Joie’s Newsletter #10
What the Knicks Taught Me About College Admissions
Last week, I got to watch the Knicks championship parade on TV.
Like so many New Yorkers, I was smiling before I even realized it. It was marvelous to watch my city celebrate with unbridled joy. I loved seeing fans who had been waiting over half a century for this moment standing next to newbies experiencing their first championship. Sports have a unique ability to unite us, even if only for a few hours.
As I watched the players receive their keys to the city, I realized that we have a funny way of remembering champions. Once they win, we tell ourselves that they were always supposed to—it was destiny. But, to me, the best part of the championship is remembering that this Knicks team spent the year finding ways to win games that seemed completely out of reach. They won multiple playoff games after trailing by twenty points.
I spend most of my time around teenagers, and their first reaction is often to do exactly the opposite. A disappointing chemistry grade becomes evidence that they're "just not a science person." One SAT score suddenly feels like “I will never get into college!” When you're fifteen, it's hard to believe that today's disappointment is anything other than tomorrow's reality. But after more than twenty years of doing this work, I can tell you that some of the strongest students I've ever advised are the ones whose stories didn't begin the way they hoped they would. They kept sending emails to funders after hearing no, rewrote the proposal that had been rejected, or found a mentor after several others had turned them away. Looking back, what stands out isn't the setbacks. It's the grit they developed because of it.
There was another reason I loved watching this team. Every playoff game seemed to have a different hero. One night it was Brunson dominating the fourth quarter. Another night it was Robinson grabbing rebounds. And then there was OG Anunoby's unforgettable tip-in to complete the largest comeback in NBA Finals history.
The Knicks succeeded because they are a TEAM. Everyone understood that winning required that they do their job with excellence. That has always been how we've thought about our work at College Prep 360. Families sometimes imagine there is one counselor responsible for a student's success, but that has never been our model. Our counselors, essay coaches, innovation coaches, interview specialists, enrollment directors, managers, and leadership team each bring something different to the table. One person helps a student discover what genuinely excites them. Another helps them communicate it. Someone else builds confidence before an interview or connects them with an opportunity they never knew existed. Our incredible outcomes are never the result of one person. They happen because a team of people believes in a student—sometimes before that student fully believes in themselves.
Watching the Knicks get their keys to the city reminded me that championships are built long before anyone hands out trophies. They're built during grueling practices no one sees, the setbacks no one remembers, and the moments when people decide that one disappointing day isn't going to define the rest of their story.
That's true in basketball. It's true in college admissions. And, I think, it's true in life.
Education expert, founder, author of “B+ Grades, A+ College Application.”
