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

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