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With just over a month left in the UC Application window, and Common Application deadlines fast approaching, you’ve likely got a lot on your mind. While the application essay portion requires a lot of attention and care and can really set you apart, students often underestimate the importance of a well-thought-out activities section. Here are some of my best tips to ensure you put your best foot forward.
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For high school juniors and transfer students, it is time to start thinking about your college application essays! In today’s blog, I am going to talk about a few overly common college essay ideas that I’ve seen when I was working as an External Undergraduate Admissions Reader with UC Berkeley.
First of all, congratulations! You’ve submitted at least your first college application - maybe you still have more to go, or maybe you turned in everything at once. No matter where you’re at, you’re looking at a few months of limbo in between the time of submission to the time that you actually get results. So, what should you do in the meantime?
Getting through all of your college applications takes time - whether you applied to an excessive number of schools like I did, or only a few carefully chosen options, you want to give yourself time to work in a stress-free environment and really let your creative juices flow. Now - even though we all struggle with time management and procrastination, it’s important to try to finish your college applications early (for a variety of reasons). Although this can be easier said than done, using some of these reasons to motivate yourself to get your applications done can be useful.
It’s that time of year to wrap up your college applications! Or maybe if you are a little behind, you’re just getting started, and we’re here to help if you need any assistance along the way. If you’re either a high school senior or a college transfer applicant, you’re probably juggling a lot already between schoolwork, applications, and commitments, but I think there is one incredibly important thing you should start to consider now in the month of October: scholarships!
As Early Action and Early Decision deadlines quickly approach, make sure you follow these important college application DO's and DONT's!
As it is the beginning of September, school is starting back up again and that means we are getting back into college application season. As you are drafting your college application essays, be sure to keep these common mistakes in mind so you do not fall into the same traps!
With the filing period for the University of California (UC) transfer application quickly approaching (November 1-30th), I wanted to share advice from someone who has successfully gone through the UC transferring process! Even though there are quite a few similarities between the transfer and regular freshman application process, it’s still good to have everything ready to go so that there isn’t a mad scramble during November.
With the Common Application and UC Application portals opening on August 1st, now is the time to make your portal accounts and draft your application essays! If you haven’t started drafting your essays over the summer, don’t worry!
Committing to a gap semester or year can be a difficult choice, and is definitely not a decision to be taken lightly. Taking a gap semester can mean that you will graduate later than your peers, which means having to spend more money on housing. Making the decision without a clear idea of what you hope to accomplish during that semester or goals may not always be the best idea either.
Juniors and transfer students, it’s time to start thinking about your college application letters of recommendation! Many colleges have become test optional and some are no longer accepting standardized test scores altogether, which makes your letters of recommendation an even more crucial part of your college application.
“You’re pretty fast… for a girl,” he said. I froze, hearing the words and desperately trying to comprehend them. I fixed my gaze on the boy, feeling overwhelmed by simultaneous anger, surprise, and confusion.
After my recent blogs regarding the waitlist and how to choose a college to commit to, today I will be talking about the Letter of Continued Interest (LOCI). You may feel discouraged about waitlist offers because you have to wait even longer to find out whether you are accepted to a college, but the silver lining of the waitlist is that the college admissions team sees something special within you.
When it comes to the Common Application, most essay prompts are asking rather similar questions. College Admissions Officers want to know what your identity is made up of: what your background is, what makes you tick (what your passions are), how you engage with those around you and apply yourself within your community, and how you respond to failure.
It’s March, which means that college decisions are starting to be released! You will be hearing back from colleges and their decisions on whether you were accepted, waitlisted, or sadly, rejected. Today, I am going to talk about getting waitlisted at colleges as I have experience being waitlisted to a few colleges when I was applying to schools.
Juniors, it’s time to start planning and preparing for college applications! Reflecting back on my college application process and four years at UC Berkeley, I’ve compiled a list of things that I wish I knew before applying to college.
If you applied to any colleges using their Early Action or Early Decision deadlines, you have probably heard back from them regarding your application status. You may have been accepted, rejected, or deferred from your dream college. With many colleges offering record-low numbers of admissions seats in the class of 2025, from Harvard, Duke, Penn, and Yale, what does this mean for you?
As winter break quickly approaches, you seniors in high school are probably stressed and unsure of what needs to get done over winter break. In this blog, I will outline some things you need to do over winter break as a college applicant:
Stuck on your short-answer questions in the Common Application? I get it! These were easily the hardest questions for me to answer when applying to colleges, simply because the word limit can feel very limiting, and finding the right words to concisely express your thoughts can feel awkward and unfinished.
Senioritis. You have probably been hearing about this word ever since you entered high school. Every year, seniors in their spring semester are so excited to graduate that they get senioritis and begin slacking in their classes.
You did it! You wrote your long-dreaded college application essays (most likely your UC Personal Insight questions), and you’ve found a way to eloquently tell your story. You’ve done multiple drafts and a thorough job at rephrasing, reworking, and rethinking your paragraphs. Maybe you had some family members, peers, or Study Hall College Consulting team members to read over your words and give feedback, or maybe you kept it to yourself to make sure that your words felt completely your own.
Now that the college application season for current high school seniors is winding down, it is time for high school juniors to start thinking about their college application journey and timeline. You may think starting now is too early, but you should start to think of the process soon! Even for high school freshman and sophomores, planning your high school schedules and activities can help you prepare for college. In this blog, I will be breaking down how high school freshman, sophomore, and juniors can begin to prepare for their college application journey.
A scary, nerve-wracking part of the college admissions process is the college alumni interview. Alumni interviews are conducted on a volunteer basis by alumni of the university. College alumni interviews do matter and they can be a helpful way for you to gain more insight about a university and meet someone who graduated from the school you’re applying for!
Do you have a student who is steadfast that their college application essay is great but you, as a parent, think their essay could use some work but they don’t listen to you? Unfortunately, this is a common problem for parents and their high school students. The student will write their essay and not take any feedback from their parents, instead insisting that their essay is perfect the way it is.
Writing a compelling essay with words that draw you in and phrases that paint a vivid picture can often seem like an elusive skill: how do you describe your experiences in a way that sets you apart from those around you? How do you write with purpose, and choose words that “show” more than they “tell?”
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