I haven't listened to the song Stubborn Love by The Lumineers in about a year now. It never made it to the radio, so I've never turned on my favorite station and heard that song. I haven't played it in just as long, despite the fact that I love the song, the lyrics, and the band. But I'm glad I haven't heard it because it reminds me of the few months when I prepared for my mother to never come...

"Design an Academic Course" My ideal class focuses on ethical issues in sports. Ethics classes often use dry or clichéd examples - "Law and Order" scenarios - but ethical questions can also be explored using a more accessible framework. Even casual fans can grasp that the serious ethical questions in sports are also applicable in businesses other than sports. The class explores how leagues and teams balance their reputations and economic success versus player welfare. Any organized league needs...

"If you could only do one of the activities you have listed in the Activities section of your Common Application, which one would you keep doing? Why?" I step onstage and look out at the crowd, trying to gauge their faces. The adrenaline flows through my body as I step up to the microphone, and I feel my blood pumping in my ears. My heart beats to the tempo of the song my a cappella group is performing, and my...

"Everyone belongs to many different communities and/or groups defined by (among other things) shared geography, religion, ethnicity, income, cuisine, interest, race, ideology, or intellectual heritage. Choose one of the communities to which you belong, and describe that community and your place within it." I turned to Aaron, the co-host of my sports radio show at Camp Winnebago, and said, "Could we interview Chris Berman?" We'd found a camp newspaper from the 1970s when he, now a famous ESPN analyst,...

Describe the unique qualities that attract you to the specific undergraduate College or School (including preferred admission and dual degree programs) to which you are applying at the University of Michigan. How would that curriculum support your interests? At a sports management program over the summer, my professor showed us "how not to" and "how to" videos for interviewing for a sports management job. The "how not to" video encompassed what most applicants said: they love fantasy sports, they're great...

The first essay was written for Emory while the remaining were all written for the University of Michigan. Skidmore didn't require a written supplement.

Do what you want to do. Find something you enjoy and pursue it to the fullest - not only will...

I didn't do a single activity for college. I found...

The more you tried to impress them, the less authentic...

One thing I'd change is my essays. I spent over a year on my common app essay, trying to make it the very best like no essay ever was. I attacked it from all angles and had many pairs of eyes on it. However, I did...

My school offered a college counselor to all students, and the advice I received was mainly to be myself. The college was...