The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions Podcast Por Ethan Sawyer arte de portada

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

De: Ethan Sawyer
Escúchala gratis

Practical, up-to-date interviews with experts in college admissions, financial aid, personal statements, test prep and more. Ethan Sawyer (aka College Essay Guy), interviews deans of admission, financial aid experts, and veterans of the admissions field to extract, then distill their advice into practical steps for students and those guiding them through the process. From creating an awesome college list to appealing a financial aid letter, Ethan skips the general advice and gets right to the action items, all in an effort to bring more ease, joy and purpose into the college admissions process.Copyright College Essay Guy LLC Ciencias Sociales
Episodios
  • 612: Admission Nutrients (Part 6 of 6: Intellectual Curiosity): Important Ingredients for a Well-Balanced College Admission Process—And Life with Hillary Dickman

    612: Admission Nutrients (Part 6 of 6: Intellectual Curiosity): Important Ingredients for a Well-Balanced College Admission Process—And Life with Hillary Dickman
    Aug 5 2025
    Welcome back to the podcast! This is our sixth and final chapter of our series on admission nutrients — qualities that can make for a healthier, more meaningful college admission process… and life. In case you missed it, we started with collaboration, with Raissa Diamante (Director of admission from Harvey-Mudd College), then I sat down with Deanna Dixon, (Dean of Admission at Smith College) to talk about leadership, then Tom met with Dysean Alexander (Assistant Director for West Coast Admission at Lafayette College) to talk about consistent engagement and Nathan Faust (Loyola Marymount University) to talk about service to others. Today we conclude the series by talking about intellectual curiosity with Hillary Dickman from Colorado College. In our conversation, Hillary and I cover a lot of ground, including: What is intellectual curiosity in the context of the college admission process?Where does intellectual curiosity show up in a student’s application?Why is it important in the admissions process at Colorado College and how does their approach to identifying intellectual curiosity differs from other liberal arts colleges?What is Colorado College’s latest supplemental essay prompt?Advice for both students and parents as they navigate this processAnd more! Hillary Dickman is originally from the San Francisco Bay Area and holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in Speech Communication from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio. She began her career in higher education teaching public speaking, interpersonal communication, and intercultural communication at the University of Cincinnati and the University of Colorado at Colorado Springs. Since 2021, she’s been part of the admission team at Colorado College, where she’s worked on scholarship programs, the counselor advisory board, and now focuses on print and email marketing. She’s also navigated the college admission process as a parent — her older child is a recent graduate of Wellesley College, and her younger one is a student at Colorado College. I hope you enjoy this conversation. I certainly did. Play-by-Play: 3:09 – What do college admission counselors do during the summer? 4:55 – What are some of the roles that Hillary plays at Colorado College? 8:56 – What makes Colorado College a unique school?10:39 – What is intellectual curiosity in the context of the college admission process?17:43 – Where does intellectual curiosity show up in a student’s application?22:29 – What are some examples of intellectual curiosity from over the years? 32:29 – What do students or parents misunderstand about intellectual curiosity?40:01 – Why is intellectual curiosity important at Colorado College? 48:22 – What is Colorado College’s latest supplemental essay prompt?57:10 – What if the thing I’m curious about has nothing to do with my major?1:00:18 – What advice does Hillary give to students for writing their personal statement?1:04:03 – How long does Hillary spend reading an essay and the application as a whole?1:09:54 – How does Hillary recommend students get started with the writing process?1:13:58 – What are Hillary’s thoughts on using ChatGPT in the application process?1:18:16 – What is demonstrated interest and why is it important to Colorado College? 1:24:00 – What does Hillary hope that students and parents will keep in mind throughout this process? Resources: College Partnerships with CEGMihaly Csikszentmihalyi: Flow, the secret to happiness (TED) CEG Podcast Episode 506: Demonstrated Interest: What Is it, Why Is it Important, and How Do You Show it? with Dean of Enrollment Christine Bowman What is Demonstrated Interest? A Practical How-To GuideCollege Essay Guy’s Personal Statement ResourcesCollege Essay Guy’s College Application Hub
    Más Menos
    1 h y 27 m
  • 611: Admission Nutrients (Part 5 of 6: Service to Others / Community Impact): Important Ingredients for a Well-Balanced College Admission Process—And Life with Nathan Faust

    611: Admission Nutrients (Part 5 of 6: Service to Others / Community Impact): Important Ingredients for a Well-Balanced College Admission Process—And Life with Nathan Faust
    Jul 22 2025

    In Episode 5 of our series on Admission Nutrients, Tom Campbell is joined by Nathan Faust, Admission Counselor at Loyola Marymount University, to talk about Service to Others / Community Impact. In their conversation, they get into:

    • Why service to others and community impact is a valuable nutrient to fold into your high school experience—and life
    • Tips on communicating your service and community-impact initiatives to admissions officers
    • Examples of how this nutrient may overlap with the others
    • Advice for counselors on how to explain the value of this nutrient to students and families
    • And more!

    Nathan Faust is a graduate of Loyola Marymount University where he earned both his B.A. (2019) and M.A. (2023) in English. After brief stints in finance and sports management, he joined the admission team in 2021 as a regional recruiter in the Pacific Northwest, where he works with students from Oregon and Washington. Nathan is passionate about educational opportunity, enjoys connecting with students, and values demystifying the admission process. In his free time, Nathan enjoys creative writing, the highs and lows of cheering for the Portland Trail Blazers, camping in mosquito-less places, and spending time with friends also in mosquito-less places.

    We hope you enjoy.

    Play-by-Play:

    • 4:40 – Why is service to others important at Loyola Marymount University (LMU)?
    • 6:36 – How does LMU view service hours differently and why?
    • 16:55 – How does service to others impact wellbeing?
    • 23:56 – How can students best communicate their service work on their application?
    • 29:40 – How can students weave in service to others in the personal statement?
    • 33:45 – Where else does service to others show up in the application?
    • 41:03 – FAQs about service to others
      • 41:43 – What if I want to talk about my mission trip?
      • 43:30 – What if I quit my service endeavor?
      • 43:47 – What if my service program was discontinued?
      • 44:42 – How do I know what really counts as service?
      • 45:34 – What if I didn’t really take anything away from this service opportunity?
    • 47:10 – Closing thoughts and advice for students

    Resources:

    • Why Giving Is Good for Your Health (Resident Psychologist Susan Albers, Cleveland Clinic, 2022, )
    • Why I changed my mind about volunteering (Rachel Cohen, Vox, 2024, )
    • Workplace Wellness Programs
    • Why Meaningful, Long-Term Volunteer Opportunities Are The Key To Engaging Your Top Talent (William Aruda, Forbes, 2022)
    • How to Use the Common App Additional Information section and Challenges and Circumstances section: Guide + Examples
    • College Essay Guy’s Personal Statement Resources
    • College Essay Guy’s College Application Hub
    Más Menos
    50 m
  • 610: Admission Nutrients (Part 4 of 6: Consistent Engagement): Important Ingredients for a Well-Balanced College Admission Process—And Life with Dysean Alexander

    610: Admission Nutrients (Part 4 of 6: Consistent Engagement): Important Ingredients for a Well-Balanced College Admission Process—And Life with Dysean Alexander
    Jul 8 2025

    In Episode 4 of our series on Admission Nutrients, Tom Campbell is joined by Dysean Alexander, Assistant Director for West Coast Admission at Lafayette College, to discuss Consistent Engagement. In their conversation, they get into:

    • Why consistent engagement is a valuable nutrient to fold into your high school experience
    • How it’s talked about in an admissions office, and how admission readers like Dysean (and his team at Lafayette) measure it
    • Tips on “translating” your own examples of consistent engagement to an admission officer audience
    • Advice for counselors on how to explain the value of this nutrient to students and families
    • And more!

    Counselor by day and stand-up comedian by night, Dysean Alexander is a first-generation college graduate of Ursinus College (PA) where he earned a BA in Media & Communications while being an all-conference football player. After his first year as a college admission counselor (Albright College), he served as the Assistant Director For Middle School Enrollment at Moravian Academy (PA), allowing him to gain additional knowledge on high-level high school curriculum and communities. After 6 years working at Lafayette College, he has been able to work with Army ROTC recruitment and POSSE selection, and has covered territories all over the globe, domestically spanning from Long Island, NY to Southern California, where he now serves as Assistant Director Of West Coast Admissions.

    Play-by-Play:

    • 2:39 – Welcome and introductions
    • 7:12 – Where does consistent engagement show up in an application?
    • 10:09 – How do institutional priorities impact admission?
    • 19:19 – What does consistent engagement say about the student to an admission reader?
    • 25:50 – How can students brainstorm and prioritize which activities to show on the application?
    • 36:30 – What is the balance of quality over quantity when it comes to activities?
    • 45:05 – FAQs about consistent engagement
    • 45:28 – What if I decide to change activities midway through high school?
    • 52:23 – What if I had to stop my activity?
    • 53:49 – What if I transferred schools and didn’t have time to engage consistently?
    • 57:49 – What are some tips for counselors and educators in this process?
    • 1:07:06 – Closing thoughts

    Resources:

    • College Essay Guy's BEABIES Exercise (Public)
    • College Essay Guy’s Personal Statement Resources
    • College Essay Guy’s College Application Hub
    Más Menos
    1 h y 8 m
Todavía no hay opiniones