This is a true story of an encounter that led to very unexpected results for one of my students. Having attended a conference in Chicago one early May, I went on tour of a number of college and university campuses, some world-renowned and others relatively unknown – at least in my part of the world here in Canada. There was one particular liberal arts college at which I did not take copious notes as I usually do, thinking I would have a difficult time convincing my students to attend or even to apply to this university – given that too many of applicants are illogically brand-conscious, coming to me with a hit list of a dozen universities they are targeting, often taken from the US News and World Report top 20 rankings.
Within a week of my return, I met with a new family. The parents were divorced and the daughter, who had already finished high school, wanted to attend a US university, stipulating that it had to be in the Chicago area where her mom was living. In fact, she had two particular campuses in mind. With my focus being on fit, I knew right away that neither of her two choices were a good match for her needs – one was completely out of her reach and the other was just not right. We reviewed an SAT preparation timeline and discussed her extracurricular engagements. She assured me she was ready to spend the next 10 months working extra hard to reach her goal of gaining admission to a US college or university – a process that would entail months of test prep, applications, and essays for multiple campuses.
Within minutes of her leaving my office, I looked into her options. By instinct, I contacted the college I had visited in Chicago to see if they were willing to consider her application at that late date in May. They suggested she put in a quick application and agreed to waive any standardized testing requirements for her. Under my guidance, the student completed the application in ten days and we sat down for a mock interview prior to her visit to the college campus. Needless to say, the interview went well and she flew home with an acceptance in hand. A process that could have taken many months was accomplished in the course of a couple of weeks. The student has since graduated from the college she attended and I had a chance to revisit that same campus on my most recent visit to Chicago, knowing that every single campus I evaluate, has the potential to fulfill the needs of at least one of my students!