The College Whisperer™ | Navigating The Road To College

If you thought last year's Common App made submitting college applications second in difficulty only to a quadruple backward flip off the uneven parallel bars while sticking the landing from 1000 feet above the ground (Check out, So, You Think You Submitted The Common App. . .), read on... 

For anyone attempting to submit a college application through the new and congenitally defective Common Application, please read the following --

As you watch that spinning wheel spin (with due respect to the 1969 Blood, Sweat & Tears song), be aware that submission of PAYMENT does not constitute SUBMISSION of your applications and/or supplements on Common App. 

Submission of your applications through Common App is a multi-step process, accessed through the My Colleges section, under each individual college, by way of "Preview and Submission."

In brief, and without the essential elaboration, these steps are as follows:

• Final review of your application

• Application fee payment (if not waived)

• Signature

Although the payment screen, should you be fortunate enough to reach same, has a SUBMIT button, and, post-payment, you are asked to hit a button marked FINAL, THIS DOES NOT SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION!!! 

What should follow payment (though usually does not) is a SIGNATURE screen, which, upon typing in the applicant's name, and checking off all of the silly little boxes, will then allow you to submit the actual application. [Unfortunately, due to one of the many quirks of the new Common App, the signature screen does not always appear post-payment, lulling applicants into the false belief that the application has been submitted.]

YOU MUST COMPLETE THE ELECTRONIC SIGNATURE PAGE IN ORDER TO SUBMIT YOUR APPLICATION THROUGH COMMON APP!

Once your application has been submitted, you must then SUBMIT the WRITING SUPPLEMENT using the Writing Supplement tab under each individual college listed in My Colleges. Thereafter, submit, in the same manner, any additional supplements, such as the ART SUPPLEMENT (for which there is typically an additional fee).

All of this, by the way, is, according to Common App, a "streamlined" process for payment and submission. [That they can't seem to figure out that PAYMENT should be the last step (as it is in the real world), not the first, boggles the mind!]

Confusing? Convoluted? Crazy beyond belief? Yes, the folks at Common App have concocted a protocol that makes the dysfunction of Congress look like mountains have been moved and seas parted. [And believe me, you don't know the half of it!]

If applying to college these days was easy, a caveman could do it. [Unfortunately, all of the cavemen have been retained by Common App to run the IT Department.] Don't go it alone and chance getting it wrong, missing a deadline, or ending up at the University of Guam (not that there's anything wrong with that)!

And please, if you insist on submitted applications under the guise of "I can do this myself without any help," don't forget to also submit your test scores to colleges requiring same directly through College Board (SAT, SATII, AP) and/or ACTstudent (ACT). Your application will not be considered complete without them!

P.S. The government shutdown does not affect the Common App. [It only seems as if it does! :-)]

- - -  
Plan. Prepare. Prevail!  

When college applications get to you, you need to get to us! 

Contact us at COLLEGE CONNECTION, home of The College Whisperer™ and Official Sponsor of College Admission Success™, for all of your college planning needs. Nobody knows college admissions like COLLEGE CONNECTION. Nobody! 516-345-8766 

For up-to-the-minute news, apps, info and insights on college applications, admissions, scholarships and just about everything college, follow The College Whisperer™ on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GetCollege 

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First piece of advice when setting out to write your college essay: Keep Calm and Just Write -- It's Only An Essay!

Seems there's nothing more unnerving to students (and, by extension, their parents) than the college essay. What to write? How do I say it? Will it be good enough? Can I tell my "story" in 650 words or less? And what about Naomi?

Indeed, with all the hype and hyperbolae surrounding the college essay (as to form, content, style, and overuse of SAT words), it would seem to be a more difficult undertaking than sending a man to Venus, and bringing him safely back home. [Wait. That would be a woman who goes to Venus. Men are from Mars! :-)]

One of the best essays I ever read was written by a "B" student I worked with several years ago. Like so many before her, she was stumped as to what to write or where to start. ["Always start at the beginning," I said.]

I asked her if there was anything that she was particularly passionate about. Was there something that moved her. No response. Taking another poke at it, I queried, "Is there anything that opened your eyes?"  Suddenly (and without warning :-), her eyes opened wide and she blurted out, "In the fourth grade I had to get glasses!"

"Okay," I said, inquisitively. "Tell me more."

"Well, I was mortified. You see, I always looked at kids who wore glasses as freaks. They were, to me, disabled in some way."

I gazed at her with absorbing interest, as she began to weave her story.

"Frankly," she said. "I'd rather have died at the moment. But, as I could barely see the blackboard, let alone the writing on it, and death not being an option, I had no choice.

"So, I got glasses, this in the days before designer frames had matching accessories. Not only could I see the board, but I started to look at my classmates differently. Kids who wore glasses weren't really that much different than I. And then, I started to look at other people who may have seemed different, whether physically or even mentally challenged in some way, and began to realize that we had more in common than I ever knew. I actually began to see people in a different light, for who they are, and was able to make a positive connection."

Her story went on a bit (sans word limits, which did not exist at the time), and she brought it all together in this wonderful penultimate (great SAT word) paragraph:

"Eventually, when I got to high school, I started working with a group of Asperger's children. I saw them in a way that few others could. And, I suppose, had I not been forced to get glasses back in the fourth grade, my eyes would never have been opened to the people and places that truly make us who we are and who we strive to become."

I sat there, in awe and speechless, for the better part of a minute (Oprah would have referred to this as an "Aha Moment"), and found the only words that I could utter: "There's your essay!"

Whether that essay helped get this student into her first choice college (she actually went to her second choice, which, as often happens, quickly became her first choice), I cannot say. Clearly, it didn't hurt.

The key, in my opinion, is to keep it simple. Keep it real. Keep it honest. Stay positive (a little humor or self-deprecation could work, if you know how to handle it).  And make it about you. Regardless of the essay prompts (which, in most instances, with a bit of tweaking, are broad enough to encompass the "topic of your choice"), always keep in mind the three questions that all college admissions officers truly want you to answer: (1) Who are you? (2) Who do you hope to become over the next four years?, and (3) What would you bring to campus (other than those Donald Duck boxers) and to the community beyond?

Remember, you are not writing for the Pulitzer committee, or the cover story of the Sunday Times Magazine (though, you never know). You are penning a piece about the one subject you know better than anyone else in the world -- YOU!

Have fun with your essay, and, write on!

P.S. The above consists of 733 words, beyond the limit set forth by the folks at Common App. Damn!
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Plan. Prepare. Prevail! 
  
When college applications get to you, you need to get to us! 

Contact us at COLLEGE CONNECTION, home of The College Whisperer™ and Official Sponsor of College Admission Success™, for all of your college planning needs. Nobody knows college admissions like COLLEGE CONNECTION. Nobody! 516-345-8766 

For up-to-the-minute news, apps, info and insights on college applications, admissions, scholarships and just about everything college, follow The College Whisperer™ on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GetCollege

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Part and parcel of the college planning and counseling process is helping you find -- and apply for -- the money to pay for college.

Some have already started searching and applying for "outside" scholarships (bravo!), while others will do so over the course on the ensuing weeks and months. [Alas, most will never bother to mine for the money, and many who do, without an assist, will be looking to chisel in to the mother load with a toothpick!] 

Aside from scholarship searches (and actually applying), there is the matter of seeking so-called "institutional" aid (money that comes from the colleges themselves, in the form of scholarships and grants), as well as federal aid (such as Stafford Loans, Pell Grants and Work-Study).  

Should you apply? Absolutely. Regardless of need or merit, follow the lottery's lead (as in, "Hey, you never know!") There are instances where families with six figure incomes have received "need-based" aid (without committing fraud, mind you :-), and many college scholarships, believe it or not, are not awarded on the basis of financial need.  

All colleges require the submission of FAFSA (to be completed on or after January 1) in order to be considered for aid of any kind, be it merit or need-based, scholarship or loan). Some schools (mostly private) also require the completion of the CSS Profile (available after October 1) in order to qualify for financial aid. 

To get the ball rolling, here are a couple of preliminary links of interest:  

Check out Colleges Participating In CSS Profile to see whether the schools you will be applying to require this College Board administered application.  

Go to FAFSA4caster, enter some basic info and data (don't fret. It does not get submitted anywhere, so neither the NSA nor Edward Snowden will be the wiser :-), and come away with a rough idea of how much money you may be entitled to from the feds.  

One more thing (for now) about paying for college. Every college website has what is called a Net Price Calculator [If not found on the college's home page, go to the school's financial aid section]. Using this calculator, you can get a ballpark figure for out-of-pocket expenses. Not etched in stone, by any means, but good enough to allow you to compare one college's costs to another.  

More to come. Stay tuned. . . :-) 
- - -  
Plan. Prepare. Prevail!
  
When college applications get to you, you need to get to us! 

Contact us at COLLEGE CONNECTION, home of The College Whisperer™ and Official Sponsor of College Admission Success™, for all of your college planning needs. Nobody knows college admissions like COLLEGE CONNECTION. Nobody! 516-345-8766 

For up-to-the-minute news, apps, info and insights on college applications, admissions, scholarships and just about everything college, follow The College Whisperer™ on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GetCollege

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Not that we would have this blog become a diatribe against the Common App, but we couldn't help chuckle out loud when we read the following on Common App's Facebook timeline:

"APPLICANTS: Do not try to trick the system into letting you create two accounts. If you succeed, you have no idea of the potential mess that awaits you: confused colleges, confused counselors and teachers, mismatched records, incomplete applications....and that's just the beginning. For your own good, please don't go down this road."

To which The College Whisperer™  replied, tongue in cheek (to keep from swallowing same :-) by way of Facebook comment:

"...you have no idea of the potential mess that awaits you: confused colleges, confused counselors and teachers, mismatched records, incomplete applications....and that's just the beginning...." 

In truth, this is what awaits students who create but a single account on Common App! 1/2 LOL 

What confounds me, more than anything else, is that, to date, 19,856 people actually "Like" Common App on Facebook! 

[How long do you think the brain trust at Common App will allow that comment (among the many other derisive remarks) to stand?]

Folks, Common App, in its presently pathetic incarnation, is what happens when you take $8 million (the cost to create the Frankenstein monster that is CA4), and combine it with unfathomable ignorance and unimaginable arrogance. [And you thought College Board had the monopoly on those characteristics!]
- - -  
Plan. Prepare. Prevail!
  
When college applications get to you, you need to get to us! 

Contact us at COLLEGE CONNECTION, home of The College Whisperer™ and Official Sponsor of College Admission Success™, for all of your college planning needs. Nobody knows college admissions like COLLEGE CONNECTION. Nobody! 516-345-8766 

For up-to-the-minute news, apps, info and insights on college applications, admissions, scholarships and just about everything college, follow The College Whisperer™ on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GetCollege

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Our friends and colleagues at College Admission Book (you don't have to buy the book. You have The College Whisperer™ and College Connection! :-) have created a step-by-step guide to completing and submitting the Common Application. [Click HERE to view.]

Yes, it is lengthy. True, some of the advice must be taken with that proverbial grain of salt. Agreed, that the round "How To" does not always fit neatly into the square holes of Common App. And yes (sigh), most folks (especially teens applying to college), don't bother to read such things, particularly when it doesn't come by way of text message or Tweet!

Ah, but the tip of the iceberg is revealed. . .

Still, The Application Form is a worthwhile read, both as an overview and as a reassurance that, at least as concerns the big picture, you've got the bases (okay, second base) covered.

Of course, to get you all the way home, scoring the winning run, you've got The College Whisperer™ and College Connection!  Don't hit that SUBMIT button until we've reviewed every line, each section, and the last of the college questions and writings. And, even then, knowing what has to be submitted first (Supplements) and where along the line payment must be made, as counter-intuitive as that may be on Common App, is of equal import -- and of no less confusion.

Read the guide. Then contact your Sherpa Guide through the college application and admissions process!
- - -  
Plan. Prepare. Prevail!
  
When college applications get to you, you need to get to us! 

Contact us at COLLEGE CONNECTION, home of The College Whisperer™ and Official Sponsor of College Admission Success™, for all of your college planning needs. Nobody knows college admissions like COLLEGE CONNECTION. Nobody! 516-345-8766 

For up-to-the-minute news, apps, info and insights on college applications, admissions, scholarships and just about everything college, follow The College Whisperer™ on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GetCollege

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In response to public comment to The College Whisperer's™ recent blog post, Oops! Common App Has Done It Again!!!, that which has been said -- not to mention all that has been left unsaid -- bears, we believe, repeating.

Below is the commentary, verbatim, for your consideration, pro and con. Your further comments, on either side of the argument (or on the fence, for those who, like Switzerland, choose to remain neutral), are most welcome.

Allow me to simply say here, and for the record, that I sense a great deal of bullying on the part of Common App and its admiring proponents (not to mention a fair amount of "ours doesn't stink"). Not from everyone in Common App's corner, mind you, painting with that all too broad brush, but enough of both undercurrent and "let's throw critics under the bus," to warrant mention.

Indeed, the folks at Common App are entitled to their own opinions, as are the masses, be they relative to CA4 or otherwise. They are, however, as the late Daniel Patrick Moynihan was fond of saying, "not entitled to their own set of facts!"

The Frankenstein monster of college admissions is on the loose. And he's looking to bully anyone who may stand in his way. Well, those in Common App's inner sanctum may be able to bully some college-bound applicants. After all, they hold in their little hands the power of acceptance and denial. The rest of us, I can assure you, refuse to be bullied!

Read on. . .

Ahaas 

Ok, CA4 is not perfect, none of us are. This was a very large effort by devoted volunteer colleagues. I think it would be more helpful if we all contributed constructive comments and suggestions for smoothing the rough spots and getting it right. Sarcasm is neither very helpful nor very professional, in my opinion. It even smells a bit like self-aggrandizement.

The College Whisperer Mod 

Volunteer effort? Your colleagues volunteered? Gee, where did the $8 million that Common App spent on CA4 go? Frankly, when an outfit like Common App spends $8 million, they either get it right, get it fixed, or stand ready to be criticized, en masse. Self-aggrandizement? More like self preservation. And what do we get as a response from Common App? Platitudes, at best. Bullying, at worst!

Ahaas  

It went to the programmers, not to our colleagues on the Board of Directors. You are diminishing yourself even more by these comments. Too bad, as I enjoy and appreciate most of your posts.
 

The College Whisperer Mod 

It would appear, from all indications, that the modus operandi of Common App is to blame the victims, rather than to accept responsibility, offering an appropriate mea culpa (let’s point fingers at the programmers, the college counselors, and the students themselves). 

Be that as it may, the specious argument that the Directors at Common App sit as volunteers, thus absolving themselves of blame, is akin to Jamie Dimon of JP Morgan Chase, shrugging off responsibility for the bank having lost billions in bad deals, while staying on as CEO (and worse, remaining as a Director of the Federal Reserve, watching over OUR money).

The Directors at Common App are not an ad hoc conglomeration of ordinary citizens of varied interests and backgrounds, the likes of which sit on the boards of civic groups and community organizations, with truly altruistic intentions. No, they are highly compensated individuals who hold themselves out as experts in the field of higher education, in general, and college admissions, in particular, with a deeply rooted self-interest in the outcome. The Dr. Strangeloves, if you will, of the college admissions world, holding their demonic fingers over the hot button. 

Instead of owning up to the shortcomings of CA4, as pointed out by students, parents, college counselors, guidance counselors, and even other college admission professionals, the Common App board seeks refuge in its ivory tower, hurling ad hominem attacks, calling detractors "unprofessional," and saying that critics "diminish" themselves by way of their well-founded critique of CA4. 

That which has been diminished here, at the hands of "volunteer" Directors who, in great measure, have been complicit in not only creating a college admissions process that would boggle the mind of Albert Einstein, but in maintaining a system of higher education that has indebted an entire generation, is the ability of the college-bound, and those who advise them, to demonstrate exceptionalism through an interface that fails them miserably. 

College admissions officers, deans, and committees expect and demand excellence from applicants seeking admission. They should expect and demand no less of themselves. 

To conclude this rant (oh, how I love a tirade :-), allow me to quote one of your own. Clark Brigger, senior associate director for undergraduate admissions at Michigan, had this to say at the National Association for College Admission Counseling’s annual conference in Toronto: The new Common Application “purported to have a great engine, it looked good on the outside… It rolled off the assembly line without the wheels, and didn’t even have the axles to put the wheels on.” 

Enough said! 
- - -  

Plan. Prepare. Prevail!  

When college applications get to you, you need to get to us! 

Contact us at COLLEGE CONNECTION, home of The College Whisperer™ and Official Sponsor of College Admission Success™, for all of your college planning needs. Nobody knows college admissions like COLLEGE CONNECTION. Nobody! 516-345-8766 

For up-to-the-minute news, apps, info and insights on college applications, admissions, scholarships and just about everything college, follow The College Whisperer™ on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GetCollege


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In the grand quest to find the college that's the right fit for you, to gain a foothold (if not the upper hand) in the application and admissions process, to develop that winning college essay, and, once accepted, to find the money to pay for it all, who would be best suited to guide, coach and de-stress students and parents alike -- the Long Island Medium or The College Whisperer™?

We asked a panel of experts, comprised of noted academics, intellectuals, rocket scientists, and the intern from the local bagel store, to compare and contrast the Long Island Medium (Theresa Caputo) with The College Whisperer™ (Long Island's own Seth Bykofsky), on their respective abilities to help navigate the long and sometimes treacherous road to college admission success.

And so, without further ado, we present, sans commercial interruption, Long Island Medium vs. The College Whisperer™:

Long Island Medium: A Medium (Duh!)
The College Whisperer™: Sometimes a Medium, but more often these days, with the universe ever-expanding, a Large

Long Island Medium: Communicates with spirits, receiving information from worlds beyond the physical realm
The College Whisperer™: Communicates with college-bound students and their parents, receiving and transmitting information about the college application and admissions process, choosing that perfect college, creating a strategy to improve the chances of getting in, and finding scholarship opportunities to help pay for all four (or more) years

Long Island Medium: Writing a book. [$15.30 at Barnes & Noble.]
The College Whisperer™: Writes a blog. [It's FREE, always!]

Long Island Medium: On a whirlwind tour of over 30 (count 'em) cities. [Tickets start at $39.]
The College Whisperer™: Touring local libraries, civic centers, and community forums on Long Island, offering FREE College Planning Workshops. Mentoring and coaching students in-person and via the world wide web by way of College Connection, Official Sponsor of College Admission Success™, with customized plans for every student and any budget.

Long Island Medium: What a hair-do!
The College Whisperer™: Happy to still have some hair!

Long Island Medium: Connects with people who have "crossed over"
The College Whisperer™: Connects with people who are preparing for one of the greatest adventures of their lives -- college

Long Island Medium: Sees dead people (Okay. Maybe she only hears from their spirits)
The College Whisperer™: Sees, listens to, and communes with the living on the experience of applying and getting in to college, giving encouragement, passing along words of wisdom, and raising spirits

Long Island Medium: Conveys messages from those who have passed to the other side, giving peace of mind to those who remain with us
The College Whisperer™: Conveys messages of hope to those whose right of passage includes the SAT and/or ACT, giving peace of mind to everyone on that wonderful journey to college

Long Island Medium: On Twitter @TheresaCaputo
The College Whisperer™: On Twitter @GetCollege

Long Island Medium: Validates the belief that the soul lives on
The College Whisperer™: Validates the belief of students that they will get in to a college that is perfect for them, where they will grow, develop, thrive and have the time of their lives

Long Island Medium: It's all about the departed
The College Whisperer™: It's all about the future - YOURS!

Long Island Medium: Soon to have a line of merchandise (zombies sold separately?)
The College Whisperer™: Has a wealth of knowledge and a treasure trove of resources available for the asking, from how to choose the best college for you, to what makes an engaging essay and captivating application, to how to find and apply for those college scholarships and properly complete and submit the FAFSA

Long Island Medium: Reach out to her HERE
The College Whisperer™: Get in touch HERE

Long Island Medium: Has a Fan Club [$19.99 to join]
The College Whisperer™: Has a Facebook page [free to view], where you can Like him

Long Island Medium: Changing lives by channeling yesterday's memories
The College Whisperer™: Changing lives by helping the college-bound create tomorrow's memories

So there you have it, folks! The votes are in. Our panel of experts (and 3 out of 4 dentists) agree. When it comes to planning for college, applying to college, getting in to college, and paying for college, the Long Island Medium can't hold a candle (or was that a séance?) to The College Whisperer™. 
- - -  
Plan. Prepare. Prevail!
  
When college applications get to you, you need to get to us! 

Contact us at COLLEGE CONNECTION, home of The College Whisperer™ and Official Sponsor of College Admission Success™, for all of your college planning needs. Nobody knows college admissions like COLLEGE CONNECTION. Nobody! 516-345-8766 

For up-to-the-minute news, apps, info and insights on college applications, admissions, scholarships and just about everything college, follow The College Whisperer™ on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GetCollege

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For those familiar with the Common Application, portal to more than 500 college applications, the flaws and foibles of a most imperfect tool are self evident.

To the unsuspecting and newly initiated -- as almost all high school seniors are, it being their first foray into the wild and crazy world of college admissions -- Common App is fraught with pitfalls and hazards, not to mention the occasional stealth essay.

Take, for instance, the Activities section, where a simple click to open, without making a single entry, results in a green check mark next to the category, signifying that the section has been completed. To think, a student could, technically, submit her Common Application without having listed even one extracurricular, work or volunteer experience. Imagine that.

Then there's the trouble that often accompanies attempts to copy -- say, your essay -- from a Word document, and paste into one of the spaces provided for that purpose in the Common App platform (watch the gap). It doesn't always work, much to the frustration of students and parents alike. [HINT: Rather than to retype within the confines of the Common App box, try Notepad.]

And now an old issue raising it's still ugly head, this despite Common App's $8 million renovation (which most of us would have been delighted to similarly mess up for a mere $4 million). Apparently, Common App develops an intermittent distaste, from time to time, for particular browsers, leaving students hanging while the spinning wheel spins, deleting information and data thought to have been saved, or summarily kicking applicants offline when they press "Continue," without having saved a darn thing. [And you just finished entering all ten of the allotted activities. Ouch!]

Common App's antagonist du jour is Safari, the browser utilized by Apple's Mac Books. [HINT: Try using Internet Explorer or Mozilla Foxfire, at least until Common App decides it doesn't much care for those browsers, either!]

Other sundry issues have cropped up on the latest version of Common App, the so called CA4. [Where are C3PO and R2D2 when we need them.] Missing college Writing sections. College supplements that appear, disappear, and may or may not reappear. Credit card payment snafus. [Gee. They can't even get the part right where you have to pay!] No doubt there are other quirks and kinks, some being worked out, a few having been resolved, and still others, or so we are told by the gurus at Common App, that will have to "wait until next year." [Maybe another $8 million would help expedite the fixes needed to bring Common App into the 20th Century, now that we are well entrenched in the 21st!]

Ah, to err is human. To really screw things up, you have to be a nearly monopolistic pseudo not-for-profit corporation raking in millions!

Bottom line: Be wary and aware of Common App's many faults (earthquake prone regions don't have as many faults), both the open and notorious and, most especially, those that may be hidden from view. [Just try finding that PDF Preview of the Common App.] And be ever so careful BEFORE you hit that "Submit" button, from which there is no return from the eternal abyss. 

View and review. Section by section. Line by line. Entry by painstaking entry. Then, do it all again. Better yet, bring in a second set of eyes (or a third), if not an extra helping hand, to guide you through the trenches, detours, and secret passages of the new, yet still mysterious and mind-boggling, Common App. 

Remember, folks. You get but one chance to apply to the colleges you have selected. Don't just do it. Do it correctly, and with a view toward actually getting in, the many shortcomings of Common App notwithstanding!
- - -  
Plan. Prepare. Prevail!  

When college applications get to you, you need to get to us! 

Contact us at COLLEGE CONNECTION, home of The College Whisperer™ and Official Sponsor of College Admission Success™, for all of your college planning needs. Nobody knows college admissions like COLLEGE CONNECTION. Nobody! 516-345-8766 

For up-to-the-minute news, apps, info and insights on college applications, admissions, scholarships and just about everything college, follow The College Whisperer™ on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GetCollege

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Four and a half minutes.

No, not the time you spent actually studying for that recent math test. Not the time it takes to cook instant oatmeal or Uncle Ben's converted rice. Not the time you ran the mile in.

So, what is this four and a half minutes?

Actually, it is the average (as opposed to mean?) time spent by admissions officers reading the typical college essay. Yup. That's it, folks. All of four and a half minutes.

What? You spend weeks, if not months, contemplating. What do I write about? Will it fit the prompt? Is the topic unique, imaginative, demonstrative of the true me? And how the heck can I tell my life story in a mere 650 words?

Nights without restful sleep. Days with agonizing nagging. "Did you write your college essay yet?" Revisions. Rewrites. More virtual trees chopped down and shredded than there are atoms in the universe.

And you're telling me that the person who may well decide my collegiate fate may only spend for and a half minutes reading this bold and daring masterpiece? You got that right.

Not to say, or even intimate, that the essay is unimportant, or worthy of only a passing nod. It is very important. The essay, after all, tells a story. Your story. It, in effect, completes you, or at least your college application.

Yes, brainstorm those ideas for an essay that truly says, "I'm that fella you'd like to have lunch with in the campus dining hall (hold the sloppy Joe)." Be original. Be dashing. Be a bit daring. True to who you are and who you hope to become over the next four years, be the one that sets you far above the 34,999 other applicants to that institution of higher learning (at least half of whom are writing about summer camp, soccer games, or that week spent in Costa Rica building houses with Habitat for Humanity).

Entertain. Inform. Leave 'em laughing, crying, or simply wanting for more -- of you.

Enough said. [And I mean, enough said!]

Don't spend a veritable lifetime agonizing over your college essay, worrying more about form over content, style over substance. You are not being considered for a Pulitzer Prize or publication in the New Yorker (though you never know). Write about that which is near and dear. Choose something that stirs -- and shows the world -- the passion within. Expand on that good old elevator speech, where you literally have to sell yourself by the time you get to the 22nd floor.

But please... Don't stay up nights worrying over the minutia. Is it too many paragraphs? Too few? Should my essay have a title? Did I include the right amount of SAT words? No, leave those chiefly irrelevant asides to the talking heads and boring drones who simply love to rant on and on about such silliness in online chat rooms and Linkedin groups.

Be thoughtful. Be courageous. Write about what you know, what interests you, and that which you'd like to find out -- about the world, about other people, about yourself. 

Believe me. Your essay will be good enough. Why, it may even be great. The stuff that college admission committee chatter is made of.

Still, remember that your college essay is but one of many considerations in the scheme of college admissions. There are those grades and scores. Extracurricular activities matter. And by no means should you overlook the value of community service, internships, and, dare I say it, a job.

Then, too, it is not only the essay that gets its moment (or four and a half minutes) in the proverbial sun. There are the many and varied nuances of the applications (whether Common or uncommon) themselves. The recommendations and Guidance Reports. The ancillary writings, short answers, and the very strategies (i.e., early action vs. regular decision) that create a cumulative effect, building upon your chances of getting in to the college of your choice.

The essay alone -- even that "perfect" persuasive piece -- will not likely get you in to college, just as a low score on the ACT Composite will not necessarily keep you out. Colleges will, more often than not, look at the big picture, taking a holistic approach to college admissions. You should, too!

Okay. Take a minute -- or better yet, four and a half minutes -- to think about it!
- - -  
Plan. Prepare. Prevail!  

When college applications get to you, you need to get to us! 

Contact us at COLLEGE CONNECTION, home of The College Whisperer™ and Official Sponsor of College Admission Success™, for all of your college planning needs. Nobody knows college admissions like COLLEGE CONNECTION. Nobody! 516-345-8766 

For up-to-the-minute news, apps, info and insights on college applications, admissions, scholarships and just about everything college, follow The College Whisperer™ on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GetCollege

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No, not the retelling of a life's tale. The stuff that a movie fantasy and new Broadway musical are made of. The meshing of imagination and whimsy, with reality and truth. 

Then again, perhaps this is just such a story. The exuberance and optimism of youth. That dreamlike romanticism of life, embraced by every teen who sets out to conquer the world, to triumph over mediocrity, determined not only to dream those dreams that are larger than life, but to make those dreams come true.

Yes, Big Fish. Or, more appropriately, finding the right sized pond where that big fish, real or perceived, can grow, flourish, and thrive.

In a way, every college-bound high school student is that big fish -- or sees herself as one. And why not? College is, after all, the stuff that dreams are made of. The place where doors open, and the stage is set for all of the possibilities that may lie ahead.

But which pond to swim in? Which college is "best" for you? Big. Small. Mid-sized. Urban. Suburban. Rural. Liberal Arts. Program-specific. Public. Private. And the list of variables, like that long, rolling river, goes on.

And having found that "perfect fit," how does one tell the story of one's life (so far), weaving the tale so as to not only express who you are and who you hope to become over the next four years, but moreover, to grab your audience, hold their attention, and leave them with a tear in the eye or a smile on their faces? 

To paraphrase Edward Bloom in the movie version of Big Fish, "Most men tell a story straight through. It won't be complicated, but it won't be interesting, either..." Shades of your college essay, eh?

Ah, the college essay. The bane of the college-bound. To make the utterly mundane somehow profound. 

Will Bloom: You know about icebergs, dad?

Senior Ed Bloom: Do I? I saw an iceberg once. They were hauling it down to Texas for drinking water. They didn't count on there being an elephant frozen inside. The wooly kind. A mammoth.

Will Bloom: Dad!

Senior Ed Bloom: What?

Will Bloom: I'm trying to make a metaphor here.

Senior Ed Bloom: Well you shouldn't have started with a question, because most people want to answer questions. You should've started with "the thing about icebergs is."

The big secret for the very best college essay? Keep it simple. Keep it honest. Keep it real. Make it interesting!

Most high school students, at least those with a modicum of ambition and determination, are intended for larger things. College -- well, the right college -- allows them to shape that future, clarify that vision, and become what they always were or wanted to be.

Becoming a big fish, and finding (let alone jumping into) the right sized pond, is no small task. No one said applying to college, let alone getting in, would be easy. Your pond, that perfect fit college, is out there. It may not be on those maps anointed by U.S. News & World Report or Princeton Review. [Talk about tall tales!] Still, with a little help you will find it, and with just a tad of gumption, and a hearty heap of passion, you will get there and dive right in.

And once there, you will become what you were always intended to be -- a very big fish!
- - -  
Plan. Prepare. Prevail!  

When college applications get to you, you need to get to us! 

Contact us at COLLEGE CONNECTION, home of The College Whisperer™ and Official Sponsor of College Admission Success™, for all of your college planning needs. Nobody knows college admissions like COLLEGE CONNECTION. Nobody! 516-345-8766 

For up-to-the-minute news, apps, info and insights on college applications, admissions, scholarships and just about everything college, follow The College Whisperer™ on Twitter at www.Twitter.com/GetCollege

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