Admissions Uncovered

Coronavirus is here and I’m sure everything is crazy. School is virtual, all your extracurriculars are cancelled, and you’re stuck at home all the time! That being said, college admissions doesn’t stop, so today Sean and I talk about how coronavirus affects your applications. In particular, we focus on how you can continue your extracurricular activities or start new ones.

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Gao Admissions – Test Prep Tutoring and College Counseling from Your Host Michael Gao

Show Notes:

Thanks to Redaf for the Guitar Sound Effect licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Thanks to Vibe Mountain for the Intro and Outro Music licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Extracurricular activities are essential to any compelling college application. In this episode, we talk about 3 different types of students: students who don’t have any extracurriculars, students who have too many extracurriculars, and students that got into college on the strengths of their extracurriculars. Then, we talk a little about how schools, administrators, and teachers can do a better job of counseling students.

Please submit your comments and questions on our Contact Us form.

Sponsors:

Listeners like YOU on Patreon!

Gao Admissions – Test Prep Tutoring and College Counseling from Your Host Michael Gao

Show Notes:

ECs are the best way to get involved in subjects that isn’t covered in school (such as political science) (7:30)

Do ECs but don’t let your grades suffer, find a good balance. Your ECs are a vehicle for college admissions (14:30)

Make sure your ECS relate to your overall “story” (22:00)

The best way to evaluate your ECs is to be in it for 2+ years with growth (member to president). it’s not quantity but dedication throughout your time (31:00)

Thanks to Redaf for the Guitar Sound Effect licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Thanks to Vibe Mountain for the Intro and Outro Music licensed under CC BY 3.0.

We are re-launching the podcast with a new co-host: Don Gonzalez. You’ve heard from Gonzalez on a previous episode on teacher recommendation letters. Now, he’ll be bringing his perspective as a veteran teacher and administrator to the podcast. This way, we hope to talk about the college application process with a broader perspective. In the episode, we talk about what we hope to talk about in future episodes: how the college admissions process is unfair, how public high schools often fail students, and how to fix it.

Please submit your comments and questions on our Contact Us form.

Sponsors:

Listeners like YOU on Patreon!

Gao Admissions – Test Prep Tutoring and College Counseling from Your Host Michael Gao

Show Notes:

How to get good teacher rec letters

Massive college endowments

Thanks to Redaf for the Guitar Sound Effect licensed under CC BY 3.0.

Early Decision decisions can bring a lot of joy, a lot of despair, or a lot of indecision. If you received a deferral, that can often mean the latter. In this episode, Michael and Sean talk about what a deferral means and some common myths. Then, we talk about the options a deferred applicant has to get into the school during Regular Decision.

Please submit your comments and questions on our Contact Us form.

Sponsors:

Listeners like YOU on Patreon!

Show Notes:

Thanks to Redaf for the Guitar Sound Effect licensed under CC BY 3.0.

This short episode, Sean interviews high school teachers about approaching teachers for letters of rec and the writing process.  We also dispel some of the myths associated with letters of rec, and advise how underclassmen could build relationships with these teachers leading up to the letters of recommendation.