Every summer the three-headed monster of school work, extracurriculars, and standardized testing that dominates my life throughout the school year sort of just curls up into a ball and dies. The earth stops spinning, and I'm left staring at walls wondering how a day could possibly go by so slowly (Ok, I don't actually stare at walls). But after a short time life starts to pick up again, and my summer pattern of meeting up with friends resumes. Last summer...

There's a running joke among my friend group that, despite any accomplishments I might have in high school, I'll end up in a low paying, miserable job. In their elitist, middle class humor, working at a minimum wage, despite years of schooling, is something to be laughed at and mocked. They all want to be engineers and doctors. Future financial misfortune is not a reality for them. But it is for me. You see, I want to be a history...

I think I did a good job here. I made it as personal as possible, while shoving in as much flattering research about the school as possible. I made it very clear that I was going to college for a purpose, and that Penn had the necessary tools to help me achieve. That is why I think they accepted me. Here is what I think went well with my essay. Notice in the introduction, I immediately make it personal. I...

I dont think counselors will help you at all. There is not a lot they can tell you that you can't find out for yourself. How many colleges have they applied to? They are merely an easy way to absorb information. You can find the same information for yourself on the internet. Do...

I think Penn wants people who have figured out what they want to do. We are known to be a super preprofessional school. But keep in mind that we are all 17-18 year olds applying to college. Many of...

I think I misjudged the culture of a...

I think this is super, super important and underrated. Select your schools wisely. I'll walk you through what I personally did and why I did them. Early I applied to University of Virginia University of Oregon Georgetown University of Chicago Case Western Reserve University. Here immediately you can see I applied to 3 very distinctive "tiers" of schools. We have the elite in Chicago, the pretty darn good but not top 10 in Georgetown and Virginia, and pretty solidly ranked in the 30s-40s in Case Western (I also applied to U of O but that was just my state school). When...

I don't think you have to try that hard to set yourself apart if you belong to an affluent community like I did with a top tier public school. Honestly, you want to just do well in your classes and challenge yourself as much as possible. That's what I did. I have no special E/C's, no special leadership. I was just competent and excelled when I was called to excel. I volunteered, but not prolifically. I entered competitions, but never...