Apply with Sanity now offers services

Thanks for visiting Apply with Sanity. You can now have Apply with Sanity visit you!

I offer a six-session, one-on-one coaching course for a limited number of students. Each session has a different focus and requires about an hour of homework before our 45-60 minute meeting. We can meet in person if you're in the Houston area, or we can meet over the phone or through a video conference. It's made for students in the 10th or 11th grade. 

I can also do a three-hour workshop with a group as small as three people or a class as big as 30. It essentially takes students through the first half of the coaching course, but in a slightly less personalized way.

If you'd like me to give a 30 or 45 minute presentation on my approach to college admissions, I can do that. This is made for PTAs or other groups of adults.

Because each workshop or presentation is tailored to your needs, and because getting to different places is more or less expensive, I don't have set prices published. But feel free to contact me for more details or a proposal. 

Please share this with someone who would be interested. You can follow Apply with Sanity on Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

What it means to be valedictorian

What it means to be valedictorian

I'm thinking about valedictorians for a number of reasons in this graduation season, but mostly because last week a friend sent me this article, titled "Wondering What Happened to Your Class Valedictorian? Not Much, Research Shows." My friend simply asked me: "Thoughts?"

I have thoughts.

Some advice about social media

Some advice about social media

I'm sure you've heard a thousand times that college admissions officers sometimes check on the social media posts of applicants. You've heard that you should be careful what you say--writers tell you not to post anything you wouldn't want your grandmother to see--but also that you should be sure to make your accomplishments clear. You've been told that colleges don't want to see photos of you with booze in your hand, but that they do want to see you're a well-rounded person with a social life. They want to see that you're engaged with your community, but that you don't get into hateful arguments or use poor judgement. You've been told all this already, and you don't need me to tell you again.

Learn from economists and apply early

Learn from economists and apply early

You know who has the easiest college admissions season? Seniors who are accepted early. They only do one application, they finish it early, and then they're done. While everyone else is scrambling to finish essays in the fall and then going through the decision process in the spring, the seniors who applied early and got accepted get to use that time doing other things. Or doing nothing. 

What should a 9th grader be doing this summer?

What should a 9th grader be doing this summer?

Your first year of high school is over. You're (probably) feeling more confident than you were a year ago, and you're (probably) feeling more grown up. So what do you do with that? How do you spend your off-season with a good balance of deserved relaxation and necessary growth? Anything. You can do just about anything, I mean it.

What should an 11th grader be doing this summer?

What should an 11th grader be doing this summer?

I know school's not over yet, but you may as well start thinking about the summer. If you haven't already got summer plans, or if you need to reconsider your summer plans, here are some suggestions for things you can do to prepare for application season next fall.

In case you missed it, April

On or around April 15--Tax Day--everyone loves to quote the beginning of T. S. Eliot's The Wasteland: "April is the cruelest month." Even for high school seniors who aren't yet part of the working world, and many of them are, April can seem at least a little difficult. Before May 1st deadlines, students have to sort through their acceptances, make hard decisions about financial aid packages, and choose where they're going to be next year. Most of my April posts had this in mind.

I used the example of a semi-scandal at UVa to show how money matters when it comes to admissions, but not necessarily how you may think it does.

I passed along a cool project from a performance artist and suggested it can help you understand yourself and your goals better.

I grumbled about the national obsession with students who are accepted to all the Ivy League colleges.

I gave some insight for thinking about Return on Investment and thinking about debt.

Keeping with the T.S. Eliot theme, I explained what Eliot, Hamlet, and something called "the objective correlative" have to do with your college applications.

I begged everyone to stop making such a big deal out of low acceptance rates.

I gave some last-minute advice for seniors still struggling to make last-minute decisions.

 

Thanks as always for reading Apply with Sanity! You can follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Please share this with someone who would like to read it.

Whatever you were looking for, it's probably where you are

Whatever you were looking for, it's probably where you are

The odds are pretty good you're going to your "safety" school, and the odds are very high you're not going to your "dream" school. That's very normal; it has a lot more to do with the economics and logistics of admissions than you as a person. Just ask yourself how many times you've heard "my problems all began when I graduated from a university that wasn't my dream school." You're going to be fine.

Last-minute decisions

Last-minute decisions

The deadline for most seniors to accept or decline most admissions offers is coming up soon--May 1. You may have already made that decision a while ago. If so, congratulations! (And thanks for continuing to read my blog!) But if you're still struggling to choose between two schools, or three schools, or seven schools or however many, then you may be looking for some help. 

Here are some more exercises to help you make that final decision, ordered from most serious to most arbitrary.

,

Stop paying attention to acceptance rates!

,
Stop paying attention to acceptance rates!

If I could have one wish, at least as far as college is concerned, it would be this: we would all stop talking about acceptance rates and selectivity. It's really got us doing a lot of things the wrong way.

A little Hamlet with your college application

A little Hamlet with your college application

Bear with me a moment while I talk about literary theory. I promise it's relevant to you.

In his 1921 essay "Hamlet and His Problems," T.S. Eliot uses the phrase "objective correlative." Eliot isn't the first to use the phrase, and certainly not the first to use the concept, but the term really stuck when Eliot used it and it's usually attributed to him. Eliot calls the play Hamlet an "artistic failure." (I don't advise you call Hamlet a failure, especially if your English teacher is within five miles.)

What does this have to do with you? This has everything to do with your college applications.

,

Thinking about debt

,
Thinking about debt

As seniors work through their final weeks of deciding where they'll go to college before the May 1 deadline, I want to acknowledge that money probably plays a big role in the decision and write some posts about financial matters.

Last week I talked about Return on Investment, and this week I want to talk about student loans. No matter where you go to college and how good a financial aid package you get, there's a really strong chance you'll be taking out some loans.

,

Thinking about Return on Investment

,
Thinking about Return on Investment

As seniors work through their final weeks of deciding where they'll go to college before the May 1 deadline, I want to acknowledge that money probably plays a big role in the decision and write some posts about financial matters.

First: Return On Investment, or ROI. ROI estimates how much money alumni from different schools earn compared to how much they paid to go to college. The idea is that some colleges can give you "more bang for your buck," and those types of comparisons are really compelling. 

There are some things to know.

, ,

Bingo! I was accepted to all the...

, ,
Bingo! I was accepted to all the...

As of this writing, it looks like five different high school seniors were accepted to all eight Ivy League schools this year.

And look, that's really impressive, I mean it. They should all be very proud. All the ivies are very selective. And these students were accepted to schools other than just those eight.

But...

Learning to Love You More

Learning to Love You More

Not too long ago a friend and former student emailed me about the author and artist Miranda July. Specifically, she wanted to make sure I'd seen this School of Life event that July hosted about strangers.

There's a project that July and Harrell Fletcher did a few years ago called Learning to Love You More that has relevance for ambitious high school students. While it doesn't have a direct correlation to applying for college, it's all about getting to know yourself better, engaging more with people around you, and taking creative risks. Those are all good things for college-bound people.

In case you missed it, March

Maybe you're new to Apply with Sanity. Maybe you were busy. Maybe you put your head down for just a 20-minute power nap and missed all of March. Don't worry. Here's a quick list of what you missed.

Are Advanced Placement classes a scam? I say no, but I explain why some people say yes, and I explain the pros and cons of taking an AP course.

Watch out for "just." I alert you to one word that may be signaling that you're making the wrong decision.

Dealing with family while you decide. You've got until May 1 to make a decision about where to go, but your family is bugging you daily. Here are some links to send them to let them know they should back off.

What do you want from a college advisor? I ask the question, because I'm genuinely seeking your answers.

You've been caught cheating. Now what? Cheating is more common than we like to believe. Handling yourself well when you're caught is not.

Big data and your education. Two stories about the way people manipulate the algorithms to change your perception of schools.

The university marketplace. Thinking about colleges as a capitalist market isn't a metaphor--it's how things really work in the US.

Starting a 529. A 529 is an account that lets you save for college and save on taxes. Check it out.

Making meaning our of adversity. One of my most popular blog posts yet. I explain how the College Board is trying to quantify your daily challenges, and how they might get it wrong.

 

Thanks for reading! Please share Apply with Sanity with someone who would like to see it, and remember that there's a lot more to it than the blog.