A How-To Guide for the Short Answer Questions for Highly-Selective Colleges
Oh, and: 7. DON’T use adjectives that repeat info already clear on your application. Examples: motivated, hardworking, determined. Yup. You and every other student with a great GPA. Which reminds me: 8. DO make sure your adjectives are all clearly different and interesting: In the…
80+ Extracurricular Activity Examples for the Common Application
Graphics Editor and Editorial Writer (9th – 11th)East Side High School NewspaperDesigned graphics (backgrounds, typesets, layouts, digital drawings); wrote and proofread peer articles; updated print newspaper to digital format. Team Member (10th), Captain (11th-12th)Science Bowl Team, Westing Charter School Directed practices, assigned each member roles, supervised…
How to Combine Your College Essay Prompts (To Save 20+ Writing Hours)
Are you with me so far? Moving on. You won’t know for sure which topic is your “best” topic as this process is more art than science. As I mentioned above, you’re looking for the topic that is most elastic (i.e. – fits several prompts)….
How to Write the Stanford Supplemental Essays: Examples + Guide 2020/2021
Get really specific with what the idea is. (In my experience, a very particular idea tends to work better than an experience.) If possible, clarify what the idea is in the first 50 words (some students wait too long to clarify and the essay feels…
How to Write the “Why this Major” College Essay
Tons of colleges require a supplemental essay that asks something like, “Why did you choose your major?” Two quick tips: 1. It’s worth spending a little bit of time on these essays to make sure your answer complements your personal statement. What do I mean?…
How to Write the UCAS Personal Statement (Guide + Examples)
This next statement has to accomplish a number of tasks, given the subject the student is applying for. As a vocational degree, applicants for veterinary medicine are committing to a career as well as a subject to study, so they need to give information that…
Why This College Essay Guide + Examples
How it works: identify one core value that links you to the school and tell a story. This approach might be good for: Schools that a) have shorter “Why this College” essays and b) seem to be asking for this type of response Students who…
How to Write a Great Extracurricular Activity Essay: Complete Guide + Examples
Here are a few more examples to get you inspired. Note that the authors of these didn’t give them title, but I’ve given them generic titles to make referring to them easier and to break up the text on this blog post. Photography Developer, one…
How to Write the Community Essay: Complete Guide + Examples
On the Common Application, a number of colleges have begun to require that students respond to a supplemental essay question that sounds something like this: Tell us a bit more about a community you are a part of. Yep, it’s that simple. Here is the…
How to Write the Harvard Supplemental Essays: Examples + Guide 2020/2021
Below is an example of a great Harvard long supplemental essay. I’m including the personal statement this student wrote first so you can see how these essays show two different sides of this student. Note that they also differ in content, structure, and tone. Common…