<p>I've been watching Bard for 2 years - visited and fell in love.
Location: Frankfort, KY
GPA: 3.79 (weighted, will be 3.9 or 4.0 by graduation)
rank: top 15%
ACT: 28 (33 english, 32 reading, 25 sci, 21 math)
Pres of Drama Club, Sec of Beta Club, VP of class for three years running - member of any club you can think of.
Great reccomendations from what I can tell. Essay sample below - my thoughts are supposed to be in italics, as is my frame below:</p>
<p>I propped my head on my fists and gazed at the innumerable authors and titles that lay on the shelves. I then glanced at the college essay prompt on the store counter in front of me, then back to the shelves, and back to my paper. Well, heres a problem. I thought. How can I get something as good as that, publishable really, into my college essay without being sued for plagiarism? I imagined that someone would recognize the writing, and then notice the Tolstoy novel that lay only a few feet from the counter of my workplace, only to see that the author and I had miraculously written the same thing! No, I thought. It would never work. If only I didnt work in a bookstore.
I grabbed a receipt book as an old man approached with his purchase. He must have seen the blank sheet of paper next to my essay prompt because he smiled, yes with that classic old man twinkle in his eye, and addressed me jovially.
You know what's good for writer's block, dont you? he said. Oh how wonderful, I thought. A friendly stranger with a piece of life-changing advice for me! Maybe he'll give me a bag of magic beans.
You try and write down every stupid phrase you've ever heard; it gets it all out of your head. He whispered.
That's interesting. I replied. Would you like your cliché in a bag or gift-wrapped?
Works every time, I'm tellin' you. He took his receipt from my hand, and the sparkle in his eye (probably just cataracts) disappeared for a moment as he delivered a rosy-cheeked wink and disappeared out the door. I waited a moment, anticipating the decorative music that often followed these Willy Wonka miracles. There was nothing. I glanced around the store. The Oompa-Loompas must have missed their cue.
Alright, it isn't the greatest idea in the world, but it couldn't hurt, I thought. I grabbed a piece of notebook paper and began to write, trying to keep in mind the numerous literary clichés I had been tripping over: </p>
<p>My college applications were just around the corner and I knew I'd be in a pickle without a paddle if I didn't get on the ball. I crossed my fingers and put my nose to the grindstone. I wanted to get off on the right foot but knew it was no skin off my nose if I wasn't up to par. I threw caution to the wind, writing the most off-base essay, college or bust. What I realized was that everything wouldn't be coming up roses if they didn't think my essay was all that jazz. That's why I needed a college with some spunk that had an eye for ambitious whipper-snapping writers like yours truly. I chose Bard College, an up-and-coming school that Id had my nose into for a couple of years.
In a flash they whisked away my essay and concluded that I had what it takes. I then proceeded to live happily ever after.</p>