Helping Your LGBTQ Teen Apply to College Without Losing Their Mind

Welcome to More Human, More Kind, the podcast helping parents of LGBTQ+ kids move from fear to fierce allyship and feel less alone and more informed so you can protect what matters, raise brave kids, and spark collective change. I'm Heather Hester. Let's get started. Welcome back. I am really glad you are here. In recent weeks, I've become really judicious about which podcasts I listen to and when, and I've learned to really honor the signals my body and mind give when I am on political overload or I'm feeling overwhelmed, or when I'm beginning to slide into a dark place. I'm beginning to spend a lot more time in the morning meditating and just being still and present. And I'm working on ending each day with something that allows my mind and body to relax instead of keeping it completely jacked up by endlessly scrolling until I can't keep my eyes open any longer. Some days that means I'm reading a book. Others, that means I'm watching a show, and I'm currently working my way toward hopping in the sauna or taking a bath at the end of the day, because those just feel like the ultimate bedtime routine. I'm searching for balance, as I know that you are too. We want to stay informed, we want to take action, and we want to stay well because we know this is a marathon. Beyond the Breath, my Friday informal podcast, has been an incredible way for me to share my thoughts on current events. Let me know if you have topics you'd like for me to address. I love hearing what's resonating with you. I really contemplated when to schedule today's guest in my podcast release calendar because her topic is one that really might be more relevant in a month or two. However, I also think that positivity keeps us hopeful and discussing subjects other than politics keeps us moving forward with confidence and courage. I also love any opportunity to uplift queer voices, young voices, women's voices, and today I get to do all three. A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to chat with a most impressive young adult, who is accomplishing really cool things in the world while living so beautifully and authentically. Dylan Nellis is a college admissions coach and founder of NextGenAdmit. After gaining acceptance to every school she applied to and attending Stanford University, Dylan started NextGenAdmit to help high school students effectively convey their personal values, authentic experiences, and potential in standout college applications. Her students come from around the globe and have been accepted to the country's most competitive universities. Dylan has a special gift of being able to connect with teens and help them peel back the layers and share authentically. Parents of high school students, Listen carefully to her tips and then reach out to her. She is a breath of fresh air and she will help you and your child during a time that is even more chaotic than ever before. Welcome back everyone. I am so glad that you are here and I am really, really delighted to welcome Dylan to the show today. To discuss a topic that we've never discussed here before, which I cannot believe in 5 and a half years we have not touched on the college process because we talk about college a lot on the show. Um, Connor has gone through college. Two, three of my kids are, have gone through the process since I've been doing the show. So I'm really excited to welcome you on and, um, talk about what you do in the world and, um, how you have kind of a unique view of the whole college process. So thank you for being here.

Yay. Thank you for having me. I'm super excited to dive into this stuff.

Well, I loved when you reached out, you were so enthusiastic. There was something that just spoke to me and I thought, okay, you have to be on the show. Parents are going to really relate to you and I think that you have a very unique combination of, of traits and what you do and how you do it. And you've just lived this experience. I think you're around Connor's age, maybe a little bit older. And so you're not far removed from doing all of this yourself. So you have a very deep understanding of how this works. So why don't we start with you just giving a brief, this is what I do. This is what my company is. This is why I'm so passionate about it.

Yeah, so I'm a college admissions coach. I help high-achieving students get into their dream schools. I tend to work with students who really want to get into the top, top universities, and I help them get there. Um, I, I think what would be helpful is if I backtrack and give you some, uh, background on my story. So I, when I was applying to college, that was in 2018. Yeah, I did not know what to do at all. There was like barely any help at my high school. Um, just one college counselor for like the entire school. And yeah, it wasn't a lot of strategy given there. You know, college counselors will often help with like logistics side of things or like fill out this form, but they don't tell you, okay, here's actually the strategy that it takes to get in. Especially the college essay strategy, which is so important. And so I had to do a lot of that work all on my own, and I did a ton of research online, um, and reading books and articles and all these things, and was really fascinated by this process because it allowed me to learn so much about myself. And the college essay, a lot of people will think that it's like the worst thing ever, and they'll come out of the process being like, oh, I hated that. I never want to think about the college process ever again. But for me, I felt very differently because for not like the first, like, kind of, it allowed me to really think about who I was as a person and what I wanted to contribute and what my values were and what I'd gone through, what my experiences were. And I had to understand myself at such a deep level in order to communicate that to somebody else. Um, and so I came out of the process being like, oh my God, I know who I am now. And that's so cool. And I, I now have a clearer direction of where I want to go in life. I have more confidence in myself and I grew as a writer as well because I was able to articulate that in college essays. And so anyways, I got accepted into every school that I applied to. I was very shocked. Um, and amazing. I committed to Stanford University. So I did my 4 years of college. However, I took a gap year during COVID So that was like right after my freshman year of college. You know, everything was shut down. I was like, no way, I'm not doing online school. And then during that time when I was just at home for a whole year, is when I actually started this business. Um, it started with me posting videos on YouTube cuz I just wanted to share what I'd learned. And then so many people like really resonated with everything that I was saying and was like, oh my God, can you edit my essay? Can I hop on a call with you? And at that time I was not busy at all because it was during COVID So I was like, sure. And then through that I started to learn so so much more through replicating those results with other students and helping them discover who they were as people and articulating that. And that was just so cool. It lit me up. And then I, you know, hired other people to help me. So when I went back into college, I wouldn't be struggling so much. So ran a full-time company while in college. That was very hard.

I can imagine. Oh my goodness. Yeah.

And then I just recently graduated in 2024 and now this is what I do full time. I help other people.

I love that. What an empowering process. Because having had 4, or my 4th is a junior right now in high school and, and watching them and just knowing how overwhelming that process can be. And it's just a tough time. Like you are just as a human being trying to figure out who you are in this world and where you fit. And when I, a million years ago, was going into college, you didn't necessarily need to know exactly what you wanted to do, right? You didn't need to make that decision before you got to college. And that is being asked of you so much more now, or at least to have a big general idea, have it narrowed down, you know, however you want to say that. So I'm very curious about your process and what you've figured out. And why don't we just talk about first, before we go into your process, some of the myths that really cause parents' anxiety and that cause kids' anxiety, because I imagine they're different.

Yeah. Well, I think one thing. That is probably common among both parents and kids is that they think that your grades and your test scores are everything. They're like so focused, all of high school, like, get good grades, get good grades. Like, oh my God, I got a B, like the world is over. I'm not going to get into my dream school. Let's, let's take a breath. Um, because yes, if you want to go to a top school, obviously grades are important and a lot of people who get into these schools tend to have a 4.0 GPA or above, or they're valedictorian, whatever. But the thing with that is that the grades don't set you apart. They're not the thing that's actually gonna get you in. Like, sure, there's like a benchmark. Of the grades that you should have, but also there is wiggle room and you can look it up, like the stats for what kind of students get accepted to the school. You'll see you don't always have to have the perfect grades or the perfect scores because admissions is holistic. And holistic means they take into account many different factors when reviewing your application profile. So no one factor is gonna completely rule you out. Necessarily. So what I think and what I tell people is way more important is your story. Who you are as a person matters so much because sure, there are gonna be other people who have the same grades as you, maybe even the same extracurriculars, but nobody has your lived experience and your story and your unique values. And so if you can focus on that and really understand who you are and be able to communicate that in a very strategic, um, yet authentic way, then that's gonna be what sets you apart.

Let's say that your child is really wanting, you know, an Ivy or like a higher tier school. Mm-hmm. The grades have to be there in order to get you to this next part. Yes or no?

Yes. Yes.

Okay.

That is the truth. But I think it's about like priorities, I guess.

Okay.

Especially if we're talking about like earlier in high school, you know, not when you're a senior and you're actually ready to start the application process, but if you're thinking about the development of a student during high school. Mm-hmm. Yes, try to get good grades. Like, I'm not saying don't get good grades, right? Um, but I don't think that you should like spend all of your time studying and sitting at your desk and reading a textbook because, you know, the, the next important thing is extracurriculars. You gotta build your extracurricular profile. And I also don't think that necessarily parents should force a kid to do a certain extracurricular or. What they think will stand out when they don't actually know. The most important thing is nurturing a student's intellectual curiosity because intellectual curiosity is like the number one thing that these top, top colleges look for. And a lot of that comes from intrinsic motivation, right? They have to actually feel it inside of their gut, their heart. And be super interested in whatever it is that they want to pursue and, and do things related to that. Now, they don't necessarily have to know, like, this is what I want my whole life to be, my career. I don't agree with that. And I also understand that, like, people's lives change, and that's so normal. Like, at Stanford— also, side tangent— like, people change their majors all the time, multiple times. It's so normal. Yes. So the point is, when you're in high school, they wanna— they and in colleges— they wanna see that you're doing things that light you up. So if you are interested in like computer science, for example, or engineering, do little side projects. Like, it's totally cool to spend your time messing around on the computer and making little coding projects or making little robotics projects. And then once you get your skill, maybe try a summer program related to that. Maybe join a club. Maybe start your own club. Like those are the things that need to happen throughout the high school experience before you're ready to actually create your story. Right, right.

I mean, this is, this is really good advice for people who have kids who are even in middle school still.

Yeah.

I, you know, it's really kind of helping your child be that well-rounded student and, and not pulling them out of things that, you know, you may feel are frivolous, but actually are things that the child feels passionately about and could potentially set them apart as a student. Um, so I appreciate you saying that. Um, yeah.

Can I jump in actually? Yeah, of course. I, about the, the term well-rounded student. Oh, it, it's a tricky one actually in the like college admission space because I, I like the term actually because it's like I, This is my personal beliefs. I think it is great for people to have skills and experiences in many different areas, and I am someone who is very interdisciplinary and I like to do things in a lot of different realms as well. However, another thing for top school admissions is they tend to like spiky applications more than well-rounded ones. I put Both of those in quotes. Um, have you heard of that?

I haven't. I would say explain what spiky means.

This is another misconception. A lot of people think like, oh, that means I have to just do one thing. You know, if I've committed myself to engineering, like all of my extracurriculars have to be about engineering. I have to write my college essay about how I love engineering. Like everything has to be about one thing. That's not the case. Um, Basically, they do want to see that you have a sense of direction, kind of as we've been talking about, and that you're doing things that you are curious about but going deep into them. So it looks better if you spend, you know, several years in a certain program or volunteer or a project, whatever, like really dedicating yourself because it's something that you're so into and so passionate about, and you can grow and scale that project and impact lots of people, you know, bring, bring the scale wider, um, in terms of your impact and your reach versus, oh, I'm just going to do a couple volunteer hours here and there, and then I'm gonna do this random club, and then I'm gonna do this other thing. Like, that doesn't look as good to top colleges. To position this in a positive light, because I know it's like, gosh, then I can't do a lot of things. That's once again not exactly the case. Um, it's that they don't want to see that you're just doing a bunch of random things because you think that that's going to look good on the application.

Right. Well, that makes 1,000% sense. And I think that I'm glad you clarified that because that is I believe also to be very, very important. And I've watched with, you know, each of my own kids as they've all done very, very different things, but have made sure that they have been things that they are really, you know, like my one daughter was in Science Olympiad for 7 years. She was a dancer for a long time. Different. They were very different things that she was doing, but she was also had been doing them for a long time and was very dedicated to each one of them. And had spent a lot of time with each one of them. And then another one is very artistic. Another one is like uber focused on sports. And so it's, it's funny to like see, and I actually was talking to a friend the other day and, and her first child is just, she's just going through this process for the first time and she, she's very high achieving and she says, you know, I'm looking at all this. Stuff about my son and I'm wishing that he hadn't dropped out of this and I wish he had kept with this and I'm realizing how remarkably average my child is. I was like, oh my God, just like, okay, there is a place for everyone. Like I understand how you might want your child and this, and I think is a very important thing that I'd love for you to touch on where the parent so desperately wants their child to go to a school that's maybe up here because they did, or that's what their focus has been on the whole 18 years of their child's life or whatever. But the child is kind of like, I'm good here. And I, I'm looking at more of a wide view or whatever. So I'd love to talk about like how to manage, how a parent can manage their own desires. Well help guide their child and support their child through this process.

Yeah. Oh, that's a really good point to bring up because I've had parents, you know, jump on a call with me and they're like, I want my kid to go to a good school. Okay, let's define what good means, right? Because so many schools are great. Yes, great. Just because You know, it doesn't have the brand name of Harvard or Princeton, whatever. It doesn't mean that it's not a great school, that you're not going to get an amazing education and that wonderful opportunities will come out of that. That's not the case. Like, of course you can. It's, it's less about the school. It's more about the person and what they choose to do with the opportunities and the resources that they are given. You know, whether they take advantage of them. And another thing about prestige is it's, it's more about like the type of students that they accept versus the quality of education. I, I think I read that somewhere that talked about that in depth, and I thought that was really interesting and made sense. It's like they're admitting students who are already achieving at a certain level at age 17.

Right.

But it's correlation, not causation, like that kind of thing.

Yep.

Um, point is, there is a lot of great education in many different schools, and I think what's most important is for, I would say both actually, the parent and the student to do a lot of research into these colleges to see, is that actually what I want? Is that aligned with me? Do they have the programs that I want and will help me succeed? And I encourage students to get like really nitty gritty with their research. Like look at the classes, read the descriptions, look at who's teaching the classes. What has that person done? What, you know, what kind of work do they have? Like what kind of research opportunities are there? Does that align with what you want? Oh, and also like the values of the school and the department and their approach to teaching and learning. Is that what you want? Because if it's not, you don't have to apply there, even if it's a top school. That's totally fine.

Yeah. Yeah, I, I appreciate that very, very much. I think that is very, very important. Let's talk a little bit about writing these essays, because that is a huge piece of, of what you do. And yeah, I think what differentiates. And there are two things that you brought up that I think really stood out to me. One being the importance of authenticity along with the strategy. And in that, being able to help guide the student to really— and it's what you did, it sounds like— really guiding that student to connect with their, their values and like being able to see like, Wow, this is who I am. And those like really deeply empowering moments.

Yeah, absolutely. So I think first it's really easy to get lost in the noise of the college application process, and there's so many people and things telling you what to do as a student. You have your parents, you're like, you should do this, you should do that, you know, when they might not quite know also. And then you have your college counselor telling you what to do, or if you like hired an outside college consultant, they're telling you what to do. And then there's advice on the internet telling you what to do and on TikTok. Oh my God, on TikTok, like that's a whole world too. And a lot of people get their education and advice from there too. Um, so it, it gets really convoluted in a student's mind. And then ultimately what I see a lot of students do is they write what they think the admissions officer wants to hear, but they're not actually writing a story that conveys who they truly are. Right. And so I had a student recently get rejected from Stanford early restrictive action, and she had, she had all the things, you know, like the grades, the extracurriculars. She's, she was awesome. And she was like, I don't understand what happened. And I read her essay and immediately I knew because I've gotten to this point where I can diagnose it in like literally a second. I read her essay and basically she was just writing what she thought she should write and she was reciting a series of events from her life that showed what she had done, what she had achieved. And by the end of the answer, I was like, okay, but I didn't learn anything about who you are. Like, I know you started this nonprofit, I know you're interested in this specific major, but I have no idea why. I don't really understand what drives you. And what was crazy also is the fact that she actually worked with an outside consultant. Her family hired somebody else to help her with this. But he barely helped with that as well, clearly. And like, he was not, did not provide the kind of feedback that you need for a top school like Stanford. It's just, it's so strategic at this point, which I have complicated feelings about. So basically I worked with her to first unpack who she was. Not usually when I hop on a call with a student like this, I'm not like, okay, let's edit the essay. You know, change a few sentences, change a few words. I'm like, no, no, no, we need to go back to the drawing board and really like figure out what it is you're trying to get across. What are you saying? And so through this process, she learned so much more about who she was, and that was really cool. I've had another student who, where I will ask, okay, why are you interested in this major? And they'll be like, oh, well, when I was little, I did this camp and then I did this club and I did this. I was like, okay, okay, you're telling me what you've done. Let me ask you again, why are you interested in this subject? Like, what about the subject itself, like, gets you going? And then she again, like, answered with more things that she'd done. I'm like, okay, you know, so we repeat that process until I really get to the core of it, which a lot of times is something very inherent to who they are as a person. Like, Oh, I, I like to solve problems methodically, or like, I'm a very organized person, or I like, um, looking at the whole picture before I look at the details, you know, like certain, there are certain values like that and we can figure out what the unique one is for the student that comes from talking with them and doing that process, um, which is really hard to do alone, I will acknowledge, especially when these students You know, at this age you don't think a lot about who you are as a person.

Well, I was gonna say that, that is not something that I feel like kids are really challenged on. There's so much of like, you need to learn these subjects, you need to figure out what you want to do, you do these activities, but there's not a lot of like reflective Why, why do I do better at math than I do at English? Or why do I really enjoy this, this class over here instead of this class or, or this activity over this activity? There's none of that. There's not really any of that.

Interesting. Um, and that's why I say like working with a college admissions coach on your college essays can feel a lot like therapy. And when I tell people about what I do, they're like, oh my God, you're like a therapist. I'm like, that's so funny because yes, we are like fully unpacking somebody else's stuff and we're gonna get vulnerable. They get really vulnerable with me in telling me their entire life story, their challenges, their childhood experiences, like the relationships that they have to the people in their lives and all the things. That have shaped them to who they are today. And that's why if a parent or a family is hiring a college admissions coach, I think you have to really trust them and really make sure that this person, like, can hold that weight, I guess. And that the child, more importantly, that the student feels very comfortable being so vulnerable with this person because they're gonna get to know each other real well, like especially if they're working for together for like months, right?

Right. Well, I feel like you've, you've hit on something that I don't know that I've ever heard any other person talk about before. I haven't worked with any, with a college admission coach for any of my kids for various reasons, not because I think there's anything wrong with them. We just, haven't.

Yeah, totally.

Um, but just thinking, I don't know that I've ever heard any of my friends who've used them say anything like this, like the personal relationship, like that, that, um, level of, um, getting to know someone and allowing someone to guide you through a process that can be so vulnerable and should be so vulnerable., and should be, um, something that is deeply personal.

Yeah, absolutely. And I think, um, people, yeah, people don't talk about that a lot. And I'm, I've been trying to think in my head like, why? Um, and part of it, part of it might be just that like some college consultants themselves like don't do this level of depth that I do with my students. And I've heard from other people, you know, it's just like, ah, check-in meetings. Oh, how's it going? Good. Okay. I can review your essay.

Yeah.

Whatever. Once again, I'm like, oh my God, that's, it's not giving them the strategy that they actually need to write. This is the worst.

Well, and the strategy and this type of work, actually you would save time in the long run.

Oh, absolutely. You'd save so much time.

Right? Because then you're drilling down on exactly what needs to be done and you're not out there like, I feel like so, so much of this is just like, throwing spaghetti at the wall, right? And seeing, seeing what sticks. This is like a very targeted approach, correct?

Yes, very targeted. And that's why I tell students like, don't write the essay until you've first identified your values, identified what's the theme of my essay, written a full-on outline, like step-by-step of what you're going to talk about in every single paragraph, because this is storytelling. It is, it is literally storytelling. It's all about crafting a story. Um, there's different ways to do it, and I have different strategies that I teach. There's gonna be this theme that conveys your main values, and then how you tell the story is so important. That's why I always, I don't really believe in the idea of like cliché essay topics or essay topics that you should avoid because I'm like, what about, you know, you can talk about anything. Well, not, not anything, anything, but most things you can talk about. It just depends on how you're doing it because you have to do it in a way that is creative, unique, and authentic, and that positions you as a standout applicant. Oh, and this is, this is taking me to another point that I would love to talk about. Um, hero stories versus some stories.

Yes, yes, yes, yes.

Our understanding of why suddenly people think that you need a sob story to get into college, because it's not that colleges are admitting you because you experienced hardship. They're not like, "Oh my God, you went through some horrible things. Yay, like, I'm gonna admit you." It doesn't work like that. They're admitting students because of the skills that they've gained the strengths that they have, and the values that they developed by persevering through their challenges. So the focus of your essay should not be your struggle, your struggles or your challenges. Like, yes, a lot of times the prompt will ask you about challenges, and that's sure, of course they want to learn about your experiences, but that should not be the focus of your essay, and that is not the theme of your essay. And a lot of times, you know, people will be like, oh, I didn't write an essay about blank. Whatever that topic is, people will replace that with their challenge. And I'm like, no, no, no, that's not how you write. That's not the topic. That's not the topic of your essay. The topic is whatever theme that we're conveying, whatever values that you're conveying. Right. The whole thing that you're pulling it through isn't through. Story, like that's the external events that got you to this, maybe internal realization, and then maybe other external events that you've done, like, oh, I, after learning this lesson, I then went on to like help other people by starting this organization, whatever you did.

Right.

Your struggles that define who you are, that is not your identity. Your identity is not your hardship and also your identity is not your accomplishments. You know, as I was talking about with the volume example, right? So we have to figure out what is your identity. Right.

Which goes back to the original, you know, part of the work, right? Before you even get to the topic. I appreciate you breaking that down. Um, I do think that, and it kind of leads into, you know, writing about sensitive subjects, how personal is too personal? And it really, both of those kind of circle again back to writing about the lesson, right? I am resilient because I learned to persevere through fill in the blank. I, um, don't ever give up because fill in the blank. And that is a very important thing to point out because I have, I have noticed that in, in topics that have, have been run by me. And, um, interestingly, and without knowing this, but it's probably why he got into NYU, Connor did write his essay on his coming out story, but it was through what he learned, where he was at that point when he was writing it. So the lessons learned through the different pieces, the different things that he went through. That's just fascinating. Um, and I at the time didn't think about it. I just thought, oh wow, it's Bravo.

Yeah. When you look back, you're like, oh, it makes sense.

Yeah. He's going to be so excited. You knew the formula.

Yeah. Another thing I'd love to talk about is how a lot of college consultants and parents too, they might know that they might know, like, Oh, I need to convey this lesson at the end of the essay. But the way that they force that onto a kid can be not authentic. So we have to be careful of that as well.

Um, sure.

Where they like force them into a certain box or like a certain narrative. Cause they're like, oh, I know it needs to be a story, so let's, a couple tweaks to the story and like, you know, make sure it hits all those Narrative points, that can also be another problem because I've read several essays where I read that and I'm like, okay, I see what's happening here. It's so obvious to me because I read thousands of essays. So I, I, after they read the essay, I'll be like, okay, what actually happened? You can tell me. And then they tell me what actually happened. I'm like, yeah, that's what I thought. So then we, you know, we'll make some adjustments to the story. We're not going to change the whole topic of the essay, but like change how they're writing about it in the outline. So then it's more authentic and we create, or we bring in those rich details. I think that's really interesting. The thing about like authentic applications is when you write through the lens of like authenticity, you're gonna come out with a more unique essay that's gonna help you stand out because you're not trying to fit this mold of a narrative that you think it has to be. When you make a, a narrative that is like what you think gets into schools, you're gonna miss out on all the nuance, the emotions, those details and the depth that come from the reality of your, of your lived experience.

Right, right. And again, I think circling back to doing that work of really figuring out who you are.

Yeah.

Yeah. And writing from a place of this is who I am in this world, as opposed to this is who this college is looking for me to be in this world. Um, and I think when a kid, especially, you know, a young person, a young adult. Can really connect and do that work of like figuring out who they are. Oh my gosh. Like hugely important.

Yeah. Not even just for the college essay, for their entire life.

For everything. For everything. Because it takes people most people a long time to do that work and to figure it out and to figure out that that's how you really are successful in life, right? So being able to figure that out as like you're like unlocking the key to colleges and getting into what you may have initially thought were your dream colleges. Once you do that, they may not be your dream colleges. They may still be, but they also may not be. So I think that's a really, I think it's phenomenal what you've hit on.

Yeah.

We're gonna wrap up in a couple of minutes, so I wanna hear thoughts that you would like to leave parents and then how people can find you. Yeah. One.

So we covered nurturing their intellectual curiosity. I think that's really important for parents to do. Encouraging them to explore their own interests, giving them agency to pursue their own ideas while also supporting them along the way. Like, I'm not saying step away. Like, absolutely support, support, provide other ideas, other suggestions, use your connections. Like, I, I really I'm thankful for my own parents for helping me in that way. Um, and in terms of like learning about who a kid is, you can engage in conversations, seek to understand your child and like what matters to them and why. And by asking those questions, you can really find what lights them up and, and then there you can find like that intrinsic motivation, right? Um, which is what we need to have in Ripple Say. Like, it has to be so clear on paper that the kid actually feels this way. And I mean, yeah, is very, like, approaches things because they want to. They genuinely want to. It's important to focus on how you as a student, and I'm talking about the student, can contribute to the university. Because these colleges, they pride themselves in their rankings. Yes. They pride themselves in their successful alumni as well, who go on to impact the world in big ways. And so they're only able to maintain this level of prestige by accepting students who will add, you know, unique perspectives, diversity of experiences, and that intellectual curiosity I talked about, adding that to their community. So when you write your college essays, this is especially relevant for the essay that asks, why are you interested in our college? Why do you want to go here? That is you saying, here's how I'm going to help you. It's— don't think of it, you know, the other way around. It's like, oh, well, at this college, I'm going to get all this stuff. I'm, you know, the receiver. It's like, no, no, no, you're also giving to the college and that's what they want to see. So in those essays, you really want to paint the picture for them. It's like, how are you going to make great use of their resources and their opportunities to then create some sort of large-scale impact or positively impact the world?

Love that.

Yeah, they want to see that you're going to be able to succeed at their university.

Right, right. Again, good flip of that question.

Yeah.

All right, how can people find you?

You can find me at nextgenadmit.com. That's like next gen and then admit. Like, the person that gets admitted into a school. LDMIT.com. Perfect. You could also just look up my name on the internet and I will come up, or on YouTube. I'm big on YouTube. I love rambling on and on about many different topics related to this stuff. So you can find me on YouTube just by searching Dylan Nellis. Oh, also, I want to plug if anyone's interested in a free masterclass that I have. I have a full hour-long masterclass where I talk about the top school admissions formula and I go into a lot more depth and specifics. Um, this is really, really useful information that I wish that I had when I was starting out. So it's totally free and you can register for that at nextgenadmit.com/masterclass. Awesome.

That's amazing. I'll have all of this in the show notes. So if anybody was madly writing, don't worry. Um, you can just scroll down and click on it through the show notes and you will be able to find Dylan. And I'm so, so thrilled that you, you reached out and that you are on the show today. This was so much fun talking with you. I'm so incredibly impressed with who you are in this world and what you've accomplished already. Oh my goodness. Look out world.

Thank you. I'm kind of blessed and I love hearing your story and how you resonate with things too. It's, it's nice to hear from other parents.

Well, thank you. Thank you so much. So good to have you. I'm so glad you were here today. There is a lot going on right now, and I hope this episode brought you comfort. Helped you feel more informed, and empowered you to be the next ripple, whether that is through renewed connection with your child, a friend, your community, or out in the world. Reach out if you have a question you'd like for me to answer in an upcoming episode. Join others in community on my Patreon and share this podcast. Liking, rating, sharing, and reviewing all help get more human, more kind in front of others who need to know that they are not alone. And right now, that is no small thing. Remember to take breaks, big breaths, hug your kids, and tell someone how much you appreciate them. Until next time.