My dad sat in an armchair as the rest of the family eagerly hovered around him. “All right Camille, it’s your turn”, he said to my younger sister. “The boy and the bus turn into butterflies!” And so the next frame of the cartoon was added. Then my older brother Alex made his contribution: “Then they turn into Periodic Tables of Elements!” Instantly the butterflies became floating tables. My 6 year old self readily chimed in, “And then they EXPLODE!” ...

6 cats, 4 dogs, 2 llamas, 3 horses, 6 hens, and 3 roosters (my neighbors loved this). These are, all in all, the many animals to pass through the Powers household. Maybe it’s just that my mom loves animals. Or maybe it’s the fact that my parents and my older brother lived on a farm in New Jersey before I was born. Either way, whenever someone is completely dumbfounded upon hearing llamas once strolled about our backyard, or that we used to have a...

Make sure to note that not everyone gets interviews, so don't be devastated if you aren't offered one - I've got plenty of friends at Harvard now who didn't do an applicant...

I remember when I was in high school, everyone freaked out about what to do over their summers in an effort to marginally increase their chances of being admitted places. I can't stress this enough, it's much more important to be doing activities or work that is important to you and your interests than it is to join some on-campus high school summer program at a college or something similar (I remember a lot of people in high school did stuff like that). Those camps are a complete waste of time and money, the kids who go to them and...

This is a very broad topic, but I have a few key general suggestions that you should bear in mind when writing your applications: You want to demonstrate that you're a well rounded candidate - meaning that if you're strong in math and science, spend a lot of time working on your essay to show that you can communicate well. If you're not as quantitative, try studying hard for a math or science SAT II and with a high score you can show that...