Last Updated On: April 28th, 2025
We’re excited to feature this interview with Jennifer Simpson, Director of College Counseling at Campbell Hall and Founder of Simpson College Consulting. With years of experience guiding students through the college admissions process, Jennifer shares thoughtful, in-depth advice on how families can approach every stage of high school with intention. From academic preparation to personal growth, this guide covers everything students and parents need to know to navigate the college journey with clarity and confidence.
1. When should students start their college prep, and what should they focus on at each stage?
The college application process is fundamentally about choices. While it might not feel that way, there are many choices that a student makes before and after a college application is submitted. A college application is a compilation and presentation of years of personal, academic, and extracurricular choices and evidence development that a student has demonstrated over time. Preparation for college is layered and complex, and it happens throughout the arc of high school. Ideally, students are taking this time to intentionally create a habits of mind, a set of personal values, academic and interpersonal skills, and an approach to life and scholarship that will translate into an engaged and successful undergraduate experience.
Freshman Year
Freshmen have the chance to begin high school with a sense of purpose. Do you see education and learning as a gift or an obligation? Embrace the reality that you GET to learn, not that you have to. What subjects spark the statement, “tell me more”? Begin to practice a mature approach to time management, organization, and studying. Community and academic engagement are the biggest predictors of success in college. How are you demonstrating that you want to make an impact and have fun, challenging, and joyful experiences within your school community and those outside of it?
Sophomore Year
Sophomore year is a time to continue the practice of self-reflection and making decisions that reflect your priorities and values. As you hopefully take on more difficult academic course work, what are the ways you demonstrate a love of and hunger for learning? Teachers are direct witnesses to your desire to engage, so attend to your relationships with them as they will be writing college recommendation letters on your behalf. Engagement is and always will be a key component to personal development, and colleges want to understand why you have chosen extracurricular commitments and what you have learned from them. Beyond the school year, summer break is an ideal time to rest and find a respite from the busy school year, but to also have interesting experiences that will contribute to your development. Plan ahead and think creatively about how you want to spend this time.
Junior Year
Junior year is often the most challenging academically, but is also the time when the college process builds momentum. In addition to the previous recommendations for engagement and scholarship, juniors will spend the winter and spring focusing on preparation for the SAT or ACT and starting a thorough college research process. Juniors should consider visiting college campuses as part of their due diligence on “fit”. It is wise to work with your school counselor or other college advisor to create a workflow plan for how you can take advantage of this year to investigate colleges and develop a very personal concept of fit and vision for your college experience. You will use this knowledge to create a solid college list prior to the summer break.
Senior Year
The first semester of senior year, and often the summer before it begins, are defined by the rigors of filling out college applications. Students will need to secure teacher recommendation letters and balance academic, personal, and extracurricular commitments with the intensity of filling out applications and writing personal and supplemental essays. Seniors will also often have the chance to visit with college admissions officers who come to their high school to share information and interface with seniors who are applying. After applications are submitted, and during the waiting period for admissions decisions to be released, seniors must continue to prioritize academic engagement and learning, as well as the other commitments they are still responsible for. An admission offer is not final, but rather is contingent upon the successful completion of senior year and proof of graduation from high school. Keep up the strong work!
2. Beyond test scores, GPA, and extracurricular life, what are colleges trying to assess and most interested in seeing in an applicant?
When students take a mindful and empowered approach to their educational and personal experiences, they learn how to trust themselves and become active participants in their own lives. The undergraduate experience is going to challenge and unearth strengths and weaknesses, and will hopefully inspire and reveal a young person’s values, priorities, and a skill set that will benefit them on the continuum of personal and educational experiences they will have throughout life.
Colleges have a GPS for mature, intentional, resourceful, curious students who will engage with resources and opportunity. They display the disposition of mind, perspective, hunger for learning and impact, and character that will enable them to be interesting, motivated, and engaged members of a college community and world at large.
What are some of these many skills? Think about how you are developing them and what experiences can help you do this.
- Being “interesting and interested”
- An intentional, intrinsically motivated approach to learning and community engagement
- Character, kindness, and a displaying a value driven life
- Tenacity
- Self-advocacy
- A sense of wonder
- Mature decision making skills
- Interpersonal and relational skills and desire to collaborate
- Taking initiative
- Problem solving
- Demonstrating concern for others
- Understanding and practicing the concept of “we, not just me.”
- Willingness to lean into challenging experiences and discomfort
- Healthy risk taking and understanding lessons that come with failure.
3. How do students determine which college or university is the best fit for them?
Ask “Why?” before “What or Where?”
Finding the right fit between you and a college requires time and introspection. The goals of a college search are many, including finding a college where you will thrive. It will begin (but not end) with considering who you are now, and who you hope to become. Asking the right questions is just as important as finding the right answers.
A healthy, reflective college search begins with inquiry including questions like “Why are you going to college?” Simple question, but complex in its answer.
Questions and Themes to Consider:
Think about happy and successful people you admire and respect. Ask them where they attended college. Success in college has much less to do with where you go and more to do with your personal qualities and how they couple with the experiences and opportunities you will have.
In addition to the shared resources about college search criteria, consider broad questions like:
- What kind of student am I? What is my learning style? What support, if any, do I need?
- What are my strengths and what needs improvement?
- What social environment will I thrive in?
- What are my values and therefore, what type of community I want to be in?
- Where will I thrive academically and personally?
- With what type of people do I want to live and learn?
- What type of campus culture will expand my growth and horizons?
- What location in the country or world feels best? Is this some place new or familiar?
- What type of person/citizen/professional do I want to become, and what college will help me do this most effectively?
Think broadly and boldly. Expand horizons!
College is a time of exploration, learning, exposure, and expansion. How does a place make you feel when you learn more? Is it a place where you will feel comfortable and supported (both important!) but also challenged? I will never forget a student telling me that she chose her final college not because it was where she was most comfortable. Rather, it is the place she knew would help her become the person she wanted to be. Gold!
Shared values
While there is a lot of growth that comes from being a community that respects differences, be sure to ask if the college shares your values about what a college experience can and should be.
Who is most successful on this campus, and what type of person do they hope to graduate
Simple but powerful questions. Think present and future tense.
Campus type, size, and location
While seemingly simple criteria, they are important. Small liberal arts? Large research university? Public or private? Be sure to ask yourself why a small, medium, or large sized college campus is a best fit. What assumptions might you be making that are tied to size and location?
Campus community
What type of peers, faculty, community, and campus culture will best support your learning and development?
Student engagement
This factor is highly correlated with student happiness and success in college. What is the spirit for engagement on the campus? How is this exemplified? What do you foresee yourself becoming involved with?
Visit the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSEE) website for important information and as an alternative to rankings and/or popular media messages.
https://nsse.indiana.edu/nsse/index.html
Student motivation
Active, committed students beget other active, committed students, even if they don’t always share the same interests. Think about prioritizing peers who are cooperative, pushing one another in productive ways. There is a difference between ambitious and competitive. Inquire about this energy amongst peers.
Emphasis on undergraduate teaching and mentorship
Even if it has graduate students, is this a college that focuses on undergraduate teaching and mentoring students? Making just one personal connection in college is correlated with success and happiness, both during and after college. Any size college can make this a priority and it’s important to know how. How does this show up in everyday experiences between faculty and students?
Majors/minors & Academic Flexibility
The major you put on a college application is not set in stone. While it can affect admission (which we can speak more about), the largest “major” for freshman at domestic colleges is undeclared. If this sounds like you, then investigating flexibility is key. Colleges generally welcome academic inquiry and exploration and want students who are seeking to know more about subjects they love, and those they have yet to discover. Investigate what courses of study are offered and ask yourself if there is anything (or things) that you are excited to explore in depth.
Alumni and post-graduation
While you are focused on what your four years in college will look like, it is important to remember the many years you will have after college. Outcomes are very important. You cannot predict everything about your life post-graduation, but inquiring about alumni is key. Who are they and what impact are they having? How does the college encourage and facilitate connecting undergraduates with alumni? Is there a strong alumni network?
Also, what career readiness resources are there and guidance about plans after graduation? This includes internships/fellowships, research, and mentoring.
Affordability
Aspiration and realism can coexist in a college search. Realism really applies when you are considering how affordable a college is. Debt has long term consequences. If you are applying for need-based financial aid and/or scholarships, the sticker price is not an accurate predictor of the final cost of attendance (see financial aid resources). Have honest conversations about what is affordable.
4. Should students take the ACT or SAT, and how do they decide which is better for them?
The decision to take the SAT or ACT is both a personal and strategic one. Students should do research on the testing policies at the colleges they are considering. If that list is not solid yet, it is best to prepare for and take the SAT or ACT which may ultimately be required at one or more colleges on a student’s final list. If a college has a test optional policy, the student can send in the score if it is strong or withhold it if it is not. Taking one of these exams gives students more options.
Test optional really does mean optional, and a student is not disadvantaged if they do not submit official test scores. While many colleges still admit a large number of applicants without official test scores, the reality is that after COVID, there are simply more high school students taking the SAT and ACT. Therefore, there is more competition in regards to applicants who have and do not have test scores.
In the fall of junior year, I advise taking the PSAT (which is offered at most public and private high schools in October of junior year) and a practice ACT (not typically offered at schools, but through test prep partners) to determine which testing experience is best, and which test results in the strongest practice score. These objective and subjective measures can help determine which test a student should focus on.
5. How do admissions officers evaluate extracurricular activities in an application?
Colleges and universities are communities that run on the energy and power of collective engagement. This concept of engagement, which can take many forms, is one of the greatest predictors of happiness and success in college. A student’s potential for impact is evaluated by looking at the evidence in high school. This evidence includes how and where a student chose to take advantage of resources and opportunities, and the commitments and causes that they took on in an effort to demonstrate that they are not only interested, but interesting.
I would detach from the myth that you have to create a linear or “pointy” narrative about what life outside an academic classroom looks like. Some students spend their free time focusing on activities and experiences that thread together into a theme, while others have a variety of commitments all of which light them up. It is wise to consider the ways you can be a leader, and display your joy, enjoyment, and initiative.
It is critical to remember that colleges are very curious about the person behind the extracurricular decision or activity. You are a human being, not a human doing. Shed yourself of the belief that there are morally “better” activities than others. The college process is not transactional in this way (if I do X, Y, or Z, I will get this outcome). This belief is often paired with the decision to do things “for college” rather than for one’s personal evolution and delight.
I offer a new perspective on extracurricular choices. Consider not just what you are doing, but more importantly why and who have you become (or will become) as a result of this experience. Lead with questions about what you value, what problems or issues do you want to solve, what change do you want to affect, and skills do you want to develop? If you want to be a better communicator and public speaker, perhaps consider speech and debate or theater. As a storyteller, do you want to become a better writer and visionary? Perhaps start or join a bookclub and facilitate interesting discussions and reflections. Are you curious about the human experience, the power of supportive relationships, and want to help teens with their mental health? Think about volunteering with Teen Line. These are but a few examples of how to think about your extracurricular life through a different lens, one that colleges will find impressive and inspiring.
6. Who should students ask for letters of recommendation, and how should they approach them?
Colleges often want to hear testimony from teachers who have most recently taught the student. This means that students should focus on junior year teachers. If there is not a strong relationship with a teacher this year, it is possible to consider a teacher from sophomore year.
Generally, colleges require on average two teacher letters of recommendation from teachers in the core academic subjects (English, Math, Science, History/Social Studies, and Foreign Language). Some may limit this to 1 or 0, but it is wise to have 2 ready to send. These academic parameters do not diminish the importance of elective classes. It is just that colleges have to choose where they will look for evidence of scholarship that mirrors the intellectual rigors of a collegiate experience. These letters are hopefully filled with personal details and anecdotes from teachers who have witnessed a student fully engaging with the learning experience and challenges that come with it. Students should ask themselves what class or classes have I really demonstrated my potential for collegiate level scholarship and difficult intellectual experiences? Where has the joy for a subject and learning shined?
7. What should students expect in a college interview, and how can they prepare?
College interviews are an ideal way to bring your humanity and personality to life beyond the electronic submission of information. More often than not, these interviews are not formal evaluations filled with questions meant to stump students. Rather, they are conversational and meant to provide a forum for you to discuss a range of experiences and perspectives, as well as revealing your communication skills, ease of conversation, personality, enthusiasm, motivation, curiosity, and knowledge of a university. These interviews will rarely make or break a college admissions decision. Rather, for students who are otherwise admissible, it can color a final decision.
To students I say, I know that anticipation and nerves can take over as students think about an interview experience. Try to reframe it by reminding yourself that you know your life, who you are, how you have grown, and why you are a good fit for this college. Own it. Be proud. Imagine yourself embodying this energy and simply sitting down for a conversation with someone who wants to know more.
You cannot anticipate every question that an alum or admissions officer might ask. Prepare yourself to bend and move with the conversation as it flows organically. Think not just about what you have done or studied, but what you will contribute to this college and how, and how your approach to learning will show up and benefit their community. Think about the presence and impression you want to make. Also, always come with a set of thoughtful and nuanced questions about the college and the interviewers experience or perspective on their life there (either as a former student or employee).
Also, the little things count! Dress neatly. Arrive early or on time. Practice your handshake. Be polite, positive, engaged, and proud that you have a lot to share. Send a thank you email afterward.
