Reflections On This Year's Admissions Cycle
If it were just that simple — ticking the boxes and doing “the right things” — we would package it up and sell it (for a helluva lot of money). But it’s not. To be a competitive option for college admissions, your kids must do the hard stuff, get out of their comfort zone, develop themselves personally, and do difficult things (things they don’t necessarily want to do!) Today we eagerly share our thoughts and reflections on the 2022 admissions cycle. We won’t be offering facts and figures, instead, we offer you what we saw with the group of students, and their families, that we worked with this year last year. We touch on trends, themes, and takeaways that continue to be true. Join us as we get into it.
Key Points From This Episode:
[0:00:55] The topic of today’s episode: our thoughts on this year's admissions cycle.
[0:02:00] What we want to do today; what parents need to be aware of in this process.
[0:02:22] Application volumes to highly selective colleges continue to rise.
[0:03:15] The role international applications play.
[0:03:53] The volume of applications allows schools (already selective) to be even more so.
[0:05:20] Why A does NOT equal B.
[0:05:45] The kids who struggle the most with their decision.
[0:06:15] Why Cathy wants to scare parents.
[0:06:30] Why the admissions process is (only) kind of a meritocracy.
[0:07:10] How the volume of applications has made it harder to predict what could happen.
[0:08:00] Meredith shares another trend in the admissions process.
[0:10:00] Why “switching” majors (an internal transfer) is a dumb idea.
[0:11:22] Why rigorous research is important (rather than just emotional wishing).
[0:13:30] Get outside of your comfort zone, develop personally, and do hard things.
[0:17:32] Parents: Make your kids do hard/difficult things!
[0:18:20] Why, unfortunately, just “doing the things” is not how it works.
[0:19:15] Why parents should not make the summer program work for their kid(s).
[0:21:05] Why kids who work on personal development are coming out on top.
[0:21:15] California residents: take note.
[0:23:10] Thinking about Comp. Sci? Then make sure to have a diverse list of schools!
[0:23:55] Early application as it relates to admissions.
[0:24:55] Meredith shares a controversial thought.
[0:26:12] We reflect on preparing children for college in a timely manner.
[0:26:48] Cathy shares her final reflection: the stress amongst our children.
[0:28:07] Why we, as a culture, need to move away from “achievement equals self-worth”.
[0:31:02] We want parents to understand that, yes, this process can be hard.
Links Mentioned in Today’s Episode:
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