Host Hanna Stotland flunked out of high school but later graduated from Harvard. Now an independent admissions consultant, she offers tips culled from her own experiences in this series aimed at prospective college students. Subtitled “How to Stand Out and Keep an Admissions Officer Awake,” The College Essay serves up solid advice for writing the all-important personal essay, including entertaining your audience, avoiding predictability, writing like an actual teen, and recruiting family and friends for proofreading. The program also covers things to avoid, such as centering on an important person in your life to the extent that the applicant is upstaged by the “hero.” Providing “Tips to Survive and Thrive in College,” Your Freshman Year covers some of the basics of achieving success in college: going to class, sitting up front, doing the reading, and talking to professors about conflicts, as well as building relationships with faculty and peers. In addition, the program discusses social opportunities (“be the friend you want to find”) and staying healthy. Stotland is a conversational host with solid, easily-graspable advice designed to put young viewers at ease. Also available in the series are College Admissions in the 21st Century: An Overview, College Finances: Understanding the Economics of Admissions, and Standardized Testing: Preparation Strategies. Highly recommended. Aud: H, C, P. (J. Williams-Wood)
Inside College Admissions with Hanna Stotland: Program 2—The College Essay; Inside College Admissions with Hanna Stotland: Program 4—Your Freshman Year
(2014) 15 min. DVD: $29.99. Bell Marker (avail. from Midwest Tape). Volume 30, Issue 4
Inside College Admissions with Hanna Stotland: Program 2—The College Essay; Inside College Admissions with Hanna Stotland: Program 4—Your Freshman Year
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