Hi! I was wondering if anyone had any suggestions on stuff to for the summer that would increase my chances at the following schools: VA Tech, UVA, UCLA, USC, JHU, University of Michigan, William and Mary, Pepperdine, and maybe a few others? Some stuff about me:
I love science and would like to get some ideas for E.Cs that relate to this.
I need to find an internship to complete, any ideas?
How to improve essays for colleges. Should I practice this summer?!
Study Strategies: Taking the SAT II in Math 2, Biology, and Chemistry
What particular branch of science are you interested in? Where I live, a bunch of local colleges offer summer programs related to the field and there are volunteer opportunities located at nature centers, zoos, and planthouses. Internships can be anything really, I did one with my local newspaper and another one as an English as a Second Language tutor. Jobs can also be an option as you get some work experience and spending money.
You can certainly practice essay writing over the summer. In fact, if you start now you could get some teacher feedback. Many of them have experience working with students and college essays. I started reading a bunch over the summer and its easy to tell which ones are well thought out and which ones were written in a rush. The hardest part for me was really finding out who I was and what stories would show that, so it takes some self reflecting. But once you have an idea, it’s a lot of fun to just run with it and see where it goes. If you want to take a look at some examples, Johns Hopkins, Tufts, Chicago, the New York Times, and the Princeton Review have some posted you could read. But don’t let those intimidate you; you should spend more time develop your own idea. A couple of the colleges will have posted their prompts for the summer, so you could start thinking about those.
Lastly, if you have any teacher recommendations you still need, it’s best to ask early so they have the entire summer to think, plan, and write it. A couple of the most popular teachers are taken quickly and often have a waitlist, so they recommend asking like around this time. That way, if you’re turned down, you still have time to look around.
@shawnspencer I am interested in the medical field, but I’m planning on majoring in biology or biochemistry. I do have a job I’m going to do over the summer as well. I like your advice on the essays, what prompts should I use?
Perhaps consider shadowing at a hospital or seeing if they have opportunities there. Most of them likely aren’t released yet, but I suspect the common app prompts for last year will be continued for this upcoming year. In any case, it’s good idea to plan out what experiences or stories you want to do first and then more likely than not you can match it up to a particular prompt. Or see if there is one that inspires you and go from there. There is usually a general one that allows for a lot of leeway, for instance this year’s it was the first prompt “What background or story is essential to your identity?” And even then, individual colleges will have variations of this, for instance, William and Mary had something along the lines of “What makes you colorful?” or “What makes you unique?” Tufts also has some creative prompts every year. The key is to “show don’t tell” whenever possible and to make the reader really feel like they are there or have an image of who you are. It’s not always about the topic itself, but how you write about it that makes it amazing.
@shawnspencer Thank you so much, I truly appreciate your help. I will begin to think about colleges like William and Mary (since I am applying there) and what prompts they might have. I know a few already from a few colleges. It doesn’t hurt to practice extra. I also started a college composition class which I think will help me tremendously to approve my grammar and writing skills for applications and if I take the SAT/ACT again.
No problem, I am happy to help. I don’t know if I mentioned this earlier, but I happen also to be a student there so feel free to contact me if you have any questions or anything. They also have a admissions blog which I have found pretty useful. I wouldn’t overanalyze it, but having a good batch of stories you can use and someone that can possibly read over your essays can be helpful. For some of your other schools, like the university of Michigan, they may ask you why you are applying to that particular program and what attracts you to it, so be sure you can articulate that as well. It’s a good idea when visiting schools to take notes so you remember it later and to ask questions when possible, because you never know what might come in handy.
