Embed Doc
Copy Link
Readcast
Collections

1
CommentGo Back

Download

I’m writing this as a way to thank all my seniors, teachers, friends, parents, siblings,Recommers, and anyone else who helped me during my applications to US Universities. Myheartfelt thanks to all of you! As you can tell from my tone, I am absolutely exhilarated rightnow. I hope that my experience applying can be of some use to you in these last weeks ofapplication

‐

writing as well as the months after that.I like to tell stories, so the following may not be the most concise guide on earth. Be forewarned.Lastly, before we get on with it, do take all of these with a pinch of salt, yea?I remember one particularly caffeine

‐

fueled night in which I sat typing out an attempt at anessay at 3 in the morning, and one of my seniors at Penn was online chatting to me. It was agreat encouragement and served as a reminder to me of what lay in store at the end of thefrustrating and depressing road of applications. You’ll come to the end of that road soonenough, so don’t worry, do your best for now!

Some numbers.

I’m reluctant to post these, but I want to get them out of the way as soon as possible, so oh well,here goes:SAT 1 – 2370/2400 (800 CR, 800 Math, 770 Writing)SAT 2 – 800 Math II, 800 Chemistry, 760 Biology

‐

E, 780 Literature (This was too late to submit)TOEFL – 112/120But I have to stress that these scores mean little in the context of your entire application. Theyserve to consolidate what is in your transcripts and grades e.g. if your Chemistry teacher saysyou’re the next Kornberg or Curie, but you get 500 on the SAT II Chemistry, it casts doubt onyour teacher’s recommendation. I think there’s an increasing trend towards universities placingless weight on SAT scores than before. It’s probably too late to retake, with only one moreavailable testing date on January, so don’t stress too much about what’s done.

On to the paperwork.

I had the unusual opportunity of sending in more than usual recommendations; I had twosecondary schools not counting INTEC, so I could send in two Sec School Reports with two

different recommendations by different counselors. For one of the Sec School Reports, I got mycounselor to send in a ‘term report’ which had summaries of the different subjects I took, aswell as notes by my teachers, so in essence I had 7 extra shortrecommendations. (But risky, thismay p**s off grouchy adofficers because extra materials may not be welcome) I was also luckythat the teacher I asked to be my SMK counselor had worked with me for over 4 years on avariety of projects – website, robotics etc – so she could write a lot about me.The two teachers I asked to write my recommendations knew me quite well; one even said thatshe was going to write about my weaknesses. Bad? In retrospect, it showed me in a morerealistic light, and perhaps contributed to my getting in. My teachers also asked me what Iwanted them to highlight, so I hinted at different things – one covered my personality, the otherthe extra work I used to put in for his class. I had English and Chemistry teachersrecommending me, a nice balance between humanities and sciences.In summary, find teachers who know you well, give them enough time to write a good one, anddon’t forget to THANK YOUR TEACHERS. You can never thank someone enough.

Essays.

What I want to stress here is to be yourself and trust your instincts: if what you’re writingdoesn’t feel like you, or you find it difficult to say, it probably is not reflective of your true self.My Common App essay was started the night before the application deadline, and I finishedten minutes before the deadline. DO NOT DO THIS! EVER! The only good thing that came outof it, I suppose, was that I was forced to write in my own voice, not thinking about what otherpeople would say. Maybe that’s where my personality “came through”. I basically told a storyabout my art, how as a toddler I was against the Buncho Rainbow Colouring style, and how Ilater confronted that bias, and realized it was because of my penchant for creative freedom and,according to one of my friends, my “headstrong” nature. Haha. It sounds so deep to me now.And wow, I don’t know how I got in with that essay. (Sorry, this probably isn’t helping youmuch now…)

A better example would be my academic experience essay. I spent a long time on that and hadmany people proofread it. Because it was about my favourite class, I had no problem findingwords to write. I wrote about how I was before the class, what I discovered there, how Ichanged, and a consequence of me changing. I had to fix certain angles and issues with detailsin my initial draft, thanks to acute observations by my proofreaders, and it is this that convincesme that proofreading is important. Have people proofread your essays. THANK THEMafterwards too.To get ideas, talk to your parents and friends, and ask them what stands out about you. Myfriends pointed out thing that I had totally overlooked about myself; I was awed by that. Youcan then decide how to shape your application to showcase that aspect of your personality.Also, universities have different overall characteristics, so depending on where you’re applyingto, you might like to highlight different traits. You need to show the university why they are agood fit for you, why you are a good fit for them, what you can contribute, and what you canlearn from them. When you’re writing your apps, you will know which unis are ‘right’ for youby the ease with which you answer the “Why X University” questions. For example, Brownlikes self

‐

starters and looks more at extra

‐

curriculars than scores. After doing research on mypotential universities, I really felt that Brown would be a great place for me, couldn’t imaginemyself elsewhere - which is why I applied ED

‐

and I guess I was able to articulate that in my“Why Brown” essay and interview.Also, you will somehow ‘know’ which topic to write about for the Common App essay –something which means a lot to you, and you couldn’t bear not to tell the admissions committeeabout it. Trying to force yourself to write something you don’t like is a disaster waiting tohappen. A good piece of advice from an admission officer goes like this: find a message youwant to convey. Then think of an anecdote to illustrate that message.Find a time/place where you write well, and stick to it. This could involve using your favoritefonts, handwriting the essay first, hiding under the bed, a theme song, sitting at ping pongtables and so forth. Anything that helps you.

☺