"Slowpoke" Green for the tree. Red and blue for the ornaments. Yellow for the star. Orange for the fire. It was the last day of kindergarten before winter break, and we were assigned to color in a picture of a Christmas tree. As I glanced towards the clock, I noticed that there was still time left before we started sharing. I began to immerse myself in the drawing. I wanted to make every detail perfect. Although I strove to maintain...

As I stepped out of the car onto Penn's campus, I was immediately overwhelmed by the smell of delicious food. I looked around to see that I was surrounded by food carts of different cultures and ethnicities. After my visit, I would realize that just as Penn was home to a variety of food trucks, so it was also home to an intellectually and culturally diverse student body. Penn was truly a world school, a university not bound by the...

The following essay was written for the Vagelos Dual Degree program in Life Sciences and Management Program (I did not get in): We played the final notes of the glorious finale of Tchaikovsky's 4th Symphony. The long concert and rehearsal season had come to an end. As we let the final note resonate throughout the hall, the audience jumped to their feet, giving a standing ovation. I remember when I first started to learn the piece. I stumbled across all...

I felt that my essays were alright. They weren't the primary reason I got accepted, but I felt that they definitely were good enough for the school. Most importantly, the reflected who I am personally. I remember one Duke admissions officer told me that if you wrote a good essay, you should be able to anonymously leave it at your school's cafeteria table and that your friends would be able to identify it as your essay, because a good essay...

Many people have the perception that you HAVE to choose teachers of more important core classes (Math/Sciences/English) and completely ignore some of the other classes (Foreign Language/History/etc.). Don't be one of those people! The recommenders I chose were my Math teacher, my Spanish teacher, and my piano teacher (my piano teacher's recommendation was necessary for a successful music supplement). I chose to ask my math teacher because I knew that I excelled in the class, not only by helping myself with the abundance of resources available but also by helping my peers. I knew that my...

I did not choose to use a private admissions counselor. I honestly feel that hiring a person to revise various essays and advise you regarding standardized testing and other extracurriculars...

Although I am not yet in college, I plan on continuing my piano studies through chamber ensemble. This will definitely be my primary extracurricular activity for the first semester at least, as I am not sure how much time I will have for the rest. I am choosing to continue...

Ultimately, as my high school advisor told me, I chose my schools to apply to based on having a good mix of reach, target, and safety schools. As a more high-achieving student in my school, I thought that I could get away with applying to a ton of Ivy...

I feel a lot of people are obsessed with the idea of "showing interest" in a school. These people feel that it is necessary to attend the summer camps that are hosted at a school or do research with a professor at the university in order to get in. This is completely not necessary. I didn't...