John Ambrose is executive director of admissions at MSU. Dani Vincent and Ndi Sibanda are MSU students who are tour guides for MSU Admissions.

Ambrose assesses the state of higher education admissions and challenges and opportunities ahead, and the group describes the top stressors for students and parents in the process of preparing their college applications.

They talk about important deadlines in the process and about the importance of parental involvement. And the students talk about why they chose to attend MSU and what they like about being tour guides on campus.

Conversation Highlights:

(2:50) – “Ultimately, it’s a place where you can make mistakes and get up from them. And they don’t hurt as much as when you’re not in college and you make the same mistakes.”

(4:40) – “The landscape is so fraught with pressures right now for my peers and myself when it comes to thinking about the college admissions world.”

(7:33) – “Sometimes I think it’s families’ expectations that are unreasonable.”

(10:43) – “It always comes down to the classes that are offered and what your interests are and, more importantly, the campus.”

(12:30) – “There were so many different factors that played into me deciding to come to MSU.”

(14:59) – “A big stressor for me was applying during the pandemic.”

(24:21) – “Most college applications will begin opening in early August, and a good date to have all of your applications complete by is November 1.”

(26:06) – “One of the key things to pay attention to is the admit rate.”

(27:16) – “It’s critically important that parents be involved in the process.”

(34:18) – “It’s so critically important to be authentically you in the application…utilize the personal statement area to tell us something we don’t know about you. That’s the one thing that really stands out in all applications.”

(40:28) – “The professors at Michigan State are here to not only guide but help correct and be a counselor and a listening ear. But you can’t bring your high school self. You have to bring the young adult self that you want to be and approach them as a young adult. They want you to engage.

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