Our admission/marketing team asked me to write an "advetorial" for a local magazine.
I didn't know what that was.
But I learned that an advetorial is a column that serves as an advertisement.
So after writing, editing (thanks to Mark Hoven), and re-writing, here is what I came up with.
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Molly faces a dilemma.
May 1st, deposit day, looms on the horizon.
Back in September, Molly feared she wouldn’t get into any of her top schools.
Now she is cursed with a bright triad of choices.
From the University of Michigan and its top East Asian program; to Austin College and its innovative Language House; to UT-Austin with its live music scene, 50,000 students, and sorority central.
The last option, of course, makes Molly’s dad cringe at the thought of wearing burnt orange.
But every college choice for Molly shimmers with possibility.
Which school though is THE ONE for her?
In those moments, Casady college counselors like to remind students like Molly and her parents that we’re not chasing a trophy we’re making a match.
At Casady School our mission involves partnering with families like Molly’s to discern the best college fit.
Sometimes fit involves admissibility. Can the student get in?
Other times fit involves affordability. Can the family pay the sticker price?
And other times, like in Molly’s case, fit involves pursuing a passion to study Mandarin Chinese and rush as a Theta.
The truth is that there is no perfect college.
That’s a myth.
Instead there are many excellent schools where each student can pursue their passions, make connections, graduate in four years, and either matriculate to graduate school or compete in the job market.
Over the past four years, 100% of Casady graduates have been accepted to a total of 250 colleges and universities (220 private/50 public).
From Ivies like Dartmouth and Penn.
To BCS bowl winners like TCU and Ohio State.
From single sex schools like Wellesley and Hampden-Sydney.
To small, liberal arts colleges like Pomona College and Rhodes College.
Overall, our acceptance rate has shot up in four years from 40% to 74%.
And our merit money from $500,000 to $3.6 million.
As a whole, Casady students are discovering that each of them have a thumbprint that matches what colleges are looking for. Nothing has been more self-validating.
So what school, you might wonder, did Molly end up matriculating to?
Just ask Molly’s dad. He sports a Longhorn baseball cap on weekends. Except, of course, on the first weekend in October.
