<p>I don't know the exact number, but I guess that I had about 2-3 main essays, and everything else was motivational ones or short answers.
Actually a very small number of people manages to apply with only one essay. With me it was not possible because I applied to a considerable number of schools...
The essay that I sent to almost all colleges was "Topic of my choice" on the common app, and the other essays were the ones that the college itself required (e.g. motivational, analytical, etc.)
How many essays per college...let's see...to the colleges that required two essays I sent only those that they wanted, BUT to the colleges that had only one essay question (e.g. Wesleyan last year) I sent one additional essay. My advice would be not to go overborad with the additional stuff - if the college asks for two essays, and they portray distinctive parts of your personality, then there is absolutely no need to send an additional one, BUT if you think that one topic won't be enough for you to show to the adcom how unique you are (as in my case with Wesleyan) then YES send an additional piece.
Making each essay special...well actually I made only the motivational essays special (e.g. "Why would like to attend Y college?") Some good advice I can give is:
1. BE SPECIFIC - why you wanna go EXACTLY to that school, what EXACTLY you are going to do their, etc.
2. BE UNIQUE - especially with these motivational essays...I bet the adcoms are sick of reading ******** that starts " I want to go to Y college because bla bla bla..." I mean by all means include your reasons, but do so in a creative way. Avoid dullness at any rate!!!</p>
<p>yeah, this helps. Thanks a lot. Now how about the students, the atmosphere... do you already know all the Bulgarians there (you wrote in another thread that they were only 7)? And do you like the classes?</p>
<p>the students...they are simply AMAZING. everybody here is so friendly and nice. in addition, everybody is sooooooo bright, talented, and yet humble. everyday in class or outside of it I get stunned by the talents and brains of the people around. everyday I learn something new, everyday I meet someone new...
I have to say that I love a lot of things about Yale, but the students are the best part of it. They make this university what it is - unique!!!</p>
<p>atmosphere...well I would say that it is pretty relaxed and very friendly, and wherever you are on campus you are constantly surrounded by the strong school spirit of the students.</p>
<p>the other Bulgarians...oh, well, I have to admit that this is one of the FEW disappointing things about Yale so far. The Bulgarian community is not very strong. By now I know only 3 of the 7 Bulgarian students here. They are nice, but what I don't like is the fact that the Bulgarians don't stick as much to each other as some of the other internationals. At first, this really bothered me, even made me sad, but now I don't care that much because you get to know so many incredible people, so that they compensate for the not so incredible ones that you have met...</p>
<p>smartmind...oh, I just saw that you are from India. I know all of the Indians in my class and they are all amazing people...to go back to your question - just as important as the other ones. All parts of your app have to shine, including each of your essays and even the short answers. After all each one of them contributes to the picture you want to paint to the adcom, so everything should be as polished as possible...
Once again ALL of the essays are IMPORTANT!!!</p>
<p>As my location says - I'm at Amherst now. As you would probably expect, the school is amazing. To give you just some insight, my German course has 7 people enrolled in it, and my largest course (Middle Eastern History) about 30. Everyone is extremely friendly - the Dean of New Students really cared to welcome each and every freshman to Amherst, the President invited everyone to his house for a picnic and professors are extremely interested in getting to know the new students.
As for social life, I myself am very lucky to be in a lively, yet subfree dorm, which is a very nice combination. There are things hapenning on campus virtually every evening, and most of them are not keggers - although there is a fair amount of that as well.
If you have any questions about Amherst, I would be very happy to answer them.
By the way, AMHERST IS CONSIDERING BECOMING NEED-BLIND FOR INTERNATIONALS! So, be sure to give us due attention!</p>
<p>bogororo, as amherst is a liberal arts school, it's student population is small right?
If it is small, does it still give you that 'college experience' of meeting new people all the time? like what I mean is, do you feel (sad or happy) as you are going to see the same people everday for 4 years? (like highschool)</p>
<p>Because although I"m not interested in a big school of 40,000.. i'm interested in a considerable sized school like jhu (i think it's like 5000-6000 or something - the whole school, not just undergraduates).. like, being able to meet someone new every now and then for 4 years.. I was just wondering if Amherst is like that also? does my question even make sense? sorry i think it's a bit ambiguous..</p>
<p>Well, it is certain that you keep bumping into known people all the time which is not at all bad. For the moment I keep meeting lots of people, and I hope this will continue - there are over 1600 people here after all. Keep in mind that Amherst is part of the 5 college consortium, so you would always have new people on campus. There is a very good advantage to Amherst being small, though - the admosphere is not as cliquish as I understand other places would be.</p>