The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Hi there, and welcome back to the podcast! I'm Tom Campbell, former admission officer from Pomona and Holy Cross, current Senior College Counselor and Content Specialist here at College Essay Guy. If you've been a loyal follower of the podcast, you know that this year's "Inside the Application Process" series has followed one current high school senior through the work of applying to college — and today we reach another stop on that journey with Harmony, a current senior from the Bay Area interested in computer science, agricultural technology, storytelling, and how all these interests intersect. This time, we're tackling the University of California application, specifically its distinctive Personal Insight Questions — the PIQs. The UCs often tell students: these aren't essays, they're PIQs. We get into what actually makes PIQs different from other college essays, how Harmony picked her four topics, and the real tension at the heart of it: how do you keep your authentic voice while staying inside the lane that a college's directions specifically spell out? We start out by going through her first three PIQ choices and how she approached each one: Creativity, Greatest Skill/Talent, and Academic Subject. But the real heart of this episode is her leadership PIQ, which began as something I'd never seen before — a back-and-forth dialogue with herself, arguing about whether she even counts as a leader. We read that raw first draft out loud, reveal how the final iteration "essentialized" her story of self-discovery, and talk through the revision choices she made along the way. We also spotlight the two key Admission Nutrients — Leadership/Initiative and Collaboration — that define the way she spotted a problem, stepped in when others didn't, and pulled in counselors, IT departments, and administrators together to actually make her new student support program a reality. So whether you're staring down your own PIQs or just here for the ride, let's get into it. Harmony is a current high school senior from the Bay Area. She tends to get carried away by curiosity, turning random questions into projects and occasionally questionable kitchen experiments. She loves quiet mornings, her people, and a good adrenaline rush, whether she is surviving the final lap of a 500 free, competing in Tetris or board games, or always listening to the most extreme of perspectives and stories. One day, she hopes to build technology rooted in human cognition and agricultural tech, and publish novels exploring deep questions of morality and identity, but for now she is just trying to convince her parents to let her grow mushrooms, and that it probably won't give them food poisoning. We hope you enjoy.    Play-by-Play: 2:30 – How has Harmony's college process been going this Fall?  4:26 – What has Harmony learned about the style and approach the UC PIQs are looking for, compared to other college essays? 7:45 – What are the four PIQ prompts Harmony chose, and how does each one reveal a different side of her? 11:26 – How does Harmony's creativity PIQ connect sourdough-making, computer science, and innovation? 14:40 – How did Harmony balance both swimming and writing for her greatest skill and talent PIQ? 17:59 – How did Harmony's academic subject PIQ evolve, and why did she choose to spotlight a community college class? 19:14 – What are the UC's 13 points of comprehensive review?  22:47 – Harmony reads her raw first-draft leadership PIQ, written as a dialogue questioning whether she counts as a leader 26:42 – Why did Harmony choose to write her first leadership PIQ draft as a dialogue? 29:43 – How does Tom weigh the vulnerability of Harmony's raw draft against what the leadership prompt is actually asking for?   32:08 – Harmony reads the final version of her leadership PIQ, centered on the Lawson Middle School outreach and the transfer student platform 34:54 – How did Harmony step in to save the Lawson outreach project, and how did that experience lead to building the transfer student program? 39:02 – How does the final leadership PIQ shift the ratio toward results and collaboration, while still preserving Harmony's humility? 43:25 – What advice does Harmony have for students in the thick of writing their own PIQs? 44:45 – Closing thoughts    Resources: UC Prompts Guide | College Essay Guy  College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub

Hi friends, and welcome back to the podcast. Today's a bit unconventional: normally I'm interviewing somebody in the college admissions world, but this time I'm the guest. I spent some time recently rewriting both my books: College Essay Essentials (about 90%, almost a page-one rewrite) and College Admission Essentials (about 40%). After a few people asked me about it at our national conference, I figured it was worth a podcast. In this episode, I walk through: What I've realized about brainstorming in the ten years since I wrote the first edition of College Essay Essentials Why "what colleges want" was conspicuously missing from that first edition, and what I added A different way to think about the personal statement, for students, parents, and counselors alike What I learned after analyzing 300+ supplemental essay prompts this year Practical tips for a few of the most common prompts Where I land on AI and the essay-writing process If you're listening to this before November 10th, 2026, I'll link in the show notes where you can download advance reader copies of both books for free; if you enjoy them, an Amazon review would mean a lot. We hope you enjoy. Play-by-Play: 0:35 – Why did Ethan rewrite both books after ten years?  3:14 – What was rewritten in Ethan's first book, College Essay Essentials? 5:33 – What do the new brainstorming exercises look like, from the Values Exercise to Roles and Identities? 6:15 – Exercise 1: The Values Exercise 6:46 – Exercise 2: The I Love, I Know Exercise  8:13 – Exercise 3: The Essence Objects Exercise  8:48 – Exercise 4: The Random Questions Exercise  9:10 – Exercise 5: The Career Brainstorm Exercise 10:07 – Exercise 6: The Identities Exercise 10:45 – Exercise 7: The Home Exercise 11:09 – Exercise 8: The Roles and Identities Exercise  14:47 – How did researching 300+ college websites lead to the five Admission Nutrients?  20:31 – What are some common phrases from counselors that are well-meaning but could be intimidating or misleading for students at the start of this process? 22:19 – What are some college essay topics that could be more difficult to write well?  31:18 – What is a montage essay, and how can a common topic like soccer still stand out?  36:41 – What was rewritten in Ethan's second book, College Admission Essentials? 38:02 – What did Ethan learn after analyzing 300+ supplemental essay prompts? 42:52 – What should students keep in mind when approaching supplemental essays? 47:16 – How can students brainstorm the "navigating differences" essay using values and needs?  52:50 – Where does Ethan stand on AI and the college essay-writing process? 57:20 – Closing thoughts    Resources: Download advance reader copies of College Essay Essentials and College Admission Essentials (free through November 10, 2026) Pre-order College Essay Essentials on Amazon! Pre-order College Admission Essentials on Amazon! Podcast Episodes:  501: What Colleges Want (Part 1): A Deep Dive into the Factors Colleges Deem Important & State of College Admissions Report | College Essay Guy  512: Navigating Mental Health Disclosures in the College Application: The Counselor Perspective  513: Navigating Mental Health Disclosures in the College Application: The Admission Officer Perspective 514: Navigating Mental Health Disclosures in the College Application: The Student Perspective  718: Turning the Tide in 2026: Preparing Students for Lives of Caring and Purpose (with Harvard's Making Caring Common) | College Essay Guy  Student and Counselor Resources: 101 College Essay & Personal Statement Ideas to Get You Inspired How to Write an Awesome College Essay on a Common Topic College Essay Guy Brainstorming Exercises Workbook The Values Exercise  The Roles & Identities Exercise The Feelings & Needs Exercise  I Asked 20+ Admission Officers about Using AI in Your College Application (+ Here's What They Said)  Learn How to Write Great Supplemental College Essays  College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub AI Stance Builder Blog Posts:   What do colleges look for in students?  CEG's College Admission Nutrients (aka The Great College Application Test)  How to Use the Roles and Identities Exercise to Write an "Identity/Diversity + How would you contribute" Essay  Should I Discuss Mental Health in My Personal Statement or College Application? (And If So, How)? Navigating College Applications with AI: What Colleges Say + CEG's Advice to Students and Counselors Media Recommendations Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist The Last Invention (podcast) If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies by Eliezer Yudkowsky and Nate Soares

Hey friends and welcome back to the podcast! I'm Tom Campbell, a former admission officer and now a college counselor and content creator here at College Essay Guy. In this episode, I sit down with one real student and talk through the actual, messy work of applying to college — in real time. That student is Harmony, and I met her backwards: not in person, but through her writing during CEG Live, which are large group essay writing classes Ethan leads every summer for high school students across the US. I was invited to lead a "bonus session" during the program, where I'm tasked with reviewing as many in-progress essays and drafts live on Zoom. Harmony's was the first one I read, and boy did she set the bar HIGH. After reading her essay, I had the exact same reaction you'd want any admission officer to have: "dang. I want to meet this person." And, luckily, she was down to link up on Zoom and introduce the face— and bright light— behind the page. To give you a taste (pun intended) of what makes harmony special… she answers "what did you do this summer?" with a brief interlude about an app she built that tells you whether the berry you just found on a hike will kill you (she tested it — merely sour), and a watermelon-sweetness experiment involving acoustic resonance. She also writes psychological mysteries at 5 a.m. and bakes a mean sourdough. Throughout our conversation, we get into how a single community college class finally made computer science click, why not getting into some coveted summer programs turned out to be the best thing for her, and a live, in-the-room workshop of her personal statement — editing on the fly, tech hiccups and all. Harmony is a current high school senior from the Bay Area. She tends to get carried away by curiosity, turning random questions into projects and occasionally questionable kitchen experiments. She loves quiet mornings, her people, and a good adrenaline rush, whether she is surviving the final lap of a 500 free, competing in Tetris or board games, or always listening to the most extreme of perspectives and stories. One day, she hopes to build technology rooted in human cognition and agricultural tech, and publish novels exploring deep questions of morality and identity, but for now she is just trying to convince her parents to let her grow mushrooms, and that it probably won't give them food poisoning. We hope you enjoy.   Play-by-Play 2:44 – How is Harmony feeling as she gets started on her college to-do list? 3:59 – How did Tom and Harmony meet through a CEG Live essay review, and what was Harmony's reaction to finding out her essay stood out? 7:32 – How did Harmony's interest in computer science develop? 12:44 – Why did not getting into summer programs or internships freshman year push Harmony toward building her own independent projects instead? 18:59 – What is Harmony most proud of creating during high school?  22:39 – What was it like for Harmony to step into the college process and CEG Live during the summer before senior year? 23:38 – How did CEG Live's exercises help Harmony identify her values and discover the hook for her personal statement? 26:14 – How does Harmony's top three values (second chances, freedom, and authenticity) show up across her essays and experiences? 28:37 – How did Harmony's original topic idea shift from baking and agriculture to the broader theme of systems? 35:37 – What stood out to Harmony as she heard her own essay read aloud, and why do live, specific details like Cantonese egg waffles and family games matter? 36:03 – How does Tom suggest moving the sentence connecting storytelling and computer science later in the essay to preserve its impact? 41:05 – Why did Harmony include the "watermelon acoustic resonance project, and how does it show the human assumptions behind technical work? 45:45 – How might condensing the question-asking allow more room for deeper insights into her storytelling and character creation?  50:37 – Closing thoughts and what's next for Harmony's application   Resources College Essay Guy Live College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub  

Friends, welcome back to the podcast. This is part two of my conversation with Angel Pérez, the CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling. The theme of our conversation was navigating ambiguity. In case you missed part one, Angel and I talked about where our own relationships with uncertainty began, what it has looked like for him to lead NACAC through some extraordinarily difficult moments, and some of the lessons he's learned along the way. In this second part, we get much more practical. Angel and I wanted to explore a simple question: What can we actually do when we don't know what to do? So we try out a few tools together. We start with what it means to stay with uncertainty for a moment instead of immediately trying to solve it. Then we experiment with something called Q-storming, using AI and the future of college admissions as our test case. From there, Angel helps me pressure-test a project I'm considering using a pre-mortem exercise called "Murphyjitsu." The basic arc is pretty simple: How (and why) to stay with the feelings.  How to ask better questions.  How to make better plans. I hope you enjoy part two of my conversation with Angel Pérez.   Play-by-Play: 02:04 – How does Angel orient to practical tools when navigating ambiguity?  02:40 – What does Angel notice emotionally and physically when sitting with a current leadership challenge?  6:07 – What does Angel do to bring the temperature down in a moment of tension?  08:02 – How do leaders orient to reversible and irreversible decisions?  11:15 – How can Q-Storming help generate better questions before rushing to answers?  15:43 – What is the value of sitting with questions before rushing to answers?  16:42 – How can managing a polarity help when a challenge isn't a problem to solve?  20:45 – What was the leadership challenge Angel was working through during the first exercise?  21:50 – How can Murphy Jitsu help pressure test a plan before putting it into action?  29:27 – What small next steps can Ethan take towards his plan?  33:32 – Why did Angel create the Leaders Are Human podcast?  34:24 – What does Angel want listeners to leave with?   Resources: Leaders are Human Podcast - National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC)  The Hottest Seat on Campus: A Roadmap for Mastering Leadership in College Admission by Angel B. Pérez The 5-Minute Nervous System Reset: Simple Regulation Tools You Can Use Anywhere The Great Nerve: The New Science of the Vagus Nerve and How to Harness Its Healing Reflexes Vagus Nerve Deck (75 ways to calm your system) and you can learn much more about the vagus nerve here College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub  

Hi, friends, and welcome back to the College Essay Guy podcast. This episode is a fireside chat with Angel Pérez, the CEO of NACAC (the National Association for College Admission Counseling), someone who was named by Forbes as the most influential voice in college admissions. Not long ago, Angel was discussing in an interview his book The Hottest Seat on Campus: A Roadmap for Mastering Leadership in College Admission, and he mentioned that if he could add one more chapter to his book, he'd write it on navigating ambiguity. This is a topic that has interested me for the last couple years as well, so asked Angel if we could just write that chapter aloud, together, on the podcast. And he agreed.  In part one we start in a more personal place, starting from how navigating ambiguity is something we've each been doing since we were very young. Then we chat about what it's been like for Angel leading a non-profit during times of great uncertainty, how crucial it is to make the decision that allows you to sleep at night, and the importance of developing the capacity to sit with discomfort.  Then in part two we get into practical tips and resources — from slowing down when things speed up — to conducting "pre-mortems" when planning. We hope these are tools you can make use of, whether that's in your office, at home, or wherever you are being called to lead. If you haven't met Angel Pérez, he is CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC). In this role, he represents more than 25,000 admission and counseling professionals worldwide committed to postsecondary access and success. Angel strives to build an educational ecosystem that better represents today's society. Prior to joining NACAC in July of 2020, Dr. Pérez served in secondary and higher education leadership positions across America, most recently, as Vice President for Enrollment and Student Success at Trinity College in Connecticut. Angel is a self-described recovered over-achiever, an advocate for counselors everywhere, and a dear friend. We hope you enjoy the episode.   Play-by-Play: 02:27 – What memories does Angel have around uncertainty and navigating ambiguity? 04:52 – What were some of Angel's anchors growing up, and what did Angel orient around when there was so much uncertainty? 07:41 – How did caretaking show up in Angel's world growing up? 11:07 – How does Angel's childhood caretaker role show up in his work today? 13:44 – What have been the gifts of Angel's ability to read a room? 17:33 – Who were the early influences that put Angel on the path to becoming CEO of NACAC? 21:30 – What was going on behind the scenes for Angel during a moment of great uncertainty in the profession, and what did that experience teach? 26:26 – What helped Angel get through that time of uncertainty? 28:41 – What would Angel have done differently during the first year as CEO of NACAC? 33:56 – How does Angel decide how much to share with a team, and how transparent should a leader be? 36:40 – How does Angel relate to being liked when making big decisions as a leader? 42:06 – How does a leader's identity change as organizations and circumstances evolve? 44:40 – How has Ethan's role evolved as College Essay Guy grew from a team of one to a team of twenty? 50:10 – How does knowing an institution will outlast its leader change what it means to lead? 52:50 – What does Angel hope persists in the organization and the profession long after his tenure? 54:39 – What message does Angel want to leave for leaders?   Resources: The Hottest Seat on Campus: A Roadmap for Mastering Leadership in College Admission by Angel B. Pérez College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub

Hey friends, welcome back to the podcast. Ten years ago, a group at Harvard released a report called Turning the Tide, and it attempted something audacious: getting college admission (of all things) to make caring count. This June, the fourth report in that series came out, written with NACAC's Center for Innovation in College Admission, and my sense is it's the most urgent one yet. Here's a stat that struck me: 34 percent of teens say they have little or no meaning or purpose in their lives. For young people 19 to 25, it's 51 percent.  My guests today wrote the report: Dr. Rick Weissbourd, psychologist and faculty director of the Making Caring Common project at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, and Trisha Ross Anderson, MCC's Senior Director of Higher Education and College Admission Initiatives, who some of you will remember from episode 503 of the podcast.  In today's episode we talk about what admission officers, counselors, and parents can each do; why your teen doesn't necessarily need one big passion; and what ten years of trying to turn this tide has taught them. One more thing: the report asks adults to stop demanding a passion from teens and to start asking what they find meaningful.  Rick Weissbourd is a psychologist and senior lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education and the Harvard Kennedy School, where he serves as faculty director of Making Caring Common, HGSE's national project on raising kids who care about others and the common good. He leads the Turning the Tide college admission initiative, which has engaged more than 300 admission offices in elevating ethical character, easing achievement pressure, and expanding access and equity. He is the author of The Vulnerable Child (named one of the top ten education books of all time by the American School Board Journal) and The Parents We Mean to Be (named one of the top books of 2009 by The New Yorker), and a founder of ReadBoston, WriteBoston, and the Lee Academy pilot school in Boston. His research spans moral development, loneliness, young adult mental health, and how adults can help young people build caring relationships. Trisha Ross Anderson is Senior Director of Higher Education and College Admission Initiatives at Making Caring Common. She has served in leadership at MCC since it was founded in 2013. A former classroom teacher with an Ed.M. from HGSE, she has helped research and write many of MCC's reports, including the Turning the Tide series. With Rick, she piloted the Common App checklist that lets students report family responsibilities, like caring for a sibling or working a paid job, so those commitments count in admissions. She previously joined the podcast for episode 503, "What Colleges Want (Part 3)." We hope you enjoy.   Play-by-Play: 02:07 – What's something meaningful in Trisha and Rick's lives right now, outside of work? 04:50 – What does Rick mean by a "moral freefall," and when did he first sense it? 06:02 – What is Making Caring Common, and how did a project about raising kind kids end up shaping college admissions? 07:39 – What's changed (and what hasn't) in the ten years since the first Turning the Tide report? 9:46 – What's behind the striking numbers on teens and young adults lacking purpose? 13:27 – Why has MCC focused specifically on college admissions?  15:38 – What are the six capacities at the heart of the new report? 18:01 – What does caring across differences actually look like for a teenager? 19:36 – How do we keep values like humility and curiosity from becoming one more thing to game? 22:15 – Where does AI help, and where does it get in the way, in the essay and admissions process? 24:15 – Why shouldn't teens be expected to have one single passion? 28:06 – What can parents say instead of "find the one thing"? 31:01 – What's the difference between healthy striving and achievement pressure? 35:04 – How can parents help kids hold onto self-worth, wherever they land? 38:56 – What's the story behind the Common App's new question crediting students who care for siblings or family? 40:38 – After ten years, what has actually turned, and what hasn't? 43:37 – What's next for Making Caring Common? 45:45 – What do Rick and Trisha hope counselors and educators take away? 46:30 – Closing thoughts   Resources: Turning the Tide in 2026: Preparing Students for Lives of Caring and Purpose  Making Caring Common Nonviolent Communication by Marshall Rosenberg  503: What Colleges Want (Part 3): "Positive Character Attributes": What Are They, and How Do You Show Them in Your College Application? College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub

Hi there and welcome back to the podcast! I'm Tillie Gottlieb, a senior college counselor and content specialist here at CEG. I am delighted to be a guest host today as part of our series interviewing admission officers. We're getting to know more about this hardworking, thoughtful group of professionals whose job it is to build college communities and shape the culture of our higher education institutions - talk about high pressure!  Hearing about their own journeys through the education system, their reasons for working with students all over the world, and the commitments they're making to bringing ease and clarity to this complex system can serve as a great reminder that admission officers are true advocates and real humans (and I also happen to know this because I was an admission officer!) Our hope is that by getting to know these folks on a personal level, we can pull back the curtain on the mystery of 'what college admission officers are looking for.' In this episode I sit down with Marie Bury Loew, a very dear friend and an Associate Director of Admission at the University of Southern California (go Trojans!), as well as a Doctoral Candidate for Educational Leadership at USC. In this episode, we dig into: Marie's journey as rural, underserved student and tips for how to support those kinds of students today Insider insights into the current realities of the admission landscape The questions institutions like USC wishes more students would ask  Marie Bury Loew is a proud graduate of Mount Ida College, where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees. With nearly 15+ years of experience in college admission, Marie has worked at a variety of institutions from small liberal arts colleges, to mid-sized and large research Universities. She has served in a number of leadership roles on the WACAC (Western Association for College Admission Counseling) board, and is known for her exceptional professionalism and mentorship in our field. Play-by-Play: 3:19 – What was Marie's own college exploration and application process like, growing up in rural western Massachusetts? 7:52 – What advice does Marie give students navigating a system that isn't giving them the support they need? 11:45 – What does Marie wish counselors and admission officers understood about supporting rural students? 15:35 – What is the STARS College Network, and how is USC involved? 25:31 – What shifts or trends is Marie seeing in applicants and high schoolers over the last couple of admission cycles? 28:37 – What commitments or shifts is USC making, including its new early decision option? 31:48 – What does Marie wish students, parents, and counselors were asking to better understand what USC is looking for? 36:30 – What does Marie nerd out about as an admission officer? 40:05 – What might Marie explore for her doctoral dissertation?  42:05 – Closing thoughts    Resources: CEG First Generation/Low Income Resource Center STARS College Network CEG Guide to STARS College Network How to Use the Common App Additional Information section and Challenges and Circumstances section: Guide + Examples College Essay Guy's College Application Hub

Welcome back to the podcast! I'm Tillie Gottlieb, a senior college counselor and content specialist here at CEG. This season, we're sitting down with admission officers to hear their real stories. I spent years on that side of the desk myself, and one thing I want listeners to walk away with is this: these aren't gatekeepers deciding your fate. They're people trying to build a class and a community, often inside a system that feels chaotic from every angle. So over the next few weeks, we're getting to know some of them as people, hearing what actually drives them, and along the way, getting a clearer picture of what they're looking for. Today's guest is someone I've known since my earliest days in admission. He's also doing something I wish more colleges would do: making the actual cost of college something a family can understand before they ever apply. Let's get into it. Adam Miller serves as Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid at Whitman College, located at the foot of the Blue Mountains in Walla Walla, Washington. Over his 13 years at Whitman, Adam has led efforts to build a more equitable and transparent admission process, including removing unnecessary barriers in the application and developing financial aid practices that give families a clear understanding of the true cost of attendance. Adam is a frequent speaker for high school audiences, where he helps students and families navigate college admission and financial aid, and he's regularly cited in national media as an expert on these topics. Whitman's approach to paying for college has been featured in The New York Times, and Adam's recent work on the college's "10% Promise" has been covered all over the news. He's particularly interested in expanding access to selective colleges and demystifying the admission process for families. Before Whitman, Adam spent six years in the admission office at his alma mater, Claremont McKenna College, where he oversaw international admission, coordinated leadership scholarship selection, and served as the admissions liaison for athletic recruitment.  We hope you enjoy.    Play-by-Play 2:32 – How did Adam go from playing baseball in France to falling into admissions at Claremont McKenna? 6:07 – What makes Adam sit up and pay closer attention to an application? 7:28 – What's the one piece of advice Adam gives students most often about their essays? 8:41 – When did Adam first realize college cost was something he wanted to help fix? 11:17 – Why is the price of college so confusing, and why don't families find out the real cost until it's too late? 13:42 – What is the high tuition, high aid model, and why has it become a problem? 16:53 – What is Whitman's early financial aid guarantee, and what did Adam learn from launching it? 20:05 – What is the Whitman 10% Promise? 27:45 – How do merit and talent scholarships factor into the 10% Promise? 30:09 – How does the 10% Promise apply to undocumented and international students? 33:57 – Does Adam think transparent, fixed-cost pricing models will become the norm? 42:08 – What's Adam's advice for a family just starting to navigate college costs? 44:06 – What questions should families be asking colleges about financial aid? 45:50 – What does Adam want families to keep in mind about affordability and fit?   Resources How to Pay for College in 4 Steps: Crash Course on How to Pay for College  Colleges That Offer Complete Financial Aid  Podcast: Which Schools Are the Most Generous With Financial Aid? What is Financial Aid? CSS Profile and CSS Profile Schools Family Handbook: Discussing Finances + Financial Aid        Whitman 10% Promise (official page) Whitman Early Financial Aid Guarantee Forbes (Michael T. Nietzel, June 22, 2026) Fortune (June 25, 2026) College Worth Your Money (book referenced re: ROI) College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub  

Hi, friends, and welcome back to our series, "On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling." I'm Tom Campbell, former Pomona and Holy Cross admissions officer, and one of the CEG podcast co-hosts, alongside my lovely colleagues Tillie and Ethan. In this series, we take a close look at personal essays written by real students, talking about why we love them, what makes them work, and how they came to be.  In this episode, we break down an essay that we're calling The Translator. This student, who worked with one of our amazing essay coaches Lavon Robinson a few years back, wanted to share how he acted as a translator not just for his brother on the autism spectrum, but for other neurodivergent students in his school and wider community. It's a model for anyone who wants to write an essay about a relationship that's been particularly meaningful to them, but is nervous about making the essay too much about the other person. If you're the kind of person who enjoys seeing how things get made, whether it's a great meal, a film scene, or a piece of writing, I have a feeling you might enjoy this one. Lavon (he/him) has always been a coach. From managing fundraising campaigns, teaching swimming, and school counseling, Lavon finds joy in coaching others to find their joy. He earned his BA in Business from Illinois Wesleyan University and his M.ED from DePaul University. He also has a College Counseling Certificate from UCSD. He currently works as a school counselor at an independent school in Chicago after spending eight years as a college counselor at a large suburban high school. He has hosted webinars with 500+ families on how to best work with their school counselor and visited various colleges around the country for professional development. His students have been accepted to colleges including Northwestern University, the University of Southern California, Williams College, and the University of Florida. At the core of his work is building connections with unconditional positive regard as he works with students to build trust and reach their potential. He understands the college admissions process is stressful and takes the most joy in supporting students to relieve anxiety while going through the process. We hope you enjoy.    Play-by-Play 3:15 – Lavon shares his path from school counseling to becoming a CEG essay coach 6:52 – What kinds of students does Lavon tend to be matched with as a CEG essay coach? 9:29 – How does Lavon use CEG's brainstorming exercises to help students reflect, even outside of essay coaching? 10:49 – What has surprised Lavon most about being an essay coach, and how has his perspective grown? 13:01 – Do college essays need a title? 14:06 – Lavon introduces the student behind "The Translator," and how he arrived at CEG already deep into drafts about his brother 18:41 – How many drafts did it take to find the right balance between the brother and the student himself? 21:16 – Which brainstorming exercises helped unlock the "translator" theme? 27:01 – How does Lavon connect a student's roles and identities to CEG's admission nutrients?  31:30 – Lavon reads the essay, which we're calling "The Translator"  36:27 – Which admission nutrients show up throughout the essay? 38:26 – What works well in this student's opening paragraph?  45:13 – How did Lavon help the student build more vulnerability into each draft? 46:13 – How does bringing in his own emotional experience keep the essay focused on the student, even while writing about his brother? 47:52 – How can students write about their extracurriculars without over-explaining them? 53:00 – How did Lavon coach the student to write about his research in an accessible way? 54:11 – What does it mean to be "strategically general" in a college essay? 59:48 – How does closing turn the essay's focus back to the student himself? 1:04:53 – Why small, specific details are what take an essay from good to great 1:05:59 – Closing thoughts    Resources "The Translator" Essay CEG's College Admission Nutrients (aka The Great College Application Test) College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub  

Hi friends, and welcome back to the podcast. Today's episode is a special behind-the-scenes look at a live application review I did with Anna, a high school senior I met last year. We recorded this about ten days before her early deadlines, and she was kind enough to let me walk through her entire application in real time: her personal statement, her activities list, and all of her supplemental essays for Yale. Fun fact: Anna emailed me a couple months later to let me know she actually got into Yale (congrats again, Anna!). In this episode, we get into: What it was like for Anna to pivot away from a topic that wasn't serving her (ten drafts about her favorite socks, which started to sound like a list) Her pivot to a new topic: Trivial Pursuit, a board game that's close to my heart A live read-through of her final personal statement, which touches on family, curiosity, and community How applying test-optional led her to sprinkle a few more high-level academic moments into her writing Her supplemental essays for Yale, including her "why us" essay and an academic prompt essay Anna is a recent high school graduate who loves cooking, sustainable agriculture, and spending time in nature. When she's not cross-country skiing with her school team, she's mentoring friends in the library or volunteering at her local synagogue. Whether you're a student navigating this process right now, or a parent or counselor supporting students from the sidelines, I hope you find this useful. Hope you enjoy our conversation.   Play-by-Play: 1:58 – Ten days from her early deadlines, how is Anna feeling? 2:33 – When did Anna start working on her essays, and how much time has she put in? 3:35 – What has Anna learned about herself through this process?  4:26 – Anna walks through her journey to finding a personal statement topic 8:10 – Anna reads her personal statement 12:35 – What values are coming through in Anna's personal statement? 14:26 – What questions does Anna have about her essay? 19:23 – Ethan reviews Anna's activities list and additional information section 21:33 – Anna reads her "Why Yale" essay 23:14 – What academic opportunities and programs excite Anna about Yale? 29:06 – Anna reads her "Why Major" essay 31:25 – How can Anna weave more specific, "geeky" language into her soil health essay? 38:48 – The short takes: four 200-character response 38:48 – What inspires you? 42:28 – A course, book, or piece of art you'd create 47:14 – A significant influence outside your family 48:56 – Something not included elsewhere in your application 56:44 – Anna reads her community essay  1:02:35 – How Anna might sharpen the essay with a couple more specific details? 1:04:41 – Closing thoughts    Resources: How to Write the Yale Supplemental Essays: Guide + Examples  College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub