301: Behind the Scenes of an Admission Counselor's Life w/ Kati Sweany

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

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2+ y ago 59:15

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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.

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