<p>^^Have you talked to people who REALLY don't like Hillary Clinton? :) Believe me, this person was <em>not</em> impressed by the fact.</p>
<p>Edit: I like Hillary. I voted for her. But people who don't like her? They can be vitriolic.</p>
<p>
[quote]
^^Have you talked to people who REALLY don't like Hillary Clinton? Believe me, this person was <em>not</em> impressed by the fact.</p>
<p>Edit: I like Hillary. I voted for her. But people who don't like her? They can be vitriolic.
[/quote]
Yeah I have, but I guess I never ran into anyone who was going to hold my school against me because of it. Ah the comforting Hillary bubble that is Wellesley....</p>
<p>Dare I mention Mona Lisa Smile as a way to get people to like Wellesley? I know, I know...totally controversial and cheesy. However, it was on HBO a ton when I was choosing schools and I took it as a sign.</p>
<p>I actually liked Mona Lisa Smile, too, even though I knew it to be inaccurate. :) If you haven't seen it, definitely add that to your list of movies to see!</p>
<p>My mom thinks the same thing. YES I love Wellesley, but I don't know if I will get in! It is a great school I feel, I don't want to apply to a bunch of crazy reach schools just to please someone! Arg. She wants me to wait until RD and apply to a bunch of places. I know that I want to be at Wellesley. At least Wellesley has great FA so she can't argue with that!
PS-Mona Lisa Smile rocks! :p</p>
<p>Yeah, I guess we're pretty much in the same boat KK18. And sure, I like other schools and a couple of crazy reach ones, but I still love Wellesley the most because.... well, it rocks lol.</p>
<p>Plus I think another reason why my mom is not keen on W is that she thinks it'll "turn me gay" (though I don't have the heart to tell her it's a little too late :P)</p>
<p>Oh yeah, Mona Lisa Smile! I watched it a while ago, so all I remember is that J Roberts was a teacher, J Stiles was being a rebel (I think?) and Kirsten Dunst was doing a lot of *****ing.</p>
<p>Haha-I think you should looking into writing reviews for a movie site! :p
I don't know where to start on my "Why Wellesley" essay! HELP!!!</p>
<p>Yeah I should get started on mine too lol.</p>
<p>Well, at the risk of sounding redundant... Why Wellesley? Like, what are the big reasons you're writing on the Wellesley ED board instead of some other college? What makes it the best place for you to go? </p>
<p>I think the best way to go about writing the essay is to make it really personal, otherwise it'd look generic, like you took it straight from the viewbook (which I love btw! haha)</p>
<p>OMG-the viewbook!!! Eeeek-so great!!</p>
<p>Honestly, I think the personal statement is way, way more important than the "why Wellesley" essay, especially for ED. Admissions officers know that your first choice is Wellesley by virtue of your applying early. If you were in the regular pool, they might look more closely at the why Wellesley essay in order to determine whether or not you would accept their offer if admitted. If they accept you ED, you can't possibly not go.</p>
<p>The personal statement? Isn't that the "WW?" Or is that on the Comman App or is that on the Wellesley Supplement?</p>
<p>The personal statement is your Common App essay, I believe. Yes, it's very confusing!</p>
<p>Ack I'm in the middle of working on my personal statement. I wrote one version, but I think I could do better so I'm trying a different approach.</p>
<p>Oh and it's getting pretty looong - like a 1000 words or so. Is that okay?</p>
<p>So to recap. The personal statement is the essay for the comman app. in which you can pretty much write about whatever you want. And the "WW" is for the Wellesley supplement? Ok-good to know. I seriously thought there was a 3rd essay-and was gonna be like.....I don't know-but not happy at the very least! :p Wpehw!</p>
<p>I can't remember how long my personal statement was---maybe about a page and a half double-spaced.</p>
<p>If I remember the advice of my teachers and college counselor properly, try to avoid trite (the time I won an honorable mention in model UN) and/or depressing themes (i.e. your grandparents' death). That is unless something truly unusual has happened to you and you can write about it in a new and fresh way.</p>
<p>I think admissions officers like to be amused and like to read essays that are quirky and show why you're unique. I know someone who wrote an essay about a godzilla action figure and my friend wrote an essay about the prevalence of gold teeth in old Russians. Don't be afraid to venture outside of the box. I think Wellesley is the kind of place where individualism and experimentation is appreciated, so go for it.</p>
<p>I'm going to preface this by saying that I'm a compulsive rules follower, possibly to a greater extent than is necessary. With that in mind, I do think 1000 words is pushing it. That's twice the given limit. And more likely than not, your essay will benefit from some editing. You don't need to cut it all the way down to 500 words, but I do think you would make a good faith effort to cut it down to at least 750. Of course, don't cut it down to the point where it no longer reads as a fluid piece of writing, but I bet it can stand more editing than you think, especially if you get someone else to help you do the trimming.</p>
<p>There's a word limit for the personal statement in the Common App? I don't know, it says the minimum is 250 but as far as I can tell there is no specified maximum. Are you thinking of the Why Wellesley instead, advantagious?</p>
<p>I will edit the essay (as soon as I finish writing it hehe) and so it'll probably be shorter anyway.</p>
<p>Also -- what do people put in the "additional information" space on the Common App?? Is that so you can elaborate on your activities, write another essay or... talk about something else entirely?</p>
<p>Oh...I thought 500 words was the standard limit, but it's definitely possible that my mind has invented things/remembered guidelines from other places/things were different a couple of years ago. </p>
<p>In my additional information space, I explained a slightly unusual course I had taken, as well as explained why I had dropped out of an activity my senior year (it directly conflicted with a big, prestigious band festival and there was no point in doing the activity if I attended the band festival, which I judged to be the greater experience). I think that the importance and impact of either explanation was probably minimal, but it put my mind at ease and so it was worth it to me. I decided not to attach a separate activities resume because I did not feel it would add much of anything to my application, but someone with more extensive extracurricular experience might benefit from doing so.</p>
<p>SO many rules!!! :p</p>
<p>kk18 and whedongirl,</p>
<p>I bet there are a lot of students with parents who have concerns similar to the ones your parents have. It was certainly a concern that one of my parents had when I decided to go to Wellesley - especially the whole "a girl's school will not be as good as a co-ed school because you won't be able to compete in the real world" mentality.</p>
<p>If your parents are especially concerned with numbers and prestige (which I personally think is a bad way to go about choosing colleges, but to each their own), then you might want to show them some of the research that's out there about how graduates of women's colleges are more likely than their counterparts at co-ed schools to go onto leadership and upper management roles in companies and organizations. If you calcuate the # of graduates from women's colleges vs. the # graduating from co-ed schools, you'll see that women college graduates are over-represented at those top positions. So clearly, they're doing more than just OK in the real world.</p>
<p>Also, maybe it'll help to show them numbers of prestigious fellowships won by Wellesley and other Seven Sister students, such as Watson, Fullbright, etc. These fellowships are competed for on a national level and they'll see that students from women's colleges aren't doing too shabby.</p>
<p>In my own case, it took a campus visit and giving my parents the opportunity to meet and talk with administrators, faculty, and students (this was during Family Weekend - they couldn't visit during the application process) before they were convinced that Wellesley wasn't producing little mouse-y, shy, and intimidated graduates.</p>
<p>^ Thank you so much for that. I will look into it and see what I can find. I'm going back in a month to see the campus again and my parents are coming along, so I'm relly hoping that they fall in love with it! <em>crosses fingers</em></p>