It took two full years to research, apply and feel Samantha was settled into college. And the second I exhaled I realized I had to do the process all over again with Briana---and then Kara. For 6 straight years I was consumed by the college process.
What I learned very early on from one of the better guidance counselors (Mr. Malone) at the high school during an college overview meeting was this---the more a school or an admissions counselor gets to know an applicant personally, the more difficult it is for the admissions counselor to reject them. The goal is for admissions to want you—it gives you the upper hand. I paid attention. And thus I nudged my girls to walk the fine line of being assertive and not aggressive. I nudged them to befriend the admissions counselor at their first choice schools. I nudged them to ask smart questions and write pointed emails. And while reluctant, my girls did just that. By the time my girls applications hit the desk of admissions, the counselors had personally spoken to , met, and communicated by email with each of them. And all three girls had their acceptance letters by December—Briana’s acceptance packet even came with a hand written note from her admissions counselor welcoming her.
Laura from Lehigh knew Samantha; Jarett from Bucknell knew Briana; and Scott from Emory knew Kara. And the connections the girls made were genuine. And Briana in particular, maintained her relationship with her admissions counselor the entire time she was at Bucknell. Briana met Jarett from time to time for coffee and gave him the scoop on college life. He attended many of her dance performances. But the child who reaped the most benefit of admissions councelors’ connections was Kara. She not only spun her relationship with her admissions councelor into an acceptance letter from Emory, but she, because of Scott knowing her, got a work study job with him in the admissions office her freshman year. And months later he gave her a pivotal recommendation when she applied to Emory’s Business School. He also made key phone calls to important people on her behalf.
And Kara was at work one day when Scott called her into his office. Scott had just come back from an admissions counselor’s conference. And Scott told her the story of how when he was at lunch at the conference, the guy sitting next to him, upon finding out that he worked at Emory, said your school stole one of our best candidates. We really wanted her. Her sister attends my school and has been very successful there. He said I wonder if you know her—her name is Kara Ciccone. And apparently Scott laughed and said Yes!--she works for me. She is great. And the two men continued to speak of both Kara and Briana. And Scott remarked to Kara that he didn’t realize she was so famous—or her sisters and Mom too. The guy Scott was talking to was Jarett.
At Emory, 17,000 students apply for 1400 seats. At Bucknell 8,000 students apply for 900 seats. The fact that Kara came up in conversation between the two admissions counselors speaks to the importance of establishing connections and retaining contacts. It speaks to the rewards of taking the college process personally. Admissions counselors are people---they want to chose good candidates—often times they chose student s that they themselves identify with. They chose kids they might like to have a cup of Starbucks with.
When Samantha, Briana and Kara would get worried about the college process I would always tell them that they were lucky. They had a secret weapon that no one else had---the secret weapon was me. They were the performing cast but I was the director. I soaked up the nuances of the college process and nudged the girls forward—I urged on their best performance as all good directors do. Their colleges wanted them. They stood out from the crowd. And letters of acceptance were awarded and displayed on the mantel—just like an Oscar.
I met a woman in the spring of Kara’s graduation year. And the woman asked me Where is Kara going to college next year? And I said Emory. And the woman looked a little bit incredulous and with a condescending tone said Oh I guess she is going for golf. And cheerfully I said No—Emory doesn’t have women’s golf---they don’t have field hockey either. Kara is going to Emory on her brains—and under my breath I said her brains and mine and Scott’s and Mr. Malone’s. It takes a team of brains to get a kid into college.
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