I’m a UCLA alum and can’t get a reader position at any UC
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Just keep trying. Make as many connections from your experience to reader roles as you can in your cover letter/resume. Connect with the hiring manager on LinkedIn. The UCs are extra competitive because some/all (?) allow counselors to read.
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hmm, that seems really hard to do on top of a day job?!
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As an alumni, I often read and score UC scholarship applications. It’s a volunteer position and doesn’t require a lot of training. Admissions is another ball of wax.
On the UCLA Application Reader page, it states that they are looking for:
- Work experience in the area of college counseling; extra consideration is given to counselors currently working at a high school, especially those from low API schools
- Experience or employment in areas or programs that promote or prepare prospective students for post-secondary education
- Level of affiliation to UCLA (e.g. alumni committees, volunteers for various UCLA events, former/retired UCLA Undergraduate Admission staff, etc.)
- UCLA employment status; consideration given to current UCLA staff who have extensive interactions with large numbers of students or student organizations (e.g. outreach programs, orientation programs, yield activities, etc.)
UCSB is looking for:
Qualifications:
- Have professional experience in an educational setting, preferably working with high school students.
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It’s hard to get into college counseling or gain professional experience when you already have a full-time job in another field. I don’t want to derail my career for that
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Have you volunteered as an alumni interviewer (or any other role that demonstrates intetest in incoming students)?
That’s not a thing at any of the UCs
At the UCs, what roles are available for supporting incoming students?
No idea. Not my school. But at some, you can volunteer to help at college fairs, host or organize events for new or prospective students, erc.
Well, you said something about essays? Reach out and become a reader for essays on here. There is a group of us that do it and I am pretty sure they could use extra people.
You can use it on your resume
I was considering it also and I have the time. I just have to look more carefully. Good luck.
I just don’t know what is considered “good essays” or not in the eyes of college admissions, and I don’t want to go around and giving advice that ends up hurting the applicant rather than helping them
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Just a suggestion.
I don’t think the readers on here take on that burden but rather we read essays for flow, clarity and to ensure that the prompt questions are answered. For me, if I happen to see a glaring grammatical error, I will mention it. I will comment on questionable word usage or potential comprehension issues, or I may make a suggestion if I think paragraphs should be shifted around (always with a disclaimer that my comments are suggestions only and are optional). I don’t comment (and have never been asked) on whether I think an essay is good enough to get into a particular college. I do give my impression of the overall essay in general and how I felt after reading it.
I just saw an open position for part-time remote seasonal application readers from a T30 university (even though it is a remote position, there was a requirement that applicants had to live in specific neighboring states to the location of the university). While the qualifications to apply didn’t seem daunting, the time commitment and the requirements for even a part-time position, did. 20-25 hours a week with a requirement to get through an average of 4 applications an hour. Regular mandatory Zoom meeting attendance and mandatory attendance at up to two weeks of training sessions. It didn’t seem to be doable for someone with a full-time job. Of course, the requirements could vary from college to college.
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Essays are part of admission packets. If you don’t know a good one from a not so good one, how will you be an admissions reader?
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Universities should give you training on what to look for when reading
OP- sample size of 2.
One- an active and involved alumna over decades. Retired from a teaching career (which included literature, rhetoric, writing at the HS level; tutoring; reading specialist) and applied for a Reader job at the alma mater. Did not get it- but DID get a job as an interviewer (when the college was still doing on-site interviews in the admissions office.) LOVED it. Spent a few years doing that. When the college switched to “informational interviews with alums” instead of evaluative interviews by admissions staff, she was offered a job as a reader. LOVED that too.
Two- a PhD doing a post-doc, slowly realizing that she’d never get a tenure track job in her field. Decided to get an MBA; needed a part-time job. Applied to her undergrad college for a Reader job which she did not get; applied to the undergrad college at the U where she was getting an MBA which she DID get. Loved it. Was not getting enough hours as a Reader so for Spring semester applied to the College Board for a job as a Reader for all the AP Histories, Lang and Lit, English, etc. That gave her enough hours when coupled with the application reader job. So basically full time MBA program and full time “Reader” until she finished her degree.
Neither person reported much in the way of training. Both institutions (plus the College Board) assume that your prior teaching experience (or similar) is going to allow you to know what is good/terrible/average writing, and that you know how to follow a grading rubric, depending on the subject. There was no handholding. Stuff comes in, stuff goes out. The staff meetings (in person, for the first woman I mentioned) and Zoom (for the second) were for updates, status reports, etc. and not for “trouble shooting”. That was handled one on one with the supervisory staff.
The work is seasonal, and both reported that it isn’t as though the volume gradually tapers off. One week you are super busy, the next week you have two applications, the week after that it’s “Great work, see you next year”.
YMMV. I suspect that actual classroom teaching experience in a relevant discipline (analytical writing, rhetoric, maybe journalism?) is the key. Colleges likely don’t want to train part-time, seasonal “help”. And a seasoned instructor knows the difference between catching a typo (not fatal if the piece is otherwise well-written) and reading something which is clearly plagiarized from Tolstoy.
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If you have a full-time career that you don’t want to derail, why do you want to become a college admissions reader?
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This varies by school, because the job varies by school. At some schools, readers can be part of ‘committee’ and are making admit/defer/deny/waitlist decisions. I put ‘commitee’ in quotes because at some schools ‘committee’ is one person. 
At other schools, readers might be reading in teams of two, or readers might just be grading essays. There is multi-day training for readers where I work, even for returning readers.
I agree these jobs have very little handholding, and they can be ‘lonely’, there’s not much of a ‘team’ aspect.
Yep, you will get training and rubrics/priorities to follow.
I agree that someone who doesn’t have training in college essay writing probably shouldn’t be helping students with essays. College essays are not like a typical five paragraph English class writing assignment, for example.
You don’t necessarily have to have that skill to read apps, but if interested, College Essay Guy offers essay training that’s not too expensive…maybe something to consider that you could add to your resume?
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I would not assume that being a reader is a part time gig you can sandwich around a full time job. My friend who became a reader (when she retired from working in admissions after many years) found it to be pretty much a full-time job during the height of admissions season.
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I’ve applied to a bunch of these jobs and never gotten anything but a form rejection. I think there are a lot of us who thought oh! I can do that! But don’t really have a ton of relevant experience even if our professional experience has transferable skills.
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