Parents: Here's how you can involve yourself in the college process

Post-secondary education is an ever-evolving field. It’s generally understood that someone who applied to college in the 1950s or ‘60s encountered an admissions environment very different from the one you’ll find today, with different application processes, different admission standards, and tuition rates that seem impossibly low from today’s perspective.

What you might not realize is that even if you went to college more recently, in the ‘80s or ‘90s, your experience also doesn’t reflect the current state of college admissions. Acceptance rates, standardized tests, admissions requirements, and college costs have all changed significantly within the space of a generation. At the same time, it’s more important than ever before that young people go to college—the career and income benefits are substantial.

If you’re a parent who is currently helping a student navigate the world of college admissions, and especially if that child is your first to go through the application process, it’s important that you update your expectations and assumptions about what that process will hold. In order for your child to successfully get admitted to a college that’s a great fit for them, they’ll need your informed help. Here’s our advice for what you need to learn and how you can get up-to-date.

The Changing Face of College Applications

Now more than ever, a bachelor’s degree is a highly valuable asset when thinking about career opportunities. You yourself may have come of age in a world where attractive career prospects didn’t necessarily require a college education, but the country is changing. Employers are raising their educational requirements for entry-level jobs, both because those jobs now require additional skills, and because the competitive job market allows them to be more choosy.

With more students applying to more colleges, and applicant pools at top-tier schools continuing to grow, it’s also gotten harder for a student to get into their college of choice. 

For example, in 2016, Stanford University, currently the most selective school in the nation, accepted fewer than 5% of undergraduate applicants, less than one in twenty. Compare this to the 1995-1996 application season, in which Stanford accepted nearly 16% of applicants—still highly selective, but quite a different figure.

One important takeaway is that there’s always some element of chance to elite college admission. Competitive schools have to turn down many qualified applicants simply because of space constraints, and your child may very well be one of them. There’s simply no way to be sure, so you’ll need to be realistic about your expectations and help your child be realistic about theirs.

 Overall, the college application process is just more serious than it used to be. Parents and students routinely spend considerable time and money perfecting applications, preparing for standardized tests, and piling on extracurriculars, leadership positions, specialized summer programs, and other enrichment experiences. Today’s aspiring college applicants tend not to get much unscheduled free time. 

The stakes are high, and there’s a lot of pressure involved. Many college admissions advisors, including those here at EdBrand, encourage today’s applicants to think strategically when applying to college. It’s no longer just about finding a few schools your student likes—it’s about compiling a carefully chosen list of schools to maximize your student’s chances of getting admitted somewhere that’s a good fit for them.

How you choose to approach this new set of realities is up to you and your student. However, you need to both be aware that getting accepted to a top-tier school is difficult, and your student will be competing with applicants who have put this kind of concentrated effort into making themselves compelling candidates for college admission.

Paying for College: The New Realities

Many different factors come into play when figuring out which colleges might be strong matches for your student, but one of the most significant is cost. Need-based financial aid, scholarships, and loans can help make a college more affordable, but the bottom line is that without a way to pay for a college, your student can’t attend.

You’ve probably already heard that the cost of getting a college education has gone up dramatically over time, and that’s true even within the last few decades. In fact, college tuition increases have outpaced inflation, meaning that not only is the dollar amount higher, but it’s actually harder for the average family to afford college than it used to be.

The average cost of tuition plus room and board at four-year colleges was $23,600 for the 2014-2015 school year, compared with $7,602 for the 1990-1991 school year. As of 2017, at a few especially expensive colleges, the yearly estimated cost of attendance for an average student is nearing $70,000.

For top-tier colleges, it’s close to impossible for most students to pay their own way based on savings and part-time or summer income, as many students did in the past. Financial aid can help a great deal, but most well-regarded colleges award financial aid based at least in part upon the family’s financial need, so your income and assets will be taken into account when assessing your student’s aid eligibility.

What does this mean for you as a parent? It means that if you make assumptions about college costs based on your own experiences from two decades ago, you and your student likely won’t be adequately prepared for the realities of college costs today. Updated information is essential if you’re going to make informed decisions about saving for college, seeking financial aid and scholarships, and choosing colleges your family can afford.

Top Tips for Parents: Getting Up to Date and Helping Your Student

If your established notions about college admissions process were formed a long time ago, you may feel a little overwhelmed by the amount you need to learn. However, many resources exist to help get you on the right track. Here’s a selection of our best advice for getting informed, adapting to the current state of the admissions world, and helping your child make wise choices throughout the application process.

• Get informed. Acknowledge that the system has changed, and use all the resources available, from websites to info sessions to meetings with guidance counselors, to gather information about applying to college today, especially regarding the schools your child is interested in. Don’t assume—look it up.

• Talk to other parents. Parents whose children are slightly older than yours and who have been through the process recently will have valuable information and personal insight to share. Ask them what they wish they’d known.

• Start early. Many application tasks, especially those that are research-related, can be started well in advance of your child’s senior year. Your plans don’t need to be set in stone years in advance, but it’s a good idea to have a sense of direction.

• Stay realistic. It’s okay for your child to have big dreams and apply to some reach schools, but you should help them manage their expectations about application outcomes and match their accomplishments to appropriate colleges. You probably think that your student is pretty great, but admission to selective colleges can be brutal, and many qualified applicants are rejected. Think practically, and have a backup plan.

• Help your child build a strong applicant profile. Starting early in high school, ask questions and offer opportunities for your child to figure out what subjects or career paths interest them most. Encourage them to maintain strong academic performance and extracurricular involvement, and address academic or other problems early before they become major obstacles.

• Openly discuss paying for college. You may be uncomfortable talking to your child about money, but it’s essential that your child knows what the family can afford. Like it or not, cost is a major factor in choosing a college, and your student needs to know which schools are practical possibilities and how much financial aid might be required.

• Be prepared to deal with practical tasks. During application season, you may be able to help in innumerable small and large ways, from arranging for tutoring and assistance to checking in about deadlines to helping to gather information. Individual needs depend upon your student—talk to them to figure out where you can be most helpful.

• Always offer personal support, encouragement, and love. You’re a parent, not an admissions coach, and your close personal relationship with your child is important. While you may have to push your child to be focused and responsible sometimes, you also need to look out for their health (mental and physical) during this stressful time, help them build good habits, and respect their need to make independent choices (and sometimes mistakes) about their intended adult path.

How to manage stress?

High school is stressful, and college prep gets more competitive every year. There’s a lot to handle, which research shows can cause chronic stress for up to 50% of students. In May 2017, The Wire talked about mental health in school students. The fact that more than 70% of all students feel constantly pressured about their academic performance with no unbiased help or outlet, led us to believe that writing about how to cope with stress during this time of the year to be imperative. 

Read on if you’re interested in learning more about coping with high school stress and anxiety, reaching out to others for help, and staying as healthy as you can no matter what school and life throw at you.

When to Take Action: How to Read the Signs

What’s the difference between your standard, run-of-the-mill stress and stress you need to be worried about? Anytime you notice a change in your behavior or feelings, it’s time to take note. This can vary according to the person: sleeplessness or sleeping too much, eating habits that feel unhealthy, lack of interest in social activities or energy, slipping grades, and periods of extreme anger or sadness are all common signs of stress in teenagers. When it begins to feel out of your control, it’s time to talk about it.

It’s also important to know the difference between anxiety and stress. Stress is actually an external stimulus that can create internal feelings like worry and fear; people handle stress differently, and it looks different for different people. Anxiety is internalized feelings of worry and fear that don’t necessarily come from outside sources. Stress might be an upcoming test; anxiety could be worries about getting into college long before applications even go out. Both are important to watch, but it’ll be helpful for you to know whether your feelings are coming from outside or in.

Luckily for students, there are a ton of resources online to provide some basic research. Stay away from diagnosing yourself; in the absence of a professional’s watchful eye, it’s easy to get carried away reading about various illnesses and applying your own symptoms. But an online quiz could get the ball rolling.

Who to Contact When You Need Help

The first line of defense will be your parents, teachers, and other administrators at your school. Your school may, like many, be short-staffed, but they can at least point you in the direction of resources. 

Your parents are an obvious one, but it’s critically important that you involve them to get them on board as you work to take care of yourself. Your parents may be just as stressed as you, but that also may mean that they can potentially empathize with you and help with research. You’ll also probably need their help implementing solutions, whether it means taking some time off or speaking with a professional.

Mental health professionals are another important group. Just as there are different types of doctors, there are different kinds of therapists, counselors, and psychologists, and different specialties. Do your research and remember you can “shop around” to find a professional that you connect with.

There can still be a stigma around mental health—in essence, that seeking help means there’s something wrong with you or that you couldn’t handle it yourself—but that’s an old way of thinking. Sometimes, the only way to feel less overwhelmed and begin changing your habits is by working with a professional.

Finally, there’s the people around you. There could be local communities and affinity groups that can help you feel less alone and may provide you with good role models. The same idea applies for peers or near-peers: finding people you admire, and asking them how they manage their time and feelings, can help you emulate their strategies to see if they’re right for you.

When to Take Action: How to Read the Signs

What’s the difference between your standard, run-of-the-mill stress and stress you need to be worried about? Anytime you notice a change in your behavior or feelings, it’s time to take note. This can vary according to the person: sleeplessness or sleeping too much, eating habits that feel unhealthy, lack of interest in social activities or energy, slipping grades, and periods of extreme anger or sadness are all common signs of stress in teenagers. When it begins to feel out of your control, it’s time to talk about it.

It’s also important to know the difference between anxiety and stress. Stress is actually an external stimulus that can create internal feelings like worry and fear; people handle stress differently, and it looks different for different people. Anxiety is internalized feelings of worry and fear that don’t necessarily come from outside sources. Stress might be an upcoming test; anxiety could be worries about getting into college long before applications even go out. Both are important to watch, but it’ll be helpful for you to know whether your feelings are coming from outside or in.

Luckily for students, there are a ton of resources online to provide some basic research. Stay away from diagnosing yourself; in the absence of a professional’s watchful eye, it’s easy to get carried away reading about various illnesses and applying your own symptoms. But an online quiz could get the ball rolling.

How You Can Help Yourself

Even with others by your side, it’s up to you to do what you need to take care of yourself. These tips go beyond simple awareness of the problem and focus instead on actions that will help you tackle them head-on.

1. Educate yourself. What does “mental wellness” even look like? What are some common struggles? What does going to a therapist look like? The more prepared you are, the less you’ll be scared to take action.

2. Prioritize your health and fitness. School’s already exhausting enough, so this might sound like an extra burden, but even if it’s light (yoga) or low-impact (attending a gym), the endorphins and physical benefits will offset the time it takes. Plus, stress can come from feeling powerless, and you can feel physically powerful through exercise.

3. Form a mental health group or awareness campaign. Remember those schools that prioritized mental wellbeing and stress relief? If your school doesn’t have activities like this, see if you can get one started, even if it’s just a club. Remember, up to 50% of students feel chronic, long-term stress; it’s essentially guaranteed you’re not the only one struggling. If your efforts really take off, you might even find your passion and a potential career.

4. If you can’t do it in a group, find balance and calm on your own. Meditation, guided imagery, breathing exercises: there are free tutorials on the web, apps on your phone, and lots of options to pick what’s right for you. There may also be in-person classes in your community.

5. Cultivate emotional readiness and autonomy. Resilience is essentially the ability to fail and experience hardship without letting it destroy you emotionally. Hardship is coming, so it’s best to be prepared for it. Plus, the sooner you can feel like an adult, the sooner you’ll feel prepared to meet adult challenges.

6. Limit the social media time. Social can be powerful for fostering connection, but it’s also an easy way to begin measuring yourself against others and to feel that you don’t measure up. Fear of missing out isn’t just a buzzword—it’s an actual problem that stems from our culture’s preoccupation with always living the best life and “having it all.” This isn’t possible, to be all things to all people and to do everything at once. So stop watching what others are doing and focus instead on yourself and what’s in front of you.

7. Change up your environment. Sometimes all you need is a change of pace and scenery to feel brand new. Staycations are terrific for this, and they can happen on a weekend or during some down time. Relaxation isn’t just for the summer months!

8. Self-advocate. It’s ok to ask for a day off from time to time; adults in the working world take “mental health days.” The same goes for if you’re struggling in class or activities. Say something, particularly if you trust the person in charge. You don’t have to proclaim it to the world, especially if you don’t want to share how you’re feeling with those around you, but chances are that this isn’t the first time they’ve worked with a stressed student.

These tips and tricks don’t address academic stress, come chat with us and we can help you with this stressful time.  

Tips for writing a High School Resume

Writing a resume when you're a high school student who doesn't have much – or any – prior work experience can seem daunting. A good way to get started is to look at examples of resumes and read tips on what to include and how to format your resume.

You probably have more information to put on your resume than you think. Experiences like babysitting, lawn mowing, and volunteering all help to show valuable work skills that employers want to see.

Just because you haven’t had a job like the one you are applying for, doesn’t mean you haven’t acquired the skills necessary to succeed.

High School Resume Examples

There are quite a few templates for a resume out there but here are a couple of websites with great examples: 

• The Balance has a great example for a resume with no work experience
• AIE has a variety of templates and examples which are great too

Resume Writing Tips for High School Students

Here’s how to get started and what to include on your resume in addition to, or instead of, formal work experience.

Make an Outline. Make a quick list or outline of all possible experiences, paid and unpaid, to include in your resume before you try to find the right language to describe them.

Include Informal Work Experience. If you have formal paid work experience, certainly include it.

Otherwise, you can include informal work like babysitting, pet sitting, lawn mowing, shoveling snow, or anything else you've done to earn money.

Include All Your Activities. Since most high school students haven't held a lot of jobs, it is important to draw upon all aspects of your life which show you have the right character, work ethic, skills, and personality to succeed in a job. Mention your extracurricular activities, volunteer work, academics, and athletic pursuits. If you held any sort of leadership positions in these roles (such as secretary of a club or team captain), be sure to note this. For each item, include a bulleted list of your responsibilities and accomplishments.

Promote Your Attitude and Performance. Employers will be most interested in your work habits and attitude. They don't expect you to have a lot of experience. If you have perfect or near perfect attendance and are punctual for school and other commitments, you might include language like "Compiled a perfect (or near perfect) record for attendance" when describing an experience. If supervisors, teachers, or coaches have recognized you for a positive attitude or outstanding service, mention it in your description of the activity.

Mention Your Achievements. Employers look for staff who have a history of making positive contributions. Review each of your experiences and ask yourself if there are achievements in class, clubs, sports, or the workplace that you can include. If so, use verbs like enhanced, reorganized, increased, improved, initiated, upgraded, or expanded to show what you accomplished. Include any challenging advanced academic projects since this shows employers that you are intelligent and a hard worker.

Include Resume Skills. It's always a good idea to include skills related to the jobs for which you are applying. Here are examples of skills to include on your resume. You probably have many skills that you can include that you acquired in school, sports, youth groups, extra-curricular activities, or volunteering.

Use Action Verbs. Use active language when describing your experiences so you are portrayed in a dynamic way. Start the phrases in your descriptions with action verbs like organized, led, calculated, taught, served, trained, tutored, wrote, researched, inventoried, created, designed, drafted, and edited.

Keep it Short. Your resume doesn't need to be any longer than a page.

Include Your Name and Contact Information. Make sure the employer knows how to get in touch with you. 

Proofread Your Draft. Review your draft very carefully before finalizing your document and make sure there are no spelling or grammatical errors. Ask your guidance counselor, parents, or a favorite teacher to critique your resume. 

We hope this helps! Come chat with us and we will be happy to review your CV. 

International admissions in the United States are declining. What does that mean for you?

There has been new numbers released recently about international admissions into US colleges and everyones seems to me talking about. Here is a breakdown of the situation and what it means for students applying this season. 

What are the numbers? 

The number of newly arriving international students declined an average 7 percent in fall 2017, with 45 percent of campuses reporting drops in new international enrollment, according to a survey of nearly 500 campuses across the country by the Institute of International Education.

Particularly hard hit are campuses in the Midwest, according to the institute. At the University of Iowa, overall international enrollment this fall was 3,564, down from 4,100 in 2015. While Iowa primarily lost Chinese students, the University of Central Missouri experienced a sharp decline this year in students from India. In the fall of 2016, the Warrensburg, Mo., university had 2,638 international students. This fall it has 944.

What are the reasons? 

While most news claims for the decline to be due to increased unsafe situations and the muslim ban, there are a host of different reasons: 

• Increasing competition from Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia
• Reduced scholarships for students from Brazil and Saudi Arabia 
• Greater opportunities of employment post work in other countries

What does this mean for you? 

If safety is your concern, the United States is safe or unsafe as any other country. Therefore there is no way to control for that. The coasts are a lot more liberal and diverse than some central states but for the most part, the country is still open to immigration.

Education in the US is still one the best in the world. If you want a top-notch education, the United States is still the best. However, if you want to move to another country i.e. live after school, Canada and Australia are better options. 

While admissions rates are down, the numbers are still much higher than a decade ago because people are cognizant of the level of education they are getting. 

We hope this helps you understand the situation a little better as you apply for college. Come chat with us if you want us to review your college list! 

How to make a stellar LinkedIn account

Since we were talking about LinkedIn this week, we thought of following up with another post on the best practices when making a LinkedIn account. While the linkedIn API is really good at telling you what all is needed here are top tips for high school students: 

Photo:

You’ll need to include a photo to accompany your profile. This doesn’t necessarily have to be a professional photo, but it should be polished. Ideally, the background will be fairly plain, and you’ll be wearing a nice shirt or blouse. The photo should really just be a headshot, from about shoulder level up, and you should be looking at the camera. This is not the place for a group shot taken with your friends at the beach. Browse through other users’ profiles to see the style of photo most commonly included.

Headline:

Your headline is one sentence or phrase that captures what you’ve done and what you’re interested in doing in the future.

Summary:

Your summary will briefly describe what you’re passionate about doing, what you’re particularly skilled at, and what your goals are. It will basically expand on your headline to offer more specific details.

Experience:

This is essentially a resume of work experience. Include every job you’ve held so far, even if it was only part-time. Later, when you’re older and have amassed more work experience, you will trim down this section to include only jobs that are relevant to your career goals. For now, because you’re just getting started, you should include every job you’ve held.

For each job, include a brief description of your responsibilities and anything that you accomplished while there. You can even include photos or videos of your work if you have them, but keep in mind that these should serve as examples of the quality of work you’re capable of, not a series of selfies you took while serving as the beach parking attendant.

Honors and Awards:

Here, you can list any formal recognition you’ve received both in and out of school, from Employee of the Month at the local ice cream stand to National Merit Scholarship recipient. Don’t be afraid to brag in this section.

Projects:

This section should include any projects that you’ve worked on, in or out of school, in which you took a leadership role or otherwise excelled. For example, you could include your role as group leader in your school’s model bridge building competition even if your team didn’t win, or the darkroom that you built in your parent’s basement. This is the place to highlight unique achievements that were not formally recognized and do not fall into work or volunteer experiences.

Courses:

Don’t list every high school course you’ve ever taken here. Instead, focus on ones that highlight your skills and interests. For example, if you are interested in a career in computer tech, definitely include the coding course you took online or the AP Computer Science course you took at school.

Skills And Expertise:

Choose at least five skills that are relevant to both what you enjoy doing and the field you intend to pursue professionally. The people you connect with through LinkedIn will be able to endorse these skills to verify them for others who view your profile.

Organizations:

This is the section in which you list clubs or extracurriculars. Be sure to also include a brief description of what you did in each organization, especially if you took a leadership role.

Volunteer Experience:

Here, you’ll list any service projects or other volunteer work in which you’ve participated. Again, include a description of each experience. Even if you haven’t done much in terms of volunteer work, you can include any work for which you weren’t paid or compensated in this section, even if it was informal, like tutoring a younger student from your basketball team.

Education:

This section will usually start with your high school, but for older professionals it may not even start until college. You can include your high school classes and any summer programs or courses that you’ve taken outside of school.

Recommendations:

In this section, you can post recommendations that you’ve gathered from employers, teachers, or classmates. This section adds credibility to your profile. Never leave a job or a class in which you excelled and connected with the teacher without asking for a brief recommendation. You never know when it will come in handy.

Create A Customized Url:

When you open your LinkedIn account, you’ll be assigned a random web address for your LinkedIn profile. This will usually include a long line of numbers or random letters. You can customize the URL using these directions from the LinkedIn website.

Customizing your LinkedIn URL makes your profile easier to find and appears more polished and professional. It also shows that you have some technological savvy and pay attention to details.  

Now I know these aren’t all the things that you can do on LinkedIn but if you just these, you will have a markedly competitive edge over the rest of the applicant pool. Do consider this and come chat with us if you have any more questions. 

Why you should have a LinkedIn Account

College application season is upon us, and as you scramble for recommendation letters and put the finishing touches on your college essays, you might not think about one application component that could make all the difference: a LinkedIn profile. The Common App does not require a student-submitted resume, so including a link to your LinkedIn profile in the "additional information" section could make all the difference.

Optically, the fact that you have a LinkedIn profile could set you apart from other applicants. According to Forbes, "Having a LinkedIn profile tells a potential new boss that you are serious about building a career, rather than just socializing online."

There are also legitimate career benefits. "If you know what field or company you want to work in, you can instantly search your connections for a link to a specific company, institution or field," Forbes reports. You could connect with alumni of your high school working in your desired field, and set up informational phone conversations.

Strategies for Using LinkedIn As a High School Student

Once you have your profile completed, you can begin using LinkedIn to establish a professional online presence. It might seem a little confusing at first, especially if you are the only one amongst your friends using this platform, but with a little practice and observation you’ll be up and running in no time.

Here are some tips to get started:

Pursue Networking

If you meet important professionals at a school event, through your parents or friends, or through a summer job, follow up soon afterwards with an invitation to connect on LinkedIn. Make sure to do so while you’re still fresh in this person’s mind. If you’re worried that they won’t remember you, include a brief message saying that it was pleasure to meet them at this specific event.

You should also reach out to successful alums from your high school, whether you knew them personally or not. This is particularly important if they’re in a field that you intend to pursue. Connecting through LinkedIn at a young age shows ambition, and lets others know that you’re thinking about your future career.

Don’t Overshare

LinkedIn is a unique social media platform. Spend some time observing the feed before you begin to share material. Content shared on LinkedIn is distinctly different from Facebook or other social media platforms. Keep it minimal and professionally relevant.

Know What To Brag About

You should definitely describe your accomplishments and awards, giving details about each. After all, you are actively trying to market yourself. Don’t include your grades, GPA, or test scores, though. These can come off as superficial achievements, since professionals are more interested in what you DO with your talents and knowledge than whether you have them in the first place.

Don’t Lie

This should go without saying, but as on your college, job, or scholarship applications, you should never lie or embellish the truth. Something that starts as a small embellishment could really catch up to you professionally in the future if it plays a role in you getting a job. Don’t put yourself in that position.

Create A Customized Url

When you open your LinkedIn account, you’ll be assigned a random web address for your LinkedIn profile. This will usually include a long line of numbers or random letters. You can customize the URL using these directions from the LinkedIn website.

Customizing your LinkedIn URL makes your profile easier to find and appears more polished and professional. It also shows that you have some technological savvy and pay attention to details.  We hope this helps and will follow up with some best practices for LinkedIn. Come chat with us and learn how to go through this application process!

Scholarships for International Students

With the rising price tags of college, there are fewer opportunities for scholarships for international student. While most private liberal arts college are generous with their funding, some of the larger schools are a lot less open to spending money on International students. Below are some exceptions to that story. These are also scholarships that our students have applied for and won, making us proficient in their unique applications as well. 

Harvard University Scholarships: Harvard offers a good range of international scholarships for students from all over the globe. However, competition is fierce and there isn’t a scholarship offering for Indian students specifically. 

Cornell University Scholarships: Cornell only offers need based scholarships and has no merit based prizes. However Tata has set up a $25 million dollar endowment for Indian students studying at Cornell. 

Dartmouth College Scholarships: Dartmouth College meets the demonstrated need of all admitted undergraduates, including those from other countries. Dartmouth College has scholarships and loans available to international students, which includes an allowance for travel to the U.S..

Brandeis University Wien International Scholarship Program: Funding opportunity for high-achieving students with an interest in student community contribution

Emory University Needs-Based Scholarship Program: Funding opportunities for international students at Emory University. Students must demonstrate financial need.

New York University Wagner Scholarships: The merit scholarships are offered to a limited number of admitted students each application cycle, including international students.  The scholarships are partial to full tuition scholarships ranging from $36,000-$70,000.

Michigan State University International Scholarships: Michigan University provides a limited number of scholarship and grants to deserving international students at the undergraduate and postgraduate level.  These financial packages are not designed to support your full academic program at MSU.

Click here for access to a comprehensive list of college scholarship. For more scholarship information, come chat with us. We are more than happy to help out. 

Will Admissions Counselors Look at your Social Media?

If you’re like most teens, you probably use social media on a daily basis. In fact, according to Facebook Insights there are more than 400 million active Facebook users in India, most of which check their platforms daily. As more and more of your personal information becomes present on online platforms, such as social media, you may be wondering if you should be worried about how colleges might perceive your online presence.

Your worry is not unfounded, as made evident by the 2017 revocation of a dozen Harvard acceptances after students were reported for making offensive jokes on a social media platform. Still, you may wonder to what extent exactly you should worry about your social media accounts being scrutinized by college admissions committees. Are they checking every account? Will they pour over every picture?

Luckily, this is no longer a mystery. In the 2017 Survey of College and University Admissions Directors, admissions representatives from around the country openly discussed their approaches to social media and their beliefs about whether or not your accounts should bear weight in the college application process. To learn more about how much your social media accounts are reviewed by college admissions committees, read on.

What Does This Mean For Your Social Media Use?

Since there is no complete consensus about social media use, you can’t really rely on any specific school to check or turn a blind eye to your social media presence. Instead, you should be aware that some colleges can and do check your social media accounts. Even if these colleges are in the minority, you should be prepared for the possibility that social media accounts may be checked, and that it’s always possible that someone could report any egregious social media use to an admissions committee.

You should also keep in mind that nothing online is truly private. Even if you think that you have your accounts locked down with restrictive privacy settings, there is always the chance that someone could screenshot your account and post it elsewhere.

Ultimately, you need to use your own good judgment about what you post online. Think of your social media accounts as a reflection of who you are, not just as a student and college applicant, but also as a person. Take some time to go through your past posts and clean them up, if necessary. You may not be able to completely scrub them from the the annals of Internet history, but you can at least ensure that they are no longer front and center on your current accounts.

Finally, remember that you don’t have total control over your own social media presence; the company you keep is important too. Friends and acquaintances can often tag you in posts or comment on material that you’ve posted. Consider limiting access to your content if you have contacts who habitually post unflattering or questionable content

Use Social Media to Your Advantage

Social media doesn’t need to have negative connotations. There are plenty of ways to leverage social media to your advantage, using it to polish your online presence and to connect with colleges and employers.

One way to leverage social media to your advantage is by using it to showcase your unique talents and passions. Choose a platform that aligns with your talents and goals, and then polish your account to reflect well on them. For example, if you’re into creative visual arts, you might create an Instagram account or YouTube channel dedicated to highlighting your work in this area.

Finally, LinkedIn is a great way to network, both academically and professionally. By creating a LinkedIn profile while you’re still in high school, you begin to lay the foundation for important connections and an established, professional online presence. Connect with college advisors, admissions representatives, and department heads to get the inside scoop at colleges on your list.

We’ll write a blog on how to use LinkedIn soon!  

We hope this essay helped! College application season is now and come chat with us for all your admissions needs! 

University of Michigan Supplemental Essay Questions: Tips and Tricks

Welcome back to the second round of University of Michigan supplement essay brainstorming tips and tricks. Today we cover the community and activity essays. The aim with these essays is to facilitate in filling out a diverse class of incoming students. They ask the questions they do because they want to understand what makes you stand out from the pack. They want to know what you will bring to campus that will make you a key member of the community. Show them what you’ve got!

Part B. Community Essay

Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it. (Approximately 250 words)

The main purpose of this question is to get at what the applicant believes to be central to their perception of self. Michigan wants to know something special about you and your background and how that will contribute to their diverse campus. No two people have the same exact story, and this is your opportunity to show how yours is different.

Often, when students read the list of possible communities in this prompt, they immediately know which of their many communities they will write about.

Others have a hard time identifying a community in their life that has shaped them. For those of you who feel that way, the most helpful path to discovering this impactful community is to write out a list of the communities you belong to or have belonged to at some point in your life. It could include your hometown, grade school, in-school club, apartment society or something that will require more explanation like a gadget that you love or your favorite food.

For those who are truly stumped, the latter approach can be a good way to spin something that most people would not see as a community into one.

Let’s take the “favorite food” community for example. You could write an essay about being part of the community that loves traditional Indian Mithais. You could talk about how your grandma always made you her famous ladoos and taught you a life lesson that changed your perspective while mixing the ingredients. This essay would discuss how you became a part of this community and why it is important to you in a very creative way. Almost anything is possible with this prompt.

No matter what approach you choose, make sure to develop your place within the community with an anecdote or deep personal reflection. Don’t forget to showcase your voice as a writer and keep this prompt personal! The communities we are a part of impact us all in very different ways. There is no right answer.

Part C. Activity Essay

If you could only do one of the activities you have listed in the Activities section of your Common Application, which one would you keep doing? Why? (Approximately 100 words)

The most important part of writing this essay is deciding which of your activities you will write about. Note that the prompt does not ask which of your activities takes up most of your time or which you have engaged in the longest. It asks which one you would keep doing if you could only choose one. For this reason, you should write about the activity to which you feel the greatest personal connection.

Ask yourself: “If I had to choose one descriptive word to describe me, what would I want it to be?”

Then, “Which of my activities showcases that?”

Use this essay to tell Michigan about one of the most important aspects of who you are.

An important thing to keep in mind is that the prompt only calls for approximately 100 words. You need to be short and sweet in your response. Do not spend too much time discussing the specifics of what the activity is. If the activity is widely known (e.g., Model UN, Speech and Debate) you may jump right into your personal involvement and connection. If the activity is not well known by outsiders, you may want to spend a short sentence discussing the activity before transitioning to its significance.

Because of the personal nature of this prompt, it is nearly impossible to list exemplary activities. If five different people participated in the same five activities, they could very well all have different responses to this prompt. The one thing that should not differ in their responses is the development, or the level of detail of the “why.”

If you were to write an essay about being on the varsity soccer team, you would want to talk about the leadership skills you gained as captain, how you learned to be a team player, and other formative experiences. You could talk about technical aspects of the game if they have a personal meaning for you or if they contain a metaphor for your life. Maybe you discuss how being a goalie helps you think differently because you need to anticipate the next move and developing these skills helps you on and off the field.

No matter what, always go one step further in your analysis.

This brings us to the end of another essay series. Come chat with us for more questions and meeting our expert team of writing mentors! 

University of Michigan: "Why College" Essay Tips and Tricks

The University of Michigan in Ann Arbor is a top-ranked public university with a long history of excellence in sports, the arts, and academics. Founded in 1817 with the motto, “Arts, Knowledge, Truth,” the university now has one of the largest alumni networks in the world. No matter which of Michigan’s 19 schools or colleges they attended, alumni are always willing to help out fellow alum because of their adoration for their shared and beloved alma mater.

Year after year, the university receives a record number of applicants, and last year they accepted around 42.4% of their in-state applicants and 24.5% of their out-of-state applicants. The school is currently home to 28,312 proud undergraduate Michigan Wolverines. Michigan’s location in Ann Arbor provides its students with access to one of the continuously best-regarded college towns. It is not only a fun and attractive place to live, but it is also home to many work opportunities and an entrepreneurial spirit.

With a campus spanning 3,211 acres, more than 250-degree programs, and more than 900 student organizations, Michigan is home to endless opportunities. Students looking for a large school with a diverse student body and a lot of school spirit find exactly that and more at the University of Michigan.

The University of Michigan accepts the Common App.Read on to learn how to write the University of Michigan supplemental essays.

Part A. Main “Why Michigan?” Essay

Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate College or School (including preferred admission and dual-degree programs) to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests? (500 words)

This prompt represents a common category of supplement prompts that ask you why you want to study a specific program at a specific school. The main purpose of these “Why Us?” essays is to show the school why you are interested and why you are a good fit. This is done in two parts: 1. why you want to study what you have indicated and 2. why you want to study it here at this specific school. Make sure to do some research so you can provide more than generic examples like “I want to go to a big school“ or “I like sports” that could apply to many other schools. 

When you start to write this essay, you first want to develop why you wish to study what you have indicated on your application. An anecdote is often the most effective means of accomplishing this. You could recount how your time in physical therapy, love for your biology class, and long history of playing sports fueled your passion to learn more about the human body and how it moves. This perfectly lines up with the field of Kinesiology.

Next, you need to demonstrate why Michigan is the perfect place to study what you have selected. Continuing with the Kinesiology example, you could talk about its excellent reputation and some specific classes you really look forward to taking.

With preferred admission applications, it is important to discuss your future goals as well as past experiences that make you sure you will want to be a part of this program. For example, if you apply for the Pharmacy program, you will want to discuss why you are interested in pharmacy and detail the moments in your life that have led you to this decision. Perhaps you have always had a passion for chemistry and helping others, and hearing from your friend’s mom about her career in pharmacy was consistently one of your favorite parts of your weekly hangouts.

With dual-degree programs, the key is not only discussing why you want to pursue a degree in each of them, but why you think the combination is especially important for you. For example, if you are applying to the dual-degree Ross School of Business and College of Engineering program, you could discuss your dream of beginning your own tech startup and needing both the technical engineering knowledge and business savvy. You could write about how you first came up with your idea and when/how you realized Michigan’s dual-degree program would be the perfect place to bring it to life.

We hope this helps! Come chat with us for more questions and meeting our expert team of writing mentors!