<p>i hate it when people write all sorts of lies in their apps, but i also hate the whole "i know somebody" thing. this kid in my eng lit class is so getting into vandy because his dad is friends with the dean of something or other. grrr and this kids fails half his classes!</p>
<p>I read most of those book (though not that particular one) sophomore year when I was just learning about the admissions process, which in retrospect seems like a good compromise. I found out about the "tricks" and suggestions and took the general idea to heart, but by the time I actually applied I'd forgotten most of the specific and was able to give my apps my personal [haphazard, last-minute, making-it-up-as-I-go] touch. Er, I hope it worked? :D</p>
<p>Oh, and as for connections, someone I know told me that he could make a phone call that would get me into Penn for sure, but I didn't take him up on his offer. I'm not that desperate for an Ivy League degree. :eek: (I didn't want to go there anyway... I ended up not even applying.)</p>
<p>Yeah, I think the whole "connections" thing is a tad bit bogus. I know life's unfair, so I'm not bitter about it, but it still bothers me sometimes.</p>
<p>I like that my application to Princeton was really raw. And it was just me. And I didn't let anybody else read it and it was just very pure and untainted. And I like that. And apparently I also like starting sentences with 'and.'</p>
<p>^I agree. I didn't even have anyone edit my essays before sending them out, which everyone advises against but I felt so much more comfortable with. My university counselor read an early draft of my Common Application essay and I almost felt violated, it was that personal -- not even the subject matter, but the fact that it was my essay that I wrote about me. I didn't want her pencil marks all over it, because that would've made it less sincere.</p>
<p>^^I kind of felt the same way. However, my strength is not in writing, so I wanted people to help me out (and I actually learned a lot about writing in the process--I did, after all, write about 15 or 20 essays!).</p>
<p>I only wrote two general/all-purpose essays and five college-specific ("Why [school]?") ones, and recycled the "all-purpose" ones for all my schools. Sometimes I really think I'm too lazy for my own good. :p</p>
<p>someone I know of put Caucasian on his application when he was actually half African American, half Caucasian. Clearly, he looked as if he was African American, but he told me he did not want to get in based off the color of his skin. He did not even have outstanding test scores, just an amazing person. </p>
<p>Imagine being an interviewer and looking through the application only to be so surprised when he walked in. (This actually happened heh)</p>
<p>Edit: Yeah, he was accepted to PYH</p>
<p>That's awesome. I am half-Mexican, and so is my best friend. He just checked off the Hispanic box, however, but I felt that was taking unfair advantage. I checked both half-Mexican and Caucasian. I wish I could have done what your friend did, but my last name/essays give me away.</p>
<p>
[quote]
I only wrote two general/all-purpose essays and five college-specific ("Why [school]?") ones, and recycled the "all-purpose" ones for all my schools. Sometimes I really think I'm too lazy for my own good.
[/quote]
yeah, i did the exact same. i'm even using some of the essays for canada. :P</p>
<p>dlema: that's so cool!</p>
<p>I had 3 essays, pretty much. None of my main schools wanted a "Why [school]?" essay, except for Yale (but it was supposed to be ~150 words, so that's more like...2 sentences), so I pretty much just rotated my 3 favorites. </p>
<p>For Princeton, I treated my "extracurricular activity" and "summers" thing as essays though. So...if those count.</p>
<p>I had...erm, six long essays, so clearly I'm not an especially effective recycler. ;) Stanford had to be written first, and it didn't fit any of the other schools; then MIT, which wasn't recycle-able either; the Common App essay which I also used for UChicago, Caltech's supplement essay, Princeton's supplement essay, and Princeton's extra engineering essay (which, I might add, caused me to both froth at the mouth a bit and seriously reconsider applying for engineering. Woe.).</p>
<p>Noldo -- congrats on your Caltech acceptance!!!! :)</p>
<p>:D Thank you! Though I'm sure I'm about to be lynched for mentioning it on the Princeton forum. ;)</p>
<p>You only mentioned that you applied to Caltech; I'm the one who brought up your acceptance... so if anyone should be lynched here, it's probably me. :p</p>
<p>PS: I'm glad I'm not the only person who used her Common App essay for Chicago's Uncommon. I realize it's sort of frowned upon, but it really did fit the question.</p>
<p><em>snicker</em> O'course, who says lynchers are especially discriminatory?</p>
<p>I took the Chicago thing a step further, actually -- used my Common App essay and created a completely odd prompt to go with. (Mostly because by the time I realised that I couldn't finish my Chicago-specific long essay, it was nearing the deadline and I was beginning to worry. 'Worry' being the soul of understatement, here.) Score one for laziness, I suppose. </p>
<p>/resolute off-topic-ness</p>
<p>back to the thread's main topic...</p>
<p>good social skills?</p>
<p>Hahaha. Because we're so good at getting "back to the thread's main topic."</p>
<p>I think that my interviewer liked that I was really honest. I told him I wanted to party and have fun in college, and he seemed to be amused/respect my honesty.</p>
<p>yeah mine too! then he told me about his drunken nights and stuff. he was pretty awesome!</p>