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Achieve your Dreams

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College Essay Help! Finding Your Authentic Voice When Writing Your College Admission Essay There’s a common myth about the main essay that we at College Match US would like to dispel: that you should try to sell yourself in the Common App’s personal statement. Nothing could be further from the truth. What often results when students try to sell themselves is that it often results in a college admission essay that sounds like it is trying too hard. You improve your chance of catching the eye of an admissions officer by finding your authentic voice in your main essay. How does a college admission essay sound authentic? A creative approach is key here. A main essay that stands out employs a strong story. Signature style in a strong college essay factors in as well. Most students writing their main college essays make the mistake of writing too generally. At College Match, we ensure you avoid this hurdle when writing your college admission essay.

https://collegematchus.com/177-2/

Brains and Brawn – Ivy Olympians

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In the spirit of the Olympic Games, I though it might be fitting to look into a personal subject area for me, collegiate athletics. The idea of athletic recruitment, especially at top schools such as the Ivy League and other private institutions can be extremely complex and confusing at first. I am here to answer any questions you might have! Personally, the experience of competing for my collegiate team has not only ignited passion in athletics, but also opened doors in the professional world.

The first thing any interested student-athlete should know, is that you can reach both your athletic and academic goals at a top tier school, with help and support. Just look at these statistics below:

Forty-eight current or former Ivy League athletes have punched their tickets to London for the 2012 Summer Olympics. The athletes hail from all eight Ivy League schools and will represent 11 countries, including the United States, Australia, Canada, Croatia, Dominica, Egypt, Great Britain, Haiti, Nigeria, Serbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands.

Princeton leads the way with 15 participants, followed by Harvard (nine), Columbia (seven), Yale (six), Dartmouth (four), Cornell (three), Brown (two) and Penn (two). The League also boasts four alternates from Columbia, Princeton and Yale who may be pressed into competition should the situation arises.

Moreover, four Ivy League coaches will be performing the same duty in London, including Columbia fencing head coach Michael Aufrichtig, Cornell men’s track and field head coach Nathan Taylor, Harvard men’s swimming and diving head coach Tim Murphy and Princeton assistant field hockey coach Nate Franks . On top of that, Columbia field hockey assistant coach Caroline Nichols is a member of the US field hockey team, former Penn wrestler Brandon Slay is an assistant with the US wrestling squad, former Cornell rower Dan Fonhofer is a member of the US men’s rowing coaching staff and the U.S. Judo squad will be coached by Jimmy Pedro (Brown ’94). Former Columbia wrestler David Barry is the Team Leader for the US greco-roman wrestling squad.

Ivy athletes have enjoyed great success in the most recent Games with 42 athletes bringing home 14 medals (five gold, seven silver and two bronze) from the 2008 Summer Games in Beijing and 19 athletes securing 10 medals (six gold, three silver and one bronze) from the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver, Canada.

Since the 1896 Olympic Games in Athens, Greece, Ivy League student-athletes and alums have combined to win 356 medals at the Summer Games, including 147 gold, 116 silver and 93 bronze. This count of 356 medals earned at the Summer Games would rank 13th in the all-time standings for individual countries!

Now that is inspiring!

Thank you to Ivy League Sports for this content

Three Degrees of College Prestige

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In an era where a sour economy is creating a bleak outlook for college grads across the board, it is interesting to consider the varying definitions of a college’s prestige. Defined simply as standing or
evaluation in the eyes of other people, graduates today have to consider what kind of credit they are searching for. Is it “cocktail party” or social prestige, graduate school placement prestige, or prestige with employers who wish to hire you? Given new challenges in the recession, one needs to decide what accolades are of top priority. All things considered, choosing wisely may produce a perfect fit for student and pocket alike.

Cocktail Party Prestige
Ever-powerful social prestige can be hard to combat. Rankings such as US News and Reports consistently use a similar grouping of private national universities in the top 50. Clearly, there are reasons the small class sizes, low acceptance rates, and impressive faculties of the Ivies and top schools like Duke and Berkeley draw a strong applicant pool. The caliber of education received at these schools should not be discredited, but it is important to understand a certain social conscience does not mean another smaller school cannot create equally impressive results.
A study ranking universities by general public opinion gave 75% credit to student opinion polls, professor opinion, and references to the school in the media (in a non-athletic context)[1]. The rankings produce a list so similar to major polls, clearly social ideas of a school play into its reputation. Since 2008, there has been a 10%
decline in starting salaries for new students, without considering inflation.[2] Of course, this is only considering the students that actually got a job. Of the members of the class of 2010, only 56% secured a job by graduation, a huge shift from the 90% in 2007. About half of these graduates stated their first job did not require a college degree.[3] As unemployment rates trickle down, the less academic prestige you have the worse off you are.

Grad School Admission Prestige
Suddenly, a school’s value may be defined more by its ability to create graduate students, or helping to pick a major that acquires a stable job. Assessing a study on colleges producing the highest percentage of doctoral students, institutions such as Harvey Mudd College and Carleton College are in the top 10; above every Ivy League school. Others in the top fifty include Kalamazoo, St. John’s, Occidental, and Mt. Holyoke Colleges.[4]  Another study on feeder schools presents Morehouse College and New College of Florida in the top 50, above top military academies and many private universities. An honors school in the Florida state school system, New College’s small school setting allows for very personalized evaluations, which helps students do the type of research as undergrads that attracts the attention of prestigious graduate schools.
Smaller and more locally focused, there can be resources and options available to top students at these regional schools. Additionally, these institutions are often a way to save money while preparing to
move on to higher degrees. Saving money is important, given a 10% pay-cut. Current undergraduate student loan debt has a median of $20,000. Many will only take on more, with 60% of students in the last five graduating classes stating they will need additional formal education to be successful.[5]
Find prestige by searching for a school that has a specialty within your interests.  Whether that is environmental studies, journalism, or teaching often the best schools for these passions are not simply one of the top known schools. First, consider a major that ends in a job. Currently the top ten highest paying majors are in the engineering, marketing, and finance world. Some of the best marketing research schools include Michigan State, the University of Georgia, and the University of Wisconsin.[6] If you are considering business, the University of Texas and Indiana University rank in the top ten.

Employer Prestige
A third type of prestige is employer prestige. At the end of the day, which schools are handing out the best graduate pay checks? Often, this may have much more to do with networking or strong alumni
connections, not just social conscious. According to the website, Pay Scale, and its annual rankings showing what recent graduates make, Manhattan College, SUNY Maritime, Colorado School of Mines, Babson College, and Santa Clara University all rank in the top 25 given both starting median salary and mid-career median salary of graduates.[7] Knowing you want to live in a certain city or region long-term may be crucial in choosing a school. Finding an alumni network nearby and a specified job industry can mean high dividends later.
Overall, the way other people view a school when you state where you attend college has nothing to do with how that institution sets you up for the future. “Cocktail party” prestige is not enough to ensure a good paying job after college and certainly not a high rate of admission to top flight graduate programs.

My advice: work hard to find an area of focus that may lead you down a unique path, searching for graduate school placement, a job, or social prestige. In the end, if you find a path that is more specific to your needs it may prove to be the best cocktail party story of all!

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[1] http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/college-search-selection/880855-universities-ranked-prestige.html
[2] http://www.heldrich.rutgers.edu/sites/default/files/content/Work_Trends_May_2011.pdf
[3] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/economy/19grads.html?_r=2
[4] http://web.centre.edu/ir/student/OverallBaccOrigins.pdf
[5] http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/19/business/economy/19grads.html?_r=2
[6] http://education-portal.com/articles/Top_Schools_for_Marketing_Research.html
[7] http://www.payscale.com/best-colleges/top-us-colleges-graduate-salary-statistics.asp

Summer To-Do List –Potential Student Athletes.

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With school ending and the summer just getting started, there is always work that can be done to help prepare a student for the next school year. When it comes to extracurricular activities, the summer months can be an especially great time to add to an application while having some fun! This segment focuses on potential student-athletes who are considering playing a sport in college. What can you do to improve your chances of being noticed?
1.       First and foremost, remember: you need to sell yourself! Even the best high school athletes may be hard to spot at times. Especially in team-sports that don’t make individuals marks easy to find, a coach may just not know about your school or is waiting for you to make the first move. Many smaller schools, less populated states, and perhaps public schools without programs to reach out to colleges have more difficulty getting their athletes noticed. So what can you do?
2.       Go to a camp. Many collegiate athletic programs hold camps for high school students, as a way for a coach to look at potential athletes for their teams. If there are some schools that may interest you at any level (D1, D2, or D3) check if they have a camp you can attend. I started attending track camps the summer of my sophomore year and I think it made a large difference. Not only do you have the chance to get noticed, you also have an opportunity to truly live at and get to know if a campus is right for you!
3.       Send out a few e–mails: The NCAA has many guidelines that reserve quiet periods, times where a college coach is not allowed to speak with a prospective athlete. Thus, sometimes a coach might be interested in you, but needs to wait to contact or speak with you. However, that doesn’t stop you from contacting them. I knew I wanted to play college sports from the beginning of high school. I started e-mailing coaches after my sophomore year! Most of the time, it was a simple e-mail showing my interest in the school. Additionally, I went on some college visits with my parents and e-mail those schools in hope of introducing myself to the coaching staff. Do not be discouraged if the coach is not yet prepared to begin a conversation, but often you will find that they will message you back with honest and great advice!
4.       Visit some schools. Start getting a feel for where you might want to focus your attention and concern. While on vacation with the family, it might be nice to check out a few schools and get accustomed to different regional flavors or types of campuses. Starting to sift through the many types of schools that might be right from you can be a large help later.
5.       You’ve got mail? Fill it out! I remember getting some bio pamphlets in the mail from a few schools as early as sophomore year. While they seem like simple form letters and may not mean much as to how interested the school truly is in you, it is important to fill out your information and send it back if you think you might be interested in the future. Those letters begin a database of athletes that a coach will eventually contact. I know that you can be left out, because one school I was very interested in never called me at all two years later because I didn’t fill out my information! When it comes to finding the right school for you, you need to dot the i’s and cross your t’s!
Are you a potential collegiate athlete? Need advice or guidance in getting noticed and learning the NCAA rules and regulations? Feel free to contact me!

Personal Essay – Freedom, Not Formula

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In looking back at the hundreds of applications I read this season, the personal essay was always my favorite part. Sure, grades and extra-curricular activities are vital to the application. Yet, the chance to sing in your own voice adds a flavor unlike any other portion of the admission process!
I scanned the internet to find 101 different ways to make the perfect admission essay and believe me I saw them all while reading! Many of the tips and tricks stressed for the personal essay are important to keep in mind, but here are some personal Do’s and Don’ts given my own reading experience.
Do – Take time to prepare the essay. Summer is a great time to sit outside and think about a great topic or story to use in this segment. Once school starts, you may fall into the same routine; lots of homework and rushing to get things done. With your essay out of the way before September rolls around, you will automatically worry less! Summer offers the ability to remember fond memories and think with a more care-free attitude. Take advantage of it.
Do – Write about you! Nothing is more disappointing than to read a magnificent essay about someone’s favorite character or their eloquent description of the sky. Admissions officers want that small essay to explain something about your personality that won’t be seen in the rest of the application. You favorite Shakespearean sonnet may be the perfect way to define your life, but show us how!
Do – Use first person! While many essays in high school ban any personal thoughts, this essay should be about you.
Don’t  – Use a thesaurus to make every word seem more impressive. Application readers can tell and often words don’t quite fit what you are trying to say!
Don’t – Use a generic or prepared theme. It is amazing how many people have had personal moments with Legos – realizing in turn they want to become engineers! Not that these generic themes will count against you, they just will not stand out or make for a memorable piece of writing.
Don’t – cut corners. Writing a great personal essay is so important, but it should be equally as impressive in style as other smaller parts of your essay. If your shorter sections are poorly written, it makes the personal essay seem as if it had quite a bit of help! This is your application, treat the entirety of it with respect!
In the end, taking some time and consideration to write your personal essay is very important! Yet, overwhelmingly, there is no formula. The essays that stood out to me were often simple. A personal experience, the willingness to let a stranger look into your life for just a bit, can add a dimension to your application that your resume and activities cannot.

A prospective student who views the world just slightly different than many others… that is exactly what universities are looking for. Readers can read up to 50 essays in a day, don’t make them guess where you fit in. Show them!