I'm grateful (see what I did there) to Sara for sharing these timely thoughts about gratitude. Sara was my colleague for several years,...

Since ChatGPT created a massive cultural paradigm shift last year, one of the hottest topics and biggest questions in college admission...

If you scroll through my blog archives, you'll see plenty of articles and commentary I've shared about the deeply flawed US News College...

The conversation about college in the US continues to feel fraught with uncertainty, with changing admission practices post-pandemic,...

Here's some good news in the college admission world amid an increasingly confusing standardized testing landscape. Pomona College, one...

Post 3 of 3 (Read Pt 1 & Pt 2) Writing an Effective College Admissions Essay: Honesty is the Best Policy Anne Elrod Whitney, Ph.D. My advice to be bravely honest isn’t just about style; it’s also about the content. Portray yourself clearly, showing readers who you are claiming to be rather than just making the claim. Let them know what it would be like to work together on something or to walk together on a journey. Let them see you. Tell a story to show your commitment to a v

Post 2 of 3 (Read Part 1) Writing College Admissions Essays: Who Cares? You Do Anne Elrod Whitney, Ph.D. When you let your emotions tell you what makes the writing challenging, you can use your creative mind to alter the writing situation responsively to those emotions. You still won’t come away saying college admissions essays are easy to write. Almost no important writing is easy. Yet you just may find it more rewarding. Even the most experienced and successful writers won

Anne Elrod Whitney is a brilliant teacher of teachers of writing at Penn State. Anne and I were elementary school classmates from grades K-4 in Northwest Houston. Years later, we connected on social media, which at its best, can offer a platform for re-establishing and reinforcing connections that would probably otherwise be lost. Anne has written some great books on writing, and advised countless writers, and people who want to teach writers, on writing. We've discovered tha

Two years ago, I was invited to speak on issues in the world of college admission post-pandemic, along with Femi Ogundele, Associate Vice...

An updated collection of links to my newsletter history. Find articles I've shared and college counseling timelines and calendars. Late...

I encountered this quote from Australian musician Nick Cave on the Marginalian, a philosophical, literary-minded site full of reflections...

Carl Ahlgren was a college counselor, who worked most recently at the Gilman School in Baltimore. Carl was wise and thoughtful-- it often...

This headline from the Harvard Crimson crossed my media feed this week. I have two immediate responses: 1. Congratulations to the small...

Just a thought for this April weekend/ Passover/ Easter inspired by this quote I ran across. The best person to be is yourself. Follow...

“If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you...