college essays

Admissions Beat host Lee Coffin encourages applicants to periodically snap an “existential selfie,” an exercise to zoom in on their values and priorities. This week, he and his guests train that metaphorical lens on high school students from rural backgrounds. For many, that upbringing can be a powerful theme in the stories they tell in their college applications. Joining Coffin are Kim Jackson, Director of Advising and Scholar Support at Lenfest Scholars Foundation, which serves college applicants from rural Pennsylvania, and Jacques Steinberg, a Lenfest board member and co-author of “The College Conversation: A Practical Companion for Parents to Guide Their Children Along the Path to Higher Education.”

Author and mental health activist Emi Nietfeld visits Admissions Beat for a thought-provoking and candid conversation with host Lee Coffin about her 2022 memoir, “Acceptance.” Named one of the Best Books of the Year by National Public Radio, “Acceptance” recounts Emi’s journey from foster care and a residential treatment center to the Ivy League, which she envisioned as her escape to safety. As high school seniors imagine college essays in the weeks ahead, the pair consider the art and challenges of framing an authentic personal narrative in a college application and the risk/reward of presenting oneself as “the perfect overcomer” in that process.

It's a MAJOR milestone in all teenagers' lives--  going to college.  But FIRST...you have to GET ADMITTED! If you have been through the journey applying to college, you understand what a stressful, hairball of a process both parents and their kids are faced with.  Let's run through it-multiple applications, distinguishing oneself, GPAs, test scores, community service and competition beyond anything they will ever face.  Couple this with the post- pandemic impacts, and you find yourself with one foot on a banana peel and the other in a funny farm!  Susan Morris, Founder of ICAN Consulting LLC,  joins us for a real and honest look at the  admissions landscape, and gives great advice to both parents and students on what they face and how they should handle this daunting experience.   From elite school applications, to state schools applications, to financial considerations and even athletes who might take a different path, Susan covers it all!

Get Ready To Be Inspired, Educated, Empowered and Entertained! For more information visit us @shesa10times5. https://instagram.com/shesa10times5

Katherine Waissbluth is a 20 year old political science major at Stanford. She runs a successful YouTube channel with several social media outlets which promote her college essay editing business - Kath Path College Apps. We talk about starting a business, being a Tik Tok star (lol), and what would happen if all the Trump and all the Bernie supporters were stranded on an island. Also she's my sister!!

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College essays have always been an important part of the college application process; however, this year—the year that COVID arrived and stayed for a while—provides a perfect storm for buoying up the importance of the college essays. Yes, that is essays, plural.

While the personal statement essay has always been the focus for most students—and it remains to be an important part of the application—many schools weigh their supplemental and proprietary essays as even more important in the overall evaluation of students’ applications. For example, Stanford doesn’t have eleven supplemental essays just because they like to read. 

This year provides an unprecedented level of unknowns regarding how—and even when—schools evaluate students and their applications. Join Mark and Anna as they discuss tips on what to cover in your essays this admission season,  if and when you should utilize the Covid essay prompt and more!

TTJ(es) are joined by owner of Blue Book Essays, Kim Gallagher, to honor the hard work of the graduates of 2020, as well as discuss what college entrance looks like, pre-COVID and now. Kim's specialty lies in helping prospective college students identify the little details of their lives, that can weave together a memorable, and impactful story, that they can use to set their college applications apart.
Kim offers interesting and often surprising information about the college acceptance process, and the conversation touches on capturing the moment when students actually meet themselves for the first time.

Show Notes:
After 20 years of building brands for retailers, nonprofits, banks and soft drinks, Kim Gallagher has started building brands for students applying to college. For two years, Blue Book Essays, her national college essay coaching service, has been helping kids and parents navigate the college essay scene.

https://www.linkedin.com/in/kimgallaghercreative
twitter: @kimkopy
instagram: @bluebookessays

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