An Insider's Guide to Applying to Highly Selective Colleges & Universities

Tom Campbell spent 4 years reading applications at Pomona College and 2 at College of the Holy Cross. Here he tells students what admission officers are told to look for at colleges that admit under 30% of applicants, and where an applicant still has room to move. Ethan Sawyer (College Essay Guy) works the chat throughout and runs the Q&A at the end. Want to learn more about this? Check out our Applying to Highly Selective Colleges & Universities course to receive more in-depth analysis, resources, and tips on how to navigate this landscape: https://students.collegeessayguy.com/... Use code EARLYBIRD200 at the checkout to get $97. This is a temporary code, so don't wait! 🔗LINKS MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO 🔗 Presentation slides: https://docs.google.com/presentation/... ✌️WHO AM I? ✌️ I’m Ethan (College Essay Guy) and my goal is to bring more ease, joy, purpose, and access to the college admission process. I wrote two Amazon bestsellers on college essays and each year my team and I reach more than 1MM students and counselors via www.collegeessayguy.com. 🧠 MY UPCOMING + ONDEMAND *PAY-WHAT-YOU-CAN COURSES 🧠 Student Courses: https://www.collegeessayguy.com/students Counselor Courses: https://www.collegeessayguy.com/couns... *All my courses are pay-what-you-can. 💯 WORK WITH ME & MY TEAM 💯 One-on-one: https://www.collegeessayguy.com/colle... Free 1-on-1 for low income students: https://www.collegeessayguy.com/match... CHAPTERS 0:00 Welcome and Tom's background 4:34 Vocabulary admissions officers use 6:31 What counts as highly selective 9:19 Where tuition revenue matters 12:21 What changed for 2025 applicants 16:00 AI, video supplements, gap years 19:03 What colleges publish about themselves 23:29 The NACAC factors chart explained 27:03 Institutional priorities they don't share 32:57 Why being real distinguishes you 38:07 Inside a real Michigan file 40:58 Courses, recommenders, and activities 49:12 What the 3-week course covers 57:11 Q&A: grades, lists, and odds What you'll learn: Look up any college's Common Data Set section C7 to see how it weighs demonstrated interest, essays, and test scores Read the NACAC survey of 185 colleges and tell which factors a rising senior can still change Name the institutional priorities that sit outside that chart: legacy, athletic recruitment, geography, major choice Compare Holy Cross and Pomona, 2 small liberal arts colleges whose demonstrated interest policies differ completely Check your application against the 5 admission nutrients CEG drew from 2 years of reading college mission statements Explain a missing course or a few B's in the additional information and challenges and circumstances sections Follow a file through committee based evaluation, where a driver and a passenger decide it in about 10 minutes Read the actual reader notes on one admitted student's University of Michigan Ross file Who this is for: Rising seniors targeting highly selective colleges, plus the parents and counselors working with them. Most useful before you finalize a college list or start writing senior year applications. ✍ RESOURCES ✍ 📖 Free Personal Statement Guide: https://bit.ly/ps-free-guide 🎙 Podcast: https://bit.ly/CEGPodcast 📘 College Admission Essentials: bit.ly/3qdEklN 📙 College Essay Essentials: bit.ly/3vIjtbs 🌍 SOCIAL 🌍 📸 Instagram:   / collegeessayguy   🐦 Twitter:   / collegeessayguy   👍 Facebook:   / collegeessayguy   ✋ QUESTIONS? ✋ Leave a comment on one of my YouTube videos or follow me on Instagram. 👍🏻 Your likes & comments tell YouTube this is quality content and help me grow the channel. Clicking the notification bell 🔔will ping you when a new video comes out. And please feel free to share with friends. Thanks, y’all. Stay curious.