The Bird's Eye View

There is one perspective on admissions we will always have.

You have to see college admissions from a bird’s eye view. Photo by Parker Gibbons on Unsplash

I can tell any student how to get into college, generally speaking. That’s fairly straightforward. It requires planning, dedication, and completing a few different tasks high schoolers have never faced the likes of before. None of that is overly complicated. The goal of attending a four year college is achievable for most high school students.

I cannot guarantee any student they could get into Stanford. Or Harvard. Or Duke. Or Yale. Or MIT. Or Princeton. Or Rice. Or Columbia. The same is true for Amherst, Pomona, Williams, Kenyon, Reed, Connecticut College, or Oberlin. I wouldn’t be too certain about any student aiming for UCLA, Michigan, Georgia Tech, Texas, Washington, UC Berkeley, or UNC Chapel Hill unless they played high level basketball or football. I would at least check some athletic recruiting websites to see where they were offered scholarships.

College admissions discussions focus on…