Collegewise

Written by real people, for real people

Too many business websites are filled with jargon and business-speak, afraid to just talk to their potential customers like real people.  So I love it when I come across a business who gets it right.  Here are a few examples of sites I think do a great job of not just explaining (clearly) what they do, but also who they are, what they care about, and what type of customer will enjoy doing business with them.

Emma Email Marketing 

Full disclosure—we’re an Emma customer and we’re featured in their “customer stories.”  But while I think their service is great, what drew me to them in the first place was their website. 

I love the way they come right out and explain what their service does in plain, often funny, English.  Check out the "Meet Us" section.  You feel like you get to know the company, what they stand for, and the people who work there.  And best of all, it feels like they’ve taken a lot of time to not only share what they want visitors to know, but also to figure out what a visitor wants shared.   

Saddleback Leather 
I've never bought anything from Saddleback Leather, but I love that the founder, Dave, doesn’t try to sound like a big company—he isn’t one.  He’s one-person shop who’s proud of what he does, passionate about his work, and comfortable sharing his story in real language, like this paragraph from the Saddleback story.

It all began when I had my first bag made while living in Southern Mexico as a volunteer English teacher to kids who needed a little help. I had looked everywhere for just the right bag, but with no luck…In my search, I walked into a little leather shop and met the fellow working leather in the back. I asked him if he could make me a bag if I were to draw it out. I told him that I wanted this bag to be made so well that my grandkids would be fighting over it while I was still warm in the grave. He said “Si” and I said “Bueno” and that’s how it all started.

And Dave’s got some swagger.  He lists the websites of all his major competitors and tells visitors, "Go ahead... the more you shop, the better we look."

Contrast the feel of Dave’s site with that of industry giant Coach.  Here’s a snippet from their “Mission Statement”

The Brand is our touchstone.  The Coach brand represents a unique synthesis of magic and logic that stands for quality, authenticity, value and a truly aspirational, distinctive American style. Everything we make, advocate or engage in reflects the attributes of the brand.”

Does this make you want to buy from Coach?  No.  What does it even mean?  It sounds like it was written by a marketing committee, not a real person who's passionate about making great leather bags.  And I’m pretty sure “aspirational” isn’t a real word, but we’ll leave that alone for now.

Rivendell Bicycle Works

I’m not a cyclist, but it’s obvious that the folks behind Rivendell Bicycle Works are.  They’re not trying to sell to everybody—just to people who are most likely to appreciate what they do.  Check out how direct and opinionated they are on their big picture page.  

For non-competitive riding, it's hard to justify tires smaller than 28mm.  Actually, it's hard to justify tires smaller than 32mm. Unless your justification amounts to, "I just bought some, I ride them, I say I like 'em, and that's final." Logic always loses arguments with emotion!

"You may personally prefer welded frames, or fillet-brazed frames, and that’s fine. We prefer them lugged, and so that’s all we make."

"Modern bikes have too many gears…Our attitude toward the number of cogs on the rear hub is: Seven is heaven, eight is great, nine is fine, ten is kind of getting ridiculous, but it won’t kill you."

They even offer tips for happy riding.  Here are a few:

Signal your approach to pedestrians, especially if they're old, and a bell is better than "On your left!" If no bell, try clacking your brake levers. If all you got is "On your left!" that's fine, but if you ride a lot on paths, get a bell.

"Carry an extra tube you can give to somebody with a flat tire and just a repair kit."

"If you're a guy, don't try to be a mentor to every female cyclist you meet."

"Put a $20 bill inside your seat post or handlebar and hold it there, somehow."

"Don't ride until you're confident you can fix a flat."

If you're not an over-the-top bike enthusiast and you just want something cheap, you aren't a customer who's going to buy from Rivendell.  So they don't try to sell to you.  If you're fanatical about pedals and frames and tires--you're just like folks at Rivendell.  They make gear for you.  Then they come right out and tell you what they're all about.  There’s no boring writing here.  The copy’s got oomph.  It makes me wish I were a cyclist. 

Whether you're writing a business website, a blog, a college essay, or even an email messages, it's always best to be clear, be honest and be yourself.  Write like a real person who's writing to real people, because you (almost) always are.

Welcoming five new additions to our Irvine, CA office

You know you've made a great hiring decision when you're excited to tell people about it.  And we're really excited to tell you about five new additions who've joined our Irvine, CA office.  So here they are, complete with our usual folksy bios. 

Breanne Boyle 
College counselor & essay specialist

Back in high school, Breanne worked at Baskin Robbins where she could scoop ice cream with both arms simultaneously, a feat that earned her much acclaim in her hometown of Upland, California.  Upon graduation, she turned down lucrative full-time job offers from several nationally-ranked ice cream establishments who were eager to capitalize on her scooping stardom, choosing instead to enroll in college, more specifically, Miami University, not to be confused with the University of Miami, which is why the school officials refer to their institution as either “Miami University of Ohio” or “Not the University of Miami!”  After winning a collegiate national championship in Mock Trial, Breanne graduated with degrees in English and creative writing, enrolled in UC San Diego’s college counseling certification program and went to work as a recruiter for Miami where she visited high schools, spoke with interested students and often said things like, “NO—we are NOT the University of Miami!  What is WRONG with you people!?”  Today, she is both an essay specialist and a full-time college counselor at Collegewise, a closeted World of Warcraft gamer, and not-so-closeted fan of the Real Housewives franchise (with strong opinions as to the relative merits of each cast and storyline).  She also has a horse named “Sassy” who is, apparently, aptly named.

Neekta Khorsand
College essay specialist

Neekta taught herself to read when she was five, which is pretty impressive.  She also loved biting into raw onions like they were apples, which is pretty unusual.  When her second grade teacher asked her to help her fellow classmates with their reading, aforementioned fellow classmates would often say, “Thank you so much for helping me learn to read!,” “You’re very impressive!,” and “Your breath smells like onions!”  After continuing her reading and (thankfully) discontinuing her raw onion eating, Neekta went on to double-major in English literature and American studies at San Francisco State University which, as she puts it, kept her “swimming in a sea of writing.”  Not literally, of course, as to our knowledge there are no bodies of water filled with writing.  But she did write.  A lot.  She’s also worked as a writing tutor in San Francisco State’s English Tutoring Center, and, more recently, as a volunteer with 826LA, a non-profit writing and tutoring center, where she offered personalized college essay assistance to high school students throughout Los Angeles.  When she’s not reading, writing or helping students with college essays, Neekta enjoys eating Thai food, singing the occasional karaoke tune, and quoting virtually every line from the movie “Wayne’s World.” 

Carolyn Sam Rojo 
College essay specialist

When Carolyn was a junior in high school, she showed up to the PSAT with seven perfectly sharpened pencils.  And her own pencil sharpener.   That fanatical attention to academic detail has served her well.  Today, Carolyn is a 2006 graduate of UC San Diego and a 2009 graduate of University of San Diego School of Law.  In college she was Summa Cum Laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and a host of other Latin acknowledgements which, loosely translated, all mean, “I’ve had straight A’s since birth.”  She also played both flag-football and softball while in law school and is the only person we have ever met who writes rough drafts of thank-you notes.  So if you’re her competitor in a classroom, in a courtroom, or on the field, well, good luck—you’re going to need it.  And if you need help with your college essay (or if you’re just trying to come up with a nice thank-you note to Grandma), be assured that Carolyn can help you.  Before joining Collegewise as a college essay specialist, Carolyn spent a year with the AmeriCorps VISTA program helping refugee families learn English and adjust to life in the U.S.   She also still gets out on the ol’ softball field regularly and loves yoga where she resists the urge to bring seven perfectly-rolled mats to every class.

Rachael Ryan 
Assistant college counselor

Rachael is rabbit phobic.  Seriously—she finds rabbits extremely creepy.  Not surprisingly, she is also not a fan of the Easter Bunny, magicians, or South Dakota State University (whose mascot is the Jackrabbit).  Rachael was a career advisor at FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising) where she counseled students on resumé writing, interviewing, the importance of balancing your own style with what’s trendy, and how to look current and sophisticated simultaneously (there is a reason the white button-front shirt is so popular—it’s professional and easy to dress up or down!).  She is a graduate of University of La Verne and has a master’s degree in college counseling and student development from Azusa Pacific University, schools whose mascots—the leopard and the cougar respectively—are, not coincidentally, natural rabbit predators.

Shelley Paget
Assistant college counselor

Shelley is a country music fanatic, so much so that she has been known to belt out a mean karaoke version of “Friends in Low Places” by Garth Brooks.  She also believes that Target--not Disneyland--is the happiest place on earth, especially when country music is playing over the store sound system.  Sure, Disneyland may occasionally play country music, but can you buy a reasonably-priced natural wood Adirondack outdoor patio collection there like you can at Target?  Nope.  Didn’t think so.  Shelley graduated from Cal State Fullerton, earned her master’s degree in educational counseling at Azusa Pacific University, and recently completed a college counseling internship at Brea Olinda High School.  When she’s not college counseling, listening to country music or shopping at Target, you can probably find Shelley at Angel Stadium.  Really, there’s a very good chance of that; she loves going to Angels baseball games so much that she moved right across the street.  Beat that, A’s and Red Sox fans!

Cultivating good writing

One of my friend’s (now former) bosses once sent the company a two page email that did something amazing—it said absolutely nothing.  Our group of friends has since read it dozens of times trying to find one cogent point (it’s possible we’ve even done dramatic readings).  But we can’t find one.  It’s just two pages of vague abstractions and generalities punctuated with phrases like, “The big duh is…” and “It’s here like a really loud knock at the door.”  It's hard to believe that the writer really expected anyone to appreciate or benefit from the message.  And if you're going to say nothing at all, you’d be better off sending just that—nothing at all.     

I’ve written before about the dangers of bad writing in business and college essays.  But for high school students, here are a few more writing thoughts, whether or not you consider yourself a writer.   

1. If you like to write, work hard to get great at it.
Writing is a strength worth maximizing.  Do rough drafts of your essays and get your teacher’s feedback before turning in your final version.  Enroll in a creative writing or business communication class at your local community college.  Take the extra five minutes to write a good email that’s properly punctuated.  Writing happens to be one of those strengths that gets regularly rewarded in both your personal and professional life.  So why not maximize that strength?   

2. If you don’t like to write, work to get better at it.
I think students should spend less time fixing their weaknesses and more time improving their strengths.  But writing is just too important to be bad at it.  You can’t get into college without writing an essay.  You can’t get a job without writing a cover letter.  You can’t communicate with anyone of importance without writing an email.  It's usually not fun to work at something you struggle doing.  But you have a choice.  You can spend time improving your writing or you can lament the opportunities you miss because your writing wasn’t up to par.  Here’s a recent post from Seth Godin with some simple rules for better writing, and one of mine on how to write a good email message. 

3. Make sure your organization has great writers on staff. 
When we hire anyone at Collegewise—from counselors to editors to assistants—we pay great attention to their cover letters (and we’re not the only company who does this).   I think great writing is a sign of clear thinking as well as clear communicating.  When we’re trying to decide between two potential hires at Collegewise, we always hire the better writer.   

There’s no reason leaders in high school activities couldn’t do the same thing.  Whether you’re in the student counsel, the Spanish Club or the National Honor Society, identify who the great writers are.  If you don’t have any, recruit some.  Run an announcement in the daily bulletin that the Spanish Club is looking for a good writer to join their ranks.  Then put those writers to use, which brings me to... 

4. Let your best writers handle your organization’s written communications.
If you’re going to send something out to your club, team, school yearbook staff, etc., have one of the designated writers handle it.  If the message really needs to come from a specific person who isn’t one of the writers, have that person write the message and let one of the writers edit it.  If you’re saying to yourself, “But that takes so much longer,” you’re right.   You can have speed, or you can have great writing.  But you can’t always have both.

Your successful college career starts now

You will never have as much time and opportunity available to you as you will during your four years of college.  And while there are plenty of things you can do to make that time as productive and fun as possible, here are my top five college to-do’s that will help you become a successful and employable college graduate. 

1. Major in a subject that fascinates you.  Too many college students study what they think they should study.  Or they pick a major for all the wrong reasons.  (Do you know how many college students major biology or political science because they mistakenly think those are the pre-med and pre-law majors?)  You should major in something that you actually want to learn about, something where studying doesn’t feel like work.  The benefit here is obvious—the more you enjoy what you’re learning, the better you’ll perform academically and the more engaged you'll be.

2. Discover and develop a talent.   Coaching intramural volleyball, doing scientific research, painting, translating Spanish, writing, peer counseling, public speaking—all of them are talents that could be put to use in a successful career.  College is your opportunity to figure out what you’re good at and then get better at it.  But you can’t just sit by passively waiting for your talents to reveal and perfect themselves.  You’ll need to work every day to find and develop them.

3. Find at least one activity that you love, and commit yourself deeply to it.  You should try lots of things in college.  But successful students eventually find one activity where they dedicate substantial time.  It’s the resident advisor who works as an RA for two years, then gets promoted to help hire and train new advisors.   It’s the fraternity member who holds several offices and eventually becomes the president, who can proudly talk about the improvements he initiated and why the chapter is bigger and stronger than ever now.  It’s the social science major who starts working with a professor to do research and is eventually invited to TA the class.  Those students won’t just list their primary activity on a resume.  They can talk about the impact they made, what they learned, and how they could bring those experiences to a new job.   

4. Cultivate mentors.  You will be surrounded by smart, dedicated people in college—professors, faculty, internship directors, advisors, etc.  Successful students graduate with one or more mentors who have taken a personal interest in them, who can give them advise, serve as references, or write letters of recommendation.  But this is a question of effort.  How hard are you willing to work to learn from them?  What are you willing to give back in terms of time and effort for them to take a personal interest in your development and success?  The best way to do this is to follow suggestions 1-3 and be willing to ask for help or advice while you’re doing them. 

5. Don’t be afraid to fail.  You can have a safe college career with a safe major and a safe list of activities that don’t challenge you.  Or you could take smart risks.  You could enroll in one class every semester that looked interesting but also very difficult.  You could apply for internships that would force you to learn new skills, try new activities that push you, and contribute to class discussions even though you don’t feel confident.  The students who are willing to do those things are the ones who will trasnform during their time in college.  They’ll be smarter, more talented, more confident and better supported by smart people than those who played it safe.

Now, here’s the surprise—you don’t have to be in college to do these things.  The students who get accepted to college are already doing them.  So if you’re in high school, what are you waiting for?  Your successful college career can start now.

When SAT scores are ancient history

There's a reason why you almost never hear people talk about their SAT scores after high school--nobody cares.

If you scored well and force it into conversation, you'll sound like someone trying to relive a high school glory. And the people who lament poor SAT scores once they've left high school are almost always laughing about it, not unlike the way some people laugh about the terrible fashion or hair styles they chose during their teen years. Good or bad, it's ancient high school history. You move on after graduation.

As long as test scores are used for college admissions purposes, it's normal for high school students and parents to worry about them (a little). But the SAT's importance has an expiration date. Once you go to college, it's unlikely that anyone will ever ask you--or even care--what your SAT (or ACT) scores were. Millions of students have gone to college with all levels of test scores, and just about all of them create college and post-college lives based on things that have nothing to do with how they scored on those tests.

Test scores won't define your future. Don't give them more attention, worry or prep money than they deserve.

Five months to go...

If you had five months to study for final exams, wouldn't that be more than enough time to prepare? Would you ever let yourself put it off until the night before?

For the class of 2012, your college application deadlines are about five months away. Don't let yourself end up in a position where you're scrambling to write your essays the night before, or begging a teacher to write a letter of rec just one week before the deadline, or wishing you had just a little more time to think about the short answer questions. There's plenty of time between now and then to do this process right, with as little stress as possible.

For private counselors: How to handle questions about your competition

Prospective families will sometimes ask us, “How are you different from (insert name of competitor here)?"  I don’t think it’s unreasonable for someone to ask the question.  But they’re not just asking us about Collegewise; they’re asking us to speak on behalf of our competitors, too.  And that’s not something we can—or should—try to answer with any real accuracy.       

It's not a good idea to speak for your competitors.  We can tell a family everything you’d ever want to know about Collegewise.  And I could give you my completely biased version about why I think we’re the greatest college counselors in the universe.  But that doesn’t mean it’s a good idea for me to speak on the specifics of our competitors’ offerings, or to tell you what I think their strengths and weaknesses are.  I wouldn’t want a competitor speaking for us in that situation, either.  And the truth is that describing why you’re “better” than your competition makes you look insecure more often than it makes you look confident. 

So when a family asks us how we differ from our competitors, we reverse the question. 

“Sure, have you spoken with any competitors in particular?  Great.  What did she tell you about her program?” 

From there, the customer should do the comparison, not us.  They can ask the comparison questions, like,

“(Competitor) said they offer career testing as part of their service.  Does Collegewise do that, too?”  (No, we don’t).    

We always encourage families to look around and consider all of their counseling options.  Meet with a few private counselors and choose the one that you and your kids feel most comfortable with.  If they’d like them, we’re happy to give families the names and numbers of our most popular competitors.  But we won’t speak for them. 

Should you do an on-campus interview?

For seniors planning college visits this summer, you'll find that many schools offer an on-campus interview.  And while on-campus interviews are almost always optional, a lot of eager students jump at the chance for some face time with the admission officers (or are thrown into spending aforementioned face time by an eager parent).

So, should you do an on-campus interview? Here are few things to consider before you make that decision.

1.  Figure out if the interview is informative or evaluative. 

Informative interviews aren’t used for admissions evaluation purposes.  They’re just an opportunity for you to learn more about the school and ask questions of an admissions officer (or current student).  Here’s how Johns Hopkins describes their informative interviews:

"Interviews typically address your academic background, goals, interests, and what you would contribute to the campus community. More informative than evaluative, these conversations will also allow you time to ask questions of your interviewer and learn about his/her Johns Hopkins experience."  Full text is here: 

Evaluative interviews, on the other hand, mean that what you say can and will be used to judge you in the court of admissions. Yale offers evaluative on-campus interviews:

"An interview is not a required part of the application process, but we encourage you to meet and talk with a Yale alumnus/a or student interviewer when possible. An interview will let you learn more about Yale and have a further chance to share information about yourself. All Yale interviews, both those with alumni and those with current Yale seniors, are evaluative. We read interview reports along with all your other application materials."  Full text is here.

2.  Ask yourself if you really want to interview.

You should never interview just because it’s offered.  Interview if it's something you want to do.

An informative interview can be a great way to learn more about a school you’re really interested in.  But it can also be a great way to torture an admissions officer when you don’t know much about the school, can’t think of anything you want to know about, or just aren’t all that interested.  If you’d be excited to learn more about the school from someone who can really answer your questions, great.  But don’t do one just because you think you should.

And just because an interview is evaluative doesn’t mean that every interested student should do one.  To have a good interview, you need to have something to say.  You need to be comfortable having a relaxed conversation, telling someone more about yourself, and asking questions to which you sincerely want to know the answers.  If you don’t think you can do those things, don’t beat yourself up.  That’s why interviews are optional—they’re not a good idea for everyone.  And it’s better to have no interview than to have a bad one.

Of course, if you have questions about interviews that aren’t answered on the college’s website, don’t be afraid to ask.  Most admissions officers are happy to answer those questions when you’ve already taken the time to read what they’ve shared for you on the website.

Should you visit a college over the summer?

You might have heard that you should only visit a college when school is in session, that visiting over the summer doesn’t give you the same feel as when the campus is alive with students.  That’s true.  But it can also be unrealistic advice to follow, especially if you’re traveling a good distance to see the school.  It’s not easy to leave your classes and activities behind for 2 or 3 days to visit colleges.  So is it worth doing summer visits? 

I think visiting a college during the summer is better than not visiting at all.  Before you do, call the office on campus that schedules tours and make sure they’ll be offering them.  And keep in mind that you might not be able to sit in on a class, tour a dorm, or take advantage of some of the other deeper exploration you might be able to do if the school were in session.  Truthfully, a lot of teenagers don’t enjoy turning a campus browse into a 4-hour test drive.  So if you’re interested in a school and you have an opportunity to visit over the summer, do it.  Don’t write it off just because the school isn’t in session.

Introducing our new college counselor: Breanne Boyle

This week, we’re welcoming our new counselor, Breanne Boyle, to our Irvine, Ca office.

Who's Breanne?
While I’m putting the finishing touches on Breanne’s folksy bio for our website, here are a few things to know and like about her.  Breanne went to Miami University of Ohio (which is decidedly not the same place as the University of Miami), then worked as one of their recruiters while earning her college counseling certification from UC San Diego.  She also writes a blog about her dogs and how crazy they are.  She definitely knows her way around words. 

Why did we pick Breanne?
I write often on this blog about how important it is for students to pursue what they love, to be yourself, and to pick colleges that are most likely to appreciate you for exactly who you are.  It’s also a pretty good way to find a job.  Breanne has a passion for colleges and for the admissions process.  She loved going to high schools and recruiting for Miami so much that she did the college counseling certification program at UC San Diego on her own time (with her own money).  That’s passion. 

When she started looking for jobs, she said that our ad spoke to her and that she liked our vibe.  Her cover letter showed it.  She just got us.  And it wasn’t just because of the last line, “Plus, I had a Chinchilla once, too.  His name was Babaloo.  No last name.”  That’s matchmaking and being yourself. 

And when we met her, learned how excited she was about the oportunity to help kids apply to college, and saw for ourselves that she could really make some valuable contributions to our customers and to our programs, we knew we’d found our next counselor.  

She’ll be working with seniors this summer, helping us do seminars for our families, and explaining to anyone who will listen that Miami University is not the same as University of Miami.  So everyone, please say “Hi” to Breanne and welcome her to Collegewise.