October 2009

The Personal Essay:  Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway

I'm not sure why the personal essay strikes such fear in the hearts and minds of applicants. But it does. And do you know what happens to most people when they are afraid? They stall out. Their minds go blank. They procrastinate. If you recognize yourself in this description, get a grip. Because if you don't, soon it will be the day before the application absolutely positively must be completed....and so you'll crank something out, but it won't be good and it won't do you justice. So let's beat back the fear. If you use these 5 rules for writing the essay, you can draft it this week. I promise. Pinky swear.

Rule #1. Stop wasting time agonizing about the topic of your essay.

YOU are the topic of your essay. Don't worry that YOU aren't sufficiently interesting. News flash - YOU are all you've got to sell. So you'll have to do. And really, most people do have something that can hold a reader's interest for 500 measly words. And, oh, if you're one of those who are trying to figure out what aspect of YOU will appeal to the admissions officer, forget it. There is no universal answer to this question.

Rule #2. Pick a focus for the essay by telling a story.

Not sure what story to tell? Remember the story should be a part of the "meta-story" that your entire application is telling. (See week 4 of the series.) Still not sure?

• Pick a story that is a part of the family mythology about "the real you." (You know that story your Mom always tells that makes you vaguely embarrassed but that you can't deny. For my brother, my Mom's favorite story is that he was always a chef with a refined palate -- he insisted on making his own breakfast from the time he was three, but cereal wouldn't do, so he learned to make an omelet even though he had to stand on a chair to reach the stovetop.)
• Pick a story that your best friend says is the best story about you in high school. Since best friends are biased and understand the struggle of college applications, he/she will pick a story that highlights "the best you." (You know, how you cured cancer in your spare time or more likely how you came up with the crazy plan that everyone on the girls' swim team would commit to shave their heads if they had a winning season -- which you knew wouldn't happen because the team had never had a winning season -- but it did and everyone on the swim team had to go to prom in wigs.)
• Pick a story that you hope a first date would know about you. This kind of story usually describes "the cool you." (You know, how you casually let it drop that you got an opportunity to do the zip-line and had to rescue some darling kid who was stuck.)

Rule #3. Write first, edit second. Just sit down and write the story.

Don't worry about punctuation, grammar, and phrasing. Just tell the story in words on paper. That's writing. Once the story is written, then go back and edit it. If you try to write and edit at the same time, you tend to write and then delete and start over. You spend hours and have two sentences. Writing and editing really are different tasks and engage different parts of your brain. You start by writing and then only AFTER you have written it do you edit it. You'll save lots of time this way and end up with a better product. You will.

Rule #4. The difference is in the details.

Stories are interesting in direct proportion to their ability to capture the reader's imagination. Details are fuel for the imagination. If your story is about being an X-Treme Skateboarder, tell me what you wear when you skate, what board you use, and what thoughts go through your head at the beginning of a race/when you crash/when you win.

Rule #5. You aren't done until you've gotten feedback and made revisions.

If the admissions officer is the first person who reads your essay besides you, SHAME ON YOU. Everyone benefits from a critique - how else would you know that you sound arrogant or that your story is confusing in the third paragraph or that you have four typos? Leave yourself enough time to have 3 readers give you feedback and then incorporate that feedback into your revision. For the readers, I suggest parents, siblings, friends, teachers, counselors. By the way, don't let the reader do the rewrite - if you do that you lose YOU. Bad, really bad - remember rule #1.

That's it.  You better have a draft done in a week.  No fooling.  Time's up.

Comments or Questions? 

Frozen in fear?  Writer's block?  Post a comment and let people chime in to help you get unstuck!

Alison Cooper Chisolm writes the series 52 Weeks to College. She has worked in admissions at Southern Methodist University, the University of Chicago, and most recently Dartmouth College. She is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Virginia Law School. As part of the Ivey Consulting team, Alison works with college applicants and their families as they navigate the college admissions process. Read more about Alison here.

Since many law school applicants are working on their resumes for this year's admissions cycle, I decided to follow up on my June 29th article, Top Tips for Legal Resumes and Cover Letters, and provide resume DOs and DON'Ts specifically for law school applicants.

What you should DO:

• Do provide context for your experience. Put the employer or activity name first, followed by its location. Add your title and the dates and hours worked:

Dunkin Donuts, Baltimore, MD

Assistant Manager, June 2008-September 2009. 40 hrs/week.

• Do use action verbs, in the present or past tense, to describe your experience (e.g., "Summarized and organized client files").
• Do include all language skills and your level of knowledge: fluent, advanced, intermediate, or basic.
• Do demonstrated how you developed your skills and responsibilities over time. If you were promoted, indicate that:

Barnes and Noble, Minneapolis, MN

Assistant Manager, October 2007-July 2008. 40 hrs/week.

Clerk, February 2007-September 2007. 30 hrs/week.

• Do highlight college honors on their own line, but explain the criteria if they are not obvious.
• Do include your senior or honors thesis and study abroad.
• Do specify interests outside of school and work. Details matter: "Enjoy mountain biking and rock climbing" will grab a reader's attention, whereas "Enjoy outdoor activities" will not.
• Do use a clear font that is not too big or too small (e.g., Times New Roman 11 point font).
• Do be consistent with formatting spaces, commas, bolding/italicizing/capitalizing words, etc.

And some DON'Ts:

• Don't use personal pronouns, like "I" or "we."
• Don't use the present continuous tense-i.e., verbs end in "ing," such as reading, analyzing, etc.
• Don't include your LSAT score.
• Don't include your high school or your SAT score.
• Don't go over one page (unless you have been in the workforce for at least fifteen years!).

Questions? Unique situations? Ask here!

 

Nicole Vikan is a graduate of NYU Law School. She spent her first law school summer at a large law firm, and her second summer in the Homicide Investigation Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. She returned to the District Attorney's Office after graduation and spent five years as a criminal prosecutor, handling cases such as robbery and assault. Nicole then joined Fordham Law School's Career Planning Center, where she advised students seeking employment in the private and public sectors. She is currently a career counselor at Georgetown Law Center's Office of Public Interest and Community Service. As part of the Anna Ivey team, Nicole works with law school applicants and people exploring legal careers.

Done right, short answer essays are harder than the open-ended personal essay. That's right - harder. Why?

• Because you have to respond to their question. There's no place to hide from the fact that you don't read for pleasure if the question is "name the book you last read for pleasure and explain why you enjoyed it."
• Because you have to make sure every word counts. Lazy communicators don't organize their thoughts or decide their points before they start typing/scrawling away, nor do they bother to edit. You can't afford laziness when you have such a limited number words.

This week, I challenged myself to make my blog about "short answer essays" a short answer blog. On college applications, the typical "short answer essay" is limited to 150 words. Here are the "short answers" on "short answers" - 7 keys to getting the most from short answer essays (each 150 words or less).

1.  Connect the essays to your story.

That's right - back to Week 7. Your application should be telling a coherent story and the short answer essays are "chapters" in the story. If your story is "I'm a leader," don't write a short answer essay about being a great team member on the hockey team if you weren't the leader. Pick the activity where you were a leader. (66 words)

2.  Commit the time that is needed.

Don't be a slacker and try to minimize effort by writing a couple of generic short answer essays and then recycling them for different schools. That's what the Common Application is about - one set of answers for all schools. But that's why some schools don't use the Common App, or they require their own supplements. They want answers to specific questions. If it is too much effort to answer their particular questions, you don't really want to go to that school. (88 words)

3. Play by both the spirit and the letter of the rules.

If the application says "limit your answer to 150 words," observe that limit. Likewise, if the application says "answer in the space provided," don't go to 8 point font and ¼" margins so you can get as many words as possible in the area. If you don't play by the rules, you are perceived as arrogant or unable or both. That's about 10 strikes against you, and exactly the way you can manage to get denied even with a 2400 combined SAT score. (95 words)

4. Let your voice come through by grounding the answer in the particular.

See how particularity gives Example A more voice than Example B?

Example A: I want to be a swing dance champion. That's why I spent 8 hours last weekend working on nothing but leading turns. At my last swing dance competition, I lost style points because the turns "lacked finesse," so this weekend I practiced nothing but turns. I'm confident that by the end of the year, I will be winning major competitions and on the road to the championships.

Example B: Competitive swing dancing is my passion. I spend 8-10 hours per week practicing with my coach. Every week I pick some aspect of the dance to focus on, because practice counts with all the moves. In the last year, I've placed at 6 competitions; this year I hope to win at least one competition.

(147 words)

5. Vocabulary is key.

You should bother to use words correctly and convey exactly what you mean. When you are writing about your job at the local daycare for the summer, did you "loathe" or "despise" being the one who had to take out the diaper trash? "Loathe" conveys that you disliked it intensely; "despise" conveys that you looked down on it with contempt. Dislike vs. contempt: pretty different. Now, don't take this advice and go running to your thesaurus and use a 50 cent word that sounds preposterous; the tone of these essays should be conversational, so the words should be somewhat common. You can also use contracted words and even slang (no curse words, though). (117 words)

6. Grammar and spelling matter.

Short answer essays are not academic essays, but they aren't dashed off notes between friends either, so your grammar and spelling should be correct. There are some limited exceptions for grammar: when the correct grammatical construction is so formal that it sounds like your grandmother who was an English teacher for 40 years wrote the essay, then you can consider using the "common" grammatical construction, e.g. split infinitives, sentence that ends in preposition. However, it would be better to rewrite the sentence to avoid the problem. (91 words)

7. Edit ruthlessly.

Even if you are under the word or space limit, make sure that there is nothing unnecessary or "off" in your answer. (26 words)

Comments or Questions? 

Having trouble with a particular short answer essay?  Don't know how to apply one of these rules?  Want to challenge me to edit something to 150 words and keep its essence?  Post a comment!

Alison Cooper Chisolm writes the series 52 Weeks to College. She has worked in admissions at Southern Methodist University, the University of Chicago, and most recently Dartmouth College. She is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Virginia Law School. As part of the Ivey Consulting team, Alison works with college applicants and their families as they navigate the college admissions process. Read more about Alison here.

By this time in your Senior year, you can probably recite the "admissions standards" for your various schools. I don't need to tell you that your life beyond the classroom matters because you've seen it in their statements of admissions standards. That's true for all colleges - from the most selective to the least selective. Present yourself as a "must have" applicant by following these 5 tips.

Tip 1.  Organize and present with your application story in mind.

Remember way back to week 4 when you developed your application story? Pull that out as you are working on these parts of your application. Every extracurricular activity, hobby, or work experience you list should be developing that application story further.

• Example: One thread of your story is that you are a leader. Your experience as President of the Student Body and as a wilderness adventure team leader should be listed first and second on your list because they are the things that showcase your leadership ability. They would go above your participation in three varsity sports even though those take more time because you've never been the captain of a team.
• Example: One thread of your story is that you are interested in international affairs and want to serve in the Peace Corps. You've got tons of travel experience, done mission trips, and speak three languages. Rather than listing each thing individually, consolidate those into three items with depth, e.g.
  • Travel-have traveled to 14 countries on trips with family, friends, and groups. Longest trip was 4 weeks in South America where I got to stay in the home of a Venezuelan family who are ranchers.
  • Mission Trips - participated in annual mission trips with my church since I was in 7th grade. Trips are a week in length and include work projects as well as sightseeing. Trips have included: Honduras/Habitat for Humanity (3 years, built 3 houses); Mexico/Bread for the World Ministries (2 years, prepared and served meals to hungry street children).
  • Language - Speak 3 languages fluently: English, Spanish, Portuguese. Started the "Language Tables" at school. Students wanting to develop their language skills sit at the Language Table and speak that language for the whole of lunch hour. I host the Portuguese table every Tuesday and it regularly attracts 10 other students.

Tip 2.  Avoid the temptation to "oversell" what you've done or flat out lie.

You are 17. While there are child prodigies who have invented a new computer circuit, made their first million, or competed on the professional tennis circuit, they are truly rare. Therefore, admissions officers are skeptical of what seems to be something good reported as something extraordinary. Skepticism is NOT the emotion you are trying to elicit! 

• Example: Mary worked as an intern in a really high powered science lab. She got to observe experiments being performed and she had responsibility for washing the test tubes that the lab scientists used each day. This is a good experience for Mary to include in her activity list because she wants to be a scientist.
  • Here's the entry I would want to see on the list:  Intern, Abbott Research Laboratories. Summer 2009. Worked in a research lab with 10 senior scientists who conduct experiments on breakthrough therapies for Alzheimer's. Observed several different experimental protocols and washed 1000 test tubes.
  • Here's the entry that I would be skeptical about: Laboratory Technician. Abbott Research Laboratories. Responsible for critical equipment maintenance in laboratory of 10 senior scientists. Participated in experiments on breakthrough therapies for Alzheimer's.
• Example:  Joe really wanted to go to a top school.  He knew they wanted students who had a lot of extracurricular activities, so he took the liberty of adding a few that he thought would impress.  Like Key Club -- that was a good club, right? And he did go help out at a Key Club event last year, so he was a member, kind of.  And he went to a big high school, so lots of people did Key Club, so who would know, right?  And then there was the varsity letter he earned for being the manager of the team.  It wasn't really a lie if he put, "Basketball, Varsity Letter 11."  Let the admissions officer think he had a decent jump shot. 
  
  Oh poor Joe.  He had a college counselor who knew Joe wanted to go to a top school and she wanted to help him.  So, she went out of her way to write a detailed recommendation that included the following damning sentences:  "Joe is a 'behind the scenes' kind of student leader.  He just always helps out.  For example, Joe's never been a member of Key Club, but he helped out with one of their major events last year and Joe has been a great manager of our All-State Basketball team.  In fact, he was such a good manager that he received an honorary varsity letter."  Joe is now denied and reported for admissions fraud. 

Tip 3.  Edit your list.

You want to showcase those activities, hobbies, and work experiences that you have been involved with over time, developed skills in, received awards/distinctions/promotions in, and/or have been especially meaningful to you. It is not necessary or even good to list each and every thing you have done or are doing. Pick quality over quantity every time.

• Example: leave off marching band from 9th grade, unless you are showcasing music and you want to show that you have been involved in ensemble performance in one way or another every year (did marching band in 9th, concert band in 10th-11th, and orchestra in 12th).
• Example: you're a joiner and you've been in every club in the school, but there are only 3 clubs that you've actually done something in - in one you led a project, one you got an award from, and one you are an officer of. Those are the 3 clubs that should show up; everything else is just info for the scrapbook.
• Example: you go to a school where there is a community service requirement and so you did a stint at a local nursing home - it was pretty much the worst experience of your life, but you were responsible and completed the requirement. You think you should show that activity because otherwise you don't have any community service extracurricular activities. Right? Wrong. If it was something you did because you had to and it wasn't meaningful to you, leave it off! No particular extracurricular activity is required.

Tip 4.  Expand upon the grid if the grid format doesn't suit what you want to showcase.

The Common Application and lots of school specific applications ask you to present your life beyond the classroom in a grid format. But you may need to expand beyond the grid to really showcase what is special about you.

• Example: You've devoted yourself to your part-time job at Dunkin Donuts. You work 20 hours a week during the school year and 40 hours a week during the summer. You started at the bottom of the ladder and have worked hard and been steadily promoted and are now the night manager responsible for close on Friday and Saturdays. As a manager, you have responsibility for making a bank deposit and hiring/firing workers. You've gotten extra training. You've built up a substantial savings account for college. You've been named employee of the month three times. If you simply list your work experience in the three lines allowed for it on the Common Application or in a grid, none of that important extra information will come out.
  
  Best way to get this information in the application: include a resume that details all of this information as a supplement.
• Example: You are a budding poet. You write poetry all the time and publish it on the web. You've also been published in a literary magazine. You participate in monthly teen poetry slams. Again, the grid does you no favors because likely most of this information would be omitted.
  
  Best way to get this information in the application: write about your poetry activity in the short essay or include it on a supplemental activity resume that you include as additional information with the application.
  
  Some of you will be tempted to send the literary magazine with your poetry or 8 samples of your poetry. Don't. It is just distracting. The admissions officer is not trying to evaluate your skill as a poet; the admissions officer is evaluating your commitment, initiative and accomplishments beyond the classroom. Your recitation of what you do is better than samples for those purposes.

Tip 5.  Explain activities, awards, and accomplishments as necessary.

Even though admissions officers work hard to educate themselves about the myriad of clubs, activities, awards, and opportunities there are for high school students, they can't and won't know about everything. A short explanation is always welcome.

• Example: You have won the Pollyanna award. You list that on your honors section: Winner, Pollyanna Award, Spring 2009. What? The Pollyanna award? No idea. But I do have an idea if you list: Winner, Pollyanna Award, Spring 2009. The Pollyanna award is a scholarship of $5000 made annually to the high school student who has contributed the most to Grafton County, NH. Nominations are collected from local community leaders and principals. I was nominated by the local Boys and Girls Club because I have volunteered in an after-school program for first graders, since I was in 6th grade. I was chosen as a finalist based on the nomination submitted by the Club and then as the winner after interview by a selection committee comprised of a county judge, the CEO of the largest business in the county and a selectman from a town in the county.
• Example: You are President of the Star Club at your high school. You list that in your activities grid: Star Council, 11-12. 4 hrs per week. Again, Star Council? What's that? No idea. And why is it a big deal? But I do have an idea and do understand if you list: Star Council, 11-12. 4 hrs per week. The Star Council is a council of junior and senior academic "stars" as chosen by the faculty. Only 5 students from each grade (there are 500 students per grade at my school) are chosen. The Star Council is responsible for organizing the Academic Bowl each year. The Academic Bowl involves more than 1200 students in a "quiz bowl" fundraising effort. Each team gets sponsors and proceeds from the teams are donated to the student tutoring program at school. In my first year on the Council, we raised more than $10,000.

Comments or Questions? 

Having trouble deciding what is a positive spin vs. oversell/fraud?  Want to know which activities you should list and which you should ditch?  Overwhelmed about how to proceed?  Post a comment! 

Alison Cooper Chisolm writes the series 52 Weeks to College. She has worked in admissions at Southern Methodist University, the University of Chicago, and most recently Dartmouth College. She is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Virginia Law School. As part of the Ivey Consulting team, Alison works with college applicants and their families as they navigate the college admissions process. Read more about Alison here.

Sit down for this - I want to start this week with stating the obvious, because it so often gets lost in the college application process. Are you ready?

College is an academic enterprise. Therefore it is appropriate that your academic capacity is the first thing that admissions officers evaluate.  They want to do a full evaluation, but are limited to what you submit. 

Put yourselves in the admissions officer's shoes for one minute.  You have a responsibility similar to being a team captain who is picking the team for the upcoming season. Who do you want on your team? You want the proven performers, the academic stars, don't you?  Tell the truth.  You do. 

So how do you present your academic record in such a way that you show that you are a proven performer, an academic star?  You take time to put your academic record in the best possible light.  Yet, most applicants spend very little time on this aspect of the process.  

The reasoning goes something like this.  "I didn't get 2400 on the SAT and I'm not Valedictorian, so I've got to sell them on my leadership abilities.  That means I'll spend hours on my activities section and my essays, but I won't even bother to review my transcript or consult much with my counselor or fill out all those pesky demographic checkboxes because I mean my grades are my grades, my scores are my scores."   

Sound familiar?  If so, stop and rethink.  Believe me when I say the same raw numbers are not created equal.  Both Applicant A and Applicant B have GPAs of 3.6 and are in the top quarter of their classes.  But every admissions officer I know at a top school is admitting Applicant A and denying Applicant B ON THE BASIS OF ACADEMICS.  How is that possible?  Applicant A comes from a competitive college prep school and has taken every AP offered.  Applicant B comes from a not-so-competitive school and has taken a lot of Band and PE classes.  Same academic capacity?  Obviously not.  Make sense? 

If you want the best chance to be admitted to the college of your choice, you want to convey ALL of the information important to the admissions officer's interpretation of the numbers. Here's your checklist for things you can do to make sure your numbers are presented in the best light: 

For your college counselor's recommendation, work with him/her to supplement the information about your school or give special information about your situation if any of the following are true:

1. Your school uses abbreviations on the transcript that aren't easily translated. You want the officer to know that CMP was a Math Computations course, not Composition.
2. Your school uses a non-traditional grading system. You want a full explanation of the system included with the Secondary School Report (SSR).
3. Your school offers APs or Honors offerings. Make sure your transcript shows those designations, the number of offerings, and any scheduling conflicts that prevented you from taking advanced courses for which you were eligible.
4. Your school offers NO APs or Honors offerings. Make sure that is noted, so it is clear to the admissions officer that you weren't a slacker; you just didn't have the option.
5. You attend a competitive admissions school that may not be well known to the admissions officer because few people from your school apply to that college. Make sure the school information is clear about the caliber of students attending your school.
6. You have participated in a special program or a school within a school that is for the school's best and brightest. Make sure that the school information explains the demographics for selection and for who is in the program with you.
7. You have an "uh oh" on the transcript for one class, one semester, or one year and you have a good explanation. Make sure that the counselor notes the circumstances in his/her recommendation.

Answer questions about the following situations FULLY (if asked) and, regardless of any specific questions, supplement your application with a brief narrative essay (whether or not required) unless it is already the subject of one of your primary personal essays:

1. You changed schools and that had an impact on your class standing, GPA, or eligibility for honors. Explain why you changed schools, and note what opportunities were foreclosed.
2. You suffered a significant personal/family tragedy during high school: bitter divorce, death, major illness or injury, and the tragedy had some meaningful impact on your academic record. Explain the tragedy, note the consequences, and how you have "bounced back" and are now ready for college.
3. You have heavy-duty family responsibilities that severely restrict or interfere with your education in some important way (preclude taking certain schedule, limit time for homework, etc.). Explain your responsibilities, note the consequences, but also note what you have been able to do (e.g. take AP course as independent study).
4. You had a disciplinary incident that was academic in nature - cheating, plagiarism etc. Describe the incident, take responsibility, tell what you have learned and why it will never happen again.
5. You have an "uh oh" on the transcript for one class, one semester, or one year and you have a good explanation. Even if your counselor has addressed this issue, you should also address it independently to demonstrate that you have learned from the mistake. Just make it brief and DON'T make it the subject of your personal essay - that is a waste.

Disclose demographic information that is pertinent to your test scores. If you belong to one of the following demographic sub-groups, your test scores will be best understood if you disclose that fact:    

1. You are a member of an underrepresented racial minority.
2. You are first-generation college.
3. You come from a low-income household.
4. You have a disability.

Note that attempts to squish yourself into one of these boxes -- if not really true -- come across as pathetic at best, and fraudulent at worst. 

Comments or Questions? 

Want to know what to do with your test scores or grades?  Post a comment!

Alison Cooper Chisolm writes the series 52 Weeks to College. She has worked in admissions at Southern Methodist University, the University of Chicago, and most recently Dartmouth College. She is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Virginia Law School. As part of the Ivey Consulting team, Alison works with college applicants and their families as they navigate the college admissions process. Read more about Alison here.

 

Most applicants don't make the most of their counselor and teacher recommendations (or, in admissions speak and for the rest of this blog: recs). You settle for good when you could have great. Good means that the recs won't hurt you in the process; great means the recs might actually tip the balance in your favor if you are smack dab in the middle of the pool.

Why Recs Matter

Recs from counselors and teachers make a difference because these third party adults are trusted, independent sources of information about you. It is one thing when you report that you have been a great student leader. It is another thing when you report that about yourself, the counselor seconds it with an example of how your leadership in the junior class kept the class on a positive track after some negative event like the loss of classmates in a car accident, and the teachers third it with examples of how you demonstrate leadership within the classroom by asking probing questions and helping other students who are having a tough time getting it.

The Basics: Getting Good Recs

I'm not going to spend much time advising you how to get good recs, because I suspect you have already figured that out. Here's the basic advice you should have gotten.

First, you don't get to choose who does your counselor rec; your school assigns that to someone. Make sure you know who that is, connect with him/her, and follow his/her instructions.

Second, get teacher recs from teachers who know you, from whom you got a good grade (or turned around a nosedive), who have seen you perform well in the classroom, and who like you. If you are honest with yourself, you know who these teachers are. Ask them politely and in a way that gives the recommender a graceful way to say no, e.g., "Mr. Smith, I am talking with teachers about recommendations for college. I hope you would be one of my recommenders. Are you able to write a strong recommendation for me to college?"

If Mr. Smith says no, that's it. Accept it with thanks for the consideration. If you have a sense that the teacher is saying no because he/she can't write a positive recommendation, you should probe gently into why. Follow-up with a question such as, "Mr. Smith, I sense that you are uncomfortable giving me a positive recommendation. Before I ask another teacher, I would like to understand why that is so I can reflect upon it and address it."

If your teachers say yes, give them the forms (filled out and with postage), check in with them and then thank them. Not so hard, huh?

Beyond the Basics: From Good to Great in 3 Steps

Because getting good recs is relatively easy and because you are SO busy during your senior year, most applicants get their good recs lined up and call it a day. But if you are willing to take a little extra time, you can take those good recs and make them great. If you make the recs great, you increase your chances of being admitted to your top choice school. So, if you are committed to maximizing your offers of admission, take these additional 3 steps and your recs will likely go from good to great!

Step 1. Prepare a "cheat sheet" for your recommenders.

Recommenders want to write a recommendation that will actually help you. Left to their own devices, they will be guided by the questions that the recommendation form asks and their own recollections. This means they may or may not address what is actually important to you.

If you've taken the time to outline your story (see Week 4), you know what parts of that story your recommenders can help you tell. Outline those points in bullet format on one sheet of paper that you include with your recommendation forms. Not sure what I mean? Here are some questions to get you thinking about the bullet points you might include on your cheat sheet:

• What are the highlights of your experience with this teacher?  I got the highest grade, I participated a lot in class, I worked extra hard and sought you out after school.  (Believe it or not, teachers don't remember these things with the clarity you might hope for -- they've taught a lot of students!)
• Why did you like the class(es) you took with this teacher? What did you learn from the class? Is it connected to your overall intellectual development (I learned critical thinking that I now use in all my academic pursuits), your vocational plans (I learned I loved science and particularly the labs on cell bio, so I'm planning on pursuing a career in medical research), your emotional/social development (I learned how to be part of a team while working on the group project you assigned.)?
• Are there passions that you share with this teacher? (Love 19th century English novels.)
• Are there activities beyond the classroom with this teacher that demonstrate your qualities as a member of a learning community? (Teacher was the debate coach and you were on the A team.)
• Why are you applying to these particular schools? Which is your top choice school? Did the teacher have an influence on which schools you picked? (Choosing West Coast schools because you want to be in the TV business; top choice is USC; know teacher did Masters work at USC and spoke highly of it.)
• Is there a "problem" in your profile that the recommender can help you overcome? Examples: You had a bad 10th grade year, but have recovered. Your counselor knows the back story and can confirm that you had to be out of school for several critical weeks due to illness and that you worked diligently to overcome the setback. (By the way, the counselor may have known this, but two years have passed and she may not remember it unless you prompt her, and/or the counselor may not have personal knowledge, but can check school records and attest to what you tell her.) Or you haven't been able to participate in many extracurricular activities because you had significant family responsibilities. If a counselor or teacher mentions that background information, it bolsters and reinforces your story.

Step 2. Ask early in a face-to-face, scheduled meeting to which you arrive prepared with a package to hand over. 

Teachers and counselors write lots of recommendations.  They are "extra" work for them, so the most courteous thing you can do is ask early, so that they can squeeze this extra work into an already hectic schedule.  (Also some teachers limit the number they will write and observe a first come, first serve policy.)

A face-to-face scheduled meeting with the recommender signals that you are approaching the college application process with great seriousness.  All too often, applicants let time constraints of a hectic life result in an "on the fly" approach.  You ask recommenders in a rushed talk between classes or after school, a casual exchange following a sports event or extracurricular activity, or an email exchange.  It gets the job done, but it doesn't make for great recs. 

Come prepared to your meeting with the following package of information:

• Your list of schools with their deadlines and any special notes about their requirements
• The appropriate recommendation forms and the mailing envelopes with stamps.  Do this even if you encourage the recommender to submit online.  The recommender should make the choice -- not you!
• Your cheat sheet
• Contact information for yourself (email, cell)

Give the recommender your package.  Briefly refer to the cheat sheet and ask the recommender if he/she has any questions or needs anything else from you in order to complete the recs.

Step 3. Check in and keep the recommender current.

Recommenders get busy and they aren't necessarily paying attention to deadlines the way you are. It is both courteous and simple to check in and keep the recommender current with your progress/process. Just put the following check-in dates on your calendar and then do each:

• October 30: Email check-in - ask if recommender has questions, tell recommender how far along in the process of completing your applications you are, enclose any essays you have completed for further info for recommender.
• November 30: Email check-in -- ask if recommender has questions, tell recommender how far along in the process of completing your applications you are, enclose any essays you have completed for further info for recommender.
• December 15: Email check-in - remind recommenders of upcoming deadlines and/or thank for any recommendations submitted, ask if need anything to complete (stamps, extra forms, etc.), give contact information for yourself over the holiday break.
• January 30: Email check-in - let recommenders know if any recs haven't arrived and ask them to send again promptly (you'll provide duplicate forms, stamps/FedEx if necessary) and/or thank for all recommendations submitted.
• April: Email check-in - let recommenders know your status at all the schools where recommender submitted rec, thank again for help in process, ask if advice about where to go.
• May: Personal check-in - tell recommender where you will be attending school and advise recommender if you are on wait list that you hope to come off of.
• August: Email check-in - give recommender your new contact information and thank again. These recommenders should become your first "network" contacts and you should stay in touch with them for life. They are now invested in your future and may be able to help you again!

Non-Teacher/Extra Recommendations

They will not help you (and overkill suggests something off about you), so don't bother unless:

• The recommendation highlights a special talent and is from a coach or other adult qualified to evaluate that talent. Examples: your concert piano teacher that prepared you for your debut at Carnegie Hall, your Olympic coach. You see what I mean by special? Not just ordinary, run of the mill talent, but real gifts that only a few have.
• The recommendation comes from a coach or advisor to your central extracurricular activity and adds something beyond accomplishments. Examples: you never made it past JV, but you were the "go to" JV captain and your spirit galvanized the team to its first regional victory in years, you are EIC of the yearbook and the yearbook is a HUGE activity at your school and takes a special kind of leader.
• The recommendation comes from a boss and work experience is your central extracurricular activity. If you have worked through high school and that is how you spent your time, a boss's recommendation can illuminate how your work ethic translates into community contribution. It is extremely important to give your boss the cheat sheet because he/she is probably rarely asked to do this and so doesn't know the "game."
• The recommendation comes from a "person with clout/connections" who ACTUALLY KNOWS YOU. That's right: you, not your family, not your extended network, but YOU, and the recommender says he/she will actually write an individual letter rather than cranking out the standard template - "fine young man/woman who shows tremendous promise."

Comments or Questions?

Having trouble working up the nerve to ask for a recommendation?  Need a script for talking to the counselor?  Encountered another problem with recommendations?  Please post a comment!

Alison Cooper Chisolm writes the series 52 Weeks to College. She has worked in admissions at Southern Methodist University, the University of Chicago, and most recently Dartmouth College. She is a graduate of Yale College and the University of Virginia Law School. As part of the Ivey Consulting team, Alison works with college applicants and their families as they navigate the college admissions process. Read more about Alison here.

The Law School Admissions Council (LSAC) converts applicants' undergraduate records to a standard 4.0 Grade Point Average system, so law schools can compare candidates according to a uniform standard. Applicants often have questions about how their GPAs are calculated by the LSAC, and they may see differences between their undergraduate GPAs as calculated by their colleges, and their LSAC GPAs.

One potential law student wrote to us as follows:

I have a very strong undergraduate GPA (3.90/4.00). I am concerned that my LSAC GPA may differ considerably, however. I have one "Withdrawal" that I received the summer after my freshman year in college. I pay for my education and was working a lot that summer. The class conflicted with work, and I didn't need it for any degree requirement. I dropped it so I could make money. This is my only W and I believe the only factor affecting my LSAC GPA. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Good news for this student: Withdraw, Withdraw/Pass, Withdraw/Fail, and Incomplete "grades" are not included in the LSAC's GPA calculations, unless the applicant's school considered the grade to be punative.

Most schools don't consider withdrawals to be punative, and every undergraduate school details its grading policies for the LSAC on an annual basis. Note that failing grades, which schools may identify as No Credit/Fail, Not Passing, Incomplete/Fail,Withdraw/Fail, Unsatisfactory, Fail, etc., are converted to zero on the 4.0 scale used by the LSAC and are included in its calculations of applicants' GPAs. Though the explanation in the 2009-2010 LSAC Law School Admission Book is not that clear (in my humble opinion), you can read it here (see pages 34-35).  (Also, I don't think this student needs to provide an explanation of one withdrawal, assuming his college does not consider it to be punitive.)

Sometimes applicants are disappointed to learn that grades from a semester or year abroad are excluded from their LSAC GPAs. If you study abroad on a program sponsored by a US institution, your grades will be included in the calculation; if you study abroad for a year or less and the program is not sponsored by a US institution (for example, you're enrolled at Cambridge), your grades are not included in the calculation.

The GPA calculations can be tricky. Do you have other questions or concerns about how LSAC calculates your GPA? Post them here!

 

Nicole Vikan is a graduate of NYU Law School. She spent her first law school summer at a large law firm, and her second summer in the Homicide Investigation Unit at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office. She returned to the District Attorney's Office after graduation and spent five years as a criminal prosecutor, handling cases such as robbery and assault. Nicole then joined Fordham Law School's Career Planning Center, where she advised students seeking employment in the private and public sectors. She is currently a career counselor at Georgetown Law Center's Office of Public Interest and Community Service. As part of the Anna Ivey team, Nicole works with law school applicants and people exploring legal careers.