Telling Your Story

Dean Lee Coffin of Dartmouth says that “any application to any college is the union of two things: data and voice.” In this encore episode of Admissions Beat, first aired in July 2020 on its predecessor podcast, The Search, Dean Coffin turns to the storytelling and narrative elements (and opportunities) of an application. Along with guest Meredith Reynolds, a former Tufts admissions officer who is the associate director of college guidance of Roxbury Latin School in Boston, Dean Coffin provides practical advice and perspective on the two main writing sections of most college applications: the personal statement, as well as the short, supplemental questions that are specific to particular colleges. They are also joined by two college applicants — Rashad Brown Mitchell and Maya Newell — who read excerpts from their college application essays, with Ms. Reynolds and Dean Coffin providing analysis in real-time. As Ms. Reynolds puts it: “Admissions officers are just humans who love a good story.”