413: Intellectual Curiosity + College Admissions: What It Is, Why It Matters to Colleges, and How to Show It
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Release Date: 12/20/2023
605: Navigating College Applications with AI: How High School Teachers and Students Use Tools Like ChatGPT
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
In today’s episode, Ethan is joined by Jennifer Rubin, Senior Researcher at foundry10 and Principal Investigator of the Digital Technologies and Education Lab. Jen is a first generation college graduate and, like Ethan, she didn't have a ton of support navigating the college application and admission process. When Chat GPT was released, she wondered: How were students actually using these tools for the college essay and application process? And how can we make sure AI becomes a tool for equity, not another advantage for students who already have access? In this conversation, Ethan and...
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604: Inside the Application (Part 5): How to Decide Which College to Attend with Cassidy, HS Senior
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Hi friends, and welcome back to the podcast! Many of you have been following Cassidy, a current high school senior, as she navigates the college application process. We've walked through her brainstorming exercises, her personal statement writing, and her supplemental essays. And now, at long last, Cassidy has received her college acceptances. Rather than reading the email she sent me, I replied, "Hey, I know you got your acceptances. What if we do a live reveal on the podcast?" So, I genuinely don’t know yet where she's been accepted. Huge shoutout to Cassidy for agreeing to do this live!...
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603: Leading Through Chaos: 7 Superpowers for Uncertain Times with Angel Pérez
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
Welcome back to the podcast! Ethan is joined today by Angel Pérez, CEO of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (). Angel has just written a new book on leadership called . It’s written for leaders on college campuses, but the advice he gives is applicable to leaders everywhere, whether you are a college counselor leading in your office, a parent leading in your home, or even a student leading in your school or community. In their conversation, Angel and Ethan discuss: How does Angel define leadership? Why is detachment so important (and how do we do it)? What’s the...
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602: Roles and Identities Part 2 (for Counselors and Educators): A Framework for Understanding How Your Roles Shape Your Work
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
To kick off Season 6, Ethan shares some practical resources based on a new framework he's been exploring. If you’re a regular listener, you’ll already be familiar with something we call the Roles and Identities List, which is a huge menu of roles (things like “catalyst” and “change-maker” and “party-bringer”) — Ethan has used it as a get-to-know-you exercise with a number of previous guests. In case you missed it, of this mini-series where Ethan walked through some practical exercises for students and parents based on the Roles and Identities framework. But...
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601: Roles and Identities Part 1 (for Students and Parents): A Framework for Exploring Who You’ve Been, Who You Are, and Who You’re Becoming
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
To kick off Season 6, Ethan shares some practical resources based on a new framework he's been exploring. If you’re a regular listener, you’ll already be familiar with something we call the Roles and Identities List, which is a huge menu of roles (things like “catalyst” and “change-maker” and “party-bringer”) — Ethan has used it as a get-to-know-you exercise with a number of previous guests. Today’s episode is the first of two where Ethan will dive into a few short, practical exercises for students and parents that can help them figure out things like how...
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523: Busting College Admission Myths Using Data: Standardized Tests, Rankings, and the Cost of College with Akil Bello
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
In today’s episode, Ethan is joined by Akil Bello to talk about standardized tests, rankings, and the cost of college. They dig into some common misconceptions about college including: Are most colleges returning to requiring standardized testing scores? Is it too hard to get into college? Are highly-ranked colleges better? Is it true that most colleges now cost more than $100,000 per year to attend? And more! Akil Bello is an educator, strategist, researcher, policy consultant, and advocate for equitable access to education. For more than 30...
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522: Storytelling & Identity with Ethan Sawyer (Part 4 Bonus Episode!): On Balancing Identities, Writing as a Journey, and the Mystery of Enoughness
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
In our most recent series on storytelling and identity, Ethan sat down with his screenwriter friends to do a deep dive into the creative process, the power of storytelling, and how identity plays a role in both. In this bonus episode, the tables are turned as Ethan is interviewed by CEG Essay Coach, Ali Pineo. In their conversation, Ethan and Ali get into: Ethan’s background and how his identity has evolved over the years The roles Ethan identifies with most: connector, harmonizer, and seeker How Ethan measures success in his personal and professional life His journey from aspiring...
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521: Storytelling & Identity with Ryan Maldonado (Part 3 of 3): On Code-switching, Photographing Living Rooms, and Growing up Not-Rich in Miami
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
In this three-part series, Ethan sits down with his screenwriter friends to do a deep dive into the creative process, the power of storytelling, and how identity plays a role in both. In Episode 3, Ethan is joined by screenwriter Ryan Maldonado, known for his work on AMC’s Parish, Hulu’s Death and Other Details, Amazon’s Hunters, Chicago PD, FBI, and Grey’s Anatomy. Ryan and Ethan talk about, among other things: Ryan’s origin story, how he identifies, and how he became a storyteller What Ryan’s writing process is like and what it’s like working on a TV show How Ryan shows...
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520: Storytelling & Identity w/Whit Anderson (Part 2 of 3): Beating Writer's Block, Writing RomComs and Space Operas, and Female Representation in Hollywood
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
In this three-part series, Ethan sits down with his screenwriter friends to do a deep dive into the creative process, the power of storytelling, and how identity plays a role in both. In Episode 2, Ethan is joined by screenwriter Whit Anderson, known for her work on Daredevil, The Twilight Zone, and Ozark. Whit and Ethan talk about, among other things: How a life-changing illness inspired one of her screenplays The cultural role that storytellers and screenwriters play Whit’s approach to writing, including the use of visuals and detailed outlines The challenges of working in a...
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519: Storytelling & Identity with Dave Callaham (Part 1 of 3): What it’s Like Writing Marvel Movies, Asian-American Representation in Hollywood, and Advice on Finding Your Voice
The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions
In this new three-part series, Ethan sits down with his screenwriter friends to do a deep dive into the creative process, the power of storytelling, and how identity plays a role in both. In Episode 1, Ethan is joined by screenwriter Dave Callaham, known best for Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse, Shang Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings, Wonder Woman 1984 and many others. Dave and Ethan discuss, among other things: When Dave knew he was a storyteller The “armor” that Dave wears (how he presents physically vs. who he is) What the process of writing Shang-Chi was like, especially...
info_outlineIn today’s episode, Tom Campbell (CEG’s Community Manager) and Susan Tree (a college counseling and admissions legend with 40+ years of experience) chat about “intellectual curiosity”: a quality that many colleges actively look for in students, yet is a little more ambiguous and nuanced compared to mapping out a high school course plan.
This is part 2 of a series about students’ academic background and interests and how they factor into the admissions process. Part 1 is about all things related to the academic part of a student’s college application— which, at many selective colleges, is seen as the “foot in the door” of their selection process.
On the episode you’ll hear Susan and Tom discuss:
- Identifying an academic superpower and framing it in that way in your college application
- How coming across as "too complete" to colleges (as in, you have no bigger questions you'd like to solve) can actually make your application less competitive
- How to infuse intellectual curiosity into your supplemental essays
- Showing academic and nonacademic alignment for particularly popular majors
Hope you enjoy.
Play-by-Play
- 1:38 - Reframing your accomplishments as superpowers
- 7:12 - Identifying your learning style among Architects, Gardeners, and Explorers
- 10:22 - Why colleges want different types of learners
- 13:52 - Why communicating what you’re curious about to admissions officers is a good idea
- 15:07 - Staying in touch with who you are on your application
- 19:17 - Understanding the pressure to present a complete version of yourself
- 22:55 - An example of showing intellectual curiosity through supplemental essays
- 26:44 - The value of curiosity in non-academic spaces
- 32:52 - How highly-selective colleges evaluate quality vs. quantity in their applicants
- 38:51 - What is academic alignment vs. non-academic alignment? How does this impact the way colleges read applications?
- 43:34 - What if your high school doesn’t offer specialized programs to help you explore your intellectual curiosity?
- 46:49 - Final thoughts
Resources