Make Thanksgiving A College Free Zone

lesscollegestress
Nov 24

Scott Anderson, Senior Director for Access and Education at The Common Application, wrote this in November 2015. Ten years later, these words are even more important.

“This week, as you gather with family and friends to celebrate Thanksgiving, be mindful of the high school seniors seated at the table. Odds are they don't want to talk about their college applications any more than you want to talk about work...

...Teens are thinking about college but don't necessarily want to talk about it over mashed potatoes and pumpkin pie...ask them about the things they love to do and the challenges and ideas that intrigue them (instead of) inquiring about what they plan to major in, how they intend to make a career of it, and what that career will be. It also invites them to ask you the same kinds of questions, which creates a space for real conversation, not one-directional interrogation.

So please do the high school seniors in your life a favor. Help make the Thanksgiving table a college-free zone. They (the kids) are going to be fine.”

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Pamela

Sophomores and Juniors: Where to Start?

lesscollegestress
Nov 18

I am excited to help my sophomores and juniors begin making college visit plans and list building. But where to start?

Before booking the proverbial trip to Boston (MIT, Harvard, and Northeastern have single digit admit rates), why not start smart, go online, and see what you can learn for free? (There is a lot of misinformation, so please stick with these sites.)

Less College Stress families:

Go onto your page in the Less College Stress system. If you haven't already, students should complete the Roles & Identities Exercise and 16 Personalitites, both in the Personality Assessment file. Use the links in the Researching/Visiting colleges file. Explore all your files...there’s much to be discovered about every aspect of the college process. While you are college shopping through through the Less College Stress system, try these:

Fiske Guide: Read about colleges I have suggested or you are considering here. It's the most comprehensive college guide, offering information about every feature of a college, plus possible overlaps and top programs. (free through my system, not outside it.)

College Navigator: Play with exploring schools by Geography, Major, Type of degree and Institution, Undergraduate Student Enrollment, Tuition, Campus setting, % of applicants admitted, Test Scores, Varsity Athletic teams, and Religious Affiliation. (under Research within any College Profile) College Navigator.

Campus Reel: See great videos of campuses and follow students through their days at school. (under Research within any College Profile) https://www.campusreel.org/

Rather than booking a major trip, visit a few campuses in your area on a Saturday or Sunday. Think about what "driving distance" means to your family. Not sure if you are open to an urban campus? Walk the campus at a large state school, a mid-sized college (app. 4,000-10,000), and a small liberal arts college to get a sense of what you prefer. Explore, talk to students, and keep an open mind. If you can see yourself in every scenario, that’s fine. Rule out what you don’t want. I am here to fill in all the details, provide the data, and refine the list later!

What You Need to Know About AI in College Admissions

lesscollegestress
Nov 3

From a trusted colleague: how to use AI as a smart research and editing tool—without crossing ethical lines or risking your college application.

Venkates "Swami" Swaminathan

Aug 16, 2025

This time of year, we’re reading students’ admissions essays. Over the years, reading essays, many admissions counselors have learned to detect when an essay may have been written by a parent or other adult. The voice is different, and the vocabulary is telling. Now, coaches are learning to detect what AI writing is like: often flatter in tone, and with sentence lengths, vocabulary, and punctuation choices that are very unusual in teenage writing.

We also see it in the notes students take when they do college research. Sometimes the facts are outright incorrect, and sometimes the responses are written with such a detailed academic tone that it feels unlike what a student would say.

So this is a good time for parents and students to read a guide on when and how to use AI in the college admissions process.

Ask the Right Question

To start with, if you’re asking, “Should AI be used at all?”, you’re starting with the wrong question.

In 2025, AI is already woven into nearly every corner of life, from grammar checkers in Google Docs to the autocomplete on your phone. Students, schools, and colleges are all using them in myriad ways. I discovered this morning that even my chiropractor uses AI to take notes!!

The better question is this:

How should students and families use AI ethically, effectively, and in ways that strengthen — not weaken — a college application?

The goal isn’t to avoid AI entirely, but to make sure it supports, rather than replaces, your own ideas, voice, and integrity. Here’s a framework you can follow.

Guiding Principles

Using AI for research is a great idea, but remember, AI tools hallucinate (make up facts or use out-of-date sources). AI tools like Perplexity and OpenAI can help with college research and help you get information on programs, scholarships, and majors, but fact-check the answers. LifeLaunchr’s college profiles combine data we get from multiple sources (such as the Integrated Post-Secondary Education Data System and the Common Data Set) with AI-generated answers to dozens of common questions about each college.
Your application, especially your essays, should reflect your authentic voice, ideas, and experiences. Many universities require you to certify that all work is your own. Some explicitly ban or limit AI-generated content. See below for details.
Plagiarism checks are standard, and plagiarism is never okay. Cite sources and use quotation marks when appropriate.
Most colleges don’t use AI to evaluate applications, but a few do (most notably, Virginia Tech: see the table below). Many more use AI for administrative tasks in the admissions process. It’s not clear yet what the impact of the use of AI by colleges will be, but it will affect admissions in many ways.

What’s Generally Allowed

You can use AI tools for:

Research: See above
Essays: You can generally use AI for:
- Brainstorming: evaluating ideas, thinking through topics, or structure. Some universities forbid the use of these tools for outlining, so please check specific policies.
- Assessment — e.g., after writing an essay, asking, “What does this story communicate about me?” or “What is missing from this draft?”
- Grammar and spelling checks.
- Note: Some colleges, like Brown, explicitly forbid some or all of this, so before using any of these tools, check your college list and make sure you’re in compliance.
Activity Lists:
- Help with conciseness: You can get tips for shortening an activity description or cutting unnecessary words without losing meaning. Please edit to make sure the final words are yours.
- Again, please make sure the colleges on your list do not explicitly forbid this.

Caveats:

Stay in control of the content, tone, and facts.
If a college asks, be ready to explain exactly how you used AI.
Keep notes on your AI use, even if no one ever asks. And save each draft of your essay, so you can demonstrate its progression over time.

What’s Generally Not Allowed

You should not use AI to:

Write or rewrite your essays, short answers, or personal statements in full.
Invent stories, anecdotes, or details that aren’t true.
Make up information.
Plagiarize — even by accident.
Submit text directly from AI without rewriting it in your own words.

Why Not?

Almost all good writing involves many drafts, and there’s real value in the iterative and sometimes slower way of working through the writing and revision process. It will help you sometimes make unexpected discoveries and uncover your unique story. Too much reliance on AI can bypass this essential step of the writing process and produce drafts that are less personal and that are missing your voice. Besides, it could violate a college’s honor code. And AI writing can strip away the authenticity that application readers value.