I was especially excited to see that they added a question on failure.

Over the years, I’ve worked with a number of students who’ve had life-changing experiences with failure, but they’ve often felt very nervous about writing about them.

I understand this fear.

Given the highly competitive nature of undergraduate college admissions, it’s natural to feel as though you should showcase your strengths and hide any weaknesses or mistakes.

However, as I’ve explained to many high school students and their parents, colleges are very interested in students who know how to handle failure and who’ve experienced setbacks that have changed the way they think and act.

Now, the Common Application is backing me up!

Here’s one of the new prompts for the college application essay:

“Recount an incident or time when you experienced failure.
How did it affect you, and what lessons did you learn?”

Learn how you can start writing a powerful essay on failure.

In the first video of this two-part series, I shed light on why colleges value students who are capable of handling setbacks and share with you what the admissions team at MIT and J.K. Rowling, author of the Harry Potter series, have to say about the significance of failure.

In the second video, I address what you should avoid doing if you choose to write about failure and provide you with some strategies for structuring your essay.

Right now, I’m updating the online version of the Get Yourself Into College program for the new admissions season, so stay tuned for more details!

The post Why You Should Write About Failure in Your Application Essay appeared first on College Application + Admissions Advisor + Consultant | Jennifer B. Bernstein, Ph.D..

Getting into Ivy League institutions was even more challenging this year. As the New York Times reports, seven of these eight schools “have lowered their acceptance rates since last year.”

Cornell, for instance, received “a record-high applicant pool of 40,006,” admitted “6,062 students” and “invit[ed] another 3,142 to join its wait list.” Last year, 6,119 applicants were accepted.

Yale, which “received a record 29,610 applications this year,”  lowered its acceptance rate (from 6.81 percent last year to 6.72 this year), accepting 1,991 students and allowing “1,001 students to join its wait list.”

On a brighter note, I’m thrilled to report that students in this year’s Get Yourself Into College program were granted admission to Cornell, Dartmouth, and Yale.

Getting into one of these schools is a great accomplishment, but. . . .

Ivy League colleges are not the only amazing institutions of higher education. Your future is not determined by acceptance to one of these schools.

Anyone who tries to convince you otherwise is wrong.

Trust me.

I’m not just saying this is true.  I’m going to prove it to you.

Here’s just one of many examples I could share with you about students I encountered when I was a post-doctoral fellow and honors academic advisor at the Macaulay Honors College of the City University of New York.

Lev Sviridov, a student in the Honors Program at the City College of New York, was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship, one of “the oldest and most celebrated international fellowship awards in the world.”

This fellowship “provides full financial support. . .to pursue a degree or degrees at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom.” Yes, this the same fellowship that former President Bill Clinton and hundreds of other famous individuals have been awarded.

Okay. . . . I know you might be hard to convince, so let me give you another example.

Before going to Harvard Law School, a student in the Honors College was awarded a Truman Scholarship–a prestigious national award to “recognize college juniors with exceptional leadership potential who are committed to careers in government, the nonprofit or advocacy sectors, education or elsewhere in the public service.”

Truman Scholars receive “up to $30,000 in support for graduate school” as well as “priority admission and supplemental financial aid at some premier graduate institutions, leadership training, career and graduate school counseling, and special internship opportunities within the federal government.”

An extraordinary future can be yours. . .regardless of whether or not you got into an Ivy League school, and this brings me to my next important point. . . .

I am equally thrilled to report that other students in this year’s Get Yourself Into College program were admitted to Babson, Boston University, Emory, Northeastern, Northwestern, Penn State, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Stonybrook, SUNY Binghamton, SUNY Buffalo, Syracuse University, University of Pittsburgh, University of Rochester, and Worcester Polytechnic Institute.

These results are not complete.  I’ll update them as soon as I hear back from everyone and share with you the amount of merit-based scholarships participants have received.

I’m very proud of every single student in my program.

You all worked incredibly hard on your applications and, in the process, cultivated a greater awareness of who you are and who you are in the process of becoming.

What I want you and your family to do this week is celebrate!

Stay tuned. . . .Next week, I’m sharing strategies for making decisions.

The post College Acceptance Rates & Your Perspective On Getting In appeared first on College Application + Admissions Advisor + Consultant | Jennifer B. Bernstein, Ph.D..

Start by watching this video, which gives you important details about this $10,000-$25,000 scholarship.  Then read this post and take action!

Even if you’re just a freshman or sophomore in high school, you should definitely start exploring some of major scholarship programs like the one offered by AXA.

Why?

You can use the descriptions of the award program and the winners’ profiles as a source of inspiration, a catalyst for taking action on your interests.

Two main types of students who can benefit from this approach to investigating scholarship programs:

High-performing students who want to get into Ivy League and other top schools but haven’t yet distinguished themselves from all the other people with the same stats.

Students who are struggling with their grades and haven’t yet found their niche in terms of extracurricular activities.

Let me explain.

Don’t get intimidated by what I’m about to say.

You’ll notice that previous winners of the AXA Achievement Scholarship program have done some truly great things. For instance, here’s one of the major accomplishments of Rujul Zaparde, one of the 2012 winners from New Jersey:

“[He] started the nonprofit group Drinking Water for India, which builds wells in rural India.  Enlisting student volunteers from more than 35 schools in 13 U.S. states, the organization has built 47 tube wells and 10 rainwater-harvesting catchments in remote villages, providing clean water for 80,000 people.”

Are kids like Rujul smarter or inherently better than you?

No!

What distinguishes them is that they take creative action on their concerns and interests.

Rujul probably didn’t know ahead of time everything that it would take to accomplish these things.  He probably had an initial interest and then started researching and reaching out to people to figure out what it would take to make a difference.

Most high school students don’t realize what’s truly possible for themselves.

This is true for students who are already excelling but haven’t made a significant contribution (beyond perhaps serving as a leader in a school club) as well as for those who are struggling and haven’t done much in terms of extracurricular activities.

I’ve never encountered a student who doesn’t have ideas and interests.

However, I often encounter students who don’t realize they can take action on them. . .even while they’re still in high school.

You have to learn to think outside the box.

Your school doesn’t need to have an official club dedicated to your interest.  You don’t have to wait for someone else to extend a hand to you.

You have to make a shift–a shift that’s going to open up doors for you, take you to another level–one which will prepare you to excel in college and post-graduate life.

What’s that shift?

You have to start taking the initiative.

3 STRATEGIES FOR MAKING THE SHIFT

1. Think about your interests, choose one that’s most exciting to you, and come up with a few ideas for how you can transform these ideas into concrete actions that benefit the world around you.  What difference could your project make in the lives of others?  Use the profiles of previous award winners to get your creative juices flowing.

2. Start discussing your ideas with people (friends, family, teachers, guidance counselors, etc.).  Ask them if they want to join you in the project and if they can point you in the right direction.  For instance, if you want to create a community-wide fundraiser for a specific cause, you might want to ask your guidance counselor, librarian, or even the head of a local charity for advice about how to start such a campaign.

3.  If you feel you need a mentor to support in clarifying your interests, deciding on an meaningful project, and coming up with a course of action, you can set up a consultation with me to get yourself going. You’ll be amazed at what we can accomplish in a one-hour online session.  Click here to make your appointment.

YOU CAN DO IT!  

This process of taking the initiative and transforming ideas into beneficial realities is exhilarating and empowering.  Trust yourself and experiment.  See what happens.

TELL ME

I love hearing about your projects and challenges, so keep me posted.  You can share them in the comments area or email me privately.

The post How to Get College Scholarships: AXA Achievement Scholarship appeared first on College Application + Admissions Advisor + Consultant | Jennifer B. Bernstein, Ph.D..

Look. . . .

We all know that to increase your chances of gaining admission to your dream schools, you need to be at the top of the top of the applicant pool (in terms of your grades, standardized test scores, extracurricular activities, and application package) and then stand out from all the other students in this range.

You’ve heard this all before.

But here’s the big, burning question that often doesn’t get answered. . . .

How can you stand out in this way?  What do you really need to do?

This week, I’m providing you with answers to these questions and sharing two excellent, free resources that you’ve got to check out!

IMPORTANT THING TO KEEP IN MIND

College admissions officers are especially excited when they read applications by students who demonstrate an unquenchable thirst for learning and take the initiative to explore their interests outside the confines of the classroom.

There’s a big difference between a student who talks about how she’s really excited to advance her knowledge about a particular subject and one who has already started taking her own steps to cultivating expertise in this area.

ANSWERING SOME QUESTIONS

Before getting into more details, I want to share with you a snippet from an email I recently received.

You don’t have to be fascinated with science to benefit from the insights I share, so make sure you read on!

STUDENT QUESTIONS:  Should I use the summer to study biology?  Or is it okay to spend the summer exploring something new that interests me?

MY ANSWER:  Either one of these self-study projects would be great.  

OPTION #1

If you’ve already done well in your biology class, you might want to zero in on a few areas of the subject that are of particular interest to you.

In science classes, you’re often just getting an overview of key issues in the subject, but you can use the summer to develop a more comprehensive understanding of a specific area of biology that interests you.

For instance, if you found yourself really intrigued by epigenetics, which your teacher just touched on in her 15-minute lecture, let yourself spend some time learning more about it.  In the last part of this blog post, I’ll show you one way to do this.

OPTION #2

You didn’t mention what new thing interests you, so let’s just say you really like taking photographs but haven’t taken any photography courses or read about this form of art.

During the summer, you could read some biographies and autobiographies of photographers.  Even if you don’t know the names of specific photographers, just go on Amazon.com and start exploring.  You could also take a photography class offered through a local college.

Right now, I’m taking an amazing 30-day online course called In Plain Sight with Catherine Just, whose work has been in National Geographic and Oprah.com.  You could take Catherine’s course or visit local galleries and talk with local photographers.  In just a few moments, I’ll introduce you to another option.

WHY BOTH OPTIONS ARE GREAT

1.  These kinds of self-directed study and exploration demonstrate to college admissions officers that you’re the kind of person who actively seeks ways of pursuing your interests. You’re the kind of student who’s going to have the work ethic necessary for excelling in college.

2.  You’re also going to stand out from the crowd.  Everyone who’s serious about getting into good colleges is involved in school clubs.  Very few students, however, branch out beyond official school offerings and create their own path of exploration.

3.  On a deeper, perhaps more significant level, you’re giving yourself the opportunity to start becoming an active participant in shaping your education and life.  You’re moving beyond being a child waiting for adults–teachers or parents–to tell you what to do.

4.  As a professor with nearly twenty years of experience, I can tell you that far too many smart students struggle during their first year in college because they have no experience taking charge.  Start experimenting now, so you can make a smooth, successful transition!

2 FREE RESOURCES FOR SELF-STUDY: COURSERA & EdX

Coursera and EdX are two very popular online resources that grant you access to free courses taught by the best professors at top colleges and universities.

Keep in mind that you don’t earn college credit for these classes, and they’re definitely not as intense as an actual semester-long college course.

However, they’re a great way to delve more deeply into subjects that intrigue you.  Plus, you can find strategic, appropriate places in your college application to mention this self-study.  It doesn’t hurt to check out some Coursera and EdX classes offered by professors who teach at schools on your list.

As of Sunday, March 17th, EdX doesn’t have any classes listed for the summer, but you should check out the site and keep your eye out for upcoming courses.

SUMMER COURSERA CLASSES

There are more classes being offered, so visit the site if these aren’t up your alley.

1.  The Fiction of Relationship with Professor Arnold Weinstein of Brown University

Course description:  “What is the nature of our relationship to others and the world? How can literature help us see these relationships more clearly? This course seeks to explore such questions through adventurous readings of ten great works of narrative fiction from the 18th to the 20th century.”

2.  Social Psychology with Professor Scott Plous of Wesleyan University

Course description:  “Ever wonder why people do what they do? This course offers some answers based on the latest research from social psychology?”

3.  The Camera Never Lies with Professor Emmett Sullivan of the University of London

Course description:  “Film, images & historical interpretation in the 20th century for those who have a general interest in photojournalism, and films based on historical events.”

4.  Online Games: Literature, New Media, and Narrative with Professor Jay Clayton of Vanderbilt University

Course description:  “For both newcomers and hard-core gamers who want to reflect on their passion, this course will explore what happens to stories, paintings, and films when they are turned into online games.”

5. Epigenetic Control of Gene Expression with Professor Marnie Blewitt of The University of Melbourne.

Course description:  “Each mammalian cell has the same genes, yet performs distinct functions. This is achieved by epigenetic control of gene expression; the switching on and switching off of genes. This course will cover the principles of epigenetic control of gene expression, how epigenetic control contributes to cellular differentiation and development, and how it goes wrong in disease.”

CHALLENGE

This summer I’m taking The Camera Never Lies.  What are you doing to step up your game and explore your interests?

The post College Preparation During the Summer Can Be Fun! appeared first on College Application + Admissions Advisor + Consultant | Jennifer B. Bernstein, Ph.D..

Yes, that’s right.  For free.

There are some great opportunities for you to earn merit-based scholarships that cover your full tuition for four years of undergraduate study.

However, in order to set yourself up for success, you need to do some research and plan ahead.

In this week’s vlog, I provide a short overview of the full-tuition scholarships at Tulane University (the Dean’s Honor Scholarship and Paul Tulane Award), so you get a sense of these types of awards. Then, I share 4 strategies that will help you increase your chances of going to college for free.

The post How to Go to College for Free: Merit-Based Scholarships appeared first on College Application + Admissions Advisor + Consultant | Jennifer B. Bernstein, Ph.D..

Sometimes it’s fun to just let yourself follow link after link as you surf online, but when you’re in the research phase of your college application process, this is not a good strategy.

When exploring college websites, you’re going to come across lots of interesting bits of information.  You’ll discover programs, courses, professors, internships, profiles of current students, and much more.

Guess what?

Staying organized while researching colleges is absolutely essential.  You’re not going to remember where you found all these details, and you’ll need easy access to them when you participate in alumni interviews, go on campus visits, and answer the “Why us” question, which is often a required part of college-specific supplements to the Common App.

Here’s a great solution, which doesn’t involve old-school file folders. . . .

Evernote is a free, easy-to-use software for keeping track of all this information.

In this video, I show you how I used Evernote while researching New York University’s website.

Installing Evernote is simple and quick.  Just go to www.evernote.com and follow the directions.

One of the things that I love about Evernote is that it’s very easy to search your documents using keywords.  Nevertheless, I strongly recommend that you create separate notebooks or stacks for each college.

Trust me, you won’t regret using Evernote to organize your research, and I’m sure you’ll find many other great uses for it.

Enjoy!

The post Staying Organized While Researching Colleges (or Why I Love Evernote) appeared first on College Application + Admissions Advisor + Consultant | Jennifer B. Bernstein, Ph.D..

As many of you know, I’m a college English professor.

What you might not know is that I specialize in the relationship between epistemology (the study of the nature of knowledge) and aesthetics (the conditions of “sensuous apprehension”) in early American literature, philosophy, and religion.

I’m especially fascinated with Jonathan Edwards’ conception of the “sense of the heart,” which Perry Miller describes as the “living pulsating state in which a word is vividly, fully identified with its sensation.”

When you experience the “sense of the heart,” you do more than just intellectually understand the truth or excellence of the word you’re reading or the concept you’re studying.  You’re filled with a palpable sense of its “beauty, amiableness, or sweetness. . .; so that the heart is sensible of pleasure and delight in [its] presence.”

However, until very recently I had a very rudimentary understanding of the actual anatomy of the heart.

That all changed when our four-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect.

All of a sudden, I was studying the basic structure of the heart, atrial septal defects, and mitral valve clefts; researching the success rates of pediatric cardiac surgeons and hospitals; setting up consultations with surgeons and their teams; visiting the hospitals; and having long late-night conversations with my husband to absorb all the details and make the best possible decision.

We wound up selecting Dr. Emile Bacha (Chief of the Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Columbia University Medical Center), and our daughter had her open heart surgery a few weeks ago. Now she’s back to her bubbly, energetic self.

What does any of this have to do with finding your zone for peak academic performance?

Well, after leaving the hospital, I wanted to learn more about Dr. Bacha—something beyond all the technical details.

So I did what most of us do.

I Googled him and came across a brief interview in which he describes what he considers the ideal intellectual and emotional zone for surgeons, a state in which you can maintain “complete focus, concentration, and equanimity so that nothing distracts you from the task at hand.”

I want you to read “In the Zone: A Day in the Life of a Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon” and watch the video.

It doesn’t matter if you’re a student or a parent. Even your academic and professional interests are not that important.

We all need to discover, clarify, and work in our own zones for peak performance.

The point of learning about other people’s descriptions of their zones isn’t to copy them.

It’s to use them as sources that inspire use to engage in the contemplation and experimentation which lead us into uncovering what we need in order to perform at the highest, most effective level.

There’s no one-size-fits-all performance-enhancing formula that everyone can follow.

We all have our own rhythms and quirks, and we need to respect our complexities rather than trying to force ourselves into some overly simplistic cookie-cutter blueprint for success.

So what I want to offer you this week are a few steps you can take to begin becoming aware of what it takes for you to perform at your optimal level.

Once you recognize what is (and is not) working for you, you can start tweaking and experimenting with your schedule.

WHAT YOU SHOULD DO THIS WEEK

1.  Read “In the Zone: A Day in the Life of a Pediatric Cardiac Surgeon,” watch the video, and think about your responses to the questions listed below.

• What are the key elements of the zone he believes successful surgeons need to be in when they’re in the operating room?

• Would any elements of these zones work well for you?  Why?  Why not?

2.  Observe your study habits over the course of the week.

• When do you do your best work in each of your subjects?  What is it about these times that make them ideal for you?  (It’s possible that you might need to be in one zone for studying biology and another for writing essays for English class.)

• What are bad times for you to be studying certain subjects?  Why aren’t these good times for you to be focusing on this type of material?

• What are the ideal environments for doing your best academic work?  What is it about these places that help you concentrate on the tasks at hand?

• How long is each of your study sessions?  Would you do better with shorter or longer study periods?  Why?  Why not?

• Do you find yourself procrastinating when it comes to certain types of schoolwork? If so, what is it that causes you to put off doing this work?

Stay tuned.

In upcoming weeks, I’ll be showing you how you can tweak and experiment with your studying based on your initial observations, taking you behind the scenes to reveal my own ideal zone for writing, connecting these zone issues back to introversion and extroversion, and introducing you to some tools that can help you track your success.

The post What’s Your Zone for Peak Academic Performance? appeared first on College Application + Admissions Advisor + Consultant | Jennifer B. Bernstein, Ph.D..

Well, one reason is that your English teachers rarely focus on teaching you the complex process of crafting compelling personal narratives.

They’re too busy teaching you how to write impersonal academic essays.

Don’t get me wrong.

You need to learn how to articulate your ideas about texts and concepts in order to strengthen your analytical and writing abilities so that you can excel in college.

But. . .

Getting into college requires mastering the art of personal essays.

Honestly, personal statements can be much harder to write than regular school essays.

You’ve got to put your own experience into perspective, explain its significance, and find just the right way of structuring your narrative. 

That’s not easy, and there’s no simple formula to follow.

So how can you learn to write great essays for your college applications?

Get into the habit of reading really good personal essays. . .no matter where you find them.

You don’t have to go out and buy one of those 50 Greatest Application Essays Ever Written books.

In fact, I encourage you to avoid most of these books.

Why?

Many of them featured dated essays. They include essays that make it seem like it’s still groundbreaking to write an essay about how Dr. Seuss or even Harry Potter changed your worldview. It’s not! Plus, they also tend to include essays that are substantially over the current 500-word limit. Writing an exciting, authentic essay that’s 500 words requires finding the perfect scope for your particular idea (more on this in a future post).

This week I encourage you to read a great essay I just came across while reading The New York Times.

It was originally titled “In Pursuit of Answers One May Not Want to Know,” but when they made Emma Pierson’s essay available online it was retitled: “Knowing You Carry a Cancer Gene.”

Pierson is a senior at Stanford University, so this isn’t a college application essay. However, her essay can help you learn many important things about the art of personal essays.

5 QUESTIONS TO ANSWER & ACTIONS TO TAKE

1. What is she really addressing in “Knowing You Carry a Cancer Gene”?

Like most compelling application essays, Pierson zeroes in on a specific experience. In her case, the focus is on discovering the implications of learning she carries the “BRCA1 mutation, which gives you a 98 percent chance of developing cancer.”

• How does she use this particular experience to explore the larger philosophical and social issues that are raised by this discovery?
• How does this revelation change the way she lives and thinks about her life and the nature of knowledge?

2. How does she structure her essay?

Traditional academic essays tend to follow a basic formula (usually with a few twists on the conventions), but there’s no one main format for writing a great personal statement for your college application.

The structure of your essay needs to emerge in relation to your unique experience. That’s one of the reasons why writing personal essays is so challenging. To overcome this challenge, study how other people structure their personal essays.

• How does Pierson structure her essay?
• What techniques does she use to draw the reader into her experience?
• What does she address in each of her paragraphs?
• How does she convey the information in these paragraphs?
• What do you notice about the narrative arc of her essay (its beginning, middle, and end)?

3. Which sentences do you like the most?

Identify three or four sentences that you find particularly effective, elegant, or poignant.

• What makes them effective, elegant, or poignant?
• Can you integrate some of these elements into your own sentences? If so, how?

4. How could Pierson still address these powerful issues in 500 words?

Right now, her essay is over 900 words. Your essay for the Common Application must be exactly 500 words (that’s the new rule). So experiment.

• See how you can get all the juicy details into a coherent narrative that’s no longer than 500 words.

5. How can you apply what you’ve learned from reading this essay to your own writing of personal narratives?

I encourage you to think about how you can adapt some of her techniques as a means of learning how to shape your own experiences.

Investing time and energy into crafting these kinds of essays is totally worth it because you’re going to need to draw on these skills when you’re applying for scholarships, fellowships, internships, research programs, graduate school, and, of course, jobs!

LET’S GET A CONVERSATION GOING!

Share some of your answers to the questions I posed in this post.

Have you read a personal essay that you think we’d all benefit from reading? Link us up!

Also, if you have any questions that you’d like me to answer, let me know in the comments, and I’ll try to answer them!

The post Stanford University Student’s Essay & Why You Should Be Reading It appeared first on College Application + Admissions Advisor + Consultant | Jennifer B. Bernstein, Ph.D..

Do you really know what makes someone an introvert or extrovert?

Are you curious about how you can tap into the positive qualities of your personality traits and use them to your advantage in the college preparation and application process?

Then, allow me to introduce you to a graduate of Princeton and Harvard Law School who’s published what’s been described as a “potentially life-altering examination of the human psyche that is sure to benefit to both introverts and extroverts alike” (Kirkus).

Her name is Susan Cain.

I first discovered Cain about a year ago when I heard her NPR interview, which inspired me to read Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World that Can’t Stop Talking.

Lately, many students (those in my Get Yourself Into College program as well as ones in my college literature classes) have been confessing that they feel their “quietness” is a flaw.

It’s painful for me to listen to bright, insightful students tell me they feel there’s something wrong with them.

Unfortunately, though, these feelings are fairly common among introverts.

According to Cain, our culture’s “bias against quiet can cause deep psychic pain,” and, in her TED talk, she describes how frequently she “got the message that somehow [her] quiet and introverted style of being was not necessarily the right way to go” (6).

So what can we do about this situation?

Understanding what makes someone an introvert or extrovert is important. 

Cain offers a useful summarization of psychologist Carl Jung’s definition of these terms:

“Introverts are drawn to the inner world of thought and feeling. . .[and] extroverts to the external life of people and activities. Introverts focus on the meaning they make of the events swirling around them; extroverts plunge into the events themselves. Introverts recharge their batteries by being alone; extroverts need to recharge when they don’t socialize enough” (10).

 Introversion and shyness are not the same.  As Cain observes:

“Shyness is the fear of social disapproval or humiliation, while introversion is a preference for environments that are not overstimulating.  Shyness is inherently painful; introversion is not” (12).

This distinction is important.

If you’re not expressing yourself because you’re suffering from an overwhelming fear of judgment, then it’s probably a good idea to work through this trepidation.

However, if you’re quiet because you tend to introversion, you need to learn how to respect this part of yourself and work with it, not against it.

Curious about yourself?

Take Cain’s “Quiet Quiz: Are You an Introvert or Extrovert?”

Both introverts and extroverts will find Cain’s “The Power of Introverts” talk illuminating, so give yourself a few minutes to enjoy it.

STAY TUNED FOR NEXT WEEK’S BLOG.  We’ll be covering specific strategies introverts and extroverts can use to excel in high school, college, and beyond.

The post How to Make Your Introversion or Extroversion Work to Your Advantage (Part 1) appeared first on College Application + Admissions Advisor + Consultant | Jennifer B. Bernstein, Ph.D..

Are they trying to torture you?

Probably not.

I’ve been on a number of committees that involved conducting interviews, and many of my well-meaning colleagues wanted to start the session by asking this question because they believed it granted the candidate the greatest degree of flexibility and allowed him or her to set the tone of our time together.

Then again, I also have friends who’ve used this question to test, challenge, and weed out certain candidates. If you don’t know how to offer up a coherent response, you’ve blown the first question and turned off the interviewer.

It’s a really simple question.  In fact, it’s not even really a question.

So what is it?

“Tell me a little about yourself.”

Here’s what I know goes through a lot of people’s minds when they’re asked to respond to this prompt:

Ummm. So where do I begin?  Do you want a brief history of my life up until this point? Are you looking for details about my personal life?  Or are you searching for info about my academic interests?  Ummm.  How can I answer this question?  It’s so broad.  I don’t even know where to start.

 It’s totally normal to feel overwhelmed by this very general prompt.

You’re nervous, and the stakes are high. You want to impress the interviewer and earn a good report.  And when you’re anxious, especially right at the beginning of an interview, it’s hard to think clearly and narrow things down on the spot.

MY ADVICE:  Avoid starting your interview with this kind of internal doubt!

3 STEPS FOR COMING UP WITH A RESPONSE

STEP #1:  Share one or two specific details about yourself that you can describe in about 2-3 minutes.  To narrow down your focus, experiment with these fill-in-the-blank sentences.

A.  I’m really interested in _______________ because _____________.  

Your interest can be related to almost anything—academics, extracurricular activities and hobbies, and/or professional goals.  Are you fascinated by math?  Are you obsessed with your role on the Model UN team or deeply immersed in baseball training?  Do you love hiking or rock climbing?  Are you a budding entrepreneur who spends your free time tracking the developments of start-ups?  That’s great.  Tell your interviewer about what matters to you!

Get as specific as possible.

For instance, if you’re interested in photography, share the aspects of it that you find most exciting.  You could talk about how you’re especially fascinated by the process of developing images in traditional dark rooms as well as by turning Instagrams into works of art.  Let’s say that you’re also interested in studying literature in college.  You could connect your interest in creating images with your study of images in literature.  Of course, you also need to explain why you’re interested in these things and be prepared for follow-up questions.

B.  Right now, I’m working on this exciting project related to__________.

This fill-in-the-blank sentence is just a variation on the first one, but some of my students have a lot of success with it, so I want to share it with you.

Sometimes students feel as though they have to share something academic or obviously related to college.  You don’t.  Ultimately, what you want to be doing is helping the interviewer get a feel for you and what makes you tick.

Let me give you an example from my own experience.  I earned my Ph.D. in English and specialize in early American literature, philosophy, and religion.  However, in graduate school, I also started getting interested in the nondualistic philosophy of Kashmir Shaivism and began studying Sanskrit with a tutor.  I included this self-study on my curriculum vitae (the academic version of a résumé).  When I was interviewed for a fellowship that focused on helping professors create writing-intensive versions of their classes—a fellowship that had absolutely nothing to do with ancient Indian philosophy or Sanskrit—one of the first questions was, “So, you’ve got to tell us about why you study Sanskrit.”  The members of the interviewing committee were intrigued by my interest and by my answer.  I got the fellowship.  Clearly, that’s not the only reason I was awarded this honor, but it definitely was one of the things that made me stand out from the crowd.

So if you’re working on some sort of independent project—maybe a creative project related to painting, music, or carpentry or perhaps one related to your job or volunteer work—respond by telling the interviewer about it and why it’s captured your interest.

C.  I’ve actually been learning a lot about myself through the application process because it’s forced me to sit down and really think about my personal qualities, accomplishments, significant experiences, and goals.  It’s really helped me see more clearly that I’m ___________________________.

Obviously, you wouldn’t use this exact wording, but what I like about this approach is that it says something about the deeper significance of the application process.  So many people are caught up in the competition and lose sight of the fact that the application has the potential to help you make the intellectual and emotional transitions that are necessary for succeeding once you actually get into college.

D.  My friends always say that I’m ______, but (or I agree because) ______.

I like this approach because it shows that you’re aware of how you’re perceived by others and the extent to which you disagree or agree with their ideas.  It’s also very easy to come up with anecdotes about why people see you in one way and why you see yourself differently or in the same way.

There are many other ways of responding to interviewers when they ask you to tell them about yourself, so feel free to let my tips get your creative juices flowing.

STEP #2:  Once you fill in the blanks (or develop your own focus), come up with vivid and descriptive anecdotes that shed light on these interests or parts of yourself.

(If you’re in the Get Yourself Into College program, review Session 13—“Showing and Telling:  The Power of Anecdotes”—of Module 3 for in-depth strategies.)

Watch this video, which gives you an example of how you can adapt one of these fill-in-the-blank options to your own situation and develop a compelling anecdote.

Here are some of the things that make the example in the video so engaging and illuminating:

The student shares something important about herself.  She admits that she tends to be quieter and more introverted than many of her peers.  Another great thing about this strategy is that it immediately lets the interviewer know that she’s probably going to be different from many of the other interviewees.  He can understand and value her quieter nature.

She also reveals how her perception of herself has evolved.  At first, she thought her introversion was a flaw, but she listened to Susan Cain’s TED talk and came to realize that she can make her own valuable contributions.  This approach also lets the interviewer know what the student listens to in her free time.  Just FYI: The supplements for some schools (like the one for Columbia University) ask you to “list the publications you read regularly, including print and electronic sources (websites, blogs, podcasts, etc.).”

The student gives the interviewer a sense of what she’s like in the classroom.  Although this person is an introvert, she shows how she actively engages in small-group discussions.

She connects these details to why she’s attracted to this particular college, which is known for its small classes, and to the class she sat in on when she visited the campus.  Colleges want to know you’re a good fit for them, and this part of her narrative demonstrates that she thrives in this kind of environment and has taken the initiative to visit the school.  

Last but not least, the student opens things up by asking the interviewer what his experience was like with the small classes at the college.  From my perspective, it’s wise to do your part to turn the interview into a lively discussion.  You’ll help avoid the grilling that often takes place during interviews and probably feel a whole lot more comfortable if there’s a more natural conversation.

So in just a few short minutes, the student has managed to let the interviewer behind the scenes into her life and character.

How can you adopt some of these strategies to shape your own response to this “worst interview question?”

STEP #3:  Practice by saying your anecdotes out loud.  You need to get into the rhythm of talking about yourself in these ways.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?

If you want to share some other strategies for responding to this interview question or have any burning admissions-related questions, post them in the Comments!

The post The Worst Alumni Interview Question & How to Answer It appeared first on College Application + Admissions Advisor + Consultant | Jennifer B. Bernstein, Ph.D..