I consider myself an awkward dancer. Awkward dancing doesn’t always mean bad dancing – even Anna Pavlova would be awkward performing an arabesque in certain contexts. Like at a debate tournament with no specific reason to dance. You can imagine the kinds of looks I get when I do it. Last year, I started a trend on my debate team of dancing at tournaments. The only rules are that 1) you must dance where people can see you and 2) no excuses...

I have days when I’ll spend hours at a time learning about a random topic – reading articles on the history of Cyprus, for example, or listening to an online lecture on causal reasoning. It’s as though Csikszentmihalyi's concept of “flow” (which I’ve also researched) will take over and I become fully immersed in learning. Although I have specific areas of interest for my future career goals, I enjoy enriching my knowledge of many different subjects. In school,...

No, I didn't use a private admissions counselor; I didn't think it was necessary. There...

For the standard alumni interview, just treat it like a conversation you're having with an alumni! They'll ask you questions about yourself, such as why you're interested in the college, extracurricular activities, recent books you've...

Your school counselor, the company your parent(s) work for, an organization that you're in, Google, books -- all great places to start looking. Keep...

Honestly, I recommend applying to as many schools are you think you'd be interested in. A lot of similar schools...

For any school -- don't try too hard to sound intellectual and impressive; admissions officers can tell. For example, sometimes applications will have...

You should always be aiming to do something productive during your summers, like internships, projects, working, or volunteering. Not many high school students do...

Dartmouth is known for being isolated and cold, which I wasn't initially keen on,...

I actually procrastinated quite a bit. Don't...

Dartmouth is most unique due to its D-Plan (allows you to take terms off of your choice, so for example you could stay on campus one summer...

My essay was quirky (I wrote about awkward dancing...

I got letters of rec from my junior year AP English and AP Calculus teachers. Both of them knew me well and particularly liked me. When...