Hey AdmissionsMom: Real Talk from Reddit

ARE YOU STRESSED OUT AND TESTED OUT?

ARE YOU LOOKING TO APPROACH COLLEGE ADMISSIONS IN AN HONEST AND MINDFUL WAY?

Discover what nearly a million engaged r/ApplyingToCollege subscribers are learning as they discuss a fresh approach to college admissions. With Hey AdmissionsMom: Real Talk from Reddit, Carolyn, and the community from the subreddit r/ApplyingToCollege, give you a place to stop trying to figure out what colleges want in you and instead ask yourself, What do I want out of life when I leave high school? What do I see for myself?

Here's what Carolyn (aka AdmissionsMom) knows: You're a talented, interesting student, and when you really know who you are, you're going to make the best decisions for yourself and for your college applications.

Maybe you're just starting the college admissions journey, and you're feeling overwhelmed by the paperwork, school descriptions, test score requirements, extracurricular activity options, and the daunting task of figuring it all out without losing yourself. Or maybe you've already started the college admissions process, and you feel okay about your applications, but you're struggling with the personal statement or essays.

Or, perhaps you want permission not to be a carbon copy of the ideal student and want out-of-the-box ways to be yourself, both in life and in the admissions process -- and you're not just managing your expectations, but you're also managing your parents and their expectations.

College admissions can be especially intimidating if your high school sucks, you're the first in your family to attend college, or you haven't always been a model student. You might also be a concerned parent or mentor looking for a guide designed specifically not to stress you and your kid out and one that might even help with dealing with admissions anxiety as you learn the ropes of college admissions.

For all the times you've worried about how stressful college admissions is, shaken your head about how it's all about high performance, achievement, and crazy amounts of extracurriculars, and you've thought, "There has to be a better way..."

You were right. You just found it.

Carolyn Allison Caplan is a lifelong reader (think flashlights-under-the-covers-as-a-child reader) and an admitted all things education and college admissions junkie. She holds a BA in English from the University of Texas at Austin and a Masters in Liberal Arts with a concentration in English from the University of St. Thomas in Houston. In the last few years, while dealing with empty nesting and other life stuff, she has discovered mindfulness, meditation, stoicism, and yoga, and is in the process of becoming both a certified yoga teacher and Koru Mindful Meditation teacher. Additionally, Carolyn holds a UCLA College Counseling Certificate and is a member of HECA, IECA, NACG, TACAC, and NACAC. She estimates that in the last three years she has read over 2500 Reddit kid personal essays and chatted with over 25,000 kids from the subreddit, r/ApplyingToCollege (A2C), where she is a moderator. You can find out more about Carolyn and A2C at www.admissionsmom.college