<p>Well, everybody knows that personal essays are meant to be "PersonaL" but still many choose to ignore it.. Without sounding condescending, my simple advice to those writing their personal essays is to have a "hook" for their personal essays... "hook" meaning a point or an incident or a personal story that will make you stand-out or distinguish you from thousands of other applicants ... for example, I wrote my personal essay about my experiences of living in a boarding school for ten long years..... now, the thesis of my essay itself distinguished me from many other applicants because honestly, many students wouldn't have an experience of that sort... Secondly, in that essay I wrote about how and why i had to "fight"( I mean real fist fight) with a student two senior than me in my hostel... Now, describing that in my essay distinctly set me apart from the rest because very few people will have such an incident let alone describe it in their all important Personal Essay... but do have a theme, because after all you are seeking to gain admission to competitive colleges …. How you portray yourself matters a lot n even more than the creativity of your essay itself.. My essay theme was to show me as a person who is willing to go any distance to do the right thing ..even if that means I have to fight …..</p>
<p>my main point in illustrating my personal essay to y'all is to stress that your personal essays should be exclusively yours... it shouldn't be common to thousands of other applicants or else it should have been called common essay not personal essay right ? ... so, find something unique about yourself or something different that you have done and write it creatively..</p>
<p>Another great trick you can use to improve your essay is by sending them to people who have gone through the arduous process of writing their own personal essays ..your brother or a senior at your school ..( with whom you haven't fought with BTW..) or people here at CC who are studying at US schools… those people can give your real constructive criticisms and advice as well.. So do try that ..</p>
<p>@neo-nietzsche-Thanks for the input it was quite helpful.I'll be sure to avoid the cliched topics like you mentioned. Best of luck for applying ED to F&M. I've heard the same thing about its financial aid but nevertheless applying ED there should surely help the cause.</p>
<p>@DjFU-Thanks a lot for the advice.I think I am going to spend much time on the essays to make sure that the essays are unique and at the same time shows the adcoms who I really am.BTW which college will you be attending this fall?</p>
<p>I think this thread is full of silent observers when comparing the no of posts with views...c'mon we need active participation for our mutual benefit..
Anyone else who knows something about the finiancial aid facts(or speculations) of F&M for internationals??? (like accepting but not providing aid)....applying 4 ED and gettin rejection/defferal just bcoz of aid decision wud really be infuriating...also what wud be other alternatives to F&M??..help please...thnx in adv</p>
<p>F&M is REALLY squeamish when it comes to finaid..you have a decent chance only when you are willing to pay much more than comparable applicants..in the range of 6-10K per annum. But then if you really think this is your first choice, then go ahead and apply. If someone doesn't get in ED, almost all Nepalese will be applying to F&M..because colleges like this are matches for almost everyone of us..no safety..no reach.</p>
<p>But yeah, if you're admitted, the college will meet your full demonstrated need. I believe F&M still has loans, but it's quite less.</p>
<p>^^It's true there are just too many silent observers. Come on everyone we all need to start posting.
Could someone please tell me about DePauw?....like what kind of aid it provides...whether or not applying ED would help.....or are we better off aplying ED somewhere else.......and things like that.
Thanks in advance.</p>
<p>Well, the alternate to F&M would be colleges like, as bocca said, dickinson, Gettysburg… Also, you can include the well established names among us, the nepali students, such as Lafayette, Trinity coll, Trinity Univ, wabash….. a bit higher in the order would be colleges like Grinnell, Carleton, Williams, Colgate, reed…. But caution : there is going to be intense and uber competition among Nepalese students themselves for admission to these colleges , because gone are the days when only handful of people knew about these good colleges, their generous fin aids and their application procedures.. More n more students are trying their luck for admission to these good colleges with their solid academic credentials … the evidences of my claim are for example the growing number of students giving their SAT I, 2 or 3 times , also these days just about any student scores 3 As in A-levels … so , my advice in times of intense competition is to be a bit clever… one trick is to find a college that is reputed but at the same time less known or has a reduced craze among Nepali students compared to aforementioned colleges for ED... For example Colby, Macalester, Connecticut College, Kenyon, wlu, Cornell College, Hamilton College, Skidmore …. Just think, More than 300 Nepali Students applied to Grinnell last year for few spots.. so if you don't have hair raising credentials don't apply ED to these colleges that are very popular among Nep Students… you'll simply be wastin a good opportunity to get in a decent college because for international students, ED is the best option ..( mero personal opinion matrai ho) ….</p>
<p>De Pauw has a very limited funding. For ED, I think it would be better if you find some other colleges.
Every one is saying that finanical decisions of F&M sucks so I don't think I'll be takin risk of applying there...gettysburg is way too popular so I won't apply there as well....... I m considering Dickinson/ kenyon now.(though kenyon is stil more competitive than F&M or Dickinson)
Guys I ve heard that all places for OCT SAT have been occupied and for Nov as well there are very limited seats available as ST. XaVIERS is already full...SO if anyone needa register for SAT I/ II, go do it fast!!</p>
<p>Hey URGENT!!!
HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE SAT????
College board ma REGISTER FOR THE SAT garepachi.............K garne........????
How To Make The Payment?????Which BANK is APPROPRIATE????
Aani where to get the ADMISSION Ticket from?????From the bank itself or where?????
Can Anyone give me the detailed information ....................Is it too late to register for the november SAT???</p>
<p>Hey URGENT!!!
HOW TO REGISTER FOR THE SAT????
College board ma REGISTER FOR THE SAT garepachi.............K garne........????
How To Make The Payment?????Which BANK is APPROPRIATE????
Aani where to get the ADMISSION Ticket from?????From the bank itself or where?????AAni who specifies the test centre???
Can Anyone give me the detailed information ....................Is it too late to register for the november SAT???</p>
<p>no it aint too late...first ma college board ma profile create garne...whatever information is asked, fill it down..tespa6i test date choose garne...then test centre is mentioned there itself, you just have to prioritize one over the other....you save upto that step...then go to Nabil Bank or any other institute (like one in pulchowk opposite to World Food Program Off)...there you give them your username and password and make the payment(around 5000-5500)...your admission ticket will be available in your profile which you can print anytime......also Nabil bank charges Rs 500 extra as service charge and the next one I mentioned charges just Rs. 300 extra.</p>
<p>@sssat: thnx very much for the information..Did you get under Ed or regular one...also could you give me some further advice to apply there for ED??.</p>
<p>Does that include SAT subject test seats as well? </p>
<p>I'm planning to take the subject tests on oct and the the reasoning test on DEc.
BTW, how are the SAT II tests arranged? I mean, if I have to take 3 subject tests, how do they(or for that matter I) schedule that?</p>
<p>quote:<br>
neo-nietzsche : no it aint too late...first ma college board ma profile create garne...whatever information is asked, fill it down..tespa6i test date choose garne...then test centre is mentioned there itself, you just have to prioritize one over the other....you save upto that step...then go to Nabil Bank or any other institute (like one in pulchowk opposite to World Food Program Off)...there you give them your username and password and make the payment(around 5000-5500)...your admission ticket will be available in your profile which you can print anytime......also Nabil bank charges Rs 500 extra as service charge and the next one I mentioned charges just Rs. 300 extra.</p>
<p>And where does the passport come in all of this? Do I need it for registration or just before the test?</p>
<p>@pomo101:Well during registration you are not asked for anything related to your passport(like passport no.,etc.).However,passports are required for identitification at the test centre and everything written on the admission ticket should match with that written on the passport.Still it would be a good idea to have your passport at the time of registration.</p>
<p>Also,registering for SAT subject based is not that different from registering for SAT I.However, I do not know much about registering through Nabil Bank.</p>
<p>@:ivy30: Thx for the info. BTW, I was asking whether the seats for the subject tests where occupied or not. neo-neitzche was probably talking about the SAT I tests.</p>