<p>Why would Yale admit you if they didn’t think you would do well there? It does not serve anyone if they did that. Afterall, the higher the graduation rate, the higher the ranking. </p>
<p>So, very well done. You were admited into THE most selective university in the US (along with Harvard). I am positive you will do just fine.</p>
<p>Please don’t decide not to go based on fear. The Adcoms know what they’re doing, and they think you can do the work. Heck, I was scared to go to a large state university that everyone in the world would call third-tier, at best. Being nervous is normal, particularly if you’re a first-generation college attendee. I would urge you to take full advantage of Yale’s visiting programs – particularly overnight trips. Just getting familiar with the community should help a lot [but you’re still not gonna get any sleep the night before your first class :-)]</p>
<p>I know that I can write really good essays, but I have written only one paper longer than 10 pages in high school. My writing is really the thing that concerns me the most, what can I do to improve my writing in the next 8 months?</p>
<p>To be a good writer, the best thing that you can do is read: the best newspapers (NY Times, LA Times, Miami Herald, Chicago Tribune, Boston Globe, Wall Street Journal, which you can find on-line), news magazines (Time, Newsweek, New Republic), excellent literature ( check out the list posted elsewhere on Parents Forum).</p>
<p>Really! That’s the best thing!</p>
<p>A good 20-page paper has the same principals as a good 10-page paper, just more information. :)</p>
<p>When you’re in college, use prof’s office hours to talk in depth about class, and to get feedback on your papers while they are still works in progress. Start early. Do lots of research. I taught college and the major problems that students ran into with writing projects was that they started at the last minute and didn’t do enough research. It’s not possible to write a decent paper without doing extensive research.</p>
<p>Use professional journals, not popular magazines (e.g. not Newsweek) to research your papers. Depending on your high school, you may have been able to get As by writing papers based on things like encyclopedia articles or popular magazine articles. This will not fly in an excellent college. </p>
<p>If you have any questions, do not hesitate to use the college’s writing or tutoring center. Even places like Ivies have these. </p>
<p>I ran into problems freshman year in college because I stupidly thought that using a tutoring center meant that one was stupid. Silly me. Tutoring centers and writing centers are what everyone needs to use if they need extra help. Even students from top preps may use them.</p>
<p>Also, if you wrote 10-page papers, your h.s. was not that bad. In fact, I went to an excellent public h.s., and the longest paper I wrote in h.s. was 10 pages. I still was able to write well enough for Harvard. :)</p>
<p>When I taught grad school at a third tier, I had students who had never had to write anything longer than 5 pages. They had absolutely no idea where to start. These were people getting their masters in education! Imagine what their students are capable of writing!</p>
<p>I agree with Northstarmom that an extensive reading list is an effective way to recognize good writing but the only way to learn to communicate verbally is to write or give speeches. Preferably both. </p>
<p>You will be expected to be able to communicate your thoughts in many ways. I would guess that most high school students (and certainly not just you) would have the most trepidation about public speaking and research papers of substantial length. Why not start now? You have an interesting story to tell. Heck, I want to hear it and I don’t know you! Write a short personal piece for your school paper on your admission process . Take that piece and turn it into a motivational speech to be delivered to students. Have an outline to hand out with a notation or two. Change that speech to a written piece for educators and guidance personnel in their newsletter. Broaden it’s appeal. Get on the district’s training agenda and deliver the speech there. Start adding research from the journals focusing on higher education. Have a written handout prepared for these audiences to take home, complete with full footnotes and bibliography. Have a rate the speaker card that attendees fill out and return to you for feedback. </p>
<p>If it goes well approach your district superintendent about other regional opportunities to deliver your paper. At the same time , continue to present and perfect your motivational/inspirational speech. Early in my career ,which requires persuasive speaking and writing, I developed what I’ll call my “light-switch speech”. Simply (and vulgarly ) put, “those b’tards are hiding the light-switches from you and I’m here to tell you where they are”. I must have delivered variations of that speech at community centers,get out the vote rallies, and activist organizations in twenty Texas counties over a 3 year period. Maybe 50 speeches. I delivered a personal responsibilty speech to a local fraternity on date rape and alchohol abuse that I recreated several more times (until the national organization filmed it to send to their chapters). My point in all of this is to say-you get good by doing it, over and over. Not by studying how to do it ,at least not exclusively. Put yourself out there. (Now that I think about it,that is my answer to most every question asked by a student on this board. Well, I guess I’m through posting. I’ve obsoleted myself. Now what am I supposed to do? LOL.)</p>
<p>Many colleges have produced pamphlets on how to write papers from deciding on a topic to doing the research, making an outline, and finally writing the paper. I’m sure Yale has at least one. </p>
<p>Here is one from Cornell:
<a href=“http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill1.htm[/url]”>http://www.library.cornell.edu/olinuris/ref/research/skill1.htm</a></p>