Get Into College Blog Ebook

I've already written a variety of Get Into College Blog posts that lay things out with regard to specific topics.

However, they only tell you a variety of general tips.

I often get questions regarding the sorts of holistic questions that admissions officers are asking as they read through thousands upon thousands of applications.

For this reason, I've created a premium cheat sheet, "The 10 Questions Admissions Committees Ask," that lays out specifically what they're asking themselves as they review your college application.

Straight to the point, this one-page cheat sheet lists the key questions admissions officers consider as they analyze your entire application package.

When they are looking at your personal statement, recommendation letters, interview, high school courseload, GPA, and everything else that makes up your application, these are the questions they think about.

As you complete your Admission Essays and embark on the college admissions process, keep these questions in mind to put together the best possible application package and get into the college of your dreams!


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This is a PDF available for instant download after submitting payment via PayPal.

If you're already registered with PayPal, the download link will be sent to your PayPal email address. Otherwise, it'll be sent to whichever email address you submit.

Photo by the.sprouts

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College Interview Outfits And Clothing | What To Wear

or...Dress to Impress: Your Head-to-Toe Guide to College Interview Outfits

I know that you have a lot on your plate, that you have to worry about grades, extracurricular activities, SATs, and essays, to name a few things. I also know that picking out college interview outfits is not on the top of your list of concerns. Still, I know many students who let this slide, and then ended up freaking out the night before the interview. In the hope that this does not happen to you, I have put together a head-to-toe guide of how to present yourself in your interview.

1. Neck and Above

Girls, if you wear makeup, make sure that it is natural and minimal. Avoid heavy eye makeup and excessive bronzer.

Do not wear too much jewelry. No jewelry is necessary, but girls may wear a pair of stud earrings, such as pearls, and a simple necklace and watch. For boys, a watch is all you need. If you have any piercings besides in the ears, take out the earrings before the interview.

Make sure that your hair is combed and neat. If you are having a bad hair day, do not freak out. Girls, just put your hair in a neat bun, or half up and half down. Also, note to both boys and girls: avoid elaborate hairstyles, too much hair gel, or hair colors that do not appear in nature!

Boys should make sure that they are clean-shaven. While your friends might like your handlebar moustache, admissions officers probably will not.


2. Clothes

These are basic guidelines, which in some cases you can modify slightly. In general, you can be somewhat more casual in alumni or student interviews than you can be during interviews with admissions officers. Also, if you are interviewing for an alternative liberal arts college like Hampshire, you can be a little more lax than you would be for more traditional schools. For interviews with undergraduate business schools like Wharton, you should veer towards the more formal side. However, the following guidelines work for any interview, whether with a student, alumni, or admissions officer, at a hippy-dippy liberal arts school or a more stuffy business program.

In general, business casual is the name of the game. For girls, this means a blouse, twinset, or tailored sweater on top, and slacks or a tailored skirt that reaches the knees or below on bottom. For boys, this means a button down shirt and slacks. Boys may also add a sweater vest or nice sweater if they would like.

Black, white, navy, or neutral colors are the best. Make sure that everything is clean and ironed. The focus should be on you, not on your clothes! Also, make sure everything fits well. No saggy pants or anything too tight! Finally, not to state the obvious, but avoid showing too much skin. Boys, this means you too. (Girlsm while on Gossip Girl it might be okay to show tons of cleavage for a Yale interview. In real life, this does not fly.)


3. Feet

For girls, wear black or neutral colored, clean shoes. Loafers or small heels work well. Avoid shoes that make it hard to walk. You do not want to be remembered as the girl who stumbled and tripped!

For boys, dress shoes or loafers are perfect.

Now that dressing for your interviews is a no-brainer, it is time to start working on what you are going to say! Stay tuned for more on that next week.

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College Admission Resume Advice

or...How to Make Your College Admission Resume Stand Out With Well-Crafted Descriptions

The college admission resume may be short (just one or two pages!) but it tells admissions officers a lot of valuable information about you. It may seem like it is something cut and dry—either you did a lot of activities and won a lot of awards, or you did not.

However, in reality, it's not so black and white. Someone with a medium level of involvement in activities with a very well-written resume may appear more impressive than someone who is super-involved but has a mediocre resume.

(Of course, the best case scenario is to be very involved and have an amazingly-written resume.)

Here are three tips to make your college admission resume snap, crackle, and pop. I have also included an example of a good write-up and a bad write-up of the same activity, so you can see the difference that the wording can make!

1. Play up, not down.

In the real world, modesty may be a virtue, but not in the world of college admission resumes. Many students fall into the self-defeating trap of reporting just the basics of what they did, instead of playing up their accomplishments. Let me make something clear: I am not saying you should lie or embellish. Besides obviously being unethical, if caught, you might not end up going to college at all. I am saying that you should explicitly mention accomplishments that could impress. For example, if you were student council secretary, and you chaired three committees, you should mention it, even if everyone else on student council chaired five committees!


2. Word the descriptions for maximum effectiveness.

Under each activity, you will have one or several bullet points describing what exactly you did. Many students are confused about how to format these. You should not use long, complete sentences, nor should you use short phrases that do not go into specifics. Instead, start each bullet point with an action word, and follow it by specifics about what you did.


3. Be selective about what you include.

In an ideal world, your resume could be the length of the phone book, with long descriptions of every activity. Unfortunately, in the real world, the admissions officers read thousands of these, and they have to be limited to a page or two. Thus, you have two options. You can write it in .5 point font, in which case admissions officers, particularly the aging ones with weak eyes, will not even skim it. Otherwise, you will be forced to pick and choose what to include in the descriptions of the activities. Make sure to include anything that shows leadership, creativity, or any other quality you want to stress. If you are lacking room, you can leave out mundane activities.

Now, it’s time for examples.

Effective description:

Student Government Association, Grades 10-12, 10 hours/week

Position held: Secretary

· Managed all student council documents, correspondences, and meeting minutes

· Spear-headed public relations campaigns for activities organized by student council

· Organized Shadybrook High Dance Marathon, which raised $7,000 for cancer research

· Served as head of the Homecoming, Super Saturday, and Spirit Day committees

This is an effective description because it emphasizes the accomplishments of the applicant while being honest. It leaves out the more mundane and less important aspects of the position, while giving the reader a good idea of what the position actually entailed. It includes impressive specifics, and conveys leadership qualities. The wording is clear, and gives all the important information without being too long-winded.


Ineffective description:

Student Government Association, Grades 10-12, 10 hours/week

Position held: Secretary

· Student council meetings were very fun, and sometimes trying! There were many spirited debates about Spirit Week colors. I attended these meetings every Tuesday afternoon from tenth to twelfth grade!

· Posted flyers about dances, bake sales, etc.

· Meeting notes

· Dance Marathon

This position is unclear and unimpressive. It simultaneously gives too much and too little information. It includes complete sentences with unimportant details about the meetings, which is frankly too much information. Even worse than the irrelevant sentences are the short, unspecific phrases, which tell the admissions officer little about what was actually done. It plays down what the applicant did rather than playing it up. This makes the applicant seem less impressive than she actually is. Lucky for you, you will not make these mistakes on your resume now!

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College Recommendation Letters | How to Ask Teachers

Many of my students feel timid about asking teachers to write them recommendations. It is natural to feel awkward about this---you are asking an authority figure to do you a favor, one that could impact your college admissions. However, there's no reason to freak out. Follow this step-by-step guide to get top-quality college recommendation letters from your teachers.

Step 1: Be prepared before you ask.

The teacher will be much more willing to write a good recommendation if you make it easy for them. This means preparing a little bit before you ask anyone.

First of all, make a list of all of the colleges that you are applying to, with the deadlines written for each school. Provide the teacher with stamped envelopes addressed to each school. In addition to being polite, these steps will ensure that the teacher gets the recommendations in on time.

It will also help if you provide the teacher with some information about yourself. This way, the recommendation will be more informed, personal, and detailed. You don’t want to overwhelm them with information that they won’t have time to read—do both of you a favor and leave out every newspaper clipping since middle school and your dance recital videos. However, if you prepare a resume and give them a copy of your personal statement (if you have already written it), it will help them understand your interests and motivations.

Step 2: Ask politely.

Teachers, like anyone else, are going to respond better if you are polite.

Ask as far in advance as possible. The end of junior year, or the very beginning of senior year, is a good time to ask. Teachers, like all of us, are busy, and if you do not give them enough time, they may do a quick, sloppy job on the recommendation. They will appreciate a lot of advance notice.

When you ask, there is no need to prepare a big speech. Just ask them to meet after school or during a free period. When you meet, say something like, “Ms. X, I really got a lot out of your math class and feel like you know me better than most teachers. I was wondering whether you could write me a strong college recommendation.” This gives them an out if they think they do not know you well enough to write a good recommendation (which, believe me, you want to know before they commit!), and is also polite and non-presumptuous.

99% of the time they will say that they would love to write you a recommendation. At this point, you can give them the materials you prepared in Step One. Also, ask them if there is anything else that you can do to make their job easier. (For example, they might ask for writing samples or a copy of your transcript.) The more prepared they are, the better the recommendation can be!

Step 3: Follow Up

As I said before, teachers are busy! It will help to give them a gentle reminder about one month before the recommendation is due. Make sure not to sound like you are nagging them, or nervous. You can say something like, “Hi, Ms. X, I just wanted to check if you need any more materials before submitting the recommendation on December 15th.” The teacher will appreciate the reminder.

After they have written the recommendation, write a thank you note! A nice, hand-written one is best. In the note, stress how much you appreciate them taking the time to write the letter, and how much it helped you.

As you can see, asking for the recommendations is no big deal. You might even say it is the easiest part of the college application—you don’t have to do any work! So don’t worry, and seniors, if you have not done so already, go ask New York College of Health Professions now!

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