Free Application Tips
Whether or not you choose to work with us, we care about your success. Before diving into these helpful application tips, be sure to read about our approach for additional tips and context.
Personal Statements
Most students approach their college essay like a school assignment. But they’re not academic essays, they’re short stories about you. That means it’s your chance to say something that doesn’t show up anywhere else in your application. Before you start writing, take a step back and ask yourself: What do I want colleges to really understand about me? What is the story that I want to tell, and what tone do I want to have? Once you have those answers, you’ll have a clearer direction as you head into crafting your narrative. Your narrative is the story of who you are and how you want admissions counselors to see you.
When you’re writing your narrative, I’d like you to think about the short stories you were told as a kid. You might not remember all of the details, but you remember how the story made you feel and the impression that it left on you. You remember the message that it had and the qualities of the main character. What we’re trying to do is quite similar; you should have a clear narrative about who you are, and the reader should be able to feel it. Think about your values, what truly matters to you at your core, and moments when you’ve had to stand up for or live out those values. Reflecting on these can bring to mind powerful stories that make excellent essay topics or help shape the direction of your overall narrative. From there, take another look at your extracurriculars, awards, and projects. Instead of just listing what you did, think about the real impact you had: what were the tangible results? This process will give you a better sense of your strengths and areas for growth. With that understanding, you’ll be in the right place to start crafting your story, who you are, and how you want admissions officers to picture you as they build their incoming class. Once you have a narrative that you’re happy with and believe in, you can start thinking of ideas for each essay prompt. It’s important that you believe in your narrative because you’ll never write a compelling personal statement about something you don’t truly believe. But if you believe it, others will too.
As you come up with ideas for each essay prompt, make sure that they fit with your overarching narrative and that you’re consistent throughout your application. Your first drafts might be a little rough around the edges, and that’s okay. That’s normal. But you’ll begin to see what works, and see what ideas in one essay might be better in another. If you don’t have a college counselor to help you with your personal statements, it can be helpful to have your peers read your essays. Admissions officers are trained to evaluate applications in a way that is intended to be consistent across all readers, but it’s not a perfect science. That’s why it can be helpful to have different perspectives give you feedback. But don’t just take their feedback, consider where they are coming from, and only take it if you believe in it. If you don’t believe in it, it can lead to an inconsistent feel where parts of your essays may not agree.
Once you’re happy with your application, take a break from it, but don’t submit it yet. You, of course, aren’t doing this at the last minute and have time to spare (right?). Come back to it after a week and read it over and see if there’s anything you would want to change. Taking a break from your application and all of the stress can allow you to see ideas that you didn’t before. If you’re completely happy with it, feel free to submit it and take a well-earned break.
Make sure you consider these when writing your personal statement:
If you handed your essay to someone, could they sum it up in one sentence?
Are you saying things in your statements that aren’t already said in other parts of your application?
Do you believe in what you’re writing? It’s hard to write a compelling personal statement about something you don’t believe in.
Try to focus your personal statements on you and who you are as a person. There’s usually an optional statement or comments to provide context to aspects like grades.
What challenges have you experienced and how have you overcome them? Colleges are always looking for students who can learn from their experience and advocate for themselves.
Extracurriculars, Work Experience, and Awards
When you’re filling out the extracurricular section, don’t spend time explaining what the extracurricular is; instead, focus on the results that you delivered. For example, if you work part-time as a cashier at a market, that’s wonderful. That already says a lot about your independence, people skills, and commitment. But since most people already know what a cashier does, you don’t need to explain the basics. Use that space to highlight what you accomplished. Maybe you were named employee of the month after accomplishing x, y, and z, or maybe you figured out a way to speed up checkout times by 15%.
Even if it feels hard at first, most activities lead to some kind of impact, growth, or success. It’s just about digging a little to find it. If you can include numbers or concrete results, even better! That helps your accomplishments stand out and feel more real to the reader. And remember: keep it short and to the point, almost like you’re writing in bullet points.
Letters of Recommendations
Some colleges ask for letters of recommendation as part of their application. These letters offer insight into who you are beyond your grades, including your conduct in class, how you interact with others, and your potential to succeed in college. A great letter can highlight your character, work ethic, and fit for the major or program you’re applying to.
When deciding who to ask, think about who knows you best and can speak to your strengths. If you’re applying to an engineering program, for example, a math or science teacher will likely be a better fit than an English teacher. Ask early and well before the deadlines. While some students choose to give their teachers a “brag sheet” outlining their accomplishments, this often results in a generic letter that simply states you’re a strong student, something already evident from your transcript. Instead, consider asking for 15 minutes of their time, ideally after school, where you won’t be interrupted or rushed. Start by thanking them for being willing to write your letter, and then share a bit about why you’re applying to the colleges they’ll write to and how their class has shaped you, academically and personally. This kind of conversation gives your teacher the insight they need to write a letter that’s not only powerful but also personal, one that adds dimension to your application and reinforces the story you’re trying to tell.
Teachers are busy and will often be asked to write letters from multiple students, so don’t be afraid to give them a friendly reminder as the deadline approaches. Set a few check-in dates for yourself to make sure everything gets submitted on time. Each year, many applications end up incomplete because students don’t make sure that their letters are sent.
If you found our application tips helpful, feel free to share them with a friend.
Contact Us
If you’re interested in working together and learning more about us and our approach, let’s chat.
Fill out the form below, and we’ll be in touch shortly. We can’t wait to hear from you!