Hi friends! I just finished 17 college applications and I’m fresh with advice for you all so here it is:
STANDARDIZED TESTING:
get this shit done ASAP; I started taking practice tests my freshman year and by the end of my sophomore year I had the score I wanted
it literally does not matter if you take the ACT or SAT, colleges don’t fucking care just pick one and do well on it
if you can, take 2 SAT subject tests; many colleges require them and so do special BA/MD programs so its best to have them prepared
“how do you get a good score??”: PRACTICE TESTS! literally take as many as you can and make sure you correct the mistakes you make on each of them so you’re actually learning
COMMON APPLICATION:
opens august 1; you do not have to submit anything then
you only get 10 slots for extracurricular activities so choose wisely; also you don’t necessarily need to fill all 10 slots; quality over quantity always
you can submit the common app to a school before you submit the writing supplement! get that shit submitted so you don’t have to worry about it later on
don’t type your essays on the common app; type them on a google doc and then transfer them later on so you can avoid it from crashing and not saving your work
COLLEGE LIST:
don’t fucking apply to all 8 Ivies
make sure you have safeties (easy to get into/affordable), matches (most likely will get in) along with your reaches (no fucking clue if you’ll get in)
be realistic about how many applications you can fill out
try to finalize by 1st semester senior year
COLLEGE ESSAYS:
genuinely spend time on these
don’t reuse your why X college essays
when answering the why X college prompt: DO YOUR RESEARCH! specifics are key; they want students that will actually matriculate
you can usually reuse your why X major essay so be sure to write a really good one
don’t be someone you’re not; just be natural and let your personality shine
they aren’t as bad as they seem I swear you just have to really work with
if you’re really having trouble with a prompt, google it and there’s bound to be admissions blogs that have written tips about answering it
GENERAL TIMELINE OF COLLEGE SHENANIGANS
freshman year:
don’t worry about harvard
literally just enjoy your only peaceful year of high school
join a few clubs
get good grades
you’re set
sophomore year:
start looking at schools and figure out what you want in a college
begin building your list
start taking APs (if your school allows you)
look for leadership opportunities
look for summer programs and other things to keep you busy in the summer
get ready for the hellstorm that is junior year
junior year:
get testing done by the end of this year
figure out who you’re asking for letters of rec
take AP classes
maintain your GPA
become a leader in your clubs
senior year:
lay on the floor and cry
like really let it out bc this year is hell
take a rigorous course load and get good grades
finish last minute testing if you still haven’t
register for common app
get letters of rec
send scores to colleges
start writing college essays
apply to scholarships
fill out FAFSA and CSS
good luck my lovelies xx my inbox is always open as always
I completed 24 college applications, submitted 17 (to Princeton, Cornell, Vanderbilt, Rice, Amherst, Georgetown, Emory, UCLA, UC Berkeley, University of Michigan, UNC-Chapel Hill, UVA, University of Pittsburgh, Williams, Washington University in St. Louis, Harvard and Yale) and received admission to all except the last four.
N.B. Some of this info may be dated/inaccurate and 100% of it is tinged w/ my own bias.
Things To Think About
Why do you want to apply to so many colleges?
If it’s hubris (i.e. “I want to collect admissions offers like trophies”) or fear (i.e. “If I submit more applications, I’m less likely to be shut out from every school I apply to"), stop and reevaluate. I applied to Vanderbilt even though I knew I’d never want to head south. The reason? It traditionally takes a lot of kids from my HS. Yeah, don’t be like me.
Do you really want to spend all that money?
I ended up wasting $2500 (and that’s a conservative estimate) on 17 schools. I’ll only be attending one college in the fall.
That said…it can be done.
General Tips
The “Why Us” essay isn’t asking “why would you choose our college?” so much as “why should our college choose you?” Emphasize how you’ll contribute to the college—inside the classroom and out—by referencing specific programs, classes, and extracurriculars.
Creating a template is a major time-saver. Once you have an effective “skeleton,” all you have to do is insert school-specific details.
Stay organized.
Create a spreadsheet. These were my columns: College Name, Application Type, Application & Aid Deadline, Standardized Test Report, Transcript & SS Form, Recommendation Letter Deadline, Creative Writing Supplement (Y/N), Interview (Y/N), Merit Scholarship (Y/N), CSS Profile, FAFSA, Sticker Price, Response Date.
If you use Google Drive, create a folder for each college.
Consider making a CV/resume. Keep it short (~1 page). Possible uses: upload as a part of your application; hand it to alumni interviewer.
Miscellaneous
Don’t apply to Georgetown unless you really really like it. There’s a separate application (not Common App) that’s cumbersome to fill out, and you can’t access it until you pay the application fee (which also happens to be p expensive)
Optional essays are NEVER optional. Hopefully, this is obvious.
The more selective publics (UC Berkeley, UCLA, UVA, UNC, UMich) are more holistic than you think. They reject high stats kids on the reg (anecdote: a dude from my school who got into Caltech didn’t get into Berkeley; another who got into Cornell didn’t get into UMich) so PAY ATTENTION to the essays.
Alumni interviews don’t matter AT ALL unless you make a terrible impression—or possibly if you’re a borderline applicant.
N.B. Applying to colleges based on the perceived difficulty of the application isn’t the greatest idea. That said, for your reference:
Easy College Applications
Vanderbilt University
Very easy. Only a 100-word extracurricular essay, I believe. Unless you want to fill out a scholarship application.
Washington University in St. Louis
Also very easy. No supplement unless you fill out scholarship app.
Amherst College
Zero work if you have a graded school essay you’re proud of (can upload in lieu of a college supplement)
Harvard University
I think there’s just one supplement and you can write about whatever you want.
Cornell University
Just one “Why Us” essay
University of Pennsylvania
One “Why Us” Essay, unless you’re applying to Engineering or a special program like Wharton, M&T, etc.
Moderate College Applications
Duke University
Three supplements, I think. All fairly straightforward. There’s a diversity essay that’s optional (refer to the Miscellaneous section)
Princeton University
A lot of short, lighthearted questions (favorite keepsake, favorite movie, etc.) and an essay (they give you three prompts to choose between)
Stanford University
Three fairly straightforward, 150-word essays. There’s a letter to your roommate, an intellectual interest essay, and something else.
Emory University
Easy, short supplements, but there are three of them.
All the UCs
There’s one UC application for all the UC schools (Berkeley, LA, Irvine, etc.) so same essays and everything, but you have to pay an application fee for each school you apply to. There are a lot of questions (called Personal Insight Questions) so it’s not quick, but once you’re done you’ve covered multiple schools. Also, if you are applying, ask your counselor about the UC GPA.
UMich
Three short essays, one of which is “Why Major.” Another is an extracurricular essay. Don’t remember the third.
UNC
I don’t really remember the supplements, but they weren’t that bad.
Difficult/Thought-Provoking College Applications
Yale University
This is hard because there are a ton of questions with 35, 100, and 150- word limits. “Why Yale” essay. Hard to come up with insightful answers/make an impression with so little space.
UChicago
I personally wasn’t a fan of the cutesy/philosophical prompts, and the essays that I wrote (but ultimately never submitted) reflected my utter lack of interest. If you enjoy them, UChicago may just be the school for you :P
Dartmouth College
Only three short i.e. 150 word essays, but one of them referenced Sesame Street. Something along the lines of ‘It’s not easy being green. Discuss.” There was another one on describing a time when you said YES to something. Anyway, I disliked them and never completed my application.
UVA
I think there are three short essays, but they require a decent amount of thought. Although UVA is a public school, craft your essays well. The admission officers care a lot about them.
Williams College
There’s only one short supplement, but it’s a real pain. Hard not to veer into cliche territory.
Tedious College Applications
Columbia University
So many (five?) supplements. Some are generic though. “Why Columbia,” a list of books you’ve read/media you’ve consumed.
Rice University
Also a lot of supplements. “Why Rice,” “Why Major,” Diversity essay, the famous box (where you can upload any image you want).
To help move away from summary and toward ANALYSIS, it’s important to incorporate strong verbs into your writing when discussing the writer’s rhetorical choices. Below is a list of verbs that are considered weak (imply summary) and a list of verbs that are considered strong (imply analysis). Strive to use the stronger verbs in your essays to help push yourself away from summary and toward analysis: ex “The writer flatters…” NOT “The writer says…”
mention a department you really like, a professor you really like, a lab you really like, a program you really like
sometimes aspects of the school like an extensive research program, an internship program, an interesting major, a school philosophy will stand out (for instance, one school i applied to prided itself on balancing the humanities with STEM, which was a big focus in my essay)
talk about your experience when you visited or how you heard about the school and all the good things
any articles you read on it will help, basically just research a lot, talk about your interview (if applicable), talk about their programs and unique points
it wouldn’t be a bad idea to talk about your interests (briefly) and why that school is uniquely good for you
the “what do you want to study” essay
again, mention a field, or if undecided, then talk about diverse interests
if you have a specific field, talk about your experiences (like for engineering, i talked about robotics and my internship and how that shaped my career path)
overcoming challenges, discovering new interests, creating connections with others, and becoming a leader are all good things to mention here if possible
if you don’t know what to study, thats totally ok, but talk about your different interests, maybe how you plan to proceed with finding a specific course of study, or talk about a program you’re interested in at the school
the “challenge” essay
this essay is a challenge
you really gotta come up with something pretty good or at least try to; try to find something that involves being a leader and taking action/responsibility or maybe going out of your comfort zone.
tell it like a story!! talk about the problem then how you resolved it (ideally it should be a challenge you resolved?? it could also be one that went unresolved but you have to be v careful in that case)
tl;dr show off your good aspects like leadership, keeping calm, trustworthiness, etc etc etc
the “talk about something you haven’t talked about essay
i usually used this one for any topic i wanted to talk about but didnt get the chance to
basically waht i mean is i had three main topics i wanted to hit in every application: my internship, my sport, my music. If i didn’t get a chance to talk about one through an essay, I’d use my talk about whatever essay to talk about it.
why is this double spaced
don’t waste this!!! this is a pretty good spot to show how you’re unique and tell a very “you” story to distinguish yourself from all the other applicants.
but also you can def use like another essay you wrote for another prompt for another school here if you find it appropriate -always make sure to reuse topics and ideas when possible~~
anyways if you guys have any questions about essays or in general, hmu–im p stressed about my own essay anyways :/
A scanned copy of my complete list of derivatives. My professor offered this bonus assignment and told us the best one would receive a 110. I was really going for that 110!
