Contrary to popular belief, there is no sound in space. And yet, this fact is not one that I learned in school; after seven years and nearly nine thousand hours spent in a classroom, I learned that vacuums do not contain a medium through which sound waves can travel while listening to the director’s commentary on the ninth season of Stargate SG-1. In retrospect, much of my life has consisted of these improbable lessons gleaned from even more unlikely...

Dear future fellow New England adventurer, late-night-crammer, and almost-adult: I am both excited and filled with trepidation at the prospect of spending nine months living (and two thousand hours sleeping) in the same two hundred square feet as you. I must warn you that you will often walk in on me with impromptu arts and crafts projects strewn across my desk and that you will seldom find me without the one drink on the Starbucks menu that I actually like....

This may be the only time that it is appropriate to admit that I have Internet-stalked something. And Internet-stalked Washington & Lee I have. Between the Washington & Lee website and College Prowler, I feel as though I am already a student at Washington & Lee. After researching the university online I became more certain than ever that it was the place for me. Both my grade school and high school averaged about a thousand students, so I knew when I started my...

I began high school as most do: a little naive and a lot unsure of whom I was. I took social cues from others, allowing them to dictate what was cool and what was not. I tried to figure out where they drew the line between actions that would bring fame and those that would bring infamy, but I never quite figured it out- for reasons that I now know consist of the fact that the line was ever-shifting. Attempts...

I probably drafted four different Common Application essays before I decided which one to spend time revising. Even so, I really don't think the final product ended up being that strong now that I've taken a second look at it. If I could go back and change it, I'd add more concrete stories and vivid descriptions and perhaps change its focus entirely to something less vague. It was a no-brainer to write my extracurricular essay about Student Council because that...

I read somewhere, and generally think it is true, that colleges want a well-rounded class, not necessarily well-rounded people. Find a few things you're passionate about and make them stand out in your application. Better to be an expert at one thing than a mediocre jack-of-all-trades. Absolutely read the essays of people...

Harvard- In person interview with a very nice alumna who asked me pretty routine interview questions that pertained to who I am and what I'm passionate about. If I had to guess, I'd say...

Applied for and received the Johnson Scholarship, which is a full ride. Required an extra essay and the applications was due December 1st. Don't be afraid to take a chance with your essay. Make it memorable! The students may be conservative, but the faculty is significantly less so. Some successful Johnson essay topics that I know of were on the topic of rap music, rampant cheating at someone's high school, and slut shaming (which...

I applied to schools that offered full ride scholarships or very good financial...

I was Student Body President, Valedictorian, and...

Poverty and Human...