I felt my stomach drop into my heels when my horse starkly refused the first jump. We circled back to it and she refused again. Another circle and….and another refusal. As my trainers, parents, and co-workers watched, my horse and I failed even to begin the difficult course. I went at it a fourth time and, steeling my leg against the unruly pony, I forced her over the red and white flowers and then over the next seven festively...

I visited Washington, D.C. for the first time when I was about seven years old and I remember visiting attractions like the Lincoln memorial and loving the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History especially. Although my family only stayed for a week and it was a while ago when we visited, something about D.C. stuck with me, whether it was the beauty of the cherry trees or the feeling of purpose that seemed to radiate off of the people...

When I was young, my mother used to read me bedtime stories, as many mothers do. But instead of the typical Three Little Pigs or Princess Bride, my mom would read me the legend of Hercules and his heroic tasks or the epic battle of Perseus versus Medusa, the evil snake-haired Gorgon. These stories entertained me as a child, but now I realize they also taught me life lessons. The story of Arachne taught me respect, and to not be...

Emory University in Atlanta Talk about your extracurriculars: I would like to continue to play tennis for recreation and field hockey competitively on a club team. I am a leader on both my tennis and my field hockey team, and that is a quality that I infuse into every activity I do. I have been a member of my school’s Social Justice club for the past two years and it is an interest that I want to continue in...

Putting Baby in the Corner I am the youngest of two with a sister who is now in her sophomore year of college. As the baby of the family, I always felt a little second-child syndrome from my parents, i.e. they remember Catherine’s first word but mine was “um….mama?”. They have albums and albums of photographs of Catherine, but just a handful of pictures of baby me, sitting in a high chair or playing with my Fisher-Price...

At Vanderbilt, I would say students were competitive, exclusive, apathetic, social climbing,...

As a transfer, I had to go with my gut. I wallowed about the decision and leaving my friends and my foundation, but I had already made my decision, I was just scared to take the...

I would highly recommend taking a college course if you can, whether it be a high school program on a college campus or doing what I did and just enrolling in a school's summer school program. My...

Sometimes all it takes is a letter or email to the right admissions counselor saying that that school is your dream school and you want to go there so badly, which could...

I interviewed with Brown, Yale, Wesleyan, and Vanderbilt and honestly I think the interviews are more for the applicant than they are for the school. Come prepared with questions that you didn't get the answer to or were too shy to ask on the tour because you will get good answers. I was accepted into 3 out of the 4 I interviewed with, but I can't imagine it made much of a difference, so don't stress too much about interviews. They...