TIP: The Goal Is To Have Choices, Not Limit Them.

TALE: When April of her senior year rolled around, she was only admitted to ONE college. One. She was denied at 14 schools. This story still haunts me to this day. From that day forward I never wanted that crushing rejection to hit another kid as hard as it did for Saige. 

Saige was a solid B student, a few AP courses, average test scores, and a good list of activities. A kid like Saige would have access to any number of colleges across the country, just not the highly selective ones. She was a good writer – but short of having a first novel published, good writing was not going to get her foot in the door of the most selective schools in the country. And that’s what Saige believed was in her future. I knew it was not. 

In the end, she applied to only ONE college from my recommended list of 8 schools. And in the end, it was the only one she was admitted to. 

Truth: You cannot undo the sting of multiple rejections, set yourself up for success. If I’ve said it before, it’s worth saying again, “The job of the list of colleges is to ensure success. The job of the college admission essays is to maximize success.” Don’t make mistake #4.