly outdated. The NCAA says about 2% of high school athletes get college scholarships.

The good news is that around 88% of students do get some sort of discount. If you get an aid offer that isn’t a full ride, you probably want more. You may need more, but needing and wanting can be different. How do you ask for more money?

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The Glossary: gap year

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The Glossary: gap year

The first time I heard a student tell me he was taking a gap year, I got the completely wrong idea. Having never heard the term before, I thought he was trying to find a way to say that he didn’t finish college applications and was going to have to try again the next year. Kind of like “in between jobs” is sometimes a euphemism for “unemployed,” I thought “gap year” was a euphemism for “didn’t get into college.” But I was wrong. Very wrong.

What are your chances of getting into your top college?

What are your chances of getting into your top college?

I’m tempted to explain that it doesn’t work that way. Nobody can quantify your “chances” of getting accepted to any particular university, least of all strangers on the internet who are mostly high school students like yourself. But I assume almost all the people asking for their chances understand that. Playing the “chance me” game isn’t rational, and it isn’t meant to be an accurate gauge of the probability of an acceptance. Instead, I believe most people do it to get validation, or to calm their fears, or to have an outsider bring them to more realistic expectations for themselves. It’s emotional, not rational. It’s a way to deal with your anxiety over college admissions.

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Grace is staying focused

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Grace is staying focused

Grace has got an acceptance and an scholarship from one of her top-choice colleges. She’s also waiting to hear back from another top-choice school. She’s got a few more acceptances as well. You might think Grace is relaxing and feeling pretty accomplished, but she knows there’s a few more months to go. Read the full interview below.

What to do when you get waitlisted

What to do when you get waitlisted

As regular admission decisions begin to go out, it’s time to think about what to do if the answer you get isn’t Yes or No, but Maybe.

First, let me say I’m sorry. Getting waitlisted sucks. In some ways a Maybe is worse than a No, because it keeps the suspense going and also starts to make logistical problems for you. Take a little time to be frustrated or angry or completely freaked out, but no more than a day or two. You’ve got to figure out what to do next.

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The Glossary: gapping

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The Glossary: gapping

Gapping is an informal financial aid term. It has to do with colleges offering less financial aid than they believe you need. After you fill out your FAFSA form (and possibly your CSS Profile), you will get a dollar amount called your E.F.C., or Expected Family Contribution. This is how much the government formula says your family should be expected to pay for college. The cost of a university, minus the EFC, is your need. If a university offers you less than your need in financial aid, then there is a gap. They’ve gapped you. You’ve been gapped. This is what gapping is all about.

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Dear Harvard, this is how you could run an admissions lottery

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Dear Harvard, this is how you could run an admissions lottery

Dear Harvard College Admissions,

As you’re quite aware, there have been increasing calls for you to try out an admissions lottery system. Calls like the one here, for example, and here and here and here and here. A lot of people think the most fair way to handle admissions for a program that is worth a whole lot but only has an acceptance rate under 5% is to literally leave it up to chance. No legacy admissions, no diversity goals, no athletic recruitment, no committee votes. This, they say, would guarantee true diversity by taking away all biases and loopholes.

I completely understand your reluctance to go in this direction.

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Grace has acceptances...and a scholarship!

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Grace has acceptances...and a scholarship!

Grace has picked up three more acceptances, including one of her top two choices. Even better, that top-choice school has offered her a nice scholarship. Grace also got some not-bad-but-not-really-good news as well. Read all about it below.

Now it's time to give thanks

Now it's time to give thanks

For most seniors, the active part of school applications is winding down. You’ve sent out most, if not all, of your applications. Now you wait. While you wait to hear from schools and think about how to choose from your acceptances, take some time to write thank you notes. Write one to everyone who has done something for you along the way: teachers who wrote recommendation letters, counselors who sent off transcripts, college admissions personnel who answered questions, people who took time to interview you. Everybody. They gave some of their time to help you, and you should thank them if you haven't already.

Asking a favor

Hello smart and ambitious Apply with Sanity readers,

Will you please take a few minutes to do me a quick favor?

Please find one of your favorite recent posts and share it with someone who would like to read it. Sending it directly to a person is good; sharing widely on social media is good; both is great.

I don’t run annoying ads, throw pop-ups at your screen, or ask for money. But a quick share would mean a lot to Apply with Sanity’s mission to provide useful and free advice to college-bound high school students.

Thank you so much! The next update will be this Thursday.

Photo by David Leggett

Photo by David Leggett

Stop doing that

Stop doing that

With that story in mind, I want to encourage you to stop doing the things that aren’t making you a better student or happier person, even if those things are generally considered good. You already know you should stop giving in to your “bad” habits; we all know that. But if a “good” habit, like my student’s thorough re-reading of dictionary definitions, isn’t helping you, then please let it go.