You’ve been scouring the internet for weeks, maybe even months, trying to get a jump start on your Yale application to ensure your essays are imbued with that Ivy League-worthy je ne sais quois. Well, look no further. The supplements ready — but are you ready for them? (We think you are!) This year’s application […]
“Hey,” I began, “you have cow eyes. I know that sounds like a bad thing but have you ever looked into a cow’s eyes? They are so deep and brown and beautiful. I’ve looked into a lot a cow eyes because I’m from Wisconsin.” This dialogue segment is from Malcolm Conner’s winning “Modern Love” College […]
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 […]
Let us be the first to say it. CONGRATULATIONS! You made it through the 2016 college application season. With most major deadlines approaching in just a few days, finally you can breathe. All the stress releases with the click of the “submit” button. Today, we’re here to tell you that it’s your time to sit […]
How did it come to this? It’s the last week and you still have essays left to write. It happens every year and you are not alone. Bolt the doors. Throw your phone into the ocean. You are on college essay lock down. You still have time to walk yourself through the basic paces of […]
The day has come… almost. Regular decision deadlines are just a few weeks away, and soon it will be time to kiss those admissions essays goodbye and send them off into the wide world. They grow up so fast. After spending so many hours laboring over each individual application, it can be hard to let […]
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, […]
The Oddball Essay is a supplemental essay type that mines for information about not only who you are, but also how you think. Colleges are interested in the way your mind works so they can determine if you’d be a good fit for their campus community. Are you easily led down a rabbit hole of […]