Your college admissions essay is a required writing assignment, yes, but try not to think of it as more work that will stress you out. YOU OWN THIS ESSAY. How can you be the boss of this assignment instead of letting it be the boss of you? It’s easier than it seems. Just do these […]
We grow up being told to be humble and stay grounded — and then suddenly the college essay comes along and we’re supposed to toot our own horn like there’s no tomorrow? Don’t college admissions officers want to see that we’re down to earth and not about to release a Kim K-inspired selfie book? Yes […]
It goes without saying that, as an international student, your application will be distinct from that of many of the other students applying to American colleges and universities. If you did not go to school in the States, your schooling experience, the activities you participated in, and many of the details of your life and […]
Listen, we get it. The waves are crashing, sun is beaming, and all you want to do is chill. You’ve been working all year long to make sure your grades are up to par and that you’ve put enough energy into your (nine-thousand?) activities to make a real impact on your community and make an […]
They say orange is the new black and it seems like transfer is the new freshman. Duke University, a school with an incredibly low acceptance rate, is spreading its wings and accepting more transfers than ever before. But why?! “We want to increase the number of transfer students gradually because there’s an acknowledgement that transfer […]
Yes, he’s done it. Martin Altenburg, a 17-year-old from Fargo, North Dakota has gained acceptance into every Ivy League plus a couple more schools for good measure. You might be asking yourself, “But don’t Ivy Leagues have some of the lowest acceptance rates in the country?” Yes, they do! But Altenburg figured out the […]
The first time I successfully did a handstand in yoga class, it was unexpected and almost effortless. My legs kicked up, and then, as if being lifted by string, I was supporting my body with my arms. When we talk about strategies for tackling the college essay, I like to tell the story of […]
A popular format for supplement questions is short answers. Don’t confuse these with the why, activity, community, or oddball essays. These are an entirely different beast. These little critters provide a different kind of creative challenge for aspiring college-goers. Take this set of short answer questions from the 2014 Yale application: “What excites you intellectually, […]
At one time, not so long ago, the Common App asked all applicants for a brief description of their most important extracurricular experiences. When that requirement became optional in 2013, many individual colleges took it upon themselves to issue a similar prompt as a replacement. The activity essay is an excellent opportunity to expand beyond […]
The famous Why Essay is one of the most common supplemental essay types, and it’s not difficult to ascertain why that is. When competitive colleges and universities are trying to carefully select applicants to admit to their institution, they want to find the ones who really want to be there. The “Why This College” Essay […]
We thought so.
