Stocking the Fridge: What Is Development?

Early in my career, I used to meet students the summer before senior year and build applications based on what already existed. I like to describe that as “making dinner with whatever was in the fridge.” Sometimes the fridge had all the ingredients we needed. Sometimes it was overstuffed and we had to toss things out to get to the real story. Sometimes it was missing some essentials that would have been easy to put in had we started earlier. So development is about starting earlier to stock that fridge so we can prepare the best meal possible.

Increasingly, colleges value authentic engagement over “pay-to-play” activities. Prestigious programs or expensive summer experiences aren’t inherently bad, but they aren’t impressive either. What matters isn’t where the program is, but whether it genuinely aligns with a student’s interests.

An MIT admissions officer perfectly captured our philosophy when they said, “There is nothing—literally nothing—that by itself will get you into MIT.” Their only advice was, “Do well in school. Be nice. Pursue your passion.”

Development is about far more than getting into college. It’s about helping students see, nurture, and articulate what makes them who they are. It doesn’t need to be traditionally impressive—just honest and authentic. Together, we’ll explore interests, plant seeds, and see what blooms.