- The Leg Up
- Posts
- While You’ve Been Doing APs and Attending Prom... I’ve Been Taking Notes
While You’ve Been Doing APs and Attending Prom... I’ve Been Taking Notes
Last week, I hit the road for professional development - and came back with fresh tips. Plus, I also have some summer camp dates and an essay convo you’ll want to watch.
Randi Heathman
May 14, 2025
May always feels like one of those blink-and-you’ll-miss-it months. For most of my students, it’s a whirlwind of AP exams, the kickoff to horse show season, prom prep, final projects, and - let’s be honest - trying to survive until summer break. As such, this month can be a little quieter for me, but that’s actually a good thing because it gives me the chance to lean into professional development.
Last week, I had the chance to attend my national independent educational consulting conference in Detroit, where I spent several days talking with college reps, diving into trends in college admissions, and co-presenting a session with my longtime colleague Cindy Allerman. It was energizing, thought-provoking, and full of ideas I’ve already put to work with students and families.
In this month’s newsletter, I’ll share some standout tips I think you'll find valuable - especially if you're in the thick of planning for applications, visits, or summer enrichment. There are also some new summer camp dates (yay!), and I’ve included a link to the replay from my most recent ECA Live conversation with award-winning author and essay coach Rennie Dyball. If essays are looming large in your life right now, don’t miss this one - we covered everything from getting started to quieting that pesky inner critic.
Thanks for reading, and as always, I’m cheering you on as we head into the final stretch of the school year!
Congratulations to all! |
“College admission is a HUMAN process, not a HUMANE one.”
Key conference takeaways:
Not all colleges are the same, so applying to “the Ivies” actually means applying to a group of schools with little in common (besides their low acceptance rates).
Standardized tests aren’t as consistent as the companies make them out to be and the tests are also better able to indicate what a student’s GPA is because more students are scoring high on the tests, not because students are smarter in general.
The whole point of the holistic college application review is to get to know the student, better understand who they are and what they’re doing. The more personal and insightful they are in their applications, the better the chance of admission.
All students have admission “hooks” - they just don’t know what they are because institutions never share their priorities from year to year.
Academic rigor also doesn’t have to be a soul sucker. (Rigor for the sake of rigor also doesn’t serve the student’s best interests.)
Highly selective colleges haven’t increased the size of their first year classes since the Carter administration, so competition for spaces only gets more fierce each year.