Navigating the College Admissions World, with Julie Kelsheimer ’11, ’13 Mmus
About this Episode
Episode 155: Published on Apr 18, 2024
Join us as Kelsheimer, a college admissions adviser based in greater New York City, gives advice to parents on the college admissions landscape and shares tips for students on how to market themselves in a job search.
[MUSIC PLAYING] MAX: Welcome to Northwestern Intersections, a Northwestern Alumni Association podcast. We'll be talking to alums about their career paths and the lessons they've learned along the way. Our guest today is Julie Kelsheimer, a college admissions advisor based out of greater New York City. After graduating from Northwestern with bachelor's and master's degrees in music, she went on to become a high school and college level instructor before moving to her current role.
Join us as she shares advice for students and parents alike in the ever-changing college landscape. We'll discuss all these topics and more in this edition of Northwestern Intersections.
JULIE KELSHEIMER: Thanks for having me, Max.
MAX: Absolutely. And I'm excited to talk to you because I think that your advice is going to be obviously very helpful for anyone who's a parent listening, but also for students. Before we get into that, though, I want to ask about your time in Evanston.
You came here to study music. What attracted you to Northwestern specifically? And what was your dream job in college? What did you think you were going to do with that music degree coming out of school?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: I would say there's two big things that drew me to Northwestern. The first was I knew I wanted to study music, opera specifically, but I didn't want to be limited by just that. I also love theater and musical theater. And I wanted to be sure that I could find a school where I could academically pursue both-- and performance, pursue both. And what I loved about Northwestern is that I could get that conservatory level operatic training, but I also could get the musical theater certificate and study acting and dance and theater history and all that, which I loved.
And the second thing that drew me to Northwestern was its proximity to Chicago. I've been in love with that city for a very long time. And so getting to be so close to it and see the Lyric Opera, productions at the Lyric or any of the theater productions downtown, just made me feel like I could be in this great city and see what I was actually studying. So that's what drew me.
As far as my job, What did I think I saw myself doing? That's a great question. Originally, I thought I would enter Northwestern and do-- they originally had a double degree program where you could study performance and journalism. And I thought maybe I'd do that and I'd combine them and do music criticism.
But actually, they got rid of that program shortly before I arrived. And so I decided to stick to performance. And I knew that I wanted to spend a good chunk of my professional life performing, which I was lucky to get to do right after Northwestern. I moved up to Milwaukee to work for two seasons with the Florentine Opera Company. So they hired me to be a studio artist, and from 2013 to 2015, I was there.
MAX: When did you decide to shift gears from music to college advising?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: It was kind of a two or three-step process. So I had been primarily performing opera, which I love and I still do to this day. But during my graduate school at Northwestern, I had also taught some undergraduate nonmajors private voice lessons, and I found that I really, really loved that. I loved working one on one with the undergrads and teaching them singing technique.
And so I decided I wanted to balance the performing with teaching a little bit. So I started my own private studio and I was hired by two universities in Saint Louis to teach voice lessons to their musical theater and opera majors. And so I did that for a handful of years. Again, the thing I loved most was working individually with these young adults.
I found in my private studio. I spent a lot of time naturally assisting my students with the college process. So they would say, maybe I don't want to major in music, but I want-- I want to study biology, but I want to go to a school that is arts friendly, et cetera, and I would help them find a school, write these essays, get their applications into good shape.
And I loved it so much, I decided, you know what? I kind of want to focus in on this. I really love that process. And the company I work for, Great Minds Advising, which is wonderful, had a spot for me to join and to do this full time. And I'm really enjoying it.
MAX: You obviously had a little bit of previous teaching experience, especially working with high school students, I would imagine helped a lot. But what was the biggest transition moving from being a full-time instructor to doing college prep work specifically?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: I would say that my experience teaching both high schoolers and undergrads made the transition fairly seamless, and I'm grateful for that. Obviously, the content of what I'm doing with each student is different. But I already had been able to kind of establish a rapport with people in this age group and hopefully gain their trust.
And so I find that-- I was kind of pulling stories out of the high schoolers and undergrads when it came to their performance and their music. And I get to do that same work with high schoolers preparing for college. I pull out of them a little bit more of who they are and what sets them apart so that we can tell their story in their application. So I appreciate that the transition has felt natural to me.
MAX: I'll throw in a buzzword that I'm sure a lot of young working professionals are familiar with, "transferable skills." How did you manage to leverage your skills from what was an incredible, but very specialized and specific major into a new role?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: I really enjoy communicating with people. A lot of my career as a singer involved me advocating for myself. So if I wanted a job, I went to find it. I knew that for every 25 auditions I was going to take, maybe I'd get a callback for one. I knew I had to put myself out there and I knew that the way I'm going to hopefully connect with people, whether that's an audition panel, whether that's a student, whether that's an audience, is if I am my authentic self and I take what sets me apart, hopefully, and I share that.
And so I feel that moving into the advising realm, I get to hopefully connect with students in that way, but also pull that out of them. So I do think a lot of the skills I used in my performance and teaching career are at play here as well.
MAX: Have you been able to keep up with your vocal performance at the same time as your full-time job?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: The good thing about performing-- and I've always thought this-- is it stays with you. It's part of your identity. It's part of who you are. And so I find that, yes, I'm a college advisor full time, but I am and will always be a singer as well. And so anytime an opportunity that fits into my life comes about, I'm excited to take it. And my continuing to sing at whatever level that is informs my advising. It informs how I work with people and how I teach as well and how I advise.
MAX: So I want to shift gears a bit and talk about the ever-changing college admissions landscape, obviously, a very complicated process for students and parents. In your experience, what's been the biggest change that students and families have had to deal with?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: I think a big change, and I can certainly say this from my time applying to college, and I think even in the past two or three years, this has become a more specialized in a way. But right now, colleges really want to know that they're accepting experts in a particular academic area into their class. So they want a well-rounded class, but to get the well-rounded class, they need individuals with a high level of knowledge in a specific area or a specific intersection of two areas.
So I think that's different. I think when I was applying to school, they sought after the person that could kind of do it all or dabbled in a little bit of everything. So that has been something that's good to note for parents and students alike. It's also good as an advisor to say, OK, let's really see what you're most passionate about. Not the 10 things you enjoy, but the thing you're most drawn to that we can expand for you so that it sets you apart in your application.
MAX: And I feel like even when I was applying for schools, that was a big thought or maybe even a misconception that you just have to do 25 different clubs and a million different things. What do you tell the students and families who are kind of going that route? What do you tell parents who are pushing their kids to be everything everywhere all at once? And like, how do you kind of maybe refocus that if a student isn't interested in doing a bunch of things, if they maybe just want to do a few specialized things?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: Well, I like to state some facts. So I'll take actual examples of students we have just as anecdotes or stories. And I'll say, OK, so this high schooler was interested in, let's say, neuroscience. And by the time they were juniors or maybe even halfway through sophomore year, they were researching with a university-level professor and submitting works to get published in national journals. And they maybe after all that got a consideration from a school, maybe didn't even get into a school of choice, right, because it involves way more than just that.
But I would give them case studies of actual people, the level of commitment they have to a subject and show them, this is kind of where you need to be. Of course, it depends on the tier of school. It depends on a student and a parent's goals. But that's advisable, typically.
MAX: How can you tell when a student has found their place, their best fit? And what would you tell parents to look out for so that they're able to say, OK, now we know this is the place?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: It's interesting, because I'm a firm believer that until you've been to a campus and you've seen it and you've talked to people, it's hard to know that this is, you know, quote, unquote, "my place." I like to joke sometimes with my team at work that I knew Northwestern was my place from the time I was about 8 to 10 years old, which is crazy. It's just crazy.
But I went to other places. I visited a million and a half schools it felt like at time. And still, something about Northwestern felt right. And so I always urge students to first-- yeah, we look at your metrics, we looked at your soft factors, so your resume, we look at your grades, we look at your SAT/ACT and we see if a school is feasible for you. And then of that, we create a whole list and then we say, let's go visit. Let's go see. Talk to professors, sit in on classes, do the official tours and the official visits. And then a student tends to get a good feel.
And then it becomes a conversation with the parent of, Is this feasible or can we get it to a place where it becomes feasible? We never would recommend something totally out of left field for a student.
MAX: And how do you handle a situation where maybe there's some disagreement between the student and the parent on where they want to go to school?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: Yeah, that can be difficult. I think we have to find a common ground. So think if a parent and a student can agree on, for instance, if we're just talking broad, like location, OK, let's narrow it down to that, or size of school, or what's most valuable to you. Like for me as a music student, Was I like looking at a conservatory or was I looking at a university? et cetera.
If we can kind of agree on those factors, then we look at the primary academic passion for the student and we say, this is where they're thriving. Can we all agree that this is definitely where the student shines? And I do find that families want to support that. And they want to nurture that passion. And eventually, there does become a school-- or a list of schools that stand out as the correct fit.
MAX: So something fun that we're doing for this episode is almost webinar format, but for the podcast. You're going to be giving some specific sort of tangible steps that you use in your work for college admission. You talk about the seven steps for admission. Talk me through this and tell people, What are these steps and how can they leverage them effectively and successfully?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: Sure. So if we're looking at just the college application process in general, there are seven kind of things that go into it start to end. Those are your narrative or your resume building; your academic strategy, which has to do with course selection and rigor; your testing strategy, so SAT/ACT; your letters of recommendation, typically, schools will ask for one to two teacher letters and one guidance counselor letter; your school selection or your college list creation; your personal and your supplemental essays; and your strategic positioning or your major declaration.
So to start, that narrative building, that's really where it all begins. So that's where we get to know a student. We talk to them. In our process at Great Minds Advising, we have a huge list of questions that we ask these students from just flat out, What do you enjoy? to, What do you find yourself-- what rabbit holes do you find yourself going down? What YouTube videos?
What articles are you reading? What podcasts are you listening to? Is there an intellectual idea that you've come across in your life that just blew your mind, and why? Who is your favorite conversation partner?
So through asking these questions and analyzing a few more factors, we decide what the narrative is or what the primary interests for these students are. Once we know that, we say, OK, well, let's start building your resume now. Let's start finding context for you that can take your activities from maybe low value to something a little more high value that's going to set you apart. Let's gain you some leadership within and outside of school.
Of course, then we look at the goals for the student. Are you looking at top 5 to 10 universities or are we looking at top 100? Because that's going to determine the courses you choose, the level of rigor you're going to take. That's going to determine your SAT and ACT score, et cetera. So once we have that narrative, all those other six steps after that sort of flow naturally.
MAX: Talked about the admissions landscape changing, and thinking on a positive note, are there any changes that you're very pleased with or you think that there are positive changes in this process? And then on the other side of that coin, are there any processes now that you think are maybe over-complicated or things that you wish could change?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: Yeah, I'll start with that one, actually, because I think it can be daunting to look at some of these acceptance percentages and to say, wow, it really has become incredibly competitive. I think with making the SAT and ACT-- with schools making themselves test optional, it's created a huge amount of applicants vying for a small amount of spots. So I can understand that that's a difficult pill to swallow sometimes.
That being said, I think there's a lot of positive that's come from it because I think it's valuable to recognize what sets a student apart. And when you and I were applying to college and people before us, again, it was that well-roundedness factor. It was, I like a little bit of everything.
But now we get to look at a student and say like, no, What actually drives you? If you could spend your day or your year doing something or a combination of two things, what would that be? And let's really just focus and get to the core of that. And I actually find that some students, they just take the reins then and they're like, all right. Let's do it. Let's dig in. And to see that passion, to see that wanting to explore outside of class, is definitely a positive that I've seen come of this landscape.
MAX: How do you manage to keep a student and a family motivated and sort of create a positive sense of urgency without making it an undue over-stressful burden?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: I find it's very valuable to consistently remind a student of their goals because they come to us with the goals. We're not assigning goals. This is where you're going to go to college because I said so. No, they come to us with their goals.
And it's easy to forget those or it's easy to say, this is too much work, I don't know-- if you constantly ground them, remind them of their goals, usually the motivation comes back because they were the ones to set those goals. Or if it's not there anymore, the goals have to then change. And that's something that they have to decide for themselves. But I think that's valuable.
And I also think the skills that we teach a student or work with a student on in the college advising process are skills they need for college and are skills they need for life. So we focus on time management, organization, we focus on executive functioning. We focus on talking to other humans in real time, shaking the hand of an admissions officer, preparing for an interview. And I find that as long as we kind coach them and guide them through that, they build confidence. And now not only are they confident about their school, they're confident about the young adult they're becoming to enter that school.
MAX: Obviously it's a big process, stress for students, but also stress for parents. How do you keep families calm and sane to any extent while their kids are going through the college admission process?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: Sane and calm, I don't know if those words go well with the process. No, I'm kidding, of course. But I would say-- and I say this with love. I am a parent. But what I would say is parents need to understand this is a vastly different world that their child is applying to school in than what they or people before them did. And I think humbling ourselves enough to just understand that fact is huge.
You want to be an ally, a companion, to your student through this process as opposed to the opposition or the nag in the ear or whatever. So I would say understanding that it is competitive, understanding that if you see a passion in your child, trying to foster that, trying to nourish that is super valuable. And I will say this because I believe in it. I do think having an advisor work with a student privately in some way is helpful because now it's a team. It's a team of people that are helping that student achieve their goal and focus just on that student alone. So I think that brings a sense of calm as well.
MAX: What are your goals for this upcoming year? What are you hoping to accomplish personally and professionally?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: Hmm, good question. I would certainly say that performing is a part of who I am. Singing is, and will always be, a part of who I am. And so I hope to carry that through my whole life as long as I'm able.
But from another professional angle, I really do adore the college advising process. I want to continue to learn and grow. I want to grow my network of connections so that I can serve these students whether they're science leaning, whether they're math leaning, whether they're arts leaning, journalism leaning, so that I can say, here is a huge pool of people and contacts and resources and summer programs and et cetera, that are going to serve just you. And I feel like I have a large database of that already, but always learning and growing.
I see myself continuing to grow the clients I work with and continuing to serve them all over the country. I would love to just expand to that level with my company.
MAX: Are there any Northwestern shout-outs you'd like to give?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: I have to shout out to the whole Bienen School of Music, of course, because I feel like, yes, I got a good education, but they really shaped me to be who I am. I'm indebted to them. I'm so thankful for them, specifically the voice and opera professors and faculty and staff.
My individual teacher was Pamela Hinchman and my coach was Alan Darling. I'm so thankful to them and always will be. And the School of Communications as well, since I did do the musical theater certificate program. And to my colleagues, my friends, the class of 2011 and 2013, I'm really thankful that they taught me what they did at that time in my life.
MAX: What's the best advice you learned while you were a student at Northwestern?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: That's a great question. I think the best advice that I learned was to keep an open mind. And I know that sounds general, but really, I think when you're an artist, you have to, because if you're not, you don't learn about other people's lives, about how they think and how they function. And then your skill set in telling a story is severely limited.
So I was taught to keep an open mind. And the one thing I loved about the Bienen School was that it was always kindness and support first. I never felt like I was in an environment where I wasn't supported and loved just for who I was. So I try to bring that to my students and to my team as well.
MAX: Final fun question. If you could perform with any singer from history, who would you perform with?
JULIE KELSHEIMER: Oh my gosh. Let's see. I probably would perform-- and I know that this is not an individual singer, but I probably would love to perform with a like Dietrich Fischer-Dieskau, who is a performer of German lieder art song, or really any art song performer, because I think that their ability to storytell is fascinating. So not only would I'd love to perform with them, but I would love to actually just see them live in person. I wish I could have for him specifically because they know how to be a human and connect to humans, certainly.
MAX: Julia Kelsheimer, thank you so much for joining us on the show.
JULIE KELSHEIMER: Yeah. Thank you, Max. It was great to be here.
