Jan 19, 2022
This episode I'm with with Kati Sweaney, Senior Assistant Dean of Admission at Reed College. It's the first in a series of interviews with current and former college admissions officers where we go behind the scenes to let you know how things work.
In this episode we get into:
- The life of an admission officer, including what their travel season is like
- Do’s and don’ts for that initial email to an admissions office
- What is demonstrated interest?
- Why it matters for colleges to predict who attends their school
- Some other ways students can demonstrate interest
- Additional info sections that made a difference
- How fast do admissions officers read the application?
- How many essays has Kati read?
- Kati’s do’s and don'ts for the application essays
Resources:
Play-by-play:
[2:00] How Kati got into admissions
[3:42] What kind of person is drawn to working in admissions?
[5:30] What is travel season for admissions reps?
[10:05] Why do college reps travel to so many high schools?
[13:55] A little bit about college fairs
[16:13] Examples of how students stood out at college fairs
[19:50] Some do’s and don’ts for the initial email to admissions offices
[22:44] What is demonstrated interest?
[26:37] Why it matters for colleges to predict who attends their school
[29:27] Some other ways students can demonstrate interest
[32:00] Additional info sections that made a difference
[34:50] How fast do admissions officers read the application?
[39:17] How many essays has Kati read?
[40:40] Kati’s do’s and don'ts for the application essays
[43:50] Why those tiny details are so important in an essay
[45:25] A few college essays that stood out (after reading 25,000 essays)
[54:16] Kati’s advice for parents
[56:54] What Kati hopes students will keep in mind throughout this process
This episode was initially recorded in the fall of 2019, so you may notice some pre-pandemic language used.