Admissions counselor reveals new rules for college applications

In the high-stakes world of college admissions, there’s one lesson every hopeful applicant should learn early: What you leave out of your personal essay may be more important than what you put in.

Many schools receive tens of thousands of applications each cycle, giving admissions officers only a few minutes to decide whether to consider a student or move forward. This means that every word in the application is crucial.

In a recent survey91% of students said they feel stressed about academics and college — and for good reason. Graduate school acceptance rates have declined. Meanwhile, expectations have not budged, especially for students whose parents attended elite universities.

Sophie Smith, co-founder and CEO of College Contact, has helped thousands of students get into their dream schools—and she’s seen just about every mistake in the book.

To help high school seniors avoid these common mistakes, Smith — whose company has an 86% success rate in getting students into their first-choice school — shared some of her top tips.

Do not rely on artificial intelligence

Modern Study at Cornell University It compared 30,000 college application essays written by humans to those written by eight popular large language models (LLMs), such as ChatGPT.

Even when they included the applicant’s race, gender, and geographic location in the prompt — details that might help distinguish voice from one essay to the next — the researchers found that writing using the AI ​​was easily distinguishable from real human work.

In her TikTok videos, Smith often warns students against relying on AI tools to craft essays. Although it may be tempting to use ChatGPT or another generator to “improve” your writing, Smith says admissions staff can usually tell when you’re feeling something off.

“Using AI to write your article will ultimately destroy and diminish your hard work,” she said in a TikTok video. “Admissions officers read thousands of essays, and they know when it doesn’t sound like a teenager’s voice.”

Find the balance and keep it PG

“If you don’t feel comfortable saying it out loud to an adult you trust, reconsider (the topic of your article),” she told The Post.

Smith says one of the most common mistakes she sees in articles is being overly sensitive or sensationalistic.

She emphasizes that good articles do not need to shock or provoke. “Oversharing occurs when an article focuses more on shock value than thoughtfulness,” Smith said.

Instead, she encourages students to focus on stories that reveal curiosity, growth, or character. It could mean a lesson you learned while coaching a younger sibling, or a small but meaningful moment that changed your perspective.

Today’s teens have grown up online, where posting about personal struggles has become the norm in an age where “authenticity” often translates to oversharing.

Combine that with the national mental health crisis, and it’s easy to see why many of the articles feel more like diaries than reflections. But Smith says the solution isn’t to suppress emotions; It’s to direct it.

“Our job is not to tell students to back off,” she said. “It’s to help them shape those experiences into stories to reflect on and grow. Vulnerability is powerful—but it needs to show maturity.”

For today’s teens — who have grown up sharing their lives online — finding the right balance between openness and professionalism can be difficult.

Smith’s final message? Authenticity does not mean baring your soul. This means showing judgment, maturity and a clear sense of who you are becoming.

The 5 W

One of Smith’s top tips for creating standout articles is deceptively simple—don’t forget the who, what, where, when, and why.

“If I read your essay and think 300 other students could have written it, that’s not specific enough,” she said. “Details are what make an article memorable. Tell me what shirt you were wearing, what the room smelled like, what song was playing. These little selections show me how you think and what matters to you.”

The goal is not to write a paper in English, but to draw a picture of your personality. She adds that the most memorable essays often reveal their true message in the final lines.

“The most powerful articles don’t just tell us what you’ve learned,” she adds. “They show it through storytelling and tone. The transformation is what makes the article resonate—not the hardship itself, but what happened next.”

But again, pay attention to the details you share.

“Admissions officers evaluate judgment as much as they evaluate storytelling,” she said. “If your story focuses on breaking the law, it’s probably not the right way to show maturity.”

Put it together like a puzzle

While the essay gets a lot of attention, Smith reminds students that it is just one piece of the puzzle.

In today’s test-optional era, the college essay carries more weight than ever before. “Since many colleges no longer require SAT or ACT scores, the essay has become one of the clearest ways applicants can stand out,” Smith told The Post.

While admissions officers look at the whole picture of a student, including grades, extracurriculars and recommendations, the application factors that are most closely scrutinized by admissions counselors depend on the school, Smith explained. Some colleges. They look for high GPAs and course rigor, while others are more interested in personal insights.

“Your activity list shows what you’ve done, and your essay shows who you are,” she says. “If your essay touches on a club or project, focus on what it taught you, not just what you did. Each section should reveal something new about your personality or perspective. This is how you help the admissions reader see your full personality.”

This means using your extracurricular section to show what you’ve done, and your essay to show why it’s important.

“Colleges are looking for students who will be positive role models, doers, self-starters, and change makers on campus and as future graduates,” she said.