Shy Girl "Any more candidates?" My hand shoots up before I can reconsider. "Me." Eyes turn. Eyebrows rise. Hot blood rushes to my cheeks. My teacher scrawls my name on the whiteboard: Christina. There were eight candidates for Community Service Representative of the Freshman Class. Now, there are nine. ... At fourteen, I tutor Monday through Thursday at a local elementary school, with friends I've recruited from class. My heaven is a rare sunny Friday spent...

Intellectual vitality essay: I've pulled one all-nighter in high school - not to finish a project or cram for an exam, but to watch Buffy the Vampire Slayer on Netflix. The show follows the life of quirky, fashionable teenager Buffy Summers, called on by fate to fight vampires and other monsters. I came for the witty dialogue; I stayed for the subversion of trope. Buffy is designed to undermine expectations. In typical horror films, the witless blonde is attacked in...

On an activity important to me: "Writer": One who writes poetry, journals, and stories. One who is always writing, in a sense. She's naturally shy, but loves meeting people. She memorizes faces, tics, and dialogue, all potential story fodder. Her love affair with stories isn't new; at eleven, she read till midnight in the bathroom to evade her mom's notice. One who has devoted two Novembers to drafting two novels. Paper hills rise from her recycling bin. While watching TV,...

What matters to you and why? A million things matter to me: my family, my friends, my cats (my babies), poverty, global warming, whether this dress makes me look fat. Yet tutoring is the activity most important to me. Since the eighth grade, I've tutored at an elementary school near my home. My students are at risk academically, in math, reading, and writing. They add when they ought to multiply and subtract when they should divide. Holding their attention for...

Letter to your roommate: Dear Roommate, Hi! I'm Christina. I'm a Pacific Northwest native who watches too much TV, adores cats, and runs on coffee. I enjoy playing cards, watching Bollywood romantic comedies, and singing the Beatles catalog with little skill. Before we meet, a few cautions: My half of the room will get as messy as Hemingway's love life. Book stacks will hinder navigation. I can ramble when excited. I once spent an entire class period on a presentation...

What five words best describe you? sarcastic, conscientious, perfectionistic, pragmatic, ambitious

Colleges enjoy quirkiness. They also like some degree of precociousness, but not pretentiousness. Talk about how much you love Kafka but act humble, etc. I believe you've got to brag a little in this process, which may or may not appeal to your personality type. AdmitSee has also found that some schools, notably Harvard, prefer essays which describe overcoming challenges (with more "negative" language), whereas Stanford prefers "positive" language about personal passions and community interests.

You will be told that interviews don't really matter. This is true. They basically check for hygiene and the ability to interact...

Ultimately, I had to choose between Stanford, the University of Chicago, and Columbia. The latter 2 offered more in financial aid, but...

The usual advice: Get a humanities and a science/math teacher. Prove you're well-rounded. It's also best to...

curious, ambitious,...

Apply to fewer schools, and begin your applications ASAP!! I was a 4.00 student with great activities/service experience...