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The key is to engage your son without making him feel like he has no choice. The fact is, he is in a position to choose—and the choices he makes now will, to a great extent, determine the range of options he might consider later in the process. Talk with him about his priorities for the future and remind him that his daily decision-making will strongly influence the path he is able to follow and the options he might discover along the way.

You might also suggest he develop a timetable for decision-making

he must take ownership for charting this course into the unknown

n what is something of a covert operation, colleges are now tracking students as they visit campuses, attend information sessions in high schools, open their emails and even as they collect information about the college on various online search engines. The fact that a student has in any way entered the “foot-print” of the institution, electronic or otherwise, is now discoverable to the institution. The result: said institution is able to attach values to the different contacts to develop a metric that predicts, with a high degree of accuracy, the likelihood that the student will enroll before she has even submitted an application!

The implications for the prospective applicant should be clear. While your transcript and resume will get you into the competition at schools of choice, it will often be the degree of confidence you give the decision-makers in your likelihood of enrollment that will make the difference in the outcome of your application.

While there is no guarantee that demonstrating interest by responding in appropriate ways will result in your admission to a given institution, doing so will reduce the questions about the likelihood of your enrollment if admitted and return the focus of the deliberations to the factors that reflect your strength as a candidate.

Who are you?  What makes you tick?  What’s important to you?  How do you think?  What do you do when faced with adversity?  What kind of friend, student, son or daughter are you?  Do you know how to write and express yourself?

The admissions essay helps us get acquainted with you in ways different from courses, grades, test scores, and other objective data. It also enables you to demonstrate your ability to organize thoughts and express yourself.

olleges use essays to try and create a personal snapshot of you unobtainable from other parts of the application.