Advertising
The Harvard Crimson is the nation’s oldest continuously published daily college newspaper and the only daily publication of Cambridge, Massachusetts. We work with advertisers ranging from national companies to local businesses, from student recruiters to advertising agencies.
The media and advertising industry is a constantly changing landscape, and our business team is focused on innovative advertising solutions to stay ahead of the curve and deliver results to our clients.
The Harvard Crimson Presents
Successful college application insights
College application season is tough. There's so much to navigate, from essays to activity lists, that it can seem overwhelming. In this article, The Harvard Crimson has partnered with notable college consultants to provide applicants with tips and tricks to get into their dream schools.
Insight #1
Stop Building a College Application. Build the Evidence Instead.
By Anya Ilkys, Founder & Chief Educational Strategist, College Starpoint
I've spent my career sitting on both sides of the admissions desk. For 17 years, I worked inside higher education in admissions, enrollment management, financial aid, and international and graduate student services. Today, I help families navigate the college admissions process from the other side.
That perspective taught me something I wish every parent understood.
Most students spend high school trying to build a college application, and I understand why. The process has become so competitive that it's easy to believe success comes from collecting enough impressive experiences: another AP class, another leadership position, another summer program, another club.
But after years working inside higher education, including serving as the Assistant Dean of International and Graduate Students, I can tell you that's not how admissions officers think. They're not asking, “How many impressive things has this student done?” They're trying to answer a much simpler question: Why should we admit this student?
Everything else (the transcript, activities, essays, recommendations and interviews) is evidence used to answer that exact question.
That realization completely changed the way I think about admissions, and today it shapes almost every conversation I have with families. College applications don't tell colleges who you are. They present evidence of who you've become.
Or, put even more simply: Admissions officers don't admit claims. They admit evidence.
What admissions officers actually remember
One application from my admissions days has stayed with me for years. The student wanted to become an engineer. If you looked only at her statistics, she probably wouldn't have been the first application to catch your attention. Her GPA wasn't the highest in the pool, and there were applicants with longer résumés and more awards.
What she had, though, was clarity.
Her fascination with Formula 1 cars was impossible to miss. Her personal essay explored her interest in high-performance engines and the research she had done to understand how they worked. She participated in robotics because she genuinely loved building and solving problems. She worked at a local auto body shop, helping with vehicle intake and learning how to assess mechanical issues. On her own, she had explored aerodynamics because she wanted to understand why Formula 1 cars could perform the way they did.
Then I reached one of her supplemental essays. She wrote about spending Sundays watching Formula 1 races with her dad.
That essay wasn't really about Formula 1. It was about curiosity, family, and how an interest had grown into something much deeper. More importantly, it didn't suddenly create a story that wasn't there before. It confirmed everything the rest of the application had already been telling us.
By the time I finished reading her file, nobody needed to tell me she was passionate about engineering. I had already seen the evidence.
She didn't have the longest résumé in the applicant pool. She had one of the clearest.
That distinction matters. Admissions officers have to understand an applicant well enough to discuss that student with colleagues and, in many cases, advocate for them. If someone can summarize who you are in two or three sentences and the rest of your application supports that description, you've made that job much easier.
This is also why every additional activity adds information, but it doesn't always add value. Three more clubs won't necessarily make a student more compelling. Sometimes they simply make the application busier.
Ask a different question
Parents regularly ask me whether their child should do research, start a nonprofit, attend a particular summer program or pursue another leadership position. What they're really asking, of course, is, “Will this help with college admissions?”
I usually answer with a different question: What evidence will this create?
Will the experience demonstrate initiative or intellectual curiosity? Will it show leadership, resilience or the ability to solve a difficult problem? Will it help the student become a better communicator, collaborator or thinker?
That's a much more useful way to evaluate an opportunity than asking whether it will “look good.” It also changes the way students spend their high school years. Instead of accumulating experiences, they begin choosing experiences that actually develop them.
And that's particularly important now. Artificial intelligence is reshaping industries and careers faster than any of us can predict. By the time today's high school students graduate from college, some of the jobs they'll pursue may look very different from the ones that exist today. Developing transferable skills—communication, adaptability, judgment, leadership and critical thinking—matters far beyond an admissions decision.
The strongest applications aren't created during senior year. They're the result of hundreds of decisions made over four years: what a student chooses to explore, where they go deeper, how they respond when something is difficult, and what they decide matters enough to keep pursuing.
So when families ask me what a student should do next, this is the advice I come back to: Don't build your high school experience around what you think colleges want to see. Build a life that excites you, challenges you, and helps you grow.
If students do that thoughtfully, the application will follow. Because ultimately, a college application doesn't tell colleges who a student is. It presents evidence of who they've become.
Continue the Conversation with College Starpoint
Is your student building the right admissions evidence?
Download College Starpoint's free Admissions Evidence Guide.
Want more access to the people and information shaping college admissions?
Explore upcoming College Starpoint Expert Series webinars, featuring conversations with university admissions representatives and other higher ed experts who work directly with students and families.
Ready to talk about your student's individual college strategy?
Schedule a complimentary 45-minute strategy session with Anya Ilkys.
About College Starpoint
College Starpoint is a boutique college admissions advisory firm founded by Anya Ilkys, a former higher education administrator with 17 years of experience in admissions, enrollment management, financial aid, as well as international and graduate student services. College Starpoint works with students beginning as early as ninth grade, helping families make thoughtful decisions about academics, extracurricular development, testing, college selection and application strategy long before senior year arrives.
Insight #2
5 Ways to Support Your Senior This Season (Without Taking Over)
Shared by Jennifer MacLure, Founder of My Pathway to College
Application season is here, and if you're a parent right now, you already want to jump in and help. That instinct makes total sense. Watching your child navigate something this big is stressful, and you want to make it easier for them.
Here's the issue, though: how you help matters. Research on what's called overparenting has found that when parents take over instead of coaching, students report more anxiety and less confidence, not less. The effect gets even stronger as kids get older, which means senior year is exactly the time to give them some autonomy.
So what does good support actually look like? Think coach, not player. You're on the sidelines with guidance and a steady presence, but your student is the one making the calls, writing the emails, and hitting submit. When they do that themselves, they walk away from the process with more than a finished application. They walk away knowing they can handle hard things.
Here are five ways to support your senior well this season:
1. Review the resume and transcript together.
Take a look at your child's resume and make sure every activity, honor, and accomplishment is included. Then review the transcript for accuracy, checking that course names, grades, and credits all match what your student has actually completed. A second set of eyes catches things students often forget.
2. Review the college list.
Aim for two to three schools in each range, likely, target, target-reach, and reach, that fit your student academically and socially, and that are financially within reach for your family. A balanced list makes the process exciting and rewarding. No one wants to gamble with all reaches. Jeff Selingo's book Dream School: Finding the College That's Right for You is a great resource if you want to dig into this further.
3. Read essays once they're finalized.
Once your student feels good about their essay, take a read through. Your perspective is valuable, and reading a finished draft, rather than editing along the way, keeps the voice and ideas theirs.
4. Set a regular check-in day.
College admissions can bring up a lot of feelings for everyone in the house. Agree on one day a week to talk through where things stand, so the conversation stays contained rather than becoming a daily source of stress.
5. Get a head start on financial aid.
Financial aid forms can be completed starting October 1. Getting a jump on these early takes one more thing off everyone's plate later in the season.
Your senior is capable of more than you might think. Give them the room to prove it, and you'll both be glad you did.
“Jennifer and their team are absolutely amazing! They supported us through the college process for both of our kids, and they both ended up with one of their top choices. Their ability to nudge kids along in a way that is persistent and focused, but simultaneously gentle and understanding, is truly an art. Using their services minimized the stress that I'm positive would have otherwise built friction within our family. I also appreciate the time they took to get to know the kids and learn about their interests, which led to grounding conversations about why they were interested in specific schools and whether those schools matched their true interests. My Pathway to College is an investment in our kids and their futures that we will never regret.”
— Parent, class of 2026 & 2023
Your child's path to college is uniquely theirs. With the right guidance, they can turn their interests, strengths, and goals into a college plan that feels authentic and achievable. Instead of following a one-size-fits-all formula, we help them discover what matters most and build a pathway that fits where they want to go. (Read our recent blog post, “5 Ways for Students to Stand Out in Admissions,” for our top tips.)
With My Pathway to College, your family has a dedicated team of experienced counselors and essay coaches in your corner from freshman year through selecting the best-fit college. We keep our caseload intentionally small, so every student gets personal attention, and we break the process into manageable steps to keep your family informed and supported along the way.
Contact us: mypathwaytocollege.com | info@mypathwaytocollege.com
