I was going to meet President Barack Obama. After countless hours on his campaign and connections through my political internships, I stood in line to meet the leader of the free world. As he approached me, my mind went blank; I wasn’t nervous, but the sheer magnitude of what was about to occur had me stunned. “Hi, I’m going to be President one day,” I managed to blurt out. He nodded his head, smiled, and shook my hand. �...

Johns Hopkins Question: "Why us?" “We don’t have the time to go over that,” my economics professor told me. “We have so much left to cover!” I felt defeated. I wasn’t trying to hinder the progress of the class; I just wanted more information. I patiently waited until the end of the class and approached the teacher with my question. “Don’t worry about that, Nathan,” he replied. “Nothing like that will be on the test.” I definitely...

Cornell Question: "Why us?" As a little kid, my parents' friends would ask me what I wanted to be when I grew up. "President!" I would respond with a toothy grin. When they laughed and asked why, I told them, "Because I like being loud, right and in charge!” bringing more laughter. They would pat my naïve, little head and I would flash them a sly smile and run off. Now that I am an adult, however, I still...

UPenn Question: "Ben Franklin once said, 'All mankind is divided into three classes: those that are immovable, those that are movable, and those that move.' Which are you?" People often find themselves constrained by the choices they make; choosing to do one thing means choosing not to do another. When it comes to choosing a major, I find myself to be one of those people. As a transfer student, even though I have a broad range of interests, I...

Think of a central message you want to relay with your essays, something that you need the schools to understand about you. When you read through your essays, you should be able to see how each essay adds to that theme. Admissions officers read a ton of applications, but if your message shines bright through your essays, it will stick with them.

Doing an activity that you don't like doing, just for the sake of college, is a...

Everyone knows that Johns Hopkins University is cutthroat. Or at least, that's what everyone thinks. Try straying away from how...

Make sure to know the teachers you're getting a letter of recommendation from. If you feel like...

Johns Hopkins University was not going to be easy. Unlike other schools with grade inflation,...

Something I wish I would have done is write down exactly what I wanted to get across in...

Interviewers come in with only a couple questions, which is why you should do your best to just...