This from the Washington Post: Mathews on How to Survive College Search
I'd disagree a bit with SAT prep opinion. I've seen the SAT prep make a huge difference, mostly to students who suffer from test anxiety. The more they prepare, the more they get that anxiety in check.
Love the bit on college visits. It can be rather fun if you let it. I did ask questions and took photos (my version of notes), but that's not so different than going to a theme park and asking what rides are the most fun or where can you get some cold drink.
Saturday, May 25, 2013
Monday, February 25, 2013
How to Succeed Even When You Get Rejected...
This video is so inspirational--a 28 year old man who has been in 4 Broadway shows (big roles!)--but who, ten years ago, got rejected at the start of his college process, not getting into a BFA program based on his audition... Really good advice in this:
Tuesday, August 28, 2012
Dressing Up University Housing
For those who have made it through the college application process and who are now starting their college careers, or heading back for another year, there is the fun of decorating your own space. College housing is typically cramped and fairly pre-set. There are lots of articles on personalizing the space. My own thoughts are to KEEP IT CHEAP. Low cost does not necessarily mean low style. I like this apartment living room at NKU --Woodcrest Apartments--decorated by my daughter:
--curtains made from island sarongs (those typically cost between $9 and $15 each--for example at Amazon tie-dyed or floral print ); trampoline chair from Target (sort of like this dish chair at $29.99); cheap pillows with texture (from Target and home-made from tee-shirt--hey! the Marianas Trench Marine Monument!); cheap floor lamp (aack, from Walmart, but also available from Amazon); and cheap bins for magazines and books (from Target).
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Writing the College Essay
Here's my little acronym to help with writing the college essay (and yes, it's somewhat lame).
HIP DOG
H=honesty. This is first and foremost the basic concept that everything in the essay is true, or patently fiction so that the reader understands it's a spoof. No exaggeration (you can't revise an event where you tossed the end of your hot-dog bun to a friendly stray dog into twenty hours of working to help protect abandoned animals).
But the H in honesty is also more than truthfulness in basic facts. It's also truthfulness in subject matter, in theme, in the overall feel. If you hate long novels written in the past and only read modern magazines or on-line content, don't choose Huckleberry Finn as your fictional character who inspires you. Don't try to be what you're not. Believe in yourself and that you have enough potential to make a good college candidate.
I=insight. Bring yourself into focus through your essay. If you haven't realized something new about yourself in writing it, you haven't dug deeply enough. Share a little of your insight with your reader, so they, too, have a better vision of who you might be.
P=persuasion. Built into every good essay is some element of persuasion. There are values hidden in the text and subtext. If you're writing about a person who inspires you because of his persistence and ambition, bring that into sharp focus in how you also use these characteristics in your own life. Whether you are happy-go-lucky, sincere, serious, hard-working, diligent, prompt, coordinated, clever, funny, musical, kind, patient, out-going, humble, quick-witted, creative, artistic, careful, good-with-numbers, literate, absorbed with pop culture, liberal, conservative, religious, athletic, or whatever, find one or more of those talents, values, perspectives, and interests in your subject and bring it out, so the reader gets a glimpse not only of the subject but of your vision.
D=details. All good writing is in the detail. Use sensory words (not just those that appeal to sight; bring in sound, taste, touch, smell). Hone in on a close-up. Choose a telling quirk. Even the broad stroke can have an element of detail. Don't weigh your essay down with all details, but use enough to make it immediate and interesting.
O=order. Make sure you can articulate to yourself what order you have chosen for your essay. Is it chronological? Ordered by logic? Cause and effect? A wrap-around so that the end comes back to the beginning?
Be sure you don't have a see-saw (back and forth, back and forth--ugh); make sure you're not just jumping around. Put similar thoughts and concepts together in proximate relationship to each other.
G=grammar. Check that all subjects match their verbs. Make sure to be consistent in verb tense throughout your essay (unless you can articulate a reason for changing). Verify that you have used parallel construction when appropriate. Make sure that all pronouns have a clear antecedent. Check spelling and punctuation. Don't rely on your computer's grammar and spelling checkers; these are often wrong.
Have fun writing! And remember, when you write your college essay, be a HIP DOG!
HIP DOG
H=honesty. This is first and foremost the basic concept that everything in the essay is true, or patently fiction so that the reader understands it's a spoof. No exaggeration (you can't revise an event where you tossed the end of your hot-dog bun to a friendly stray dog into twenty hours of working to help protect abandoned animals).
But the H in honesty is also more than truthfulness in basic facts. It's also truthfulness in subject matter, in theme, in the overall feel. If you hate long novels written in the past and only read modern magazines or on-line content, don't choose Huckleberry Finn as your fictional character who inspires you. Don't try to be what you're not. Believe in yourself and that you have enough potential to make a good college candidate.
I=insight. Bring yourself into focus through your essay. If you haven't realized something new about yourself in writing it, you haven't dug deeply enough. Share a little of your insight with your reader, so they, too, have a better vision of who you might be.
P=persuasion. Built into every good essay is some element of persuasion. There are values hidden in the text and subtext. If you're writing about a person who inspires you because of his persistence and ambition, bring that into sharp focus in how you also use these characteristics in your own life. Whether you are happy-go-lucky, sincere, serious, hard-working, diligent, prompt, coordinated, clever, funny, musical, kind, patient, out-going, humble, quick-witted, creative, artistic, careful, good-with-numbers, literate, absorbed with pop culture, liberal, conservative, religious, athletic, or whatever, find one or more of those talents, values, perspectives, and interests in your subject and bring it out, so the reader gets a glimpse not only of the subject but of your vision.
D=details. All good writing is in the detail. Use sensory words (not just those that appeal to sight; bring in sound, taste, touch, smell). Hone in on a close-up. Choose a telling quirk. Even the broad stroke can have an element of detail. Don't weigh your essay down with all details, but use enough to make it immediate and interesting.
O=order. Make sure you can articulate to yourself what order you have chosen for your essay. Is it chronological? Ordered by logic? Cause and effect? A wrap-around so that the end comes back to the beginning?
Be sure you don't have a see-saw (back and forth, back and forth--ugh); make sure you're not just jumping around. Put similar thoughts and concepts together in proximate relationship to each other.
G=grammar. Check that all subjects match their verbs. Make sure to be consistent in verb tense throughout your essay (unless you can articulate a reason for changing). Verify that you have used parallel construction when appropriate. Make sure that all pronouns have a clear antecedent. Check spelling and punctuation. Don't rely on your computer's grammar and spelling checkers; these are often wrong.
Have fun writing! And remember, when you write your college essay, be a HIP DOG!
Monday, August 1, 2011
20 Ways to Start Your Personal College Essay
In November 2007, ej runyon of Halifax posted "13 ways to start your novel" on the NaNoWriMo forums. Saheen of London added five more ideas in the comment thread.
The personal college essay is not a novel, or even fiction, but it is your story. So I repeat the opening ideas here for their worth as adaptable constructs for starting any story, including your personal college essay. I also add two more ideas for a total of 20.
These come with no warranties. Use at your own peril! And have fun.
1. Frame your story.
eg. In his dreams, the old baker does not notice the cracking sound in Raymond's chest. (here framed in the narrator's dream)
2. Say the most important thing on your mind.
eg. I know I'm dying.
3. Say the most important thing that sets up a scenario.
eg. First thing in the morning, they'll be coming for Suzette and Daniel. My babies.
4. Show your frame of mind.
eg. My voices are all on the inside, afraid to come out.
5. Jump into the middle.
eg. Today it will simply not happen again.
6. Tell something provocative.
eg. She sounded so damn good on the phone.
7. Narrate, establishing a dilemma, even a small dilemma.
eg. It took hours to find the exact shade of blue polo shirt he used to wear back when he was the assistant manager of the Globe Tire Shop in Torrance.
8. Open with a letter, e-mail, or blog post.
eg. My Dear Loved One, This is me, finally doing as the judge ordered and working the courage up to write.
9. Narrate an introduction from a memory.
eg. When we were both fifteen, Anna stood in the center of Pius X Girl's Senior High quad, smiled, winked, and started yelling. Out came every cuss word that she knew or could make up for the occasion.
10. Start with an emotional memory.
eg. What I remember most from that day was his nails. Thin bands of bone white, curt in length, like the words he had for my mother.
11. Open with conflict.
eg. The guy at the back table, the one rustling his newspaper every five seconds, Bobby'd take him out first.
12. Start with sights, smells, sensations.
eg. Crystal hadn't opened her eyes yet when she smelled the stench. Roses. She hated roses. She peeked out from under the sheet and saw the huge glass vase on the night stand; looking rosy, smelling like death.
13. Begin with a song that evokes memories.
eg. The first time Pauline ever heard Rod Stewart sing "The Killing of Georgie" she was in the Fox Hills mall parking lot, waiting in the back seat of Vita's white '69 Impala. It was southern California, November 1976. She was 19 and she thought to herself: this is the best song Bob Dylan's ever done.
14. Say "here I am."
eg. "Call me Ishmael." (MOBY DICK, by Herman Melville).
eg. "Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show." (DAVID COPPERFIELD, by Charles Dickens)
15. Introduce the family.
eg. "When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow." (TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, by Harper Lee)
16. Begin a journey.
eg. "An ordinary young man was on his way from his hometown of Hamburg to Davon-Platz in the canton of Graubunden. It was the height of summer, and he planned to stay for three weeks." (THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN, by Thomas Mann)
17.Use shock to grab attention.
eg. "Tyler gets me a job as a waiter, after that Tyler's pushing a gun in my mouth and saying, the first step to eternal life is you have to die." (FIGHT CLUB, by Chuck Palahniuk)
18. Make a broad statement.
eg. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." (A TALE OF TWO CITIES, by Charles Dickens)
eg. "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." (ANNA KARENINA by Leo Tolstoy)
19. Borrow a quote (and attribute it).
eg. "Up to now I've done everything I've wanted to do the way I wanted to do myself." Hasil Adkins
20. Use irony or a tongue-in-cheek sketch
eg. "On top of everything, the cancer ward was number 13." (THE CANCER WARD by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)
eg. "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much." (HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, by J.K. Rowling)
The personal college essay is not a novel, or even fiction, but it is your story. So I repeat the opening ideas here for their worth as adaptable constructs for starting any story, including your personal college essay. I also add two more ideas for a total of 20.
These come with no warranties. Use at your own peril! And have fun.
1. Frame your story.
eg. In his dreams, the old baker does not notice the cracking sound in Raymond's chest. (here framed in the narrator's dream)
2. Say the most important thing on your mind.
eg. I know I'm dying.
3. Say the most important thing that sets up a scenario.
eg. First thing in the morning, they'll be coming for Suzette and Daniel. My babies.
4. Show your frame of mind.
eg. My voices are all on the inside, afraid to come out.
5. Jump into the middle.
eg. Today it will simply not happen again.
6. Tell something provocative.
eg. She sounded so damn good on the phone.
7. Narrate, establishing a dilemma, even a small dilemma.
eg. It took hours to find the exact shade of blue polo shirt he used to wear back when he was the assistant manager of the Globe Tire Shop in Torrance.
8. Open with a letter, e-mail, or blog post.
eg. My Dear Loved One, This is me, finally doing as the judge ordered and working the courage up to write.
9. Narrate an introduction from a memory.
eg. When we were both fifteen, Anna stood in the center of Pius X Girl's Senior High quad, smiled, winked, and started yelling. Out came every cuss word that she knew or could make up for the occasion.
10. Start with an emotional memory.
eg. What I remember most from that day was his nails. Thin bands of bone white, curt in length, like the words he had for my mother.
11. Open with conflict.
eg. The guy at the back table, the one rustling his newspaper every five seconds, Bobby'd take him out first.
12. Start with sights, smells, sensations.
eg. Crystal hadn't opened her eyes yet when she smelled the stench. Roses. She hated roses. She peeked out from under the sheet and saw the huge glass vase on the night stand; looking rosy, smelling like death.
13. Begin with a song that evokes memories.
eg. The first time Pauline ever heard Rod Stewart sing "The Killing of Georgie" she was in the Fox Hills mall parking lot, waiting in the back seat of Vita's white '69 Impala. It was southern California, November 1976. She was 19 and she thought to herself: this is the best song Bob Dylan's ever done.
14. Say "here I am."
eg. "Call me Ishmael." (MOBY DICK, by Herman Melville).
eg. "Whether I shall turn out to be the hero of my own life, or whether that station will be held by anybody else, these pages must show." (DAVID COPPERFIELD, by Charles Dickens)
15. Introduce the family.
eg. "When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jem got his arm badly broken at the elbow." (TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD, by Harper Lee)
16. Begin a journey.
eg. "An ordinary young man was on his way from his hometown of Hamburg to Davon-Platz in the canton of Graubunden. It was the height of summer, and he planned to stay for three weeks." (THE MAGIC MOUNTAIN, by Thomas Mann)
17.Use shock to grab attention.
eg. "Tyler gets me a job as a waiter, after that Tyler's pushing a gun in my mouth and saying, the first step to eternal life is you have to die." (FIGHT CLUB, by Chuck Palahniuk)
18. Make a broad statement.
eg. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times." (A TALE OF TWO CITIES, by Charles Dickens)
eg. "Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way." (ANNA KARENINA by Leo Tolstoy)
19. Borrow a quote (and attribute it).
eg. "Up to now I've done everything I've wanted to do the way I wanted to do myself." Hasil Adkins
20. Use irony or a tongue-in-cheek sketch
eg. "On top of everything, the cancer ward was number 13." (THE CANCER WARD by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn)
eg. "Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much." (HARRY POTTER AND THE SORCERER'S STONE, by J.K. Rowling)
Wednesday, June 1, 2011
Preparing for the SAT
There is a ton of help on College Board.
Easy way to get started preparing:
I recommend the question-a-day.
Free help:
There are also practice tests online at college board.
Tutorials:
The Official SAT prep manual (also available directly from College Board) is also a great tool. The math section is best used with the Khan Academy SAT math prep.
The SAT essay:
The last bit I would say is practice those essays. The sample questions in the study guide are a good place to begin, but there are SAT essay prompts everywhere. Here are two from prior tests and 1 original (just double-click and then print).
Write the essay on a sample SAT essay answer sheet. Time limit is 25 minutes.
But just as important as writing them is talking over the response with an intelligent and thoughtful person afterwards.
When to take the exam:
The best time is at the end of Junior year (11th grade) and then again in early Senior year (12th grade) if improvement in scores is needed. I'm shocked at how many smart students are not signing up for the SAT at the end of Junior year. It's easy to do online. And it provides a good baseline from which to gauge what colleges and universities would be safety schools, match schools, reach schools and out-of-reach schools.
Easy way to get started preparing:
I recommend the question-a-day.
Free help:
There are also practice tests online at college board.
Tutorials:
The Official SAT prep manual (also available directly from College Board) is also a great tool. The math section is best used with the Khan Academy SAT math prep.
The SAT essay:
The last bit I would say is practice those essays. The sample questions in the study guide are a good place to begin, but there are SAT essay prompts everywhere. Here are two from prior tests and 1 original (just double-click and then print).
Write the essay on a sample SAT essay answer sheet. Time limit is 25 minutes.
But just as important as writing them is talking over the response with an intelligent and thoughtful person afterwards.
When to take the exam:
The best time is at the end of Junior year (11th grade) and then again in early Senior year (12th grade) if improvement in scores is needed. I'm shocked at how many smart students are not signing up for the SAT at the end of Junior year. It's easy to do online. And it provides a good baseline from which to gauge what colleges and universities would be safety schools, match schools, reach schools and out-of-reach schools.
Purpose of blog
I'm starting this blog to post thoughts, ideas, discoveries during the college application process that my daughter is going through. This is to help me. It's also available to help anyone else who might possibly find it useful.
There is a ton of information available on the web. What I will keep track of here is only what I find interesting or useful (or entertaining?) during this process.
God knows we need some entertainment. Getting into college is not for the faint of heart!
There is a ton of information available on the web. What I will keep track of here is only what I find interesting or useful (or entertaining?) during this process.
God knows we need some entertainment. Getting into college is not for the faint of heart!
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