Parents: What to Do When Your Child Just Isn’t Living Up to Their Potential

There is obviously a big difference between intelligence and dedication, and sometimes, intelligent children learn early on that they can do well in school or other activities simply by coasting on their natural abilities rather than by working hard. It might be a helpful method in elementary or middle school, but by the time these students arrive at high school or college, it becomes clearer that this method isn’t going to put them on top. 

This isn’t always what happens to naturally brilliant children; students can have difficulty reaching their full potential for many different reasons. In any case, as a parent it can be extremely frustrating to watch. This post will try to offer advice and helpful insight. Read on for advice on dealing with a teenager who isn’t putting his or her full brain power to full use!

No Perfect Parenting Method(s)

Before we delve into the details, it is important to acknowledge that there are no perfect parenting methods—every parent and every child is different, and methods that work wonderfully for some might be totally useless for others. The good news is that you don’t need to limit yourself to just one method or course of action; you can try out many different things and see what works and what doesn’t. There may not be any perfect solution to help a child who is struggling with reaching their full potential, but with plenty of communication as well as trial and error, anything is possible.

Communication is Key

If you’re reading this, chances are you probably feel frustrated with your high schooler. Maybe you’re operating under time constraints (like college application deadlines) or maybe you’ve been worrying for a while that your teen will end up throwing their potential down the drain.

These are all very valid feelings, and it’s incredibly important to communicate under these circumstances. Talk to your teen about your concerns. To ease into this conversation, you may want to consider finding a jumping off point based off of something recent that’s happened. For example, rather than simply accusing your teen of not trying hard enough, you might say something like, “Hey, I know your SATs are in the next six months. Have you thought about taking any coaching classes?”

Make an effort to try and find out why your teen doesn’t feel as motivated as you think they should be. Maybe they’ve been distracted by something personal or maybe they’re intimidated by the competitive nature of their high school. Maybe they simply aren’t interested in their courses at school — whatever the reason, it’s important to at least gain some insight on the situation, and to let your teen know that you’re there to listen and troubleshoot, not just to criticize.

Try to have a two sided conversation with your teenager, again, you should be firm but not overly critical. You want to make sure that both you and your teen feel heard; you don’t want them to feel like you’re getting on their case for no reason. Make sure your teen knows that you aren’t pushing them towards success because you will only approve of them if they’re successful—you’re pushing them because you want them to become the best version of him/herself possible. You’re doing it because you love them and want the best for them. Be sure to stay on message: I love you and I want the best for you.

Put in the effort to try to see things from your teen’s perspective, too — you were young once, and while it may or may not be hard to remember how you felt when you were a student or a teenager, remember that your child’s experiences are just as real and valid as your own. Finally, be sure to check in with yourself and make sure that your expectations for your teen are realistic. It’s more than ok to want your child to do well and gain a competitive edge in life, but if your expectations are realistic. 

It’s a well-known trope for a reason: sometimes teenagers who are smart don’t always live up to their potential. 

There is obviously a big difference between intelligence and dedication, and sometimes, intelligent children learn early on that they can do well in school or other activities simply by coasting on their natural abilities rather than by working hard. It might be a helpful method in elementary or middle school, but by the time these students arrive at high school or college, it becomes clearer that this method isn’t going to put them on top. 

This isn’t always what happens to naturally brilliant children; students can have difficulty reaching their full potential for many different reasons. In any case, as a parent it can be extremely frustrating to watch. This post will try to offer advice and helpful insight. Read on for advice on dealing with a teenager who isn’t putting his or her full brain power to full use!

No Perfect Parenting Method(s)

Before we delve into the details, it is important to acknowledge that there are no perfect parenting methods—every parent and every child is different, and methods that work wonderfully for some might be totally useless for others. The good news is that you don’t need to limit yourself to just one method or course of action; you can try out many different things and see what works and what doesn’t. There may not be any perfect solution to help a child who is struggling with reaching their full potential, but with plenty of communication as well as trial and error, anything is possible.

Communication is Key

If you’re reading this, chances are you probably feel frustrated with your high schooler. Maybe you’re operating under time constraints (like college application deadlines) or maybe you’ve been worrying for a while that your teen will end up throwing their potential down the drain.

These are all very valid feelings, and it’s incredibly important to communicate under these circumstances. Talk to your teen about your concerns. To ease into this conversation, you may want to consider finding a jumping off point based off of something recent that’s happened. For example, rather than simply accusing your teen of not trying hard enough, you might say something like, “Hey, I see you’ve registered for all parallel classes next school year. Have you thought about taking any AP classes instead?”

Make an effort to try and find out why your teen doesn’t feel as motivated as you think they should be. Maybe they’ve been distracted by something personal or maybe they’re intimidated by the competitive nature of their high school. Maybe they simply aren’t interested in their courses at school — whatever the reason, it’s important to at least gain some insight on the situation, and to let your teen know that you’re there to listen and troubleshoot, not just to criticize.

Try to have a two sided conversation with your teenager, again, you should be firm but not overly critical. You want to make sure that both you and your teen feel heard; you don’t want them to feel like you’re getting on their case for no reason. Make sure your teen knows that you aren’t pushing them towards success because you will only approve of them if they’re successful—you’re pushing them because you want them to become the best version of him/herself possible. You’re doing it because you love them and want the best for them. Be sure to stay on message: I love you and I want the best for you.

Put in the effort to try to see things from your teen’s perspective, too — you were young once, and while it may or may not be hard to remember how you felt when you were a student or a teenager, remember that your child’s experiences are just as real and valid as your own. Finally, be sure to check in with yourself and make sure that your expectations for your teen are realistic. It’s more than ok to want your child to do well and gain a competitive edge in life, but if you’re expecting them to become the President of the United States or be working at a major law firm by age 15, it might be time to reevaluate.

Push, But Don’t Preach

In some cases, it might be a good idea to try and lightly push your teenager in the right direction. Maybe they’re unsure of what they want or what they’re good at, or maybe they truly just don’t know what kinds of opportunities are available for a smart high school student.

There’s no doubt that, in the end, your high schooler should be doing the work on their own. But if you want to provide that little extra push in order to get them started on an upward trajectory, you might think about printing out lists of extracurriculars, looking over their high school course catalogue with them, or sending them emails with compelling information you’ve found about colleges or summer programs.

If your child isn’t the best at time management or meeting deadlines, try checking in on their coursework from time to time. Again, you want to find a balance between offering to help your teen without becoming too overbearing or allowing them to take advantage of you. 

Try asking questions instead of giving orders. While you may want to say something like, “Your unit tests are next week and you’re going to be busy with the soccer tournament all weekend. You need to start your studying tonight, or else!”, but changing your approach to “I know you have that big maths unit test on Monday and you’re going to be busy with the soccer tournament all weekend. Do you have a plan to get your paper done in time?” might work better in terms of checking in with your child while still allowing them to have agency over their own work.

You should aim to encourage your high schooler to manage their schedule on their own and work on figuring out how to juggle multiple responsibilities and deadlines, especially since they’ll have to do this all on their own once they arrive at college.

Consider Incentives or Positive Reinforcement

Sometimes, incentives and positive reinforcement can be helpful motivators for students who need an extra push. Ultimately, you want your child to be internally motivated to do their best, but small rewards and reinforcements can help teach them that hard work ultimately pays off.

These incentives don’t need to be huge or costly. If your teen makes the honor roll or agrees to join a few extracurriculars, for example, in return you might consider taking them out to a meal at their favorite restaurant, letting them attend an upcoming concert, or allowing them to host a small party or get together at your house.

Remember to offer your teenager encouragement when they tell you about their recent wins, like getting a good grade or receiving positive feedback from a teacher — be sure to let them know how proud of their efforts and their hard work you are. 

Final Thoughts

It’s hard feeling like your brilliant child isn’t living up to his or her potential. While there is no perfect one-size-fits-all solution, two of the best things you can do in this situation are to communicate with your child and encourage them to work to achieve their full potential.  

If you find that you’re still having difficulty after trying all of these suggestions, you may also want to consider connecting your teen with a EdBrand student mentor. This year long program pairs high schoolers with older peers who will help them figure out their interests and solidify their leadership skills. Student mentors can also help students apply to college, manage their stress, and develop a sense of self-motivation!

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What is a good SAT score in 2018?

One question that we at Edbrand hear a lot is “What is a good SAT score?” Many students are anxious to know how their scores stack up or really want to have a concrete target score in mind when they go into test day. It’s only natural that you’d want to know what a qualifies as a “good” score. 

While we would like to be able to offer a more concrete answer, the question isn’t actually so cut and dry. Instead, what qualifies as a good SAT score depends on a number of different factors. Some students are interested to know what scores will place them in certain national percentiles. Other students are focused on getting into a specific college or even a particular program. In all of these instances, a good SAT score will have a different meaning. 

In this post, we’ll break down this seemingly simple question into a number of different angles so that we have an answer for nearly every student. If you’re interested to find out what a good SAT score might look like for you, keep reading.

What is the Distribution of SAT Scores Like Most Recently?

One way to think about a “good” SAT score is by considering where it places you amongst other students who took the SAT this year. By looking at percentiles, we’re able to get a pretty good idea of how your SAT score stacks up to the national average. 

Have a peek at the table below. In it, you’ll notice that scores are listed alongside percentiles. Percentiles represent the actual national average percentile of 2017 graduating students who scored below that particular score on the new SAT.

SAT Score Percentiles for 2017

National SAT Percentile Scores

As you can see, if you scored a 1320, that score places you close to the 90th percentile. This means that nearly 90% of students who graduated in 2017 scored below you. Not bad! 

There are a few other things worth noting as you review this table too. First, in order to place in the top 50% of national test takers in 2017, you would have needed to score a 1060. This means that if you scored 1060 or above, you scored better than half the students who took the SAT that year. This places you above average and by some standards could qualify as a good SAT score. 

If your standards are different and you are shooting for the top 30%, you can check the 70th percentile score and find that those scores are in the 1170 range. For students who want to place in the top 30% of test-takers, a score of 1170 might be the magic number to qualify as a “good” score.

What SAT Score Do I Need to Get Into a Good College?

For some students, though, simply knowing the percentile isn’t enough. Many students want to know if their score is “good enough” to get into a specific college. 

Again, this question is especially difficult to answer for a few different reasons. For one, there is no minimum SAT score required at any of the most selective colleges, so simply scoring highly on the SAT is not enough to ensure admission. Similarly, you could perform quite poorly on the SAT and still be offered a seat in the freshman class if you are able to impress the admissions committee in a number of different ways. 

Next, what qualifies as a good college to one student may not meet another student’s standards. For this reason, it’s better to ask about specific colleges than to focus on a bigger generalization. 

How Can I Find Out If My Score Is Good Enough For a Particular School?

There is a lot of SAT score data available online. Most colleges publish information about the SAT scores of admitted students, so it is easily available to potential applicants like yourself. One simple way to access it is through the CollegeBoard Big Future website which allows you to search by school and see various data points about each school. 

In order to find out how your score stacks up at a specific school, you’ll need to find where your score places you amongst admitted students. While there won’t be a list of SAT scores from every single student, there will be a list of percentiles particular to that specific school, usually rounded off to 25%, 50%, and 75%. 

In general, we recommend that for safety schools, your SAT score should fall within the 75% percentile, meaning that it is above 75% of scores from admitted students. For target schools, your score should fall between 50-75% and for reach schools, your score should fall at least within the 25% to give you at least a decent shot at getting in. 

Sometimes, though, average SAT scores can be a little confusing or even deceiving. For some schools, and especially for specific programs within a school, SAT scores might be skewed so that average composite scores only show part of the picture. 

For example, when applying to a selective engineering program like the one at MIT, a student might have a perfect 800 on the Math section of the SAT but only a 550 on the Reading and Writing sections. The cumulative score of 1350 in this case might lead someone to believe that a 680 is roughly a strong contender on the Math section, when in reality the average score on this section accounts for more than half the composite average.

Keep a lookout on our blog for more info on test prep; both SATs and ACTs all this month! 

10 Outstanding Commencement Speeches in 2017

With exams, college apps, and the December chill we thought you needed some positivity. Here 10 of the best graduation speeches this year: 

Joe Biden, Colby College

Former Vice President Joe Biden spoke to students about engaged leadership, as well as the importance of empathy and dignity.  He encouraged students to get involved and be engaged in the world around them, including politics.

Message: “It’s time to regain our sense of unity and purpose.”

Theo Epstein, Yale University

Theo Epstein, President of Baseball Operations for the Chicago Cubs recalled his history with the Cubs, including the team’s monumental victory on Game 7 of the World Series.

Message: “Some players — and some of us — go through our careers with our heads down, focused on our craft and our tasks, keeping to ourselves, worrying about our numbers or our grades, pursuing the next objective goal, building our resumes, protecting our individual interests. Other players — and others amongst us — go through our careers with our heads up, as real parts of a team, alert and aware of others, embracing difference, employing empathy, genuinely connecting, putting collective interests ahead of our own. It is a choice… The latter, connecting, keeping our heads up, allows us to lead, and, every now and then, to be part of something bigger than ourselves, and, therefore, to truly triumph.”

Will Ferrell, University of Southern California

In a humorous speech, comedian Will Ferrell spoke about the fear of failure and needing to overcome it.  He also spoke about success, the need to appreciate what you have, and the importance of giving back.

Message: “No matter how cliché it may sound you will never truly be successful until you learn to give beyond yourself. Empathy and kindness are the true signs of emotional intelligence.”

Dr. Adam M. Grant, Utah State University

Adam Grant, Wharton School management professor and co-author of Option B: Facing Adversity, Building Resilience, and Finding Joy, told students that sometimes quitting is a virtue.

Message: “Define your dreams broadly enough that you can find new ways to pursue them when your first and second plans fail…. If you want to be resilient, find the right amount of generosity and authenticity and grit.”

Helen Mirren, Tulane University

Tony, Emmy, and Academy Award winner Helen Mirren shared five pieces of advice for a happy life, including “treat people just like people” and “don’t overcomplicate things.”  She also offered many practical dos and don’ts.

Message: “We’re all in this together.”

Sheryl Sandberg, Virginia Tech

 Chief Operating Officer of Facebook Sheryl Sandberg recalled how her own personal tragedies helped her come out stronger. Sandberg told students to cultivate resilience, not just for yourself, but also to instill it in other people.

 Message: “Build resistance in yourselves.  When tragedy or disappointment strike, know that you have the ability to get through anything…An important way you can serve and lead is by helping build resilience in the world.”

Howard Schultz, Arizona State University

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz shared his rags-to-riches story, which started with his childhood in public housing.  He also explained how he built his business based on values and humility, in addition to profits.

Message: “Summon your compassion, your curiosity, your empathy towards others and your commitment to service.  Give more than you receive and I promise you, it will come back to you in ways you can’t possibly imagine.”

Octavia Spencer, Kent State University

Academy Award winning actress Octavia Spencer inspired students to stay true to their authentic selves.  Students should lead their own journeys and not try to copy the paths of others.

Message: “No one came here the same way, and you won’t all achieve success the same way… Don’t let yourself get caught up in the trap of comparison…. Define success and define your best years by every day that you work hard towards achieving your goals.”

Oprah Winfrey, Smith College

 Global media leader Oprah Winfrey told students to use their talents, gifts and knowledge for the greater good…to change the world for the better.

Oprah reflected upon how much of her personal happiness comes from helping others. The more she donates her time to helping people, the more fulfilled she feels.

Message: “Make it your intention to serve through your life with purpose…Shift the paradigm to service and the rewards will come.”

Mark Zuckerberg, Harvard University

Facebook Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg called upon college graduates to build a world where everyone has a place and a purpose.

Fast Fact: Zuckerberg went to Harvard, but dropped out after creating Facebook there. He received an honorary college degree the day of his address.

Message: “Purpose is that sense that we are part of something bigger than ourselves, that we are needed, that we have something better ahead to work for. Purpose is what creates true happiness… But it’s not enough to have purpose yourself. You have to create a sense of purpose for others.”

How to ace the Oxbridge Interviews

Admissions tutors at Oxford and Cambridge meet a star student everyday, make sure you can stand out with some of these tips.  

Be passionate

The interview is your opportunity to express passion for your chosen subject. The person that interviews you will likely be your tutor at least for the first year. So gelling with them would be important.Tutors want to see that you will be a joy to teach, that you're deeply interested in your subject, and that you're keen to learn. Therefore, the most important thing is to genuinely demonstrate an interest in the subject you’re applying for.

Show your unique strengths

Think creatively, gain relevant work experience and insights to draw from, and read beyond your school syllabus to distinguish yourself from other applicants. While tutors will see many applications, no candidate will be exactly the same as any other. Your subject profile, your reading and your motivation will all be unique to you. Hence drawing on these aspects will allow you to impress an admissions tutor and help them to understand why you are deserving of a place.

It's a conversation, not an interrogation

Viewing the interview as a conversation with an academic about a subject you both enjoy and are passionate about can make the process seem less daunting. Demonstrating interest and coherently engaging in academic dialogue is the crux of the conversation— and honestly, how you learn at these schools. So showing that you can do that in the interview is imperative. 

Don't expect the unexpected

There are crazy interview stories where students have found their tutors lying on the floor while asking them questions but in reality that is not the case. Apart from talking through your personal statement and application material, questions asked at an Oxbridge interview are designed to see your thought process. Whilst some questions may seem obtuse or confusing out of context, they allow a student to demonstrate their unique way of thinking.

Among Oxford University's interview questions in 2015, for example, economics and management students were asked whether bankers deserve the pay they receive, while applicants to the oriental studies course were asked if archaeology can “prove” or “disprove” the Bible.

Practise, practise, practise

Encourage people to ask questions to find out how you can make your explanation clearer about different topics. No matter how bright you are, it is unlikely that your first interview will be better than their third, fifth, or 10th attempt.

Do your research

Talk to current students and graduates about their experiences of Oxbridge interviews and spend some time looking at the university websites. Oxford and Cambridge want to be open about the interview process and the websites are as helpful as they can be these days. 

Be confident, not arrogant

Be passionate, be confident, and be likable. There's a difference between voicing your opinions and assuming you're right. Leave your arrogance out the door as you approach these interviews. It’s unlikely anyone will take you if they find you arrogant or hostile  to work with. 

We hope that tips help you as you train towards your interviews. Contact us with any questions, interview questions, or mock interviews! 

How to Write the University of Chicago Application Essays 2017-18 Optional Essay Prompts 4-6

Welcome back to the final installment for the University of Chicago Essay series. Let's get to it!

Essay Option 4

The late New York Times photographer Bill Cunningham once said, ‘Fashion is the armor to survive the reality of everyday life. I don’t think you could do away with it. It would be like doing away with civilization.’ Tell us about your ‘armor.’

– Inspired by Adam Berger, Class of 2020

This is probably the prompt that lends itself most to a personal narrative or story, for obvious reasons. One tactic that you can take is to describe a personality trait or common behavior of yours as your armor — for example, confidence or sarcasm — and interweave that with anecdotes that prove the point. In general if you take this approach, you want to try and choose less common or clichéd personality traits.

Sarcasm is about the most conventional answer that you can give that still makes for a compelling essay, anything more narrow than that (like confidence) will likely come off as clichéd. A slightly more innovative approach in this style is to use it to show that you’re willing to engage with your flaws a little bit, especially if you are a strong applicant on paper. Obviously you don’t want to go overboard, but (as an example) describing a nervous tic where you rub your pen during a test to help calm yourself down could serve as an essay that humanizes you and takes a more innovative approach to the prompt.

Another angle to take with this prompt is to use it to explore an extracurricular activity or passion that you display in your profile. For a specific activity or passion, you could then talk about a fundamental skill or “go-to move” that you fall back on when things aren’t going smoothly in this activity, which thus makes it a form of “armor” that you use to avoid failure in the activity.

The sports examples are easy to think of: For example, perhaps your go-to move in basketball is a fadeaway jump shot. But the concept can also be applied in a non-sports context. If you are a Lincoln-Douglas debater, then maybe there is a rhetorical trick or technique that you always fall back on when you’re in a tough debate. Or if you conduct a lot of physics research, perhaps you always fall back on your understanding of data when you see results that you can’t replicate or that are confusing. Regardless of the arena, the point is to highlight a foundational skill that you use in the activity to reiterate your passion and dedication to the activity.

One final approach is to engage literally with the question and talk about your favorite piece of fashion or clothing. Perhaps you have a favorite shirt or there’s a pair of shoes that has a special place in your heart. But if you do write about an actual piece of clothing, you shouldn’t just skim the surface level, i.e., “I like this shirt because I look good in it, and it makes me feel good.”

Instead, you should use it as a jumping-off point to reflect on who you are as a person and share that with the admissions counselor. For example, you might write an essay about your favorite pair of sweatpants because you always do your best work in those sweatpants (and cannot do your best work unless you are comfortable and warm). You might also extend the essay to talk about why you sometimes feel the need for solitude (which the sweatpants implicitly represent) amidst the social strain of being in high school.

Essay Option 5

Fans of the movie Sharknado say that they enjoy it because ‘it’s so bad, it’s good.’ Certain automobile owners prefer classic cars because they ‘have more character.’ And recently, vinyl record sales have skyrocketed because it is perceived that they have a warmer, fuller sound. Discuss something that you love not in spite of but rather due to its quirks or imperfections.

– Inspired by Alex Serbanescu, Class of 2021

This is a prompt that is naturally set up for you to share something that’s quirky or offbeat about yourself. One angle to take is to focus on some sort of hobby or pastime that you enjoy that isn’t particularly mainstream.

For example, if you collect antique furniture from the 1940s or really love riding in older Amtrak trains for the authenticity of the experience, then this is a prompt that lines up really nicely to explore that. If you can tie the various quirks of the hobby or pastime to your own personal journey, then that takes the essay to the next level. For example, if you first experienced an Amtrak train with your grandfather and heard his stories, that could create a highly personal and compelling narrative.

Another approach with this essay is to write about some sort of “guilty pleasure” that you have, say if you like bad movies like the Transformers series or cheesy pop music. If you are then able to use your guilty pleasure as a vehicle to explore society at large and your place within it, then that can create a truly innovative and interesting essay.

For example, if you’re a male in more traditional settings whose guilty pleasure is watching romantic comedies, you could then explore the fact that this is considered an “unmanly” pastime and how you feel about that fact in a reflective and incisive essay. This is possible with any number of “guilty pleasures,” but you do want to be careful about how your assessment will be viewed by the reader.

For example, it’s perfectly fine to write an essay that says that you love the Transformers movie series despite its uneven gender politics if you are a woman. But the same essay written by a man might come off as tone deaf given who admissions counselors are.

Essay Option 6

In the spirit of adventurous inquiry, pose your own question or choose one of our past prompts. Be original, creative, thought provoking. Draw on your best qualities as a writer, thinker, visionary, social critic, sage, citizen of the world, or future citizen of the University of Chicago; take a little risk, and have fun.

This is a prompt that appears every year. This essay really poses the highest risk but also the highest potential reward. Writing your own question allows you to write an innovative essay that either tackles a difficult or controversial topic (for example, our founder Vinay Bhaskara’s essay tackled why mainstream Hollywood films are more valuable than seemingly more intellectual independent films), or presents the information with a unique format (such as a conversation with a dead historical figure).

Using a prompt from past years also allows you to write an essay that is thematically and tonally different from many other applicants (as they will mostly be writing about the first five prompts offered above).

Generally speaking, your best payoff to this essay comes if you want to try something unconventional, such as writing an essay that describes the four years of high school as Hell, Purgatory, Paradise, and Heaven, and is written in the style of the divine comedy.

There are a variety of possibilities here ranging from the idiotic (you probably don’t want to write your own variation on the alt-right’s platform referring to events in your high school life) to the (relatively) overdone — they’ve probably seen several essays that have been written in iambic pentameter as an ode to Chaucer.

And we’ll reiterate the note above: This type of essay has the highest variance in terms of outcome. If done well, an unconventional essay can captivate the right admissions counselor in a way that no conventional essay can. Conversely, if the essay is executed poorly or even if it isn’t, your essay may go over the admissions counselor’s head or bore them. So this is only a strategy that you should try if you are confident in your abilities and have at least a couple of sources of high-quality feedback.

This is also an optimal prompt for truly diving into an academic passion, particularly if it is of an advanced level or unique tenor. For example, if you know a lot about Soviet cars produced between 1957 and 1983, then writing a custom prompt that allows you to explore that passion may be easier than trying to bend that topic to match one of the prompts provided.

As with any academically oriented essay, you do want to make sure that any jargon you use is made clear, either via explicit explanation or context clues. You shouldn’t shy away from jargon — it’s one of the things that helps position you as an expert on the subject of your essay. But you don’t want to render the essay unintelligible to your reader.

One broader note on writing your own prompt — it doesn’t have to be as complex or convoluted as the other UChicago prompts, and you mainly just want to find a prompt that matches the essay that you want to write, even if it is straightforward.

We wish you the best of luck writing your UChicago essay!

How to Write the University of Chicago Application Essays 2017-18: Optional Prompt 1-3

Welcome back! Lets get back into our running essay series on the University of Chicago!

Essay Option 1

‘The aim of argument, or of discussion, should not be victory, but progress.’ – Joseph Joubert

 Sometimes, people talk a lot about popular subjects to assure ‘victory’ in conversation or understanding, and leave behind topics of less popularity, but great personal or intellectual importance. What do you think is important but under-discussed?

– Anonymous Suggestion

The key words in this prompt are “victory” and “progress,” which indicate that the prompt is set up nicely for you to draw a contrast between the topic that you think is important but under-discussed and other topics.

One natural axis with which to approach this essay is policy or politics. It is pretty easy to draw a contrast between issues that are politically contentious, like abortion or free speech, and issues that are highly impactful but less debated, like malaria in Africa or the opioid crisis in the United States. If you go down this path, it’s important to note that questions like abortion and free speech are certainly important.

Instead of just arguing that they are not important, you can draw upon the prompt in saying that discussion of those issues is usually conducted in such a manner that no progress is made. Instead, it’s usually about trying to yell at the other side.

As long as you make this clarification, you can then turn to the real or underlying issue and explore it further, laying out why you think it’s important. This essay archetype can be made more effective if it is interwoven with a strong personal narrative that ties you to the important and under-discussed issue (for example, perhaps you have cousins that have gotten addicted to opioids). But it is still possible to write an excellent essay in this vein even if you don’t have a personal connection to the essay.

Another angle to take with this essay is to focus on a highly specialized or niche area within a topic or field of interest and write a deep-dive essay that shows off your passion for a subject. This can obviously be something like a deep academic treatise on an overlooked aspect of Russian history between 1640-1700, but it doesn’t have to be about a purely academic topic.

For example, if you’re an avid soccer player and fan, you can write an essay about why the 3-5-2 formation is under-discussed and under-utilized, despite allowing several underdog teams to pull upsets in international tournaments. The important thing isn’t that the idea is particularly academic or erudite, but rather that you know the topic extremely well and can display your love for it through the essay.

Essay Option 2

Due to a series of clerical errors, there is exactly one typo (an extra letter, a removed letter, or an altered letter) in the name of every department at the University of Chicago. Oops! Describe your new intended major. Why are you interested in it and what courses or areas of focus within it might you want to explore? Potential options include Commuter Science, Bromance Languages and Literatures, Fundamentals: Issues and Texts, Ant History… a full list of unmodified majors ready for your editor’s eye is available here: https://collegeadmissions.uchicago.edu/academics/majors-minors.

– Inspired by Josh Kaufman, Class of 2018

This prompt certainly lends itself to an essay with a more humorous tone, and it is quite easy to slip into a joking treatment of “Bromance Languages” or “Ant History.” There are certainly interesting essays that can be written in this vein, but we would caution that it is really difficult to pull off a humorous tone in a written format because so much of humor is contextual and specific to the tastes of the audience.

You can still write an essay that attempts to leverage humor with this prompt, but you should keep your audience in mind. Admissions counselors at top universities tend to be younger, highly educated, and politically progressive. So it’s probably not the best idea to slip that “edgy” (i.e., racist) joke that you found on Reddit into this essay. And regarding tone, you should be going for something closer to Mel Brooks or Woody Allen than to Adam Sandler.

However, you don’t have to tackle this prompt with a humorous lens. Instead, you can use it as an opportunity to show off your intellectual chops and flexibility, or highlight multiple academic themes on your profile.

For example, let’s say that you’re interested in both linguistics and gender and sexuality studies. Instead of cracking the all-too-easy jokes about Bromance Languages, you could reframe your exploration of the topic by using it as a launchpad to discuss the concept of toxic masculinity and how that prevents effective communication in male friendships by creating a taboo around discussing one’s feelings openly.

This essay is going to work best if you find a pun or fusion that aligns closely with your profile. To share just one more example, let’s say that you renamed “Social Sciences” to “SoCal Sciences” and are interested in studying urban studies and history. You could frame the renamed major as the study of how the historic presence of industry and the military (the hard “sciences”) in Los Angeles shaped the urban geography of the city and made it harder for the city to densify its neighborhoods once those industries left.

Again this is just one of numerous possible examples with the dozens of majors on that list. You should think carefully about your own.

Essay Option 3

Earth. Fire. Wind. Water. Heart! Captain Planet supposes that the world is made up of these five elements. We’re familiar with the previously-noted set and with actual elements like hydrogen, oxygen, and carbon, but select and explain another small group of things (say, under five) that you believe compose our world.

– Inspired by Dani Plung, Class of 2017

This prompt is the first to really lend itself to a highly personal narrative, as you can use it as a vehicle to comment on the broader psychology or organizational patterns of the society around you while weaving in your personal experience. As an example, if you struggled with self-esteem and communicating with peers when you were younger, you might argue that your place in the world is driven by the combination of confidence, intellect, and the ability to communicate or connect with other people.

If you mixed your analysis of these topics with intensely personal and negative memories of times that you struggled in each area, it could be the foundation for an incredibly powerful essay.

Conversely, you can easily lay out a more positive case and tell your story that way. For example, you could propose that the world is composed of altruism, Smithian self-interest, and random chance. Using this as your foundation, you could argue that every event in your life falls into one of these categories, and share anecdotes of how your life displays each of those traits.

Once again (as with most UChicago essay prompts), there is also a more academic angle that you can take, perhaps illustrating your knowledge of sociology, economics, or neo-Marxist analysis. The key with this type of approach is to ensure that you are displaying both your intense passion for the field and your in-depth knowledge of it. UChicago is the rare school that will accept your display of an academic or quirky passion in a college essay, but you cannot fake it — your essay needs to display the deep love and passion you have for the subject or field.

We hope this was helpful! Tune back in tomorrow for optional prompts 4-6!

How to Write the University of Chicago Application Essays 2017-18: Required Prompt

The University of Chicago, located in Chicago’s Hyde Park neighborhood, is a private research institution that ranks #3 in U.S. News and World Report’s Best National Universities.

If you’re working on your University of Chicago application, you know getting into UChicago is no simple task — the class of 2020 had an acceptance rate of 7.9%. The writing supplements can be a challenge to tackle because of their open-ended and creative nature. This post will help guide you through all of the University of Chicago’s essay prompts.

Read on to understand how to tackle Chicago’s unique application essay prompts for 2017-2018.

Required Prompt

How does the University of Chicago, as you know it now, satisfy your desire for a particular kind of learning, community, and future? Please address with some specificity your own wishes and how they relate to UChicago.

Like many other schools, UChicago asks applicants to answer what is essentially a question asking, “Why do you specifically want to attend this school?” This is a common prompt at many top schools, and it is what we like to call an “essay of elimination.” By itself, the “Why School X?” essay rarely gets a candidate into a school, as it is really difficult to write an answer to this question that is truly unique and meaningful.

Instead, schools like UChicago use this application to separate the candidates who are truly passionate about attending the school (it has too many strong applicants for a limited number of spots in the incoming freshman class). That’s why a poorly written or mediocre “Why UChicago?” essay can keep you out, even if a great one cannot get you in.

And the only way to actually mess up this question, beyond obvious errors, like making grammar mistakes or saying something offensive, is if you don’t write an essay that is specifically about the University of Chicago.

Generic statements like “I’m excited to spend the next four years in Chicago,” “UChicago students have a tight knit community,” or “the campus is beautiful” — that apply to dozens of colleges around the country — should be avoided. The university wants to know that you want to specifically attend it, not just that you want to attend any Top 15 university in the United States. Specificity is key.

We hope this helps and we will be continuing this post with some other helpful tips for the rest of the UChicago app! Connect with us if you have any last minute questions! 

Why Starting your Own Blog be an Amazing Way to Showcase Yourself

College admissions committees have an almost impossible job. They have to comb through a pile of often highly qualified college applicants, making decisions about their futures based only on a few pieces of paper. It’s no secret that as they do so, they will sometimes use grades or standardized test scores to screen out students who are not academically qualified. Sometimes, they will review recommendations to find students who truly set themselves apart in the eyes of their teachers. And other times, they will look to extracurricular activities to get a feel for a student’s dedication, creativity, and ability to take initiative.

Extracurricular activities go far beyond the traditional sports teams and school clubs. Despite what students sometimes think, extracurricular activities can actually include anything that you participate in regularly, over an extended period, outside of your required coursework. Ideally, they are also something that you care about.

For some students, these activities are harder to quantify than for others, and finding an outlet for their creative energy or a way to showcase their independent work is a struggle. If it sounds like we’re talking about you, you may be interested to learn that starting your own blog in high school is a great way to highlight your work, funnel creative energy, and capture your commitment to a particular subject matter or experience.

Starting a blog might seem like an intimidating prospect at first, especially if you don’t have any experience designing websites, but in reality you don’t need to know much about web design or coding to get started. In fact, all you really need is a great idea and some basic word processing skills to get the ball rolling. If you’re interested in starting your own blog in high school, keep reading to learn why it’s a great idea and how you can get started.

Why Start a Blog?

Blogging is a great way to gain experience in writing, web design, and web marketing. If you think you might be interested in pursuing any of these studies in higher education, blogging is a good way to get your feet wet.

Beyond that, starting a blog can serve many different purposes. It can allow you to share your writing or other artwork with a broader audience. It may also give you a platform for documenting a process such as an independent study or journey towards personal change, or even allow you to publicize a business if you run one or help with one.

By starting your own blog, you will inevitably gain more experience in web design and learn more about web marketing. For example, you’ll likely gain some basic knowledge of Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and the principles of writing good headlines.

Finally, starting a blog can be important evidence of your dedication and initiative. It can take a hobby or interest and turn it into a more concrete, serious pursuit. The public display of your work will serve as a testament to your commitment.

 How to Start a Blog

1. Choose A Topic

It probably seems fairly obvious that before you start a blog, you should decide on the topic. In fact, a driving force behind the decision to start a blog is usually your dedication to the subject you intend to feature on your blog.

In general, blogs can serve one of several different purposes. Some blogs are essentially an online portfolio of your work. If you’re a creative writer or an artist, a blog can be a place for you to share and publish your completed projects. Many artists also include statements or reflections on their work on these types of blogs. If you are looking for a place to funnel your creative energy and document your work, a blog is a great place to do so.

Other blogs serve more as business websites. If you have started a small business during high school, a blog can serve as your landing page and a source for updates and information about your services. On this type of blog, you might highlight current projects or progress being made in your business. If you don’t have your own business but work for a small company without a website, you might offer to create a small blog for them if you’re looking to gain some experience in web design.

Another popular blogging purpose is to document a process or project. If you are undertaking an independent study, pursuing a significant personal change, or working on another type of project, like building a boat or starting a community garden, a blog is a great place for documenting the entire process from beginning to end. Not only will it serve as a great record of all you’ve accomplished, but also it will allow others to follow along as you go.

Finally, the most popular form of blog is a platform for sharing perspective or knowledge in a particular subject area. These blogs generally are a mix of information and reflection, almost like a public journal. Some blogs are about TV series. Others are about music, current events, or historical research. You can choose any niche interest and publish anything you want about it, ranging from random thoughts to serious research.

While blogs can take many forms, one question to consider before you start any kind of blog is, will people want to read this? If the answer is no, you might want to keep your musings about the quality of contestants on this season’s The Bachelor to yourself. But if the answer is yes, by all means, full-steam ahead.

2. Choose A Blogging Platform To Use

Now that the most difficult part is out of the way, you can get down to the finer details. One detail that you’ll need to take care of on the earlier side is selecting a blogging platform to use. There are many different blogging platforms to choose from. Some provide hosting, others require that you host the site elsewhere.

If you’re just getting started with blogging, you will probably have fairly basic needs that can be fulfilled for the most part through free blogging sites. Some popular options include Squarespace  and WordPress.com. These sites and others like them generally host blogs for free and provide many different templates to choose from. If you want a custom domain name, more customization options, or the capacity for heavy traffic and a larger server, you’ll probably need to upgrade to a paid plan.

Before you select a blogging platform, browse through the various options that are available from each. Have a look at the templates they provide, review choices for landing pages, and think about any customization options you’ll want available. You can find a comprehensive overview comparing various blogging platforms at Start Blogging Online.

 3. Choose A Template

With a basic concept for your landing page, you’ll be able to browse templates and make an informed decision about which works best for you. Some blogging platforms will even allow you to enter simple headings, subheadings, and images and then toggle between templates to get an idea of how each will look on your page.

Keep in mind when selecting a template that you want something that will appear clean and user-friendly. Including too much information or overlaying too many images will make your content harder to consume, and readers will be less likely to stick with it. Instead, choose something simple and aesthetically pleasing.

4. Set Up Your Landing Page

Now that you have a template selected, you can begin to set up your landing page. Take text straight from the files you’ve already created and input it into the relevant fields.

While you are still learning, it’s best to do all of your editing and writing in separate word processing files and then copy and paste from them into the template. This way, if you accidentally delete something or need to start over again, you don’t need to rewrite anything and all of your changes will still be saved to your computer. It also means that should anything ever happen to your blog, you will have back ups of all the content on your computer. 

5. Begin Posting Content

It’s tempting to let all your friends and family know about your blog right away, but you’re better off posting a few pieces of quality content to your blog before you start assembling an audience. This way, people will find some worthwhile content when they visit your page and will be more likely to subscribe, or return for more another time.

When you’re getting started, it’s a big help to set a target number of posts per month. For example, you might aim for weekly posts or semiweekly. At a minimum you should aim for posting at least once a week, even if it’s just a short update. If you go too long between posts, your audience will lose interest.

6. Publicize Your Blog

Once you have a few pieces of quality content up on the blog, you can begin to gather an audience. Start with friends and family. Email family members who are further away and be sure to let your teachers or other mentors know about it too. You can also share blog posts on social media to be sure that your contacts know about it.

Another option is to start a Facebook page or twitter account dedicated to your blog. Here, you can share blog posts and other related content, keeping your audience engaged even when they aren’t on your actual website.

7. Keep Writing

It can be helpful to outline a month or two worth of content ahead of time to keep your forward momentum going. These don’t need to be in-depth, detailed outlines. Even a topic or title will help to keep you on track.

If you find that it’s getting difficult to keep up with creating content, you can try to motivate yourself by giving yourself small rewards each time you post. For example, tell yourself that you can’t check social media or watch your favorite show until you’ve posted something.

Alternatively, if you get jaded, ask a friend or mentor if they’d be interested in guest-posting. Having someone else write a piece of content for your blog provides fresh perspective and many times people are excited to see their work in print.

How to Present Your Blog On Your College Application

Your blog fits best under the Activities section on your college application. Here, you can outline the topic, the frequency with which you posted, and the specific skills you learned or developed through creating the blog.

Be sure to emphasize your commitment to the subject matter and the initiative you took in creating the blog on your own time, outside of school. You can quantify your blog’s success with the number of posts you’ve published, the number of visitors you’ve had, or the number of views your top post received.

Finally, include a link to the blog landing page. This is critical to ensuring that the admissions committee has access to viewing the product of all your hard work, but it also comes with additional responsibility. You can never be certain when or even if the admissions committee will view your blog, so you’ll need to stay on top of it. Keep posting quality content to ensure that it is maintained and current when/if the admissions committee does check it. Don’t slack now!

If you’re interested in starting a blog to highlight your work on a project, document your creative process, or simply reflect on a topic that’s important or interesting to you, don’t be deterred by the amount of work it initially entails. By taking advantage of a user-friendly blogging platform, you’ll be able to guide yourself through the process and produce a polished, clean, and, most importantly, functional final product.

Not sure where to start on creating your new blog or still want a little more guidance before you begin? Consider giving us a call! 

Visit College Campuses from Home

Before you make any definitive college decisions, experts recommend they visit campuses first. Stepping foot on the physical campus can help prospective students gauge the makeup of the student body, the environment, academic opportunities, and many other factors. Now, thanks to the growth of social media and technology, students can learn a lot of this information without leaving the comforts of their own homes. Here are five online resources that reveal more about what college life is really like.

1. eCampusTours: Stepping foot on a campus may be the best way to get a true feel for a college, but eCampusTours gives the student the next best option from the convenience of the couch. The site provides 360-degree virtual tours of college campuses and surrounding areas for the user to explore—at no cost. At this time, there are more than 1,300 virtual tours available on the site.
2. YourCampus360: Much like the previous site, YourCampus360 allows students to explore a campus using 360-degree functionality. While this site fails to provide as many college tour options, it does offer more social opportunities, such as providing prospective students with insights and images through blogs and photo galleries posted by current and former students.
3. College Prowler: Save the graduation rate and questions about course offerings for the college website. College Prowler provides answers to the questions many prospective students want to know, such as the quality of the dining hall food, whether a school has a good night life, and many other non-academic interests. Access the school of your choosing and find myriad topics rated on a grading scale, based on the input of students who have attended the college.
4. YouTube EDU: The world's leader in user-generated videos offers prospective students the opportunity to view videos created at universities nationwide. Users have the chance to watch student interviews, discussions with professors, and may even find some classroom lectures.
5. Rate My Professors: Once enrolled, students will be spending a lot of time in the classroom, but it is difficult to gauge an entire faculty based on a single college visit. Rate My Professors fills that void. The site offers ratings on thousands of professors across the country, grading them based on helpfulness, clarity, ease, and overall quality. Be sure to reserve some judgments as many students may not give the friendliest of ratings or may be influenced by the marks they received in the class, but the site can be helpful when used more broadly.

While online resources like the ones featured above can help a prospective college student learn more about a university, ideally, they should only be used as complements, but hey! Its better than Google maps. 

9 Social Media Tips for Students

Social media is a challenging space to navigate. Not having a profile is social suicide, but having one can lead to people of influence seeing what you are up to. Social media is your identity to the world today and whether you are applying to college, applying to competitive fellowships, or a job, its safe to assume that people will be looking your profiles. So with that in mind, here are 9 things that you should be doing in order to make your social media profiles targeted to everyone: 

1. It might seem obvious, but get rid of any negative posts and pictures, both those you've posted and the ones you're tagged in. Coaches, employers, and deans do judge you by the company you keep.
2. Highlight the good stuff. If you’re a volunteer, sing in a choir, are part of an environmental association, or participate in another community activity that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, be sure to write about it online, even if it’s just a couple of Tweets. Post so that Google will pick it up. Make it your Facebook status, or better yet start a blog about how cool the experience was and the interesting people you met.
3. Remember what the Internet really is: a giant public record. They say nothing posted to the Web ever truly goes away, and you might be surprised how quickly and easily your personal information can be shared. 
4. Make a professional profile such as one on LinkedIn. This way you can direct professionals to that site and deter them from snooping on your other properties
5. Make a decision to let someone whose opinion you value highly (parents, favorite aunt, mentor, etc.) be connected to you on all of your social media sites. Even if you are saying to yourself, “No way! That is my personal space,” remember these people want you to be successful. This is about having your back, not invading your privacy. I look out for my cousins all the time; it’s often less invasive to them than their parents, and they trust I’ll only send them a (private) message about a post if it’s really inappropriate
6. Speaking of privacy, make sure to continue to privatize your social network accounts. You should know exactly what the world can see of your profile and posts. And keep in mind that privacy polices can change at any time and all the time. Being proactive will help you down the road.
7. Remember that just because you don’t post pictures of every event or party you go to, it does not mean it wasn’t fun or didn’t happen. Even though we are encouraged to post every detail of our lives online, you have to refrain sometimes. The time is now.
8. Download secureme.me, a free app that connects to Facebook and alerts you of what looks less than reputable right now on your profile, pictures, and posts. If you are already in hot water, check out Reputation.com; just be aware that it comes with fees.
9. Give your phone a break. This is especially true if you’re upset and feel like you might say something you regret later. You could also benefit from just turning your phone off once a week and giving those texting fingers a rest. It could save you and your family money, and who knows—you just might enjoy being disconnected

If you have any questions, comment below or come on over for a cup of coffee. We will be happy to help!