July 2026

I had a professor in graduate school say that the reason we read novels when we’re young is to be prepared to re-read them in our 50s and actually understand them. He was being partly facetious (I think everything he said was partly facetious), but he was also making an important point for students of any age to internalize: education, at its best, is about the long game. Yes, there are deadlines and milestones. Yes, there are things you need to master so that you can move on to more complicated and more interesting things. But you’re also building up a base of knowledge and experience that you will revisit and add to and refine. If you’re doing it right, it never really ends, even the things you’ve already learned. (I’ll spare you a lecture on hermeneutic circles.)

I had that professor in mind this summer when I started reading Moby-Dick for the second time. I’m 51, and I first read it when I was 13. I really hated it the first time. I hated it so much that my college application essay three years later was largely about how much I hated Moby-Dick. And this time? I love it! I’m already wondering how long I need to wait before I read it again. 13-year-old me wasn’t wrong for disliking such a long-winded book. But the professor was right that I’m older and have a much greater appreciation for all those words (and sentences, and entire chapters) that do nothing to move the plot along.

Of course this has everything to do with college admission. And the simplest, most practical, most valuable way to think about it is this: don’t think of college as the place where you’re going to finish your education; think of it as the place you’re going to begin it. And I don’t just mean going to graduate school or professional school afterward; most people don’t do that. You’re not just applying to a place that will give you experience and knowledge and credentials to get a job immediately afterward. You’re applying to a place where you will gain knowledge and experience and (I hope) wisdom that you will be revisiting and re-understanding for the rest of your life. Like those novels that you’ll understand much better when you re-read them years from now. Choose wisely. Choose for the long game. —Benjamin

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Here are some blog posts from the archive that seem good for this July:

Four quick tips for your application essays. I strongly believe that college-bound seniors should have a solid draft of at least one application essay before the first day of school. It’s one of the larger—if not largest—tasks on your application, so giving it lots of time is wise. If you haven’t quite begun yet, are in the middle of drafting and revising, or feel you’re just about finished—here are four tips for improving your essay.

Paying for college: some basic principles. The pricing for college is some of the most complex and opaque pricing out there. Still, there are some basic principles that can help make the process a little easier and more rational in the long run.