<p>CONGRATS to those accepted ED! I’m sure you all are amazing, unique, intelligent people! All the hard work has finally paid off! :)</p>
<p>Sooo, any advice for next year’s EDers?</p>
<p>Essays! I know that is what got me into Brown, just work hard and be unique. Seriously, it’s not all about the SATs – mine weren’t anything special. And my friend got into Columbia with a 1970 (no URM or athlete) so i think this board needs to become a little less obsessed with number stats. </p>
<p>Everyone has a chance, so don’t let the elitism of this site scare you! because it scared me, and I’m now going to Brown! Never be discouraged.</p>
<p>You don’t have to <em>feel</em> like an Ivy League person. I’m totally goofy and weird and not at all the type you’d expect to get in.</p>
<p>qwerty’s right. Also, try to develop a ‘hook.’ Something interesting about you that can be pared down to sentence or two. Give the admissions officers a way to ‘pitch’ you, I guess. Choose an aspect of yourself that you’re proud of, that you think is unique, and make it your selling point. Write one of your essays about it. Make it the top of your list of EC’s or of the classes you’ve taken. Be passionate!</p>
<p>Don’t lie about or shy away from what you really like to do. Mold your essays around what you truly are passionate about.
I wrote my main essay on why i write/want to write, which produced some weird irony (writing on writing), but i’m pretty sure that essay got me in.</p>
<p>hembeck, I did the same :)</p>
<p>thanks guys! congrats again! yall are amazing :)</p>
<p>honestly, be yourself in your application and do your best to convey yourself as a whole person in your application. your ECs and stats may be indications to your social and academic lives, but the essays carry so much weight. it’s the essays that show your personality and who you really are, in my opinion.</p>
<p>also be really, really lucky. being lucky helps</p>
<p>Hooks help. Basically, a hook is something about your generally cool self that you take the time to pursue to an even cooler level. Shady Lane wrote published books. I did social science research by myself all summer. Accomplishing something out of the ordinary is a good idea.
However, I am certain that it was one of my teacher recommendations that got me in.</p>
<p>same here holleyrt, teacher recs were so instrumental in my app (at least i think so)</p>
<p>so yeah, get teachers to write really awesome reccomendations :P</p>
<p>something that i did which helped me in the essay process was sitting down and asking myself “what makes me different to x?” X being a person you know with similar intelligence and stats. it’ll remind you why you’re special, which is what you need to write about.
also, on a practical note, buy Harry Bauld’s book, which is called something like “on writing the college admissions essay” and is full of advice on how to get started and polish your writing. its also very well written and funny! it was definitely the best college book of the many that I read.</p>