Advice College Admissions Officers Give Their Own Kids

[viphan]

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2016/03/17/advice-college-admissions-officers-give-their-own-kids

[intparent]

Nice article. A few quotes stand out to me:

I tell my kids, ‘Do not wait for the deadline to submit your applications.’ There’s a rule in our house that I pay for the applications completed before Labor Day, but after that, my children are responsible for the fees. Getting those applications in early is the best way to reduce stress senior year

I don’t really agree with this one. I know one school that is slow to release their supplemental app questions and requirements – both of my kids applied there, and the info wasn’t even available until after Labor Day. Plus, if you have accomplishments in the fall semester, then they aren’t in the app. Sure, you can send an update, but better to have an app that reflects all of your qualifications. I think students should finish testing and visiting before the start of senior year, and have their common app essay drafted for sure. But all apps before Labor Day doesn’t make much sense to me.

The essay doesn’t have to be about something life-changing or confessional. Smaller topics, written well, almost always work best.

Mr. Schmill offers high school students this litmus test when choosing extracurricular activities: “If you couldn’t write about this on your college application, would you still do it?’ If the answer is ‘no,’ then you shouldn’t be doing it.”

I love these two quotes, and think they are really true.

[Erin_s_Dad]

Please feel free to post on the earlier thread from the Parent Forum:
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/1871018-what-admissions-officers-tell-their-own-kids.html