News Flash: Not everyone is an academic star. And colleges know that. If you are not happy with your grades or standardized test scores, do not despair. There is much more to an application than grades or scores.
Though the transcript is important, the essay presents another wonderful opportunity to present yourself. Take advantage of this. Write an essay that knocks them off their feet from first word to last. Tell them what your passion is, how you spend your time, why that pursuit is important to you. They want to know about YOU. They want to know what makes you tick. If you are an amateur entomologist, describe how you spend most of your waking hours playing with bugs. Tell them that you plan to make a career of it. If you are a readaholic, tell them about the last six books you read this year, and why you read them, and how reading is important to you. Do not waste the essay opportunity by merely regurgitating what already appears on other parts of the application, like lists of extracurricular activities. Lists will put the readers to sleep. They might be reading your essay at two o'clock in the morning, having already read fifty essays before yours. You want to grab them by the collar with your first sentence and shake them awake. You want them to know that you are more than grades and SATs.
The interview is another part of the application process that presents an opportunity to show the college who you really are. While many colleges do not require an interview, most will arrange one if you request it. Request it. Let the admissions office attach a face and a personality to the application. As you did in the essay, let them know in person how passionate you are about something, how you spend so much time pursuing it, and why it is important. Stay positive and upbeat. Leave a good impression. You want them to remember you. You want them to refer to you in their meetings as “that sincere guy who loves to play with bugs and wants to be an entomologist down the road,” or “that passionate girl who spends most of her afternoons and evenings at the dance studio because she’s committed to joining the American Ballet Theater one of these days,” or “that earnest, articulate candidate with a good sense of humor who likes to read and who – this year alone – has read everything that Jane Austen ever wrote.”
Yet another part of the application that invites you to describe yourself is the supplemental materials section. This presents you with an opportunity to submit an extra paper or report you have written, or a tape or CD or DVD that exhibits your talent in depth. Use this chance to showcase the side of you that the admissions office will find appealing. Are you a singer or a cellist or a dancer or a football player? Send a tape of yourself performing. Have you written a great report that the teacher raved about or a great article that appeared in the newspaper? Have you had a poem published in a magazine? Send it and let the admissions officers see your accomplishments first hand. Give them something to offset the transcript. Let them know how special you are.
Yes, grades and standardized test scores are important. But, by design, applications are multi-faceted. The admissions office wants to know who you are beyond the transcript. They want to know what you can contribute to the college. Use every chance you can find to tell them what they will gain if they admit you. In particular, seize the opportunities presented by the essay, the interview, and the supplemental materials sections.
Showing posts with label essay. Show all posts
Showing posts with label essay. Show all posts
Thursday
3 SIMPLE STEPS TO AN ESSAY THAT WILL GET YOU IN
The essay is an opportunity for you to provide information about yourself that does not appear elsewhere in the application. Follow these steps and your essay will help you get admitted:
1. Write about YOU.
Colleges want to know about YOU. No matter what prompt they give you for the essay, the underlying question they are asking is "Who are you?" If, for example, the prompt asks you to name people -- living or dead -- whom you would like to go to dinner with and explain why you would choose them, or asks you to describe the profound influence that certain people have had on you, the admissions office really wants you to focus on the YOU part of the question. They don't want to know about the dinner guest or the one who has influenced you as much they do want to know about why you would choose that particular person, or what impact the person has had on your life. Similarly, if the prompt invites you to write about a world event or an historical figure, they seek to know the impact the event or the figure has had on YOU. Remember this as you write so that you do not get carried away and spend too much time on the event or the figure or the dinner guest. Write about YOU.
2. Separate yourself from the pack.
These days, selective colleges receive close to 20,000 applications, but can admit only a fraction of the candidates. If even 2,000 get in, that means that 18,000 good students get turned away. If your application merely blends in with all the others, your chances of getting admitted are not good. Your goal is to make the admissions office notice you -- not with some crazy gimmick -- but with a great essay that jumps out of the pile. There is something special about you -- there is. You may not be able to identify it right now, but if you think hard enough and review your accomplishments and views of the world, it will come to you. What makes you special may not be one single characteristic or talent or experience -- it may be a combination of characteristics or talents or experiences. If, for example, you play the sax, that may separate you a bit, but not as much as it would if you played the sax one special night with the Bruce Springsteen band. Or perhaps you get great grades -- that certainly does not separate you much in the competitive applicant pools these days. But if you are also a National Merit Scholar and an accomplished writer who has won a national writing contest and had your poetry published, then you are in a much smaller pool. It is not necessary to have high academic awards if, for example, you can cite some other major accomplishments -- say, all-star athlete in the state, or first violin in the local symphony, or newspaper intern at the hometown newspaper, or the like. You do not have to be a star as much as you have to be different -- separate yourself from the pack. And write about it in your essay.
3. Grab the reader's attention with a startling opening.
Here's the deal -- it's 2 a.m. and the admissions officer has just read about 150 application essays. He's ready to pass out from reading the same old stuff -- "I was the editor of the newspaper," "I was the captain of the cheerleading team," "I really learned a lot from band camp," and so on. Now he reaches out and takes your essay from the pile. What is the first sentence going to say? If it's anything like the others, you're sunk. You have failed to make a significant impression. You are just like the other 150 ho-hum writers. But if you say something that startles him, something that reaches out from the paper and grabs him by the throat, now you've got a very good chance to find yourself in the "admit" pile.
1. Write about YOU.
Colleges want to know about YOU. No matter what prompt they give you for the essay, the underlying question they are asking is "Who are you?" If, for example, the prompt asks you to name people -- living or dead -- whom you would like to go to dinner with and explain why you would choose them, or asks you to describe the profound influence that certain people have had on you, the admissions office really wants you to focus on the YOU part of the question. They don't want to know about the dinner guest or the one who has influenced you as much they do want to know about why you would choose that particular person, or what impact the person has had on your life. Similarly, if the prompt invites you to write about a world event or an historical figure, they seek to know the impact the event or the figure has had on YOU. Remember this as you write so that you do not get carried away and spend too much time on the event or the figure or the dinner guest. Write about YOU.
2. Separate yourself from the pack.
These days, selective colleges receive close to 20,000 applications, but can admit only a fraction of the candidates. If even 2,000 get in, that means that 18,000 good students get turned away. If your application merely blends in with all the others, your chances of getting admitted are not good. Your goal is to make the admissions office notice you -- not with some crazy gimmick -- but with a great essay that jumps out of the pile. There is something special about you -- there is. You may not be able to identify it right now, but if you think hard enough and review your accomplishments and views of the world, it will come to you. What makes you special may not be one single characteristic or talent or experience -- it may be a combination of characteristics or talents or experiences. If, for example, you play the sax, that may separate you a bit, but not as much as it would if you played the sax one special night with the Bruce Springsteen band. Or perhaps you get great grades -- that certainly does not separate you much in the competitive applicant pools these days. But if you are also a National Merit Scholar and an accomplished writer who has won a national writing contest and had your poetry published, then you are in a much smaller pool. It is not necessary to have high academic awards if, for example, you can cite some other major accomplishments -- say, all-star athlete in the state, or first violin in the local symphony, or newspaper intern at the hometown newspaper, or the like. You do not have to be a star as much as you have to be different -- separate yourself from the pack. And write about it in your essay.
3. Grab the reader's attention with a startling opening.
Here's the deal -- it's 2 a.m. and the admissions officer has just read about 150 application essays. He's ready to pass out from reading the same old stuff -- "I was the editor of the newspaper," "I was the captain of the cheerleading team," "I really learned a lot from band camp," and so on. Now he reaches out and takes your essay from the pile. What is the first sentence going to say? If it's anything like the others, you're sunk. You have failed to make a significant impression. You are just like the other 150 ho-hum writers. But if you say something that startles him, something that reaches out from the paper and grabs him by the throat, now you've got a very good chance to find yourself in the "admit" pile.
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