When applying to undergraduate or graduate programs, people often need to create a resume or a CV. Besides the struggle of gathering all of the things you’ve done for the past few years and remembering your exact job title, learning the language of a resume or CV is just as hard! Muse.com wrote an article outlining 185 action verbs for … Read More
College Advice from the New York Times
Writer Susan Shapiro wrote a great article detailing some of the things she wish she’d none going through her undergraduate degree. Some advice included the perks that can come from getting good grades, like being invited to non-advertised opportunities from professors. She also wrote about how professors are “people too” which is something I remind my own college students of … Read More
Harvard Retracts 10 Offers to Students Who Posted Offensive Memes in Facebook Group Chat
The story of ten students losing their offers of admission to Harvard University is gaining momentum. Many of us have been warned, or have warned others, that nothing on the internet is every truly private. Even popular shows like South Park and Black Mirror have delved into this idea of losing privacy through our use of social media. What interested … Read More
Ted Talk tackles the “checkbox childhood”
I recently came upon a thought provoking Ted Talk by Julie Lythcott-Haims, the former Dean of Freshmen at Stanford University. Her talk, “How to raise successful kids– without over-parenting” made me reflect on behaviors I see in undergraduate and graduate admissions, as well as my own upbringing. The video has over 2 million views at this posting, so clearly I … Read More
Californian teenager shares essay accepted to all Ivy Leagues
It’s not often students share their college application essays in such a public way. What stood our to me in Cassandra Hsiao’s essay were the narrative qualities. She gave the story of her family’s English language a beginning, middle, and end. While some of her essay is about her mother, I think Cassandra did a good job of keeping the … Read More
Activist student accepted to Stanford after writing #BlackLivesMatter as his essay
Students and families often ask me what risks are worth taking in their undergraduate application essays. My advice is always to be genuine, and know that there is always the possibility that the most sincere experimental essay will not be approved of by every reader. Admission committees are human (yes, real people!) and, at least in my experience, we could … Read More
My take on the Lyric Essay for Author Magazine
Several months ago I wrote my first lyric essay and succesfully placed it at Eastern Iowa Review literary magazine. I wanted to write about the experience of trying out a new writing form and stepping outside of my comfort zone of traditional personal essays. Below is an excerpt from the beginning of my craft essay: “If I am being honest, … Read More
University of Calgary waives application fee for students affected by U.S. travel ban
For citizens of the seven countries currently included in the U.S. travel ban, Canadian University of Calgary is waiving their admission application fees for the undergraduate and graduate levels. The fee normally costs $145 (Canadian). The school is opening this offer to both new students who would have begun study at a U.S. university, and to students whose U.S. education … Read More
Free essay consulting to students affected by travel ban & federal grant cuts
I cannot imagine being in a PhD program, and learning that my funding would be cut due to Federal grant cuts. I cannot imagine going through the difficulty of finding housing in a place I’d never been to before only to not make it past the airport. I cannot imagine saving my stipend for a plane ticket to my home … Read More
For-profit schools & the Academy of Art University
The risk of going into (some) student loan debt in exchange for a chance at specific jobs, salaries, lifestyles, etc is one that may not seem like much of a decision to many people. But when I read stories like this article about for-profit schools that take advantage of a lack of knowledge about higher education and prey upon people’s … Read More