Take an ‘Existential Selfie’

Admissions Beat

How might a high school junior embark on the journey of self-discovery that serves as the bedrock of the college search process? Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Lee Coffin, host of the Admissions Beat, recommends that prospective applicants begin by pointing a virtual camera at themselves and snapping an “existential selfie.” It’s an exercise that can reveal values and priorities, as well as guiding questions. On this week’s podcast, he is joined by four guests, all of them first-year undergraduates at Dartmouth, to seek their counsel on the early steps in the college search, including advice they would give to their 16- or 17-year-old selves if they could turn back the clock. They are: Andrea Agola of Burke, VA; Garrett Crouch, of Edmond, OK; Olivia Koo of Los Alamos, NM; and Batuhan Saridede of Izmit, Turkey.