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Applying yourself to university applications
By Amy Bu |
May 29, 2013, Wednesday
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I often marvel at how the seemingly distant has a habit of being closer than you realize. When university application season rolled around, I was like a deer caught in headlights: I was a college undergraduate-to-be and high school senior on the surface, but I still felt like the shiny-eyed 10-year-old kid listening to tales of harrowing application processes and heartwarming successes.
It was finally my turn to research universities and consider possible majors and brainstorm personal statement topics and honestly, at first, it felt overwhelming.
You?ve listened to advice on the personal statement before. Be yourself, they say. Write truthfully, they say. Make the admissions officer reading it feel as if they were looking at you in person, they say. It?s not as complicated as you think, they said! What I learned was that the uncomplicated does not constitute the simple: fitting myself into 700 words was difficult at best and arduous at worst. What one aspect could sufficiently capture my personality and my being?
I stumbled across my final topic for two essays and a conversation later: I didn?t know what would be òright,ó but I definitely knew what felt òwrong.ó In the end, it was a conversation with my best friend and an offhand comment that helped me write the essay I felt could represent me.
Choosing schools is undoubtedly the most important step in the application process. Schools in America usually have either a liberal or conservative leaning, and it impacts the way the university functions, the rules it expects its students to follow, and ultimately the types of student which go there.
For prospective students who have strong views about politically relevant issues, it may be best to choose schools that are supportive of your leaning (indicators include the school?s affiliated religion, student reviews, and student organizations).
This aside, take into account the programs the school offers, its academic strengths, the professors it has, the extracurricular activities that are available, housing options, location and campus vibe. My university?s admissions officer once said in an Information Session ? and this is my favorite piece of advice yet: òWhen I visited this school as a high school senior, I looked around and thought to myself: these people here are all my friends. The only thing is that they don?t know it yet and I have to tell them!ó
Although I didn?t have the chance to visit universities during their school year (instead, I stayed for a month during the summer), I definitely recommend it. And in the school selection process, even small things can matter - when I visited Brown University, the tour guide said that one of the determining factors that prompted her to choose Brown was the accessibility of frozen yogurt on campus!
If the time for applications hasn't arrived for you yet, you can prepare for it by determining your interests, talking to friends and family about prospective schools, preparing for standardized exams and of course taking initiative in your extracurriculars.
Participate in world-renowned programs such as the Duke of Edinburgh's Award if you can. Volunteer in your community at old folks' homes, kindergartens or eco-friendly events. Lead a project. Create something for a non-profit organization. Ask around and be open; these opportunities exist! It's never too late - or too early - to start.
My story? It ended with acceptances to Boston College and Tufts University.
Oops, I mean my application story. My real story is just beginning. The story of the rest of my life will begin in September, when I walk into the Tufts University campus as an undergraduate of the College of Arts and Sciences.
(Amy Bu is SUIS Gubei campus IB Diploma student.)
It was finally my turn to research universities and consider possible majors and brainstorm personal statement topics and honestly, at first, it felt overwhelming.
You?ve listened to advice on the personal statement before. Be yourself, they say. Write truthfully, they say. Make the admissions officer reading it feel as if they were looking at you in person, they say. It?s not as complicated as you think, they said! What I learned was that the uncomplicated does not constitute the simple: fitting myself into 700 words was difficult at best and arduous at worst. What one aspect could sufficiently capture my personality and my being?
I stumbled across my final topic for two essays and a conversation later: I didn?t know what would be òright,ó but I definitely knew what felt òwrong.ó In the end, it was a conversation with my best friend and an offhand comment that helped me write the essay I felt could represent me.
Choosing schools is undoubtedly the most important step in the application process. Schools in America usually have either a liberal or conservative leaning, and it impacts the way the university functions, the rules it expects its students to follow, and ultimately the types of student which go there.
For prospective students who have strong views about politically relevant issues, it may be best to choose schools that are supportive of your leaning (indicators include the school?s affiliated religion, student reviews, and student organizations).
This aside, take into account the programs the school offers, its academic strengths, the professors it has, the extracurricular activities that are available, housing options, location and campus vibe. My university?s admissions officer once said in an Information Session ? and this is my favorite piece of advice yet: òWhen I visited this school as a high school senior, I looked around and thought to myself: these people here are all my friends. The only thing is that they don?t know it yet and I have to tell them!ó
Although I didn?t have the chance to visit universities during their school year (instead, I stayed for a month during the summer), I definitely recommend it. And in the school selection process, even small things can matter - when I visited Brown University, the tour guide said that one of the determining factors that prompted her to choose Brown was the accessibility of frozen yogurt on campus!
If the time for applications hasn't arrived for you yet, you can prepare for it by determining your interests, talking to friends and family about prospective schools, preparing for standardized exams and of course taking initiative in your extracurriculars.
Participate in world-renowned programs such as the Duke of Edinburgh's Award if you can. Volunteer in your community at old folks' homes, kindergartens or eco-friendly events. Lead a project. Create something for a non-profit organization. Ask around and be open; these opportunities exist! It's never too late - or too early - to start.
My story? It ended with acceptances to Boston College and Tufts University.
Oops, I mean my application story. My real story is just beginning. The story of the rest of my life will begin in September, when I walk into the Tufts University campus as an undergraduate of the College of Arts and Sciences.
(Amy Bu is SUIS Gubei campus IB Diploma student.)
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