Category: College Admissions

When I started touring college campuses 30-something years ago, there was a strong relationship between how hungry the college was and the quality of the meals provided. My colleagues and I—“hordes” is such an unpleasant word—would descend from our chartered buses famished after a two-hour excursion from College A to

My recent column about the randomness of admissions decisions garnered more than the usual number of “attaboys” and “tell-me-mores.” One of my old running buddies shared 40 years of frustration regarding alumni interviews. One of my colleagues described an exemplary student with some disappointment results. Another colleague shared a brilliant

As college admissions decisions continue to descend upon hapless seniors and their well-intentioned parents this week, all involved revert to the cognitive capability of a three-year-old. “Why?” asks a toddler in response to any and every statement. “Let’s brush your teeth,” “it’s time for bed”—are all followed by the ubiquitous

“Her life had been as exciting and varied as our was monotonous” is Willa Cather’s delicate phrase from 1926. Petula Clark sang, “when you’re alone and life is making you lonely…” 38 years later. Another subsequent 56 years, downtown is no longer the venue where the worst thing that could

None of us can sing worth a darn, but we are a highly enthusiastic bunch caterwauling in the woods each summer. One of our chorus is a federal prosecutor. As the mental health professionals sit around the campfire discussing substance use disorder late into the evening, Ben remains thoughtful. Recent

            One of our running buddies is an administrative assistant. Her skill set and her previous experience encompass managing every aspect of an office. In these Covid-permeated times, her responsibilities have been curtailed to endless scheduling, which is fine, a job is a job. Her new responsibilities are limited to

It would be hard to overstate the combined intellectual capacity of my running buddies this morning. Sam has a Ph.D.; Robin was top of the class in law school; Jordan is a gifted physician. Accomplished, professional, bright, (sweaty) folks that they are, not one of them could pass a seventh-grade

“Twenty-seven lawyers in the room, anybody know ‘post hoc ergo propter hoc?’” asks Martin Sheen as President Josh Bartlett in the second episode of The West Wing. “After it therefore because of it,” his chief of staff responds. “It means one thing follows the other therefore it was caused by

I love coin pusher machines. The lights, the sounds, the expectation that, at any moment, dozens of shimmering quarters will collapse into my eager hands—are all glorious enticements. Unlike traditional slot machines with levers or buttons, coin pusher machines have quarters—hundreds of them—right there where I can see them. The

Ponce de Leon is most often associated with the Fountain of Youth, but Herodotus wrote about the allegedly magical place two thousand years earlier. Alexander the Great in the 4th century CE, King Prester John in the crusades 800 years ago, Caribbean people during the early 16th century*—the Fountain of