Have you caught the Wordle bug yet? It seems like the once-a-day word puzzle sensation is everywhere!
The game is simple. You have six chances to guess the five-letter word, only being told what letters are correct and in the wrong place or correct and in the right spot.
Our Wordle-fest group chat (yes, it really is a thing) has had some fierce debates about the best way to go about solving each day’s puzzle. Some, like myself, subscribe to the “stay with what you know” strategy. If I know that I have an S in the first spot and a Y in the last, my next guess will follow that pattern — something like SPICY. In the other camp, we’ve got the “eliminators.” They are happy to burn a turn with a strategic guess, with the intention of eliminating as many letters as they can early on. They’ll start with SCORE and then guess IRONY. (See what I did there?)
So how can your Wordle strategy inform how you research and visit colleges? Read on!
Some students are eliminators!! During every college visit, and at each virtual event they attend, they are figuring out what they don’t want. They’re ticking things off the list rather than adding them. SMITH wasn’t quite right? They’ll check out UCONN. And that’s okay. They’re not wasting time! At every step of the way, they are getting clarity as to what they ultimately want in their college experience.
And then there are the students that are fine-tuning their criteria, visit by visit. They’ll return from a tour saying, for example, “I liked BROWN a lot, except maybe a more outdoorsy crowd.” Off to BATES they go!
Whatever your campus Wordle approach is, know that there is no right way to go. Sometimes you need to eliminate criteria, and sometimes you need to fine-tune or confirm what you think. Regardless, the most important thing is to keep playing! For that’s how you’ll find your MATCH!
Acknowledgments. Thanks to my Wordle-fest friends (Alicia, Becky, Bill, John, Katie, Ken, Linda, Steve) for your inspiration.