Looking forward to winter break for seniors

I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! The first day back from Thanksgiving may seem a little early to be writing about what to do over the winter break that’s still a few weeks away. However, I know many students are already planning for—or at least daydreaming about—their winter break already, so it makes sense to go ahead and start thinking about it a little.

These suggestions are made with seniors in mind, but they’re good advice for anyone with a few weeks off this winter. I’m also assuming a reasonably “normal” December. While a few of the students I work with are still very much in pandemic chaos, most are living relatively normal lives. Not all have been going on college tour trips, but a lot more have than last year (which was zero). Most are vaccinated and schooling in person. At this moment, though, the world is bracing for the Omicron variant and wondering how bad things can be. Please, please be careful out there.

Rest. This sounds obvious--of course you're going to rest. You have several weeks with no school! But for lots of students--and adults--it never quite seems to work this way. You stay up too late, thinking you'll sleep in, and then you have to get up earlier than you expected. Or you spend too much time in bed or on the couch, and you feel sluggish and dumpy. You can only get good rest from your break if you decide that you're actually going to and schedule for it. Decide that you're going to get 8-10 hours of uninterrupted sleep a night, and then plan accordingly. The time you spend awake will go much better if you do.

Spend quality time with people. Now is a great time to catch up with friends and family, but, like good sleep, quality time with people is also elusive. You go to parties and gatherings, you have text or Snapchat conversations, you spend a little time with people...and then you realize that you didn't really have any good conversations. Quality Time is usually thought of as time you spend with another person giving them your undivided attention. Schedule some time for this with a few good friends and/or family members.

Re-assess. Now is a great time for reflection and regrouping. Here are several exercises to try to keep that conversation with yourself productive and useful.

Highs and lows. Like a lot of families, at our dinner table we often go around and share our high and low moment of the day with each other. It's a better conversation starter with school-aged kids than "how was your day?" and it reinforces that every day has both the good and the bad. Take some time thinking about--and sharing with someone else--your high and low points over the fall semester and your college quest. What worked? What didn't? What felt good? What felt bad? Consider it all.

Two-month time machine. When evaluating your semester and planning ahead, think about a two-month time machine. If you could go back two months to re-try the fall, what's one thing you really wish you could change? You obviously can't really do it, but it's a good way to think about "lessons learned."

Restate your dreams and aspirations. Take some time and write a personal mission statement for the year, especially if you're a senior and moving on to college next fall. Or if you don't want to be so college-centric but want to spend time thinking about what's really important to you, try the "last-year test" method of thinking about New Year's Resolutions. 

Read. It's really tempting to read nothing--or nothing of merit--over the break. You've read so much over the past few months, so why do it on vacation? The answer is simple: now you get to choose what to read, and you can make engaging your intellect fun for yourself. Besides, if you're ready to concede that the only reason you read or learn is because you're assigned to by authorities, then you may want to re-think the whole college thing. Take back control of your mind by reading something. It doesn't have to be Important Literature if that's not what you like, just choose not to be a mental slacker.

Don't do any more college stuff than you absolutely have to. As contrary as it may sound, you really should use your time as a true break and not college-planning time. If you put things off with the idea that you'd do them over break, that's perfectly normal. But get them done first and with focus. You're not going to send out good applications if you're finishing them a little bit at a time while you also finish gift shopping and meet with friends. Make a plan to finish your college to-do list as quickly as possible into the break. If you have December 15th or January 1st deadlines, get those things sent out first and with focus. There's no good reason to wait until the 14th or 31st to send those out.

Don't expect other people to work over the break just because you do. Virtually every year of my time teaching high school I got at least one over-the-break plea from a student. They wanted one last look at an essay, or a last-minute recommendation sent, or help getting their English grade up a little but before the final grades were turned in. How I responded depended on the nature of the request and the student doing the requesting. Sometimes it really was an unexpected opportunity for a really on-top-of-things student, and I happily did what was asked. Sometimes I put forth a minimal amount of effort to just get along. Often I just said no. But please remember that sending other people things to do over the break feels about as crappy and unfair to them as it would to you if they gave sudden unexpected homework over the break. Don't do it.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Check out three related Apply with Sanity posts:

   “What movies should you watch before going to college?”

   “What are the strongest signs of success?”

3. Ask a question in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Zoe Herring.

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Supplemental writing: looking forward and looking back

It’s the middle of November. A few weeks ago I was tremendously busy reading essays for students sending off early applications with a November 1st deadline. Since then I’ve mostly been reading a slow-but-steady trickle of supplemental prompt responses. Most of them have been really great, and when I do see problems they tend to fall under a single category: mixing up past-centered and future-centered prompts. When you first approach the prompts and begin to decide how to respond, ask yourself if the prompt is asking you to look back or look forward.

Some common supplemental prompts ask you to look back on the near past. Prompts asking you to explain an extracurricular activity, explain a challenge or setback, explain a talent, or explain a work of art that is meaningful to you are all asking you to look back on where you have been and who you have been. Prompts asking you to explain the effects of Covid or other disasters also look back to the near past. They want to know what you have done and what you have thought about. It seems completely reasonable that they’d ask these types of questions.

The key for these past-centered prompts (and all short-response prompts) is to be clear and honest. For the long essay I advise people to write absolutely as much as they like and can, without regard for the word limit. It’s better to write 1200 words and then pare down to 650, I say, than to write every sentence with anxiety that you might go over the limit. For short responses, typically 150 to 300 words, I actually advise the opposite. Begin by trying to answer the question in a single sentence. Then add on to that to explain and give context. Obviously you revise and edit from there, but you'll ideally be near the word count when you start the editing. These are very short responses, and they will be read very quickly. Make it easy for the reader to see what it is you want to say. These responses are not the place for clever narratives and dialog.

When you do edit these responses, focus on verbs. Identify all your “to be” verbs and do what it takes to reduce that number by at least a third. The key to stronger writing, especially in short responses, is almost always in the verbs.

Where I see people go astray in these looking-back prompts is when they don’t think they have a strong answer to the question. They haven’t done a lot of sponsored extracurricular activities in school, or they don’t really have a favorite book character or work of art, or they didn’t really suffer in the pandemic like many others did. So they try to cover this up by writing about the future instead. They essentially say “I haven’t got an answer to your question, so I’m going to explain how I’ll be able to answer in the future once I get a response.” Avoid this instinct. Find an answer to the question. Dig deep. Spend time.

You may need to have conversations with friends or family members going over memories of the past. You may need to review synopses of books you read to remember which characters you may have connected with, even a little. (Don’t write about a book you haven’t read—that’s not going to go well.) You may need to spend time researching topics and using your imagination to put together a good answer. The time you spend doing this will be a good investment. It will make your response to the question stronger, and it’s a valuable exercise in solving problems.

If you don’t have many—or any—extracurriculars to talk about, it’s probably because you’re defining “extracurricular” too strictly. You were doing something with your time. If you didn’t participate in any after-school clubs or teams because you had too many responsibilities at home, say so. Talk about what you did to support your family. If you didn’t participate because you had a job, say so. If you didn’t participate because you were struggling with physical or mental health, say so. If you didn’t participate because you’d much rather be playing pick-up basketball (or skateboarding, or playing the guitar, or reading manga or….) say so. Don’t try to cover up the fact that you “did nothing,” but explain what it is that you actually did.

Other prompts ask you to look forward and anticipate the future. Typical forward-looking prompts include questions about your intended major, how you plan to make a difference at the college, what kind of extracurricular activities you hope to be a part of, and what your post-college plans are. With these answers, be as honest and positive as you can.

When I see students go off-track here, it’s often because their answers are too past-focused. They still want to talk about their accomplishments, and it gets in the way of talking about their future. I can understand the impulse: talking about what you’ve already done stands as evidence that you are realistic about your plans for the future. But don’t spend precious words rehashing the past! I won’t be rigid and say “do not mention the past in your responses to these prompts,” but I will say: don’t let a whole sentence be dedicated to the past. If you want to mention something you’ve already done, make it a small part of a forward-looking sentence.

And here’s the other thing about forward-looking prompts: you will rarely impress anyone by providing a course catalog number. For “what kind of things do you hope to do at our college?” questions, applicants really like to prove they’ve done their research by listing the catalog number of courses that look interesting. Ask yourself: how likely is it that the person reading your response—who is not a student or professor at the school, and is probably not even a graduate of the school—knows what “SOC6724” really means? It proves you’ve looked through the course catalog, sure, but it doesn’t prove you’ve been thoughtful about how you see yourself at the school. If you’re going to talk about specific courses or programs you hope to be a part of, follow these simple rules of thumb: as much as possible, talk about professors you’d like to meet, not courses you’d like to take; double-check to make sure that program or course you’re talking about is actually available to undergrad students and isn’t a graduate-level program; don’t overlap niche programs or honors programs in an unrealistic way.

Of course not all supplemental prompts ask you to look back or look forward. Some are completely different. But a surprising number of them do.

Probably the most typical supplemental question is some version of “why are you applying to our school?” For this prompt, you’re looking both back and forward. That’s a good way to approach this question: considering what all you’ve done and what all you hope to do, why is this school a good place for your transition? How can this school help you with that change, and how can you help them, in your small way, in their transition from what they’ve been to what they hope to be?

If you’ve already sent out applications with supplemental responses, I’m sure they were good. And I also hope the future ones will be even stronger.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Read these related posts:

   How should you handle supplemental questions?

   Be careful re-using essays.

3. Ask a question—or share other resources—in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Zoe Herring.

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Three quick questions with the Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admission representatives at colleges all over the country, and then I hope to hear back from them. The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

Today’s response is from the admission office at Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts, part of The New School, in New York City.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to Lang at the New School?

Each year, The New School has a block party where we close down a full block on our campus to traffic. Students, staff, and faculty all mingle before the start of the semester, and a combination of student organizations, resources for students at the university, and local businesses set up tables so the university can learn more about its community. There's a ton of free food, activities, and more.

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at Lang?

We review applications holistically based on all of our application requirements. This means that academically we take into account not only GPA but course rigor, grade trend, and the context that students provide for their grades. In addition, we're SAT and ACT-optional. Students who show that they're open-minded, inquisitive, and determined to make positive change in the world tend to thrive at Lang, and we try and recognize that in the review process.

When people come to visit your part of New York City, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

The High Line in Chelsea is a great walk--it's a repurposed abandoned elevated rail project turned into a park--it's always bustling with all kind of people and has great views of the city and the Hudson River, especially at sunset.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. See which other colleges and universities answered the questions.

3. Is there a school you’d like to hear from? Let me know, and I’ll make sure they get the questions.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth. [The banner photo is not of Lang. I use the same photo for all Meet the Class posts so you can spot them easily.]

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Three quick questions with Hofstra University

For Three Quick Questions, I send the same three questions to admission representatives at colleges all over the country, and then I hope to hear back from them. The three questions are meant to probe some of the things that make a school unique but that aren’t easily captured as a stat to go in a book or web search.

Today’s response is from Puja Patel, admission counselor at Hofstra University in Hempstead, New York.

What is a course, tradition, program or event that is unique to Hofstra University?

We have a program called “Explore Next Door” where students can sign up to explore NYC whether it’s in person or virtually! They can sign up with a group of other students and faculty member to go to museums, restaurants and broadway shows!

Naturally every college wants to recruit the perfect student--high grades, high test scores, involved in their community, leadership...everything. But what kinds of imperfect students tend to flourish at Hofstra?

We love to invite students to join Hofstra University if they are passionate, ambitious and resilient from their unique life experience! We want students to be themselves, and we would love to help them get out of their shell.

When people come to visit Hempstead on Long Island, what's a place off campus that you recommend they check out while they're there?

Definitely check out the Nassau Coliseum, NYC and the beaches we have near us! A little bit of everything, especially during the Fall time there are places to go apple and pumpkin picking.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are three easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. See which other colleges and universities answered the questions.

3. Is there a school you’d like to hear from? Let me know, and I’ll make sure they get the questions.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth. [The banner photo is not of Hofstra. I use the same photo for all Meet the Class posts so you can spot them easily.]

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.

Apply with Sanity and Ekuso

My privacy and full disclosure page is pretty straightforward. It says, among other things:

I don't currently have any sponsors or advertisers. If that changes, I'll make it clear.

I don't write sponsored posts.

If I have any kind of relationship with someone or some place I'm writing about, I'll tell you.

So I want to tell you about my new partnership with the Ekuso Virtual Esports Academy. Technically, Ekuso isn’t sponsoring me; they don’t pay me anything. In fact, I’m sponsoring them. I happen to think the Apply with Sanity logo looks pretty good on their uniforms. It’s more of a partnership, and I want that to be transparent when I write about esports or share any of Ekuso’s content. All of my writing is still 100% my own: not written, reviewed, or approved by Ekuso or anyone else.

What do I like about Ekuso? A few things.

First, my own teenager is a team member. When they first approached me about joining an esports team at their school, I honestly didn’t think much of it. I know nothing about video games, and I imagined it would basically be an in-school club where they could play with friends. But being part of the team had drastic effects almost immediately. My kid was growing not just in their League of Legends skills, but their self-knowledge, confidence, and leadership skills as well. All the things you practice when playing on a traditional sports team, like discipline, sportsmanship, leadership, communication, and strategy? That’s no less true of esports. Although I still have trouble following the action of a League match, I at least now understand how important esports can be for young people.

There’s also an obvious college admission connection. Many universities host esports teams, and many of them are actively looking for players to fill those teams. Esports is a legitimate activity that students can explain on college applications. Being on a team with coaching, rather than an individual player, can have real advantages both for your development as a player and as a college applicant.

That’s what I like most about Ekuso. They’re not just hosting video game tournaments. Karlin Oei, the founder, is an impressive player and a focused coach. He’s a gamer and an entrepreneur, and he’s also an educator.

This partnership won’t have an huge impact on the content or tone of Apply with Sanity. But you will see me sharing news about Ekuso here and on social media. You’ll see me more interested in esports at the high school and college level, which I’d probably be doing anyway. I’m also planning some free college admission webinars for Ekuso students and families, probably beginning in March.

And if you’d love an introduction to what organized esports looks like at the high school level, check out Ekuso’s tournament on November 13. It will be streamed live on their Twitch streaming page.

Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed this post, here are two easy things you can do:

1. Share it on your social media feeds so your friends and colleagues can see it too.

2. Ask a question—or share other resources—in the comments section.

Apply with Sanity doesn’t have ads or annoying pop-ups. It doesn’t share user data, sell user data, or even track personal data. It doesn’t do anything to “monetize” you. You’re nothing but a reader to me, and that means everything to me.

Photo by Angela Elisabeth.

Apply with Sanity is a registered trademark of Apply with Sanity, LLC. All rights reserved.