Admission: Not Impossible

You’ve filled in all the empty spaces; you’ve identified siblings, parents, CEEB code, guidance counselor fax number and now you’re hovering above the “SUBMIT” button. You’ve checked it two, three, four different times but you still get the sense that it’s not quite ready. Like a cake without frosting, your Common Application is still not ready for consumption. So for the nth time, you go back to check your essay – one last time, you promise yourself.

You meticulously check for spelling mistakes.

Nothing.

You review the 11 comma rules and check your essay again.

Looks good.

Yet, you’re still not ready to click “SUBMIT”.

Stuck in that position?

Here’s some advice for you:

Review the beginning of your essay – the first two or three sentences. Have you effectively captured your reader’s attention or have you simply begun telling your story? Have you grabbed your reader by the lapels and given them a good shake or have you quietly snuck into the room like a late arrival to the opera? Not sure?

Here’s what you should do – pick up a copy of People magazine and take a look at their articles (yes, there are articles). Actually, don’t read any article in its entirety – just read the first 2-3 sentences. Their articles aren’t brilliant or unbelievably well-written but the writers for People magazine do an outstanding job of grabbing their readers’ attention at the beginning of an article. And while admissions counselors do not read applications while standing in line at the grocery store, it is equally important for you to catch their attention at the beginning of your essay.

So get some inspiration from People magazine and spruce up your first 2-3 sentences. Remember, lapels are on our jackets for a reason. Give them a good shake.

Andrew Carter

Associate Director of Admissions

‘Here we drink three cups of tea to do business; the first you are a stranger, the second you become a friend, and the third, you join our family, and for our family we are prepared to do anything – even die.’

 

This quote is the inspiration for the title of the New York Times bestseller Three Cups of Tea, the remarkable story of Greg Mortenson and his commitment to build schools and improve lives in the poorest villages in Pakistan and Afghanistan. 

In preparation for Mr. Mortenson’s visit to Holy Cross at the end of September , I’ve been reading his book.  The more I read, the more I realize that there are so many lessons contained within – commitment, honor, the value of hard work, respect, etc. 

But perhaps the one lesson that has stuck with me the most is the lesson of perseverance.  Without reading the book, you might imagine that Mr. Mortenson decided to build schools and simply did it.  It was not that easy. 
In building his first school, he had to deal with an unfamiliar foreign land, coming up with enough money, time constraints, missing supplies, etc.  It was no easy task. 

Similarly, as you sit down to write your Common Application essay, remember the lesson of perseverance.  You might struggle with an unfamiliar format, coming up with an idea, time constraints, missing ideas, etc.  An essay that you can be proud of is not likely to simply appear on your computer; but know that if you invest your time, effort and hard work, you will succeed.  If you persevere, your efforts will be rewarded with an essay of which you can be proud.  Hard work always pays off.

Greg Mortenson knows this to be true. 

The children who attend his schools know this to be true. 

You do, too. 

See also: http://college.holycross.edu/committees/hanify-howland/upcoming_lecture.html

Andrew N. Carter
Associate Director of Admissions

(This message is brought to you by “Picture Perfect”, the photo blog that illustrates day-to-day life at Holy Cross).

#5. Students from Texas are willing to try anything new, even ice skating inside the Hogan Campus Center.

#4. Holy Cross students combine a love of the outdoors and a love of the Patriots by moving their couches and televisions outside on Sundays in the fall.

#3.Skiing is as close as 15 minutes away.

#2 Students from Maryland get creative with dining hall food and even win money for it.

#1 Our President has a doctorate in computer engineering, is a Jesuit priest, jogs nearly every morning before most of us are awake, volunteers alongside our students AND he looks good in a baseball cap.

Andrew N. Carter
Associate Director of Admissions

This is my final blog entry in a weeklong series inside the application reading process here at Holy Cross.
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Our deadline to finish reading all these applications (for the second time) is this Sunday.  And while, at times, this reading process can seem so solitary – when we’re reading alone in our office or in Panera with our headphones on – we are never truly alone.  It takes so many people to get your completed application into our hands and but there are also innumerable people along the way who enable us to finish reading all these applications in time.

We have so much help.

There are tireless guidance counselors who fax your updated grades.

There are baristas who clean up the pile of pencil eraser shavings at the coffee shop.

There are receptionists who open the mail looking for that last recommendation.

There are slightly sleepy college sophomores who alphabetize all the incoming mail.

There are patient newborn sons who hold still during a good essay.

There are compassionate parents who provide toast with jam while we read your teacher recommendations at the kitchen table.

There are the multi-talented husbands who stir the sauce while holding our infant child allowing us to finish one last application before dinner is served.

There are considerate roommates who use headphones so as to not disturb our concentration.

There are summer employers who write about your dependability and work ethic.

There are kind-hearted boyfriends and girlfriends, cousins and siblings who listen to us read yet another essay out loud that they may or may not find funny.

And there are sweet hound dogs that wait patiently for their walk as we calculate class rank.

Andrew N. Carter
Associate Director of Admissions

This is my fourth in a series of five blog entries – one week inside the application reading process at Holy Cross.
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Because your parents said so

Whether you know it or not, many of your parents have written us letters.  You see, we are one of a few schools that welcome letters from applicants’ parents.  The point is, as our letter to your parents states, that “we attempt to learn as much as possible about each applicant, both academically and personally.”  As I’ve been reading some of these letters today, I’ve been wondering if student have any idea of what their parents are saying about them.

As you might imagine, most of these letters take on a similar tone.  They are reflective and proud, laudatory and nostalgic.  They tell of premature births, broken arms, undefeated seasons and straight A’s.  But, often the most valuable stories are much smaller than that – a kind word to a younger sibling, a smart decision made in the face of peer pressure and chores done at grandma’s house.

I often wonder if parents show these letters to their children.  I’ve often wondered what it would be like if we included a copy of this letter in the envelope with our admissions decision letter.  I have no doubt the effect it would have on students.  The decision that a room full of strangers had made on their application would suddenly seem far less significant – the letter of acceptance would seem less momentous and the letter of denial would carry less sting if students truly knew how proud their parents were of them.

So here you are – all your applications have been submitted and now you await your admissions decision.  You’ve got some time on your hands.  Say “thank you” to your parents for all their support through this process.  I promise you, if you do, they just might tell you how proud they are of you.

Associate Director of Admissions

This is the third in a series of blog entries – one week inside the application reading process at Holy Cross.
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So I was listening to NPR today as I was reading applications and I heard a story about Smith Magazine and their 6 word memoir project – the point being to tell a person’s story in exactly six words.  (www.smithmag.net)

This got me thinking and writing.

So here follows some of the applications I read today, individually summarized in exactly six words:

Sophomore year do over,
pretty please?

Woman for others.
HC for her.

So much potential,
So few A’s.

Shredded right knee,
Athlete no more.

Chemistry, physics, calculus –
A’s!
Oh, my.

Great with puck,
Not with calculator.

She did what?
Oh, dear me.

More A’s, fewer C’s.
Please, please.

With all those activities,
Still valedictorian?

School at home,
Teacher is who?

Strong application.
Perfect cake, amazing icing.

Neighborhood not safe,
Please come here.

Oh, calculus!
Like the Titanic’s iceberg..

Andrew N. Carter
Associate Director of Admissions

Emily Dickinson wrote, “Tell all the Truth but tell it slant.”

Today, I offer you the truth with no slant.  There are questions that admissions counselors are asked so often and, in response, we frequently reply with a long-winded, slanted answer.

Today, I offer you the truth.  No slant.

1. “When you’re reading all those applications, doesn’t it get old?”

Yes, it does.
This is perhaps no great surprise.  Do anything repetitively and it is likely to get old after a while.

2. “How do you remember all those names?”

We don’t.
That’s why we take really good notes.  And while names frequently escape us, the stories stick with us.

3. “Do you really read all those applications?”

No.
I only read some of them; but, I’ve got nearly a dozen great co-workers.  At Holy Cross, every application really does get read and, in fact, read by two different admissions counselors.

4. “What do you really look for in an application?”

Really good grades in strong classes.
Now, that doesn’t mean that we don’t also want athletes, musicians, artists, leaders, good Samaritans, etc.  But, inevitably, the conversation begins with the transcript.  It is the most important document in the application.  It is the cake and everything else is just frosting.  And yes, we’re greedy – we want frosting with our cake.

5. “Do you like reading applications?”

Most of the time.
Right about now, after about 5 weeks of non-stop reading (and writing), my hand hurts, my neck hurts, my eyes are dry and I’m just a little bug-eyed from all the small print on these transcripts.  And there doesn’t seem to be enough time to read all these applications in my office by our deadline on Sunday.

But, this morning, a co-worker of mine told me about an essay I’m likely to find in one of those stacks, one that she thinks I’ll like and I’m curious.  I’m curious what’s inside all those folders sitting in my office, whose story they tell and whether they might be good fits for Holy Cross.

So, after a 12 minute break to write this blog entry, I’m re-energized, ready to dive back into the stacks of applications, ready for more cake, ready for more frosting.

Andrew N. Carter
Associate Director of Admissions

This is the first of five blog entries I’ll offer to you – a glimpse inside one week during application reading period in the Admissions Office at Holy Cross.

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Monday

It’s not personal.

I swear it’s not.

It has absolutely nothing to do with you or your application.

It’s just that when I finish reading an application, I slide the yellow reading sheet inside, close the cover and at that point, I slam it on the ground.

Well, perhaps “slam” is too strong of a word.  I’m not Hines Ward celebrating a touchdown.  Let’s say – “drop with force”.    You see, I like the sound the application makes when it drops on the ground totally flat — a slapping, of sorts.

You may enjoy crossing this off a to-do list for a sense of satisfaction; I like dropping applications on the ground and hearing the slap, signaling one step closer to the end of my pile.  Yet, when I wake in the morning, there’s yet another pile waiting for me, as if I’ve done nothing that previous day or as if I’m Penelope from the Odyssey, staying up all night undoing the weaving I’ve accomplished during the day.

So I dive into that new pile of applications early in the morning.  I go get a cup of coffee first (milk and two sugars, thank you) and then settle in at my desk at home overlooking my snowy back yard in Worcester.  And in the quiet of the morning I read your recommendations, your transcripts, your interviews and your essays.

The essays are my favorite part.  Some are funny, some are sad, some are silly and some are serious.  But, the common thread that runs through them all is that they are you – a snap shot of your life, taken at a turning point in your life.  Sometimes I wonder what you’ll think of your essay five or ten years from now.

You’ll probably think exactly what I thought this morning while I was sitting at my desk at home.

This is good.  This is real good.  Thanks for sharing.

Andrew N Carter
Associate Director of Admissions

In his commencement address at Kenyon College in 2005, the writer David Foster Wallace began his speech with the following parable:

There are these two young fish swimming along and they happen to meet an older fish swimming the other way, who nods at them and says, “Morning, boys. How’s the water?” And the two young fish swim on for a bit, and then eventually one of them looks over at the other and goes “What the hell is water?”

Foster’s point was that “the most obvious, important realities are often the ones that are hardest to see.”

In the college search and application process, it is so easy to get wrapped up into the details – deadlines, checklists, forms, supplements and requirements.  Taking care of these things is necessary but it can cause students and parents to lose perspective in this process.  This process is one that enables – nay demands, reflection and personal growth on the part of the student and that is perhaps the most valuable part of the college search process.

So as we reach the end of 2008 and you meet your final deadlines, submit your final forms and complete your final checklist, stop for a minute to think about how far you’ve come since this process began, how you’ve matured, begun to think and act independently and are now prepared to make one of the first truly adult decisions of your life – where to spend the next four years.

If you take that time to reflect back on this process, you’ll be prepared with your answer if you’re ever asked the question.

“The water is great – never better.  Thanks for asking.”

Andrew N Carter
Associate Director of Admissions

This weekend, I was watching one of my favorite movies, V for Vendetta, and I was struck by one particular quote from the protagonist V and its connection to the college process:

“. . . words will always retain their power. Words offer the means to meaning, and for those who will listen, the enunciation of truth.”

I’m sure you’re thinking – how is he going to make this quote relevant to an admissions blog?  Well, words do retain their power and for current high school seniors, there are two areas are most important right now:

Interviews: There’s still a chance to interview here on campus at Holy Cross.  Tell us what you think; tell us what you know; tell us what you hope to be and where you hope to be.  For your words to have power, we need to hear them.  We want to hear them.
Interviews are strongly recommended as part of the application process here at Holy Cross. Check out the Admissions site for more information about scheduling an interview.

Application Essay: It’s so very easy for students to see the application essay as a homework assignment for which they do not receive credit.  But another way to look at it is this – it is your power in the process.  You can write about anything you want and your reader (the admissions counselor) is so excited to read what you want to write.  So don’t spend another minute thinking about what you should write; write what you want to write and write it with confidence.  Have confidence in your words and in your writing.  For your words to have power, for your words to offer the means to meaning, they must come through unfettered by the constraints of expectation.

We’re here and we’re waiting.  Now let us hear your words.

Andrew N Carter
Associate Director of Admissions