For those who have been with us from the beginning (and what the heck, newcomers too!!), feel free to take a big breath of relief. Weve done it! Over the last month, weve been breaking down the Common App essay prompt by prompt, which means were ready to bring it all together for the big finale: a comprehensive guide to writing the Common App essay.
Weve spent the past few weeks breaking down each Common App essay prompt one by one, and now it time for the grand finale: our ultimate guide to writing the Common App essay. Sure, there are seven different prompts, but at the end of the day, every school is looking for the same thing: a story.
Getting waitlisted or deferred from your dream school is hard. We know it hard! You feel rejected, but it this weird non-rejection rejection that can leave you feeling lost and confused. And while a lot of things in college admissions are totally out of your control, there is something you can do if youve been waitlisted or deferred to give yourself another chance. A letter of continued interest, sometimes known as a waitlist letter or deferral letter, is one of the few, actionable things you can control when admissions decisions seem so out of your control. It your only chance to make a good second impression, and we help students write them every single year.
Getting waitlisted is the ultimate limbo it not not a rejection, but it not a full-on denial, either. And depending on your circumstances, you could be feeling everything from mild disappointment to full-on panic. Don get yourself into a tizzy just yet, because there are things you can do to give yourself a shot at getting off the waitlist and make sure that you have a plan in place for the next year.
A large number of college courses are available for high school students to take both online and in-person. Some students take them just to challenge themselves further or learn about one topic that isn offered at their high school.
College courses alone won get you into college. Taking 20 college courses won reverse your mediocre GPA or average ACT scores. That just not how it works. It can, however, add depth to a specific part of your application.
Dickinson College is a liberal arts school of about 2,400 students in Carlisle, PA. The campus itself encourages students to take a seat and observe the world around themthere are literally red Adirondack chairs scattered all around campus for students to take advantage of and do work in, sit with friends, or meditate. Students live on campus all four years and swear by their mascots: a red and a green devil. The green devil is regarded as the red devil environmentally conscious cousin. We break down this college supplement below:
Once you submit your application, many colleges will pair you with an alumnus or alumna for an Alumni Interview. These interviews occur in coffee shops in person, sometimes they happen in college and university clubhouses in your town, or they might even happen over Skype. For help preparing for your Alumni Interview, . This post is all about the follow-up--namely, the thank you note that you will send to your alum interviewer explaining how appreciative you are and how great it was to speak with them. Weve outlined a general thank you note below, but it will be crucial to insert some specifics.
Now that essay season is upon us (yes, indeed it is), it thinking about your . Junior year is coming to a close, your summer is beginning, and now it time to brainstorm and ideate. You might have some idea of a topic, experience, or incident that you want to write about. Or, you might not. That okay, too.
Bowdoin College is a small liberal arts school in Brunswick, ME of about 1,800 undergraduate students. In addition to its location (truly in the middle of nowhere of gorgeous [albeit cold] Maine), Bowdoin has a number of unique offerings including the main pillars of the college, which are addressed in question 2. Their supplement contains three parts, all of which we break down for you below.
Not all schools issue likely letters, but those who apply to schools that do send likely letters also send us the following question. If you don know what a likely letter is, read on. If you know what it is but want a bit more info about it, read on. If you don think this article applies to you, read on. Are we being consistent?
Barnard College is an all-women college in uptown New York City. 2,500 undergraduates attend Barnard, which has a unique relationship with Columbia University, just across the street. Barnard students are able to take advantage of the resources that Columbia has to offer paired with the smaller, more intimate community culture that is cultivated at Barnard. As such, Barnard is one of our favorite colleges. Its supplement has 4 questions, all of which are incredibly different. Our breakdown of the supplement follows:
We get a lot of questions about applying early vs. regular decision and the merits of applying to schools for each round. One point that we always drive home is that applying somewhere early is not a small decision, and it should be intentional. This is not the time to throw all caution to the wind and apply to your dream school despite the fact that your test scores are well below their average and you sat around by the beach this past summer with nothing to show for it. That just silly, and that not how we operate. You need to know the why behind applying somewhere early, and you should have the profile as well as demonstrated interest to back it up. Sometimes applying early can help your chances of getting in and sometimes it can hurt them. Read on to find out the why and how.
Your test scores are a significant and important component of your college application. Whether you take the ACT, SAT, and regardless of which SAT IIs you choose to take, you will more likely than not take your exams more than once in an effort to improve your score. Oftentimes the sections that improve during one sitting aren the same as the sections that improve during your next sitting. Wouldn it be great if you could take one section that you scored super well in from one sitting and pair it with another strong section from a different sitting? That, our friends, is called supers coring, and some colleges are fine with it.
Carleton College is a great liberal arts school of 1,995 undergraduates in Northfield, Minnesota. It been steadily climbing in the rankings over the last few years and a lot of people are starting to take notice. Fortunate for them, unfortunate for us. It used to be one of our favorite to suggest to students. Were happy for them though. Really.
This is a great question that many students and parents have. Every life and path is completely different, and everyone has a different story to tell. A lot can happen in 1 month, much less 4 years, and we completely understand that sometimes life happens in an unexpected way and as such, affects your ability to perform to the best of your ability in school. Not only do we understand this, but colleges understand this as well. As with every other part of your application, it important to be mindful of how you present the facts and that you do so in such a way that explains rather than excuses. It a fine line to tow, and here what we suggest.
In short: absolutely not.
The reason that we say this is because odds are if youre applying to college, you can read. Youve learned to follow instructions and what you may or may not know is that the college application process tests that skill more than any other. The college application process is about following instructions and illustrating that you can read, act on the instruction, and complete the task at hand in an exceptional way. If you go over the word limit, then youre showing that either a) you didn read, b) you can follow instructions, or c) both. Don do it.
Your GPA is arguably the most important part of your application, so it crucial to take this aspect of your profile seriously when youre putting together your school list.
Here a bit of a secret for you: there is no such thing as a minimum GPA. There are suggestions, averages, and certainly test score ranges to take note of, but there is no such thing as a GPA cut-off for students to look out for that rules out certain schools or that guarantees acceptance to others.
Before you dive into a college supplement, there are a few things to look for and review that will guide how you approach each and every application. The majority of the work for any application comes before you start actually writing. Weve discussed in past blog posts how you can tell a lot about a college just by reading through its supplement. This point also reflects the biggest part of your applications, which is reading. While colleges are looking for responses that answer their questions, they are also looking for answers that indicate that you have read through and thought about their supplement thoroughly.
To continue our series, were focusing on Wheaton College in Norton, MA (not to be confused with the Christian liberal arts Wheaton College in Wheaton, OH). Wheaton is a liberal arts school of about 1,600 students. It beautiful, it in a great location, and we want to shed some light on it for you. Wheaton made the news recently with the college announcement of its , so you might be familiar with the name already.
If youre like us and you read through dozens of college supplements every week , you begin to realize that they have a lot in common. But youre probably not like us, which is why were here. Youre welcome. There are a few supplements that are particularly unique, but most supplements all aim to understand the same thing: 1) why are you applying to their school and 2) what will you bring to the community both inside and out of the classroom? These questions come in different words and formats. Though you should feel free to explore a wide range of reasons, activities, academic topics, as well as reveal aspects of your personality, there are a few things you just shouldn touch. Here are 10 things to steer clear of in your college supplementthis goes for any and all supplements.
Pitzer College is located in Claremont, CA and is one of the Claremont Colleges. The other colleges in the consortium include Harvey Mudd, Pomona, Claremont College, and Scripps. Pitzer has about 1,000 students and emphasizes student participation and mindfulness (their motto is Mindful of the Future). As such, their supplement is outward-facing and asks you to write about your contributions to and observations about the world. Our advice on how to ace this supplement below.
Twas the month before Summer, and all over town,
Not a junior was prepared, no one had broken ground;
They studied for AP and subject tests with care,
In hopes that Harvard would soon answer their prayer;
Their teachers had written their letters with pride;
While parents and guardians raved by their side;
Mamma had bombarded the guidance counselor suite,
Little Johnny needs AP Frenchhe will be elite!
Fall classes were picked, and college tours set,
When all of a sudden, Little Johnny awoke in a sweat.
Oh no! He exclaimed as he started to panic,
I have no plans this summerI need something gigantic!
We know. How clever, right? Let focus on what brought you here, though. If youre reading this right now, you don have summer plans. Take a breath. Youre going to be fine. It not IDEAL but it . Let start planning. If youre reading this right now, it too late to apply to a summer program and more likely than not, you can intern anywhere. You could get a paying entry-level job somewhere for the summer, but it might not be the kind of resume boost youre looking for.
A large number of the products that improve our lives are produced by molecular changes that have been carefully designed and controlled. Because of this, a chemical engineer succeeds and contributes to a wide variety of industries. The majority of chemical engineers go on to work in manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, biotech, energy, environmental health or safety industries, food processing companies, or laboratories.
Claremont McKenna is a small liberal arts college with around 1200 undergraduate students. The curriculum has an emphasis on economics, government, and public affairs, though it a liberal arts college, so it offers classes in a large number of disciplines. The college is located in Claremont, CA, close to Scripps College, Harvey Mudd College, Pomona College, and Pitzer College. All of these schools are part of a consortium called the Claremont Colleges. They share a lot of information and resources, and have different focuses though they are all wonderful schools in their own right. Claremont McKenna supplement is pretty straight to the point--read on: