The college admissions process can appear intimidating and mystifying. For example, test scores, interviews, and certain essay prompts may say “optional” but do schools prefer when you take the option? Conventional wisdom says that you shouldn’t tell admissions officers “what they want to hear” in your personal statement, so what do they really want to hear instead? And since nobody’s perfect, how should you balance being well-rounded vs. specialized, or taking challenging classes vs. getting perfect grades. If only there were a way to know what admissions officers are really thinking… Now there is! Each month, this series features an admissions officer or reader from a top school–including Harvard, Columbia, UCLA, Wisconsin, and others–available to answer your most pressing questions about all aspects of college applications, school research, improving your candidacy, and getting into the perfect school for you.