My favorite part of the advising process is helping students develop their personal statement, a distinct narrative that essentially serves as a snapshot into the mind of the applicant. While college applications can feel dehumanizing in a sense, where stats and awards may seem like the central determinants in a student's chances at admission to a particular school, a strong essay that conveys a distinct, and meaningful narrative can be extremely effective in appealing to admissions officers. My advising process begins with encouraging a student's personal reflection, asking the best questions to help distill their clear answers to some fundamental questions: "who am I?", "what makes me unique?", "what impact do I want to make in this world?", and "what is my vision of an ideal college experience?". Once the student has greater clarity on these points, everything else begins to fall into place, as it is far easier to determine which schools and programs will be the best fit. Once a list of potential "reach", "target", and "safety" schools has been made, I make sure to create a comprehensive timeline, mapping out deadlines across all the schools the student is interested in. Putting all this information in one place, I make sure that student is aware of, and ahead of, all deadlines. In addition, I emphasize the importance of setting internal deadlines for all essays and supplements to allow plenty of buffer time for rewrites and revisions. I love providing motivated students with the extra push of support and guidance through this process, and of course, seeing where they end up in college, and in life!!!