Weird Family History and College Applications

Parent Cafe
21

<p>Hmmmm...^^what Jmmom said.</p>

<p>Personally, I would advise you to take one personal essay prompts from your reach school and write about the essence of your experience. Get to the heart of the experience--the emotions and the impact. That would make a great read--and that would convince schools that you will add a wonderful dimension to their student body.</p>

<p>Skip the business about Brigham Young. Bragging isn't appropriate.</p>

<p>You've got some of the best CC editors responding, btw. Also--I hope that isn't your real name??? If it is, PM mods to change it.</p>

22

<p>
[quote]
Worked at UVA. Would it have worked elsewhere?

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</p>

<p>Marite: I am guessing you don't know the relationship between TJ and UVA. It worked at UVA, I am guessing, primarily because of this.</p>

23

<p>^^^Bedhead, I'm bettging that marite's knowledge of the TJ-UVA connection is exactly why she asked the speculative question.</p>

<p>So, one of us is guessing wrong. If it's me, I'll meet you in Sinner's Alley and treat you to a mint julep or sweet tea in honor of the state in question ;).</p>

24

<p>^^Bedhead is the one who needs to treat jmmom to the mintjulep. :)<br>
By the way, 30 years ago, when we visited New College, Oxford ("new" only in relation to a couple of even older Oxford colleges), the lobby displayed a recipe for mint julep donated by an American student back in the 18th century.</p>

25

<p>Have you thought about structuring it somewhat along the lines of "college is a time to try on new identities and reinvent yourself -- something that I happen to have a bit of personal experience with . . " something like that?</p>

26

<p>all the advice here is great. just wanted to add that my personal statement (for professional school, but i think the same would apply for undergrad) was about religion--about how i worked part-time during college cooking kosher meals, and how it increased my religious observance; i tied it into how the detail-oriented, mulitasking nature of this would help me in grad school and my future career--and i got into plenty of schools, including my top choice. so i don't think religion is a total no-no, so long as your story is compelling, well-written, and demonstrates that your experiences will be an asset to you and your classmates in college.</p>

27

<p>Just as most people say... I would not touch so much on the fact that you were living there and escaped but more on your life for the past 9 years and how you have overcome the previous state of mind that you had about life and about your want to continue to improve your life by applying to college.</p>