I was at home with Mom, Dad, Big Sister, and Little Brother - except none of them were actually related to me. They didn’t look like me, they didn’t talk like me, and they didn’t think like me - but, for one whole week, they were the only family I had. Two years ago, when my Japanese teacher announced a two week-long cultural exchange opportunity in Japan, I was the first to register. Six months later, I...

Last November, I’d barely been at Duke for a day when I found myself amidst a thunderous, blue and white-clad crowd at the Wallace Wade stadium. And I couldn’t help myself. I was screaming along with them, “Go, Blue Devils!” At Duke, I will study environmental science through classes like Community Based Marine Conservation in the Gulf of California and by spending a semester at the Duke Marine Lab with Professor Van Dover engaging in groundbreaking research on...

This summer, my passion for environmental science guided me to embark on an amazing journey to Pensacola, Florida to research the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. And there, I devoted every second to soaking up as much marine science knowledge and field research experience as I possibly could. My fascination with environmental science began when I learned about ocean pollution - particularly the recent oil spill - during my high school AP class. I became extremely...

I did...

Engaged, well-rounded,...

My first interview was with a Duke alumni. It actually happened to be my AP Economics teacher's wife who was also a teacher at my high school. I was really nervous and I hadn't really practiced at all other than with the questions my college counselor gave me. We met up at Starbucks and it was really casual. I made sure to get there early and she saw me and I stood up, shook her hand and introduced myself. At first, she asked me the basic college interview questions like, why did you apply to our school? What major are...

During the summer, do something productive. Travel abroad in an academic setting, or do an internship. Volunteer or get a job. Do something related to the field you want to major in. For example, I wanted to major in environmental science, so I did two internships at University of West Florida and UC Riverside pertaining to environmental science. If you do not know how to obtain an internship, a very simple way is to e-mail a bunch of college professors and ask them if you can intern there. You should do this starting in January the year of the summer...

I’d barely been at Duke for a day when I found myself amidst a thunderous, screaming crowd decked out in blue and white at the Wallace Wade stadium. And I just couldn’t help myself. I was screaming right along with them, “Go, Blue Devils!” I made my first visit to Duke in November of last year, when Jasmine Kim, current Duke neurology student and cheerleader, invited me and my family to visit for a weekend. During an official campus tour led by Jared Lin, I had the opportunity to learn so much about everything Duke had to offer...

Duke is located in Durham, North Carolina. Durham is an amazing place with so much culture and so much good food. It is located about 10 minutes away from Chapel Hill, which is a nice college town with lots of things to do. It is also located in Research Triangle Park, so there are so many...

I was never waitlisted or denied, but my college counselor sent my counseling group this message: WHAT TO DO FOR DENIALS: *NOTE: DO NOT try to copy this letter word for word. Rephrase everything, and don't even use all of this content. It honestly doesn't have to be this long, anyway. IF YOU DARE USE THIS SAMPLE AND TRY TO PLAY IT OFF AS YOUR OWN, you will be screwing yourself and everyone else in our group - because this is a copy of an ACTUAL APPEALS LETTER from one of my past students. I won't tell you which school...

You need to be extremely specific here. Name specific classes, specific professors, specific clubs, specific activities, specific dorms, specific buildings. Be as specific as possible. Name drop people if you know anyone (college...

You should choose someone who you are close with and someone you have a personal connection with. You should choose someone...