The College Essay Guy Podcast: A Practical Guide to College Admissions

Hi there and welcome back to the podcast! I'm Tillie Gottlieb, a senior college counselor and content specialist here at CEG. I am delighted to be a guest host today as part of our series interviewing admission officers. We're getting to know more about this hardworking, thoughtful group of professionals whose job it is to build college communities and shape the culture of our higher education institutions - talk about high pressure!  Hearing about their own journeys through the education system, their reasons for working with students all over the world, and the commitments they're making to bringing ease and clarity to this complex system can serve as a great reminder that admission officers are true advocates and real humans (and I also happen to know this because I was an admission officer!) Our hope is that by getting to know these folks on a personal level, we can pull back the curtain on the mystery of 'what college admission officers are looking for.' In this episode I sit down with Marie Bury Loew, a very dear friend and an Associate Director of Admission at the University of Southern California (go Trojans!), as well as a Doctoral Candidate for Educational Leadership at USC. In this episode, we dig into: Marie's journey as rural, underserved student and tips for how to support those kinds of students today Insider insights into the current realities of the admission landscape The questions institutions like USC wishes more students would ask  Marie Bury Loew is a proud graduate of Mount Ida College, where she received her bachelor's and master's degrees. With nearly 15+ years of experience in college admission, Marie has worked at a variety of institutions from small liberal arts colleges, to mid-sized and large research Universities. She has served in a number of leadership roles on the WACAC (Western Association for College Admission Counseling) board, and is known for her exceptional professionalism and mentorship in our field. Play-by-Play: 3:19 – What was Marie's own college exploration and application process like, growing up in rural western Massachusetts? 7:52 – What advice does Marie give students navigating a system that isn't giving them the support they need? 11:45 – What does Marie wish counselors and admission officers understood about supporting rural students? 15:35 – What is the STARS College Network, and how is USC involved? 25:31 – What shifts or trends is Marie seeing in applicants and high schoolers over the last couple of admission cycles? 28:37 – What commitments or shifts is USC making, including its new early decision option? 31:48 – What does Marie wish students, parents, and counselors were asking to better understand what USC is looking for? 36:30 – What does Marie nerd out about as an admission officer? 40:05 – What might Marie explore for her doctoral dissertation?  42:05 – Closing thoughts    Resources: CEG First Generation/Low Income Resource Center STARS College Network CEG Guide to STARS College Network How to Use the Common App Additional Information section and Challenges and Circumstances section: Guide + Examples College Essay Guy's College Application Hub

Welcome back to the podcast! I'm Tillie Gottlieb, a senior college counselor and content specialist here at CEG. This season, we're sitting down with admission officers to hear their real stories. I spent years on that side of the desk myself, and one thing I want listeners to walk away with is this: these aren't gatekeepers deciding your fate. They're people trying to build a class and a community, often inside a system that feels chaotic from every angle. So over the next few weeks, we're getting to know some of them as people, hearing what actually drives them, and along the way, getting a clearer picture of what they're looking for. Today's guest is someone I've known since my earliest days in admission. He's also doing something I wish more colleges would do: making the actual cost of college something a family can understand before they ever apply. Let's get into it. Adam Miller serves as Vice President for Admission and Financial Aid at Whitman College, located at the foot of the Blue Mountains in Walla Walla, Washington. Over his 13 years at Whitman, Adam has led efforts to build a more equitable and transparent admission process, including removing unnecessary barriers in the application and developing financial aid practices that give families a clear understanding of the true cost of attendance. Adam is a frequent speaker for high school audiences, where he helps students and families navigate college admission and financial aid, and he's regularly cited in national media as an expert on these topics. Whitman's approach to paying for college has been featured in The New York Times, and Adam's recent work on the college's "10% Promise" has been covered all over the news. He's particularly interested in expanding access to selective colleges and demystifying the admission process for families. Before Whitman, Adam spent six years in the admission office at his alma mater, Claremont McKenna College, where he oversaw international admission, coordinated leadership scholarship selection, and served as the admissions liaison for athletic recruitment.  We hope you enjoy.    Play-by-Play 2:32 – How did Adam go from playing baseball in France to falling into admissions at Claremont McKenna? 6:07 – What makes Adam sit up and pay closer attention to an application? 7:28 – What's the one piece of advice Adam gives students most often about their essays? 8:41 – When did Adam first realize college cost was something he wanted to help fix? 11:17 – Why is the price of college so confusing, and why don't families find out the real cost until it's too late? 13:42 – What is the high tuition, high aid model, and why has it become a problem? 16:53 – What is Whitman's early financial aid guarantee, and what did Adam learn from launching it? 20:05 – What is the Whitman 10% Promise? 27:45 – How do merit and talent scholarships factor into the 10% Promise? 30:09 – How does the 10% Promise apply to undocumented and international students? 33:57 – Does Adam think transparent, fixed-cost pricing models will become the norm? 42:08 – What's Adam's advice for a family just starting to navigate college costs? 44:06 – What questions should families be asking colleges about financial aid? 45:50 – What does Adam want families to keep in mind about affordability and fit?   Resources How to Pay for College in 4 Steps: Crash Course on How to Pay for College  Colleges That Offer Complete Financial Aid  Podcast: Which Schools Are the Most Generous With Financial Aid? What is Financial Aid? CSS Profile and CSS Profile Schools Family Handbook: Discussing Finances + Financial Aid        Whitman 10% Promise (official page) Whitman Early Financial Aid Guarantee Forbes (Michael T. Nietzel, June 22, 2026) Fortune (June 25, 2026) College Worth Your Money (book referenced re: ROI) College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub  

Hi, friends, and welcome back to our series, "On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling." I'm Tom Campbell, former Pomona and Holy Cross admissions officer, and one of the CEG podcast co-hosts, alongside my lovely colleagues Tillie and Ethan. In this series, we take a close look at personal essays written by real students, talking about why we love them, what makes them work, and how they came to be.  In this episode, we break down an essay that we're calling The Translator. This student, who worked with one of our amazing essay coaches Lavon Robinson a few years back, wanted to share how he acted as a translator not just for his brother on the autism spectrum, but for other neurodivergent students in his school and wider community. It's a model for anyone who wants to write an essay about a relationship that's been particularly meaningful to them, but is nervous about making the essay too much about the other person. If you're the kind of person who enjoys seeing how things get made, whether it's a great meal, a film scene, or a piece of writing, I have a feeling you might enjoy this one. Lavon (he/him) has always been a coach. From managing fundraising campaigns, teaching swimming, and school counseling, Lavon finds joy in coaching others to find their joy. He earned his BA in Business from Illinois Wesleyan University and his M.ED from DePaul University. He also has a College Counseling Certificate from UCSD. He currently works as a school counselor at an independent school in Chicago after spending eight years as a college counselor at a large suburban high school. He has hosted webinars with 500+ families on how to best work with their school counselor and visited various colleges around the country for professional development. His students have been accepted to colleges including Northwestern University, the University of Southern California, Williams College, and the University of Florida. At the core of his work is building connections with unconditional positive regard as he works with students to build trust and reach their potential. He understands the college admissions process is stressful and takes the most joy in supporting students to relieve anxiety while going through the process. We hope you enjoy.    Play-by-Play 3:15 – Lavon shares his path from school counseling to becoming a CEG essay coach 6:52 – What kinds of students does Lavon tend to be matched with as a CEG essay coach? 9:29 – How does Lavon use CEG's brainstorming exercises to help students reflect, even outside of essay coaching? 10:49 – What has surprised Lavon most about being an essay coach, and how has his perspective grown? 13:01 – Do college essays need a title? 14:06 – Lavon introduces the student behind "The Translator," and how he arrived at CEG already deep into drafts about his brother 18:41 – How many drafts did it take to find the right balance between the brother and the student himself? 21:16 – Which brainstorming exercises helped unlock the "translator" theme? 27:01 – How does Lavon connect a student's roles and identities to CEG's admission nutrients?  31:30 – Lavon reads the essay, which we're calling "The Translator"  36:27 – Which admission nutrients show up throughout the essay? 38:26 – What works well in this student's opening paragraph?  45:13 – How did Lavon help the student build more vulnerability into each draft? 46:13 – How does bringing in his own emotional experience keep the essay focused on the student, even while writing about his brother? 47:52 – How can students write about their extracurriculars without over-explaining them? 53:00 – How did Lavon coach the student to write about his research in an accessible way? 54:11 – What does it mean to be "strategically general" in a college essay? 59:48 – How does closing turn the essay's focus back to the student himself? 1:04:53 – Why small, specific details are what take an essay from good to great 1:05:59 – Closing thoughts    Resources "The Translator" Essay CEG's College Admission Nutrients (aka The Great College Application Test) College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub  

Hi friends, and welcome back to the podcast. Today's episode is a special behind-the-scenes look at a live application review I did with Anna, a high school senior I met last year. We recorded this about ten days before her early deadlines, and she was kind enough to let me walk through her entire application in real time: her personal statement, her activities list, and all of her supplemental essays for Yale. Fun fact: Anna emailed me a couple months later to let me know she actually got into Yale (congrats again, Anna!). In this episode, we get into: What it was like for Anna to pivot away from a topic that wasn't serving her (ten drafts about her favorite socks, which started to sound like a list) Her pivot to a new topic: Trivial Pursuit, a board game that's close to my heart A live read-through of her final personal statement, which touches on family, curiosity, and community How applying test-optional led her to sprinkle a few more high-level academic moments into her writing Her supplemental essays for Yale, including her "why us" essay and an academic prompt essay Anna is a recent high school graduate who loves cooking, sustainable agriculture, and spending time in nature. When she's not cross-country skiing with her school team, she's mentoring friends in the library or volunteering at her local synagogue. Whether you're a student navigating this process right now, or a parent or counselor supporting students from the sidelines, I hope you find this useful. Hope you enjoy our conversation.   Play-by-Play: 1:58 – Ten days from her early deadlines, how is Anna feeling? 2:33 – When did Anna start working on her essays, and how much time has she put in? 3:35 – What has Anna learned about herself through this process?  4:26 – Anna walks through her journey to finding a personal statement topic 8:10 – Anna reads her personal statement 12:35 – What values are coming through in Anna's personal statement? 14:26 – What questions does Anna have about her essay? 19:23 – Ethan reviews Anna's activities list and additional information section 21:33 – Anna reads her "Why Yale" essay 23:14 – What academic opportunities and programs excite Anna about Yale? 29:06 – Anna reads her "Why Major" essay 31:25 – How can Anna weave more specific, "geeky" language into her soil health essay? 38:48 – The short takes: four 200-character response 38:48 – What inspires you? 42:28 – A course, book, or piece of art you'd create 47:14 – A significant influence outside your family 48:56 – Something not included elsewhere in your application 56:44 – Anna reads her community essay  1:02:35 – How Anna might sharpen the essay with a couple more specific details? 1:04:41 – Closing thoughts    Resources: How to Write the Yale Supplemental Essays: Guide + Examples  College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub  

Hi, friends, and welcome back to our series, "On Becoming: The Art and Craft of Personal Storytelling." In this series, we take a close look at personal essays written by real students, talking about why we love them, what makes them work, and how they came to be.  In this episode, we break down an essay called "The Stomach Whisperer" about a student who used to lie on her grandmother's stomach and wonder if the echoing gurgle I'd just heard was caused by the molasses or by the cinnamon.  I'm joined today by Tillie Gottlieb, a former admission officer turned Director of College Counseling who I'm so happy to say now works with me full-time at College Essay Guy. In this episode (thanks to Tillie's background), we get to analyze a personal statement through three different lenses: admission officer, college counselor, and lover of creative non-fiction. If you're the kind of person who enjoys seeing how things get made, whether it's a great meal, a film scene, or a piece of writing, I have a feeling you might enjoy this one.   Tillie Gottlieb is an educator and creative producer with fifteen years of experience in the world of higher education admissions and counseling. After earning her Bachelor's from Whitman College and her Master's in Education from Middlebury, Tillie navigated the complexities of college admissions from both sides of the desk—serving as a Director of College Counseling, a reader for USC, and overseas as an independent educational consultant. She is also a filmmaker and performer who has spent a career at the intersection of systems-level thinking, centering equity, and storytelling. At CEG, she translates her background into leading webinars and workshops, sharing free content on our social media channels, and serves as a senior college counselor, helping students turn their values and lived experiences into something people can actually feel. Enjoy.   Play-by-Play:  2:09 – When Tillie looks at a college essay, what are some of the lenses that she looks through?  5:07 – Tillie shares context on the essay and what she loves about it  5:43 – Tillie reads the essay we're calling, The Stomach Whisperer  9:40 – What stands out from the lens of an admission officer?  11:50 – What works well in the opening paragraph? 16:49 – How does the writer use descriptive language to show various personal qualities?  18:11 – How can students use "geeky language" to express their intellectual curiosity?  23:18 – What techniques does the writer use to subtly weave in a challenge as they gain confidence in their choice of major?  27:29 – How can students stand out using a more common topic such as an internship?  33:07 – What works well in the closing paragraph?  36:20 – What are some of the values that are coming through in this essay? 38:37 – What is something that Tillie would like students to keep in mind as they're going through this process? 38:55 – Closing thoughts Resources: The "Stomach Whisperer" Essay CEG's College Admission Nutrients (aka The Great College Application Test)  College Essay Guy's Personal Statement Resources College Essay Guy's College Application Hub