Happy Thanksgiving

I'll be taking the rest of the week off to celebrate Thanksgiving---but, since I know that many of you will be finishing essays, prepping for college interviews, and in general otherwise doing college application stuff, I wanted to give you a recommended reading list of past posts for this blog.

Obviously, everything

Be Proactive!

We're getting into the thick of college interview season---soon, coffee shops all across the country will be hosting awkward conversations about Faulkner between well-intentioned-40-somethings and petrified high school students. (An aside: If you're the overachieving type and want to get comfortable with what a college interview looks like before sitting down for yours, spend an afternoon at your local Starbucks--you're guaranteed to see a couple in action.)

My interviews have been fine--but every one of my

When Opportunity Calls (or emails).....

From an email I received a few seasons ago:

CJ ---
I'd love to meet you to talk about your school and find out more about whether it's a good fit for me or not. However, it's going to take me about 30 minutes to drive to your meeting location. Is there any way that we could meet somewhere closer to me?


If not, this month is really tough for me -- I'm on the swim team that meets every morning and a couple of clubs that meet in the afternoon, making it really tough for me to work your interview into my schedule. Can we postpone my interview until next month?


Thanks for contacting me. ---Applicant

Ugh. Ding.

Advice

I wrote a few months ago about making a good first impression once you arrive at your interview, and earlier about not being a scheduling nightmare. But when

Top 5 WORST Email Addresses Ever

So it's now pretty much required that if you apply to a school, you give them an email address at which they can contact you.

And guaranteed, every year at least one person I interview doesn't make the "wait, someone is going to actually USE this email address to contact me if I enter it on my application" connection. Hilarity ensues.

Below are

Current Interview Questions: Duke University

We're in the thick of college interview season (for Early Admit/Decision at least) and interview questions are starting to trickle in. Below is from an interviewer at Duke University who shot us his favorite questions. Questions for other schools is here. ---CJ

Duke University

Official description of the Duke interview is here. Like with other top-tier schools, the school states that their college interview isn't required, but that it's recommended (translation: it's required). You'll get interviewed by a local alumni--Duke doesn't offer on-campus interviews. And every alumni

Current Interview Questions: University of Chicago

Following up on the Princeton and MIT posts, I've had some feedback on interviewing at the University of Chicago that I wanted to put out there. Good luck! ---CJ

University of Chicago

Basic information about interviewing for the undergraduate college at the University of Chicago is here. Unlike many universities, Chicago actually offers on-campus interviews as well as interviews with local alumni. The school stresses that interviews are not officially a required part of the application process, however as I wrote about back in the spring, if you want to be a strong applicant you really should interview.

The main feedback from past interviewees