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The Common App

Deferred or Waitlisted? What Now?

Deferred or Waitlisted? What Now?

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At this time of year, Early Action and Early Decision decisions are rolling in.  In fact, here at New Vision Learning, we’ve already received a number of acceptances!  And we’re very excited to see the rest of the returns.

On occasion, however, a student gets deferred or waitlisted instead of accepted (or rejected). The good news is, you\’re still in the game! We have had a lot of success in years past getting acceptances once the student is placed into the general pool.

The question of the day is: Do you just sit and wait?

The answer is a big, resounding NO!

I would get on the horn. Call Harvard, Princeton, MIT and ask them if they accept supplementary materials and to whom and by what date are you allowed to send them?

And then I\’d get busy.

The first step is to compose a LETTER OF CONTINUED INTEREST (LOCI). I\’d be happy to help you with these.  Just give me a holler.

This needs to be honest — and compelling!

You can\’t just say, \”Please, Please, Please let me in!\”

You have to find an interesting way to get their attention (without being gimmicky) and you need to show them facets of yourself you may have left out the first time around, especially if you have new achievements, honors, key experiences.

You have to show them that you are EVEN MORE interested in attending their school now than you were a few months ago.

I have helped students with many letters of continued interest. They take finesse! These letters are not easy to write, just as the \”WHY\’s?\” are difficult too. But they are all-important! They could make or break you!

Remember that \”Brevity is the soul of wit.\” I would keep the letter short and smart. 😉

In addition, you may be allowed to send a supplement. My suggestion here is to send a video if you haven\’t done so already. This will be much more compelling and easier to digest than another written statement. If that\’s not possible, you\’ll have to get creative! You\’ll need to send them something that will get them very excited! 😉

Again, I\’d call in advance to see if they\’re open to accepting supplements.

As for being waitlisted, all the above applies, but I wouldn\’t hold my breath. That will depend on how many people reject them . . . so you\’ll have to wait . . . and it\’s more random.

In either case, however, be happy you are still in the running. And do all you can — logistically, artistically and energetically — to get yourself in!

Best College Essays 2018

Best College Essays 2018 Available NOW!

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You can get your very own copy of Best College Essays 2018 on Kindle now.  The paperback of this amazing book will be out by Friday, November 9.

Writing my essay was like searching for an obscure jewel that was buried deep inside me.  I wanted the essay to show readers the essence of my creative self-expression.  To help me \”find\” the essay, my college guidance counselor held the flashlight while I did the digging!  Finally, I struck the roots of my very own family tree, most notable, my grandmother Gwennie, the first woman in our family to go to college and one of the rare African American women in her small upstate New York town to become a college graduate.  The essay I wrote is my personal statement and is also a tribute to my grandmother\’s bold style and courage that became the inspiration of my essay and has also served to inspire me as a young black woman.

                                                                       — Chloe Pinkney, Attending Skidmore, Best College Essays 2014

My thinking spot is atop my horse because my horses are my thing and the barn is my place.  On my horse, Khedar, my mind wanders; I let it float around, branch out, pursue different avenues, and perhaps most important, I allow it to backtrack.  During this stage, I dictate the piece in my head:  I match the cadence of the my sentences to the rhythm of his canter, punctuate them with his transitions, and become fully consumed by ideas, language and the gentle movement beneath me.  And then I write.

                                                                                                        –Charlotte Knopp, Best College Essays 2016

Best College Essays 2020 is now accepting submissions. 
$1000 First Prize.  Two Second Prizes of $500 each.

Best College Essays 2020

Best College Essays 2020 Call for Submissions: $1000 First Prize

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As Series Editor of Best College Essays 2020, I am proud to announce that the submission period is now open.

You Already Wrote It! Why Not Submit It?

Best College Essays 2020 is now accepting submissions from high school students applying to college in the 2019 academic year.  If you\’re a senior, that\’s you!  

Probably the single most important essay a student will ever write in their lives, the college essay gets sent to admissions offices never to be seen again.

The mission of Best College Essays it to preserve these diamonds in the rough, destined to be discarded as soon as the process is over, and expose them to the light of day in an effort to mark, showcase and honor this often overlooked rite of passage.

$1000 First Prize. 

Two Second Prizes of $500 each.

A byproduct of this worthy goal is that this book provides a plethora of high-quality examples of what a college essay can be or do for generations of college-bound students to come.

Best College Essays 2018 is now on Kindle.  The paperback will be available by November 9, 2018.

You already wrote it! Why not submit it?
First Prize $1000
Two Second Prizes: $500/each

Oh The Places You'll Go

Oh, The Places you Can Go!

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Immature poets imitate; mature poets steal; bad poets deface what they take, and good poets make it into something better, or at least something different. — T.S. Eliot, The Sacred Wood

The irony of the college essay is that students are asked to write the best essay of their lives in a form they have never learned.

Through others we become ourselves. — Lev S. Vigotsky

It would be naïve to think that one learns to write in a vacuum.

One doesn\’t learn to speak in a vacuum. In fact, one needs to imitate in order to learn. Imitation is the highest form of praise — and one of the greatest and most under-utilized tools for learning.

As a young New York City Poet-in-the Schools, I remember being taught by the great poet Kenneth Koch how to teach students who had never written poetry to write poems.

Koch was well-known for using the beginning of famous poems as starting points for young writers. He would read a poem aloud, say, \”The Red Wheelbarrow\” by William Carlos Williams:

so much depends 
upon 
a red wheel 
barrow 
glazed with rain 
water 
beside the white 
chickens

…and then direct an entire class to start the poem with the words \”so much depends upon.\”

Using these exact words, the students wrote their own poems – and they were all completely unique. True, they all started out the same, but where they went was completely different. Here\’s an example using a different prompt. Look how beautiful this poem turned out. In fact, Koch even titled his book after a line written by one of his students:

Dog where did you get that bark?

Dragon where did you get that fire?

Kitten where did you get that meow.

Rose, where did you get that Red?

Bird, where did you get those wings?

What Koch also taught, using \”The Red Wheelbarrow\” specifically, is that in writing, as in life, really so much depends on so little.

The words we use everyday (mostly) were already there when we got here. No one has cornered the market on language.

The irony of the college essay is that students are asked to write the best essay of their lives in a form they have never learned.

Maybe a student has read a few personal essays in their high school career. Maybe Annie Dillard or Richard Rodriquez.

Perhaps they have been asked to write a \”reflection\” on something they have read in class.

But I would put money on the fact that no one has really taught them to write a personal essay. (Actually, although they have been schooled in Five-Paragraph Analytical Essays, they have never really been taught HOW to write those either. No one teaches anyone HOW to do it. They just tell them WHAT their essay is supposed to contain.)

But a Personal essay? Most students have never even seen one, let alone been taught how to write one. To be honest, if students were being taught how to do this, I would be out of a job!

Experience has taught me that most students don\’t even really know what a personal essay is.

So it\’s good to show them.

I have a few favorites that I use to demonstrate the breadth and scope of what\’s possible – both in terms of subject matter and of style.

I am always amazed by my student\’s responses to the model essays I read to them.

\”Wow,\” they often say. \”I didn\’t know you could write about that!\”

Or, \”That\’s pretty wild! Did so and so get in?\”

I like to show them that the field is not only large but infinite so they can play in it and find a path that is truly their own.

The truth is college essays can be about almost anything. A lot can be learned by seeing what others do. Google Best College Essays and you\’ll get a sampling. From there, it\’s amazing the places you can go!

Here\’s a sample sample 😉 Thank you, dear Miranda Dickerman!  

Here\’s her Common App.  Got her in ED to a great school!

PROMPT:  Discuss an accomplishment, event, or realization that sparked a period of personal growth and a new understanding of yourself or others.

“Why do kids come here? There’s nothing to do,” was what a representative from an organization of Jewish camps said visiting Camp Tawonga, where I feel strong and beautiful and whole. It’s in the advertisements, on the website, on my counselors’ lips —  kids come to Camp Tawonga because there you are your best self. Although I am always missing the breeze in the redwoods and the traditions that I love, I don’t feel the hole in my heart that I used to when I was away from camp.

It’s sunny June in San Francisco and I’m gardening with seven-year-olds in a vibrant, organic oasis amongst industrial warehouses.  I’m at the Southwest Community Center chasing three year old Bismarck who is running and dancing to pop music and yanking me across the cement, eyes fixed on the Caltrain tracks, unwaveringly hopeful for a “choo-choo” to pass by. Behind the glass doors, his mother hugs Judge Kelly because she helped her regain custody now that she is sober and ready to give Bismark the love he deserves.  I see the hope in their eyes and my chest warms.

I’m holding my brother’s hand on the bus, I\’m composing a song for my violin. I’m running in the forest, I’m prepping for a debate, I’m laughing with my best friend, puzzled over setting up our tent.

I have learned that being my best self is not dependent on location. I don’t need to be at camp to be my best self because I am my best self when I am open, learning, and I can see the love within other people and feel it in myself. I’m my best self when I feel helpful, grateful, and in the present. I find joy and love in places I never knew I would ever find myself. My best self is ready to fight against the incomprehensible injustices that I see in the world and stand up for what I believe in.

“Oh my gosh!” my dear friend Frances says, her red nails picking away at the netting covering the bush. “There\’s blueberries,” her eyes shining. We pull the light and chalky berries off the bush.I have  never seen something so perfect. I’m taken aback that nature has created this. I think of the canyons and forests I have explored and of those that I still haven\’t. The sun is shining onto the bricks of the garden  and we talk about “how lucky we are” to have each other and to be girls who are as thrilled as anything to eat one delicious blueberry on a glorious June day.

I close my eyes and envision myself and my friends. We’re living out our childhood fantasy of owning a farm and raising families together. We run a library. A pre-school. A home for refugees. But maybe we\’re cities or worlds apart and only talk over Skype. I’m doing research on genetic diseases or studying upside down catfish and saving habitats. I’m a social worker. A senator. An entrepreneur.  There’s an unfathomable number of paths that I may follow, and I am excited rather than scared. I am learning to be a woman who follows her heart and seeks help when she needs it. No matter what path I take, I will find joy in helping others, and I will remember how to find happiness and pride. I will surround myself with people who make me feel lucky.

I can think of at least one moment from any given day that I wish I could fit into this essay. There’s a baby on the corner, and the bus driver smiled today, and we are alive. It is always worth the extra moment it takes to remember that you’re surrounded by beauty. I am infinitely lucky to have a life that has given me the time and space to embark on this journey of self discovery.

Writer, Independent College Counselor and Former Admissions Director, Gabrielle Glancy is a Writing Guru who has taken thousands of students successfully and relatively painlessly through the process of writing the single most important essay of their lives. Gabrielle Glancy is Founder and Director of New Vision Learning, Series Editor of Best College Essays, an avid Blogger and author of a forthcoming book on the subject. To learn more about how to write that all-important College Essay or how to navigate the process, visit her blog at http://www.newvisionlearning.org and join the conversation.

College Admissions

Wanna Know the Timeline for the College Process?

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Embarking on The College Process does not begin in senior year.  On the contrary, there are many steps along the way that are very important.  Here is an outline of what needs to happen when:

Freshman, Sophomores and Juniors

In reality, the college process begins freshman year when students choose their courses and begin to engage in extra-curricular activities.  Then, as sophomores, in most schools, students take the PSAT’s.  Generally, by spring of sophomore year students start thinking about preparation for the SAT and/or ACT exams.  The summer between sophomore and junior year is a key time for test preparation.  It is important students keep their grades up as they start juggling a full load of upper-level courses, extracurricular activities and preparation for the tests.  At New Vision Learning, we help students every step of the way. And we keep the timeline in the front of our minds so that students and parents know exactly what to do when.  Here is a list of the services we provide:

  • Course selection

  • Transcript review

  • Homework & Time Management

  • Review of extracurricular activities

  • Summer and Enrichment opportunities, Internships

  • Athletic Recruitment Preparation Packages (where applicable)

  • Preliminary College List in View of Academic Goals and Interests

  • Timeline and Registration for Tests

  • SAT/ACT Diagnostic Assessment including, where necessary

  • Accomodations

  • SAT/ACT and SAT Subject Test Preparation

Seniors and Rising Seniors

This is where the pedal meets the metal, as they say!  Good preparation involves starting early so unless we don’t meet a senior until his or her senior year (which sometimes happens and we welcome everyone), many of the preliminary steps will already have been taken.  Nonetheless, summer before senior year is key.  And of course the fall of senior year is when the deadlines for college applications are looming.  Here is a list of the services we provide our seniors and rising seniors.

  • Timetable

  • Finalizing the college list

  • Review of Admission Requirements and Deadlines for UC’s and all other college and universities

  • Review of Transcripts

  • Continued Preparation for SAT/ACT

  • Recommendations, Who and How to Ask for Them

  • Early Decision?  Early Action? How do you Decide?

  • College Essay Consolidation

  • Topic Brainstorming

  • Helping Students Write Winning Essays

  • Preparing for Interviews

  • Difficult Choices?  We can help you make the right one for you.

  • Waitlisted?  Now what?  Follow up.

How to Get Started on Your College Essay(s)

How to Get Started on Your College Essay(s)

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How do you begin writing your college essay(s)? I get this question all the time.

Many people think you simply brainstorm a topic and start writing!  

Where’s the best place to start?  The beginning, of course!  

NOT! 

It’s a grave misconception that writing is linear.  

It’s nearly impossible, starting from scratch, to write an introduction.

How can you introduce a topic you know nothing about?

Although I read the Common App prompts aloud to my students before we begin a brainstorming session, I wouldn’t think of asking them to pick a topic and start an essay on that topic, just like that (unless, of course, they really want to do so!)  Rather, I like to lead them through the back door.

I have oft been quoted as saying, “You have to get lost in order to get found.”

 But what does this mean in practical terms?  How do you lead a student into chaos?

How to Get Started on Your College Essay

I have my ways!  And you can find out more about them in my book on the subject The Art of the College Essay.

Often, I start by asking them to identify five significant moments in their lives in which they went into an experience one person and came out slightly, or more than slightly, changed.  A moment, I tell them, can be an instant, an epiphany, a weekend, a semester, a conversation — but a real moment in time, one that happened on a specific day, in a specific place.  

Once they have identified these moments, I ask them to “give me the gist,” to tell me what happened and what they learned from what happened.

What I do next is probably one of the most important steps in the process.  I teach them about the Four Modes of Writing:  Showing, Telling, Analyzing and Reflecting.  I teach them what it means to SHOW, what it means to TELL and how to combine them.

And then they’re ready for the Free Write.

The Free Write is certainly the most important step in the process.

But how does all this writing end up answering one of the questions, of the Common App, say, or of the University of California.

Well, that’s the beauty.  Both the Common App and the UC’s have questions so broad that almost any topic can be massaged to fit the prompt.  Sometimes, you do have to Free Write ON a specific topic, it’s true.  But most of the time, you can choose one or more of your significant moments and you will see that with just a few critical adjustments, these moments will answer one of the questions.

This is the complete opposite of what most college advisors will tell you.  And I’m completely convinced, without a shadow of a doubt, this method is what makes my students’ essays so successful!

Witness where my students have gotten in!  And what they say about the process 😉