Speaker Event: The Path from High School to College

Thursday night, our first speakers series event went off with great success! Our distinguished panelists provided thoughtful insight to the daunting task of applying to college and all the mayhem that goes along with it. The panel included:

• Our very own Tim Urban, co-founder of Launch Education Group;
• Alexandra Rhodes, college counselor and founder of Rhodes Educational Consulting;
• Baillie Gerstein, college counselor and founder of Admission Accomplished; and
• Billy Wheelan, President and founder of Sentia LLC., a New York based admissions consulting and test prep company.
  

Between the four of them, their years of experience and varying expertise provided for a well-rounded and informative discussion.

Throughout the discussion, I frequently found myself thinking about how valuable the information would have been to me as a high school senior, when I too lost sleep over the college admissions process like many of the students in our audience. I was so impressed by the wisdom and advice from last night, and since I can’t rewind the clock with any real success, I decided to divulge a couple quick highlights in this blog.

1. Pick the School that is right for YOU!!!

In response to the topic of choosing which schools to apply to, Alexandra Rhodes gave a brilliant response. She advised that the task should not be to search for the perfect list of schools but rather to search for the perfect type of school. She also suggests that it is not enough to simply plug in information to online search engines - you must go visit a variety of schools in order to really get a feel for them. In my own experience, growing up close to Arizona State University, I saw first hand what went into the student life at a large state school. Although the thrill of having a Pac-10 football team to cheer for seemed essential, I soon realized after stepping foot on Loyola Marymount University’s campus that a small school was a better choice for me. Size, along with the location and social setting, contributed to my ability to narrow down my list of top schools.

2. The Admissions Essay

Let’s face it, the idea of writing an essay that should state all the crucial knowledge there is to know about you and potentially decide the bulk of your near future seems intimidating (to say the least!). However, the panelists provided a number of useful tips that simplify the process. One very important suggestion was to be yourself and let your unique voice be heard within the essay. However, when describing yourself and your accomplishments thus far, it is not critical to have completed the most unique of tasks. For example, if you played basketball all four years of high school (me), then explain how the sport has affected you personally, and leave behind the fear that someone else has written on the same topic. When it comes down to it, no one has experienced things in the same way you have, and that’s what will help you stand out!

These great points by our panelists last night can help any college bound student feel more confident in their quest toward conquering the college admissions process. The best part is that these were only a few of the many tips provided by the experts, and we have it all on film! We will be posting a link to the video shortly, and hopefully it will help both parents and students, in Billy Wheelan’s words, “breathe” a little when tackling the path from high school to college.