While the most important thing for seniors to do is to put together the most compelling application they can, they should be sure to use the features and information provided on the Common Application to organize their college application processes. There are a lot of pieces to pull together but being organized, strategic, and proactive will help make this process more efficient, productive, and hopefully rewarding.
This coming admissions season, most colleges will do what they have always done–a holistic review of every application. Without all the numerical data they’ve relied on in the past, they’ll be looking even more closely at the personal qualities, talents, and passions that describe each applicant more wholly. By taking full advantage of the opportunities presented throughout the college application process, students can put together the pieces of their puzzle to form a very compelling picture of who they are.
So often students have every earnest intention to complete their Common Application over the summer and, all too often, they fall short of their goals. Our advice to rising seniors is to set weekly goals for yourself about what parts of your college application process you will tackle each week. Visiting campuses, contacting regional representatives, creating a résumé, or putting together an arts portfolio can all be done over the summer. Finally, start filling out the Common Application. This way, the fall won’t feel as stressful.
Finding Applicants Who Plagerize The most challenging piece of the common application for the vast majority of the college applicants we work with is the personal statement. They hem, they haw, they look at us plaintively for help, and they dread typing those 500 words. (Yes, the personal statement asks for "250 words, minimum, but 500 feels about right for most essays). So, this piece about the increasing incidences of plagerism admissions officers are finding is disheartening, but comes as no surprise. Using someone else's essay as your own certainly takes the pain out of the writing process.
I find that working with our clients on their personal statements is one of my favorite parts of the entire college process. It is an opportunity for the student to reflect on their lives, evaluate their accomplishments, consider their values, and take stock of what they have accomplished in their 17 years and consider where they are headed. However, getting students to clearly and succintly and to articulate these ideas is a challenge. Over the next few weeks we will be blogging about some of the strategies we use to help our clients move past their writer's block and will be giving some tips about how to write a powerful, revealing, compelling personal statement - in your own words.
