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522: Storytelling & Identity with Ethan Sawyer (Bonus Part 4): On Productivity, Writing as a Journey, and What It Means to Be Enough

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In our most recent series on storytelling and identity, Ethan sat down with his screenwriter friends to do a deep dive into the creative process, the power of storytelling, and how identity plays a role in both. In this bonus episode, the tables are turned as Ethan is interviewed by CEG Essay Coach, Ali Pineo. In their conversation, Ethan and Ali get into:

  • Ethan’s background and how his identity has evolved over the years

  • The roles Ethan identifies with most: connector, harmonizer, and seeker

  • How Ethan measures success in his personal and professional life

  • His journey from aspiring screenwriter to teacher and writer

  • Brainstorming Ethan’s own personal statement as if he were writing it today

  • And more

Ali Pineo is a writing coach and college admissions essay specialist with a BA in English from Stanford University and MFA from UC Irvine. She is passionate about building her students’ confidence in the writing process and developing them into strong self-advocates for their individual learning needs. She has spent thousands of hours coaching admissions essay writing and tutoring AP English and US History,. and the highlights of her career center around her mentorship of bright students with learning differences. In addition to teaching, she is an arts entrepreneur, former professional ballet dancer, and mama to a busy toddler.

We hope you enjoy!

Play-by-Play

  • 1:41 - Introductions

  • 2:48 - Ethan shares the roles he identifies with most

  • 10:36 - What does Ethan’s identity of “Connector” mean to him?

  • 14:34 - How does Ethan distinguish between the “Connector” and “Harmonizer” roles?

  • 20:16 - Do any roles conflict with other identities? 

  • 25:13 - How does Ethan balance his many roles? 

  • 28:37 - How does Ethan measure success in his personal and professional life?

  • 33:20 - In what ways have Ethan’s career aspirations changed over the years? 

  • 37:00 - How does Ethan define his role as a “Culture-Tender?” 

  • 43:55 - What has Ethan been writing about lately?

  • 47:18 - Ali shares her a bit about her background, roles, and identities 

  • 52:33 - How do Ethan’s outward identities overlap with his inner world? 

  • 56:48 - Brainstorming Ethan’s own personal statement as if he were writing it today

  • 1:11:37 - Closing thoughts and wrap-up

Resources

 

509: What Colleges Want (Part 8): Extracurricular Activities Deep Dive: How Getting Involved In and Out of School Can Boost Your Application

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On today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) is joined by Carolyn Starks, a former Pomona and Bates admissions officer and Associate Director of College Counseling at Oakwood School (North Hollywood, CA) at the time of recording, to talk about extracurricular activities and the activities list on college applications.

They get into, among other things:

  • What are some of the benefits of getting involved in your school community?

  • How can students explore activities outside of their high schools?

  • How do admission officers evaluate a student’s activities list?

  • Frequently asked questions about activities and summer programs

  • And more! 

But first, let’s meet Carolyn: 

Carolyn Starks followed her father’s footsteps and attended Rhodes College in Memphis, TN where she studied English and Africana Studies. After graduation, she moved to Portland, ME to work at Bates College where she focused on supporting first-generation-to-college, BIPOC, and/or low-income students through the admissions process. After two years, she landed a job at Pomona College’s Office of Admissions where she joined the Access Team, ran the College’s diversity fly-in programs, and learned to be justice oriented in her approach to educational equity. Though at the time of recording Carolyn was Oakwood School in North Hollywood’s Associate Director of College Counseling, she will soon be moving to serve as Co-Director of College Counseling at Santa Fe Prep in Santa Fe, NM. In her free time, Carolyn enjoys indulging in local cuisine and watching Bravo with her husband and her dog, Ms. Pecan Pie. 

We hope you enjoy the episode. 

Play-by-Play

  • 4:48 - What is Carolyn’s background? 

  • 6:20 - What activities was Carolyn involved in during high school?

  • 8:36 - What activities did Tom participate in during high school? 

  • 10:45 - How can students learn about the opportunities at their school?

  • 16:50 - Why should students get involved within their school community?

  • 23:09 - How can students be involved in extracurriculars outside their school? 

  • 29:57 - What should students keep in mind when applying to highly selective schools?

  • 36:13 - Do colleges have preferred activities or summer experiences?

  • 36:41 - Does placement on an activities list matter?

  • 37:37 - How many years should students participate in an activity? 

  • 39:05 - How important is having formal leadership roles? 

  • 42:18 - What might not be worth putting on your activities list? 

  • 46:25 - How many activities is enough? 

  • 51:22 - How can students maintain a balance between their home life, academic, and extracurricular activities?

  • 55:47 - Closing thoughts 

Resources

 

506: What Colleges Want (Part 6): Demonstrated Interest: What Is it, Why Is it Important, and How Do You Show it? with Dean of Enrollment Christine Bowman

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On today’s episode, Ethan is joined by Christine Bowman, Assistant VP for Admission at Southwestern University. In part 6 in our series on What Colleges Want, Ethan and Christine get into:

  • What is demonstrated interest and how do colleges track it? 

  • How important is demonstrated interest to a student’s chance of getting in?

  • How might students find out if a particular school considers demonstrated interest in their admission review?

  • What are some practical ways you can demonstrate your interest to colleges?

Christine Bowman is the Assistant VP for Admission at Southwestern, where she oversees the admission department to set enrollment and retention philosophies. She has a Masters in Higher Ed Administration from UT-Austin, was the Co-Chair for the 2007 NACAC National Conference in and has served two terms as the Chair of the Colleges that Change Lives Board of Directors (see last season’s episode with Ann Marano for more on CTCL’s work). She currently serves on the advisory board of ROCA-NM (Rural Opportunities for College Access) and, with almost 30 years of experience in the admission profession, Christine believes in guiding students to find the right college fit and regularly gives presentations encouraging a stress-free college search process.

We hope you enjoy the conversation! 

Play-by-play

  • 2:15 - What is demonstrated interest?

  • 5:00 - Why might demonstrated interest be important to colleges?

  • 8:22 - What is yield?

  • 11:24 - How can students demonstrate interest for a particular school? 

  • 15:17 - What can colleges track?

  • 18:52 - For whom does demonstrated interest matter most? 

  • 23:47 - How to “break up” with a college

  • 27:05 - What are some practical tips for students as they reach out to a college?

  • 30:10 - How might an admissions officer use demonstrated interest?

  • 32:58 - What ways can students demonstrate interest without visiting campus?

  • 37:24 - What is the difference between early action, early decision, and regular decision?

  • 40:25 - How important is the college interview?

  • 48:10 - What can parents do to support their students during this process?

  • 53:02 - Closing advice for parents, students, and counselors 

ResourceS

 

503: What Colleges Want (Part 3): "Positive Character Attributes": What Are They, and How Do You Show Them in Your College Application?

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In today’s two-part episode, we’re delving into one of the potentially more confusing aspects of what colleges want — “positive character attributes” — which 65.8% of colleges give considerable or moderate importance. 

In part 1, I’m joined by Tom Bear (VP for Enrollment at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) and Bob Massa (former chief admissions/enrollment officer at Johns Hopkins University, Dickinson College and Drew University) to discuss:

  • What are these positive character attributes? 

  • Why are they important to colleges? 

  • How do colleges decide which qualities to seek and how to evaluate for them? 

  • How do students show these qualities in their application? 

Part 2 is with Trisha Ross Anderson, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Making Caring Common Project, and we get into:

  • How Making Caring Common helps colleges figure out what they are looking for 

  • How some colleges are working to increase access and equity in admissions

  • Advice to parents as they navigate this process with their students

Tom Bear has been working in college enrollment since 1987 at a variety of institutions, including as VP for Enrollment at University of Evansville, Senior Director of Enrollment at Notre Dame and now as the VP for Enrollment at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He joined the Character Collaborative in 2017, served as Board Chair and will chair NACAC’s Character Focus Initiative.

Bob Massa got his Doctorate in Higher Education from Columbia, served as the chief admissions/enrollment officer at Johns Hopkins University, Dickinson College and Drew University and Co- founded the Character Collaborative in 2016. Although he has retired from full-time work after 45 years of campus-based work, he is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California’s online masters program in enrollment management.

Trisha Ross Anderson has served on research teams at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for the past 13 years. She’s worked with the Making Caring Common (MCC) Project to help write reports including one called Turning the Tide that focuses on reform of the college admission process. She leads MCC’s college admissions initiatives with Richard Weissbourd and currently serves on NACAC’s Character Focus Initiative Advisory Council. 

Play-by-play

  • 0:00 - Meet Tom Bear and Bob Massa (Part 1)

  • 2:12 - What do colleges mean by “positive character attributes”? 

  • 3:55 - What are some examples of these “positive character attributes”?  

  • 4:58 - Why is it important for students, parents, and counselors to think about these qualities?

  • 7:16 - How do colleges decide what qualities they’re looking for?

  • 12:04 - How do colleges evaluate students for these qualities?

  • 13:09 - Example of a rubric on extraordinary commitment to others

  • 19:10 - Why don’t colleges share their rubrics for what they’re looking for?

  • 21:18 - What can students do to better understand what a particular school is looking for?

  • 24:08 - How do colleges evaluate “character” in an applicant? 

  • 29:58 - What is the high school profile and how is it used in a student’s evaluation?

  • 31:20 - Why is it important to think about positive character attributes now?

  • 35:56 - How can students demonstrate these qualities in their college applications? 

  • 40:00 - What can parents do to help their students in this process? 

  • 42:01 - Meet Trisha Ross Anderson (Part 2)

  • 43:09 - What is the Making Caring Common (MCC) project?

  • 44:37 - How is MCC working with colleges? 

  • 46:17 - Why is it difficult to create a rubric for these qualities?

  • 48:16 - How is MCC helping colleges decide on what they are looking for? 

  • 52:45 - How is MCC helping colleges to increase equity and access in the college admissions process?

  • 57:33 - Advice for parents on navigating this process with their students

  • 1:01:31 - Closing thoughts 

ResourceS

Ideas from Ethan for finding what you care about + finding content for your application: 

MCC / CommonApp Question Screenshot:


 

502: What Colleges Want (Part 2): A Deep Dive into GPA, Course Selection, and Making the Most of the Academic Opportunities Available to You

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On today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) and Nitzya Cuevas-Macias (Director of College Programs at Downtown College Prep) cover:

  • How do students decide which classes to take—and what questions should they ask when deciding?

  • Key recommendations for selecting English, math, science, social studies, language, and elective courses

  • The most frequently asked questions we get asked about courses and grades

Nitzya Cuevas-Macias was a first-gen college student at UC Berkeley where she studied History and Legal Studies, and earned her Master’s in Mexican American Studies from San José State. She’s been working in education for 16 years where the majority of her time has been in college access and success, in the CBO, non-profit world, k-12 public and charter, and community college. Currently, she is the Director of College Programs at Downtown College Prep, a free public charter in San José, CA and serves as a board member of the Western Association for College Admission Counseling.

We hope you enjoy!

Play-by-play

  • 2:21 - Introductions

  • 6:02 - What are key things to keep in mind when planning your high school experience?

  • 10:21 - Subject area recommendations

    • 11:40 - English

    • 16:04 - Math

    • 21:34 - Science

    • 28:02 - Social Studies

    • 31:11 - Languages

    • 33:06 - Visual/Performing Arts

    • 36:17 - Electives

  • 36:39 - Rapid-fire FAQs about grades

    • 37:43 How do colleges evaluate my course grades and transcript?

    • 38:22 - Is it important to only get Straight-As to have a chance?

    • 40:29 - How do colleges evaluate my GPA?

    • 42:05 - How can students balance a high GPA with challenging courses?

    • 44:28 - Should students increase their rigor every year?

    • 45:23 - Is it a good idea to take additional summer or online courses?

    • 49:43 - How important is class rank?

    • 51:19 - Should I pick Honors, AP, IB, or Dual Enrollment?

    • 54:17 - Are AP and IB scores important if my school doesn’t offer AP courses?

    • 57:28 - How do I know what classes to take if I don't know what I want to study or where I want to go to college?

  • 59:59 - Wrap up / closing thoughts

Resources

 

501: What Colleges Want (Part 1): A Deep Dive into the Factors Colleges Deem Important & State of College Admissions Report

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On today's episode, Ethan sits down with David Hawkins, Chief Education and Policy Officer at National Association of College Admission Counselors (aka NACAC), and they get discuss, among other things: 
What are the most important factors colleges consider? 

  • What significant changes has he seen in the college admission landscape in the past few years?

  • How has the emphasis on college essays (aka the personal statement) shifted? 

  • Why has the emphasis in standardized testing changed?

  • What have the impacts been of the Supreme Court decision to ban race conscious admission? 

  • How can students, counselors, and parents use the info in this report to make their college admission process easier? 

For over 20 years, David Hawkins has worked in enrollment management and admissions to alleviate systemic barriers to accessing higher education. Hawkins has played a key role in setting NACAC's strategic direction, which involved hearing and representing the collective voice of NACAC’s more than 25,000 high school counselors and college admission officers. His priorities include making NACAC a more effective learning organization, with an emphasis on ethics and redefining advocacy.

We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Play-by-play

  • 2:04 - Introductions

  • 3:03 - What is the State of College Admission report?

  • 5:48 - How can students, parents, and counselors use this report?

  • 9:50 - Which factors of admissions decisions are most important to colleges?

  • 13:34 - How are “positive character attributes” assessed?

  • 18:00 - What are some specific qualities that are important to colleges?

  • 20:46 - How do students show these qualities in their applications?

  • 25:33 - How has the importance of the college essay shifted in recent years?

  • 27:13 - Which colleges seem to value the essay more highly?

  • 28:47 - How does a student’s interest in attending a particular school influence admissions decisions?

  • 32:30 - How are counselor & teacher recommendations assessed?

  • 33:58 - What are admissions officers looking for in extracurricular activities?

  • 37:38 - Why is high school class rank dropping in rank of importance? 

  • 39:30 - Do colleges still want to see standardized test scores?

  • 42:52 - Quick thoughts on creative portfolios, interviews, work experience, state exam scores, and subject test scores

  • 44:49 - David shares predictions on shifts in equity and inclusion in the future of admissions

  • 48:57 - Closing thoughts 

Resources

 

414: A Crash Course in Paying for College & Common Affordability Myths

On today’s episode, Ethan is joined by Amanda Miller, who got her start in financial aid through Davidson College’s Advising Corps in 2014. A few thousand students, several resources, and dozens of financial aid presentations later, Amanda hasn’t lost her love of explaining the ins-and-outs of financial aid to folks who just want to figure out how to pay for college. She’s an independent financial aid specialist and college adviser who also serves as the financial aid go-to lady for the Matchlighters program and someone we consider to be a part of the extended College Essay Guy family. 

413: Intellectual Curiosity + College Admissions: What It Is, Why It Matters to Colleges, and How to Show It

In today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) and Susan Tree (a college counseling and admissions legend with 40+ years of experience) chat about “intellectual curiosity”: a quality that many colleges actively look for in students, yet is a little more ambiguous and nuanced compared to mapping out a high school course plan.

412: Applying to College as a First-Generation or Low-Income Student: The Matchlighters Scholars Program Experience

Hey all, today’s episode is a special one. We had one of our rockstar essay coaches, Shira Harris, sit down with two of her former Matchlighter students, Melina Veliz and Sayem Kamal, to discuss their experiences navigating the college application process as First Generation Low Income Students.

411: Finding Your Why, What a Liberal Arts Education Really Is, and How to Figure out What You Actually Want

On Season 1 of the podcast, Ethan had a great conversation with Maria Furtado, then Executive Director of the Colleges That Change Lives organization (also known as “CTCL”). It’s a lovely chat and to date one of our most downloaded episodes. On today’s episode Ethan had the pleasure of sitting down with her successor, Ann Marano

410: Regional Spotlights: Attending College in The South w/ Renee Ferrerio

In today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) hosts the first installment of a new series called Regional Spotlights, which will bring on college counseling experts who have deep history or knowledge of the exciting college options (and the cultural nuances) from a particular geographic region. We’re kicking off this series in a big way (pun intended) with Colleges in The South. Our Southern specialist and special guest today is CEG’s very own Renee Ferrerrio, Director of College Counseling at The O’Neal School.

409: A Crash Course in College Athletic Recruiting

On this episode, my guest is Katie Andersen, a former NCAA Division 1 Women’s Soccer player at Duke University, who now advises student-athletes through her organization, College Fit OC. She’s also the co-founder of The Student-Athlete Advisors, which focuses on educating and mentoring educational consultants who advise college-bound student-athletes. Our conversation turned into a veritable crash course in college athletic recruiting.

408: 10 Critical Things Trans Youth (and Their Counselors and Caregivers) Should Know in High School and When Applying to College w/ Shannon and Sam Bergeron

On this episode I had the honor of sitting down with Sam and Shannon Bergeron. We discuss a number of critical things trans youth, their counselors and caregivers should know as they navigate the college admission process.

407: Behind the Scenes of an Admission Office + Supplemental Essay Deep Dive w/ Rick Diaz

On today’s episode I got to sit down with Rick Diaz, the Regional Director of Admission for Southern Methodist University (SMU). We take a behind-the-scenes look at how SMU reads applications and how they shape a class—and what that even means.

405: 7 Cosas Que Las Familias Latinas Deben Saber Sobre Cómo Prepararse Para la Universidad / 7 Things Latinx Families Need to Know About Preparing for College (Spanish and English Versions)

Lorenzo Gamboa and I discuss some of the things he believes Latinx families should know as they prepare for college. Hoy es un episodio especial porque es bilingüe: la primera parte es en español, la segunda parte en inglés.

404: Race-Conscious Admission Was Struck Down—What Does This Mean and What Can Students and College Counselors Do? w/ Jay Rosner

In this episode we’re talking about the Supreme Court’s recent decision to strike down race-conscious admission  and what the implications might be for colleges, students applying to those colleges, and the counselors who advise them. And what better person to talk about it with than Jay Rosner, whose entire career has been devoted to the intersection of law and college admissions.