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

Today’s episode concludes our 9-part “What Colleges Want” series, where we’ve been walking through the results of the report released by the National Association of College Admission Counselors (NACAC) regarding the factors that colleges deem important. Ethan is joined by Jay Rosner (Executive Director of The Princeton Review Foundation) to talk about standardized testing.

In this episode they get into:

• What are the origins of the SAT?
• What’s changed in the testing landscape in the last year or two?
• Does test optional really mean test optional?
• How much standardized tests matter for colleges?
• How do students figure out their preparation timeline and which test to take?
• Why might testing be considered problematic?

As the Executive Director of The Princeton Review Foundation, Jay Rosner has developed programs jointly with such organizations as the NAACP, the Hispanic Scholarship Fund, College and Graduate Horizons (serving Native American students) and the Asian Pacific Fund. Jay's career has combined education and law, with an emphasis on student advocacy. He has testified before state legislative committees in California, Texas, Illinois and New Jersey, and as an expert witness in cases involving testing. Before attending law school, Jay was a public high school math teacher. Jay holds a BA from the University of Pennsylvania, a JD from Widener University, and is the proud father of two grown daughters.

Hope you enjoy!

Play-by-play

• 2:16 - How does Jay know so much about standardized tests?
• 4:23 - What are the origins of the SAT?
• 6:40 - How has standardized testing changed in recent years?
• 11:25 - Is test-optional really optional?
• 13:26 - How much do standardized tests matter in the application review?
• 14:49 - Who should take standardized tests?
• 20:24 - Is it better to take the SAT or the ACT?
• 23:30 - What are the benefits of quality test prep?
• 27:10 - How can students reach their best score?
• 33:54 - How do students know if they should submit their scores or not?
• 38:40 - Advice for counselors working with students in marginalized populations
• 42:05 - Why do some folks find standardized testing to be problematic?
• 45:00 - Closing advice for students and counselors

Resources

• List of test-optional and test-free schools
• CEG's Crash Course to Standardized Testing
• Add’l Info Sample on Testing

Today’s episode kicks off a new series, Inside the Application. Ethan is joined by Cassidy, a current high school senior who is working on her college applications for the Fall 2025 term. Ethan and Cassidy will be walking step-by-step through the college application process as it unfolds this school year. In episode 1, they get into:

• How did Cassidy approach brainstorming and outlining for her personal statement?
• What brainstorming activities helped Cassidy pick her topic?
• Cassidy’s first draft of her personal statement
• Ethan’s suggestions for revision
• And more

This series will also be different in that, normally, we share episodes-in-a-series consecutively. For these, we’re releasing them pretty much as we record them, so you’ll notice them interspersed among other topics we’ll be covering.

Stay tuned for future episodes where Ethan and Cassidy continue the conversation! They’ll revisit her personal statement, talk about supplemental essays, go over how Cassidy developed her college list, and even talk a little bit about the activities list and the additional information section. We’ll continue to check in with Cassidy to see how things are going, and you’ll find out how it turned out a few months from now.

Cassidy is a current high school student going through the college application process. She lives in the Bay Area, loves ballet, knows a lot about Biology, and identifies as a “yapper”—more on that in our conversation.

We hope you enjoy!

• 2:57 - Getting to know Cassidy through her brainstorming materials
  • 3:27 - Cassidy’s social identities
  • 4:29 - Cassidy’s values
  • 7:05 - Cassidy’s superpower
  • 8:12 - Cassidy’s islands of personality
• 8:40 - What were some of the topics Cassidy considered for her essay?
• 13:51 - Cassidy walks through her essay outline and examples
• 16:01 - How did outlining make things easier for Cassidy?
• 18:48 - Cassidy reads the first draft of her personal statement
• 22:42 - Cassidy shares her thoughts on her draft
• 26:04 - Ethan gives feedback
• 39:18 - Ethan shares suggestions for the next draft
• 41:52 - Closing thoughts

• Cassidy’s brainstorming and first draft
• College Essay Guy’s Personal Statement Resources
• College Essay Guy’s College Application Hub
• Funko Pops

On today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) and Nitzya Cuevas-Macias (Director of College Programs at Downtown College Prep) cover:

• How do students decide which classes to take—and what questions should they ask when deciding?
• Key recommendations for selecting English, math, science, social studies, language, and elective courses
• The most frequently asked questions we get asked about courses and grades

Nitzya Cuevas-Macias was a first-gen college student at UC Berkeley where she studied History and Legal Studies, and earned her Master’s in Mexican American Studies from San José State. She’s been working in education for 16 years where the majority of her time has been in college access and success, in the CBO, non-profit world, k-12 public and charter, and community college. Currently, she is the Director of College Programs at Downtown College Prep, a free public charter in San José, CA and serves as a board member of the Western Association for College Admission Counseling.

We hope you enjoy!

Play-by-Play:

• 2:21 - Introductions
• 6:02 - What are key things to keep in mind when planning your high school experience?
• 10:21 - Subject area recommendations
  • 11:40 - English
  • 16:04 - Math
  • 21:34 - Science
  • 28:02 - Social Studies
  • 31:11 - Languages
  • 33:06 - Visual/Performing Arts
  • 36:17 - Electives
• 36:39 - Rapid-fire FAQs about grades
  • 37:43 How do colleges evaluate my course grades and transcript?
  • 38:22 - Is it important to only get Straight-As to have a chance?
  • 40:29 - How do colleges evaluate my GPA?
  • 42:05 - How can students balance a high GPA with challenging courses?
  • 44:28 - Should students increase their rigor every year?
  • 45:23 - Is it a good idea to take additional summer or online courses?
  • 49:43 - How important is class rank?
  • 51:19 - Should I pick Honors, AP, IB, or Dual Enrollment?
  • 54:17 - Are AP and IB scores important if my school doesn’t offer AP courses?
  • 57:28 - How do I know what classes to take if I don't know what I want to study or where I want to go to college?
• 59:59 - Wrap up / closing thoughts

Resources:

• Coursera
• UC Scout
• Episode 403: AP, IB, Honors, Oh My!: How Admissions Officers View Your High School Courses, Rigor, and School Context - Susan Tree
• Episode 213: Self-Directed Learning (Why You Can Quit HS & Be Okay)
• What are AP classes?
• IB vs AP
• Easiest AP Classes
• Hardest AP Classes

Welcome to the next episode to our special three-part series on mental health disclosures in college applications. In Episode 2, Ethan is joined by Christina Lopez, Dean of Enrollment Management at Barnard College. They cover, among other things:

• Why is this topic important—both generally, but also personally, for Christina?
• What advice would Christina give to students about whether or not to disclose?
• What does Christina look for in a personal statement?
• How can college counselors and parents help their students navigate this process?
• And more

Christina Lopez has served in college admissions for 18 years. She attended New York University Tisch School of the Arts and majored in Drama and later received her M.Ed. from NYU Steinhardt in Higher Education Administration. After graduating she worked in television and film casting and realized she enjoyed working with students. Her first admissions job was at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in NYC. During her time at NYU, she read for the Stern School of Business and managed the admissions process for Tisch School of the Arts. She joined Barnard’s admissions team in 2014 as the Associate Director for Multicultural Recruitment and now serves as the Dean of Enrollment Management, providing oversight to the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid.

During her career in higher education, Christina has served as an Executive Board Member for New York State Association of College Admissions Counseling (NYSACAC) and Co-Chair of the Association of Black Admissions and Financial Aid Officers of the Ivy League and Sister Schools (ABAFAOILSS). As an advocate for access and equity within higher education, she has previously served on the board of Go To College NYC and Minds Matter, two Community-Based Organizations in NYC that serve under-resourced students as they navigate the college process.

We hope you enjoy the conversation.

Play-by-Play:

• 2:29 - Why is this topic important—both generally, but also personally, for Christina?
• 4:05 - Christina shares her background
• 15:27 - What advice would Christina give to students about whether or not to disclose?
• 20:36 - What are some different options for where students can disclose if they choose to?
• 23:33 - What information might not be as helpful to disclose?
• 26:00 - What does Christina look for in a personal statement?
• 33:45 - Christina shares some memorable college essays
• 38:22 - How can college counselors help their students navigate this process?
• 40:38 - What should students and families keep in mind during the college admission process?
• 50:31 - Closing thoughts

Resources:

• Blog post linked to this episode: Should I Discuss Mental Health in My Personal Statement or College Application? (And If So, How)?
• Part 1 of this series: Episode 512, Navigating Mental Health Disclosures in the College Application: The Counselor Perspective
• Your College Bound Kid Podcast: Christina Lopez on “Mental Health”’
• How to Brainstorm 7 Different Personal Statement Ideas
• Episode 406: Why You Don’t Have to Write about Trauma in Your College Essay to Stand Out—and What You Can Do Instead

In today’s two-part episode, we’re delving into one of the potentially more confusing aspects of what colleges want — “positive character attributes” — which 65.8% of colleges give considerable or moderate importance.

In part 1, I’m joined by Tom Bear (VP for Enrollment at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology) and Bob Massa (former chief admissions/enrollment officer at Johns Hopkins University, Dickinson College and Drew University) to discuss:

• What are these positive character attributes?
• Why are they important to colleges?
• How do colleges decide which qualities to seek and how to evaluate for them?
• How do students show these qualities in their application?

Part 2 is with Trisha Ross Anderson, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Making Caring Common Project, and we get into:

• How Making Caring Common helps colleges figure out what they are looking for
• How some colleges are working to increase access and equity in admissions
• Advice to parents as they navigate this process with their students

Tom Bear has been working in college enrollment since 1987 at a variety of institutions, including as VP for Enrollment at University of Evansville, Senior Director of Enrollment at Notre Dame and now as the VP for Enrollment at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology. He joined the Character Collaborative in 2017, served as Board Chair and will chair NACAC’s Character Focus Initiative.

Bob Massa got his Doctorate in Higher Education from Columbia, served as the chief admissions/enrollment officer at Johns Hopkins University, Dickinson College and Drew University and Co- founded the Character Collaborative in 2016. Although he has retired from full-time work after 45 years of campus-based work, he is an adjunct professor at the University of Southern California’s online masters program in enrollment management.

Trisha Ross Anderson has served on research teams at the Harvard Graduate School of Education for the past 13 years. She’s worked with the Making Caring Common (MCC) Project to help write reports including one called Turning the Tide that focuses on reform of the college admission process. She leads MCC’s college admissions initiatives with Richard Weissbourd and currently serves on NACAC’s Character Focus Initiative Advisory Council.

Play-by-Play

• 0:00 - Meet Tom Bear and Bob Massa (Part 1)
• 2:12 - What do colleges mean by “positive character attributes”?
• 3:55 - What are some examples of these “positive character attributes”?
• 4:58 - Why is it important for students, parents, and counselors to think about these qualities?
• 7:16 - How do colleges decide what qualities they’re looking for?
• 12:04 - How do colleges evaluate students for these qualities?
• 13:09 - Example of a rubric on extraordinary commitment to others
• 19:10 - Why don’t colleges share their rubrics for what they’re looking for?
• 21:18 - What can students do to better understand what a particular school is looking for?
• 24:08 - How do colleges evaluate “character” in an applicant?
• 29:58 - What is the high school profile and how is it used in a student’s evaluation?
• 31:20 - Why is it important to think about positive character attributes now?
• 35:56 - How can students demonstrate these qualities in their college applications?
• 40:00 - What can parents do to help their students in this process?
• 42:01 - Meet Trisha Ross Anderson (Part 2)
• 43:09 - What is the Making Caring Common (MCC) project?
• 44:37 - How is MCC working with colleges?
• 46:17 - Why is it difficult to create a rubric for these qualities?
• 48:16 - How is MCC helping colleges decide on what they are looking for?
• 52:45 - How is MCC helping colleges to increase equity and access in the college admissions process?
• 57:33 - Advice for parents on navigating this process with their students
• 1:01:31 - Closing thoughts

Resources

• Making Caring Common
  • Character Assessment in College Admission Guide
  • Turning the Tide (2016): Inspiring Concern for Others and the Common Good Through College Admissions
  • Turning the Tide II (2019): How Parents and High Schools Can Cultivate Ethical Character and Reduce Distress in The College Admissions Process
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