107: What I've Learned from Reading Over 10,000 College Essays

I chat with Parke Muth, former Associate Dean of Admissions at UVA. We cover, among other things: What Parke has learned reading over 10,000 college essays We’ll go behind-the-scenes to look at how close decisions are sometimes made by committees at highly-selective universities (and why essays matter even more as a result) What Parke wrote his college essay about Parke’s 10% rule for when students should/shouldn’t write about their activities or achievements What an “authentic voice” is and why, contrary to popular wisdom, we maybe shouldn’t be encouraging students to write in it Some dos and don’ts for the “Why us” essay, including one thing students should definitely do but most don’t, and Why Parke believes his job is better than being a king